Yes, we are having house guests again! It may seem a bit much, since we only moved into the house in April, and we had house guests in July, now in September, and we will have more in October, but you know what? We really enjoy hosting folks in our home!
When we were house-hunting, we were looking for the standard 3-bedroom 3-bath 2-car garage home. The perfect “starter home”, ya know? Since it was our first. When we looked at the house we ended up buying, I remember thinking, and telling Jerrod, “4 bedrooms! We don’t need 4 bedrooms! Is that greedy of us to place an offer on a house with 4 bedrooms?” We felt such a peace about it, so we ended up going ahead with the offer, and then the purchase. So we decided then, since we had the space, we would use it, and use it well.
This coming weekend we are hosting 4 boys and a chaperone from the African Children’s Choir, and we are SO excited! The group will be at our church to minister on Sunday morning, so we’ll pick our crew up on Saturday evening, feed them, let them get a good night’s sleep, and then feed them again Sunday morning before heading to church to watch them sing! (They are SO sweet – if you’ve never heard of the African Children’s Choir before, it’s an amazing organization. PLEASE check out their website (www.africanchildrenschoir.com), and listen to them sing. BEAUTIFUL voices, BEAUTIFUL children.)
However, with a recovering hubby who is not allowed to do any kind of strenuous activity for two weeks (including bending over and lifting more than a gallon of milk), I knew I had to be ahead of the game on this one. So what did I do? I created a printable, of course!
Side note: Jerrod is doing VERY well after his surgery on Monday, and we thank everyone for all of the thoughts and prayers! It ended up being about a 7.5 hour ordeal, which was much more extensive than we thought, and he was in a great deal of pain that first evening. But he’s continued to improve as the days go on…and he wanted to know if I was going to post the pics of his poor sliced-up head and stitches and scars here on the blog. Um…no, I informed him, I was not. Although perhaps it would be a good Halloween post…
Anyways, here’s the printable:
It’s nothin’ fancy, I just needed a place where I could gather my thoughts, and I decided that it wouldn’t hurt for me to use this every time we have house guests…so I don’t forget anything.
Clean the house, with a special emphasis on guest spaces: We have a guest room and a guest bathroom, but we also have an office and a project room, both of which can hold nice, elevated, queen-sized air mattresses. So whatever space I need is what receives a special emphasis.
Make sure toiletries are stocked and linens are washed: Things like extra toilet paper, and having all the guest room sheets and towels washed and in place are the big ticket items here.
Create a Meal Plan, go grocery shopping and cook ahead: Once my Meal Plan is done, I can do all the grocery shopping for it, and, since I plan on doing some kind of a casserole for dinner, as well as a breakfast casserole, I can prep those things ahead of time and then only have to slide them into the oven!
Don’t forget to check for special needs: They are already good with CoCo the black kitty (no allergies) so that checks out. And since they are boys, I’m also going to grab a few balls (soccer, football, etc.) for them to mess around with in the back yard. I’ll add those to the toys we keep on hand for any kids who end up at our home (since we don’t have our own kids and their toys.)
So there you have it! Like it? CLICK HERE and you can download it for free! Hope you enjoy!
What’s YOUR best “plan-ahead” tip when hosting company in your home?
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What a cute printable and a neat idea… Usually I just run around going Oh n Oh no There Heeeereeee!
HA! There are days I’m right there with you LOL
The only house guests we ever have are family- I used to worry about making the house “mom” clean, but I don’t as much anymore. Cute printable!
Thanks 🙂
VERY cute idea!!
Thank you!
Very good idea and I love the printable. How clever of you! Sharing this post!
Thanks, Deanna!
So glad to hear your husband is doing well! 7.5 hours – that is a big surgery.
I usually find it stressful to plan for house guest, but than ones they arrived it mostly is way more relaxed then I think it will be.
Thank you, Anna, I’m glad he’s doing well, too! Yes, I enjoy having everyone in the house!
Don’t forget to have FUN!
Oh yes! 🙂
How noble and giving of your family to host. My house is such a toddler haven I almost ashamed when people visit and see the long scratch on the wall when Iron Man flew off course. LOL! I come from a hospitality family but I can’t remember anyone mention accommodations for disabilities, diets, or health needs. Food for thought…
I’m sure no one notices the scratch but you! (You know how that goes!) I have food allergies, so that’s why I always think of all these extra things LOL
I just adore making lists! My husband….um…he doesn’t share the same affection for lists as I do! I will be pinning this and using it in the future!!!
You and I are very much alike! (As are our husbands LOL) Thanks for pinning!
Don’t forget to have the guest book out so they can sign and date it. I always encourage my guests to draw something… it’s SO fun to go back and see who has visited and what they said and drew.
Ooo, a guest book! That’s a great idea!
What a cute printable! It’s awesome that you get to be a host family!
We’re pretty excited about it!
Oh Kristen, I’m so happy to hear about you using your house well! We have utilized a 4 and 5 bedroom house past our own family members often as well! I love your printable, it is definitely cute and totally your style!
Thanks, Jill!
First, I’m glad Jerrod is doing well. that was really quite a surgery!
LOVE this printable! I am pinning this. I am a huge planner and list maker. Lucky for me, Luke is too (sometimes even more so than me, LOL). It is a great idea to cook ahead. Be sure you take the time to have your guest tell you a little bit about where the are from. Maybe the kids will have a game they can teach you to play.
Have fun! 🙂
~Lorelai
Life With Lorelai
Oh yes, I can’t wait to meet them and learn about their kind of play 🙂 All we know is that we’re getting 4 boys AND a chaperone! I mean, they send their own chaperone! Wow!
They provide a chaperone…that’s great for you! This sounds like such a fun experience. I hope you will be blogging about it afterwards. 🙂
I sure will!
What fun house guests to have over! I love the printable idea to keep around for each time you have guests over. I usually redo my lists each time and run around like a crazy person. I’m happy to hear your hubby is doing much better!!
Oh, who says I don’t still run around like a crazy person?! 🙂