Ring in the New Year

There was no snow here this year for the holidays, and actually, we've experienced a rather mild winter--especially in comparison to last winter.  This year, we had a lot of rain--well above the average.  New Year's Eve was no exception.  That took fireworks out of our celebration plans, but we still rang in the new year well.  We had food and games and generally just spent time together.  Nothing extravagant, but ways in which we wish we could spend our time more often.  So we enjoyed it. 

Jozsef found the biggest cup he could find to make and enjoy one of our annual root beer floats 

One thing we did do differently this year was how we actually counted down the time to the new year.  I made a clock in the hallway.  Each balloon was filled with a treat and had a party popper tied to it.  Every hour, on the hour, starting at 1pm, a different child called out the time like the town crier and popped the party popper.  Then they burst the balloon to discover their treat.  They had a lot of fun and it was a great way to count the hours.

 Hannah played games with us for as long as she could, then she danced a bit to the New Year's Rockin' Eve performers before she sat down to rest--and eventually passed out.  Not amount of noise woke the girl once she was out.  :-)

 The ball dropped, and more locally the peach dropped.  There were cheers and hugs and kisses and then we finished our game before we cleaned up and called it done. 

 Another year done.  A new year ahead of us.  May God bless us and lead us through each day.