a slow start.

i like slow days.

days that feel like three, saddled up next to nights with movies and popcorn...

 pretending our children  might let us sleep in. 

creating a permanent indentation on the couch with your bumbum and then the next day, doing nothing all over again.

you can feel the rest taking root. 

the week between christmas and new years is a freebie.

it is made for pajama clad laziness.

the snow stayed swirled around the door frames while we snuggled down in our den to finish the year.

a few vacation days saved up for just this purpose.

and we purposed nothing.

   

 we discovered the wonder of a baby's grip.

we took pictures.. and named the nuanced shades of our own eyes.

we counted nella's rolls of love.

and loved her in her quest to roll.

when the desire for fresh air became greater than the desire to stay in sweatpants..

we ventured to the sledding hill.

and it's possible i just went ahead and wore my sweatpants.  

but it was so ridiculously bright out that who could see them anyway. :)

there was fit throwing when grayson's game was found out. he would drag the sled only halfway up the hill and then send himself down instead of trudging up the whole thing to share sled time with others.

time outs on the sledding hill are awesome. 

i took a couple of rides down the hill but spent most of my time hiding in the van from the frigid air with these two really happy campers. 

one day spilled into the next and before i knew it new years was upon us.

 am i the only one who feels betrayed by new years eve?

i had grand visions in my younger years... fancy dresses, glittery parties, exuberant countdowns, lots of kissing.

the reality is nate and i are lucky if we still have our eyelids open at midnight.

and that's not just because we have kids. it's always been lame.

i used to harbor bitterness in my heart but i have let it go.

i am embracing the lameness. 

i let the kids drink ginger beer with us.

ginger beer is like a really strong, all natural version of ginger ale.

they were excited.

but since they don't drink soda typically...

they were ill equipped to deal with the bubbliness.

she kept saying "i doan like da beads."

:)

i also had the fabulous idea of pulling out our leftover party popper firecrackers from the 4th of july

it's not new years till everybody cries/hates your party. :)

did you love that awesome music? pandora fail. 

did you love how my kids know how to 'get behind' someone in line? homeschool fail. 

the best part of the 'party' was a youtube showing of the new york ball drop from 20ll at 9:30 pm.  

grayson kept saying "i love how they dropped that bomb.." 

and we kept correcting that with "BALL..they dropped a BALL buddy."

kind of important difference.  

we followed that with our own balloon drop (balloons in a big sheet that we would drop on each other)

and an impromptu dance party in which we shouted 20l3.

you make your own fun. 

and sometimes it's not even that fun. 

but it is because you love these people.

and lame holidays with people you love are less of a letdown than without them.

say that ten times fast.

and the party was over when the real bomb was dropped.

ganz the cat pooped our bed.

he doesn't feel good about 20l3.

redemption to another lame new years was sought through the righting of an ancient wrong.

nate had never seen indiana jones.

20l3 couldn't stand for that.

and yes.. we were asleep by midnight.  

just a couple cool kids showing the what's what to another new years eve. ;)