life made lovely: not being Martha

A few weeks ago, I was thrilled to get a call from my sister that she drove into town unexpectedly with her husband and sweet little boy. They would be in town for only a day or two.

A family dinner with the whole crazy gang was essential.

The whole crazy gang equals 8 adults and 6 kids.

 I must confess... I am usually an event planner. I like to methodically plan out the grub, cut some flowers from outside, sparkle the house a bit and make everything "cute." Even when it is that whole, crazy gang of characters, I still do this.
Not this time. There was no time to get all Martha-esque. Instead, I remembered something The Reluctant Entertainer said about how the guests are not coming to see if your house is perfect or if the food is gourmet or if your table setting is from Martha Stewart Living. They are coming for fellowship.
So, I went into this gathering with the whole, crazy gang with that mindset and I enjoyed every minute of it.

 I pulled these out of my cupboard. A bag of frozen chicken. Two boxes of cornbread and some salad fixings.
Dessert: 2 cans of apple pie filling, one box of white cake mix, one stick of butter melted and a handful of chopped pecans. Done. Yum.

Going into the holiday season, I am going to remember WHY people come over to the Goat House.
Time, conversation and enjoying that whole,crazy gang is what it is all about.