Happy New Year!

In the last days of 2014, we had fun!  A few more pictures here from Christmas...Liana and Lana, my beautiful daughter and granddaughter.  Then Fred being silly.  Then we came to the very end, December 31st.  We planned our usual seafood feast, games and the party in New York City.  We stuffed ourselves with crabs, shrimp, clams and scallops and then Steven challenged Arielle to a game of Blokus.  He didn't know who he was dealing with.  Arielle and Dominic have vied for the Blokus championship for years.  Arielle is quite a contender.  She and Dominic even made a crown for the reigning champion to wear after each game.  As you can see, Arielle won...again.  

After dinner the kids figured out how to make popcorn in our new popcorn maker that Fred bought.  It turned out great, except one of the hinges on the little doors broke off.  The kids didn't want to tell Fred, as the machine is brand new, so they decided to fix it with super glue.  That led to a series of events that made us contemplate a trip to the ER.  Steven first glued the tube of super glue to his hand.  Yes, really.  Not meaning to, of course.  He got it off without ripping off his skin, but then he glued two of his fingers together.  Accidentally.  He got them apart, but then had glue all over his hands.  He went downstairs to try to clean it off.  Someone should have checked on him.  He was using his SOG seal pup knife with a very long blade to scrape the glue off his fingers.  Of course, he cut himself.  Blood everywhere!  After cleaning him up, we determined he did not need stitches so we just bandaged him up.

Fred then had a little episode of atrial fib due to his increased thyroid medication.  ER, we considered again.  But no, he was okay.  I don't think anything could have dampened the New Year's Eve frivolity.  Then we got out blankets and camped on the floor in front of the TV to watch the New Yorkers freezing in the cold and see the ball drop, which is always a non-event.  I guess you have to be there.  At midnight the kids went outside barefoot and banged on pots and pans to herald in the New Year.  I can't believe another year is past.

The next morning we made a huge breakfast of bacon, eggs, and pancakes.  Then Fred, in a very uncharacteristic way, asked if we all wanted to go to the movies.  What?  We never go to the movies!  (Although we did Christmas Day but only because friends invited us.)  We were all up for that and went to see the new Night in the Museum movie.  How silly and what fun!  

We came home to my crockpot dinner of sauerkraut and pork roast and then the kids worked on their science fair project, read the driver's test book, and watched a movie.  Could we cram anything else in this day?  But we didn't want it to end.  It was a peaceful, joyful time and I am ever grateful.  Happy New Year all!