Saturday, January 5, 2013

Another year...

I cannot believe it has been an entire year since I last posted to the blog! I joined facebook during the year and did do a few postings to that along the way, but I do admit, I think I still prefer blogging for the longer stories or for capturing the year in photos.

It's hard to know where to begin. I have had such an incredible year with the boys. I believe that there were many great things that came from my being laid off from work. First, by being with the boys more, I really did see that the twins needed more help with school than I could imagine. I had them tested last Spring and they were classified as developmentally delayed. This has made a tremendous difference for them in Kindergarten. Their teachers tell me if I had waited until they started school, it would have taken months to get them evaluated and the extra help needed at school. Now from day 1 they have had extra help at school. They are still below grade level in some areas, but have made great strides in the past few months. Being home with them after school has enabled me to be able to work with them as well.

To fill my time, I have volunteered at both the elementary and charter school. I love working with and around kids and have found my time at school to be extremely rewarding. I am also serving on our local PTA board and helping with fundraisers at school. It is so amazing to do something that makes a difference and to be appreciated for what you do. It is so refreshing not to deal with all the office drama, backstabbing, and other work stresses. Sometimes you don't realize how bad something is until you step away from it for a while. I cannot believe I commuted two hours every day and worked in such a negative environment for so long. I am more relaxed than I have ever been in my life. I look forward to what the next chapter in life brings.

We have had such a great year as a family. We have made some great memories, sometimes in the simplest of things. I'll close with a bunch of photos from our past year. Hoping it won't be another year before I post again :)

The fair



At the beach.



First day of school.  First day of kindergarten for the twins...



Family fun day at church.  The boys at play with their dad...




Plenty of baseball.  Nate's first time playing ...



Halloween



The zoo. The boys were lucky to have a lot of the animals "up close and personal"






Visiting Santa at the Light display







Collin and his buddy "Little Bit"



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