Happy New Year!

Last night we had our little New Year's Eve party here at home. Rob came home from work around 8:30 and after his supper, he made funnel cakes. We all enjoyed them then played some Wii. We had rented "Boom Blox," a game where you knock down blocks in a logical manner and "Big Brain Academy", an IQ sort of thing. Boom Blox is supposed to be a great game, but we didn't care for it. The controls felt rather clumsy to us. We did like the other game (we're nerds so go figure.) Matthew has played some of it as well. We also played some Whack-A-Mole so that Ben didn't feel left out. He does play Wii with us sometimes and especially enjoys boxing, but these games were beyond him. Rated E for everyone does not actually include everyone :)

Anna went to bed at about 10:15pm. I hadn't intended to keep her up, but she was so happy that I decided to let her play longer. Matthew fell asleep on the couch between 10:30 and 11 and I carried him upstairs at 11:30 when I was ready to crash. Rob decided to call it quits at midnight, but Ben was ready to go! That child was as full of energy at midnight as he was when he first woke up! He did go to sleep easily, but I think he was ready to play until the wee hours of the morning. He was rather cranky this morning and is taking a longer nap to pay for it :)

Today we took the whole family on a massive Wal-Mart excursion. We all had gift cards to spend there and we thought a less crowded day would be a good time to go. I had a small list of needs for the boys (snowboots, pants, and underwear for the soon-to-be-potty-trained) and then let them give me ideas for the rest of their cards. They both ended up with a new DVD, fireman outfits, a hat for Ben, and a flashlight for Matthew. It was so fun to let them just get what they wanted and not have to say, "No, we can't afford that" or "wait until your birthday." They've been having lots of fun putting out fires today. Anna needed new sleepers, sippy cups, and I decided to get her some Gerber Graduates food. She does not like baby food and wants to feed herself, so I'm trying out different things. Her doctor said not to worry about her lack of eating: some babies don't eat solids until after a year and some have an aversion to the texture of pureed food. That seems to be Anna!

Rob and I were very responsible and replaced our old slow cooker and rice cooker. We had some other needs here and there and it all added up to a very boring spending of the gift cards. I am extremely thankful for the cards and that we could take care of our needs, but sometimes it's fun to be irresponsible and spend money on video games, movies, toys, and novelty t-shirts. I guess that's what I did with my birthday money (yes, I support Stampin UP!) so I've had my spree for the year. Good grief, even THAT was responsible! I used it to buy supplies for the Christmas cards....

Ah, what am I belly aching for? I don't think I could ever spend recklessly again anyway. I even have a hard time buying a soda at a fast food place b/c it costs the same as a 2-liter! Blah, blah, blah....

We're making our annual Litwiller New Year's Day Chinese dinner. We usually make one when we're home on New Year's Day....except for the year the D family came over. Mr. D. doesn't like Chinese so Rob made pizza. Let's just say barbeque sausage pizza was NOT a hit....

Time to go chop veggies and wrap egg rolls!