Happy New Years from our family to yours

Our New Years Eve

This year we decided to stay in and have a mini-party with the kids. They all took naps in the afternoon so that they could stay up until midnight for the countdown and Tim and I took down the tree and put away all the decorations while the house was quiet. We had a dinner of leftovers and then I made a bunch of food for later in the night: sweet & sour meatballs (one of the kids favorites), bbq cocktail wieners, chicken fries, breadsticks and puppy chow. We had sparkling cider and sparkling grape juice to drink. Before we ate, we took some pictures of everyone in their PJs before I put Jacob to bed, then we had our snacks. We then played several rounds of Mexican Train Dominos, which was Tim's Christmas gift and a great family game that all the kids can play. Next it was karaoke time. All the kids sang, including Micah, but he was so cute because he sat intently listening to each kid sing and then clapped at the end like they were a professional. I'm not sure if it was more fun watching the kids sing, or watching Micah's reactions to them!

When karaoke was over, it was time to get ready for the countdown. We watched Dick Clark for awhile and the girls were swooning when the Jonas Brothers came on. Mikayla wouldn't let anyone talk during their songs! haha

As the countdown reached about 5 minutes, I got out the bubblewrap I purchased for our bubblewrap stomp. Who doesn't love bubble wrap??? The kids thought this was the greatest thing as it sounded just like firecrackers in their livingroom! I hope everyone had a great New Years Eve and that 2009 is one of health, happiness and blessings.

(To see all our New Years Eve pictures, go to http://s44.photobucket.com/albums/f19/GeorgiaAdventure/New%20Years%20Eve/ )


The kids were introduced to The Honeymooners

Micah and his sparkling juice

Tim singing "I Did it My Way" (how appropriate!)

Dancing to the Beach Boys



The girls singing to Hannah Montana....of course



Seth singing a Carmen song...after a brief standup comedy act

Micah singing a song from Judah, our band back home at RMI

Our bubblewrap stomp!!! This will definitely be a yearly tradition, no matter where we are for a party!

My thoughts on Christmas morning

All the hoopla, craziness and shopping excursions. All the excitement, anticipation and preparation. It's all over. The stockings that were hung by the chimney with care, have been opened. Breaskfast has been eaten and all the beautifully wrapped presents have been torn into and opened. And with that, it's over. Christmas just doesn't have the magic that it did when I was a kid. Our Christmas lasted all day! Here, with my own kids, it's over so quickly. Growing up, we'd be opening presents for hours, then we'd head to my grandma's house that night or the next day. The snow on the ground brought a magin to Christmas morning. Here, there's no snow, no grandparents, no opening presents all day. It's done....and I'm sort of sad.

The kids argued and complained and faught this morning. Who fights and argues on Christmas morning????? Fortunately, now they are all playing with their new toys. Jacob is climbing on the kitchen table taking a bite out of every single gingerbread man. Tim is laying sprawled across the livingroom floor. And I'm reminiscing about days gone by, before I start preparing dinner. I just can't believe it's over so quickly. I had so many ideas. So many things I wanted to do to make this year special. Non of them happened. There is nothing special about this Christmas that the kids will remember and carry with them.


Christmas is done :(

Cheerleading??

So, if this rugby thing doesn't work out for Tim, he's thinking about joinging the cheerleading squad, alongside our friend Marty.

Ok, not seriously, but this is one of the new passtimes in our household. Mikayla loves standing on Tim's shoulders. Maybe SHE will be a cheerleader!!!

Snowmen

Being in Georgia, we didn't get all the snow that the rest of the nation got. It seems like every state seemed to get snow, except Georgia and Florida. So, this year we had to make a different kind of snowmen. They were great the next morning for breakfast too! haha

Decorating Gingerbread houses

We had a lot of fun this year decoarting gingerbread houses.I definitely see this becoming a yearly thing, and a 'competition' as the kids get older!





Seth and Mikayla's finished Christmas tree







Katelyn and Micah's finished product


And Jacob just enjoyed eating the icing!!!

A LOT more pictures of the process located at http://s44.photobucket.com/albums/f19/GeorgiaAdventure/ginger%20bread%20houses/

Katelyn's homework

Micah's Christmas Party

Last Friday, Tim and I made the rounds of all the kids Christmas parties. Unfortunatly, Katelyn's was at 10am on Thursday, right in the middle of one of our finals, so we missed hers but we made it to the other 3, all one right after the other. We only took pictures at Micah's though since Mikayla's was a Polar Express party and it was dark in there so they could watch the movie and Seth's was towards the end when we got there. Here's a few from Micah's though. They were ALL so excited to have us there. For Seth and Mikayla's we were the only parents who showed up!!! Mikayla told me "That's why this day is so special to me! You are the only mom and dad here".

Making Gingerbread houses

Tim wanted to decorate gingerbread houses this year with the kids. Tim, Katelyn and Micah did a house and Mikayla and Seth worked together on a tree. I took pictures. ;)






















Finished Product

How do you spend a December day in Georgia???

Sitting on the back deck, watching the birds, of course!!!