Highlights of 2011

We had a good 2011! Here are some highlights from the year (though I am sure I forgot some things that happened in my old age! ha):

1. Owen played tackle football for the first time. He love it, but the practice schedule about killed out family life from August through October! Luckily, we get a break until next fall!

2. Arden started pre-K and changed buildings. She has a certified teacher this year and is learning a lot!

3. Owen began middle school with 5th grade and also changed buildings. He now has 4 teachers for his core subjects and loves it.

4. I began the process of working toward National Board Teacher Certification in March 2011 and will complete the entries and tests on March 31, 2012. I will find out in November 2012 if I passed in the first year. This gives me a national teacher's license plus higher salary in Arkansas once I pass for the life of the ten year license. So far,I have logged in over 225 hours of work on it.

5. We took our first BIG family vacation across the country (by car for 20 hours) to Washington D.C. and were gone ten days. It was an amazing adventure, and we all loved D.C. We saw the 4th of July fireworks on the National Mall.

6. Stuart traveled to Seattle for a work conference and got to see the home of Starbucks! He also went to the Catalyst conference in Atlanta in October with one of his best friends.

7. I got my own permanent classroom at my school for the first time this year! Yea! No more floating with a cart into various classrooms up and down the hall. It is such a luxury!

8. I attended my first Beth Moore conference live in Little Rock with my mom. It was a fun girls' weekend!

9. We completed the hardwood installation in our house this year with flooring installed in the living room, hallway, dining room, and office. I love it!

10. Stuart has gotten to go on some photography adventures and practice with his new SLR camera. He is getting really good!

11. Arden got her long hair cut off into an adorable angled bob hairstyle in August. I love it, and it is so much easier to maintain. However, it really made her look much more grown up, and we realize that she is not a toddler anymore.

12. Hudson has had a great year with his first male teacher in 2nd grade this year. He has gotten an award almost weekly for most helpful, most responsible, etc. He has been voted student of the week the most times of any student in his class, and was a Kiwanis Terrific Kid in September! He has really developed his love (obsession) for math this year and asked for a calculator for Christmas!

13. The boys and I attended several performances at the Rogers Little Theater this year (which we didn't know about last year). We have seen "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat," "The Sound of Music," and "Christmas Story" in 2011. Owen loved Joseph best!

14. We enjoyed touring the new Crystal Bridges Museum in Bentonville which opened in November 2011. It is beautiful and amazing; it even impressed a ten year old boy who doesn't really like art!

We hope your family had a happy and healthy 2011. May 2012 bring us even closer to the ones we love. May God grant us all peace and favor in His eyes this coming year.

Merry Christmas!

We have had a fun month of December, even though it seems like it has flown by faster than ever! I took Owen to see "A Christmas Story" play at the Rogers Little Theater, we toured Crystal Bridges museum which opened recently, and we saw Santa in our neighborhood. My mom came for a weekend visit where we drove to Branson and saw the great light display at Silver Dollar City. It really makes you feel like Christmas when you are walking around at night in a lit village atmosphere, listening to Christmas carols and sipping hot chocolate!

We went to school longer this year than ever before due to the calendar changes for our district, and we did not get out until December 21. We left the next morning to drive to Camden to see Stuart's mom and sister's family until the 24th. The kids had fun playing with their five cousins from Ohio, and the highlight was playing nighttime flashlight tag outside! I was worried that someone was going to trip and break an ankle, but the kids loved it.

We returned home on the night of the 24th to finish the remaining tasks to get ready for Santa to arrive! Arden has been such a fun age this year since she sincerely believes everything is real, and she is so animated about talking about Santa, Rudolph, and Jesus. We put out reindeer food for Santa's sleigh, and the kids actually slept in until almost 7:30 on Christmas morning before wandering in to find presents.

Favorite gifts from us or relatives include:
Owen: ipod shuffle, Vikings jersey, Connect 4 Launchers
Hudson: Pokemon playset, Bey blades triple battle set, Angry Birds game, calculator
Arden: American Girl bitty baby, Fur-Real barking/moving dog, doll clothes, pet shop set, and a kids' digital camera
Stuart: Starbucks gift card, monogrammed shaving kit, new snow boots
Michelle: red Tom's shoes, silver earrings, lots of great gift cards from students, a fleece jacket, and a lava lamp (from Owen :)

Arden turns 4 tomorrow! Where has the time gone? So, we will be wrapping birthday gifts today in Tinkerbell paper and trying to find a store to make a cookie cake for her since that is what she wants. I think we will eat at Chili's and use one of my gift cards for a fun celebration dinner for her tomorrow night!

It was a great Christmas, and we are glad to have some family time to relax and stay indoors. We hope you had a wonderful holiday with your family.