Wrapping Up 2012...Welcome 2013!

I am finally getting around to posting a few pictures from December (so many to edit, so little time!)...
The twins had fun at Chasity's awesome birthday party:

The kids (Evan, Natalie, and Cecilia) played and won a lot of basketball games:

I am dying over Natalie's expression, as she watches Cecilia take a free throw shot:

I went the kiddos' Christmas program (can't believe it's Evan's last year there...):

I took the kids to the skating rink with their church youth group:

 

 

Over the weekend, the big kids were gone (grandparents and friends' houses), so I took the little ones to see some christmas lights:

 

And our church's drive-thru Nativity scenes:

 

I saw an idea on Pinterest, and wanted to try it, so I made fruit trees for the kids' class Christmas parties:

 

I made sweets to give out to family (yummm....peanut butter balls!):

 

We did another Pinterest recipe, Bacon Explosion (not recommended for the faint of heart or anyone with cholesterol problems- but soooo good!):

 

 

We enjoyed Christmas with the family (I have tons of pictures of this, but I will just share one that sums up the spirit of the season for me):

We left out cookies and milk for Santa:

 

Here is a favorite of my tree:

 

It actually snowed on Christmas night, and the day after Christmas I was able to take this photo:

 

We were pretty low-key and relaxed for the days following Christmas, and welcomed the New Year at home with the twins and a Storage Wars marathon. And toasted 2013 with sparkling glass of champagne:

 

I enjoy the chance to pull out our crystal champagne flutes from our wedding and use them once or twice a year!

A Look Back (continued)...

Picking up where I left off yesterday...

In June, we did a lot of gardening, blackberry picking, and some canning:

 I took the kids to a swimming party with their church youth group:

 Learned some fun songs and moves in VBS:

 And had fun catching some free ice cream and getting pictures taken with Maggie the Cow on Flip Day at Maggie Moo's:

 

We had fireworks on July 4th for the kids with my cousins and their kids:

 The twins got to spend a week at Aunt Amanda and Uncle Josh's house in Nashville:

 I had a couple of silly boys when Nate came over to play:

 Then we took Evan to a week at Lakeshore church camp with his friend, Trevor:

And, August 1st, the kids started back to school (I think it gets earlier every year):

I canned what felt like a billion tomatoes:

And I won some awesome summer CHA goodies:

We started September off with a Labor Day weekend trip to a friend's cabin in the mountain...and I have so many photos from that weekend! Here are a few of the highlights:

Greeter Falls:

We swam out and stood under the falls (check one thing off the bucket list!):

Board Games in the cabin:

S'mores every night:

Check out the local flea market on Sunday morning:

Took a Labor Day hike in the rain:

Where we saw this:

And The Great Stone Door:

 

We had some freakish lightening storms:

I went to a baby shower for a good friend:

And flag football started up (Evan was the QB for his team!):

In October, Evan turned eleven:

 

The 3 youngest had a blast playing in the cotton (something I remember from my childhood):

 

We actually had some beautiful fall colors, which I really enjoyed on my morning runs:

 

I did a few photo shoots for some friends and family:

Did a few tries at our Christmas card photo:

 Till Daddy helped, so they would behave:

Evan's flag football team went undefeated, and won their "Superbowl":

Tracy had her little one, and I got to visit:

At the end of the month, Evan and his best buds, Nate and Trevor, all got dressed up for a Halloween party:

And on Halloween, I took the kiddos trick or treating:

In November, I went to my cousin Jocelyn's baby shower

 

Basketball season started back up with a Jamboree:

The twins turned nine:

 

We celebrated Thanksgiving at  home with a yummy meal:

And then decided to work on replacing our kitchen floor...

And, since this post has gotten so long, I will share December photos tomorrow!