This year brought a lot of changes in our family.
1) We moved. Finally. LOVE the house, want to grow older here, maybe not totally old, but definitely kids through school kind of old.
2) We started middle school with our oldest child. It was a rocky couple of months at first, but he got it figured out, mostly. It's amazing what can happen when the librarian threatens to pull his check out license.
3) Miss P started wearing glasses and kindergarten. She's taken much more kindly to kindergarten than glasses.
4) Everything kind of "clicked." The kids can all dress themselves and get their own breakfast. Feuds of the past have simmered down into cautious friendships. I had extra help over the summer, and fewer kids I needed help with.
5) Miss D has started participating in 'enchanted learning.' She seems to like it. When it dawned on her teacher we were "biblical" folks, she even switched her session so the kids there would be "more" like her. (One is all public school, the other has two Christian private schools and three public schools.)
6) This was Si Guy's last full year at home. I have very mixed feelings about August 2012. I have had a kid at home for the last 13, by then almost 14, years.
7) This year I started emphasizing purposeful exercise more. I've always been the park in the back lot gal, and walk whenever possible gal, and even take stairs as often as not. This year, I rediscovered my love of group exercise. It was my first time in a gym since our 11 year old was an infant.
8) Our kids getting old enough we can eat dinner alone, in a restaurant, three times. That is three more times than we went out alone in 2010. In a lot of ways, our marriage has just seemed to be a bit "deeper" this year.
9) E1 lost his appendix. After doing some research about celiac kids, this is not surprising. Now I just need to watch his tonsils. (Outside of that, he is, by far, my healthiest kid.)
10) Mr. M had a senior tacked on to his job title. He also received his own laptop for home use, and has been working a lot more from home ever since.
11) E2 might be experiencing the ugly dawn of adolescence, at the ripe old age of 9. On the up side, he definitely has grown leaps and bounds in the kitchen. His favorite channel is the Food Network. He's very "chefy" in how he thinks too.
12) Speaking of food, most of our kids are old enough now that they eat "adult" food with ease. Si Guy is our last holdout. He doesn't believe in greens or proteins outside of peanut butter, yogurt, cheese, and hot dogs. Still, with the increased flexibility of the masses, we've taken our kitchen to places it hasn't been before. Our oldest had us exploring different ways to cook brussel sprouts, and requested artichokes.
and my favorite places of 2011
1) TRADER JOE'S. Affordable organic at last!
2) Farmers Markets. We love them. Thank you for the best sweet potatoes I've ever eaten, and kohlrabi.
3) Lake Park, in Lewisville TX. No playground, but the view of the lake, electric sites, and indoor plumbing is worth it! Our kids are happy to play with balls, books, and dirt.
4) Local parks. I love having several playgrounds within reasonable distance. From the "town" at Antioch Park to the merry-go-round and tunnel park on Nall, to the various themed parks in Shawnee, we are blessed.
5) Cinemark, Merriam: Matinee 3D movies for less than a regular movie at AMC. It's a comfy theater to be in too, clean, and wide enough seats.
6) Hy-vee: My twenty-four hour, go to grocery. Especially true since they've expanded their health market.
7) Barnes and Noble: With the closing of Borders, it's the next best thing for a bibliophile who likes to hold a book in her hands and flip through the pages before she buys it.
8) Avenue: I'm a big girl. I appreciate a store dedicated to letting me be happy with my clothes at a non-guilt inducing price. Cute accessories too!
9) Plaza: Always have loved it, the character, art shows, christmas lights, fountains....and more.
10) Really it's one: Our house! It's so nice to have a home that feels like "home."
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