January
I began to blog "for real" in January of 2010, and I also entered card challenges for the first time ever! Here is the card I entered for my first challenge:
And this was the first month that I won anything! You can read about what I won here.
February
February was a difficult month in some ways, since it marked the one year anniversary of my dear MIL's passing. While my dh traveled to PA to spend the Anniversary with his Dad and siblings, our children and I marked the anniversary with a special day of Remembering Nanna. Read about it here.
This month I also shared about one of my very favorite things...giving! I LOVE to give presents to people, and I LOVE to make cards. I was blessed enough to be able to combine these two loves for a Missionary Card Project.
I can hardly neglect to mention the One World, One Heart Project! Read all about it HERE. And you can participate in this year's HERE.
March
I tried my hand at some non-card projects this month, such as my Paper Necklace:
and my handmade pillow:
and these cute Chicks:
April
Lots of cards!! Here is one of them:
May
May is a very busy month around here, and this year was busier than usual. My dh left for a 3-1/2-week long trip to Ireland, and YES I MISSED HIM SO MUCH!! Needless to say, my kiddos and I did our very best to stay busy.
While the "cat" was away, "the mice" did play, LOL! Actually, my parents and big bro came for a 2-week visit (well, my bro only stayed two days, boo-hoo!). We did the usual LOTS of shopping, and we also refinished our laundry room. That included dry-walling, painting and LOTS of cleaning. My dad also built two more bookshelves (I admit it...I am a collector of books) and we turned the room into a beautiful schoolroom for my homeschooled kids. ALL without my dh knowing a thing!! It was a fun surprise. :-)
When my dh returned (God is so good to have kept him and us safe!), we were SOOOOOOO happy!!!! :-) I posted some pics from his trip here.
June, July, August and September
I took a few months off from blogging...not intentionally, really...during the summer months. We were UPER busy this summer! We traveled A LOT. We went to or through 14 different states, including WI, NE, SD, CO, GA, OH, IL, IO, NC, MN, WY, KY, IN and MI. Whew! Highlights of the summer included:
*Camping in South Dakota--our first tent camping ever! We visited Mount Rushmore, Custer National Park, and went to the Flying W Ranch for horseback riding and a Dinner Show.
*Spending a week in CO with some dear friends. We have all decided that we would like to live there someday!
*A Week of Camp in GA where my dh spoke several times to the teens we had traveled with. We were able to connect with some friends that had moved and meet many new friends. Aside from the intense heat, it was a really great week!
*A week at Fine Arts Camp in WI. Now, Fine Arts Camp is not the type of camp that we typically work at, but since my dh and 3 children were all involved with the major Production at the College where my dh works, they were able to "re-enact" their roles during the FA Camp.
*Two weeks of Volleyball Camp, which my dh worked at. I had the wonderful privilege of babysitting for 3 darling children one of those weeks. It was really fun, but boy was I tired!
*My dh performed a wedding for two of his former students in the UP of MI. DH and I went without the kids! It was a quick weekend, but we had some great moments just the two of us...along with about 14 hours together in the car, lol.
October
If you know much about my dh, you know that he runs Marathons. Every October he runs a full Marathon (26.2 miles) in upper WI. This year was no different.
What was different this October, was that my oldest dd began running! No, she has not run a marathon (yet), but she did run her very first race...a 1-mile run. DH ran "with" her--his race was a 5K. You can read about it here.
What a fun and busy month!! We had three rounds of company stay with us this month--a Missionary that my dh had worked with on his trip to Ireland, my dear FIL, and my dh's bro and SIL and their two daughters. LOVE it!
We also hosted our first Homeschool Celebration to celebrate what we've learned this trimester about the Colonists and Early American History. We called it our Thanksgiving Feast.
Thanksgiving Day is always a very relaxed time for our family, since we have always included any college students that need a place to go (The college where my dh works shuts down for the holiday. Most of the students go home or to a friend's house, but there are always a few that don't have anywhere to go.). The men always end up watching football and eating...and watching football...and eating...
This year I spent a good bit of my day entering giveaways, lol. There were 20+ blogs that were giving away this:
December
I renewed an old skill this month...crocheting. I followed instructions I found on-line to make this headband:
I also made this box to put it in:
After all our traveling this summer, we decided to stay put for Christmas break. While it was difficult to not see most of our family at Christmas, we really enjoyed the lack of stress and exhaustion. :-)
Instead of rushing through the decorating "for the kids", we leisurely decorated the tree and put out the decorations:
Instead of ripping through our gifts to each other so that we could leave early the next morning to drive 15 hours to open gifts with family, we opened stockings on Christmas Eve and our gifts on Christmas morning in our house (a first for my youngest 2 kiddos!!).
And instead of driving another 15 hours to arrive home (exhausted! and very late), only to get up the next morning to face mounds of dirty laundry, decorations to take down and put away, heaps of mail, and a new Semester looming...we relaxed a lot and enjoyed some wonderful time together as a family. Love that!
Instead of flying through Christmas only to breathe a sigh of relief at the end of the holidays, we were able to take time to really celebrate the Reason for the Season--Jesus Christ. What a difference it made in our holiday!
I think we ended up the year 2010 rather nicely, and we have much to be thankful for. God has blessed us so much!!
I trust that you had a wonderful 2010, as well. I have lots of blogging planned for 2011, including cards...more crocheting...giveaways...and of course family!!
Happy New Year!
*smiles*
debbi
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