Happy New Year

Today is a day for new beginnings, and I think we've just begun a new tradition. We had a brunch yesterday at our house with 17 of our dearest friends...and their 27 children.

Including us, that's a total of 50 people in my house.

That's 12 extra cars in my driveway,

44 coats on my bed...

and 88 extra (wet) shoes by my back door, not to mention the snowpants and snow boots (wish I had snapped a picture of that - priceless).

Here's a general breakdown of the day:

(7:30 - 10:06) Run around cooking, cleaning and hiding things (Hey, we all do it!)

(10:00 - 10:30) Guests arrive

(10:30 - 11:00) Eat brunch & ooh and ahh over the awesome food

(11:00-2:00) Graze, visit, laugh (a lot)

(2:00ish) Have a second round of biscuits and gravy, bagels and dip and our fifth batch of punch [joke about how if they're still there at dinner time we'll order pizza]

(2:30ish) Discover we've run out of beverages

(2:31ish) Send Frank on a beverage run and hold babies while they nap in the chaos

(3:00ish) Play a massive game of Spoons with 15 people

(3:45ish) Send the bigger kids outside for an airgun war (I'm sure the neighbors thought the terrorists had come to take us out.)

(4:00-5:00) Pull out the few meager snacks I have in my pantry (because they're still there) [joke if they are still there at midnight, we'll kiss and say Happy New Year]

(5:00) Realize it's dinner time and they're still there

(5:01) Order 10 pizzas from Little Caesars

(5:45ish) Send Ron out for pizza and ice

(6:00) Feed the masses

(6:00-8:00) Listen to every song on Band Hero

(8:05ish) Say goodbye to guests

(8:30ish) Tuck children in bed and survey the damage (not bad!)

(9:00) Fall asleep in my chair

Here are some of the best parts of the day:

Best Bed Head

Jacob and Frank

Best PJ's (besides all the cute children's pj's)

Jeni (cute little gingerbread men all over them)

Best Toy of the Day

Little Kids: Little wooden post office mailbox (kids carried it around all over the house);

Big Kids: Band Hero (by big kid I mean everyone over the age of 2 - everyone sang along)

Best Sports

Scott and Heidi (They went home at least three times to get guns and gear for the war and games to play, etc...)

Best Food Item
It was a toss up between Heidi's Potatoes and Karen's Bacon

(Ken's gravy was pretty awesome, too.)

If you are interested in what we ate, keep reading. If not, just click on the red x in the upper right corner of your screen. That'll take care of it!

1st Annual Pajama Brunch Menu

Jimmy Dean Breakfast Casserole

Scrambled Eggs with Cheese (for the young en's)

Breakfast Potatoes with Bacon and Onions

Biscuits and Gravy

Sausage Links

Sugar Plum Bacon

Ham and Pineapple Chunks
Creamy Cheddar Grits
Oven French Toast
Sausage Balls
Fresh Fruit Salad
Orange Slices
Fresh Pineapple
Everything Bagels with Beef Dip (yum)
Blueberry Coffee Cake
Baklava
Blueberry Muffins
Apple Cinnamon Muffins
Apple and Peach Crisp with Ice Cream
Coffee
Christmas Brunch Punch
Chocolate Milk
Orange Juice

And the best part of the day was, with the exception of 1 or 2 people who had to work, we were all in our pj's - all day!

I hope you are able to enjoy a day in your pj's or a day with friends really soon. Better yet, why not both. It's a blast! Just be warned - they may never leave!

Happy 2010!