Happy New Year

For the past several years we have hosted a few families for New Year's Eve fun. The kids have had a pajama party, danced around, eaten mini pizza bagels and other fun appetizers, and watched a movie, while the parents snacked and drank and played games down in the living room. We'd all gather together around the living room TV to watch the ball drop, and everyone would be on their way by 12:10 am.

Well this year I had decided I needed a break from entertaining (good thing too, considering I was so sick). However, the boys were bummed to be facing an evening at home alone. So we invited some of their friends to sleep over, who unfortunately had already found other babysitters. And we tried another friend who was also not able to make it. So we were all pretty happy when we received an impromptu invite from some friends.

We had a wonderful time making our own pizzas and calzones. And the kids got to watch their annual movie with friends. We parents had a great time visiting and looking at beautiful photos from our friends' recent vacation to Guatemala. Another couple we know stopped by for I don't know how long. The evening was so relaxed and enjoyable. What a great time. And this time we were the ones to leave by 12:10 am after watching the ball drop, and sipping champagne and sparkling cider for the kids.

I have to admit to drinking a tad too much, but frankly it's been a long time since I've felt good. And I did. And it was fun. Thank you friends, for hosting us, it was a lovely evening.

This morning E did not enter our room till 8:48 am. Even he was in shock! We had an easy going morning which included a lip synced drum show to the Shrek soundtrack he got for Christmas. Tickets were six (pretend) dollars each, and worth every penny.

I was lucky to catch a nap this afternoon before we headed out. We had plans to spend some time with friends who were "home" for the holidays. They invited playgroup friends and a few others who we are lucky enough to know and like, for a fun-filled afternoon at their parents' home.

The kids all had a wonderful time. We've been having difficulty finding an indoor location for playgroup this year, and since the kids don't much like meeting at the library, it seems like forever since we've all been together as a group. Hopefully within the next couple of weeks we will get access to the location we've been trying to use for free, or go ahead and commit to the $25 per session we need to meet at the local Unitarian church we used last year. (For those of you who are new here, click on the photos to enlarge them.)

Our real concern though (for my family) is that playgroup is going to get turned into some "learning opportunity". People just hate to pay for space and not utilize it "productively". The group is already talking about using different rooms (in the church) with desks in them to use for crafts, and stuff like that. I've mentioned here before that we are just looking for a group of people to PLAY with once a week. Hopefully the rec center we are looking into will pan out since it's basically a big gym. That would be sweet.

For dinner this evening we ordered grinders. Those would be "hero's" to those of you in New York, and "subs" for the Maine-iacs in the family. I'm still not really up to cooking. Tomorrow I will though, whether I'm up for it or not. My ears are still really clogged to the point where I can't hear well at all, but other than that and some "productive" coughing, I'm doing better. Just waiting for the energy to return :-)