New Year's Eve Festivities... And Then Some

This year we started our New Year's Eve festivities with an early matinee, courtesy of Santa and the gift cards he put in all of our stockings.  We went to see Frozen, and boy were those kiddos of mine excited!  (We haven't been out of the house as much as usual - cabin fever!)  They were even more excited because everyone got popcorn and a soda, a very rare treat!  (Again, thank you Mr. Claus.)

The movie was pretty good.  I only missed a few parts because I had to deal with Tess.  She ended up on my lap for a good half of the movie, which doesn't sound that bad, but by "on my lap" I mean climbing around on me, sitting on my lap, falling off of my lap, and squirming to no end.  At the very end when the lights came on I was a bit nervous to find Tess on my lap holding a nearly full cup of soda - with no lid on it.

My movie experience could have had a very soggy ending, but the movie gods were smiling on me that day and there was nary a spill.

That evening we had our friends the Hartwells and the Wallins over for a grilled cheese jamboree.  We haven't had a grilled cheese jamboree in a long time, which is sad because they are so very delicious.

I was too busy stuffing my face and chatting with my friends to get very many pictures.  That's the sign of a good party, right?  (Or the sign of a grilled cheese sandwich-stuffed belly.  One of the two.)

The kids sat on our giant bean bag and played arcade games.  That's Tess's friend, Millie.  She's a kick in the pants.

Mr. Cole.  I had his dinner ready an hour before he was willing to get off of the arcade games.  And then he ate and started playing with Lance's phone.  Not the most social of children.

Then the extreme opposite, Spencer, who is the most social of children.  He's at that age where he wants to be a part of any and all conversations, even if they're a bit over his head.  In the chair is Jon, who was Spencer's primary teacher for THREE YEARS.  The man deserves a medal. (Or at least a good 'way-to-go' high five.)

Here's Deidra and Kanien.  The dang picture is fuzzy, but I'm putting it up anyway because it's the only photographic proof I have that they were there!  Yes, Spencer's party decorations are still up, don't judge.  Oh, and that empty liter bottle on the table reminds me that Jon brought his carbonator and we had all sorts of yummy carbonated juices.  Seriously, it was sooo cool!  I'm pretty sure our family needs to invest in one.  (This wasn't one of those wimpy 12psi Sodastreams - this was an industrial 42psi carbonator of awesomeness!)

And here's miss Tess.  She made it to our 8:30pm 'midnight' countdown (complete with confetti poppers), but didn't last much beyond that.  That girl was tired.  The lack of any sort of schedule has kinda worn her out the last few weeks.

I would have been fine if our festivities had ended after our guests left for home.  Unfortunately, between midnight and 1am both Lance and I suffered from a nasty bout of what we think must have been food poisoning.  It was Not. Fun.  I'm pretty sure it was from the soda and popcorn bucket we shared at the movie, so I guess the movie gods weren't really on my side after all.  (I would have preferred the spilled soda in my lap, if that tells you anything.)

So not exactly the most lovely way to ring in the new year.  But that's okay; 2013 was a pretty great year by all accounts, and I'm optimistic that 2014 will be just as good.  (No more food poisoning would be nice, though.)