1/1/11, That's a lot of "1's" and little ones

Last night Glen and I hosted the last grand kids sleepover for 2010. No, we weren't cooking. I had told them about their fathers denting my pans as they brought in the New Year, so at their request they were equipped to waken the neighborhood at midnight.

The oldest four managed to keep each other awake, but Sadie finally went down at about 11:40 pm. So close! Luckily she had been awake for the fireworks earlier in the evening.

Glen and TJ had gone fireworks shopping down at the corner earlier in the month. Arizona is once again showing its schizophrenic side; the legislature votes to legalize the sale of fireworks BUT local entities do not allow the setting off of such fireworks. Does that stop fireworks stands from showing up on every corner? Absolutely not! Gilbert was one of two cities who had legalized fireworks for certain holidays so the family gathered at Dave and Sally's home for Grandpa's Amazing New Year's Display at sunset.

Julianna went running, hopping crazy while Oscar just stared and Mabel tried to nap upstairs. The older kids delighted in their snappers, snakes and close up views. Honestly, Grandpa Glen's show was better than what we saw last July 4th from the front lawn. (Our local churches have let us down after providing a really BIG show for several years in a row.)

After fireworks, we loaded the older kids up for the trip to grandma and grandpa's. Julianna also joined us for a couple of hours while her parents went to dinner. The older five stayed on to spend the night. We offered to be a full on daycare if parents wanted to party, but the babies stayed home with their parents. Who wants to go to a block party (even with Jimmy Eat World performing) when it's cold enough to need winter gear like New Yorkers? Arizonans usually just own jackets!

The girls enjoyed their own concert straight from Times Square. They were pretty great dancers. Grandpa didn't know whether to be impressed or distressed that they knew the words to the songs!

Grandpa's Christmas gifts included some new pieces for the Western themed Playmobil that lives on after 20 plus years. They had fun playing with it in the living room. Toby was especially delighted.

Side note: Thirty plus years ago I found myself driving all over the Salt Lake Valley to find the Western Playmobil sets I wanted for Eric and Ryan's Christmas that year. They were well loved and came with us to Arizona. Fast forward a few years and we are moving to a different house. The little boy next door loves coming over to play with the set so I, in a moment of generosity, give him all the Playmobil. Toddler Nathan doesn't care one whit. Add on a few more years and Nathan's favorite toys are Playmobil. He even talks me into humbling myself and going to the former neighbor's home to see if the old Playmobil is still in residence. It's not so we are once again on the lookout for Western themed Playmobil. Thankfully the J.C. Penney Outlet store had smoking deals one year. The new, now old Playmobil lives on in the hall closet and is the first thing pulled out by the grand kids when they come to visit.

The girls brought their American Girl dolls to our sleepover. Last year part of their Christmas was an after Christmas visit to the American Girl Store in Los Angeles. This year, I turned my sewing room over to the creation American Girl clothing and accessories.

Each of the three older granddaughters received a hand knit sweater with coordinating retro dress.

And new anklets and shoes to go with their dress and sweater.

(Thank goodness I gifted myself with a Kristen doll so that I have a model for all fittings!)

Each granddaughter also received a coordinating bag to use for bringing their dolls and clothes to grandma's house for sleepovers.

Well, grandma had a very quiet week after Christmas (unlike the last two years which have been full of weddings) and extra material left over from her Christmas gifts to the girls so she decided to make sleeping bags and pillows for our planned sleepover at the end of the week.

And then she found the American Girl hangers purchased online on sale on Cyber Monday that she neglected to add to the bags at Christmas. There was still material, so she also sewed up three garment bags for use when the girls and their dolls go visiting.

It was a very fun surprise for my little sweeties!

Sadie's doll is all tucked in, but not before a crisis! Upon dolls and girls putting on their pajamas it was discovered that Sadie's doll lacked pajamas. Heather's and Ruby's dolls had both received pajamas last year as part of their Christmas gifts. So Sadie got a little chair from the grand kids room and joined me in my sewing room where I found just enough leftover knit fabric and some ribbing. I've been stashing doll patterns when on sale for just 99 cents so had a pattern for simple knit doll pajamas just like the ones I used to make for her daddy. I knew it would be a quick project and in no time at all, Sadie's doll had pajamas.

Sometimes it pays to save everything!

This morning we all slept in until 9 am and then we watched the Rose Bowl Parade while eating breakfast. By noon they were all on their way back home. Good times!

Happy New Year everyone!

And Happy Birthday to Sally!