Happy 2008!

We had a New Year's Eve party with the kids. We told them at lunch time that they could stay up as until they were tired or until we went to bed - whichever came first. They were so excited and kept asking about the party. Even Rebekah was feeling the energy.

We started the evening watching Shrek 2. At 9 PM we started pigging out and playing games. We played Monopoly Jr. Leah won by $2. We played Book of Mormon Go Fish and two games of How Tall Am I?

About 10 PM I was feeling pretty tired, but the kids were all going strong. I was hoping some of them would decide to head to bed. At 11 PM, Daniel was reading from a chapter book with Chad. I couldn't believe that he could focus on the print!

We had family scripture time and prayer and got pajamas on at 11:30 then watched the last 10 minutes of the New Year's Eve TV coverage. I whooped and hollered when the ball dropped and the kids looked at me with blank stares. Don't they know that this is what they stayed up for?

Leah was lying there with her eyes half closed, but no one went to bed until the new year arrived. To top it all off, Leah complained that she didn't want to go to bed. Good old Leah. At least we know what to expect, unfortunately.

Joseph stayed awake most of the time, too. He's already a party animal!

Chad and I got to bed about 12:30. I guess the boys' alarm was set, because I heard someone rummaging through a bucket of K'Nex at 7:30 the next morning. Don't these kids need sleep?!?

The last of the New Year's festivities was to pack away the Christmas gear. We think we got everything except for one plate.

It's finally over! These past 2+ months have been tough. It's been hard to move, celebrate holidays and get used to another little person in the family. I look forward to 2008's holiday season being calmer and more organized = more enjoyable. It got so bad there for a while that one day, Daniel forgot his homework folder and Nathan forgot his backpack all together. I feel it's personal when the kids go to school unprepared.

I do have a resolution for the year. It's actually something I was already working on. I'm working on showing an increase of love with the kids. I criticize too much and don't appreciate enough. I'm using this scripture as my guide and reminder: "Reproving betimes with sharpness, when moved upon by the Holy Ghost; and then showing forth afterwards an increase of love toward him whom thou hast reproved, lest he esteem thee to be his enemy." (D&C 121:43) I think that will help Daniel with wetting his pants and hopefully Leah won't freak out so much. I've already seen how well the kids respond.