TWO THOUSAND SEVEN

2007 is here I am starting it out with a full, unopened bottle of Tide. And I like it that way. Soon I'll crack open the bottle and celebrate. Yesterday, New Year's Day, we filled our day with constructive projects, like getting rid of the Christmas tree.

On New Year's Day, I did four loads of laundry, made cookies, opened and put away our gifts and cleaned Noah's room. We had company sleeping here since Friday. (my sister, her husband and their two children) Brian and I slept in the living room, I packed up our master bath and moved into the other bathroom, while our clothes landed either in the livingroom or the floor of the bathroom. On Saturday, my family opened gifts. 30 people is what makes up my immediate family. I have five brothers and sisters, we are all married and there are 16 kids. Don't forget my parents. Who, by the way, still provide us all with the most amazing Christmas each year. Each year, it's busy and crowded but very magical, maybe it's the alcohol consumption that makes it magical, but whatever it is, it's wonderful.

We live about 15 minutes away from my Mom's house, where all of the festivities took place. We would drive there twice a day, almost everyday. We would come back so the kids would take naps and come back late at night. The first night my sister was here we went to sleep at 12:40am, I couldn't believe how late we were going to bed, especially since we knew the kids would be up at 8am. When we opened gifts on Saturday, all of the kids opened the gifts in the afternoon, the adults did it after bedtime. We started at 11:00pm and finished at 2am. We were asleep by 3am.

My parents always host a big NYE party at there house. Tons of food and lots of wine and beer. It's delicious and even more crowded as cousins and aunts and uncles make their presence at this annual event. This year, Brian's parents offered to take our kids for the night. That's right. The WHOLE NIGHT. My kids aren't very experienced at sleeping in strange places, they don't even nap in other homes, so this was a true test. How great that my in-laws were just as excited as us? Well, they did it and it went well. I woke up on New Year's Day in Anna's bed after falling asleep (sober) at 3:30am. Brian woke up on New Year's Day after falling asleep (drunk) at God knows what time.

My younger sister on NYE.

So far, my sister has returned to Louisville, my other sister is back home in Michigan, my brother and his wife are on a plane right now heading to Kansas City and my other brother and his family are flying back to South Carolina tonight. All will be calm. All will be a little weepy as we wait for another year to pass until we are together again .

Sleep tight. Literally.

Happy New Year!