2011
Wow.
What a year.
The first thing that comes to my mind when I think back over 2011 is my sweet little baby.
It's hard for me to fathom that when the year started, we didn't know anything about him at all.
And now he's our precious little munchkin & I cannot imagine life without him.
I'm so incredibly grateful for him.
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Here are some of the other happenings from 2011:
Sboy enjoys the snow.
January
- Continued to go to CBS (Community Bible Study) each Wednesday morning. 2nd semester of the study.
- Had a lot of snow. Everything cancelled for a week. I've never experienced so many consecutive snow days in my entire life.
- Wives' Retreat 2011. Lots of fun catching up with friends.
Hunter, the big kids, and students : at winter conference.
February
- Winter Conference (College students from all over the state.)
- Took Pumpkin to see the ballet. Sleeping Beauty.
- Veritas Forum: Vinoth Ramachandra came to speak to the campus. It was a powerful night.
- Superboy's basketball season concludes. This season was his first experience playing b-ball. Loved it.
- Blog post: I Luv Sunshine
- Blog post: Patricia Kuhl and the Linguistic Genius of Babies
- Blog post: Butterfly Collage (We continue to get lots of traffic to that particular post via Pinterest. Hello, butterfly-loving internet friends. Have fun crafting.)
The big kids pose in front of construction at the lake house. This lake house has been in our family since my dad was about 10 years old. This year it was updated and renovated, thanks to the strategy & vision of my parents. We are all PUMPED about it and so excited to continue to have many more decades of fun on this little "postage stamp of native soil"* that's so precious to our family.
*that phrase comes from a William Faulkner quote that I've always loved.
March
- Hunter led a mission trip to Mexico during his spring break.
- Community Group Weekend Retreat
- Hunter turned 35
- The kids & I took a spring break trip to visit the grandparents (+ great-grandmother, aunts, uncles, cousins)
- Visited the lake house & enjoyed seeing the construction progress
- Blog post: Dogwoods Starting to Bloom
- Blog post: Birthday Celebrations Over the Years
- Blog post: Birthday Cupcakes
- Blog post: Debussy's Clair de Lune
- Blog post: Managing the Multitude of Kid Drawings Which Exist in this House
In front of the Chattenooga Children's Museum.
April
- Finished up our spring break trip
- Stopped in Chattanooga on the way home. Visited the children's museum. Enjoyed the chance to hang out with Scott, Jess, and their sweet kids.
- Hunter went to Chicago for the Gospel Coalition conference.
- Kids' children's choir: "Troubbable of Zerubbabel" performance
- Celebrated Easter
- Visited our friends David & KD
- Pumpkin donated her hair to Locks of Love
- Finished up ATC Swap. 274 children particpated (which means 1370 little pieces of creativity were sent out. 274 x 5=1370. Fun!)
Splashing in the Gulf.
May
- Pumpkin's birthday: Celebrated by having lunch at the American Girl Bistro.
- Concluded Baseball Season
- Blog post: Izzy Gets a Haircut
- Summer Conference at the beach.
- My brother's graduation from medical school. Fun weekend with our extended family. Found out I was going to be an aunt again!!! Another Baby B on the way.
- Visited the lake with the kids.
Karate poses with the birthday boy after seeing Kung Fu Panda 2. I particularly love how Pumpkin and "Sporty" modeled their poses after Po the Panda.
June
- Superboy's birthday: Celebrated by going to the "Movie Tavern." (Combination of movie theater + restaurant. Eat while you watch.) We watched Kung Fu Panda 2.
- VBS at our church.
- Blog post: D-Cot
- Blog post: Playing with Calico Critter Collection
- Blog post: Dancing with My Cute Little Niece
- Blog post: Building the Jedi T-6 Shuttle
On the next to last night of our vacation with Ben & MK, we went to Uncle Bubba's Oyster House and it was GOOD. I had shrimp & grits. They were awesome. They were definitely very rich; I really couldn't eat more than about 10 bites.The above photo was taken outside the restaurant. Cutie pies.
July
- Celebrated 4th of July here at home
- Brought Superboy to overnight camp. (first time!) Uncle Joe was a counselor at the same camp.
- Babysat Rob & Al's dog Angus
- Went on a trip to Tybee Island with Ben, MK, and their girls.
