Finally - 2011 in Photos

January 2011 - After the HUGE blizzard.  We were snowed in for 3 days.

February 2011 - Random phone pic of the kids

March 2011 - Jelly Bean at one of the exhibits at The Magic House in St. Louis

April 2011 - Mr. Simple does does the radio broadcasts for the local arena football (and basketball!) team.  Here is a picture of the team in action. They are the red/white and blue blurs. :)

May 2011 - Flower bridging from Juniors to Cadettes.  These girls have all been together since they were Daisies in Kindergarten! Jelly Bean also bridged from Brownies to Juniors.

June 2011 - Super diving in at one of his first races of the Swim Season.  2011 was the first year that all three kids did Swim Team and they had a great time.  Go Sharks!

July 2011 - Jelly Bean acting silly at one of our many summer backyard cookouts.

August 2011 - The kids getting ready for their first day of school.  First time they have all gone to public school too! Flower started 6th grade, Super started 1st grade, and Jelly Bean started 4th grade.

September 2011 - At Bass Lake, IN.  They always have a costume party for the Labor Day kids party.  This year, Super was Batman and the girls were cowgirls.

October 2011 - At Sugur Creak Nature Center.  We have been to their Autumn Festival for the past 4 years, and I hope we continue to go.  It makes me feel like Fall has really arrived when we go here.

November 2011 - Well, this picture was actually taken in October, but I wanted to include it, so here you go. :)

Christmas 2011 - The three cool kids

This will probably be my last post . . . of 2011

Knowing me, and my life, I probably won't get back here tomorrow.  And I have a moment to post right now, so I thought I would.

2011.  It was an interesting year.  I lost a lot of weight in 2011, but I'll be honest, I've put a little back on. 

Which goes to the second thing of 2011.  Instead of illness this year, this was the year of injuries.  I was doing fantastic with exercise until May of 2011.  Great.  I was running and I was doing my Body Combat classes and my Body Pump classes.  Loved it. And then I got tendinitis in my foot.  And despite trying to cut back and using anti-inflamatories, it still hurt. All the time.  So I decided to take a little break from exercise.  Just for June.  And maybe July.  It would have been fine. Except that I burned myself at the end of July.  Then I couldn't exercise for another two months.  Now, it would be September.  And I did go a few times in September.  But then, I had outpatient surgery in October.  I'd really start again in November.  Except then, I got crazy busy.  So here it is the end of 2011, and I really haven't regularly since early May. Ugh. But I have a plan.  And I will get back to it.  I was so consistent in 2010 and half of 2011. I know that I can get back to my exercise plan.  And it is so much easier for me to follow a healthy food plan when I'm exercising.

The kids went back to public school this year.  That has been different.  I don't know if I'll homeschool again.  I miss it a lot, but I always said that I wanted to do what is right for my kids.  But I'm hoping that it isn't totally the end.  I mean, Super is only in first grade, so if it is the right thing for him, maybe we will homeschool at some point.  Speaking of the kids, maybe I should update a little about them.

Flower? She is 12.  And in 6th grade.  And a great kid, really.  But I definitely see glimpses of teenager-hood coming through.  And she bought herself an iPod Touch this Christmas.  And the texting has begun. But she still likes to hang out with her family.  And she still loves to read.  And she still loves to sing. 

Jelly Bean.  Hmm.   It has been a busy year for her.  She is in 4th grade and has homework for the first time in her life. She started competitive swimming in September and she practices 4 times a week.  She is moving up to the next level next month and then her practices will move from an hour to two hours.  I worry a little about burn out, but she LOVES it and says that swimming is the only thing that makes her happy, so for right now, we are going ahead.  She turned 10 this month.  I can't believe she is already a whole decade!

Super.  Maybe I should rename him Super Wild.  No, he isn't that bad.  Most of the time anyway.  He loves Super Heroes now. A lot. So his blog name is more fitting than it used to be.  He is forever jumping off things too.  And he loves to create things out of scraps.  He calls them "his inventions." He used to make "inventions" by connecting his toys together in various ways. Quite the creative little guy.

I don't have resolutions exactly for 2012.  But I do have a checklist/to do list/plans for 2012.  Is that the same as resolutions? I don't know. A lot of it has to do with SLITC and turning it into a business. And then most of the rest has to do with incorporating simple living even more into my life.  But a big item on my to do list is to learn to enjoy myself more.  Relax sometimes.  Laugh more. Try not to be so serious all the time.  Make more time for friends.  Make more friends.  And maybe sleep more too. :)

Daybook: December 6th

I tried to publish this post on the 6th, but I was having all kinds of problems.  So you get my daybook post from the 6th on the 9th.  Better late than never?

