I really, really, can’t believe it’s already 2013! Since I’ve been at this blog a little more than a year, I thought it would be fun to do a “year in review” here at These Beautiful Days!

JANUARY

In January, I talked about keeping some healthy habits, including the need for regular Bible study, and how that fits in with keeping New Year’s resolutions.

FEBRUARY

In January, I talked a little bit about love, and gave a quick list of fun things to do with children during Valentine’s Day.

MARCH

In March, my oldest son turned 12, I took the kids to Washington, D.C. during the Cherry Blossom festival, and I shared some wisdom I was gleaning from my church’s ladies’ Bible study on humility (which was soooo good!).

APRIL

Easter was in April, so I talked about how during Easter we watch our favorite movie, ever.

MAY

We had two girly birthdays in May, we wrapped up our homeschool for the year, and I made sushi (okay, looking at the pics is making me want to make some more!)

JUNE

June was all about the annual summertime road trips we take to Virginia Beach, my hometown! We began to spend more time outside, having fun!

JULY

In July, I started my Summer Homeschooling Series, and the kids and I took a fun trip to Botanical Gardens!

AUGUST

August was a whirlwind! My daughter Marielle was baptized, my second son turned 11, my Summer Homeschooling Series continued and I shared pictures of my homeschool room, and last but certainly not least, I posted our announcement that we are expecting another baby!

SEPTEMBER

By September we had started school, and I was feeling pretty sick, so I didn’t post much. I did talk about my heart corruptions and posted recipes for “Cold-Killer Soup” and Chinese green beans.

OCTOBER

In October we took our annual family camping trip, and I shared my struggles with grocery shopping for a large family.

NOVEMBER

In November I talked about giving thanks and I posted a pregnancy update with our big baby gender reveal!

DECEMBER

Last month, I talked about doing less at Christmas. The school shooting tragedy in Connecticut made me want to hug my kids tightly.

If you read this blog, thanks for coming along on this journey with me! Blogging has been a fun hobby and outlet for me so far, and we’ll see where it takes me this next year!

It seems as though everying around me is moving fast, fast, fast, while I am moving slow, slow, slow! I’m usually a fast mover and shaker but this pregnancy has really slowed me down. I’m able to do special outings and activities but I have to carefully plan extra rest before and after those events!

My 20th year high school reunion was last weekend, and it was good to see some old friends! We visited with my parents and they watched the children so my husband and I could go to the adult-only event on Saturday night. I also got to go out to lunch with a closer group of high school friends so that was a special treat! The kids had fun at grandma and grandad’s and the grandparents loaded them up with a special fried chicken dinner and ginger snaps (my kids love these!) for “dessert.”

My clothes dryer died last week, right before we went out of town. I washed and dried our weekend clothes at my parents’ before we left, but after we got home, any clothes I’ve washed have been hung on a line, old-school style! Poor dryer, it lasted a long time. It was the original dryer that was installed in the house when it was new, in 1974. Since we are renting this house the owners have been contacted and I’ve been told that a new dryer is on the way!

My gang of 3 girls have been such good little domestic helpers! It warms my heart to see them “notice” what needs to be done around here sometimes. Yesterday we went grocery shopping while the guys were at a Little League baseball game. After shopping they helped me put the groceries away, then when the guys got home they helped serve them their dinner (it was quite late!). The boys aren’t so much into domestic matters but they have been more than willing to lift and carry the laundry baskets for me and take out the trash without complaining

Hopefully we’ll be moving into slower days here pretty soon with the holidays coming up fast and furious. I’d really like the next few months to be as low-key as possible. It’s good to spend some quality family time cozying up together reading books and playing games or making crafts. It may be wishful thinking, with all of our responsibilities in sports, homeschooling, and music lessons, but a girl can dream, cant’ she?

As much as we are able, we’ve been trying to take life slow this month. The children and I have been working hard at homeschool since we have a 2 week break coming up. Other happenings:

• My grandmother passed away last week, and we traveled out of town for the funeral. (She was 91!) She suffered from dementia for a long time. We are sad. I’ve been having lots of meaningful discussions with my children about death.
• In the evenings we have been following a Jesse Tree devotional, and using some of these ornaments. Yet one more layer of depth to our worship of the Coming Messiah.
• To go along with our Zoology study in science this week, we are going to dissect an owl pellet today. Some of the children are already protesting.
• I’ve been trying some easy, yummy treats for the family. Why haven’t I ever tried this before? It’s genius!

May all these beautiful days be quiet, slow, and contemplative.