2012: A Year In Review

Happy New Year everyone!!! Welcome to 2013!! When I was a kid every. single. time a new year came, I would always, ALWAYS, mess up the date. Instead of writing 1999 it was always 1998. So I would have to erase the 8 and replace it with a 9. But of course the erase was all messed up and it would leave black smudges. So I would resort to using white-out. Did this happen to any of you? Then you would sneakily sniff the white-out? Or maybe paint your nails with it(girls)? I did. And I was caught. Lol. 

Are there any fun memories from 2012, or even years past that make you chuckle or blush in embarrassment? Mine embarrassing moments happen on a daily occurance. Mostly with my children. 

Originally i was going to make this post about projects I've done throughout the year. But since I am procrastinator of the year, and I haven't truly completed a space, I figured that I would do a photo montage of this past year. I just want to note that these are in no specific order.

Our first ever DIY project!!! Remember this? Completed with borrowed tools.

Lylian Rose being her smiley self :)

Seamus, soccer superstar, reading extraordinaire. 

Brothers for life. Although I have no clue what was going on with Blake. I guess having your mouth hang open and drooling pouring out is the new thing for babies?

I had this cake made for Blake's baby shower. It was delicious. I believe it was marble cake with chocolate chocolate chip buttercream.

We encourage our children to enjoy music and we hope that one day they'll all play an instrument seriously. Here is Maddalaena "playing" the guitar. If you look close enough, you can see that she is grabbing all the strings. Apparently folks, this is all the rage. It's a new form of guitar playing.

This was taken right out in our back yard in Groton. It's one of my favorite pictures of Blake. His true personality is shining through.

Another picture, taken the same day. This kid was on a role with the good pictures. I'm guessing he loves the fall months.

This is speaks volumes. My eldest daughter, Lylian, is shy as a bat. She WILL NOT talk to anyone in front of an adult. And it's pretty tough to get her to talk to anyone who is more than 2 years older than her. But here she is at her 4th birthday party, hamming it up with her best friend Eric "Bubba" Santiago and sweetheart extraordinaire Alliyah Montoya.

Like I said best friend. Bubba now lives abroad with his family. And Lylian is still heartbroken that she can't have her Bubba.

I believe I was 39 weeks with my youngest, Blake, in these two pictures. I remember that I couldn't sit on the bed cross legged or even with both legs in front of me. I was so uncomfortable, swollen and tired when we took these. Lol, I was using my stomach to help keep me upright for the bottom shot.

This cute little number was going to be used as a prop for the newborn pictures I had planned for Blake. We also invested, as I'd like to think of it, in a few other things. Even having one of Richard's aunts make a cute little sock monkey outfit. But this child came out a whopping 10.4 lbs!!! And didn't fit into any of the bottom pieces lol. I still have all of these little props and even if didn't get to wear all of the I'll keep them forever.

My grandmother, or Gramma Shirley as my children called her. She is the only great-grandmother who saw all four my children. And the only great-grandmother that my children will ever know. She passed away this past August with bone cancer. My children loved her and she loved them to pieces.

Holmberg Orchard's. We took the children apple picking here. But I could not get Maddalaena to keep her head straight while taking this shot. I tried to bribe her, scold her, love her but she wouldn't corporate.

Me: 8 months. My grandmother: shocked and excited.

This was taken after Seamus' 6th birthday. The Hubs took the kids outside after the party so my mom and I could clean house lol.

A more recent picture. Our Christmas tree this past year. We decided not to do lights. Yeah... we'll never do that again. It's not complete without lights.

And this was Thanksgiving, three weeks after moving to our house in Maine. You can see boxes in the background by the door. The kids weren't really fond of the food I cooked.

Some Christmas decor. Ornaments, pinecones and such.

We literally just wrapped up a series on refinishing this dining room table. You can check out Part 1 here, Part 2 here, and Part 3 here.

Can you believe how much he's grown??? Hair, teeth and handsomeness all rolled up into a Mr. Chubbs. 

