Our NYE "house party"

New Year's Eve used to be full.

Full of alcohol.
Full of people you barely know/don't really like/could really do without.
Full of moments of "did you see that?"/"can you believe that?"/"what was I thinking?".
Full of dress up clothes, face full of makeup, hair full of spray.
Full of anticipation.
Full of disappointment.
Full of taking chances.
Full of crossing fingers and holding breath.
Did I mention the alcohol?  It's important because that is what lead to most of the other things.

Of course, New Year's Eve inevitably lead to New Year's day.  This was the day I spent wishing I had spent the night before a little less full of fun.  Or at least with a little more full stomach.

Now, the night is spent with a lot less of everything.  For the second year, I spent it with my girls.  New Year's has become yet another holiday where all the focus is on my children.  It was the last hold-out, but now every single special occasion is spent trying to make it more special for them.

It starts with making mini pizzas. You can't really tell from this picture, but we put the pepperoni in the shape of 2012.

Of course, someone is ALWAYS upset, regardless of the "special" occasion.

Then, three of us did pedicures.

Then, there was a lot of Wii playing, snacking & Pictureka (the Romero family favorite).

The snacking is a big deal in our house.  I never let them snack after dinner.  But, on this one night, I make a bunch of appetizers, "mocktails", and cake balls and they can graze to their hearts' content.  By the time we were done working up a sweat dancing together, Maya had a face covered in cheese dip & they were all full of fizzy cherry limeade.  They, of course, didn't make it to midnight.  Sofia went down first, followed by Maya, and Eva was the last to close her eyes somewhere around 10:45.  This is late for them, which is probably why NYE is known as "Stay up late holiday" in my house. 

Unfortunately, New Year's Day is not known as "Sleep in late holiday".  Exhaustion does make them get along a little better though.



Well, two of them at least!

So, as of today, we're on our way to fulfilling our resolutions:  losing weight, learning not to hit our sisters or lie, getting better at math & soccer, and eating more enchiladas.  I won't reveal who each of those belongs to, but we all have a lot of work ahead of us. 

No, New Year's Eve isn't what it used to be.  But, I'm too old to deal with the nonsense of the public any more.

Remind me of that next year when I am sitting at home wishing I was out having "fun" like the rest of the world.