October, November, December

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!! I did, but it went by way too fast!

October:
I ran in a half-marathon...

Posted some of my favorite autumn pictures...

And won a spot in an online photography class with this post. 

November:

I posted pictures about our fabulous Halloween...

I posted my top ten photos I've taken this year.

I wrote about my favorite running trail.

December:

I wrote (mostly in picture form), my simple Christmas wishes...

My kids spent four long weeks taking turns being sick. They are finally all healthy, (as of two days before Christmas).

We made my dream house in the form of gingerbread...

And I sent you all a virtual Christmas card. 

I can't wait to read all of yours! Grab the button and link up. And Happy New Year!!

Merry Christmas!!!

I would love to send all of you a Christmas card...

But that would require a lot of stamps.

Instead, I'm sending you a virtual Christmas card. Thank you Ali for such a wonderful idea!

And thank you, my blog friends, my in real life friends who read my blog, and my family, who have given me much encouragement and support this year!

July, August, September...

Grab the button, link up, and share your summer months with us! Summer is by far my favorite season of the year.

July: I told you who the real boss in our family is...it might surprise you.

I broke my toe and couldn't run for a few weeks...yes, that sucked.

And, I posted my first vlog.

August: I wrote some lessons I've learned from my children.

I wrote about my sweet little girl, who flooded the bathroom with the garden hose by sticking it up the dryer vent.

Yes, that's her...doesn't she look sweet?

September: I gave some advice to all mothers everywhere. 

I was Germaine's Tipsy Friend and wrote one of my favorite pieces about running. 

We went pumpkin picking.

And, last but not least, I captured some very magical moments with my camera.

Here's a sneak peek at one of them.

I can't wait to read all of yours!

My Dream House...

A few years ago, I dreamed of making this beautiful gingerbread house with the kids.

It would look just like the picture on the box.

The kids would help, as I lovingly guided their little hands in the right direction, putting the little candy pieces in exactly the right spot.

It would turn out to be a yearly tradition.

HA!

That's not exactly how it happened.

So this year, I decided to...

Lower my standards.

Let the kids decorate it however they wanted.

There was no guiding of the hands.

They could eat the candy in between the decorating.

They licked the frosting; they licked their fingers; they may have even licked the table.

But you know what?

It was so much better than my perfect little made-up dreams of the perfect little gingerbread house.

It was fun...

For me AND for them. 

And this is a tradition I think we'll be doing again and again.