I would like to eventually start the tradition of giving our children half their gifts on Christmas, and the other half on Epiphany, making that day a big celebration with Zenith even taking work off possibly. I want them to have something to look forward to after Christmas Day is over since that is when the rest of the world ceases to celebrate.
We had a lovely New Year's Eve at Kaite's house with Mom and Dad. We fed the kids their dinners, tucked them into bed, and enjoyed the rest of our evening off! ;) Each couple brought "supplies" to make a different cocktail, and we all sampled each other's cocktails throughout the night.
We had B52s, Brandy Old Fashion Sweets, and Sloe Gin Fizzes and they were all quite yummy!
Dinner was Sesame Pineapple Chicken with Fried Rice and a side salad
Can't forget about evening cuppas!
The little guy having fun playing with the toys Aunty Kaite set out for him
And of course he had to dress up for the occasion!
The balloons have New Year's Resolutions on them.
We decided to do a Yankee Swap and each brought a gift to swap. It became quite the game as everyone gets a few cards, and when your card is called, you go up to pick up a gift. That keeps going until all the cards are gone and everyone has a gift. But during it, you can steal each other's gifts so it becomes quite competitive as everyone fights for the most oddly shaped gifts.
Each gift developed names according to what they looked like...we had the Goose, the Poinsettia, the Tootsie Roll, the Classic Christmas Gift, the Kid's Toy and the Mitten. Most of the gifts were wrapped very strangely to throw everyone off as to what they were and get people fighting over them. It was really fun! Zenith and I got the Goose (a really soft, warm throw blanket which Dan had rigged up in a contraption to throw everyone off), and the Kid's Toy (a bottle of Baileys with liqueur glasses).
Happy New Year!
Believe it or not, he didn't have a drop of alcohol. (For those of you who have seen the "Worst Music Video Ever," you might recognize this.)
And this guy definitely doesn't need any alcohol to reach this point. :)
It was a great night complete with good company, food and drinks.
We also went out Sunday with a couple from Church and had a really nice time. We went down to the Enchanted Village at Jordan's Furniture where they recreate an entire town from the 1950s (it was all originally made in 1958) at Christmas with different Christmas scenes of inside homes and shops. It's all very festive and neat!
Afterwards, we went back to our friends' house and had a lovely visit with them. It's so nice to have another young couple with children to relate to on state in life as well as the Faith.
Not much other news around here. William "army crawls" all over the place now. He sits himself up in the crib and can pull himself up unassisted on the coffee table and crib. He can travel all around the coffee table while holding on. He got a lot of books for Christmas and has been enjoying storytime with Mommy and Daddy.
What Daddy does after diaper changing
I heard him in the nursery from the other room laughing and I knew he'd gotten something he wasn't supposed to. He has a particular "triumphant" laugh when he finally gets something he's been trying to get. (Please don't mind the mess...it was early. :P)
That's about all for now! Merry Little Christmas Everyone!
~Lindsay
Hi Lindsay I am just having a peruse of your blog, it's so good you put a lot of effort into it. I was wondering what the New Years resolutions written on balloons tradition is? Is there some special game attached to it? I want to have some family traditions for our little family especially Catholic ones one day when Grace is a bit older.
ReplyDeleteHi Jess! Thanks, I enjoy blogging and it's a great way for me to document everything in one place to look back on and reference. Like a virtual scrapbook. :P The balloons thing was something my sister came up with and doesn't really have any game or tradition attached. She just stuck them up there with a few general resolutions (I can't even remember what they said!) and it was more for decoration. I feel the same way though...I can't wait to start good Catholic traditions with our children. It's always great bouncing ideas off other families.
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