Happy New Year!!!

 Growing up my family never celebrated New Years.  I went to bed early like I did every night, and if I was lucky, I was awoken by the sound of pots and pans banging in my neighborhood around midnight.  I aways woke up really early to watch the Rose Parade, and that was about it. My Dad worked a lot, but always had New Years off and I loved spending time with him watching all the fun floats.  When I was older, I was able to help decorate some floats for the Rose Parade with my family which are cherished memories.

After having kids, I never planned on doing much for New Years. A few years ago my sister threw a fun little New Years eve party at her house for the kids.  It was so simple, but so fun.  I had never seen anything like it, and I was determined to make this our New Year's Eve Tradition.  This year we invited neighbor friends over to celebrate with us, and it was a great night.  I made each child a gift full of poppers, streamers, silly string, and pop-its and placed it under the New Years tree.  The New Years tree was decorated with hats, noise makers, beads, and balloons filled with money.   On the table we had fancy plastic wine glasses and sparkling cider. On the tv we had a count down from last year (so the kids could watch the count down without needing to stay up until midnight).  Once our friends arrived, each child sat on a star.  They took turns picking and popping balloons.  Some had change in them, others had $1, $2bill, or even $5 in them.  After all the balloons were popped, the kids picked items off the tree, we poured sparkling cider for everyone, and watched the count down.  It was a complete mad house for about 5 minutes with all the noise makers.  I then gave each child their gift and told them to go outside and have fun.  This activity is so simple, and doesn't require too much planning, yet the kids absolutely love it.  Its a great way to celebrate the new year!