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I haven't done a daybook in who knows how long, so I thought I'd do one more before the end of 2011. 

I am thankful for ... that I've been able to do some freelance training lately.  It makes my day very busy since I am still doing preschool/daycare too, but I really, really enjoy doing training again.  I didn't realize how much I've missed it until I started doing it again. 

From the learning rooms ... Well, I just have the one learning room now since I just have the preschoolers.  We decided in the fall to have all three children go to public school.  I miss homeschooling, but I still feel like we have made the right decision for our family.  Anyway, we are learning about the letter G, the color green, Europe, winter, evergreen trees, and rectangles.

From the kitchen ... I made a semi-homemade apple pie the other day, and we made homemade french vanilla ice cream tonight to go with it.  I love making our own ice cream.  So, so good and I love knowing what exactly I am eating.  Not to mention the fact that I can make any kind of ice cream I want!

I am wearing... white turtleneck, blue t-shirt, and sweats. Wool socks. I am more dedicated to warmth than I am to fashion. :)

I am creating... lots of gifts.

I am going... hmm. I don't go out much lately. I keep really busy around the house between watching the daycare children and the freelance training and creating presents, and oh, lots of stuff. Stuff I still need to talk about here. Anyway, I don't go much of anywhere these days.

I am reading... The Seasons on Henry's Farm. It is about year on a sustainable farm that is close to my house. I'm not very far into it yet, but it is definitely my kind of book.

I am hoping... that there is more peace. In my life, in our family, in the world.

I am hearing... not much. I am writing this post in the evening after everyone has gone to bed.

Around the house... things are quite festive! I decorated early this year. I usually wait until well into December, but this year, Flower talked me into decorating the day after Thanksgiving. We are celebrating Advent this year, but in a very, very simple way this year. We are mostly just enjoying being together this month.

One of my favorite things... Well, not to be too corny or anything, but one of my favorite things lately is just living the Simple Life more. I am creating more and more things by hand, I am more self reliant, I am more frugal. Sometimes living the Simple Life makes me feel poor or resentful. But not lately. Lately, it makes me feel happy. And content.

Homecoming 2011

We live in Normal, Illinois (yes, I've heard all the jokes.  Yes, we allow abnormal people to live here too.)  Anyway, Normal is home to Illinois State University. ISU is also the university where I got my bachelor's degree and my masters degree.  And the university that I worked at for 5 years.  And the place where Mr. Simple got HIS bachelors and masters degree.  AND we also had our wedding reception in the student center ballroom.

So yes, we have lots of ties to the university.  We used to take the kids to the Homecoming Parade when they were small, but we hadn't been back for a few years until last year, and then I took the kids to the parade, and then I took them on a tour of campus, and then we even went to the Homecoming game! It was really fun.

This year, we didn't have time to attend the Homecoming game, but the kids all wanted to go to the parade again.  So here are some pictures of ISU Homecoming 2011!

My little Redbirds! They are spelling ISU!

The ISU Marching Band.  They always win lots of national awards.

The Homecoming King and Queen at the top of a fire engine.

Normal, Illinois is also home to Mitsubishi Motors US plant.  This is a picture of the Mitsubishi Electric car - called the Mi-EV. 

Oh, and a tractor.  You can't have a parade in Illinois without having a tractor in it :)

The Prairie Pipes & Drums band.  This was SO cool in person.

I have almost my whole life in college towns.  I've lived in THIS college town off and on (mostly on) for the past 20 years.  I must say, I do prefer living in a college towns too.  And it is weekends like this that make it really fun to live in a college town too.

Halloween 2011

OK, I know that it is December, and I'm posting about Halloween.  What can I say? I had a huge backlog of pictures and I wasn't able to blog that much this fall.  Anyway, most years, we do a bunch of Halloween activities, and this year was no exception.  In fact, this year, we even added one. Often, the kids change costumes for the different activities, but this year, Super was the only one who changed his costume, and he only changed it once.

And in a sign of things to come, SIGH, I didn't manage to get a picture of Flower in her Halloween costume because she didn't come to a couple of the things we did because she was at other activities, or she was off with her friends. I suspect that next year, she doesn't even dress up.  She is growing up so fast.  Anyway, this year, she was dressed up as a diva.  She had a sequined dress and she wore a long blond wig and boots.

