A New Year. A Fresh Start.

I've taken a bit of a blogging break.  For a number of reasons.  The main one being that adding home schooling into the mix of things has taken up a very large chunk of time and energy.  The moving process has also presented its own unique time drains. The other one was we were back in the States and the blog was a way to communicate to friends, family & fans in one fell swoop.  Family (and fans too!) were often clamoring for new pictures of the kids and posts.  It was a great way for us to keep in touch with loved ones.  Well I'm finding that the same is true now.  We've moved back to the States, but although we are geographically closer than we were, we are still not nearby.  And incidentally, I've had quite a few requests from abroad to resume.  So, here I go.  Disclaimer: I don't promise consistency, wisdom or insight.

December review:
It was such a sweet, sweet holiday.  We had some special birthdays to celebrate. William turned 7.  What a great age.  Six was really good too, but I think there's just something a bit magical about seven.

as an aside... he did get a cake in the evening... this was just a breakfast treat :)

And our little Calvin-man turned FIVE.  What?!  This went fast.  Four has been a blast.  He's such a pleasant guy.  Praying that pleasant-ness continues for decades to come.

Christmas was a complete joy.  It was so wonderful to have my parents visit for the holiday.  The kids were really thrilled.  William came downstairs on Christmas morning saw the tree and all the presents and said "this is the Christmas I always dreamed about.".  

It was a celebratory, relaxing, PJ-wearing kind of wonderful.

This kind of sums it up.

A perk of being in DC area is that there is always something fun (and FREE) to do nearby.  We went on a quick trip to see the National Christmas Tree.

...a few snippets from our December.  

I'm looking forward to getting back into the blogging routine.  

I have missed it.