How do you celebrate in a recession?

I grappled with the idea of hitting the aisles of Wal-Mart yesterday in search of party hats, noise makers and ballons, but out of sheer laziness I decided I just couldn't do it. Anyone who has two or more kids in car seats knows how fun it is to take your children in and out of anywhere in 20 degree weather. Just not worth it. And besides, we're in a recession, and I'm not just talking about us, the whole country! In these times we need to learn to make do with what we have, save our money, celebrate on a budget.

Looking in my rear-view mirror I realized I had two noisemakers already wired and ready to go, no batteries needed. All I needed was some hot air for any ballons I could scrounge up, and some sort of adhesive to create the most unique ever party hats. Once all my supplies were gathered, we threw in a little creativity and voila! Home-made Happy New Year!







The great part is, the kids are young enough that they were none the wiser. No horns to blow, no problem, we've got a recorder in the house! Noise makers? nothing like some pots and pans clanging together on your front porch at 9pm. Oh, did I forget to mention, we counted down to the new year with ... Chile. No, not the food, ... the country. As midnight approached (Chile time) we counted down, then ran outside to make some noise and wish our neighbors (and each other) a happy new year!!! And again, the kids didn't have a clue. Logan is convinced he stayed up until midnight and got to see the "next morning!" I'm not sure how many more years we can get away with this kind of fun, but we'll take it as long as we can!

So we weren't completely lame this year, we did take the kids to eat at their all time favorite restaurant, Red Robin. It's seriously kid friendly, and Ryan and I like it because it never fails, there's always a kid just around the corner behaving worse than yours! In fact we were so impressed at how well our kids behaved amongst all the chaos of the restaurant, we took them to see a dollar movie (which now cost $2, so I guess they're no longer the "dollar movie".) It was Chelsea's first ever big screen film. Her excitement lasted through the first preview. I can't say I blame her much, the feature film was titled, Beverly Hills Chihuahua. Seriously Walt Disney? She tolerated the entire film well enough, but didn't watch a bit of it. She did a some seat hopping, but we never let her onto the floor. She was pretty tired so it wasn't too much of a struggle. Logan on the other hand, didn't take his eyes off of the film and gives it five stars.

We finished our celebrations this evening (New Year's Day) after Ryan got home from work. We juiced some fresh fruit, ate pita chips and hummus (yum!) and tested out my new recipe for chicken and spinach alfredo lasagna. I wasn't so sure about it, as it had lots of mushrooms, and I hate mushrooms. Everyone else claimed to like it ... but maybe they were just being nice!

Saying goodbye to 2008 means leaving behind a year full of struggles and uncertainty. We leave behind this difficult year stronger, and slightly damaged. As a family we were torn apart, but nonetheless have become closer. It is not a year I will soon forget, nor is it a year I'd like to relive ever again. I am however thankful for the healing, friendships and love that we have found this past year. Who knows what is in store for 2009. I think it only gets better from here. We're already making plans for the upcoming year, but as we've learned time and time again, there's no use in making plans because things NEVER go as you planned them! Just looking ahead to January fills my head and at times it makes me want to run and hide under the covers. In January we will:

* Celebrate Chelsea's THIRD birthday!!!
* Send Chelsea to school, real school, a big girl school.
* Send Ryan to school. A real school. A big boy school! (nursing pre-req's start soon!)
* Watch Ryan begin his new job at the hospital!
* Help host a blood drive (more on that coming soon!)

Oh, and I suppose I need to find time to take down the Christmas decorations at some point, but that may have to wait until February!