Anyway, this year, the kids dressed up for Trunk or Treat, Farmers Market, and on the 30th, we did something new and we did trick or treating at the downtown businesses.  On Halloween, I went out trick or treating with Super and Jelly Bean.  Mr. Simple handed out candy, and Flower went with 3 of her friends.

Oh and this year, Mr. Simple and I went to a costume party too! It was so fun!

Here are some pictures:

Super at home after Trunk or Treat.  A knight with his sword!

Now you can see the knight's face.  The sword and helmet were from his dress up bin, and we got the knight outfit from the thrift store for $1.

Super at one of the local business.  He decided to wear his helmet down for this shot.

Jelly Bean.  She was a skater girl.  We bought the wig for $4, but the rest of the things we already had or got at the thrift store.

Jelly Bean and Super in front of the house on Halloween.  Super changed his costume for Halloween Night.  He is a storm trooper.  He got the helmet for his birthday, and the costume was from his dress up bin.

And here I am in my mask.  I was a butterfly and I had sparkly butterfly wings too.  Mr. Simple was a butterfly catcher.  :)

Our Family Has Talent!

I have so much to blog about, but before school starts again on Thursday (this summer went WAY too fast this year!) I figured that I'd at least post the videos from the Talent Show at our local elementary school. Yes, it was in May. As in 3 months ago. I'm telling you, this summer just whizzed by. (Neither video is very long. Super's is under a minute, and Flower's is under 2 minutes.)

We have a little family tradition that each of our kids performs "God Bless America" in the Talent Show when they are in Kindergarten. I wasn't sure if Super would go for it, but he did! And he did a great job! It is hard to see him in the video, but you can hear him.

And Flower, well, she was in a TON of stuff for the talent show. She sang a Taylor Swift song with 3 of her friends, and did 3 dance numbers with the entire 5th grade, and sang with the Chorus. But the video that I put up her is of her singing Miley Cyrus' song "The Climb." Now, I know I am her mom, and I know I am biased, but I thought she did a GREAT job. And I love the crowd interaction. And sorry, you can't see her very well either, but you can hear her.

Jelly Bean was homeschooled, so she wasn't in the Talent Show, but she had an AWESOME year. Really, really great. She loves Math and Art, and had a great time going to Gym N' Swim at the YMCA this year. I'll post some of her pictures soon. She was very into painting this year.

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow . . .

We decorate the windows in our dining room all the time, especially for holidays, but for January, they were all decked out with all kinds of winter decorations.

The girls made these snowmen years ago

out of colored paper stuck between two

sheets of contact paper.

All the snowflakes were cut by Jelly Bean

My mom sent me these cute shirts for Christmas
a couple years ago. There are three and they are
hanging from a piece of red yarn that is attached
to the curtain rod.

This picture isn't actually up in the windows.
Jelly Bean drew it for part of the wall
decorations for the preschool area. She
does one every season. This one is Winter!

So we had all of these winter decorations
up in January, but there was hardly any snow
on the ground.

And then, just as February began,

The Blizzard came!

Our little pinecone tree is "flocked"
with real snow.

Our front yard. There
are front steps there somewhere!

Our street looks like it is plowed, but it
really isn't. A pickup truck with a plow on
front came by and made a first pass, but you
still couldn't actually get out onto the main road.

We have alleys on the side and back of our

house and that is the only way to get your
vehicles out onto the road. Our alleys were
completely covered with about 3 feet of snow.

A view of the alley behind our house. The
driveway was shoveled, but the snow was too thick
for too long to be able to shovel or snowblow out
the snow. We were snowed in!

A view of our tree out front.

The kids made the best of it and

made snow tunnels out of drifts.

And here they are sitting on the retaining wall.
The stones are under there somewhere!

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All in all, we were snowed in for about 48 hours. The alleys are considered the lowest priority for the snow plows. The snow started for us Tuesday afternoon, and we were out by Thursday afternoon. But we had games and movies and food and heat and power so it was all good! Although I am glad to know that if I WANT to get out today, I can!

Seven

No, this isn't Super's age. Or the number of bones I've broken. Or the number of trips I had to go out to the car to unload the groceries. (As an aside, unloading the groceries from the car is one of my least favorite jobs. EVER.)

My alma mater is this university, and I still live in the same city that the university is located. So today I was driving past one of the intersections by campus and noticed a big banner that said "Seven" and then led you to the university's Wellness home page.

