Winter Wonderland Hot Chocolate Bar!!

We all agreed that we had taken on a bit much for this one-year-old's birthday party. The theme of the party was "Winter Wonderland." Yes, parties have themes now. That's a thing. We always just put on a party, but now everything revolves around a theme. It's actually kind of fun.

Daughter Mary not only played a major role in the decorating of Steady Eddy the Snowman, she also planned additional cupcakes that would have clear gelatin snow globes over the frosting. That was quite an undertaking and didn't quite work out as planned. We still had the cupcakes though with the little trinkets on them that would have been under the globe.

Daughter Anne, the mother of the birthday boy, planned a hot chocolate bar, with rich hot chocolate (whipping cream, condensed milk, regular milk, vanilla and melted chocolate chips) simmering in a slow cooker, and add-ons: marshmallows, praline sticks, candy canes, cinnamon, whipping cream, snowman peeps and caramel sauce.

Daughter-in-law Elle did decorations complete with twinkle lights...And daughter Liz helped with everything.

They also served subs!!

We finally looked at each other and agreed. This was a lot! We also realized we had actually pulled it off. It was a lot of work but also a lot of fun!

I remember thinking in the last half hour of preparation how delightful it was to work with my daughters on a hospitality event. We worked quite well together, all kind of on the same page. No one chatted about unrelated things or told stories. We helped each other as needed. We stayed on target. We talked fast. We moved fast. I loved it. I was so proud of them. And even though it was not my party, I felt a certain maternal satisfaction as I watched them work. I thought, "I have a team."

Yes, we overdid it. We took on too many elaborate projects. But we truly enjoyed ourselves and we pulled it off. Somehow. Thanks be to God.  :-)

Everybody, stay warm. It's freezing cold in Michigan, not exactly a winter wonderland.