Our Year In Review

What a year 2013 has been! It's amazing to think that this year is coming to a close already. It sure did fly by! For the four of us residing together in this beloved space of ours it truly was a stellar year. Sure, we had our bumps long the way, but on the whole 2013 was very good to us.

2013 saw us continue to become even more connected to each other than we already were. I love that with each day, each month and each passing year we become even more of the tight knit family I always knew we'd be. We spent the entire year spreading as much love and kindness and goodness into the world as possible ('cause truly the world surely could use much more of those three things). It also saw us connect (and re-connect) more deeply with our friends and family (thanks in part to the world of Facebook). 

In 2013 we watched as Grace lost her first tooth, started reading, became a Brownie and learned to ride a bike sans training wheels. In 2013 we watched as Emma rode her first roller coaster, took care of her baby dolls, began to write her letters and finished her first year as a Daisy. We watched with pride as both girls participated in their first homeschool project fair, danced in their first dance recital and participated in their first Pinewood Derby! 2013 saw Dave and I celebrate our eleventh wedding anniversary with a delightfully quiet day at home with our sweet girls. We have more than recovered from the hurt and sadness that occurred back in 2010 and are fully back to being the amazing pair we love being. 

2013 didn't see us acquire a flock of chickens as we had originally planned, and I didn't master knitting, but I sure did make progress in my learning. We did take our first big family trip this past year (and this coming August will bring an even bigger trip- Disney World)! This was also the year that girls went to Fenway Park for the first time! And how fabulous that the Red Sox won the World Series this year too!  

This year also saw us say good-bye to some friendships and relationships.  We mourned the loss of a family member (see ya on the flipside, Aunt Betty!) and also welcomed other people into our lives (Kathleen I'm totally lookin' at you and your fabulous family!). And just in case you didn't get enough of a year in review in this post we hope that you enjoy the slideshow year in review (and reverse) that the girls and I created this morning. Be sure to turn your speakers on, sit back and enjoy! 

So, tonight as we eat our traditional New Year's Eve dinner of Chinese food we'll fill out our time capsule sheets and share our hopes and dreams for the upcoming year. We'll also choose our watchword for the year (last year's was kindness). 

Enjoy the final few hours of 2013, dear ones! We'll see you next year! xoxo

A Trip To Higgins Armory Museum

On Saturday we decided that a trip to Higgins Armory Museum was in order. It will be closing tomorrow and we wanted to take the girls there before we ran out of time. Dave and I had been a couple of times many moons ago but we had yet to take the girls. 

We arrived a little before 10:00am and there was already a line around the building (we can't help but feel this must be bumming the staff out to some extent). Once inside we decided that we should head right upstairs to make shields before it got too busy. 

The girls had such a great time creating their sheilds!

And watching them totally flashed me back to my seventh grade social studies project (I made coats of arms). 

It was really neat to see them choose such similar items and colors for their shields without any discussion. They really are two peas in a pod!

I couldn't get enough of the stained glass windows. They are just gorgeous!

I'm so glad that we were able to go before the museum ceased to exist. The girls had such a great time, and it was neat to get to see this space and these artifacts for one last time in this building. Thankfully, the collection will be heading over to the Worcester Art Museum so it will continue to be enjoyed for years to come. We are sad that the building needs to close as it has housed Mr. Higgins arms collection for over 100 years. What a great way to have a glimpse into history and a fun way to spend the last Saturday of 2013. 

The Day After Christmas

In my effort to get all caught up before 2013 comes to a close I present to you The Day After Christmas! 

There was lots of Lego building!

My little women and I snuggled on the couch to watch Little Women.

This became an instant favorite when they saw it a couple of weeks ago. I see a lot of myself in Marmee (especially the way she is with her girls). Grace is our Beth and Emma is our Amy. I've always loved this story but even more so now that I am a mama to my own little women. 

Later on we turned the dining room into a roller rink. 

'Cause really, why not?!

The day after Christmas (and the weekend that we're just finishing) have been delightfully low key. We've done things, sure, but we've been taking our time and leaving plenty of room for kicking back and reconnecting after the busy holiday season. We're so grateful that Dave's holiday schedule is over and as such we've been reveling in having him all to ourselves! 

On Christmas Day

Our Christmas morning began slowly and quietly like all our days. 

There were snuggles in bed before heading downstairs. 

The girls started with stockings and then the gifts from Santa.

These sweet wooden trees were the perfect gifts from Santa. 

The girls then gave David the gifts that they painted for him. 

Sweet gnomes (a girl from Emma and a boy from Grace). 

After that they decided to exchange the gifts they chose for each other. They took so much care to choose just the right gifts for each other. It was so sweet to watch this all happen and even more amazing that they kept it secret from each other. 

"Thank you!"

Their "something to wear" gifts were sweatshirts from their dance school. 

And their "something to read" gifts were these gorgeous books. 

We saved their "something you need" and "something you've hoped for" gifts for the end. 

Knowing full well that once these gifts were opened they would want to spend loads of time playing with them. 

Their skates were their "something you need" gift. 

And these next gifts were their "something you've hoped for" gifts 

(the poem is supposed to be "something you want" but we like hoped for better). 

And these gifts certainly fit that category perfectly as they had been hoped for and dreamed of and visited every time we were at the Lego Store or Target!

Later that day....

Opening gifts from Aunt Kaitlyn. 

A make-your-own-snowflake kit and fabulous winter stamps. Such fun!

Kaitlyn, David, Grace, Emma and I decided that gift cards for Grant would be good. But how to present them I kept wondering? The answer came when Grace discovered this Charlie Brown tree at Walgreens on Christmas Eve! That's it! The perfect way to present my Peanuts loving brother these gifts! 

And it was indeed!

As you can see he was super surprised and super happy!

Then it was time for gifts from Gramma and Grandpa. 

Another Christmas wish was granted (these lovely dolls from Frozen)! We saw the movie with my parents and the girls reciving these much dreamed about dolls from them was the icing on the cake!

"Thanks Gramma and Grandpa for our dolls! We love them!"

It's hard to believe that Christmas has come and gone and that 2013 is coming to a close. We had a lovely day and are enjoying the final few days of this year. We wish you much peace, love and joy during the remaining days of 2013. May this year end on a high note! xo