New Years Eve

We had such a fun New Years Eve. I totally stole this idea from my friend Rachel. She is Miss Amazing "I do awesome stuff with my kids all the time" Idea Girl. We originally were going to have friends over but they got sick. My kids kinda didn't know what to think about doing New Year's Eve without having anyone over. Madison kept saying "Can't we PLEASE email all Continental Kids (our co-op) and see if ANYONE wants to come over??" But we ended up having a wonderful time together as a family.

Here are the bags... There is a bag with a little rhyming poem I wrote to be opened/read every hour leading up to midnight. First of all, you should know, we set all the clocks in the house AHEAD one hour! That way, not only do the kids still get in bed a little earlier but we get to "bring in the new year" with the East coast which means we can watch the ball drop in NYC. No one caught on but this might be the last year we can pull that off. :)

Everyone if holding up "10" fingers...
An example of the little poems - this is from the 12:00 bag - which we open a little early...

6:00 - fun paper plates, napkins and umbrella straws in the bag and the note revealed we were having pizza for dinner...

7:00 - puzzles in the bag and the note revealed it would be a boys vs. girls race to get them put together first...

The boys won!

8:00 - Wii game in the bag - we all played and had a little tournament...

Pip is already getting sleepy and cuddled up with me to watch the Wii playing...

9:00 Catch Phrase in the bag - we played as a family. Lots of fun!

Still showing signs of sleepiness, Pip is holding her ear and trying to cuddle with Sissy...

10:00 - A movie! We all cuddled up on the couch and watch Battle for Terra (Pip went to bed shortly after the movie started.)

11:00- Bowls and spoons and toppings in the bag - note says to pause the movie and make ice cream sundaes!

at 11:15 the movie was over and we had a time of praise and worship. We sang and talked about our resolutions as a family - how we could honor the Lord better in 2010. I wanted to get a picture of Jason praying with the kids but they saw me get the camera out and so the little smirks and perfectly folded hands are certainly for the camera...

Oh yeah - the twins fell asleep right before the movie ended...

11:55 the 12:00 bag is opened and has noise marker horns and party poppers. We watched the ball drop and then ran outside to blow the horns and do the poppers so we wouldn't wake Piper up. :)

Happy New Year one and all. May we all grow closer to the Savior and seek to advance His Kingdom in these next 365 days. Let's not waste our lives and make the most of even the most mundane things we do on a daily basis. I long to be a wife and mother who glorifies God in every minute I am awake. If only I could be mindful of Him every minute. Just like the bags - perhaps I need something to pull my attention back to Christ every hour on the hour. Not a bad idea. Maybe a fruit of the Spirit to focus in every hour? A name or attribute of God? Sadly, I need something tangible like that to keep me from getting too caught up in my own self and responsibilities. Perhaps this year will be different. Oh Lord, make it so!!!