To ring in the New Year, Joe volunteered to make his Emeril's Barbecue Shrimp, and we all thought that sounded fantastic. As the story goes, he's received two marriage proposals from cousins of mine after eating this dish, it's very good!
Dad kept Laura entertained with board games while Joe cooked and I assisted him in the kitchen.
This recipe requires quite the effort, preparing the shrimp the night before, and about 2 hours of cooking time.
Mom played in the art room with Leah.
Sitting down to enjoy the meal. Ramon, Clarissa and their son Ramon joined us for the evening, and the girls were so excited to have a friend there too. 
I found some sparklers I have had for about two years now in my cabinet, and the kids really enjoyed them. I remember using sparklers on my parents dock and twirling them in circles or trying to write my name with the sparks when I was a child. I have more caution as the Mom now, but the memories quickly came back when I watched the kids playing. 
Enjoying a beautiful night on the deck.
What would the New Year be without a trip to a park? It had been quite a while since I had taken the kids to this one, so it was almost like brand new. 
Leah stayed on the tire swing for the longest time, and encouraging Joe to push her higher. She said it felt like she was on a carnival ride.
As the girls were playing on the slides with Joe, I grabbed myself one of the swings and after just a few minutes I thought it would be fun to go "flying" off. Do you remember doing that as a kid? You swing as high as you can, and at just the right moment you launch yourself off and if all goes right you land on your feet. Leah was so impressed with my hidden talent, and immediately wanted to try it herself. Moments like that are such Mom moments, I never thought twice about doing it, and I didn't really think I would ever have to teach that skill to another human. So I proceeded to give her the finer points of successful flying. The first attempt didn't go very well, she forgot to let go and just kind of plunked onto the ground.
So, I thought, maybe I didn't tell her that you need to put one arm down before you jump. So she tried it again, and after a couple more tries, she did it! She was so excited, and just wanted to keep going.
This recipe requires quite the effort, preparing the shrimp the night before, and about 2 hours of cooking time.
Mom played in the art room with Leah.
Sitting down to enjoy the meal. Ramon, Clarissa and their son Ramon joined us for the evening, and the girls were so excited to have a friend there too. 
I found some sparklers I have had for about two years now in my cabinet, and the kids really enjoyed them. I remember using sparklers on my parents dock and twirling them in circles or trying to write my name with the sparks when I was a child. I have more caution as the Mom now, but the memories quickly came back when I watched the kids playing. 
Enjoying a beautiful night on the deck.
What would the New Year be without a trip to a park? It had been quite a while since I had taken the kids to this one, so it was almost like brand new. 
Leah stayed on the tire swing for the longest time, and encouraging Joe to push her higher. She said it felt like she was on a carnival ride.
As the girls were playing on the slides with Joe, I grabbed myself one of the swings and after just a few minutes I thought it would be fun to go "flying" off. Do you remember doing that as a kid? You swing as high as you can, and at just the right moment you launch yourself off and if all goes right you land on your feet. Leah was so impressed with my hidden talent, and immediately wanted to try it herself. Moments like that are such Mom moments, I never thought twice about doing it, and I didn't really think I would ever have to teach that skill to another human. So I proceeded to give her the finer points of successful flying. The first attempt didn't go very well, she forgot to let go and just kind of plunked onto the ground.So, I thought, maybe I didn't tell her that you need to put one arm down before you jump. So she tried it again, and after a couple more tries, she did it! She was so excited, and just wanted to keep going. Laura wasn't quite ready for flying lessons, but enjoyed the swings nonetheless.
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