i'm baaaaack! hello?
i kind of dropped off the face of the blog-o-sphere so i thought this would be a good time to start again. i also thought i would start with a recap of last years events since 6 months of it isn't even recorded. i'm only going to post pictures for those months since i probably already posted the same pics in the earlier months. does that make sense? anyway...
here we go!
january- this month i set some
home goals. nothing happened in the time frame that i wanted, but how many did I get done?
i finally finished painting the cabinets(can't believe that took me a whole year!) but i didn't repaint the kitchen yet because we have decided to remove all upper cabinets. it just didn't make sense to me to paint, remove the cabinets, then repaint. besides, it gave me time to rethink the gray kitchen. i'm leaning more towards a creamy yellow.
i did a photo wall in the dining area, but not by my own will. jay got tired of having empty walls and grabbed his drill and my shelves that i intended for the game room, and asked me what formation i wanted. i have to admit that if he hadn't taken the initiative, the dining room walls would probably still be empty today.
jay and i painted the pink bathroom. again, i picked a color that i loved, and again the color was wrong. i chose benjamin moore's revere pewter which is supposed to be a gray/beige color. it is green in my bathroom! ugh!
february- i became hooked on
pinterest. we celebrated jay and keith's birthdays this month. my sister passed away.
march- cam and i flew to florida for my sister's funeral. it was a sad ordeal indeed, but i am so glad i took cam with me. i have no family nearby so it was nice that she got to meet people on my side. her black folk, so to speak. she got to experience church in a way she had never seen- she said to me in amazement, "mom, have you ever been to a church like this before?" i told her, "i grew up in church like this!"
jay suggested that while we were there...so close to orlando...we might not have this opportunity again...we should go to disney world. i couldn't help but laugh, obviously he had never been to disney world. if he had, he would have known that you can't see disney world in a day! when we go to disneyland-even though we could do it in one day we always stay for 4 days! disney world would be crazy to try so i did something even better. we went to the wizarding world of harry potter at universal studios and had the best time of our lives (especially for cam)! she will never forget this trip- and it is her dream to go back to visit family again. that makes me happy.
april- this month was definitely a month of reflection after the passing of my sister. what should i be doing with my life, what path to take, that sort of thing. i came to to conclusion that i am exactly where God wants me to be right now.
drew turned 16! he continued to do well in track- he is amazing! i can't believe that this boy is growing into a man so quickly!
i took the kids on a field trip to the santa barbara mission and museum of natural history which they really enjoyed.
cam was inducted into the national jr. honor society.
we spent easter this year at my brother in law's house for the first time. we usually go to my mother in law's who lives 3 hours away. my brother in law only lives 30 minutes away so that was nice.
what wasn't nice was that drew waited until the last minute to get his girlfriend a birthday present so he and i spent easter driving all over ventura county trying to find an open store that carried what we were looking for.
may- soooo ready for school to end! preparing for end of the school year stuff and i think every post this month had to do with pinterest!
june- annnnd ths is the month where things start to get a little crazy. crazy busy that is.
cam graduated from middle school and is officially a freshman in high school! eeek! my little girl is a high schooler now!
drew is now officially a junior.
taina and i took dev and molly to san diego like a few days after school was out. we visited the zoo and old town san diego (where i must say i had the best mexican food and margaritas of my life!).
the kids took turns all summer going to g-ma's house.
the boys went to vbs and i was drafted to be the vbs photographer. i have been involved in vbs for many years working in different areas but being photographer is the best! all the kids want to participate!
i turned 27 again!
then there were all the various play dates, and get togethers- it's all a blur.
july-
beach days, pool days, birthdays, and campouts.
august- this month we celebrated jay's parents 50th wedding anniversary.
and more beach days, pool days, and playdates and sleepovers until school started at the end of the month.
september- getting into the swing of school this month. dev and deacon started public school, keith was moved from the school he went to last year to the school that dev and deacon were attending. for my sanity i needed them all in the same school. dev turned 13! uh oh, two teenage girls in the house! cam started high school with a rough start. she misses middle school. she has no friends at her new school and feels like she has to start over. it's hard when you're shy.
she started cross country and hated it in the beginning, but was warmng up to it by the end of the month.
then the time everyone had been waiting for finally came: disneyland vacation! two parks spread over 4 days and i still felt like we didn't get to do everything we wanted to because it was more crowded than i expected it to be. we go while school is in to avoid the crowds but i guess everyone else had the same idea...
october- soccer, volleyball, and cross country is what kept us busy this month. we also threw in some ninjas and the pumpkin patch.
lets not forget homecoming...
november- sadly, i hardly took any pictures this month. soccer was still going strong and we were getting ready for the holidays. cross country came to an end and cam was happy she participated.
we spent thanksgiving at g-ma's house and the christmas tree went up the day after.
december- another month for not taking any pictures- shame on me. i scrambled all month to prepare for christmas. this time of year stresses me out. and i have proof- i went to the doctor because i was having headaches and nosebleeds and was diagnosed with high blood pressure so high, he put me on meds right away. joy.
everyone enjoyed christmas and i regret that i didn't slow down enough to do some baking and put more emphasis on the reason we celebrate christmas. i hope that this year i will get myself in gear, and shop early so i can have more time to do those things.
for the first time, i made a list for jay and he got me everything on my list: a keurig, more uggs, a new iphone, and a le creuset dutch oven. well, almost everything on the list. he didn't get me the dutch oven really, i have taina's daughter, hannah to thank for that. i once took jay inside the le crueset outlet and he pretty much stated that he wouldn't be buying anything from that store- ever. hannah got a seasonal job there, and they gave her a shopping day with a $400 limit with 80% off! twice! i got my beautiful red dutch oven that i've always wanted for super cheap! i think i wanna work there next christmas!
well, that's my year in review. hopefully i can get back into the blogging, but truthfully, ever since i got my ipad, my computer has been used less and less so we shall see...
i only went to staples to get a compass for camryn's geometry class, and on my way out i saw the most beautiful display of martha stewart product! 
