Busy New Year- Or Quiet? Both?

I feel like I'm all messed up with days and weeks, and dates. I think just the rush around of Christmas and New Years in the same week does that to me, then plus I didn't work on my normal days, and Gabe being on and off on different days, and I've got one scrambled calendar.

But we did have a grand New Years gathering at our house, last minute style :-)

Our friends Dan and Lindsey came over with their 3, and Tasha with her daughter and niece, and Mark and Annie. So total, 7 children, +3 in utero, plus us "grown-ups!" I know I just had a nice time, visiting and socializing and sharing our time together. The kids were in bed at a decent hour :-) and Mark and Annie kept me up to celebrate the New Year. (I wasn't planning on staying up, but with good company it's much easier!) We also made a fascinating discovery that I hope to catch pictures of and share with you later.... There's a new critter in the neighborhood....

On New Year's day, we played together out in the snow, tried to make a snowman, ending up with a little one on the porch. Gabe worked in the shop trying to organize to make room for his newest acquisition, a waste oil burner (heater for the shop). I got started painting with my latest color, Chocolate cupcake, for the front interior wall of the family room. I must say, I was quite in the mood for chocolate cake when I was done, but I'm not sure if it had anything to do with the paint :-) After I get the main corner put back together, I will share pictures so you can ooohh and ahhhh and yuck over my weird choices. But I think I will like it alot- it adds another dimension to a supposed-to-be more "formal" gathering room, which is not formal at all. It's more like our dumping ground!

In the midst of all this, I'm trying to become an expert at losing at Memory to a 2 year old. It is not easy. She thinks they all should match- but it's building my patience! And at Bingo, Kiera almost always beats Melia- just the luck of the draw, as we play four-in-a-row followed by blackout, but it is pretty funny. I think maybe I should get some more games for them, because we play several games of just these two each day- which I find exhausting :-) And for Animal Scramble? Kiera is a little too rough- she breaks the little animals off their stands when she tags them w/ the giraffe, so we get about one game, then I have to hot glue some little guy back on for the next day's abuse.... Fun stuff :-)