Happy 2012!

I know, I know ... it's been a while ... a LONG while.  We've been hopping from one event to another beginning in late September.  It's been exhausting, but it's one of those times when that particular quote comes to mind: Life is what happens when you're busy making plans.  We've just been living life - zero to crazy (my sister's favorite saying) through life.  Whew!

In the spirit of last year's post (and the year before that, for that matter), I'm going to do a Year in Review, which at the same time with serve an additional purpose:  Catching up on the last several months.  [And because my blog (turned into a book later on) is more of a scrapbook for my kids, I am going to backdate a bunch of posts for when they happened as opposed to three months later.  I will add links as they are completed.  Not exactly blog etiquette, but hey, it's my blog.]

January
The year started off with Arkansas Razorbacks playing in the Sugar Bowl. Ohio State won 31-26, but the win was later vacated because of violations of the rules regarding players selling autographed memorabilia.  I don't really know where that leaves the Razorbacks, but I know it's not good for Ohio.  This is always the month to sell Girl Scout cookies, and Sydney did a great job selling 287 boxes!  We had a snow day.  And I posted about our Christmas with my family.

February
Sydney won first place for her class in the Young Arkansas Artist Contest at school.  We had more snow days - 3 in a row, unheard of for Little Rock, and ultimately resulted in tacking on extra days at the end of the school year, booo!  We had a fun family Valentine's Day.  Sydney and I started taking violin lessons.  And Layne wore camouflage undies.

March
Sydney started playing soccer.  We went to see the beautiful flowers at G.arvin Woodland Gardens.  We celebrated Mardi Gras at a church event and at school.  And we went to a really cool event called Lanterns.  Layne showed off her doodling.

April
Four-year old conversations cracked me up.  We celebrated everything from birthdays, to Earth Day.  And Layne busted her lip open and ended up with two stitches.  She was a trooper and only cried until we got to the hospital.

May
Sydney's soccer team came in second in a local tournament.  We had a couple tornado scares and hunkered down in the closet.  I blogged, a few weeks late, about all our Easter activities.  Layne had her end-of-the-year program and her dance recital.    And I caught Layne in a rare moment of quiet and concentration.  I blogged about Sydney's Cheerleading Award Ceremony and her classes Easter Bonnet Parade.

June
We kicked off June with our cross-country road trip.  And I shot my first wedding.  We raced home because Jess was required back to work, and I started my summer project of organizing each room in the house.

July
I posted pictures from our time in Colorado - with our friends and in Gateway Canyon. We had a great Fourth of July with some friends at the lake.  And I experimented with underwater picture taking.  My sister, Mary, came for her yearly summer visit and stayed for two weeks.

August
We ended the summer with our beach vacation to St. George Island.  And then the girls started school.  Layne just keeps up with the cute conversations.

September
I started the month with a fair warning of my absence.  And then I turned around and posted about all my summer reading and my new class.  We also found some time to spend a weekend in Fayetteville to see our first Razorbacks game.

October

And then the most active month of the year for our family arrived with gusto!  It started with a field trip for Layne's class, and mine, to the pumpkin patch.  About a week later, our house was broken into.  Not that it's ever a good time to be robbed, but the day before our school's fundraiser, for which I was the chairman, could not have been a worse day.  But the police report was filed and the festival was a huge success.  A week later we held our 6th Annual Pumpkin Carving Party.  The last week of the month was a doozy - Layne's (and my class') school Halloween Parade, we went to Boo at the Zoo, Sydney had her sleepover birthday party, and we went trick-r-treating with a geisha and a peacock.  

November
Even with October over, we were still full speed ahead.  I went to Tunica with some fellow teachers.  Layne had her birthday party at Jump Zone.  And we took a road trip to Florida.  We spent a few days at Walt Disney World, and then spent Thanksgiving with my family.  Before we hit the road for home, Jess and I hit a few of the Doorbuster sales to get a jump on our Christmas shopping.

December

Sydney's Cheerleading squad marched (actually rode on their float) in the Little Rock Holiday Parade.  Layne had her Christmas Program at school and the next day, Sydney had hers.  The girls participated in the church pageant.  And, as usual, I did a ton of Holiday baking.  While on break from school, I did a lot of organization in the house in attempts to fix all the clutter that accumulated during the last few months of chaos.  We ended the year with a trip to G.arvin Woodland Gardens to see the Holiday lights display.

One of my resolutions for 2012 is to blog more.  Now that the craziness is over, it should be a little easier, right?  I think this is classic case of easier said than done.  LOL!  Another resolution for this year is to organize the house a little more.  Well, that's one of Jess' resolutions, but I'll definitely get caught up in that.  We got a good start on it already, so we just have to keep up the momentum.  

I have a few other things that I want to accomplish this year, so I'm feeling optimist for 2012.  I suppose blogging on the first day of the year is a good start.

Happy New Year!!  Peace.