Happy New Year!

This year we spent New Year's Eve in (not unusual for us) and did Hour Bags. We started at 5:00 and each hour we opened a bag which contained a surprise or activity. Jack was eager to try to stay up until midnight, but I assured him that if he couldn't make it he could still open the rest of the bags later.

A lot of people do a much fancier job of this--themes, rhymes, etc. Since this was our first time, I kept it pretty simple:

5:00 Make a Happy New Year sign with stickers (picture below)

6:00 Make homemade pizzas and cookies for dessert

7:00 Make noisemakers (picture below)

8:00 Play a game Jack had a new Madagascar game in the bag. We didn't really follow the directions, but he had a good time anyway. Even Bobey seemed to enjoy it.

A little before 9:00 I convinced Jack to put on his jammies--just in case--and we took a picture with the New Year's sign he made earlier.

9:00 Enjoy a new movie--Scooby-Doo Meets Batman

10:00 Popcorn

11:00 Jack had a hatching dinosaur egg in his bag!

12:00 Confetti! We watched the local countdown on TV and then shook our noisemakers and...

...threw the confetti!

We were surprised, but Jack made it to midnight. I got him in bed pretty quickly after that, but he woke up while I was in the shower and was asleep in my spot in the bed by the time I got out. FYI--A queen-sized bed is not big enough for a tall man, a pregnant woman, and a four year old who likes to flop all over the place. Really. This morning he was up at 8:45, so I am hoping that bedtime tonight will be easy.

We also discussed our resolutions for the upcoming year: Jay is going to revamp our diet, I am going to try to be more prepared, and Jack is going to work on his drawing. Really, though, if we make it through the upcoming year with a small shred of sanity left among the three of us, I am going to consider it a success. Happy New Year to you and yours!