Winter Formal 2012

Walker had asked me a few weeks before winter formal if we could host the dinner at our house. I was a little panic stricken at first, thinking about cooking for 16 kids and coming up with a cool setting in the backyard, dazzling enough to make it winter-formal worthy. Then, after talking to Walker about his "vision", knowing that if anyone, HE could help me pull it off, and talking to fellow moms about divi-ing up the food and catering the main dish, I realized it would actually be a lot of fun. The moms met a couple of weeks before, we made assignments and prayed for a clear night with no rain. One of my wonderful friends, Kathy, had a lot of fun decorations left from her daughter's wedding last December, so we borrowed her turquoise and white vases, mason jars, tons of candles and the other moms pitched in the chairs, tables, sheets, dishes and white christmas lights. On the day of winter formal, four parents and I started stringing lights, covering two pop up tents with white bed sheets that were safety pinned together and setting the table. Walker came in time for the finishing touches. It took us about six hours to set up, and luckily we started two hours before we had originally planned or we wouldn't have made it, we were putting on the final touches until the moment the doorbell started ringing. The only glitch came when, right as the guests were arriving, I went to turn on the switch to turn on all the lights and not one light came on. Luckily, my knight in shining armor husband had just walked in, put on his electrician hat, and saved the evening. The kids arrived, parents came to take pictures and the rest you can see in the photos. It was a huge success. The kids had a blast, the parents had fun hanging out, the food was delicious, Louis Armstrong played in the background, and the tent in the back yard felt like a movie set. It was truly a perfect night.