Happy New Year! We had our 10th annual New Year's Eve party and it was a success. We are a well-oiled machine as we prepared for this party, even down to the annual argument/discussion where Randy thinks I haven't made enough food to which I respond that we always have too much food. We had more guests this year than ever before because we invited friends from other wards. We were a little nervous but it ended up being a lot of fun and everyone found people to talk to. The house was so loud that one girl had to leave because it was triggering a migraine and possible seizure. Oops. We didn't even play any games this year because everyone was just chatting and eating so we only did the wrapping paper ball. I don't think any kids cried this year over it and they all got more loot than necessary. The fireworks and floating lanterns were a hit and three months later I still have pieces of confetti stuck like glue to my driveway. Thankfully our house didn't burn down when not one, but two floating lanterns got caught in the tree above the house. Ethan acted fast and hooked up the hose in no time. People were definitely concerned but it was just another day at the Ball house for me.
So many shoes! It took a long time for everyone to find their shoes and get outside for the countdown
Landon's friends filled up on drinks before leaving for the annual NYE dance. It was Parker's first dance too. So the house was full of people but not teenagers.
We even set up s'mores at the fire pit to give people options besides the loud house. Only one kid went out :)
so.much.food.
The Mastermind behind the magic
Ethan and Halli
No big deal. Just a couple fires in a tree.
We couldn't convince everyone to join us for the Polar Bear Plunge but it wasn't that bad. There were several other groups there jumping in too so I guess we've started a trend. Forcing myself to jump in takes all the courage/crazy I can muster. But it feels refreshing after the shock wears off.
Happy New Year! If I were the type of person to set New Year's resolutions I would probably make a goal to blog once a week. In my mind that's how often I do it but it's funny that it never happens that way. My intentions are good but my execution is terrible. Sadly this applies to nearly every aspect of my life. I think my unofficial goal for 2019 {if I don't make it official I don't have to feel like a failure when it doesn't happen and yes, I know that is a very flawed way of thinking} is to stop feeling so overwhelmed. If I let myself I could have a panic attack thinking of all the things I have to get done, all the things I'd like to get done, and the small amount of things I actually get done each day. A life coach would tell me overwhelm is just a feeling and I get to choose my feelings. So 2019 is the year I'm choosing not to feel overwhelmed! There I made a goal. Sort of.
We rang in the new year with our traditional New Year's Eve party. It was fun and much less stressful for me as I realized that everyone is so happy we have this party and they always have a great time that I lowered the bar on the party prep this year. However, Randy significantly upped his game, thanks to the convenience of Amazon. He ordered a big plastic ball and lights which he strung on the flag pole for our midnight ball drop. He thought I'd be annoyed with it but I thought it was hilarious {and only a little annoying because it wasn't cheap}! We invited a few new families to the party which is always fun because they come expecting to leave early because they don't plan to stay up until midnight with their kids, but then they stay and party the night away. We had so much food we barely touched any of it, played a fun game with just the adults, and the newspaper ball was bigger than ever.
I'll let the pictures tell the rest....
Henry snugging with me just before I put him to bed. He slept the party away. Another great way to ring in the New Year if you ask me!
The giant newspaper ball which should be renamed wrapping paper ball. The kids are almost as excited for this as they are on Christmas morning.
Some of the kids partying hard
Randy explains the rules to the ball and takes it very seriously.
Little James worked hard to find a prize and no one got hurt this year.
The aftermath is a mess of paper, toys, candy, and people. We filled 7 garbage bags with the wrapping paper!
This picture doesn't do justice to the awesomeness of the disco ball dropping down as we counted down to 2019.
Fireworks are illegal in Sammamish. But that didn't stop Randy!
A blurry picture of Landon and best friend Luke.
Some of the crowd and our driveway/parking lot.
Within ten minutes of the new year the house was completely empty of guests, and we wasted no time getting to bed, after teenager Marcus returned from his New Year's Eve dance of course. I made him go and he was glad because he had a good time and started 3 different dance circles around him. I guess that's a measure of success.
The next morning we went over to our friend's house for the annual polar bear plunge and I'm happy to say that I took the plunge! I'm not as cool as you may think though. I only did it because Henry woke up early so I decided to take him for a run in the stroller while everyone else was asleep. {Let me insert that another unofficial resolution I made was to run more so I started 2019 off right!} When I got back there wasn't time for me to shower so I decided to throw on my suit and jump in the lake instead. I'm a novice. I jumped high and far which meant I went deep into the water and had to swim back to the dock. It was painful and oh so cold! But at least I wasn't a side-line Mom. My boys were proud of me for jumping in, even if they didn't wait so we could go in together.
A beautiful day for a swim. Trust me, it was cold. The dock was icy and slippery!
Yes, I plugged my nose, just to make my kids even more embarrassed.
I'm so excited for 2018 because that means 2017 is OVER! My top three worst years were 2008 (Lindsey died), 2010 (Mom died) and 2017 (we built/opened a practice, had a baby, had skin cancer/radiation all at the same time). I have a feeling 2018 is going to be a good year but still hard as we work our tails off getting the practice running at a pace where we actually make money off of it. But that's a post for another day. I was all about celebrating our survival of 2017 so this was our biggest New Year's Eve party to date. Plus, I'm a sucker for tradition so I had to throw this party even though I really just wanted to skip it and go to bed.
