My Year in Review

Let's see... What did I do this year... What happened to/around me...

My husband worked hard every day at home and at work. He lost his job and found a better one. He continued doing what he does best and what irritates me the most.

My oldest daughter turned 6 and started first grade. She learned that she can read chapter books to herself and that 2+3=5 (and other "math facts") and how to write her name in cursive. She had her first guild audition and piano recital. She picked out the newest member of our family. She started mastering the elementary backstroke (which doesn't look very elementary to me - it looks complex!). She took her first trip to Ohio, my birth state. She made butter.

My younger daughter turned 2 and learned the sound that Q makes (and a bunch of other letter sounds). She made new friends everywhere she went. Literally. Everywhere. She thought about using the potty fulltime but decided it's not for her yet. She learned to count to eleventeen, but then exceeded that and counted all the way to 20. She discovered (unexpectedly, and surprising her daddy in the process) that it is fun to go underwater in the pool.

We, as a family, got a puppy and taught him to sit. Well, maybe that was mostly me, but he lives with all of us. We weathered stressful times before Husbandguy got laid off when everyone else in his office was losing their jobs and then while he was out of work. We used our season passes to our local amusement park enough to make them worth the money, but not as much as we would have liked. We went on several trips out of state and (re)connected with old friends and/or relatives we hadn't seen in forever (or ever met in some cases). We laughed and played and cried and yelled and smiled and sang and complained and glared and colored and read and slammed doors and painted walls and broke things and fixed things and kissed and hugged and grew and learned.

It seems that this post is more about what happened around me this year. I think I'll save what happened to me for a separate post. Either it would make this post too long to address it here or it wouldn't add anything and won't be missed. We'll see...