In January, we did not do much, but our good friends Christopher and Heather came out for a visit, which is always fun! We played Dance Party on the Wii and Heather surprised us by kicking our butts! Dan was living in a hotel in Chicago at the time, and coming home on the weekends to visit.
In February, Dan took the girls (all three of them!) to Ohio for a visit and Mommy took a break (being a single-ish mom five days per week can wear on a person, especially while they are working on their masters degree and teaching kindergarten.
In March, we took the girls to see Disney Princesses at IU. Also, we visited Daddy in Chicago and went to the zoo and celebrated St. Patrick's Day by viewing the green river and the St. Patrick's Day parade! There were sooooo many people there that we all got a bit hot (believe it or not, it was 75 degrees!) and cranky.
In April, we had a tornado in Bloomington. Luckily, it did not come near our house, but we were hiding out in the basement for a few hours. Wow. Scary. Abigail got her ears pierced, which was a dramatic experience for all of us. A word of advice, when getting a child's ears pierced, find a way to get them both done at the same time, instead of one after the other. Some children might want to stop after the first one. Ugh. DeDe and Craig came out for a visit - they were also attending a wedding nearby. It was wonderful to spend time with them and for them to see where we lived before we had to leave.
In May, we packed up and left Bloomington, Indiana for good. Daddy was still living in Chicago, and the girls and I headed to Virginia for the summer. What a surprise it was for YaYa to find out that we were not staying for two weeks, rather four months! Surprise!!! We also managed another trip to Ohio to see Grandma and Grandpa, Mike, Loren and all of the other fabulous folk along the way. Oh yes, Abigail graduated from kindergarten - I cannot believe how big she is getting!
In June, Samara, Abigail, Juliana and I settled in for the summer and YaYa became a prime investor in Excedrin.
In July, Daddy came to visit and took the girls to D.C. for two days. They toured the Smithsonian and walked around the city. Another break for Mommy - I love that man.
In August, we went on a two week vacation to give YaYa a break. We started out at Brian and Andrea's place in Towson, MD. The girls had so much fun visiting with Ella, Paige and Madison. We sure do miss our old neighbors! Then, we headed north to Manasquan, New Jersey to visit Auntie Jenny and Uncle Ed. We have been friends with them for nine years and it feels like we met them yesterday - two couples were never better matched! After that, we went to Christine and Mike's and relaxed on their resort-like estate in Maryland for a few days. I overcame my fear of chickens and we spent a lot of time in their pool. Lovely to swim whilst surrounded by blooms and butterflies. Abigail started first grade in Petersburg, Virginia - we figured it was best to get her in school for the month that we would still be there.
In October, we moved into our (((little))) house and stood there scratching our heads, wondering how the heck we were going to be able to get all of our stuff into this space. The answer - multiple trips to Goodwill. Abby joined a first grade class at Rockland Elementary School and Juli started in a preschool class at Goddard School. We. love. Goddard. School. She learns everything in English, Spanish and ASL and they practice yoga everyday. Really??? I want to go there! We also ventured into the city to take the girls to the planetarium - we rode the Metra, which was an adventure for the kiddos for sure! We raked leaves. Mommy turned 41. We raked leaves. Juli turned 4. We raked leaves. Trick or treat! Aaaaand, we raked leaves. When I say "we", I mean Dan. I hate raking leaves, and I am allergic to them. Poor guy.
In November, Abigail turned 7. I can't believe she is that old. Wow. Her top two teeth are coming in and her hair is down to her waist. Samara came for Thanksgiving and so did Kylie. Fun was had by all and the tree was put up and decorated.
In December, Grandma and Grandpa St. Peter came for a visit. Jingle (our elf on the shelf) came for the month and we started a new tradition. At the beginning of the month, I wrapped 24 Christmas/winter books individually and placed them under the tree. These are books that we borrowed from the library or that we already had and had packed away last year, so no money spent. Each night, the girls would pick a book, open it, and we would read it to them. They REALLY enjoyed this, so we will do it again next year for sure. We also made several crafts over the span of the month - homemade ornaments, wrapping paper, Christmas cards, gingerbread houses, etc. Fun! We finished up the month with a trip to Missouri. We stayed with DeDe and Craig and made rounds visiting Uncle Jeff and Aunt Liz, Dillon, Matthew and Kassidy, Uncle Greg and Roberta, Aunt Marsha and Uncle Steve, Daddy's grave, Uncle Ron and Aunt Linda, and Alicia, Brian, Afton, Wilson and Emmalin. It was wonderful to see everyone and to spend time in Parkville.
All in all, not a bad year, eh?
