Tag: Holidays

Happy New Year, friends! We’ve kissed 2017 good-bye & are now welcoming in our 1st week in 2018. I feel like last year went by in the blink of any eye. Our little family made some great memories & shared a lot of laughs in 2017. We’re very thankful & blessed. Definitely looking forward to new adventures in this coming year!

A recap of our NYE 2017 ….

We spent the afternoon as tourists & went to the Orlando Eye attraction area on International Drive. We have free admission to it, as well as to the Sea Life Aquarium & the wax museum from our Legoland passes. So, it was a great deal & we didn’t want to pass it up. More pics on all that soon!

Later on, we rang in the New Year quietly at home with just the three of us, but we had fun. The boys were playing with the Playstation for awhile so all was right in the world. LOL! . Since it was a special occasion & because he is almost never allowed to, we let Liam stay up as late he wanted {or could stand it….he’s a light weight but he wanted so badly to make it to midnight 😉 } ….he was getting a kick out of watching New Year’s Rocking Eve with us (the music is his favorite part), but some where between 10:00 & 11:00, he curled up on the couch with me & we both passed out. Stephen woke me up for the ball drop. We tried to rouse Liam but that kid is a solid sleeper. Before we all called it a night, though, we had done some sparklers out back & did a sparkling grape juice toast in fancy glitter flutes (he loved them!).

Some highlights from 2017 ….

In January, we officially became Disney annual passholders for the very 1st time. That month began our addiction to the parks & I believe over the winter, we visited over 10 times, easily. It’s been exhausting, at times, but so fun.

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In February, just before Valentine’s Day, Liam fell off a slide at the extended day center he was attending & broke his left arm just above the elbow. He had to get a cast on & it was an interesting time for us all…but he as a trooper & had the best attitude.

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In April, Stephen & I celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary!

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In May, Liam finished Kindergarten! I can’t even believe that….by the end of the school year, he was reading beginner chapter books with me. Where is my baby going?!?!

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In June, Liam attended his 1st church camp with our church. He LOVED it & really thrived. We’re already looking forward to it for this upcoming summer.

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Liam turned 6 at the end of July, and {holy cow!} started 1st grade in August!! I thought last year’s start of Kindergarten was a crazy milestone, but this is again over the moon! He’s in actual grade school now. Seriously?!?! We celebrated his birthday with a weekend trip to Disney, including a stay at a Disney hotel (his request this year in lieu of a party). We chose the Animal Kingdom Lodge, and it was an unforgettable weekend. We all loved every second of it.

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Over the summer, Liam attended summer camp for the 2nd time. He had a blast 🙂

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At the beginning of June, I decided it was my time to step away from Orlando Moms Blog. It was a platform that provided many great opportunities to me & I learned a ton ….but it was time for me to grow in other directions.

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At the end of August, I was hired by Valencia College to be an adjunct faculty member at their Lake Nona campus. I am credentialed to teach their New Student Experience course, SLS 1122.

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In September, our newest family member, Simba, celebrated his very 1st birthday!

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In September, Liam celebrated one-year of classes with Victory Martial Arts. He’s doing so well & has earned several belts this year in the Tiger program. We’re excited to see what this next year brings for him with this.

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In November, Timber celebrated his 15th birthday!! ❤

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Looking ahead to 2018….

Life these days is very busy for us….it’s just the season that we are in & we embrace that. This next year we want to enjoy all the good stuff but try to also remember to take things slow. We don’t want to feel rushed or hurried because life has a way of doing that to us many times.

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Liam continues 1st grade next week and then 2nd grade will be around the corner. School is an amazing experience for him & we are savoring it through his eyes, too.

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I begin a new chapter in my career as a faculty member with Valencia College so I’m excited to see where this journey takes me & how I’ll grow with that.

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Stephen’s been hard at work with his job in the restoration industry & doing so well. We’re very thankful & blessed.

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We’ve been avid Disney passholders for almost a year now. I have so many pictures to still share. We’ll soon see if we renew & carry on the fun for another year.

I posted this quote this last year & it still rings true:

Not every part of every year is wonderful, but find the joy in each day. Focus on the positive. Don’t let negativity bring you down.

Also love this ….great words to remember:

LOVE,

So here we are, at the tail end of January — another year gone by and now we’re welcoming in 2017! I feel like so much happened in 2016. Maybe it’s because we’re a young family? Maybe it’s because I’m just a sappy, sentimental kinda gal? ❤ — I like to take the good with the bad so while life isn’t all roses, we choose to be thankful for what we have & what we have experienced ….and we look forward to another year that we are blessed with! Cheers!!

