Your Invitation to the Flamingo Family's 2nd Annual Christmas Party

Thanksgiving is over, which means it is time to kick the party preparations into high gear. What this means for you -- block out December 20th from 6-ish to 11-ish with a red magic marker as a day you may not book any other parties, illness, or out-of-town trips, as your charming and delightful presence is requested at my home that evening (if you cannot be charming and delightful, you should feel free to come, but please stop at the adult beverage trailer on your way in). You should also begin practicing singing any 80's song you happen to know and alert your in-laws that if they are already in town by then their presence will also be required (as they will be singing back-up for you).

What this means for me -- lots of cleaning, throwing away, touching up paint, annoying Joe with requests to fix the loose banister rail on the back steps and fix the kitchen faucet and finish the master bathroom and finish the trim. It also means transforming the outside of the house into a twinkly fairytale Christmas wonderland. As you recall from my previous post, this year's twinkly fairytale Christmas wonderland will be white lights only. We had to buy several new sets of white lights yesterday and today at Wal-Mart to replace the (trashy) colored lights that I let slip through the cracks last year. So this was as far as we got with the lights today:

I know -- I'm a little disappointed in our efforts today, too. But if it makes you feel better, that strand of lights goes all the way around the right side of the house and down the back steps, too. And note that the kids and I managed to get the mini-trees up by the front door(s). They were excellent helpers:

(No. I'm not pregnant, but thanks for asking.)

Nothwithstanding our rather dismal progress today, by the time you arrive on the 20th, I promise the house will be fully lit (no adult beverage trailer pun intended).