After a day of recovery from New Years, we then attended a “Breakfast for Dinner” get-together hosted by the Mulders. Erin provided yummy breakfast food and delicious martinis. Steve headed up more Guitar Hero fun.

Children of musicians:

I love these next few shots of the kids. They actually brought this seating in themselves and camped out as if they were watching a show. (They were watching the adults play Guitar Hero.):

The next weekend Brittain and Kyla Rose had a playdate:

Watching the jumpy castle inflate:

Amanda and Kyla Rose brought a fun activity – cupcake making!:

We frosted half the cupcakes with vanilla frosting and the other half with chocolate. When it was time to eat one, Amanda asked each of the girls which was their favorite. Kyla immediately said vanilla and Brittain said chocolate. I thought this was hilarious since it’s exactly opposite of their mommy’s favorites. :-):

What is it about starting all over that sounds so appealing? Don’t get me wrong, there would be some things in life that I would want to bring with me to my fresh start, but doesn’t a clean slate sound kinda fun? Then again, I’m a big believer in knowing that everything happens for a reason, and I wouldn’t be who I am, or where I am if it weren’t for the path that I took. I have made a real effort not to look back at any part of my past and think “if I had just done that differently…”. Instead, I try to view it as just another step to where I am today.

I haven’t actually purchased a CD at a store in a very long time, so any real CD I listen to is an old one. Usually when the holidays start approaching, I pull out my case of CDs and bring out my old-school Mariah Carey (and the like) Christmas albums. One of my favorites is the SheDaisy Christmas album (in case you don’t know, they are a country group made up of 3 sisters) that they came out with a few years ago. I pulled out this CD a little late in the season this year. And, although I have my favorites that I automatically go to, this year I found myself repeating the last track of this album called, “Brand New Year.” As I really listened to the lyrics and figured out everything they were saying, the words had a special meaning to me this year.

My revolution…
Learning to turn the outside inside out
Having the courage to find what life is all about
Loving so purely can surely melt a frozen heart
Knowing sometimes all over is the perfect place to start.

Welcome to my revolution
Lucky you, lucky me
The way we were meant to be
This is my one resolution and I make it with no fear
To live, to love, today
Cause it’s a brand new year

Seeing the world through rose colored eyes
This is my one big chance and I’m gonna make it twice
With the past below, I know love lifted me up here
So I’ll take a breath, kiss the sky, toll the bell
Cause it’s a brand new year

Resiliently, reclaiming me
Refining my recovery
Untwist my fate, unlock the gate,
let’s make a little noise
Cause it’s a brand new year

Welcome to my revolution
Lucky you, lucky me
The way we were meant to be
This is my one resolution and I make it with no fear
It’s never been so clear
Second chance is what got me here
To live, to love, today
Cause it’s a brand new year.

As I sit here at the end of New Year’s Day, I’m a little worn down from the activities, but I’m hopeful of the New Year and what it will bring. The last few years, although the most wonderful in so many ways,have also been some of the most trying. So, I’m looking at 2009 as a new beginning, a second chance in some ways. But, more than anything else, it’s a chance to make a resolution to do what we should make sure we all do everyday anyway…to live…and to love harder and more deeply. It’s a BRAND NEW YEAR!

We decided to have a New Year’s Eve “bash” over at our house. With the upstairs now a playroom we figured the kids as well as the adults could have a good time. There was plenty of guitar hero playin’, jumpy castle jumpin, and margarita drinkin’ for everyone.

Brittain getting ready for the party. She almost chose Mommy’s high heels as the finishing touch to the outfit:

I made a decision before everyone arrived that I was going to enforce the rule that only 2 kids were allowed in the jumpy castle at one time. I should have informed everyone else of my rule, though because when I walked upstairs after being downstairs for a little while, all 6 children were in there at one time. What could I do about it then?:

We took a break early on to eat some pizza. I figured this would be a great way for Brittain to see other children eating and therefore eat something herself. I was so excited as I watched her sit with the other kids. Yay! She’s going to actually eat!

But that night as we were picking up plates to throw away, we found a plate with a piece of pizza that looked exactly like this. She hadn’t eaten a thing! She sure fooled us:

I think this picture is so cute:

Right before Steve, Erin and the kids left, I asked if I could take a picture of the 4 of them together. Clearly I should have done this earlier in the evening because, by this point, it was time for bed and Will and Grace were TIIIIIIYERD! I actually took 4 or 5 pictures, but this one was definitely my favorite:

Baby Chord and his mommy Tara dropped by to join in on the fun. All the kids loved the baby. Tara was so understanding as each child wanted to see and touch him…multiple times. Brittain especially was taken by the baby and would hardly leave his side:

For the most part, Ava and Robert chose to stay where guitar hero was being played. They contributed to the fun by dancing their little hearts out:

We got an unexpected visit from Aunt CC and Uncle Matthew late into the evening. They were coming back from Boston that day and ended up being much later getting home than we expected due to them missing their original flight. It was a great surprise for us, although I’m sure this was NOT how they envisioned spending their New Years Eve:

If you can believe it, these 3 hung in there until about 1 o’clock in the morning. We finally put them in our bed so they could watch an episode of Caillou before heading to bed. The funniest thing about this picture, to me, is the fact that Brittain looks like she’s near death, yet Robert and Leah look like they could continue like this for another couple of hours:

Despite the very late bedtime, Brittain woke up at her regular time of 7:45 a.m. She was sweet enough to sit in our bed another couple of hours and watch tv so we could get a little more sleep. The new years festivities didn’t stop when our overnight guests left. After a very leisurely morning with the Evans’ and Sean, Aunt CC, Uncle Matthew, Sophie, Mimi, Aunt SuSu, and Doot all came over to continue the fun:

Brittain really wanted to play Guitar Hero herself, so I spent a few minutes trying to teach her. As you can see, both of us were quite impressed: