Pleasurehouse Point

It was a beautiful Saturday in January. The temperature was close to 60° and the sun was shining through the clouds after days of rain. The girls and I gathered up Fynley and went for a long walk at Pleasurehouse Point. The perfect way to start a new month and a new year.

Happy 2016

2015 marked the beginning of some major changes for our family. It's stressful to make changes in your life. Combine those changes with four people who all are dealing with their own feelings about the changes and it makes for a roller coaster ride of a year. But I'm also proud of the way we are all dealing with the changes. I'm also praying that things go smoothly for Lily and Shelly during the transition to a new place. 

We were lucky to have so many fun experiences sprinkled into our year. 2015 thanks for a year of change and a year of smiles. 

I'm looking forward to a stable 2016 that is filled with love, family, and new beginnings. 

Happy New a Year!!!

Making Goals

I've decided to do a little something different for my new year plan. In the past, I would select one word that would help guide me through the year. This year I made up a short list of goals. These are things that I need to pay more attention to and I'm hopeful that they are all realistic goals for my life. 

Dinner Out & NYE

Back in December, we had a nice family dinner out at one of our favorite restaurants. We decided it was a nice opportunity to get dressed up.

On New Year's Eve, we went to the clubhouse for a celebration. The girls wanted to come back home and have appetizers and sparkling cider at home for the midnight countdown. So, that's just what we did!

What a Year

On New Year's Eve, the girls filled out these fun forms about 2011 and their thoughts on 2012. I wasn't sure what they would think of the idea. So, I was really surprised when they began working on it and really gave it lots of thought. They came up with some great answers and I was excited to see how they felt about the past year. Each of them presented them to the family and we all discussed their plans for 2012. Fun activity.





Excerpt from Lily's sheet:  "Favorite Memory...Getting Daisy and going to middle school."


Excerpt from Shelly's sheet:  "Hardest Thing of the Year...Learned how to swim in the deep end."

NYE

We had a fun little appetizer dinner for our New Year's Eve celebration. We had pepperoni dip, onion dip, shrimp, clementines, grapes, and chips. 








The girls spent time on their iPods and Daisy hung out playing with her toys. We enjoyed a relaxed NYE at home playing games and watching football. All but one of us made it until midnight. Shelly went to bed at 11:00 and we taped the ball dropping for her to watch in the morning. 







On New Year's Day we watched the ball drop and jumped on bubble wrap to make a festive popping sound. It was a double fun NYE at our house---celebrated on the 31st and the 1st!!!

Blurry bubble poppers

2012!!!

Love the numbers in the new year! 


2-0-1-2, so much more appealing to me than 2011. So eager for the new year. Love fresh, new beginnings. 

We took down our Christmas tree this morning and once it was down we had a carpet full of tree needles. We took the tree out the front door and vacuumed up all of the needles left behind. Once the tree was out of there we took down the curtains in our dining room and office. I am planning to replace them, but for the time being I love the big open windows in the front of our house. I may change my mind and leave those windows curtain-free.


Then it was time to head outside and take down the garland around the door and on the front steps, as well as, the mailbox decorations. We also gathered up the net lights and tucked them all into the outdoor lighting box. I did leave the big wreath on the front door and I may just add a few little items to it to make it look a bit wintery. 


Once our chores were complete, the girls and I were off for a walk in the neighborhood. It was a nice temperature out and felt good to take a walk. There's a little path in the back of the golf course that heads through the woods into another neighborhood. It's always a fun adventure to head down the trail. Lily and I both noticed how pretty the little pond was in the woods and what a perfect place it would be for taking photos. Next time we walk, I'll bring the camera.




And now, we are enjoying the first day of the new year snuggled inside watching football, reading books, playing Wii games, and enjoying life.

NYE 2010 to 2011

We spent New Year's Eve at home with the girls. It was just the four of us. A nice and simple way to ring in the new year.

Lily helped me in the kitchen with an onion dip, the famous pizza dip, and cheddar bacon bites. They were all really yummy.













We had a little sparkling wine toast and made it until about 11:00. We taped the ball drop to watch on New Year's Day.









Overall, I think we kicked off the New Year in the perfect fashion---good food, good company, and good drinks!

Happy Twenty Eleven

And, a few photos from the past year:

Welcome to Twenty Ten

Happy 2010 to One and All!!!!

Really Cute Movie

Yesterday, January 1, 2009, we went to the movies as a family and saw Bedtime Stories! It was super cute and we all really enjoyed it. I highly recommend it for everyone...laughs and silliness abound.

The year is shaping up nicely. I am still working on my "one word" idea for this year. The past two years I chose the word simplify and I really liked that one, but now I think I'm ready for a change. I am not big into resolutions because I think they just make you feel badly when you don't accomplish them. So, the "one word" idea is nice...it makes you reflect on what you did right in relationship to the word. Here are some great ideas for words. Check it out.

Clean and Fresh for '09

Yesterday (the 31st), we spent the day cleaning and preparing for a fresh and new year. According to Ellen Whitehurst and Shuistology, the 31st is the day to sweep away the old and the 1st is the day to enter in the new for a strong year.

After all of the cleaning was done we had a really yummy dinner of rockfish (from John's brother), a salad, and veggies...trying to be a bit healthier in our eating. Oh, but we did add a bowl of mashed potatoes for Lily and John to enjoy. Can't do it all right!!

Then it was time for games galore. We played Don't Spill the Beans, Connect Four, and Uno Attack. Uno Attack got a little crazy. By the end of the games we were ready to pop the bubbly...the sparkling cider that is. So, it was sparkling cider and Snickerdoodles for a late night treat. We all snuggled on the couch and got ready for the ball to drop. But before it dropped Shelly dropped. So she went off to bed and Lily snuggled up in our bed to watch the new year enter. At the stroke of midnight we all kissed and said our happy new years and then we drifted off to sleep.

So, from our home to yours...Cheers and Happy New Year to All!

A toast to the new year with sparkling cider:

Cheers to All

2008 Photo Files

Since it's the last day of the year, I thought it was a good time to reflect on 2008. So, from each month of my photo files I selected something that represented our year.

Lily played basketball Making a snowman with a little snowEaster with our little family of 4 Putting in a pool and digging up everything! Lily picks out her guinea pig Shelly loses her first tooth Lots of pool parties Trip to Myrtle Beach Lily gets her ears pierced Our 10 year anniversary Snow in November At grandpa and grandma's for Christmas

A fun year...a busy year...a year filled with its usual ups and downs...our year. Happy new Year!!!