Christmas Joys #30

If you are hosting a New Years Eve party, give your Christmas tree a makeover. Tie party items to the branches with silver ribbons: horns, noisemakers,candy, glow sticks, confetti poppers, and party hats are good ideas. As the night progresses people can help themselves to some fun!

All the following ideas are from FamilyFun.com

A Day of Firsts

The Jacobus family of Castle Rock, Colorado, spends all of New Year's Day doing things that are, well, new. Jennifer, Kevin, and three-year-old Morgan try a new food, drive on a street they've never been down, style their hair a different way, or buy a new book. "Really, it can be anything that strikes our fancy," says Jennifer. "And every year we wake up feeling excitement about the day ahead, because you never know what it will bring."

Group Goals

The Gingras family of Raynham, Massachusetts, turns over a new leaf on New Year's Eve with their annual to-do list. Allison and her kids, Ian, age eight, and Adam, four, come up with several categories, such as: Books to read, Charity work to do, New exercises to try, Things to clean out, Ways to show we love each other. . . Then they have a big brainstorming session about what to write under each column (some examples of how to show their love: "give a kiss whenever we arrive home or leave" and "find ten times a day to say 'I love you'"). "The boys get a big kick out of coming up with things to put on the list, and they're really great at it!" says Allison. She keeps it in her Palm Pilot so they can work on it all year long. The Gingrases also use the occasion to go over last year's list and see what they accomplished--and if there's anything they'd like to keep working on.

Remembrances of Things Past Things get a little wild and wacky on New Year's Eve in the Kittle house in Jupiter, Florida. For the last five years, the family of six has paid tribute to the previous years with a silly round of charades. Everyone gets in on the act by taking turns thinking of a funny or poignant event and then pantomiming it to the group. They've found that just about anything--a horseback-riding outing or a cousin's high school graduation--can be acted out. And reliving the family's achievements and anecdotes in an exaggerated way has at times been so funny, "We've all ended up laughing, doubled up on the floor, with tears rolling down our cheeks," says Lynette. There's an unexpected benefit to the tradition as well: the game solidifies all of those memories in every one's minds. "It's the highlight of our holiday," she says.