Snapshots of New Year's Eve...

Not that these events were related to New Year's Eve in particular, but just a couple things that happened on the Eve of 2011...

I gave the boys popsicles for their afternoon snack and instructed them to eat them on the porch because of the stickiness involved.

I was doing some reading and heard quiet chatting on the porch from voices that didn't belong to my boys...and came out to find half-a-dozen children standing there staring at my kids while they were sitting and eating the popsicles.

It takes some getting used to being stared at. For me it's one of the biggest culture stress/shock triggers out there. It doesn't get to me all the time, and can actually help gain lots of new friends, but sometimes I just get sick of it and that overwhelming feeling of Will-they-ever-not-notice-me-? and the extreme desire to blend-in makes me want to say, "I CAN SEE YOU STARING AT ME! THIS ISN'T A ZOO AND I'M NOT AN EXHIBIT!" But I don't, of course.

I'm just telling you all that so you can know that this little instance isn't out of the ordinary and is actually pretty well what we live every time we step outside our house, everyday. I often wonder if it will ever get on the boys' nerves or if they'll just think of it as the norm? They sure ate their popsicles like it wasn't a big deal.

However, when Isaac got up to go run around in the yard the kids, in a big clump, followed him around. He looked like Prince William and the paparazzi. At one point one of the girls stepped in front of him to attempt to pen him in.  He juked her pretty quickly and finally I asked them to take a picture... Isaac didn't want to stand with them and this is what I got. So cute. So telling.

Then we went to the beach near sunset.

 

We saw shells...

 

We found a "hidden mickey" in some driftwood..

 

 Enjoyed the coral sand...

 

 Then went home, took a bath (to wash the coral sand out of hair), and went to bed! Happy New Year!