Happy New Year!

Does anyone else feel like they blinked their eyes back in October….Nov. and Dec. just shot on by… and here we are in 2012?!?  As London would say….”Geez Louise!”  Time sure does fly. 

We’ve made it a tradition to celebrate New Year’s Eve with my sisters and their families.   We are done ‘partying’ {as much as you call sipping sparkling cider and ringing in the New Year with the east coast}by 10:30 and it couldn’t be better!  So if you’re ever wondering how the Coombs/Foster/Lamoreaux sisters get it done….let me give you a taste:

We celebrate in our jammies.  Because who likes getting all gussied up on New Year’s Eve?  Not this tired momma.  I prefer my hole-y sweats to high heels ANY day.

We make and then eat LOTS AND LOTS of appetizers.  Don’t believe me?  Let me prove it with just a sampling of the yummy goodness we partook of:

Sugar cookies ala moi.  I don’t mean to brag BUT…did you know I have the very best sugar cookie recipe EVER?  I do.  And maybe one of these days I’ll share it.  It’s my mom’s recipe and these cookies are OH SO delish.

Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip ball.  This was my first time tasting this.  My sister Stephanie made it up and YUM-O it was good!  You serve it with graham crackers and it is the perfect blend!

Pizza Muffins.  This was a new recipe my sister found over on Pinterest.  It was SUPER GOOD.  They were filled with mini pepperonis and cheese and then dipped in either Ranch or Pizza sauce.  I’ll definitely be making these myself in the future.

Also on the menu but not pictured:

Queso dip from my sister Tori {her best version YET!}

Mini pigs in a blanket with cheese {I ate WAY too many of these}

And meatballs.  Delicious meatballs.  I’ll let you in on a secret as to how I made them EXTRA yummy.  It’s super simple.  Buy a package of frozen meatballs at the grocery store.  I bought a big bag of Turkey Meatballs from Costco and no one knew the difference!  {Woot!  Marci 1 Joe 0.  I love tricking him with healthy food!}  Mix together in a bowl a large jar of grape jelly and a bottle of Heinz Chili Sauce {found in the aisle right next to the ketchup}.  Place your meatballs in the crockpot, cover with the sauce and turn on low for a couple of hours.  Stir as needed to coat all of the meatballs.   As Yo Gabba Gabba would say….”Try it!  You’ll Like it!”

We also played games.  Lots of fun games.

Stephanie made up these clocks onto cardstock and everyone sat around in a big circle with their own clock.  The object of the game was to roll a 1 – for 1:00 2 for 2:00 and so on.  The first person get their clock all the way around to midnight WON.  The kids had a hoot playing this with us.  Good easy fun!

Stephanie also made up these darling bags for the kids to open up on the hour.  Each bag had something FUN for them to do inside:

And then the 10:00 bag {because yes…we celebrate with New York} was filled with noise makers and silly string.  How fun is that?!?

We capped the night off with sparklers and LOTS OF NOISE. {I wouldn’t have been surprised if my sister’s neighbors called the cops.  The kids were THAT loud.  Pots and Pans were involved.  And noise makers being blown so hard they sounded like 2 geese mating.}