Now, I've mentioned how I've been pretty UNwell this past year, at least physically. I'm really hoping that 2011 is a more healthy year.

But I also hope that I'm more healthy overall and so I decided to check out the Wellness page.

They list seven areas of Wellness and their definition of each area:

1. Intellectual - Intellectual well-being involves lifelong learning through your formal education and informal life experiences. Well-being in this area increases your openness to new ideas and to maintain a sense of humor, creativity and curiosity.


2. Emotional - Emotional wellness is a journey toward increased awareness, expression and acceptance of a wide range of thoughts and feelings in yourself and others. Optimal emotional wellness helps you achieve positive self-esteem, satisfying relationships and resilience to meet life's challenges.


3. Physical - Physical wellness involves respecting your body's own uniqueness and diversity, and engaging in practices that move you towards a higher level of health. Optimal physical well-being includes connecting with your physical self and avoiding harmful habits, while remaining focused on the balance of body-mind-spirit.


4. Social - Social health means being aware of, participating in, and feeling connected to your community. Social well-being is enhanced by establishing supportive social networks through meaningful relationships with family, friends, colleagues and other significant individuals.


5. Vocational - Vocational wellness can be nurtured by matching your core values with interests, hobbies, employment and volunteer work. As you uncover your talents and passion, you express yourself to the world.


6. Environmental - Environmental well-being includes trying to live in harmony with the earth by understanding the impact of your interaction with nature and your personal environment, and taking action to protect the world around you.


7. Spiritual - Spiritual wellness involves developing an inner connection and harmony between yourself and the wonder, majesty and mystery of the universe.

On the Wellness page, they also encourage people to complete activities in each of the areas for prizes.

Now, I'm all for prizes and all, but a) I'm pretty sure they don't allow alumni to enroll in the program and b) I want to have more control over what prize I'm going to get. I'm all about chocolate for prizes :)

So I'm mulling these areas around in my mind today and trying to decide what my goals are going to be with overall wellness. I may try and complete a goal in each area each month. But that might be too much to take on. I may try and complete a goal in ONE area each month. That would be more doable, but will I lose momentum and motivation that way? And will I feel that I'm not concentrating enough on overall health? Or I may just write all these down in my journal and try and just encourage these ideas in my overall goals and things I do during the year.

I'll let you know what I decide.

First Daybook of 2011: January 17, 2011

I am thankful for... the clothes I found in my closet this week. I had lost a bunch of weight back in 2006, and bought three skirts. I haven't been able to fit into them since uh, 2006, and I was growing weary of the one dress and one skirt that I had been wearing to church. Now I've suddenly almost tripled my Sunday wardrobe and I didn't have to spend a dime!

From the learning rooms... The preschoolers are working on Antarctica, snow related activities, the letter O, the number 5 and the color grey. Jelly Bean is working on Charlemagne in history, verbs in Language, New Mexico in Geography, 4 time tables and gallons/quarts in Math, ink in Art, and primates in Science. She also started going to Gym N' Swim at the YMCA last week (through our homeschool group - 45 minutes of swimming and 45 minutes of traditional PE activities.)

From the kitchen... Chicken Noodle Soup. I really love winter foods - soups, root vegetables - especially roasted. YUMMY! Oh, and Hot Chocolate. Have I ever mentioned that I love Hot Chocolate??? :)

I am wearing... blue yoga pants, an adult sized Swim Team t-shirt, and my grey wool socks. Hey, I had an allergist appointment this morning. I wanted to be warm and comfortable.

I am creating... organization to my closet. :)

I am going... to doctors this week. I'm hoping that soon I will be able to go a few months between all these appointments. Today, it was the allergist, tomorrow, the ENT, and Wednesday, I have to travel down to Springfield for a small medical procedure.

I am reading... The Seventeen Traditions and Rocket Boys. The author of Rocket Boys is coming to the local community college for a Q & A in March and so I thought I try and read it before his visit.

I am hoping... that my family knows how much I love them. I attended a funeral this weekend of a wonderful woman. I am sure that her family knew how much she loved them, and vice versa.

I am hearing... Thankfully, not much. The toddlers are sleeping and Jelly Bean (and Super and Flower who are home from school the today and tomorrow) are playing a board game together.

Around the house... Trying to embrace the grey and cold of January by decorating with snowflakes and pictures of the children's snowmen.

One of my favorite things... Watching movies with my kids on the weekends. We all get our blankets and snuggle on the couch together. Makes me smile just thinking about it.