Year in Review: 2011

January

*We held our annual New Year's Day party. The vegetable soup was a huge hit!

*I made some lofty goals for the year but ended up being mediocre...

February

*Billy's parents came in for the weekend to watch the boys play basketball, but we ended up being snowed in. We were told it was coming, but we didn't believe it...

*Since we were stuck in the house, I learned how to knit by watching YouTube videos. Fun!

*Caleb participated in the Kaufman County Spelling Bee - and when we left, there was snow everywhere. Again. It was falling pretty hard when we left, so I drove home very carefully. When we finally got home, I couldn't pull up in the driveway. Both times I tried, I slid back down. I ended up parking on the street, hoping no one would slide into me.

*We had to have our beloved cat Shadow put to sleep on 2/21/11. She had gone downhill really fast - all in one weekend, it seemed. The boys were so upset at hearing her cries and seeing her just laying on the floor by her litter box that they couldn't concentrate on school or even stay inside much. When Billy got home that day, we took her to the vet... She was 18-and-a-half years old. She's still greatly missed.

March

*I joined a knitting group at church!

(It's going to get hard here for a while since I fell off in my blogging...)

April

*Sometime in March or April, I got my hair cut. Really cut. I mean just below shoulder length and with bangs. I love it!

(In reading part of a post from this time, it appears I seemed to have lost my inspiration for blogging, cooking, etc. Not sure why... Anyway, that accounts for why I can't seem to remember much of what happened. l checked my Facebook statuses, but apparently they're not all there so that's not helping too much...)

May

*We had a post-Mother's Day visit with family at Billy's parents. Everyone came over for food and fun - and Melissa brought Stacy with her. They weren't "dating" yet, but I had a feeling it was coming soon. It did - and they broke up very quickly as well. I thought this was the one...

*We went to Hamm's Orchard to check out their produce. Their prices are high, but the veggies are tasty. We tried their homemade peach and strawberry ice cream flavors. The peach was good, but the strawberry was better. Still, I don't think either is one really anything worth raving about.

June

*Caleb promoted to the Livewire group at church. He's now officially a "yout"!

July

*This was a busy month for the boys. They had VBS, Caleb had camp, there were reading programs and movies, and we did lots of swimming.

August

*While the boys were gone for their last summer fling, I took a soldering class at Beads of Splendor. It was so much fun, I bought my own soldering kit and will be working to improve my skills.

*I never did hear back from Heritage Christian Academy about a teaching position, so we're back to homeschooling again. Thankfully, at what seemed the eleventh hour, I applied for the boys to enter Texas Virtual Academy (TXVA) through the K12 program. We got in! So now begins a new "home" school chapter: public school online at home.

*I went to my first Women of Faith conference, thanks to Mama. Jennifer came with her and we had a great weekend together with hundreds (thousands?) of other women, praising God. Oh, and I got to meet Mandisa!

*We went to Medieval Times for the first time. It was great! The show was fun and the food was delicious! The boys are ready to go back, but it's too expensive to be something other than an occasional special celebration. We're thinking maybe we'll take them there, along with one extra friend each, for their birthdays. That would be much easier than throwing two separate parties over a span of a few weeks.

September

*We met some great new neighborhood friends at the pool: Julie and her boys, Craig and Brett. They homeschool, and the boys hit it off immediately and play really well together. We're looking forward to building this relationship.

*We've got a lot of adjusting to do for this online school thing. I like it because it's taken the brunt of planning off my shoulders. Caleb likes it because it's structured and he can do things (for the most part) on his own. Jacob, on the other hand, doesn't like it so much. There's more work each day, which interferes with his play time, and he frequently has meltdowns...

*Since Caleb wanted to start going to the youth Bible study on Wednesday nights, I thought I'd find something for me to do while I'm waiting. I joined a Zumba group and I love it!

October

*I think this is the month I joined Pinterest. Great website with great ideas! I've even completed a few projects I found there - and I have more on my "list" to do.

November

*Thanksgiving was fun, but small.

December

*Christmas seemed rushed this year. I think that's maybe because it fell on a Sunday and Billy had school and work right up until Dec. 23. Our annual Christmas Eve gathering at his parents' house was really small this year, but we had a great time. The annual Christmas lunch at Aunt Sue's (this year was her year to host it...) was also really small - just 11 of us.

I know there was more, but I can't seem to remember - or find - what happened. I guess these are the biggies. I'll be taking better records this year because I've implemented a fun daily one-line calendar that I found - guess where! - on Pinterest. :o)