Happy New Year
We decided that we had no interest in staying up to midnight on New Year's Eve. It's not that we don't like to celebrate the new year, it was just that we knew we'd have a lot more fun if we got to bed early and then celebrated during the day instead. So that's what we did and it worked out great.
We did go out on Thursday night, having dinner at Solly's house for New Year's Eve. Hannah also got to see Annie there and the three of them had a great time running around and playing while the adults got to hang out. We had one mishap when the excitement got the best of them and Annie and Hannah went tumbling to the floor. No one (over the age of 3) clearly saw what happened but Annie came up crying and Hannah came up laughing. She wasn't laughing a moment later when she put her hand to her forehead and pulled away a hand covered in blood. We rushed her to the kitchen sink trying to not a) get blood on their walls, b) get blood on her pretty dress (although it was red) and c) have her start freaking out. While she was upset, she didn't seem in much pain and eventually we stopped the bleeding and calmed her down. It left a pretty good-sized welt on her forehead which was covered up with decreasing sized band-aids in the following days. But kids heal fast and while today she still has a red dot on her forehead it's almost all healed. It was her first experience (definitely won't be her last) with a wound gushing blood and I think she handled it well.
New Year's Day we had friends over for a day of brunch, sledding, hanging out, lunch, and lots of playtime for the kids (and a decided lack of nap time for all). We didn't have a lot of snow, but there was enough for the kids to get out sledding for half an hour. It was the first time this season Hannah had been on a sled and she loved it. Although when she gets pulled back up the hill by Daddy she doesn't appreciate how much work each sledding run can be. In future years she'll realize how big the hill in the meadow behind our house is an how much work it is to get up it.
Our playroom got a good workout with four kids pulling out as many toys as they could find. We've added colorful mats on the floor making it feel even more like a kids room (as if the bunk beds and toys weren't enough) and it was fun to see it put to such good use.
Photos from the weekend:
It was really an incredible 2009 and we're excited about what 2010 has in store. Happy New Year!