I just can't get enough of the brother shots. Blake looks up to Seamus so much even at this young age. It's amazing. Maddalaena doesn't really look up to Lylian all that much. They are only 17 months apart. Their more like equals than big sis little sis. But the admiration that Blake shows for Seamus is amazing.

Peeking up over our neighbors couch.

Blake Christmas morning, as everyone else was opening presents. A picture's worth a thousand words.

Maddalaena being the bad-to-the-bone girl that she is, took my sunglasses and put them on gangster style.

Our neighbor hosted a gingerbread house decorating party at her house. And this was one of the walkways.

We set the houses up, similar to our homes. We live on a circle, so we made the little town of 5, Irwin St. 

The Hubs, or daddy, as the kids call him, was getting ready to make his way into the OR for Blake's birthday. I love his kind eyes.

What do you think was running through his mind? You know, if he could think on a complex level at this age.

It's like " No!! Put me back!!! It's so warm in there!!! Where's my dignity!!!"

Gramma Shirley holding Blake for one of the first times.

See even as infants, they're foot printed. Know what I mean?? They always screw up the foot prints. They make my kids look like they have these crazy mixed up toes. Their piggies are pointing in all insane directions.

It's cold!!!!                              Oh ok, I'm good. Carryon.

Little miss here was not pleased at all with the arrival of Blake Wesley Allen. The whole time she had a sourpuss face unless you were talking to her about herself. Ugh, Divas!

Welcome to the world.

The four of our beautiful children. Of course I'm biased. But they are gorgeous, even with crazy hair.

The only newborn picture with a prop I got of Blake. And I felt so bad because I felt that the room was too cold. So I just couldn't do anymore lol.

Welcome to New Year's Day. They just couldn't handle it. 

This picture was taken sometime over the summer. Seamus was upset because he had gotten in trouble for something and he broke out in tears. Lylian gave him a hug to make him feel better. I thought that the moment was beautiful so I snapped a picture. Emotionally raw pictures are the most beautiful in my opinion. 

The Hubbs doing his thing... Whatever it is, I have yet to figure it out.

At the weigh station getting the truck and the U-Haul weighed before we took off for Maine.

One of my families traditions. It started with my Uncle Doug taking my cousin Nathan, who was young at the time, riding on Papa's tractor. For some reason, the boys loved it. Then when Seamus was old enough, Richard would take our kids out on the tractor.

Playing floor hockey with Uncle Doug and Papa.

Fun in the sun at Papa and Gramma's house.

I don't exactly remember what year this happened, but we took a trip with some friends of ours( who aren't really friends now) to B.F. Clyde's Cider Mill. This mill has live demonstrations of how they mill the apples to make cider. They also serve wine and hard cider and you can do tastings there as well. In their shop they sell a variety of goods for purchase. If you're ever in Mystic, CT look it up and plan a trip. You won't regret it!!

I made these DIY Glass Thumb Tacks as a Pinterest Challenge over at The Bower Power Blog( good reading I suggest you head on over and check it out).

Remember this ribbon wreath? This adorable addition to the girls room? Well, you can find the tutorial here. Have fun with it!! Add Mardi Gras beads or felt flowers to it. You can add virtually any embellishment to this wreath to make it your own.

This bench was our first custom order. We used Ana White's Farmhouse Bench wood working plans but we modified the bench to be more practical. Here is the post for this. And the update is here.

Here is the most single important thing to happen to The Hubb's career to date. He put on First Class. In the Navy that means that you're ready to take on responsibility. To handle your own...poop if you will. It shows that you're ready to be a leader and it prepares you for the big guns. Congrats baby. I am so proud of you!!!

Thank you for taking the time to look at our year in review. The projects I listed have links to their pages. Just click on the picture or on where is says here. What memories do you have of 2012? Some good? Or some bad? Anything you'd like to re-do? Is there anyone who has any New Year's resolutions lined up for this year?