We set up nine bags with clocks on them and set them in front of the Christmas tree. We started at 4pm and went until midnight.
The kids were very excited by the idea of this added to the fact that we were going to let them stay up so late.
Bag #1 was a new Wii game. This was a lot of fun and got everyone up and moving to start the night.
Bag #2 was make your own pizzas. We used canned biscuit dough, sauce and many toppings. We had cake for dessert.
The pizzas were a big hit and everyone enjoyed picking out their own toppings.
Bag #3 was a new movie. We watched for the hour and then stopped to open the next bag. Part way through, Bess went to a friends to spend some time there. It is hard to realize that she will not always be with us for family times any more.Bag #4 was a scavenger hunt. We split the kids into teams and gave them copies of the list. We made the items small enough to fit in a bag and I knew that there were at least two of each item on the first floor of the house. What a mad dash. It was fun to watch them search for things.
Gabe and Dan were the winners but everyone got some chocolate for their effort.
Bag #5 was decorating party hats. We had pom-poms, feathers, glitter glue, and stickers. What a wild assortment of creations. The girls were careful and wanted to make their hats pretty. The boys went wild and came up with the craziest hats.
Ready to ring in the new year.
Bag #6 was going sledding. The kids really loved this one as they do not usually go sledding after dark. Brian set up his work light to shine on the hill and away we went. Brian and I even got a few runs down the hill.
We followed up with hot cocoa and cookies.
Shortly after the sledding, Bess came back home. She wanted to finish out the evening with us. I was pleased.Bag #7 was new containers of Play Doh. This helped calm things down a bit after the sledding. Everyone got into their pjs and we had a nice relaxing time of making dough creation.
Bag #8 was a game called Guesstures. This is a great Charade type game. I must admit that by now Hannah and Dan especially were getting quite tired and the game probably would have been better earlier, but the kids did great and we had fun.
We opened the last bag about 15 minutes before midnight. The bag contained noise makers, Champagne glasses with paper umbrellas and silly glasses. We opened our sparkling grape juice, put on our hats and watched the clock.
After a countdown, we blew our horns loudly and raised a toast to the end of 2010 and the beginning of 2011.
I think this will become a new tradition for us as everyone enjoyed the hourly activities. It kept the evening fresh and interesting and helped the younger guys stay awake.I hope you all have a terrific 2011.
9 comments:
What a super fantastic idea!!! And do I see a familiar angel on the table there?? :) (That made me smile SO BIG!!)
And oh.... my heart lurched at the comment about Bess.... SO not ready for that and I know you must be the same way. Glad you were all together for the countdown.
What a great idea! I wonder if I can remember it for a whole year to do something similar next year? :-)
Laura, that was the wonderful ornament you sent me. One of the items in the scavenger hunt was baby Jesus and Gabe remembered it right away. It is one of my favorites.
What a fabulous idea! Debbie, please remind us of this in early December next year, so we can all copy you! (With a link back to this post, please :)
I know I had seen this before but I thought YOU had done it before! What a great idea! Maybe next year I'll remember to do something special. I don't typically do anything special for the new year. I guess it's never too late to start a new tradition!
Debbie I'm so glad you tried this! It is so fun! We did not do the bags this year and we really missed it. I was so busy preparing for guests and that was not too fun for the boys. Next year we will go back to it as we all missed it!
Reading on the ipad and no words show up, I will be back to read the story with the photos. All the smiling faces tell a story of their own!
What a great idea. I must remember this for next year. We tend to sort of grunt it out until midnight. Yes, i understand your thoughts on Bess growing up. What a loving and charming young woman she has become.
What a GREAT idea! It is hard when the olders aren't around for EVERYTHING like they used to be. Our oldest 2 celebrated most of NYE elsewhere this year, but Em came home in time to ring in the new year with us so that was nice!
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