A recap of our NYE 2016 ….

We ran in the New Year quietly at home with just the three of us, but we had fun. The boys were playing with Christmas toys {Hot Wheels} gifted from Mimi & Papa D, so they were in heaven. For the 1st year, we let Liam stay up as late he wanted {or could stand it….he’s a light weight 😉 } ….he was getting a kick out of watching New Year’s Rocking Eve with me, but by 11:00ish, he crawled into our bed with Stephen at the commercial and that was all she wrote. The two of them passed out. LOL!! I watched the ball drop with the cat 😛 — I recorded it so they could see it in the morning. It was hilarious! ….We had done a family toast with sparkling grape juice waaay earlier in the evening so it was all good!

Some highlights from 2016 ….

In January, we went to the Amway Center downtown to see Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey^® Presents LEGENDS. Little did we know, that this would be our last Ringling Bros. circus, as they are actually closing down in May.

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In March, Stephen turned 40!! 🙂

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In May, we dedicated Liam at our church. We are also so blessed & thrilled to say that we now have a church home for over a year. We’ve been consistently going each week & it’s been wonderful for all of us. This was definitely something that Stephen & I kept wanting to do and find a place that felt like home, and it was very important to us with Liam getting older. ❤

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In June, this little blog celebrated it’s 3rd birthday. It’s always fun to look back on past posts & pictures. Love to see the memories! As I have said in the past, I appreciate those of you who follow along with our adventures. As fun as it is to post, it actually is a lot of work to maintain this blog, but it’s something I enjoy & continue to do for Liam as a way to keep track of our memories for him ❤

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In June, Liam graduated from Pre-Kindergarten. I cried at his graduation ceremony when they all walked down the aisle to Pomp & Circumstance…..all I could picture was his 18 year old self and I lost it, like a baby!

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Liam turned 5 at the end of July, and {holy cow!} started KINDERGARTEN in August!! I thought last year’s start of Pre-K was a crazy milestone, but this is over the moon! We celebrated his birthday with a splash park party that was a super fun time with friends and family. We also went to the Jacksonville Zoo on his actual birthDAY. Kindergarten is proving to be a mindblowing experience for Stephen & I — seriously, it’s NOT the Kindergarten we went to as kids. I remember naptime, snacktime, and playing with toys. Fast forward to today’s Kindergarten and it’s serious learning …..and the kids LOVE IT! That is the awesome part for us. While we are trying to wrap our minds around it, Liam is thriving and loving life. It definitely makes your parent heart happy, and you just try to go with the flow. Things are just much more advanced and technology based than I anticipated they would be, but that’s ok!

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Since he wasn’t in daycare during the summer for the 1st time EVER, he spent his 1st summer in CAMP! He had a blast 🙂

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At the end of June, I celebrated two-year’s of writing with Orlando Moms Blog ❤  ….So, at this point, it’s now been about 2 and 1/2 years that I’ve been on board. You can can link over to my posts with them HERE

In September, Orlando Moms Blog also celebrated it’s 3rd Birthday! Such a fun night 🙂

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In September, we added a new member to our family! — at the time, Stephen brought home an adorable 2 lb kitten that Liam named Simba. We originally intended not to keep him but well, ya know how that goes. He’s now trying to play with Timber on the daily 😉 — more details & pics to come soon!

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In September, Liam started martial arts classes! He is loving it and it’s something we are engaged in with him, as a family, as well.

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In November, Timber celebrated his 14th birthday!! ❤

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Looking ahead to 2017….

I’m not one to really choose a single word or resolution, but I like to have goals. For this year, I want to focus on calm {which can mean a plethora of things on any given week} and organization. I have a few tools to help me get there. My trusty Emily Ley planner {for home}, Erin Condren planner {for work}, and Lara Casey PowerSheets to plan those goals! I think of it this way — Life is busy but it doesn’t have to be messy 🙂

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Liam will be turning 6 this summer and then off to 1st grade! He’s already talking about both. I can’t even think about summer camp options right now, let alone, the next school year.

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We are continuing to enjoy our new church home, and in doing so, are becoming more engaged through serving and participating in events. We are excited to see what this year has in store as the church also continues to grow!

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We got annual passes to Disney for Christmas, so we plan to pretty much live there on the weekends. Hahaha! — Seriously, we’ve already been there every weekend this month. Definitely already developing an obsession, but it’s super fun! This is the very 1st time that Stephen and I have ever had annual passes there, so we are, for sure, just as excited about this as Liam is 😛

Not every part of every year is wonderful, but find the joy in each day. Focus on the positive. Don’t let negativity bring you down.

LOVE,