2009 - Year in Review

2009 is over already!! Where did the time go?!? Compared to last year, this year was pretty calm.

The beginning of the year kept us busy as we dealt with the stresses of trying to sell our home in this very tough market! Towards the end of summer...just after our move, things calmed down and we were finally able to relax and simply enjoy life.

Here are some photos - our year in review....

January:
We watched as our new house was being built...only we had no idea this would be our home one day! We had a deposit on a house 2 doors down at the time. God had other plans and this house turned out to be SO much better!!!


Lionel continued with his violin lessons...


Sweet-Pea continued with her figure skating...



February:
Lionel's quiz team had their mid-winter competition.


We had a fun homeschool field trip to the bakery for Valentine's Day!


Valentine's Day flowers from Rob...gorgeous roses, my favorite!


March:
Cody got a serious infection after being groomed, but his medication helped him heal quickly.


Lionel turned 14!!


The serious packing began and we were ready for our big move!


Soon after most of the house was packed and ready to move...the deal fell through and we lost our buyers. We also lost this home we were going to buy...but in the long run it was a HUGE blessing for so many reasons!



April:
Daddy's birthday:


Decorating Easter eggs:


Lionel's quiz team finals where they placed 2nd overall:


Sweet-Pea visited a local equestrian center in preparation for her science fair project:



May:
Enjoying spring!!


Our homeschool group had it's annual fair. This year it was a Science fair. Here is Lionel with his completed project on "Jet Propulsion".


Sweet-Pea posing with her completed science fair project on "Horses", all set up for the fair. Gotta love the horse tails (in yarn) on the edge of the table!


Rob and I got married 15 years ago this month in our home church:



June:
Our home officially sold! Finally our buyers pulled through and we were able to close on June 30th, three months after our original closing date was set!


We found out that there was a skunk family living under our shed...8 of them! Fortunately we didn't have to deal with them for long since we moved out at the end of the month. They sure were cute though!


Father's Day with Daddy sporting his new vintage car shirt:



July:
Moving day!! Could they pack it any tighter?? Yikes!


Our new home...such a blessing from the Lord!!!


Sweet-Pea's 8th birthday. Here she is with all her friends:


Fun family outing to a local Civil War fort:



August:
I got an awesome surprise gift from Rob:


School began on August 3rd. Sometimes we had school inside in our schoolroom...


Sometimes we had school outside...


Sweet-Pea got her ears pierced...a belated birthday gift:



September:
Our homeschool group's first field trip for the new school year. The group keeps on growing...


Lionel spends his 'free time' building balsa model planes...some by himself, and some with Grandpa who taught him how to build them.


Sweet-Pea has been improving quite a bit this year with her figure skating lessons. She has an amazing coach!


Autumn arrived...my favorite time of year:





October:
Riding lessons:


Taking care of the horses together:


Family get-away in northern New England:


Yankee Candle Co. - South Deerfield MA



November:
We went on a homeschool field trip to a local Indian Reservation:


Being silly with friends is always fun!!


We had a great Thanksgiving Day with family this year:


I got new glasses...bifocals...yuk. Guess I'm officially old...especially since I turned 44 this month as well! Here I am sporting them while on a field trip with the kids:



December:
Sweet-Pea's church musical performance was wonderful:


The kids decorated their own tree this year for Christmas:


Christmas 2009 in our new home:


We celebrated my father-in-law's 79th birthday just before the New Year:


So there you have it...a 'quick' year in review. We had a great year overall, and on top of enjoying our family and friends nearby, we were able to reconnect with some pretty great friends and family who live far away thanks to Facebook....even some of you, my faithful readers. God is good and I am so blessed!

I pray that 2010 will be filled with good health, happiness and many wonderful blessings from the Lord!!!

Scenic Sunday - #9

Gorgeous tree farm near our home...

(Click on the photo to enlarge for a much better view!)

Photo Hunt #149 - Twelve

We got the kids a new pool table for Christmas....so this was the perfect photo op for the number 'twelve'....

It's Christmas!!

"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." ~ Isaiah 9:6

Festival of Lights....sort of

Every year at some point during the week of Christmas, our family gets in the car and drives all around town to look at how people have decorated their homes with Christmas lights. It always puts us in the mood for the holiday and it's fun to see some really pretty decorations...and unfortunately some pretty tacky ones. This year we noticed a lot of lights, but not too many had that 'wow' factor. Here are a few homes we passed....

Ooh, there's a package on their front porch! ha ha


This Weeping Willow tree looked so pretty, especially with all the snow!!


This house seemed to have a tree in almost every room!!


Every bit of decor here was illuminated....it was pretty yet strange!


Countdown to Christmas clock....6 hours, 8 minutes 15 seconds to go!


Right off the Hollywood movie set...well...sort of...


