First Annual All New New Year's Eve Party!

Last year, our answer to not having any luck finding a sitter for the biggest night of the year was to host our very own shindig. The invitation read: 


"Since every hour for us parents seems like midnight anyway and it gets dark now at...oh, afternoon time, we are hosting the All New New Year's bash starting at 3:30 and the apple drops at 6 pm so, grab your favorite bottle of wine and appetizer, throw the sitter's number in the garbage, and saddle-up to throw down with kids at the Menonis at the 1st annual New New Year's bash!"


And, throw down we did!


The easy, DIY decor:

 (Silver Christmas balls, our kitchen clock, and Hershey's kisses. 

NYE template courtesy of Custom Printables)

The favors made from gift bags from Walgreens, construction paper, a circle template and a Sharpie. 

 The champagne glasses were dipped in Agave Nectar and rolled in sprinkles.

The stems of the glasses were decorated with sparkly pipe cleaners I had leftover from crafts projects with the kids. I wrapped the ends around a pencil and voila!

 Great friends are what make the party!

All guests were asked to bring their favorite appetizer and bottle of wine. This made it easy-going on myself as hostess.

 I think our girls bonded this night....they've been fast friends ever since.

 Look at how much younger my little guy looks only a short year ago.

 Festive head wear is a must (pacis are optional).

(My son. Synonymous with sippy cups and sight words.)

 After distributing the confetti (small squares cut from construction paper), Dave announces that the countdown is about to begin....

 10, 9, 8, 7, 6....

Happy New Year!

 Dave and the kids do a few repeat performances.

 Late night snacks...

 A quick clean-up...

 All guest have left, we've cleaned up, tucked the kids in bed and it's only 9:30. 

Dave and I crawled into bed tired ourselves from what we agreed was one of the best New Years Eve nights we'd ever had. 

We were greeted with a beautiful rainbow of fireworks that we watched from our very own bed. Who knew the best seating the house for the beach fireworks show was from our very own bedroom window? 

Looking forward to sharing photos from our 2nd annual this weekend. Until then, enjoy those last few days of the season.

"Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right."  ~Oprah Winfrey