Happy New Year!

It's rare that I feel jealous when I read other people's Facebook posts, but I did last night. So many of my friends posted selfies of themselves glamorously dressed up, celebrating by dancing and drinking the night away. We spent New Year's Eve at home like this:

Ha! Obviously the party hats were  a huge fail for the trio. I only tortured them for a few minutes before bedtime. Jackson was extremely energetic.  We told him he could stay up as late as he wanted; he crashed hard at 9 pm. Jesse and I stayed up, drank (beer and sparkling wine), ate (wings, pizza rolls, chips and queso), and watched an unfortunately bad documentary. Browsing through photos helped us reminisce on the highs and lows of 2014. We watched the ball drop in bed, and were both asleep ten minutes past midnight.

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If today was an indication of how we will spend our year, we will be blessed with family and good food. We began hosting the traditional New Year's Day lunch several years ago. Our menu for today included:
black eyed peas
collard greens
pulled pork (BBQ sandwiches)
mac-n-cheese
sweet cornbread
apple cobbler
chocolate pie

Even though we had 15 people in our home, we cooked enough for 30. Everyone went home with leftovers, which means we should all have a year of health, wealth, and moving forward!

Lunch interfered with the trio's naptime. They needed to be held to make it through lunch.

  
I was excited to show off our new (to us) dining room furniture. Our dining room feels so much larger with the changes we've made this week. (That will be a whole post in itself.)

Jackson and his two older cousins played in every room of the house. The trio napped and the adults conversed about Ikea, guns,

What is most exciting for me to think about in the upcoming year is how much the kids will change. This little guy (aka our nephew, Davis) will be walking around and babbling by the end of the year. His big brother will start kindergarten. Eeek!

James, Amelia and Maddie will be speaking (hopefully recognizable words) nonstop and becoming more independent. They may even be potty-trained, though we won't rush that. Jackson will begin his final year of preschool and continue to learn at rapid rates. Who knows what or where Jesse will be teaching and what changes might occur in our family. I can only pray that we will be surrounded by loved ones and remain healthy and financially stable.

I found this anonymous prayer online that I really liked and will close with:

Dear Lord, please give me…
    A few friends who understand me;
    A work to do which has real value,
    A mind unafraid to travel,
    An understanding heart;
    A sense of humor;
    Time for quiet, silent meditation;
    A feeling of the presence of God;
    The patience to wait for the coming of these things,
    With the wisdom to recognize them when they come. 
    Amen.