Happy New Year...a little late

Before I get to all our Rome stuff, let me tell you how we welcomed in the New Year. The night before we left for Rome, December 31st, we went to a dear friend's home and hung out with three wonderful families. Our four families totaled fifteen children under the age of seven plus one bun in the oven (not mine, by the way.) Here's a picture of only nine of the fifteen kids eating dinner on the floor.

We had tons of amazing food for dinner and then we headed outside for fireworks and sparklers a little early for the young ones who would miss the big show at midnight. The girls even held sparklers while Daddy stood close by and Mommy held her breath. (I don't feel comfortable with anything related to fire. I don't even light matches.) The big boys/daddies set off the fireworks while the kids either oohed and aahed or clung to their mommies. The girls were in the former category and Isaac was in the latter. He would grab onto me and try to climb up me while repetitively crying, "Boom." He is wary of new things. It seems to take him a little while to warm up to new adventures.

Here are my happy girls after eating cupcakes during the "Half time" of the fireworks show.

See Isaac all cuddled up in my lap. He's in the blue shirt and I am in the green sweater in the background.

Then the other families went home and we spent the night since they were taking us to the airport in the morning. It was nice to have adult time after the kids were in bed. And the fireworks in Germany are crazy! It sounds like you are under attack from inside the house. Everyone comes out of their house and does their own fireworks right on the street.

Happy New Year!