New Year's Eve

We have a tradition of spending New Year's Eve doing silly things together as a family. Everyone laughs at themselves (and others) and has a great evening. I have always made my world famous Italian Beef for sandwiches on hard rolls with the au jus sauce, potato salad, homemade dips, veggies, crackers, cheese, pickles, olives, homemade chicken broth salsa (served warm), chilies con queso, and tortilla chips. Crunch 'n Munch is also available. In case someone gets hungry.

This year, we planned on playing Dance, Dance Revolution, Guitar Hero, and a board game. Mike decided that we shouldn't spend all the money on the Italian Beef spread, so we ordered pizza from our favorite local pizza place.

We started the evening playing Twister. It was a little crowded with 8 people trying to be on the same mat, so we split up into smaller groups of 4-5.


One of us had a difficult time remembering which was left and right. A solution soon presented itself.

After a really long round, we decided to use heads, instead of right hands. The game was much more fun!
Paige and Allie were allowed to play their own round. The older children kept knocking them over, accidentally.

Buster decided that he needed to join in the fun, so Twister was put away and puppy-play time began.


Madelyn wanted to try her new Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader game. Everyone had an opportunity to be the contestant. Our family is now $3,000,000.00 richer than at the beginning of the evening. We're just waiting to the check to be mailed to us. Here is Katie doing her Jeff Foxworthy impersonation.

The little kids (maybe not so little) played a game of Don't Spill the Beans while the snacks were being set up.After snacks, Allie (our 4 year old) got the Saran wrap and covered up all the remaining food. She carried it all into the kitchen and put them in the refrigerator. WITHOUT being asked. She has never put food away for us. I was so impressed with her initiative and she was so proud of herself. I guess she really is a big girl now.

Mike dozed off while holding Paige at 11:00. Allie woke them up so they wouldn't miss all the fun. We watched Robbie Knievel jump over a volcano in Las Vegas. He made it. Don't feel bad if you missed it. We were not impressed.

Allie sat on the floor and held Buster to watch the Ball Drop (the kids wanted to see it, not me) and the Las Vegas motorcycle jump. He fell asleep. Aren't they cute?

Happy New Year!