Can't Believe January is Already Finished!

Can you believe it?  We're already done with January and heading into February.  The holiday decorations have been packed up for almost a month and spring seems to be right around the corner.  I can't believe it.  Tonight I'm pulling down my New Year's decorations, but before I do, I thought I'd let you see them.

"Be always at war with your vices,

at peace with your neighbors,

and let each new year find you a better man"

--Benjamin Franklin

 

First, our inspirational quote...this quote replaced "'Twas the night before Christmas..."   (You can still see the North Star left from the Christmas quote.)  Now it is time for me to come up with a quote about love for Valentine's.

Nice photo, right?  (Not!)

These little Ikea tea lights are a perfect place to add seasonal sayings.  Different fonts, different sayings, different looks.




Loved how this project turned out!

Finally, this actually turned out to be my favorite "decoration".  I used 3M stickers to put a poster board with the heading "In 2013, I'd like to..." on the wall, put out a box of sharpies and left my family to do what they chose.  It was so fun to see what each of us wanted to do...

Sewing, computers, savings, rock climbing, and
deadlifts, butterfly pull-ups, reading more...it is a varied list.

Everything from better performance at the gym and saving money...

Horses, gardens, vegetables, savings, a pull-up, a muscle up, single-unders.
Then, there are the specific ones: 6:30 mile, 350 deadlift (yeah, right!), etc.

To improving other skills and gaining new one...I loved "get even more cats"!  It was really great to see what everyone was interested in as the month progressed.  What will be even more interesting?  To see how much we have accomplished by the end of the year!

 

Happy New Year!

I would love to show you pictures from our New Year's Eve, but to protect the reputations of the participants (all under 18!), we've decided to forgo them for this post.

We don't go out New Year's Eve...I just know I would never forgive myself if something happened on what-seems-to-be-the-most-drunk-drivers-on-the-road day of the year, so we stay in. To make it festive, we let each of the family members pick something they want to eat and we buy enough to share with everyone. Some years, we end up with a truly awesome buffet and some years, like this one, we end up with a very strange combination of foods and drinks that only a child would love. After that, there are few rules...want to watch television? play video games? watch movies? play board games? stay up all night? okay. Have at it.

The menu this New Year's Eve? Well, Superman, Charming, and I went out to dinner to a local Mexican restaurant, while Buttercup and Valiant discovered the joys of Webkinz (grrr....). Once we were home, the menu came together like this: Valiant picked Spicy Hot Wings (the large bag from Costco), Buttercup picked Kirkland Cranberry Juice Cocktail ("It has no high fructose cornsyrup, Mom!"), Charming forgot to pick, Superman made cinnamon rolls again, and I picked tortilla chips with Spinach, Artichoke, Parmesan dip (again, from Costco). This year I even okayed a sleepover involving siblings who are friends of Buttercup and Valiant and watched their littlest brother until 1:00 a.m., so Mom and Dad could attend a church function. They added pretzels and Barq's root beer to the mix. Doesn't that sound terrible? Anyway, I was so full from going out to eat that I never had anything. The hot wings, the cranberry juice, and the cinnamon rolls seemed to go on forever, and the pretzels and the root beer came out late into the evening.

Basically, it is a night of complete and total chaos and the kids love it. The girls managed to stay awake longer than their older brothers, so crowing rights for the year have been established, but even the girls caved at about 6:00 a.m. As for Superman and me? We hit the sack after our littlest friend headed home with Mom and Dad. After all, those kids were going to want someone to cook breakfast!

Hope your night and morning were just as fun! Wishing all of you the very best in 2009!

It is always the same...

at this time of year. I'd have to say this is my favorite time of year, but... by the time Christmas has been put to bed, I am feeling so overwhelmed by the "things" we have, that I am chomping at the bit to clear them out. Superman and the children have put their feet down and the Christmas tree MUST stay up until New Year's Day. So that means my furniture is rearranged and normal is not yet attainable. Instead, Christmas decorations disappear a little bit at a time...slowly, slowly, so I don't get caught and accused of "not being in the spirit". The stockings and holders are put away, the singing angels in Buttercup's room are put away, the Advent Christmas tree that was in Valiant's room is packed up, as are almost all the kitchen decorations. Christmas music isn't playing all the time and the tree is not lit.

Like this post from Generations Gone By, I'm trying to get back to normal, predictable, even routine and pedestrian are fine! So, the sheets are in the dryer, another load is in the washer, the bathrooms have been cleaned, and Superman is back in the garage doing some amazing garage thing. It is back to paying bills and thinking about groceries. I'm wrapping up year end paperwork, getting things cleaned out and decluttered for the new year.

Yes, we have two birthdays in February, as well as Valentine's Day to think of, but for now, we're back to being just us with a Christmas tree.