String Party 2015

If you have followed our family for a while you know what I'm talking about when I say "String Party".  If not, let me explain...

...when I was a child my mom and her sisters concocted a brilliant idea called a string party.  Instead of drawing names or getting standard Christmas presents, the three moms would spend the year collecting small (but AWESOME) gifts from dollar stores and other such places for each of the nieces and nephews.  Then, one night, when we were all together for the holidays, they would stay up (way past their bedtime) and decorate a designated room (usually a living room that would be covered with a sheet until the big reveal the next morning) while having way too much fun (moms and dads aren't EVER supposed to have fun).

Then, after breakfast, us kids would anxiously wait by the sheet to be given our designated yarn color, the sheet would be dropped, and we would excitedly follow our yarn string around the living room to retrieve our clothes pinned toys and gifts.

Now, years later, we have continued this tradition with my family.

Each family is in charge of 3 gifts for each child (but sometimes we get a little out of control;).
 

We come together (the current string party gathering place is my parent's barn) and us adults are able to use our ninja-like skills to string the yarn all over the barn and disperse the toys for each kid on their particular colored string, which is half the fun!

The next day (or after nap time) when the adults say it's time, the kids wait outside the barn with their bags awaiting instructions.

Once the doors are opened they know to start at the potty (because every old barn has an extra toilet sitting around in it that has all the leftover string party strings sitting inside, ha!), and jump in the fun!

This is the newest String Party attender.  She was SO excited to be joining us this year!

The littlest active members of the string party have their own little string that they follow on the side with an adult.  That way they don't get clobbered in the mass of strings toys and children!

It has become a highlight for our kids (and us adults)!

It's way more fun when all my siblings and their kids can join us, but life happens:(  Hopefully next year we will all be back together again.