Well, another year in the books with lots of ups and downs and ins and outs that are typical of most years. Rather than bore you with a long written post of reflection about all of the eye-opening things I’ve learned about myself and the resolutions I want to make, I’m going to do my standard year in review in pictures because I’m a visual person and enjoy looking back over the year.
Since I don’t have to be at work again until next year, I’m going to also take a break from the blog until next year as well. I love starting fresh and what better time to do that than the new year. I’ve got my new 2017 planner ready to go and I’m excited to use it. I get giddy over new planners and quite frankly love a good trip through the office supply area of any store. Though I have no real certainty over exactly what I plan on accomplishing this next year, I am feeling really motivated and excited about things to come. Sorry if my optimism makes you want to gag, but I’m going to make 2017 a great year. 2016 had more downs than I would have cared for and that’s not happening again. Intention set, so let’s make it so, Universe.
So, how about one last photo dump for the year since I really have no recent photos to post and I have these hanging out in my WordPress Gallery that never made it into a post? Some are too cute to delete, so I’m doing it! Have a wonderful rest of the year everyone!
If there’s one thing I love, it’s dragging my family out to experience new things, even if it’s cold and I know there’s a decent chance of whining. I’m a sucker for light installations, though, and knew we had to go to the arboretum when I heard about Bruce Munro’s exhibit going up. We got tickets for 5:00 on Friday and hoped for the best. The kids seemed excited despite the cold temperatures and were even more excited to get to wander around in the dark. Go figure.
It was magical and enchanting and inspiring and despite Enzo asking when we were going to go back to the big house and get hot cocoa, I really did enjoy it. If I had one complaint it would only be that I wish I could have stayed longer and that there had been more displays. At times I felt rushed just because… well, kids, but I’m still glad we took them to see it. Sure they may have been more excited for the hot cocoa and cookies at the end, but I do think they enjoyed it over all.
As for me… I’ve always loved the ambiance that lights can create and really did enjoy seeing it all. I was filled with ideas and motivation to start creating again and you can’t ask for much more than that. The pictures really don’t do it justice, but I had to attempt to take a few photos while also not tripping over small bodies or my own feet in the dark. Haha!
I was originally going to just title this Cat Dump, but that obviously doesn’t sound like something anyone would want to click on. I have a lot of cat photos, though, and not a lot of cat updates. Ziggy is getting up there in years and we’ve got her taking a joint supplement. She’s only been on it for about a week, but hopefully we’ll see improvement in her mobility soon. In the meantime, she can most often be found in the kid’s book corner when upstairs or on the couch… or really anywhere comfy for sleeping.
Uzi is still active and shows no signs of aging, except perhaps for his grumpy old man routine where Vega is concerned and he gives me the evil eye if I give her too much attention. He’s been fairly needy lately and I swear at times he and Vega are just jealous siblings both vying for my love and affection on a constant basis.
It’s funny how different the relationship is between Vega and Ziggy vs. Vega and Uzi. Vega has slightly more respect for Ziggy (doesn’t pounce on her too often) and likes to snuggle her and give her a bath, whereas with Uzi, she just wants to play and fight and annoy him and has zero respect for him.
Look at how cute and innocent I am!!
Get off my lawn! Hooligans!
We have an absurd amount of blankets and places for cats and kids to snuggle, so you really always have to be careful when you pick a pile up because one or the other could be hiding.
See?! Sometimes everybody plays nice! I love how much more the cats have grown to tolerate the kids. One night Both Ziggy and Uzi hopped up on Enzo’s bed when it was time to go to sleep. They still have a love/hate relationship with Vega though, since she’s ornery and they can’t tell when she’s actually going to attack them or not.
Just a boy and a kitty hanging out. I’m glad that Uzi has been such a good cat to have with the kids. He’s always gentle and so very patient with them, even when his ears and tail have been pulled.
Cats are good for the soul.
It’s time for another Day in the Life post!
Stats:
Josh – 37
Heather – 34
Enzo – 4.5
Phoebe – 2 (almost 3)
Ziggy – 14
Uzi – 12
Vega – 1
🙂
As usual, I took photos on a weekend (this past Sunday to be precise) since it’s easier and usually more interesting than following me on a day at work. Let’s do this!
Phoebe and I slept in until 6:30ish then I stayed in bed a little longer. I had a restless night, but after about 15 minutes made my way to the living room. Everyone was on their various screens already, so I went and flopped on the couch.
Soon, though, I was hungry and I decided to make muffins, but they really aren’t the same from a box. Next time I’ll make them from scratch. Typically Enzo and Phoebe have zero patience when it comes to breakfast in the morning and want to eat right away, so it was kind of amazing they agreed to wait for these to bake.
There’s nothing better than that first cup of coffee.
We didn’t have any plans, so it was a nice stay-at-home sort of day with some cleaning and laundry and randomness. I (as usual) didn’t take notes of any kind, so I can’t remember the exact events of the day.
At some point I remembered that I was going to use the crock pot for dinner and thankfully it was just a 5 hour recipe. I decided to browse pinterest a bit and drink more coffee because coffee makes everything better.
The kids decided to show off their hula hooping skills at one point, but I had to go and show them up. Sorry, no pictures of that glorious moment. 😉
