We rang 2014 in with a bang!
We started by going to a party hosted by a family in our ward. They're basically evil geniuses who (starting at 4:00) set all the clocks in their house ahead 4 hours, party hard for 4 hours, and then ring in the new year at midnight (8:00) by banging on pots and pans and pretty much just making a ton of noise. Then they get their kids in bed by 9 (geniuses, I tell you)!!
We got home from this party around 9 and I got the girls in bed by 9:30. One of the perks of not having a 'baby' anymore is that none of my kids were crabby or frustrated staying up that late (which I kind of expected from Sammie, but she handled it so well)!
After about an hour at the party, Clayton caught on to the deception. He wears a watch all the time now, and couldn't be fooled because he knew that his watch was right and the other clocks were wrong (smarty). Fortunately, we convinced him not to ruin the secret for the other kids. It made him feel like such a grown up to be in on the secret. He melts my heart. For real.
Because Clayton was on to us, he knew that it wasn't actually after midnight when we got home. Justin and I agreed that Clayton and Noah could stay up until real midnight if they wanted. They both wanted. So the four of us ate pizza rolls, read a few chapters of Percy Jackson (we're reading The Lightning Thief - such a fun read aloud for our family), played Imaginiff (which was a really fun game to play with them), ate ice cream sandwiches, and counted down to the new year.
I can't remember the last time I actually celebrated the new year (shoot, I can't remember the last time I
stayed up until the new year). It was a lot of fun though, and I so look forward to making this a new tradition!
A few pictures from our new years:
Noah decided to ring in the new year in a very zen state.
He was meditating everywhere. Not sure he found his inner calm, but it sure was entertaining to see all the places he meditated.
Me and Sam. She had been sad about something (see the tears in her eyes), but getting the camera out made her smile.
Me and sassy Miss Jos.
Clayton's face here cracks me up. This kid is seriously the best!
The four of us who made it to midnight. It's hard to take a picture of a group of four. In hindsight I'm thinking we should have used the automatic timer, but this way was more entertaining!
On the first day of 2014 we got busy taking down Christmas (which is always sad, but I feel like my house always looks so clean and uncluttered afterward). We were gearing up for the polar vortex which was making its way over to us.
For those who have been living under a rock, the polar vortex is a massive cold that hit the Midwest and New England earlier this week. We experienced temperatures in the -30 to -40 range for two whole days. Schools were closed (for 3 days actually), roads were considered hazardous and closed to everyone except emergency vehicles and first responders, and just about everything was closed (not that you could have gone anywhere anyway). It was bitter cold. It was so cold that even Disco wouldn't go out to go to the bathroom! I would open the backdoor to let him out and my lungs would burn - and I wasn't even outside the house! Thankfully we were prepared and were able to spend three cozy days just hanging out.
The big freeze hit our house on Monday. The Sunday before, it was not too cold outside (mid 30's) and snowing like crazy. Church had been cancelled so we went outside for some backyard fun while we had the chance!
Umm, let's talk about how adorable this baby is. Seriously, she kills me.
The snow was too soft for a proper snowman, so the kids an I made a snow turtle. Noah named him Sheldon. Get it? 'Shell'-don! Ha!
We then turned our deck stairs into a mini sledding hill. It wasn't our best sledding ever, but the kids had a great time with it!
After a while, they realized they didn't actually need the sled and could go down penguin style. We were laughing pretty hard!
Monday and Tuesday we stayed put. We hunkered down and road out the big freeze together and had quite a bit of fun.
Justin worked Sunday night. He was also supposed to work Monday morning doing C-sections but because of the weather, they cancelled all non-emergent procedures and sent home everyone who wasn't absolutely necessary. When Justin got home he couldn't get his car into the garage because of the amount of snow that had fallen (even though he'd shoveled the drive the day before so he could get out for work). So my poor babe had to shovel the drive. In -40 degree weather. He assured me it wasn't as bad as I thought it was, but it sure looked cold!
We weathered the big freeze with some movies, some games, some reading, some cleaning, and lots and lots of playing.
This makes me laugh. The girls had disappeared and were playing quietly when we heard Sam cry. Not a hurt cry, but cry nonetheless. Justin went up to check on her and called "Ari, come up here! Quick!" I could tell by his voice that it was going to be funny so I grabbed the camera. Sammie had tried to climb
INTO her crib and had gotten stuck. She wasn't too happy about it, but it made us laugh (**side note: we are wondering if she's ready for a big girl bed. I vote no. She's my baby and there are just some things I'm not ready to let her do.)
We played some checkers. It took some time for the boys to figure it out, but once they got the hang of it they loved it. Clayton's actually not too bad. It won't be long before he stars beating me on a regular basis!
Finally, on Wednesday, the roads were deemed safe for travel. School was still closed but at least we were able to get out! We went to the gym (I was in desperate need of serious physical activity) and the boys gymnastics and karate classes were on. Clayton recently got his yellow belt. Yellow is the third belt (after white and orange). He's pretty proud of himself (and we are pretty proud of him too)! He's loving karate!
On Thursday they opened the schools back up (as I type this, the Hallelujah Chorus is playing in my head) and the boys went back to school. They were excited to get back but not excited about waking up early (here here).
Finally, today, I went on a field trip with Clayton's grade. We went here:
This is part of the Studebaker Museum and Northern Indiana Museum of History. It was a fun field trip, but if I ever have to chaperone a group of 11 fourth graders again, it will be too soon. My favorite part was being with my guy:
Ha! Check out his long tongue!
This one's my favorite. On the bus ride back from the field trip, he hugged me and told me how glad he was that I came and how he always wants me on his field trips. This is exactly why I do this. I don't particularly love field trip chaperoning, but I most definitely love Clayton. I would do this a million times just to feel his tight hug and hear his sweet thanks. Man alive, this kid's the best!
So now we're back to normal around here. Schedules and routines and all that goes with raising this brood. It was nice to get those extra three days of vacation (especially since Justin was around for most of it - that was one of my favorite things), but I'm glad that we're returning to normal now.
And here's a picture of Sammie. Just because she's adorable and squishy.
Our 2014 has gotten off to a great start! This is going to be a busy, crazy, and exciting year for us. I can't wait! It's going to be a good one. I can feel it!
