A Low Key Start to the New Year

The last day of 2018 was kind of low key. We are definitely not party animals at all. In fact, I babysat and just kind of hung out with my babysitting kiddos and my own kiddos during the day. Then our own festivities started. 

Every year we do a fancy, snacky dinner on our fine china for dinner. The kids really look forward to it. 

This year I made hot wings, Asian wings (a new recipe that was really good!), chicken fries, and homemade mozzarella sticks (another new recipe that was really good!). 

We also had a fruit salad of blueberries and oranges, carrots chips and sliced cucumbers (served with dill dip and ranch), and a shrimp tray. Bill and I had wine and the kids had sparkling juice. Later we also had homemade chocolate pie! 

Overall, it was a lovely dinner and a great way to end 2018. The boys went to bed around 9 (as you have to be 10 years old to stay up until midnight at our house) and I promptly fell asleep in the recliner. LOL. Rebecca woke me up around 11 to ask me to play Scrabble with her and Bill. I lost but it was fun. We were finishing up the game just as the "ball" dropped in NYC. Bill opened the door and let the old year out and the new year in. We stayed up and watched about an hour of the musical acts and then went to bed. 

Yesterday, the kiddos slept in a little. Then it was a kind of lazy morning lounging around in our pajamas and watching the Rose Bowl Parade on TV. The kids were interested in the parade, especially when they got to see the Ohio State Buckeyes marching band. They were also interested when I told them that 2 of my friend's daughters were marching with a local high school team. After a late lunch, I de-Christmased the house. Bill helped me to take the tree down and I packed everything else up. Bill took everything to the basement for me. 

I made a nice dinner to kick of 2019. Baked ribs, augratin potatoes, green beans, applesauce and "Hawaiian" sweet crescent rolls. 

After cleaning up the kitchen, I sat and read (and finished) Every Breath by Nicholas Sparks! This was a Christmas gift from "Santa" aka Bill and I read it over 2 days. It was fantastic as most of his books have been. 


I also watched most of the Rose Bowl before putting the kiddos to bed and then heading to bed myself. 

This morning, I have A (as her parents are back to work after a 2 week holiday shutdown) and she and I have ran a couple errands and are now back home. She is watching "Paw Patrol" with Ben; Rebecca is doing her arts and crafts; Jacob is playing upstairs, and Bill is sleeping. I have started laundry and am thinking about going to straighten up and inventory the freezer so I can map out some meals for the next week or so. 

How was your New Year's? Any big plans for today?