- Gingi came for a visit. She stayed with Pumpkin while I accompanied Hunter at a training conference for work. (aka "July Training")
- Pumpkin went to a (daytime only) cheer camp. Had a ball. Learned a few cheers. It was the PERFECT low key cheer camp for elementary aged girls.
- Blog post: Reading/Watching Anne of GG with my Daughter
Every year the school has a book character parade at the beginning of the fall semester. It's a back to school tradition. Oh, how I love getting to be part of a school that celebrates literature in such wonderful ways all throughout the year. This year, our kids dressed up as Anne Shirley (from Anne of Green Gables) and Matthias the Warrior Mouse (from Redwall.)
August
- Kids start school. 2nd grade and 4th grade
- I start a part time job. (Development office. Administrative duties. Donor relations. I really love it.)
- Hunter starts his 6th year in the same position. Gears up for freshman orientation. Makes plans to kick the year off with a bang. Lots of fun events, etc.
- Pumpkin has an ankle problem. Visited the doctor. Diagnosis: growth plate injury. She wore a walking-cast-boot-thingie for several weeks. (She got a follow-up x-ray in December, which showed that everything has healed up nicely. No more problem! Hooray.)
- Book Characher Parade
- Pumpkin's soccer season starts
- Sboy starts piano lessons
- Blog post: Painting Pumpkin's Room
- Blog post: Nomadic Desert vs. Sands of Time
- Blog post: Trees Are Awesome
- Blog post: Oh Eight Oh Eight: Focus on Fitness (update: when we got the call about our baby, I dropped all fitness plans like a HOT POTATO. There has been absolutely zero "focus on fitness" since we got that phone call. Now that we've gotten settled in as a family of five, it's time for me to re-visit my plans!)
This is the day we got to meet our son! 13 days old. We got to meet him at the pediatrician's office. The caseworker was taking him there for his 2 week visit. The following day we got to see him for the second time at the adoption agency, hold him in our arms, and then put him in the carseat and bring him home forever. What an amazing week that was.
September
- Met our baby for the 1st time!
- Gram and Gingi arrive for a visit. They both went with us to the agency for our "Placement Day."
- GPoppa came for a visit the next day
- Fall Conference (college students form all over the state)
- Took the kids to the science museum (all 3 of them!) one last time before our membership expired.
- Pumpkin's class gave their "rain forest reports."
A chilly morning on the soccer field.
October
- Wednesday afternoons: children's choir practice. Preparing for Christmas musical.
- Long weekend. No school on Fri/Mon. Family weekend away near Athens. Love Love Lovely weekend.
- Joe & Khani came for a visit
- Ellie came for a visit (10 days!)
- Mom came for another visit
- Four friends hosted a "sip and see" to celebrate our sweet baby. What a fun day.
- Sboy started attending confirmation class to join the church.
- Went trick-or-treating. Sboy was a ninja. Pumpkin decided to be Anne Shirley again (same costume as book character parade.)
We celebrated Thanksgiving at the lakehouse. First full-fledged family celebration in the newly renovated cabin!
November
- Visited the local corn maze with the kids. LOVED it. I never knew that going to a corn maze would be so much fun.
- Robert, Allison, and Ev came for a visit
- Sboy's piano recital
- Sboy's class took a field trip to the history museum. Exhibit: Ancient Egypt. I tagged along as a chaperone.
- Thanksgiving with extended fam.
In the judge's chambers. Right after baby's adoption was finalized. Gingi & Uncle Joe were with us that morning.
December
- Pumpkin: ocean animals presentation with the rest of the 2nd graders
- Enrichment Day: Hunter and I served as the "teachers" for the 2nd graders as we studied the topic Tall Tales. Enrichment days are a special part of the 2nd grade experience at our kids' school. Hunter and I have two more enrichment days to teach in the spring.
- Took Pumpkin to see the Nutcracker ballet.
- Children's Choir Performance: "Journey to the Center of Christmas"
- 4th grade ancient egypt presentations. Sboy gave a presentation on the Mummification process. He and his classmates all dressed up as ancient Egyptians. After the presentations they had an Egyptian feast.
- Took the kids to see a performance of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. We've read the book twice. The play we saw was SO good.
- Baby's adoption was legally finalized.
- Low key Christmas at home with just the five of us.
God of the ages, history's maker--
Planning our pathway, holding us fast--
Shaping in mercy all that concerns us--
Father, we praise you, Lord of the past.
words by Margaret E. Clarkson
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2010 Review Part One, 2010 Review Part Two
