NYE

I decided that we were going to have a nice and quiet New Year's Eve at home. Mike was out of town the day before and I was somewhat homebound so I had a lot of freetime to plan. I did a lot of googling and pinteresting New Year's Eve ideas for families. There were so many great ideas I had a hard time choosing.

Here was my idea list. We made it through a lot of them and the rest I promised the kids we would do later.

balloons, noisemakers, hats, masks, glasses, lots of food, ribs for dinner with yummy crusty bread, bubbly juice, plastic special glasses, glow sticks, Candy kisses for midnight kisses, sparklers, New Years I Spy search, New Year Hand and Footprint project, Traditions around the world- red suitcase, grapes, white clothes, red/yellow undies, black eyed peas, fireworks, pie with coin, Count Your Blessings- jar, Tic Tac Toe with paper plates, Fireworks in a jar, Dance Contest, Chocolate Fondue 

Prepare for picture overload!

The kids all picked their own clothes for there NEW YEAR'S EVE PARTY!

Even Michael was happy about the dinner

Jake

Anthony

Big Mike

Annie

Jaileigh

Jaileigh's plate

I swear by the black dragons eye to be loyal and to never say die WASABI!

They kept saying that over and over and laughing hyterically.

Annie during her WASABI chant

Dance Party!

Fondue time! I found a great recipe that didn't require a fondue pot. The kids LOVED it!

That was the only look he would give me. no smile. 

We talked about different traditions that different countries have. In Greece they bake a "Kings pie" {which is really an almond floavored cake} and they bake an aluminum foil covered coin. Whoever finds it will have good luck and prosperity. 

The kids and I baked a pecan pie and I hid a coin in it. Annie found it! She let Jake open it. 

The winner!

Anthony

Muscles Michael!

Anthony

Jaileigh

Annie

Jakob

The boys

An interesting dance move.

Anthony

The kids were really into taking pictures. 

Mike

Jaileigh

Michael

She was so tired!

Jaileigh

Anout 9 they hit a wall. We watched a ball drop on youtube because we couldn't find the real one. 

Poor Michael

Anthony and Daddy

hahahahah Annie was done!

We went upstairs and watched a short movie. Half of them fell asleep but they are pretty sure it was 2:30 before we all went to bed, hahahaha Somewhere it was 2:30! It was there best night because they got to stay up so late. 

Happy New Year's!

Jake's Cake

Jakob decided to bake a cake. He got the box cake mix out, read the directions and made the cake. I threw in a cup of Greek yogurt at the end and had him mix it in. He had an idea in his head of exactly what he wanted. He got the pans out, directed me to make frosting, and took care of the rest. It was one of the best cakes ever made at our house! It was so delicious! Even Mike was surprised and like it. He doesn't like cake normally.

ROXY

I am NOT a pet lover. I hate cats, same with dogs. I feel they are dirty and so much extra work. Anthony begged for a dog for Christmas. That is all he asked for. Every Santa we saw he insisted on sitting on his lap and asking for a dog, a golden retriever to be specific. I explained to him that there are some things that Santa cannot bring. He would never bring a dog to our house because Michael and I are both allergic to most dogs, golden retrievers included. He handled it well when Santa didn't bring a dog.

Mike called me one day and told me about this dog that was listed on Craigslist. It was a goldendoodle, one year old, housebroken, great with kids and free to our family if we wanted it. Her owner was killed in an accident on Christmas Day and the parents were just trying to find her a new home. With our kids being terrified of our house and the bad people coming back we both decided that this dog may help with the healing process. So Mike picked her up and brought her home. The kids were ecstatic!

Her name is Roxy. The kids have a hard time saying it and remembering it. They want to rename her but can't decide on a name. We think we will just keep her name so we don't confuse her anymore.

Meeting Roxy!

Seeing that smile again is so worth the extra poop and dirt I have to pick up!

The kids finally wore her out! She is so full of energy. I wasn't sure I was going to survive her. The first night she stayed up until 2 am and then was up at 530. 

She loves Jake and whines until he lays by her.