new year's eve

Loved this balloon idea for New Year's Eve, and more importantly, so did the kids.


Each balloon had a clock drawn on it, and that was the time they got to pop it...inside was a little note telling us the activity. And just 'cause, I wrote most of them in Spanish.


It must have been a lot of fun, because even now, I can't remember half of what we did. Although I will say, do not make the same mistake I did and keep the kids up till 11pm. Things quickly deteriorated after 9:45pm.

We started off by making a video of each of the kids answering some questions. This would be fun to do each year to see how their answers change. Let's see if I remember next year.

We quickly moved on to snacks. These popcorn balls were yummy...just like Rice Krispie treats, but with popcorn.


And although it doesn't look that great, this punch was delicious. Here's the recipe. Really, you can never go wrong with punch.


I do remember making a huge lump of playdough. I tried to make it smell like peppermint, but you must need to use a lot of extract to get that smell.


Smart planning was crucial...they played with the dough while I got dinner ready. Yay, mom.


The fun didn't really start until daddy got home.


And this was the part I was looking forward to all night...funny mustache pictures.


Card stacking somehow made it onto the list...but way too late into the night. It's much harder than it looks.


And about this time, things started breaking down...tired kids means crying and hysterical laughing, switching quickly back and forth, for no apparent reason....although Diego could have made it to midnight without a problem.


Another tip: these glowstick balls from the dollar store do NOT stay together. Oh, and make sure you actually have sparklers BEFORE you tell the kids we're going to light them.



What a great year 2011 was....looking forward to the next one!