We had a lovely lovely Christmas eve party.

kir royales--This was our first year offering a festive cocktail, and I'm going to make it a new tradition. I purposely set the party at 4:30 for a 6:00 dinner time, so we would have time to enjoy our drinks and appetizers and play games. Then Rose decided the kids should put on a play, so the kids went off into a different room and the grown-ups got to play Moot (we all did terribly) and name in a hat (our go to favorite party game from pre-kids.)

appetizers--Isn't it fun when someone else brings something delicious you wouldn't have thought of? Deirdre and family brought fancy cheeses, olives, roasted garlic, and baby bells. David has added baby bells to his new food list.

the play--Rose wrote the play, asked me to help her revise it, and then had trouble handling the revisions. It reminded me of my students who had a vision and couldn't see how their vision could be maintained if even one word got out of place. She pulled it together when I offered to type it. The play was just fine. All the kids has equal parts and one of the random guests who none of us had met before (long story) turned out to be a delightful 13 year old boy who did the tech support.

setting the dinner table--I did not polish any silver. Maybe next year. But this year I managed to make sure the tablecloths were cleaned and ironed (thanks Mom!) before I was literally standing in front of the bare tables. I also decided to use the good china we got for our wedding, the fancy serving dishes, the nice flatware, and candles by gum. We did it up.

the menu: Linguini with clam sauce, pork sausage, oven baked chicken, garlic bread, salad, broccoli, fruit, macaroons, and sugar cookies. The kids and I made the sugar cookies. Mom brought the broccoli. Julia brought the salad. John made everything else and gluten free of course. It was fantastic, a tour de force.

the games--After dinner we played Imaginiff and pictographs, which is a version of telephone where you write sentences/draw pictures.

the guests--Mom, two random house guest of hers who turned out be wonderful at a party, Deidre and family, Julia and family minus Dan who was having Jewish boys' night out, my family.