12 in 2014

I'm linking up today with Dwija for her 12 in 2014 Year in Review post.  This past year has been a challenge in the blogging department!  I was skimming through a couple of months of posts and I realized that most of them were "catch up" posts because we spent a whole lot of time just being busy.  I'd like to change that for 2015 so, let's see what happens, shall we?  Anyhow, here's 12 pictures that pretty much sum up our year.

January 

January was full of school, basketball and snow.  It was tough to have so many drivers on the road this past winter.  The stress of worrying about everyone took a lot of the fun out of ALL THAT SNOW we had.  We did have basketball games, however, and those were fun.  I am not a good sports mom.  Too competitive for my own good.  I need to work on that :)


February

I began teaching a photography class for a local homeschool co-op and two of my kids got to take it.  It was a lot of fun for all of us.  We also had our annual Father/Daughter Ball (the highlight of the winter!).  My hubby and oldest son went on a snowmobiling weekend with my bil and mil and they had a great time.  And, you guessed it, we had more snow.  A LOT MORE SNOW.

March

More snow.  Ms 18 yo and I went on a Miles Christi retreat.  It was her first and my 7th or 8th (I can never remember how many exactly).  The highlight of the month, for me anyhow, was my impromptu escape trip to Arizona.  It was just what the doctor ordered.

April

This month brought around our participation in the production of "The Seven Last Words of Christ".  It pretty much consumes Lent, but it is always a blessing to be a part of.  We also got to introduce Ms 18 yo's friend from Ghana to the art of coloring Easter Eggs.  That was a special treat!

May

My mom and dad celebrated 50 years of marriage this month.  Like any marriage, it wasn't always easy, but it was beautiful to see them celebrating this milestone.  We finished up our school year and Ms 16 yo participated in her first Quinceanera.  I got to be the photographer for the event, which was beautiful and a lot of fun for all of us.

June

Mr 14 yo graduated from 8th grade.  Wow, hard to believe that it's gone by so fast.  I did a lot of photography and we went to a lot of parties.  That pretty much sums up June.

July

Ms 16 yo and I redid our living room.  It was such a fun time for both of us and we were ecstatic with the results.  Six months later and I still can't believe we pulled that off and it looks so nice.  My husband's cousin had an art project of his displayed in a nearby town so it was fun to share the day with him and celebrate his success.

August

We had our staycation for the year.  Did some biking, some water-parking and some water skiiing.  Even if we can't "get away" somewhere, it is always nice to spend the time together.  Soccer started up at the end of the month with three of the kids playing this year.

September

School.  Two high schoolers and two grade schoolers.  We had the blessing of being involved in a writing class (which was awesome) and a science class taught by a wonderful man who is very knowledgeable.  Hubby and I went to my cousin's wedding at Sox park (very fun) and Mr 14 yo started flag football.

October

October was essentially a continuation of September...school, soccer, football, school, soccer, football.  You get the picture.  At the end of the month, however, we went to a relic display with over 100 relics of Saints displayed in one room.  Definitely the highlight of the month.

November

We headed slightly south for a family wedding.  We had a blast and took some fun family photos along the way.  Football finished and "The Conversion of Scrooge" rehearsals started up.

December

"The Conversion of Scrooge".  That is all.

Like I said at the beginning, life just keeps moving faster and faster and it seems as if all anyone can do nowadays is just manage to keep up with the basics and the necessities.  It is frustrating at times to live this way.  I'm not sure what we can do about it, except maybe hang on and enjoy the ride the best we can.  I'll be praying about changes that maybe need to be made to make 2015 a little more manageable, but we'll see how it goes. 

I hope and pray that all of you have a had a memorable 2014 and that your 2015 will be even more blessed.

God Bless!

It's Christmas Week!

As we speed towards Christmas, it is actually starting to feel like it!  Today was our day to decorate and get into the Christmas spirit.  We've been buzzing around for the first three weeks of Advent so today was a nice day for all of us (yes, we were all actually home all.day.long!) to unwind.

Our kids are sticklers about tradition, so today, the 4th Sunday of Advent, is the day to put up the tree and decorate it and the house.  This year we even got a little bit of decorations outside, too.  We also watched a family favorite, the movie "Arthur Christmas".  Believe it or not, our family is not a big fan of "Elf"!  Shh, I didn't want to say that too loud for fear of getting ridiculed.  Instead we enjoy watching Arthur save Christmas from his techno-happy relatives.

Here are some scenes from the day.

Made by my crafty 11 year old.

I told her she looked like something out of "Dr. Who"

27 Years of Precious Moments ornaments

 The next few days finds us picking up the pace again trying to finish up all of the last-minute stuff that needs to be done. 

May peace reign in your hearts as you prepare for the coming of the Christ Child.

God Bless!

A Plea for Prayers and Help

I know that you have many GoFund me and other similar accounts to choose from, but remember way back in 2009 when we prayed for a friend of ours named Emily?  She beat the odds and survived a rare form of tongue cancer, went on to graduate college and earlier this year got married.

Unfortunately, she was just told that her cancer has returned.  They are currently waiting to find out if it has spread to her jaw.

Please, first and foremost, keep Emily in your prayers and if you can help out financially, go check out her GoFund me page and make a donation.

Thank you and God bless you!

 

Advent = Scrooge

Advent for us can be summed up in one word:  Scrooge.

We are in the throes of performances and it is consuming our days and nights.  

Evangelizing through the arts at this time of year:  difficult, frustrating, disorganized, sleep-deprived, beautiful, rewarding, uplifting.  It runs the gamut of emotions.

Spending a lot of time with a group of 60+ adults and children at this time of year:  sickness.  Respiratory viruses, coughing, fevers, stomach flu.  One poor girl ran to the bathroom right after her last scene and threw up - the flu had hit her.  By the time another family got home, two of their littles were throwing up also, and they have a family of 12 so you know what they'll be doing this week.

Not to mention keeping up with all of the other things that make life go on.  You know:  food, clean clothing, school work, phone calls, emails, errands, running for more vitamin C and D!

Every year I say I'm not going to do this again.  Every year I do it anyhow.  Why?  Because in the end, when all is said and done and I see the fruits of what everyone has worked so hard for, I give thanks to God that we've had this small chance to bring Him glory and do His work.  One more weekend to go; two performances left.  Right now I just have one sick little girl, so hopefully by the weekend we will all be healthy and ready to go.

And then, when it is all over with, there will still be 10 days in which to physically and mentally prepare for Christmas!

God Bless!