Welcome New Friends

It was just over three years ago that we were the new homeschoolers in town.  We know what it's like to move to a place where we don't know anyone, and where our children, especially, have no friends.

So when I met a new homeschooling family with three boys ages 13, 11, and 8 and one almost-3-year-old girl, I could relate to the story she told of these last few months meeting younger homeschoolers with children 8 and under, but the difficulty in finding friends for her older two boys.  Several of our friends have boys these ages, so we decided to have a party and introduce our "old" friends to our "new" friends.  (Good excuse, right?!)

We negotiated a price for some pizzas from a local pizza place as life has been crazy and I needed to plan a menu, grocery shop, AND cook in order to make the food.  This time, we went with easy.  I include this detail to remind you that practicing hospitality doesn't have to be about going all out with delicacies.  Or about cleaning your house.

We picked up toys, swept the kitchen and dining room, and vacuumed the living room floor.  No kidding--that's all we did.

Anyway, the plan was to eat pizza, play a few minute-to-win-it games to "break the ice", and then let everyone break into their groups (adults, teens, young boys, young girls) to play games and visit.

The guests of honor, Matt and Tami, playing Face the Cookie in which you have one minute to move the sandwich cookie from your forehead into your mouth using only your facial muscles:

Our friends Aaron and Rachel:

And some other friends, Brian and Cheryl:

Cheryl won the adult round.

We also played Baby Blocker, in which you have one minute to balance a plate on your head, then build a tower out of five blocks and get it all to balance.

The younger children had a really hard time with this, but the teens and adults were able to do it more easily.

 Finally, we played the classic game which makes everyone laugh and laugh--Bite Me, in which you have one minute to pick up five sacks of varying heights (2", 4", 6", 8", and 10") with your mouth.  The only part of your body which can touch the floor is your feet.

This is the game the adults have a harder time with, but the kids find easy.  I'm not including the pictures of the adults who tried, although Alan and Matt both accomplished this game.  I think a 13-year-old boy was the final winner of this game as he completed the challenge in only 6 seconds.  Destry was right behind him with a 7-second time.

I can tell Tami is going to be a great friend to have, because when I shared the party idea with her, she asked if she could bring supplies for the kids to make little houses out of graham crackers and icing and some peeps and eggs to go inside. What a great and fun idea!

We ended up doing these right after supper, which was a perfect ice breaker for all the kids to get to know one another while working together on a project and before playing the Minute-to-Win-It games.

Even all the teenagers (3 girls and 4 boys ages 13-19) got in on the fun.

8 adults + 23 children + pizza + dessert craft + games + laughter = 

a night to remember and friendships made.