2010: The Wrap Up

This year can only be described as blessed.  As we move into 2011, I find myself feeling filled with anticipation.  What will this year bring for our family?  What blessings?  What heartaches?  What new challenges and opportunities?  What joy and laughter?  How will the kids grow and develop?  How will Lee and I grow and develop?

In looking back on 2010, I have seen some definate areas in my own life that need improvement.  I enter 2011 aware of those and prayerfully seeking the strength and discipline to implement the necessary changes.  I look forward to a fresh start.

I also look forward to another 12 months of blogging and laughing with you all.  Because what fun is life if you can’t laugh…a lot!  So in order to look back at the fun this year has brought, I give you the official 2010 wrap up.  It’s been a hilarious ride!

January

The Minivan Mom Runs: Remember when I decided to take up running again?  And then I quit.  But then I decided to take it up again?  And then I quit.  This fall, I took it up again and I was actually doing quite well.  I was actually enjoying it.  Then I got pneumonia and the cold that wouldn’t end and haven’t been able to run in a month.  Good times…

Battoning Down the Hatches…or something like that: In which, like a modern day Ma Ingalls, I survive being snowed in alone with three kids.  This was during our Little House on the Prairie kick.

Feburary

From his perspective aka A really bad idea: Lee decided we needed to change our life insurance policy, which meant a scary nurse lady came to our house and jabbed me with a needle.  I was too afraid to consider not having the children watch.  Sloan thought I was being put to sleep…

Sometimes sticking to your guns is hard:  The one where I had to defend my position on vaccinations in a very uncomfortable manner.  Ugh…

March

The Dance of the Little Bee: This post still makes me laugh.  This is my reminder that my son, already a Ladie’s Man, is growing up far too fast for my taste.

My Stud Muffin with his Stud Muffie: The video of my hot husband and my youngest child and their mad basketball skillz.  That’s right I said skillz!

April

The confidence to walk away: Sloan was bullied and my mother’s heart was broken into tiny pieces, rolled in broken glass, doused in alcohol, then lit on fire.  He’s emerged a stronger kid, though, and for that I am beyond proud.

Tia Tales: The Four Year Old Edition: I got my magic camera this month, and thus my pictures got so much better.  And Tia?  Well, there’s always a story to tell about my crazy middle child.

Girl Meets Boy: I began a series entirely dedicated to the love story I share with my husband of a decade.  It was so much fun walking down memory lane with him.  You can read the entire story here.

May:

He had to be first: The month we experienced our first broken bone.  We just finished paying that sucker off.  Good times…

Disturbing: My son’s addiction to coloring on anything but paper freaked me out…a lot.  I threw that doll away, incidentally.

June

Just call me MacGyver: In which I got creative with Kotex.  Don’t ask.  Just read…

Toy Story 3: Better Titled “Let’s Tear Mom’s Heart from Chest and Stomp on it.”: I took the kids to see Toy Story 3.  Then I bawled my eyes out.  For days.

July

Lemonade for Haiti: Sloan urged us to let him have a lemonade stand for Haiti, so we did.  And in the process, my son once again taught me a valuable lesson in giving.  Later that summer, he got to hand my uncle the envelope with $120 in it for Haiti relief.  He’s quite a kid.

The Photo Session: We spent three weeks in Florida last summer.  And I lived to tell the story.  I almost didn’t though.  Despite it being just a tad too much together time, we had fun.  And I managed to get some great pictures of my kids – with a few outtakes.

August

The Wedding:  My cousin Whitney got married and Sloan and Tia were her ring bearer and flowergirl.  The cuteness was over the top.

Ice Cream Surprise: We surprised our kids with an after bed ice cream treat.  It is a great memory and gave us a hilarious video.

This I Pray: I sent my son off to first grade.  We had our first experience with a full school day and I grew increasingly aware of the need to bathe him in prayer while he was gone.  It was good for me to re-read this post and be reminded of that again.

Phew. August was a fun blogging month.  I had a hard time narrowing it down.  That was the same month I admitted to not showering on a daily basis, I went to New Orleans to cover the Katrina memorial and I posted more than one random post filled with bizarre little tidbits. 

September

This is the month Lee and I took the trip of a lifetime through Switzerland, Austria and Italy.  We talk about this trip almost every day – sometimes multiple times a day.  It was that amazing.

Hallstatt – A Day in the Life of a Postcard Town: I still can’t believe we made it to Hallstatt.  It is truly the most beautiful place I have ever visited and was our favorite part of the trip.

Italy: Austria was by far our favorite country, but Italy wasn’t half bad either.  I mean…we weren’t complaining or anything.

A Different Kind of Mountaintop: We came home after ten days ready to be with our kids.  Rocking Landon to sleep the night we got home was a different kind of mountaintop experience.  Read with Kleenex…

The Day we Spent $127 on Soap: We made a very stupid American mistake in Hallstatt.  It’s funny now.  A little…

October

He is Dad: The one where I made my dad cry.  Then he made me cry back.  All mushy, mushy…

The day I questioned everything I know to be true: I cleaned out the back of our minivan.  In the process I doubted whether Minivans were actually Hot.  My faith has been restored in the hotness of minivans, just as long as I never go back there again!

November

Cry me a Freakin’ River: We took down the crib and in doing so tore a piece of my heart out.

How to go from Reverent to Irreverent without even really trying…: Sloan brings us to church when he prays.  Tia brings us back to reality.

December

The Brawl: I think this might be my favorite post of the year.

Celebrating Christmas: We started what I hope will become a great tradition for our family.

So there it is.  My 2010 list of favorites.  This is not an exhaustive list and these certainly aren’t all my best posts, but they represent my favorite moments of the year.  I’ve tried to keep it light and fun, but there have been some heavy moments too.  Thanks for sharing them with me.

As I thought about what my favorite photo was of the year, I had a really hard time narrowing it down.  I think I got it down to two…okay that’s not true.  I have 478 favorite photos from this past year.  But I’m just going to share two:

 

Happy New Year to all of you!