Ringing in the New year

I love New Year's Eve. For me, it rates right up there with Christmas and Halloween! I love the thought of a New Year, a fresh start. Since becoming a parent, almost 14 years ago, I have always tried to make New year's fun and festive.

This year was no exception. John and I blew up a bunch of balloons. Each balloon had a specific time on it. Inside each balloon was a New Years Eve activity that we would do together as a family at the appointed time. Each of the boys took a turn popping a balloon and reading the activity aloud. Here is our evening, photo style!

We wish you and your family a wonderful 2013. May your year be filled with love, laughter, joy and growth!

New Year's Eve

We rang in the New Year at home. We had a little photo shoot with our 2012 glasses. We enjoyed some of our favorite appetizers and treats...cream cheese bean dip, Little Smokies wrapped in bacon(covered in brown sugar and honey), peppermint ice cream/Oreo dessert and homemade hot chocolate. We watched Ryan Seacrest and Dick Clark ring in the year. We watched the ball drop at midnight in Time Square and the boys banged their pots in pans out front with the rest of the neighborhood.


















We are excited for the thought of a new year, filled with new adventures and memories.

ringing it in...in style

we rang in the new year at home. it was a fun evening with the boys. we enjoyed cheese fondue with all the fixings...meat, bread and veggies. we had a family photo shoot with our 2010 glasses. we slurped down homemade hot chocolate with whip cream, had a connect four play off, enjoyed hanging with dick clark and ryan seacrest, watched the ball drop, blew our horns at midnight and we banged our pots & pans out front. i received a kiss from my sweetie & then we clanked glasses while sipping sparkling cider. my favorite part of the night was the phone call from my grandma pung, just after midnight. i REMEMBER(more on this word in a later post) as a child, having her call every new years eve to wish us all a happy new year. at about 9 pm, I said to john "i wonder if grandma pung will call us at midnight"? i am so glad she did. it is always fun to chat with her. i told her to keep the tradition alive(even if you have to set your alarm, right Gram :-)?) i will always welcome that late night call.

we hope your new year was a safe one & that 2010 is a year filled with happiness.

Happy New Year

We hope you had a Happy & safe New Years Eve. We enjoyed a fun night @ home with all the boys, big & small. New Years Eve at our house is not complete without these babies.

You enjoy them on New years Eve, right before you kick off your New Year with the resolution to eat better. Here's the recipe.

Little Smokies
1 pkg. of Little Smokies
1 pkg. of bacon(we like the maple flavor)
1 c. packed brown sugar
1/2 c. of honey
1/2 c. butter
preheat oven to 325.

Cut your pkg. of bacon in half. Wrap a piece of bacon around each smokey. Secure with a toothpick. We always have a few somkies left over/not enough bacon. I throw them in with the others. Place smokies in a 9 X 13 pan. On the stove, melt brown sugar, honey, & butter. Bring it to a slight boil. Pour over smokies & place in oven & bake @ 325 degrees for 1 hour. These are delish. Enjoy!

We had fun playing a few games of CandyLand,
a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCIco_EsrhM1BhlYw-0Tu1WV1lrdsbVz51HVRebbGR73uxfMpDzoDdn9xLyMNdkV1LXoo76u4mz54cG6FvPz0QO1b-9SlOJoOOPX-uquhOJulQR5jVi8jWoGPEQJCOPuRQj-W-hGFHtBI/s1600-h/New+Years+Eve+Dec.+31st+20082009+020.JPG">drinking Hot Cocoa, eating Little Smokies & other yummy treats. At 10 pm we turned on The Rockin' New Years Eve show with Dick Clark & Ryan Seacrest. It would not be New Years w/out them. At about 11 pm, this is what was going on



I thought they were all going to wimp out on me & fall asleep. I think John did. I heard him snore. Carter jumped up & started saying "I'm going to make it. I'm going to make it". After that, he was pretty amped to ring in the New Year. We all made it to midnight(Brody & Garrett went to bed @ their normal times).


We watched the ball drop & then we headed outside. We found some of the neighbor girls running up & down the street in their swim suits...do you know how cold it was last night??? Crazy girls. Some of the neighbor boys were running up & down the street, banging their pots & pans. We did our little poppers


& enjoyed a few fireworks that another neighbor set off. It was a festive way to kick off our 2009. Wishing you & yours a Happy New year!
p.s. I just finished putting the last of our Christmas decorations away..WAHOOO! We are free of Christmas decorations, inside & out!