Ringing in the New Year and the Diversion of WWIII

Its funny how things change. There's Always Room for One more used to be "Denise's cute little blog" but over time, and not that much time, its become accepted by my kids and extended family. When we filmed our Christmas video I thought my family would think we I had lost my mind but instead they thought it was a great idea and I had several offers for be the video person. (Thanks again Kevin!)

But with acceptance came something else: Expectation. Certain events, happenings and incidents are often expected to be chronicled in "the blog," events such as Julia's New Year's Eve party and incidents, such as the one that followed the next day which was a direct result of Julia's party.

The Event

Since we had no plans for New Years Eve I told Julia that she could invite some friends over for a Slumber Party. She invited 6 friends and had only one decline, which was better than what I had expected since Julia started inviting people only a few days before the party. She told everyone as they showed up that I would be posting it on my blog. I had never promised this but I guess she thought this was a Big News event, thus a shoe in.

We had lots of snacks. We made Rotel cheese dip, had chips and dip, pretzels, M&M's, Skittles and something Julia made specifically made for the party.

A cookie cake. She had seen one at the grocery store and I suggested we make one instead when I saw the price. Julia decorated it all by herself. I pretty much clean up the mess all by myself. Unfortunately, this cake didn't last longer than about 15 minutes. So what does one do if they eat too much cookie cake?

Play Wii Fit. Not mine, mind you, I haven't got one yet. But Julia's friend Anna brought hers and those wicked girls tormented me with it all night. I told Anna if her Wii Fit was missing in the morning that I had no idea what happened to it. Wink. Wink.

The girls were in the basement. The boys were gone for the week visiting their father so we took advantage of the situation so Julia and her friends could hang out down there and hopefully not keep her younger siblings awake with all the giggling and shrieking. However, the basement was messy-- Hello! An 18 year old and 21 year old boy live down there so some cleaning was in order before hand.

Ryan and Emma crashed the party for a short time. A very short time. A little while later the girls headed upstairs to make a couple of crafts.

Julia's friend Emily brought craft items to make door hangers and decorate flip flops.

Then a little while later the girls made personal size pizzas with toppings of their choosing. They were sweet enough to let Jenna participate.

They were downstairs when the clock struck midnight but I rang in the new year in way that I don't think I could top: Watching There's No Place Like Home Part 2 from Lost Season 4, the season finale with the producer's commentary. {By the way, if Carlton Cuse is reading this-- "Red Robin"-- when can I expect you to come do my laundry?}

Lights were off by 1:00 a.m. but around 2:oo a.m. Julia came up and told me that everyone was scared and they wanted to sleep in the living room. So they went from this:

Two queen sized air mattresses, a queen size bed and a sofa to this:

One sofa, a chair with an ottoman and the floor. I have no idea how they decided who slept where. In any case, they were exhausted and I actually had to wake them up at 9:00 so they could eat breakfast before their parents showed up at 10:00. Breakfast was pancakes and bacon.

The girls left. The clean up wasn't too bad and Julia left later to take a nap at Emily's house and then hang out. Yeah, I know, how many play dates do you know that involve a nap? And more importantly, how do I get invited to one???

A few hours later the boys came home.

The Incident

The boys took their stuff downstairs and Trace came back upstairs livid. "Who trashed my room?"

"What are you talking about?" I asked. The downstairs was clean.

"My room is completely trashed!"

So I went down with him to check it out.

Yep. It was trashed. But in all fairness, it wasn't completely picked up when he left. Apparently when Julia and Emily were picking up before I got downstairs they put everything they didn't know what to do with in Trace's room. I hadn't noticed because the door was closed.

Trace stomped around for while and then a little bit later he and Ross were laughing.

"What's so funny?" I asked suspiciously.

"Just wait until Julia gets home." They answered between snickers.

"What did you do?" Then they led me upstairs to Julia's room.

"Julia put boxes and crap in my room. I decided to do a little payback."

I had been dismantling Christmas so they took my empty Christmas boxes and stacked them in Julia's bathroom topping it off with her desk chair and her back rest pillow.

I knew this wasn't going to be pretty but I had their assurance that they would clean it all up after the Big Reveal. In the meantime, Trace wanted my camera.

"Why?" I asked.

"Because you need pictures so you can post this on your blog." Wow. Even Trace is scripting my blog now.

Julia came home and I don't think I've seen the boys that eager to see her before. They instantly took her up to her room while I was cooking dinner. Mere moments later I heard screaming, and crying and wailing like I haven't heard in some time. That was followed by Trace and Ross' muffled voices, a door slamming and then they were back down stairs.

"I knew she'd be upset but I didn't think she be that upset." Trace said shaking his head.

"Hello! She's a prepubescent girl; you shouldn't have expected any less."

"I told her we'd clean it up but she kicked us out." I told him to give her a few minutes and try again. This time she let him in and the boxes were quickly removed and everything was righted, well almost. Trace's room was still a mess.

So there you have it. I have fulfilled my parental duty. If you have any posting offers please send them my way. Apparently I now take requests.

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Be watching for a new giveaway to be announced soon! But don't get your expectations raised too high. I won't be topping the Christmas giveaway until next Christmas.