A YEAR IN REVIEW

Happy New Year’s Eve! I love to taking a few minutes at the end of the year to reflect on all that we did and experienced and accomplished throughout the year. The good and the hard! So here’s a top 3 month-by-month recap of 2023.

JANUARY

In January we started our homeschooling journey. It was a major adjustment, but we found our groove and Jack flourished! Korben graduated from speech therapy after a year of working so incredibly hard. I tried my hand at Winter Sowing. It was a really great learning experience and I’m glad I now have that skill set.

FEBRUARY

In February, Korben went to his first dentist appointment. He was a big fan of the glasses and getting to watch a show! We had all finally settled into a homeschool routine and Jack was really flourishing. At the end of 2022 I decided that I wanted to learn how to make bread instead of buying it at the store. It took alot of trial and error in January, but I finally figured it out in February!

MARCH

In March we took a trip to Texas to see my mom and celebrated Jack turning SEVEN! We got in lots of fun days in the sunshine on the farm, while it was snowing like crazy back home. Towards the end of March we started to see some glimmers of Spring and sunshine and the boys got to play outside in the backyard some!

APRIL

In April we celebrated Easter at our church and at home with the boys. We also go alot of our seeds started indoors! Lots of tomatoes, herbs, cucumbers and flowers. Sean and I celebrated 10 years of marriage on April 13!

MAY

In May, Korben’s preschool hosted a Mother’s Day breakfast that was so sweet! Jack had his first Cub Scout promotion ceremony and we celebrated Sean’s birthday!

JUNE

In June the boys did ALL.THE.THINGS! Swim lessons, day camp, vacation bible school, play dates….if it was offered, they were part of it. We like to let them try new sports and activities during the summer when camps are offered to see if it’s something that they might have interest in. We had a ton of rain the first few weeks of June, so it was fun to see everything start sprouting! We also said goodbye to our pup of 12 years. Sean had him for about 8 months before we met and then he was a total Mama’s boy!

JULY

July was the epitome of summer! Warm days, lots of time outside, everything in the garden flourishing and tons of grilling. Mama J came out the second week of July and stayed through the first week of August. We had a few weeks of adventures with her, including taking the boys to the Renaissance Fair, which they loved! I had a radical hysterectomy on July 20 and we were SO grateful for her help with the boys while I was recovering.

AUGUST

In August, we were able to start enjoying the fruits of all of our hard work from our garden. Fresh green beans, squash, tomatoes and herbs! I got started on canning alot of different things, but my favorite was strawberry jam. Last up, Jack started 2nd grade at a new school that we absolutely LOVE!

SEPTEMBER

Korben started back to preschool in the 3’s class. We love his preschool and teachers so much! Jack had his first experience with popcorn sales for Cub Scouts. He knocked it out of the park and reached his goal within 2 weekends of selling. I conquered canning diced tomatoes, pizza sauce and marinara sauce from tomatoes that we grew in our garden and local farmers!

OCTOBER

In October, Sean took the boys to Korben’s first movie at the movie theatre. Needless to say, he was a BIG FAN! I was able to host a baby shower for one of our best friends who adopted a sweet baby boy. For Halloween, the boys were Mario and Luigi! We had so much fun at our church’s trunk or treat with all of our friends and in our neighborhood trick or treating.

NOVEMBER

In November, Jack’s Cub Scout pack went to the Pike’s Peak National Cemetary to clean the headstones before Veteran’s Day. I was SO proud of him! Mama J came to visit for Thanksgiving and we had so much fun looking at Christmas lights, celebrating Thanksgiving and seeing Santa. We also celebrated Korben turning FOUR!

DECEMBER

December was such a sweet month. I’ve said it over and over but a 4 year old and 7 year old has been the MOST fun age to do all of the Christmas things with. We surprised the boys at the beginning of the month with an early Christmas present….puppies!! We can’t wait to bring them home in January. Korben had his very first Christmas program at preschool and it was the CUTEST thing ever. He refused to sing a single word (my little introvert) but continually mouthed, “I HAVE TO GO POTTY,” during each song. We went to Texas for the Christmas holidays and while I loved every minute, one of the highlights was going on The Polar Express with the boys and my nieces. It was such a sweet sweet time!