I’m dusting off the old blog to join in with Dwija’s 12 in 2014! It may be hard to re-cap the year since I haven’t been keeping up with things here, but I’ll give it a shot.
This is a great representation of January for me. Right after last Christmas we found out that Sebastian was on the way, and the ensuing pregnancy fatigue threw us into survival mode, big time. Apparently it is contagious.
In spite of needing much more sleep just to function, we kept trucking forward with homeschooling. The girls kept busy with activities like Little Flowers Club, P.E. and catechesis, while at home we worked more on the basics. Throughout the year Veronica has really come a long way with reading, and can read some things on her own now. Gotta instill that book love!
March was…kind of a blur. There were a couple of birthdays, including mine (Ash Wednesday for the win…not) and Jacinta’s. And my mom broke her elbow in spectacular fashion, ouch, but I’ll be honest. I don’t seem to remember much else about March. We did grow some lovely California Poppies in the yard, and Ariadne was so excited that she immediately picked the first one. For me, of course.
April was full of activity! We had a visit around Easter from Paul’s grandmother, who shares a name with Veronica. There were parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins thrown in the mix, so many good times were had. In the thick of it, Moira turned one.
In May I became a drink mixologist! Just kidding. But I did win a create-a-cocktail contest given by Jennifer Fulwiler upon release of her book, Something Other Than God. It doesn’t get much better than relaxing by the pool with a good book and a refreshing beverage. For a few minutes, anyway.
This year has revealed Ariadne’s gremlin side in full force. I came upon scenes like this many a time, and the victims included a pound of bacon, canisters of salt, a container of peppercorns, bottles of soap, a tube of toothpaste, bottles of nailpolish (nooooooo!), infinite cups of water, drawers of clothes (repeatedly), and a bag of flour, as pictured above. Nothing is safe. Nothing.
One of the girls’ favorite shows this year has been Wild Kratts. I mean, who wouldn’t love to be an animal rescuer for a living? Veronica is convinced that it is her calling in life. For her birthday I made her some creature power suits so she can live the dream. Activate! July also saw the start of our monsoon season, which turned out to be crazy this year.
August. Oh, August. Final month of pregnancy, if that gives you an idea how August went. This was me, locked outside of my running car. But not locked out of my house, and sans kids, thankfully. Our chandelier also fell out of the ceiling, somehow without hurting anyone or breaking. So I guess August was the month of disasters that weren’t disasters. And ice cream.
Then, this guy! Oh, this guy. What a charmer. Sebastian held out until the beginning of September, and boy were we glad when he arrived. Nature celebrated by giving Phoenix a 100-year flood about five days after he was born. It’s amazing how much bigger he is now than when I took this picture. Good eating, good sleeping, many times beloved, much smiling guy.
And then came October, when Moira broke her ankle. Newborn plus gimpy toddler makes one tired momma. She did eventually learn to hobble around on the boot, which was hilarious, and earned her the title of Bootleg the Pirate on Halloween. But we were all glad to see it go at the end of the month. And then I broke my little toe.
Technically this picture was taken in December, but a good bit of the work was done in November, so. Quilting is something I’ve tried to devote more time to this year, which can sometimes be a challenge with five young kids. But I had some great finishes anyway and I plan on keeping at it. This was my first attempt at half square triangles and it was very satisfying to learn something new. November saw Paul turn 40, and of course we celebrated by playing a little Magic the Gathering. Well I played a little. He played a lot.
And that brings us to December! Definitely a contender for busiest month of the year. Ariadne turned three and I had fun making the pink dragon cake that she asked for. Mid-month we went with my parents up north to cut our own Christmas tree and it ended up snowing. A lot. Which was incredibly fun for the kids, most of whom had never been in snow before. And naturally the holiday prep and holiday celebrating and holiday clean up has consumed quite a bit of our time. But along with that are the fun times spent with friends and family, and for that we are all very grateful.
I don’t know whether I’ll manage to get back into blogging for the coming year or not, but you can always check in with me on Facebook or Instagram.
Merry Christmas, and I hope you have a great New Year!
