welcome 2013!

New Years Eve... ahhhh. the big question- stay in or go out? We celebrated a few good ones in Germany where 4-5 families would have big slumber parties at each others houses, with all the parents and kids staying up to watch the amazing fireworks and then enjoying (hung-over) breakfast all together the next day.

and 10 years ago, we got engaged on new years eve- so that was the best one ever for me!

but this year we wanted to take it slow and keep it simple. in the midst of a crazy summer, brian booked a 5 day trip to palm springs for us to go over new years. it was exactly what we were going to need- nice hotel, sunshine, swimming and lots of realizing- just the 4 of us!

but... a couple weeks before christmas brian broke the bad news to me... his boss was also going to be away, so brian needed to stay back here to work and be on-call as a replacement for his boss. we were not going to palm springs. at first i was so disappointed, but then as the chaotic days of December passed, i realized that this cancelation was probably a blessing in disguise. we needed to stay HOME and relax! why must we drive 8 hours to a hotel to relax? we could do this, right? (relaxing does not come naturally to either of us...) 

so when i thought about what i wanted for our new years eve plans, i decided to go super kid friendly! (something that also doesn't come naturally to me!) last minute, i invited 3 of the kids friends (and their parents, our friends Chris and Will) over for happy hour! 

i went out and bought glow stick necklaces and bracelets- 

and we "popped" a bottle of sparkling cider for the kids, served up in proper (plastic) champagne glasses, of course!

 (we adults popped two bottles of champagne ourselves! i wonder if those corks really did end up in our neighbors pool????)

we decided to light the fire-pit and keep the "party" outside!

and we roasted marshmallows and had s'mores-

 thanks for coming over clarks! it was exactly the excitement we needed for the night!

 then we moved the party inside for a dinner full of only appetizers- the kids loved it!

and a new board game-

tate liked using the fancy umbrella straws to sip his sparkling cider-

 brian and tate had gone out earlier in the day to pick up a surprise dessert for us all, mini cupcakes!

 the kids colored the underside of  bubble wrap, which I taped to the floor and they jumped on to pop all the bubbles, which sounded like fireworks after we watched the ball drop!

 we let the kids lay in the living room in their sleeping bags to watch the ball drop... but, we lost track of time and we kind of missed the ball drop in NY at 9pm here. so, we had to come up with something quick because we weren't letting them stay up much latter! my smart husband went into the office and pulled up the ball dropping on YouTube. The kids were so excited to watch it and after the bubble wrap fireworks, went to bed totally satisfied. (who cares that they watched 2012's ball drop, right? they will never know!)

then... it was time to keep ME up until midnight to see the ball drop. i have a problem... tv + couch = sleep. so i knew sitting around watching a movie wasn't an option.  i figured a game for brian and i would make for a fun way to pass the hours. then when i was out shopping, i found a puzzle of Times Square in NY that i thought would be just perfect for us to complete while we watched tv and waited for midnight. it worked and i stayed up until 1am, thank you!

i took this picture while working on the puzzle-

that's my belle. a year ago this month we found out that she probably has cancer. and i am thrilled to report that a year later, although her tumor is larger (like a marble now), she still has NO symptoms. in fact she has been running with me again lately! she does limp at about mile 1.5, but so do I! In March, she will turn 10- which is 70 in adult years and I swear she pulls me our entire 3 mile run!

who knows what 2013 has in store for any of us... hopefully good health for all, including my belle!