New Years

We had an awesome New Years Eve party. Our good friend Matthew came up to join the festivities much to everyone's delight. We party well on our own, but we do so much better with an audience... The kids and I made an enormous amount of Chex mix, Trina got sparkling grape juice, Leah and Timo created a song list for our dance down; we were ready. Unfortunately we only remembered to take pictures when we were singing, so you will just have to imagine the pictures of everything else... :D

I fed the kids all coffee beans, something I am NEVER doing again. Rosie bounced around like a Mexican jumping bean for next to 5 hours straight.

Matthew brought his guitar and he and Leah played while the rest of us sang. After a while, we convinced Dad to get his out too.

The younger ones got tired of singing before the rest of us, so Dad took them into the kitchen for the first round of "Old Maid". Rosie ended up with the old maid with only Timo left in the running. When he unwittingly pulled it from her hand, her scream of happiness scared my socks off... :D Round two of old maid took much longer, when all of us played. If you want to know who ended up being the old maid, ask Leah, she knows.

John had been excited about our party for days. He decided he did not like coffee beans, and conked out by 8:45. He even managed to sleep through all of our crazy dancing. By the way, we had one of our best dances ever, and I came away with more battles scars than in the previous 6 months combined. As of today the bruises are all subsiding, so I can honestly say it was totally worth it. :D

We decided to end the party with a movie and settled on August Rush. No one fell asleep, not even during the slow parts, thanks to coffee beans. Following the movie we toasted the new year, had a short "Toss the MnM and catch it in your mouth" contest (which Matthew won hands down) after which we all went straight to bed.

Home improvements are a little bit of an unspoken tradition at our house around the holidays. One year Dad and I grouted the tile in his shower. One year Dad started a remodel. This year on New Years Day, the guys did what I think it my favorite home improvement to date. I LOVE having the dryer right next to the washer. Thank you again, guys!! One more time, Happy New Year everyone!!