A Look Back- 2011

I went back through all of my posts of 2011 and created this flash back post. 
 Here is looking back on 2011...

January
January brought more snow than normal for our area and the kids had so much fun (The adults did too). We built snow people. Went sledding with our neighbors, and had a bonfire in the snow. We even made the 6 o'clock  news with  a "Southern Style" igloo that the kids built. We celebrated a very special little girl's first birthday, "Brookelyn Shae". January was also the month we found out that Samantha was expecting a little miracle, "Carter".

February
February was full of love. We celebrated love day "Valentines" with a kid sized party:) We enjoyed heart shaped cookies and cupcakes with pink & red sprinkles. We also enjoyed some warmer than normal weather which meant a couple of trips to the park with the kids. On the very last day of February our precious little Z hit the big half mark! He turned 6 months old.

March
March was the month of new life. Our Mama chicken had lots of baby chicks....which the kids LOVED!!!!  We also found out that Samantha's baby was going to be a boy! A new grandson for us!!!!!

April
April was fun for the kids. We colored eggs, baked cookies, and had egg hunts. We also enjoyed our free passes to Jump-4-Joeys (Thanks Felicia). Spent lots of time with our past fosters. I went public with my photography business and started photographing for others. We enjoyed many days at the park having picnics.

May
In May we started a garden for veggies. Planted strawberries & blueberry bushes. We also planted lots of new flowers and Brookelyn enjoyed watering them everyday with her little pink watering can. We also hosted a Tea party for the girls (Brookelyn & Bailey), just for fun. Hubby & I celebrated 22 years together. We had a backyard visitor that just amazed us all. It was a mama owl and her 4 babies. We watched as she taught them how to fly. Z learned to patty-cake. It was also a month of bubbles, watermelons, Popsicles, and lots of giggles.

June
June was hot. Most of the month was spent in the pool ,throwing water balloons, shooting water guns, or running through sprinklers. It was a water month for sure. We enjoyed a week of fun & learning at VBS. We took a trip to Jelly Stone Park. We added a new foster "Miss Ryleigh". We took a quick weekend trip to the mountains. We attended a party at Snip-its. We attended the Sullivan Family Reunion (My Mom's side). We watched Bay catch lightning bugs for the very first time. Then to top off the month, we got a new grandson. Carter decided to surprise us all by coming 6 weeks early. He came before we even had his baby shower.

July
July was a busy month for us. It started off with a BANG! We enjoyed Homespun at Rockmart. The 4th of July at VR Plex. Fireworks and Family day at Helton Howland. We attended a fun filled family day at New Seasons. We hosted a baby shower in Honor of Samantha & Little Carter. We visited the petting zoo at Pritchard Farm. The Hubby & kids took part in Community Makeover 2011.

August
In August we added another foster child  to our family ,"Keiara". We took a day trip to Collinsville Market. We visited Untamed Mountain. Took a trip to the pasture to see the horses. Took a trip to the lake to go fishing. Took  a trip to the fountains to cool off and play. The twins turned the big 18!!!! Jacob hit double digits with his 10th birthday!!! We celebrated Bailey's 4th birthday!!! We also celebrated Ryleigh and Z (our foster babies) 1st birthdays!!!!

September

September brought us cooler days and more adventures or "Add-ben-tures" as Bailey called it. Our Jacob started a new school year (4th grade). We took a much needed family trip to the mountains with my parents. We visited two apple farms and stocked up on lots of apples and yummy jelly. We took Bailey to BabyLand General (Home of the cabbage patch kids) for her birthday. We enjoyed a rodeo. We took a trip to Uncle Shuck's for a foster family day. The kids really enjoyed the corn mazes, hay rides, pumpkin patch, and marshmallow roasting (Thanks Uncle Shuck for the invite!).

October

October is always a fun month for us. We took part in Twinkle Time at the library and was featured in the local newspaper. We took a trip to the Atlanta zoo. We enjoyed a fun trip to Chuck-E-cheese's with friends (Thanks John & Christy!). We carved pumpkins, made candy apples, and dressed up in cute costumes. We enjoyed a Family Reunion with Hubby's family (His Mom's side). We attended the Tick-or-Treat village in Dallas. We also attended the Hallelujah Harvest festival and enjoyed Trunk-or-treat. Our two fosters Keiara and Ryleigh went home but two new fosters joined our family...we welcomed a newborn little boy named Kellan and a 4 year old named JJ.

November
November was a month full of family, food, and friends. We took part in the 30 days of thankful. We painted most of the inside of our home. We worked on many crafts and tried out some new recipes. We celebrated Thanksgiving a week early with my Hubby's family and then spent Thanksgiving with my side. It was a month full of thankful. We had lots to be thankful for.

December
December is by far one of the best months of the whole year and this one was no different. We read lots of books  with the 25 books of Christmas (Thanks to Katie & New Georgia Library). We enjoyed watching our little elf on the shelf "Elfie" get into all kinds of mischief.  We cooked /baked lots of yummies with the kids. Decorated the house for Christmas and even took the kids to pick out a real tree.  We built a gingerbread house. Attended 3 foster family parties. Had breakfast with Santa. Took part in Hope For Christmas. The kids were in a Christmas play. We also visited Corey & Anna's church to watch their Christmas play.  Katie & Ashley were in the Dallas parade. We took a trip to the mall for a Christmas movie and pictures with Santa.  The kids drawed pictures and wrote a letter to Santa. We watched lots of Christmas movies. Brookelyn took a fun trip to the Children's museum in Atlanta (Thanks Felicia!). We celebrated Carter's very 1st Christmas and his big 6 month milestone. We enjoyed Christmas dinner with Hubby's side of the family and then dinner with mine on Christmas eve. We remembered to leave cookies for Santa and food for his reindeers. . We enjoyed having Christmas morning breakfast with Brookelyn (Thanks Anna!). We celebrated and sang Happy birthday to Jesus on his birthday. We enjoyed our Christmas surrounded by family & friends.

I hope you enjoyed looking back with me. We have so much to be thankful for. God really has been good to us. Now we are about to start a brand new year and I'm excited to see what God has planned for us this year. I hope this will be another year filled with many more precious memory making days.

May God blessing be upon you & yours in 2012.

Email Sandy- mom2five@bellsouth.net