We invited a bunch of families over and I figured some of them would have other plans but everyone ended up coming. Plus, they brought all their kids. Usually the teenagers are off doing their own thing but since it was a Sunday this party became a family party. I did a headcount and we had 60 people at our house. A new record!
Randy made two, yes two, newspaper balls full of candy and toys. One ball was for the younger kids to rip into and the other was for the older kids. No one got hurt and only a few kids cried. The cleanup of all the paper filled seven garbage bags. That's a lot of wrapping paper (Randy doesn't use newspaper so I guess I should call it wrapping paper balls instead).
Bean (with the help of Marcus) ripped that thing to shreds. I was a little embarrassed by their ferociousness.
The cute little kids ready to go crazy on that ball
Parker went CRAZY!! He got more loot than anyone. I was surprised. He usually holds back or lets his brothers fight for him.
We played Kahoot. It's an online quiz game that you use your phone to lock in your answers which meant all the teenagers thought it was fun.
Marcus's team won but I'm not sure how since they didn't get as many questions right.
The teenagers playing Bang. ( a Mafia type card game)
Then we kicked all the kids out and the adults played our 80's Trivia Game. We had some good laughs and I impressed everyone with my impeccable knowledge of 1980's television sitcoms. Apparently my mom let us watch a lot more TV than everyone else. Bless her. Or maybe I just have a good memory but that's doubtful.
Randy decided we needed a bigger ball to drop so he wrapped a sled in lights and rigged it up for the midnight ball drop. It was hilarious and very Clark W. Griswald.
Our driveway full of people, cars, confetti, and noise. And the sled of lights on the flagpole turned sideways so it looked even more pathetic.
Here's our final countdown and I'm the worst because I turned my camera sideways so you'll have to turn your head. Oh well.
Happy New Year! It's going to be a good one. I can feel it!
Happy New Year!
And I'm pregnant. Surprised? We are too.
This "Little Miracle" as we call it somewhat sarcastically because constant nausea doesn't feel very miraculous, will be arriving in July around Randy's 40th birthday. Yes, we are that old. Well, he is but not me. I'll be 38 when I give birth which makes me feel a tiny bit better but not much. But it's a miracle nonetheless. Without going into embarrassing details, lets just say that our kids have never come easy and Landon and Parker involved a lot of fertility treatments. I always thought it would be fun to be surprised to find out I was pregnant and my wish finally came true. And I have to say it was pretty awesome! I couldn't believe it but was nervous to tell Randy. Thankfully he was just as excited as I was, which was a relief. I can honestly say I've never been happier to be pregnant. With my past pregnancies there was always as much relief that I was finally pregnant as there was joy. This time it was just joy. Then the nausea kicked in so I'm having a hard time remembering what all the excitement was about. Seriously. Pregnancy is kicking my butt.
This chalkboard pretty much sums up how things have been around here so I had to take a picture of it. That little thankful art has been up since the beginning of November and all through December because it just wasn't worth the effort to erase it. And so it sat until I finally changed it in time for our New Years Eve party. I've been too sick to do anything but the bare minimum which is why Randy nearly killed himself pulling off Christmas all on his own this year. I did next to nothing. The house is a mess. Randy has been picking up lots of take-out lately and the boys eat frozen corn dogs and burritos on a regular basis for their dinners. {They aren't complaining about it.} I'm not sure I feel sicker this time around than the other times but I'm definitely less able to push through the nausea unless I absolutely have to. Oh, and that post about throwing my back out...well now I can tell you that the pain was even worse because I was pregnant and couldn't take anything for it. It.Was.Torture.
But back to the positive stuff. We are thrilled. The boys couldn't believe the news when we told them. There was screaming and yelling and jumping up and down. When things quieted down the first thing Marcus said was, "Wait! Does this mean I don't get my own room anymore?" Yes it does, son. Yes it does.
This little guy is going to be a big brother. But I think I'll always treat him like my baby because he's seriously so cute! The ultrasound is in a couple weeks which will confirm we're having another boy because seriously, it's not a girl so stop getting all excited, people!
We partied hard and even stayed up until midnight as we rang in the New Year with our friends. This was the first party we've hosted since we've moved here and it was fun to do it. We seemed to host a party every few months back in Rhode Island so it felt good to get back in the party mode.
Of course Randy went all out for it, which is no surprise. He even risked his life climbing up our very tall flag pole so he could hang a Christmas ball light thingy at the top for us to drop at midnight. I made lots of food which hardly got touched. At this point in the holidays I think everyone is so sick of all the food it's not even necessary.
Randy made a giant newspaper ball filled with little toys and treats for the kids with a $10 gift card hiding in the center. The kids went crazy as they ripped into it. The adults played a fun game that involved lots of dice and math. Needless to say, I was one of the first people to get out. Meanwhile, the kids discovered all of Randy's party favors like confetti poppers, which they exploded all over the house. I couldn't believe it. I'm going to be cleaning up streamers and confetti for the next year. As it neared midnight we all bundled up and stood out in the driveway while Randy ceremoniously lowered the ball as we counted down to midnight. It was hilarious! Afterwards we drank sparkling cider from our plastic champagne cups. So classy!
Happy New Year!
The kids watching Studio C
lots of foosball games
The Newspaper Ball
The adults
Trying to stay awake by watching cartoons
Pouring the bubbly
Parker made it to midnight
This 3-year-old didn't make it...smart kid!
You can't see much, so imagine a driveway full of people watching the little ball slowly drop, about ten seconds after actual midnight. It was hilarious but fun!
