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My kids love Christmas, of course. But they LOVE New Year’s Eve. As they’ve gotten older, my husband and I have been enjoying spending New Year’s Eve with them too. Getting to stay up and “rage” until midnight is one of the coolest things ever to them. And for some reason, they are really well-behaved and super fun to be around (if you are a parent, you know how those days go where you just can’t wait for them to get to bed…). This holiday is no longer about being out on the town in sparkly clothes and drinking too much. For us, we stay at home, spend time together, enjoy the TV broadcasts where they are freezing their buns off in New York, and indulge in several treats throughout the night. This year we’ll be having these Chocolate Peppermint Italian Sodas.
You only need a few things to make these and they take just a second. The basics for any Italian soda are the same, milk (or cream), syrup and club soda. But you can change-up the flavors to make them in a ton of flavors. This year, my kids are super in to peppermint so I decided to create one last treat for the holiday season with it. I know you can use peppermint in January but it just feels so wrong!
Mix them up, top with club soda, spray on a little whipped cream and top with some crushed candy cane. Done.
This may look like a lot but it is mostly club soda. My ratio may have been off a little bit in this size jar. I would say to add some soda, give a little stir and do a taste test to see if you need more. And since this is the blogging world, I needed this to be all the way to the top so the whipped cream could be seen better…
For sure use a straw. Straws are festive.
The rest of our New Year’s celebrating is pretty low-key. Of course there will be party hats, some balloons (because I don’t know about you but my kids can be entertained for HOURS with balloons!) and special candy. These chocolate peppermint italian sodas are perfect for the whole family. I don’t even drink at all on New Year’s Eve any more. It makes me too tired. I don’t want to be the party pooper! But if you wanted something a little more “festive” you could absolutely add vodka.
New Year’s Eve is the perfect time to try a new treat. But not all of our night is based around food…We do these countdown bags every year as well. It is a really great way to keep the kids entertained and looking forward to the next hour. There is nothing worse than a bored, tired kid, am I right? Pick up little activities while you are out finishing up your stocking stuffers and you will be all set!
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On December 19th, Netflix is debuting a new, original series called, All Hail King Julien, of Madagascar fame (watch the trailer!). We got the chance to preview a few episodes this past weekend and brought the cousins along for some extra fun. The show is really funny! I heard the adults and kids laughing through out. Your kids will love this!
The Netflix team put on a really fun event with all kinds of activities that enhanced the King Julien experience. The kids learned a dance to the theme song of the show which was super amazing to watch (and my kids have continued to perform it at home for me). And there was a craft table to create your own crown or hat similar to the one King Julien wears.
Netflix will probably be part of our New Year’s Eve festivities. We’ll probably watch more King Julien episodes, especially since a really fun New Year’s Eve party kit just arrived – thank you Netflix! But as I was browsing around looking for a few shows to recommend, my youngest son and I became enthralled with this series called The Adventures of Figaro Pho. It’s about an odd little boy who has tons of phobias. This is definitely boy’s club stuff. Lots of farts. No talking, but great music to enhance the moods. And the subtitles are of the funny noises the characters make. So if you have little boys, check it out. And if you are still in the market for holiday movies, check out the top 20 movies to stream on Netflix this holiday season. And tonight we will be watching the original Annie. My boys want to see the updated version on the big screen so we decided we should watch the original so we can compare and contrast. I can’t wait to sing all the songs! Bet your bottom dollar it will annoy the kids!
- 3 TBSP chocolate syrup
- ⅛ tsp peppermint extract (it is VERY strong - I'd start with a few drops and get to the flavor you prefer)
- ¼ cup milk
- Club Soda
- whipped cream (optional)
- crushed candy cane (optional but super cute)
- In a glass, mix together the chocolate syrup, peppermint and milk.
- Add ice.
- Top with Club Soda to taste
- Top with whipped cream and crushed candy cane.
I had this idea for New Year’s Eve Countdown Surprise Bags for Kids (yup, that title IS too long). I wanted to share it with you as New Year’s Eve will be here before you know it. So this is what I call a “Nap Time Tutorial.” While my kids don’t nap, I can often find bits and pieces of quiet time that I can use to shoot a tutorial. But sometimes in the middle, things go haywire and I have to scramble to finish. Such as the case with this craft, but you get the idea and can totally cuten it up.
I’ve created a few examples of things to include in the bags. For this one, I would also include a card that tells them to get dressed up like a business man and create a character. Then they need to pretend they have to finish up one last job before the clock strikes midnight. I don’t know about your kids but mine are great with impressions and accents. They will use their imagination and put on a fun little show for the whole family. When they get bored with that, the watch (found in the favor section of 
This next bag would include some “party animals” and a cd of our favorite dance songs. It would tell them to get their dance on. Then we would try to guess, if animals danced, which animal would be the best dancer. Come on, this is good for at least 10 minutes, right?
Of course you can change this one up if your family doesn’t use the word suck. With this bag I would say something about how waiting for midnight sucks and then we would drink root beer floats. I get it. Totally unclassy use of the word suck. But its a play on words. If I can turn it in to a teaching moment, doesn’t that trump class?
Add a little pizzazz with some silver tassels (I made these for my son’s upcoming birthday party so they were already on hand to zhuszh these up. Anything will work. Get as carried away as you want.
So there you have it. A quick and easy idea to keep you family entertained on New Year’s Eve.