twenty-eleven


The house is totally quiet and its not even 1am yet. 
This is a first for us. 
I guess its what happens when the hubby has to work bright and early in the morning :) 

If I look around the house though, I can see that it was a pretty amazing night. 
I can see soda cans, beer bottles {not too many, don't worry}, juice cups, candy bars, cookies, 
brownies, leftover trifle, tons of appetizers - some plates that had appetizers on them, 
8 board games stacked on the kitchen table, plates with food still on them; bellies 
that couldn't quite finish it off, and a kitchen sink full to the brim with dishes.


One of my favorite parts of hosting a party is cleaning up the aftermath. 
And I know it might sound like I'm being sarcastic, but I assure you, I'm not. 
I do enjoy it. I either crank up some tunes or turn on one of my favorite flicks
and enjoy the time, just myself, cleaning the mess of what can only be described as 
loads.of.fun. 

It was loud here tonight, for sure. We had 9 kids, ages 7 and under. 
The wii game, Just Dance brought some laughs to our group. 
Especially when the moms joined in the dancing fun :)


When I went to clean the upstairs toy mess, it literally looked like a huge 
toy box threw up. 
Doll houses were played with. 
Dress-ups were worn. 
Dolls, cradles, strollers, blankets, swings, high chairs & pretend houses were set up. 
Imaginations ran wild, that's for sure. 
Creations made with legos were all over the place. 
Cars, trucks, planes and trains were everywhere. 
pairs of little high heals were found in every room... 
which means lots of dancing went on.


Everyone stayed until midnight this year. 
Even our good friends who swore their boys wouldn't make it past 9pm. 
We turned all the lights off, turned the TV to channel 4, to watch the local news, 
opened all the mini blinds and some of us braved the 27 degree chills and stood on the 
back deck, to watch the fire works display at the Space Needle. 
It was a-mazing!


I had no idea the show was so long. I think it went on for 10+ minutes, at least. 
It was really fun to watch the live show from our deck and then to look on TV 
and see it happen there {but up close} 5 seconds later...

"It was SO trippy!" -Ethan
"Its like surround sound for the eyes!" -Jason 
"this is pretty wild" -Brandon
"wait! what we see on TV is happening right outside!" -Cambria 


I love when the old year flips over into the New Year and everyone bursts into 
applause and screams. 
I love that couples in the room give each other a New Year smooch. 
I love that kids start asking "so, is it my birthday now?!" 
I love finding sleeping kids on the floor, that couldn't quite make the 12AM cut off 
{this year it was Rachel again} 
I love new beginnings.


I hope you all had a wonderful New Year! 
My my hope for you is that 2011 is filled with God's richest blessings;
 That His love and faithfulness will find you exactly where you're at 
and be what He uses to draw you closer to Him. 

Love you all, my blogger friends... 
Happy New Year, to you :) 




Comments

Carrie said…
Oh, it sounds like you had a great time! I hope you have a very good New Year too.
Gina said…
What a great celebration! I love new beginnings too. :-) Happy New Year Arnolds!

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