Below is a picture of my sister and I banging pots and pans at midnight for New Year’s when we were just 1 and 2 (I’m the super cute one on the right that appears to have no nose). No doubt this was my dad’s idea and I’m sure my mom was thrilled with the idea of having 2 toddlers up that late at night. Thrilled. 😉

Unlike my father and my long-suffering mother, I have absolutely no desire to have my little ones up past 8pm, let alone midnight. So, last year I set up a New Year Tree in preparation for a Noon Year’s Eve Celebration with my children and my nephew.

BUT…I never finished the tree (nor was there any party) because I got the stomach flu. Then Adaline finished off the New Year by waking up puking in the middle of the night. All three kids continued to be some version of sick on and off for over a week. I finally gave up the idea of having a party, took pics of my kids in their tuxedo shirts and took down the tree.

I decided to share my party plans with you anyway (complete with pinnable images that don’t tell the whole story) because the concept is still good…if you’re not puking. Or maybe I’m just a poser. Either way…

I got all of these “decorations” at the Dollar Tree half-off (December 2012). There are silver, gold, red, and green tinsel ornaments of various shapes, and while they’re kinda tacky, I really love their almost vintagey look. I also added some beaded necklaces and party blowers from the Dollar Tree. I was going to add balloons, paper clocks, and top it off with a sparkly top hat but I never got the chance before I got sick 😦

Here’s what it looks like in my mind (thank you, PicMonkey):
(…and yes, in my mind the paper clocks would’ve all been set to the same time and have an incorrect amount of dots rather than numbers. Shut up.)

To countdown to noon, I was going to write various times on the balloons and put a piece of paper in them with an activity written on it. Every hour (or half-hour) we would pop a balloon and then do an activity on that balloon.

Here are some of the things I planned on doing:
-Fill out interview sheets and/or do a video interview for a time capsule
-Make handprints to put in a time capsule
-Have a Dance Party
-Fun with Glow sticks
-Fun with Bubbles
-Fun with Silly string
-Bubble Wrap Stomp
-Balloon Drop at noon

Other fun things:
-Wear tuxedo shirts
-Drink apple juice in plastic champagne glasses

I wanted to keep the “activities” simple but fun. Also, my nephew likes to move around and I didn’t want to plan a bunch of crafts that he would quickly lose interest in. The kids were 3.5 and younger last year so simple things like bubbles and glow sticks were would’ve been a lot of fun to them.

I thought it would be fun to “dress up” for New Year’s Eve/Day by sporting some super classy tuxedo t-shirts. Classy, fancy, funny! 😉
Top hats, tiaras, and boas would also be fun!

Apple juice in plastic champagne glasses is a “big deal” for my kids because they almost always drink water, so juice is a treat. Although the entire idea is a tad ironic considering that we adults don’t drink alcohol at all, so we don’t even own real champagne glasses. I actually have two child sized champagne glasses that were given to me and my sister when we were flower girls in my aunt’s wedding. We were always so excited when we got to drink out of the “fancy” glasses and I look forward to when my kids are old enough to be trusted with them too.

Will there be a Noon Year’s Eve Party for 2013-2014?!
No. Luckily we’re all puke-free, but my nephew got sick again.
Maybe we’ll try tomorrow. Or next year. Or when they’re in college…

How does your family celebrate New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day? Let me know in the comments!