Getting Ready for Annual Mother's Day Party

I'm super excited about this year's Mother's Day party we throw for all our friends and family each year. We have SUCH a great time!

We have our annual party on Saturday, the day before Mother's Day, so everyone can be where they to be ON Mother's Day.

We got a new grill and since the hubby's birthday is coming up soon, I'm going to get him a new set of grill tools that I saw here.  I want to get the fancy set so they'll last and he'll be proud to use them.

(note:  he REALLY wants a YETI cooler, but I'm still undecided... what do you think?  Are they worth the money?)

Even though Mother's day is pretty off in the future, we have a lot of things I want to get done before our party.  Yep, my Honey Do list <grin>

Porch cleaned, flowers out, yard cleaned up, etc etc.  You know the drill.

I also like to get cookout recipes before hand (this s'mores pie looks delicious!) and come up with some game ideas.

I've also been trying to be proactive about issues we've had at previous years parties.  The parking situation is one and I think I've got that figured out.

The other problem is ICE - sheesh, we NEVER have enough ice.  We constantly run out (especially if it's extra hot that day) and about every hour or so, someone has to run to the store to buy more bags ice.

Today, I figured out what I'm going to do about the ice situation for this year's party...  I'm buying a portable ice maker!  Brilliant, right?  They're great in your kitchen, but you can even use them outdoors - perfect!

I never really even knew they existed so was super thrilled to find them AND see that they are really affordable.  And when we did the math on how much we spend on ice, well one of these portable ice cube maker machines just makes sense.

There is a great Buying Guide here that really helped me figure out which one would be best for us.

We ended up buying the one that the author also ended up choosing (her full review here).  It works great and it matches our new wine cooler.

Talk later!

PS - Hubby doesn't know it yet, but he's getting me one of these Moccamaster coffee makers for Mother's Day.  I can't wait!