Party Animals We Are....Not

We did watch the ball drop. We just did so from the comfort and warmth of bed. We're party animals like that. I'm aware of how boring we are when the new year rolls around. "Someday," I tell my husband every year, "when the kids are grown and gone, we are going to reserve a room at the Marriott Marquis in Times Square and do the New Year right. Of course, we could reserve such a room and take the kids along. But that sounds like a lot of work.

As far as they were concerned, they partied hardy this New Year's. We let them stay up until midnight, which all but the Princess did very willingly; she lasted until about 11:00. We warned them that watching the ball drop wasn't all that exciting on a TV screen. And we were right, of course. "Where is the ball?" "You mean that's the ball?" "Where is it going to drop?" "Will it break?" "Wait. I can't see the ball." 30 seconds and it was over.

At which point, we informed the children that they were to tuck us in for a change and go to bed. Saved us having to get out of bed.

New Year's Day was quite uneventful. We don't do football around here. Generally, I catch a few snippets of the Rose Parade because I like to watch the floats make their way through my old neighborhood. I kinda forgot yesterday it was even on.

We did get the Princess' ear re-pierced. She was a trooper. I was a little nervous because when we got to Claire's a little girl Audrey's age was in the hot seat. And she screamed bloody murder when the piercing occurred. I think time stood still for a moment as her little scream echoed throughout the entire mall. There's no way Audrey will climb back up in that chair now, I thought. But she did. And opted to sit on Daddy's lap. There were a few tears, but the cure-all Lollipop did the trick again. And now her head is no longer lopsided.

And just to show you the camera still works even when nothing of consequence is happening 'round here, some shots from New Year's Day:


She sits here every night to have her piercings cleaned and to brush her teeth. Quite the prima donna, isn't she?


I call them Grandpa Joe and Grandpa George, but even if you don't get the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory reference, they're pretty cute in bed, especially with their eye masks on. These masks were part of an overnight airline kit their uncle, who just returned from visiting Africa, supplied them with.


And my beautiful girl who spent much of New Year's Eve bragging about how this was the second turn of a decade she has witnessed. Oh, and how she has also been part of a turn of the century, though I don't think she remembers as much from her first New Year's as a 2-week-old as she claims.


This year, I resolve to take as many pictures of the other children as of the "baby". I just can't help it. She's so stinkin' cute. NOT that the others aren't just as stinkin' cute, but they do not cooperate for photos as she does. That's my excuse, and I'm stickin' to it!