They even had these chasing lights cover their driveway...wow!


Classic...much prettier in person


This house is enormous...and I have to say I thought they 'under-did' it. They could have made it look amazing with so much more....


Next year we'll head on over to another neighborhood that has always impressed us. We wanted to go see our old home this time, so we went a different way. Unfortunately, the only lights on our old home, were the ones inside....boring! We still had a blast though and although I had my husband pull the car over a million times for photos, I think he still loves me. ha ha ha!

Christmas is almost here!

I can't believe tomorrow is Christmas already!! This year has flown by and soon enough we will be in 2010. God is good...we have had a busy Christmas season, but a good one. We look forward to spending time tomorrow with family and hope that you and yours have the most wonderful day!!!

Remember to keep Christ in the center of your day, He is why we celebrate Christmas. His free gift is the best one you'll ever get!! Every Christmas morning we read the story of Christ's birth in Luke before even touching any of our gifts. I hope you take the time with your family to thank the Lord for all He has done for you!

Here is a new take on the famous "Twas the Night Before Christmas" story. Read this with your family and reflect on the true meaning of why we celebrate Christmas!


'Twas the night before Jesus came and all through the house
Not a creature was praying, not one in the house.
Their Bibles were lain on the shelf without care
In hopes that Jesus would not come there.

The children were dressing to crawl into bed.
Not once ever kneeling or bowing a head.
And Mom in her rocker with baby on her lap
Was watching the Late Show while I took a nap.

When out of the East there arose such a clatter.
I sprang to my feet to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash!

When what to my wondering eyes should appear
But angels proclaiming that Jesus was here.
With a light like the sun sending forth a bright ray
I knew in a moment this must be THE DAY!

The light of His face made me cover my head
It was Jesus! returning just like He had said.
And though I possessed worldly wisdom and wealth,
I cried when I saw Him in spite of myself.

In the Book of Life which He held in His hand
Was written the name of every saved man.
He spoke not a word as He searched for my name;
When He said "it's not here" my head hung in shame.

The people whose names had been written with love
He gathered to take to His Father above.
With those who were ready He rose without a sound.
While all the rest were left standing around.

I fell to my knees, but it was too late;
I had waited too long and thus sealed my fate.
I stood and I cried as they rose out of sight;
Oh, if only I had been ready tonight.

In the words of this poem the meaning is clear;
The coming of Jesus is drawing near.
There's only one life and when comes the last call
We'll find that the Bible was true after all!

Merry Christmas!!!!

Someone got a haircut today!!!

Cody is one happy Doodle!! He spent the day at the groomer and not only looks wonderful, but smells wonderful too. He's all ready for Christmas now! Let the celebration begin!!!

Snow...the perfect way to start Winter!

We got bombarded with snow the other day. It's very cold and windy outside, but it sure is pretty!! I have to say though, the older I get, the less and less I enjoy the snow. I finally understand why my parents felt the way they did in winter. Shoveling it, driving in it, and all the messes that come with it, don't make me a happy camper. I do love seeing the kids' eyes light up as it's coming down though...seeing them happy is enough to make me happy again.

We got lots of snow this time, so we were all outside, shovels in hand, trying to clear out the driveway and 5' of road that the plow somehow seemed to overlook. Hello?!? I'll give them the fact that this is a new road, so they may not know where the curb is, but still....one lane down the middle doesn't cut it!

Beautiful snow covered trees:


Even Cody enjoyed the snow this time. He doesn't usually going outside, but he ventured out with us this time and had lots of fun. Good thing he didn't run around in the deep snow though...his hair would NOT be easy to comb through with snowballs embedded in it!


Sweet-Pea making a snow angel...


OK, this kid cracks me up sometimes!! He wanted to be buried so we obliged. The funny thing was that he couldn't get out of the snow bank once he was buried!! After a while he did need digging out, and little sis was happy to help...don't ask me why 'cause if it were my brother, I'd have left him there! =)


Taking a moment to enjoy the snow...




The trees with snow on them are simply gorgeous!!




So...today is the first official day of Winter. Looks like this will be a snowy one for us. Our old home was right on the shore, so we didn't get much snow, mainly slush. It was awful. At least here we'll get some pretty snow. Even if it does annoy me now and then, at least the kids are happy!

Homemade for Christmas

As I mentioned in a previous post, we put 10 wreaths on all the windows of our home...I thought it was pretty, but one thing was missing...a wreath on the front door.

I've always wanted a real cranberry wreath...not one you buy in stores, but a handmade one. So, this year I undertook the task of putting one together!

Here is the finished project:


Here it is on our front door:


Putting it together was easy yet time consuming. Fortunately, Sweet-Pea helped load the toothpicks with cranberries which saved me a ton of time!!

Now the house looks ready for the holidays! Don'tcha think?!?