NYE {2017}

12 / 31 / 171 / 17 / 18

You know those days that, despite the camera roll full of lovely photos you’re left with at the end of the day, were just sort of a disaster? That was our last day of 2017. My gosh. Now in all fairness, our kids are sick. Like really sick. And have been since our house cleared out after Christmas. Grae’s got a terrible cough and a sore throat and in addition to the cough, Sam’s super congested, has been experiencing some laboured breathing, and hasn’t been sleeping well. In short, they’re both miserable.

Now, our day was off to a rough start after a ridiculously early wake-up from Sam (we’re talking in the 3 a.m. range) and our girl waking up on the wrong side of the bed, and we had already cancelled having Brad’s family over for our annual NYE fondue night, but then a delayed flight meant also cancelling the big family farm walk we’d planned in place of the fondue too. Oh, add to that the fact Sam only napped for 57 minutes when he *desperately* needed his usual 3 hours and Miss G basically hung off of me while making non-stop requests during those 57 minutes, and that was our day. Ugh.

But, you know… It is what it is. Our kids are sick and our New Year’s Eve wasn’t the happy, chilled out day filled with grandmas and grandpas and aunties and uncles that we’d hoped it would be, but oh well. There were lots of good moments sprinkled in between the whining and needing and grumpiness, and these photos are a reminder of that.

I know social media sometimes gets a bad rap for not being ‘real life’, but are we really going to pull out our phones and snap pictures when our kids are having a rough time? When our toddler is banging his head against the tile floor in frustration? When our big kids are storming off and slamming doors? When our spouse is feeling stressed about cancelling plans with his family because he knows how desperately they want to see our kids? Of course not. And thank goodness for that. Because in that moment, our kids probably need some love and someone to talk to and our spouse probably needs some space just to be.

All that to say, I’ll happily take the camera roll full of fun memories. Of course we take the lessons that come from the hard times along with us too, but when I look back on New Year’s Eve 2017, I’m going to be remembering the epic morning dance party we had in the playroom, the joy balloons and play dough brought about, and the delicious fondue we ended the day off with.

Roll on, 2018.

this year’s celebration play dough

New Year’s Eve {2016}

12 / 31 / 161 / 6 / 17

I’ve been a terrible blogger this year… Between adjusting to life as a mama of two and having a baby who cried for the first several months he was home and hasn’t slept for longer than a couple of hours at a time {at most} for the last several months, some days I feel like I’m just keeping afloat. These days I’m lucky if I get my post into CBC Parents each week and post something here every week or two, but I’m hoping that’ll change this year. We’ve got a new plan in place to help our sweet boy master the art of sleep and if we’re successful, I should finally have a little bit of extra time during naps and after bedtime. We’ll see, but I’m hopeful!

So with that, I’m kicking off 2017 with a peek at our New Year’s Eve… Doing so means I can’t soon forget all the fun we had today – the insane snowfall we got here in Vancouver, how much our girl adores reading at 6 years old {and how much her baby brother looks up to her}, our first ever outdoor silly string fight, and the deliciousness that is our annual NYE fondue night {yum}.

Here’s our NYE in iPhone photos…

plans in place

NYE Plans

12 / 30 / 141 / 17 / 15

Early this morning, Miss G and I sat down together and planned out how we’d spend our last day of 2014 as a family… Here’s what we came up with. Skating beneath the castle {we’ve been waiting to do this!}, some celebration science, the opening of our highly anticipated NYE surprise ball, then a pizza dinner followed by a dark chocolate fondue. By far my favourite part though? At the very last moment, Grae decided that she’d better plan our breakfast too. I was expecting something elaborate for the final day of the year, but her pick? TOAST. Hah – consider it done, my love. ☺

New Year’s Eve Surprise Ball

12 / 23 / 141 / 12 / 15

After creating a NYE celebration kit {that Miss G loved} last year, I knew I wanted to do something similar this year… I loved the idea of a collection of small things to make the evening extra special, but I wanted to present it differently just to change things up a little. That’s when the idea of a New Year’s Eve surprise ball came about. While I’ve admired the surprise balls I’ve seen on the lovely blog And We Play {Valentine’s ones | turkey ones}, I’d not tried my hand at making them until just recently, and I’m so glad I finally gave it a go. Making one was easy and fun and I already know that Miss G is going to love it, so I can totally see them becoming a special celebration ‘thing’ in our house.

New Year’s Eve Celebration Kit for Kids

12 / 22 / 141 / 12 / 15

With our vacation under way and everything Christmas basically prepared for, I’ve been thinking about New Year’s Eve recently… I’ve got something fun tucked up my sleeve for this year’s celebration {coming soon to CBC Parents!}, but I also really love the fun New Year’s Eve celebration kit I put together on a whim to help Miss G ring in 2014. Obviously, NYE isn’t the most kid-friendly holiday with the big celebration taking place at midnight and all {waaaaay too late for our little in bed at 6 p.m. gal}, but we surprised Miss G with this fun little kit early on in the evening last year and she had a total blast with it.

New Years Eve {2012}

12 / 31 / 121 / 6 / 13

While last year’s NYE was a quiet evening at home as a family of 3, this year we were lucky enough to spend it with some of my very favourite people. We arrived back in Cochrane early this afternoon to fireworks on the countertop and plans of a bonfire in the works (thanks, Gar!) My NYE contribution was picking up some groceries and putting together some homemade {wholewheat} thin crust pizzas while Miss G got her nap on. Mix in some s’mores, noisemakers, and late night science experiments with my nephews {after the girls had gone to bed}, and you’ve got yourself a pretty awesome New Year’s Eve.

Making a bonfire with wet wood in freezing temps isn’t easy.