La Vida Loca De Flores

We love New Year's Eve. The kids look forward to it every year. Of course, in the pre-kid/one-kid days, New Year's Eve meant going out for a huge "grown up" style party, sharing a romantic kiss (and a glass of champagne) at the stroke of midnight, and coming home in the wee hours of the morning.

These days, New Year's Eve means eating lots of junk food, sipping sparkling cider, playing family games until late into the night, Mom and Dad barely making it to midnight, and spending the last moment of the previous year and the very first moment of the new year, with our most priceless treasure....our kids!

Every year, our New Year's menu consists of some favorite "must haves" along with whatever random things we may have hanging around the house.

This year, due to an abundance of eggs, we had deviled eggs AND egg salad croissants, along with freezer pizza, buffalo wing flavored pretzel chips with ranch dip to go along side our standard BBQ little smokies. To satisfy our sweet tooth, I made some peanut brittle, magic cookie bars, and our traditional Chex Muddy Buddies...I don't even know how this happened, I think one year I made Muddy Buddies and so then the next year, the kids asked if I was making them again and from then on they have become a traditional New Year's treat for us...funny!

The kids always look forward to our annual sip of sparkling cider in "fancy" cups and wearing the silly hats, popping poppers, and blowing on their New Year's noise makers! This year happens to be Powell's Centennial Year and so there was a pretty good fireworks display just a block or so away, so we had a good view of it from the front yard! We were all outside in the 10 or so degree weather...Kolt in bare feet (I think I didn't have any socks or shoes on either) watching the Centennial fireworks display. It was pretty neat to have real fireworks in our little town on New Year's!