The Year In Review

 Just a little review of the year for our family.  I need to do a better job keeping track of the highs (and lows) over the course of the year.
January:
Plagued by a lingering bout of bronchitis that started in mid-December.
Oldest daughter made us Hungry Girl Fast Food Spicy Chicken Sandwiches for the first time.  (She got to make them over and over and over the rest of the year!)
Youngest daughter had her First Reconciliation

February:
Still plagued by bronchitis.
And apparently, it was rather quiet other than that.

March:
Still plagued by bronchitis. . .and then discovered that it's asthma!  A whole new world of fun!
Decided I wanted a reading nook in the basement and storage shelves.  (I don't have either of them.)
Took a trip to the lake for Spring Break.

April:
Bronchitis/asthma finally cleared up!
Youngest daughter gave us a scare. . .kept crashing with a low-grade fever and lethargy, like clockwork every four weeks.  All testing came back normal.
We built our kitchen table!
Cried when I learned that my school was adopting a "uniform" policy;  I sooo hoped my kids would be able to wear regular clothes instead of uniforms for high school.
Choked back tears when I fell and skinned my knees.

May:
Learned that my 11 year old still had trouble remembering how to spell her middle name.  Oops.
Youngest child made her First Communion.  Awwwww.
I learned how to spell my father in law's first name.  (Hubby and I have been together 19 years.)

Cracked up when my youngest said "Are deer allowed to go anywhere?  Except where there are signs that say 'do not enter?'"
Oldest got her first cell phone; we told her we were going to the tractor store for yard equipment and she fell for it until we pulled into the cell phone store.
Oldest graduated from Eighth Grade
Loved it when the youngest talked her middle sister into folding laundry with her. . .rare thing in this house.
Was totally in awe of my kids doing the food prep for a big family cookout; HUGE help for me!

June:
Skinned my knee again :-(
Took another trip to the lake--bliss.
Attended a day lily convention and got a bunch of plants for the property--sooo excited because I love love love day lilies and we had a lot of gorgeous day lilies at our old house.  Thrilled to have some at this house!
Middle child went away for camp. I was a nervous wreck the entire time and thrilled to get her back under my roof!

July:
Took the girls to their first professional baseball game, a doubleheader at night. . .temp was 95 when we got home at 11 pm.
We cleaned out dressers and closets.  Located 68 pairs of shoes in the kids' closets!  How does that happen?
We went swimming as much as possible. . .in 100+ heat.
Septic system broke again.  And got fixed again.

August:
We took another impromptu trip to the lake before school started.
Oldest daughter started high school!!
Middle child is now the oldest child from our family at her school
Attended a mandatory meeting at middle child's school while she was off at soccer practice with her dad.  Sadly a storm blew up while I was gone--major blinding lightening and winds.  Oldest and youngest were home alone for this :-(
Oldest attended an audition for voice lessons and was accepted by a fabulous vocal teacher!
Someone smacked my mailbox hard enough to separate the mailbox from the post. . .he/she also lost the sideview mirror for the car.  And he/she just kept on going.  Special thanks go out to the idiot grinned at me as he veered off the road and nearly hit me when I was trying to take care of the torn up mailbox

September:
Discovered that Jack Reacher doesn't know much about how women in their forties drink their coffee.  Sad to see this because I thought Jack Reacher was a really smart dude.
Oldest daughter attended her first high school dance.  With her mother as a chaperone.  We successfully avoided each other.
Middle daughter stayed busy with soccer practice and games during August, September and even October

October:
Had a killer trip at Kohl's--picked up 3 pair of jeans for the youngest daughter for under $10 total!
Middle daughter participated in her first speech meet and got 4th place--way to go!
Missed my 25th class reunion to do a school event.  :-(
Because of a lack of communication between schools and buses, thought we lost the youngest child after school one day.  Luckily she was located just 20 minutes after she didn't show up when expected.  Extra hugs for all the kids after school that day!
Asthma spiraling out of control again :-(

November: 
Chaperoned a trip to a convention with a group of 20 girls; got very little sleep that weekend!
Asthma still ugly
Busy month with basketball practice and games for the youngest child
Had a very lovely Thanksgiving with my family. . .probably the least stressful holiday I have known since childhood.
Last day of the month was very stressful--oldest lost her purse, I misplaced keys and alterations on her dress for the winter formal were twice what I was expecting them to be.  Ouch!

December:
Winter Formal dance was gorgeous.  Oldest daughter survived yet another dance with her Mama hanging out all evening on the other side of the hall.
Monday morning after the dance we got to school and found that someone had brought her purse into school.  Apparently she dropped it when she got up from a bench and didn't realize it and someone who had been at the school working our blood drive found it and took it home for safekeeping over the weekend.  Good people do exist in our world!
Youngest child had a successful Christmas program!  I was asked to help with makeup.  It was my pleasure to do so!
A friend at work lost her home in a fire :-(
Middle child got sick and had to miss the last 3 days of school before Christmas Break.  This is the second year in a row she missed the Christmas party at school :-(
Got everyone well in time for Christmas--very pleasant holiday!  Kids were so excited they got the very things they had asked for from Santa.
Day after Christmas a blizzard hit!  We got between 8 and 11 inches of snow across our property.  Gorgeous!
Second day after Christmas the middle daughter got sick again.  Seems her strep either didn't go away OR she got hit with it again.  Poor babe.  What a miserable end to the year for her.
More snow hit on the 29th.  Kids got to enjoy sledding with Daddy and even with Paw-Paw!
As we head into the last day of the year, more snow is in the forecast

Happy New Year!