Happy New Year!

   So, it's too boring with ONLY 5 kids to ring in the New Year "alone"!  We usually have two families over with a total of 19 children between the 3 of us.  But sad to say one family moved and couldn't make it this year :0(  We invited a friend with his two boys and brought our total up to 14 kids and 5 adults.  We sat around and chatted and the kids played Nerf and Wii and all that fun stuff.  Every year at midnight I try to come up with something to throw at the kids- silly string, poppers etc.  This year the kids were so sure we'd have silly string so... we did!

Right before the ball dropped.  (Some kids were sleeping or gone from this pic.)

The attack!! (Only grown-ups are armed with silly string.)

    Fun!!  It has been a lazy but busy 3 weeks off and I'm not sure I'm ready to jump back in but here we go.

 I am thankful to be healthy and able to take care of my own children this year after 3 months last year of depending on the kindness of others to make it through our days.  God was faithful and I learned a lot.  I hope this year to take the time to put into practice what He taught me and share it with others like you.  In upcoming posts I hope to share some of our/my goals for the new year, some of the curriculum we've used this year along with plans of what we're trying different in the coming year.  I'll also share some books, CD's and DVDs that have been a great help to me.  I'll talk a little about our family's rules, parenting strategies and plans for hospitality and volunteering opportunities WITH our children. I'm excited to see what the year holds as we all grow in faith and love.

Blessings on your new year :0)