Party Animals

 

The word is out:  it's snowing.  A lot.  And blowing too.  Not an uncommon scenario in our neck of the woods at this time of year.  So we did what everyone else in our neighborhood did and bought a crapload of groceries, made sure the snowblower had plenty of gas, gritted our teeth and threw on an extra sweater in preparation for the impending snowstorm.  The storm blew in with the grit and persistence that North Dakota snowstorms tend to do, and left us with a "snow day" (for those of you in warmer climates, "Snow Days" are those days where you do nothing all day but sit in your jammies and watch the boob tube and eat junk food.  Errr, at least that's what we did today anyway.)  So all this snow meant not going out and about to participate in any New Year's festivities -- but frankly, we didn't really care. 

Traditionally, we have hosted a gathering at our house for NYE, with lots of hors' deurves, drinks, games, and merriment.  But this year, it was just the four of us.  We celebrated New Year's Eve in style:  with a fine and healthy dinner of cocktail weenies, shrimp dip, and Cheeetos.  And we ate it in the living room.  Because only on that extremely rare occasion when a snow day occurs on New Year's Eve would one get to do such a ridiculous thing!


Bad parenting + watching Elf (again) = Cheeto covered baby.  It's just math, people.

 But we had a lovely evening just chillin', no pressure to do anything but snuggle.  So that's just what we did.  And it was the best New Year's Eve I've ever had.  Hands down. When the kiddos both crashed (probably coming down off their sugar high) at about 8:30, and the hubby not long after, I sat here by myself wondering what I might do with my free time!  So blog it is.  Cuz, y'know, I'm never at a loss for words!  And I have been reflecting on the past year today, marveling at how fast it went, just like the year before that, and the year before that, and the year before that...

Because if there's one thing that I consistently seem to be reminded of when the New Year rolls around each year, it's that life goes waaaaay faster than I ever imagined it would.  My baby, my sweet and silly baby boy who has perfected the art of knowing just the right moment to give out one of his melt-your-heart smiles with a giant hug & kiss (usually the moment right before Mommy is going to send him to time out) is nearly two years old.  Not a baby anymore. 



Snuck in to get one last picture in 2010.  My little angelic boy, this is the only time he's ever sitting still!


And my grown-up girl, my beautiful, compassionate and joyful girl with the soul of an artist, the body of an athlete, and the mouth of a sailor will start Kindergarten in this new year.  The lump in my throat gets huge and I blink back the tears when I think about how quickly it's all seemed to go. 


My little punkin. When she sleeps, she looks just the same as she did as a newborn.  Happy New Year, sweet girl.


Just over Christmas break, I borrowed my mother-in-law's DV camera to transfer some of the old video tapes I had of Asha from 0-2 years (my old camera broke over 2 years ago and I was never able to get them off there, so Grama Debbie saved my memories!! Yay!)  As I watched (in fast-forward) my baby girl go from cooing infant, to rolling over, to crawling, to walking, to babbling toddler in a matter of a few hours, it struck me that it did truly seem like the past 4 1/2 years have gone by in fast-forward mode.  Heck, the past 10 years have flown by, and I'm sure it doesn't slow down anytime soon.  Don't blink, right?

But that very thing was one of the reasons why I began keeping up this blog in the first place -- to write down the little things about our life as of now, lest we forget.  I started with a little weight loss journey that I quickly dropped because it was A) boring and B) senseless to worry about petty crap like that.  But don't get me wrong, I'm now 15 pounds lighter than I was at this time last year.  And we made some big changes to the way we eat to include healthier foods and less eating out, so that was that.  The Time Machine Tuesday posts were fun, maybe I'll keep those around once in awhile, and the Techy Thursday was a one-time deal, but I may bring that back around too!  Keeping this blog was so much fun, and I hope to be able to do even more with it in 2011.

So I look back on the 2010 that flew by in a flash and realized I learned a few things this year:

1. A little girls' excitement about going to the amusement park is almost equivalent to that of her Daddy's once they're buckling themselves into their first ride together.
2. Raising boys is SO different from raising girls!  Mud, puppies, boogers, poop, destruction, you name it -- I was not prepared for parenting a little boy.  Always surprising, always challenging, always fun. 
3. What happens at work stays at work.  If you take your stress home, your family pays for the crap that got dumped on you that day, and this is not fair to them.  It also steals away those little moments that are totally worth enjoying instead of stressing about other stuff that's out of your control.
4. Marathon car trips are a huge pain in the ass, but when traveling to visit family they are more than worth the trouble.  Oh, and portable DVD players are totally worth the cost.
5. I don't show appreciation for my husband nearly enough.  He is a rock star Dad, husband, and son who does way more than his fair share for our family without so much as a thank-you sometimes.  He is my rock, balances me, and helps me keep my sense of humor in our crazy life!
6. Sometimes decks just fall right off houses!  Sometimes you back into the babysitters' car!  Sometimes the adorable new puppy will leave unwelcome 'gifts' for you!  Sometimes your days will just about end you!  Sometimes your husband will forget to take the snoose out of his pocket before washing his pants!  But if you don't laugh about it you'll never get through it all, and with enough sanity left over to enjoy the good stuff. 
7. Sometimes you just need a fresh start.
8. Playing like a kid is way more fun than playing like a grownup. 

So here's to 2010:  a pretty good year overall.  Thank you so much for reading my stories!  Never a dull moment in our home, so it's been fun recording those moments for posterity, and for future embarrassment of my children. ;)  Happy New Year to all  of you!  Wishing you health and prosperity in 2011.

STAY WARM!!!