4 kids, a dog, and 1 tired Mommy: Our Year

We had a great 2012. It was busy and we had some unexpected turn of events, but overall we were very blessed. I wanted to capture a little bit of our year so that I can remember it all someday!

January

Luke received 2nd place in his Cub Scout pinewood derby race.

February:

Luke turned 8 years old on February 5 and was able to celebrate with both family and friends.

We had very little snow last winter, so this was a rare treat for the kids.

March:
We had an open house to celebrate my grandpa's birthday.

It was warm enough to go to the park with cousins and even play in the lake a little.

Grandpa made pinewood derby cars for the kids and they had fun at a local race.

We spent part of our spring break with Grandpa & Grandma in NW Iowa.

April
In their Sunday best for Easter.

A group picture after hunting for Easter eggs at Grandpa & Grandma's house.

May
Tulip Time

Mother's Day with my blessings (and the hanging plant they gave me).

We got a trampoline this summer and surprisingly no one got injured.

Reagan played softball again and loved it!

June

We went camping with family. It was HOT! The kids had fun playing and getting muddy.

We spent a fun day at Adventureland.

Drew & Lauren celebrated their 4th birthday.

We took a fun trip to the cabin.

We took another camping trip with friends. Once again it was HOT, so we spent an afternoon at the beach.

This was a memorable but not super fun part of our summer. After being gone for an extended weekend we came back to water all over our kitchen/main floor and pouring into our basement. A valve on the main floor toilet broke and flooded our house. We had to have our kitchen completely torn out along with lots of fans to dry carpets in the living room and play room. Our basement had to be torn down to the studs and new ceilings, walls and flooring put in. We lived on our top floor of our house for the entire summer. The entire project did not get done until right before school began. On the plus side, we have a brand new kitchen!

July
Reagan had another surgery to correct her droopy eyelid. This one was a success!

We celebrated the 4th with fireworks.

We stayed cool having fun on the slip & slide with cousins.

The kids took swimming lessons again.

Ryan & Luke flew to OshKosh, Wisconsin with Mike to an air show.

August

We went to the cabin again and spent time with friends on the way back through.

Drew found the Iowa State Fair quite stinky.:)

Lucas started 3rd grade.

Reagan is a 1st Grader.

We attended a Cubs game.

September

Drew & Lauren began 4 year old preschool.

We also went camping with my extended family over Labor Day, but I must not have taken any pictures!

October
We enjoyed a beautiful fall. The bigs started climbing the tree in the front yard a lot.

We also went trick or treating, but that picture is on the i-pad and I'm not sure how to get it off.:(

November
We celebrated the baptism of our new niece & cousin. The kids had fun on this big swing at the luncheon.