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 Organizing Season...

I read that tag line at Jane's Apron and loved it (and told her so). The Christmas tree is down, the decorations are put away, and I am feeling light and free.

So, here it is New Year's Eve. I don't make resolutions, but the airy feel that comes from rediscovering all the space my home really has inspires me to keep going. I get our files in order, shredding the old, cleaning out drawers that have gotten disorganized with the lack of attention I've given them over the past few months. After feeling almost disconnected to my home by the change the holidays bring, I feel rooted again. I'm ready to get us all back on track, keep to our routines, and get things back to normal. Obviously, I'm not the only one, because people are writing about the same thing all over the blogosphere.

Like Jane, I signed up for Martha Stewart's Organizing Tip of the Day. (Do I think I want to be Martha Stewart? No, no, no...but I do like help staying on track.) Melissa, at the Inspired Room, posted her 4 Best Tips for Creating Order Every Day at Blissfully Domestic and I agreed with them all. Now that the holidays are over, I'll be back to my morning laundry routine, which sets the whole day on the right track. Pretty Organized Palace has 5 Quick things to organize right now to help us get started feeling light and in control as we go into 2009.

I'm ready to clean out closets, get back to sewing, and start planning our spring garden. The post-Christmas doldrums have passed and I'm ready to go.

Do you like to start fresh after the holidays? What do you do?