It's Here! Ring in 2014!

Artist - Bernhardt Wall 

For centuries, it has been the charge of Britain’s Poet Laureate to write a poem to ring in the New Year. Laureate Nahum Tate established this practice, having written eight New Year odes between 1693 and 1708.

And the phrase "ring out the old, ring in the new" first comes from another laureate’s pen, Lord Alfred Tennyson, from his most well-known poem, "In Memoriam":

Ring out the old, ring in the new, 

Ring, happy bells, across the snow: 

The year is going, let him go; 

Ring out the false, ring in the true.

CHILDREN'S BOOKS CALENDARS FOR 2012

Want a fun kidlit calendar for the New Year?  Here are some offerings from Calendars.com.

I SPENT MY NEW YEAR'S DAY WITH ROSES...

It's amazing to see the roses up close!

"In New York, people are buried in snow, here our flowers are blooming and our oranges are about to bear. Let's hold a festival to tell the world about our paradise." - Professor Charles F. Holder, 1890...

Looking down Washington Blvd. at the floats on exhibition

What started as a promotional effort by the Valley Hunt Club to bring East Coast tourists to the warm Southern California town of Pasadena for a mid-winter holiday with games such as chariot racing, jousting, foot races, and polo, preceeded by a showcase of carriages adorned with fresh flowers, became a festival with marching bands and motorized floats and, starting in 1902, included a football game.

Happy spectators!

The Tournament of Roses has come a long way since its early days. The Rose Parade’s elaborate floats now feature high-tech computerized animation and exotic natural materials from around the world. Although a few floats are still built exclusively by volunteers from their sponsoring communities, most are built by professional float building companies and take nearly a year to construct. The year-long effort pays off on New Year’s morning, when millions of viewers around the world enjoy the Rose Parade. (from tournamentofroses.com)

The floats are traditionally displayed to the public the day after the Rose Parade.  The 47 flower-covered masterpieces were on display at Sierra Madre and Washington boulevards, up close and personal, for great photo-ops.

"CHILDREN'S DREAMS" FLOAT WAS ONE OF MY FAVORITES...

It looked absolutely illuminated...

CATS AND A COTTAGE...

"Purrfectly Healthy" float.

Children playing at pirates.

The floats are made up only of flowers and all-organic materials.

Framing the landscape of the beautiful San Gabriel Mountains.

A Chinese Dragon

The setting sun brought out the jewel tones of the  flowers on the floats...

Oops!  How did this one get in here?  (My cute hubby.)

LOOK FAMILIAR?  IT'S THE THREE LITTLE PIGS!

A BEAUTIFUL END TO A BEAUTIFUL DAY AND THE BEGINNING OF A NEW YEAR...

My daughter asked me if I "Painted the Roses Red..."

RING IN 2011 WITH BOOKS!

2011 CONFETTI CAKE from FAMILY FUN

HAPPY NEW YEAR (almost!)  I hope you make a New Year's Resolution to read aloud more books with your kids in 2011!  Check out this great list of Caldecott Medal winners.

Below I've posted a couple of ideas I found from Family Fun Magazine for New Year's Eve.  We used to love opening up our mailbox each month and finding this magazine waiting for us with tons of ideas for great crafts, recipes, parties, and family get-aways.  (Now they have a website too!)

My favorite New Year's Eve memory is when we celebrated the beginning of the 2000's with our close friends who also had three kids.  Every hour, starting around 8:00 PM, we had a different theme until midnight.  We centered the table decorations and food around the themes - we had a teddy bear theme, Star Wars theme, doll theme, etc. When the clock struck midnight, we went outside and did the "bubble wrap stomp" (below), blew horns, and popped little canisters of confetti.


MIDNIGHT BALLOON SHOWER (a bit involved, but fun)
Line up two rectangular paper tablecloths and punch holes every 2 to 3 inches down one long side of each.
Stitch the tablecloths together with yarn, leaving a foot or so at the end for a rip cord.
Tape the cloth to the ceiling on three sides, leaving the side opposite the rip cord open. Tape the cord up separately, so it's accessible. Let the center of the cloth hang down to allow space for the balloons.
Blow up at least 75 balloons. (you can store the balloons in large garbage bags until it's time to fill the cloth.)
Buy thin streamers and metallic confetti (as opposed to paper confetti - you might end up with stained floors, if someone spills any kind of liquid on the paper kind).
Stuff the cloth with balloons, then add the confetti and streamers on top. (Reverse it, and the confetti will weigh down the cloth and filter out ahead of time.) Tape up the last side of the cloth.
Let her rip! At the stroke of midnight, just one strong pull tears through the paper, releasing a cascade of balloons and confetti--followed by stomping feet and a cacophony of pops.


BUBBLE WRAP STOMP (super easy!)
Looking for a way to ring in the New Year that will have the crowd on its feet? Look no further than a packaging supply store. For just a few dollars, you can pick up several yards of large Bubble Wrap (or recycle Bubble Wrap that comes with holiday gifts). Just before midnight, unroll it on a hard surface, such as a wooden floor or driveway, and when the countdown concludes, GET STOMPING on that bubble wrap!