This year seems like it flew by!
Last winter was painfully, nasty cold. So the year started off without much fanfare, we had a couple hikes, some small adventures, my favorite being driving on the Natchez Trace with Cathy in January and February.
The big thing of 2010 was Jake getting braces. Check out the pics:
http://roamschool.blogspot.com/2010/01/another-friday.html
The post also has the first news of Wizard of Oz, which dominated our winter and early Spring.
I spent the worst of the cold days huddled in front of the Wii playing Animal Crossing or, huddled in the bed reading. Chan turned 12 in early February.
By the end of February, we had headed out on our first camping trip, a quick overnighter to Florida, where the temps of mid-60's were like a siren call to my frozen bones. http://eopapaver.com/quicktrips/FebFL.html
In March, Matt and I hiked to Caspey Falls, which are quite lovely. This year started a new phase with us. The kids are old enough to leave home for several hours at a stretch, so we started hiking at least once a month on new trails or just to geocache and take pictures.
Here are the shots of the falls:
http://roamschool.blogspot.com/2010/03/sunday-stroll.html
Also, the end of March was when I decided to start working on that 20+ pounds of weight to get to my first goal. Over the year, I dropped all of it, ending the year with a 23 pound loss!
April brought warmer weather, camping trips, the play in full swing and did I mention warmer weather?
Tim's Ford: http://eopapaver.com/april10/timsford.html
Holt Lake: http://eopapaver.com/april10/holtlake.html
Our annual trip to Cherokee Rock Village: http://roamschool.blogspot.com/2010/04/crv.html
The Wizard of Oz: http://roamschool.blogspot.com/2010/04/week-run-down.html
In May, our annual HS camping trip, always a highlight of the year!
http://eopapaver.com/may10/lbl.html
April brought warmer weather, camping trips, the play in full swing and did I mention warmer weather?
Tim's Ford: http://eopapaver.com/april10/timsford.html
Holt Lake: http://eopapaver.com/april10/holtlake.html
Our annual trip to Cherokee Rock Village: http://roamschool.blogspot.com/2010/04/crv.html
The Wizard of Oz: http://roamschool.blogspot.com/2010/04/week-run-down.html
In May, our annual HS camping trip, always a highlight of the year!
http://eopapaver.com/may10/lbl.html
June was filled with swimming, canoeing, shorts and water.
http://roamschool.blogspot.com/2010/06/can-you-canoe.html
And ended with more camping!
http://eopapaver.com/june10/pretrip.html
The oil spill was making major news, Ben sent all of his money to help the turtles.
July, Jake decided to work toward his GED, we had field trips with our friends, we hid from the heat.
This past summer was one of the hottest on record, days of triple digit temps, heat indexes reaching nearly 120.
We did lots of school during the heat, went to the drive in as much as possible, laid low, decided to go to Disney World next fall...
In August, my grandmother and my great aunt died less than a week apart. The pets all went to the vet. The true end of summer vacation was signaled by the HS swim and we had a big sleep-over for the meteor shower the same weekend.
The most significant event of the year happened in August, we were finally able to get high speed internet access out here. After 6.5 years of dial-up and sharing the single connection and taking forever to download and upload and not bothering with videos or flash because it just took too long, we are all online at the same time! It's made a big difference in our lives.
In September, HS skating started back. It ended up being the only skate day I attended the rest of the year, though the kids only missed the December skate.
We spent a long day with Suzette and family: http://roamschool.blogspot.com/2010/09/saturday-in-tn.html
Nettlevan hit 100,000 miles.
We went to Georgia for a long weekend: http://eopapaver.com/sept10/GAone.htm
I went to the dentist to get my tooth looked at.
In October, Matt and I went off for a weekend together: http://eopapaver.com/Oct10/TPTNtrip.html
We got busy with school again, had a swim to celebrate the first day of Fall, took one of my favorite hikes:
http://roamschool.blogspot.com/2010/10/wade-mountain.html
Nettlevan hit 100,000 miles.
We went to Georgia for a long weekend: http://eopapaver.com/sept10/GAone.htm
I went to the dentist to get my tooth looked at.
In October, Matt and I went off for a weekend together: http://eopapaver.com/Oct10/TPTNtrip.html
We got busy with school again, had a swim to celebrate the first day of Fall, took one of my favorite hikes:
http://roamschool.blogspot.com/2010/10/wade-mountain.html
and added a new family member: http://roamschool.com/esther/zephyr.html
My great uncle died.
My great uncle died.
We had Halloween parties, went trick-or-treating.
I experienced the worst pain of my life with an infected tooth root, via x-rays discovered my jaw bone was being eaten away with infection, started a round of antibiotics and pain killers that would take me through the end of the year when my tooth is scheduled to be removed on the 30th of December.
In November, we had a successful run of NanoWriMo, all of us reaching our personal word goals.
Jake turned 15
We went to Sloss, we fell even more in love with Zephyr, we celebrated Thanksgiving with my father, I found I had an interest in family history and started piecing together our family tree, starting with my father's mother and managing to get back to 1503 and discovering several surprises.
I discovered natural sleep aids, we had our second annual HS Thanksgiving.
In December, Ben turned 11, we hosted a Jane Austen Tea for her birthday, starting what I imagine will be another annual tradition as well as adding a book swap to our line-up of things to do. Chan tried out and was cast in another play, so there starts 2011 with rehearsals and performances. It's a 2-monther from start to finish, so I am not complaining! That will occupy our colder days and be over in plenty of time to be out of doors.
I wonder what 2011 will hold? I know my plans-the play of course, Chandler's 13th birthday, our annual and yet-unplanned HS camping trip. Matt and I will celebrate our 14th anniversary, Jake's braces will be paid off and possibly come off later in the year. Disney in September, followed by nearly another month on the road, one of those weeks with Jacki and her girls.
I hope to replace and upgrade some items in the house, add more insulation in the attic. Drive and camp the Natchez Trace all the way to the end. Get the kids to Louisiana.
It's not quite time to start losing animals, but Oly the 'pig will be turning 4 and Kat will be 9. It's not going to be too many more years before that starts to factor in. Zeppie is about a year old, next are the kittens, who are 3, Kuma is 4, Jessie 5, Cleo is 7, Kat is almost 9, the pigs are about 3 years old, Olympia is about 6 months older than Blitz who is about 4 months older than Mochii and Tanuki.
I experienced the worst pain of my life with an infected tooth root, via x-rays discovered my jaw bone was being eaten away with infection, started a round of antibiotics and pain killers that would take me through the end of the year when my tooth is scheduled to be removed on the 30th of December.
In November, we had a successful run of NanoWriMo, all of us reaching our personal word goals.
Jake turned 15
We went to Sloss, we fell even more in love with Zephyr, we celebrated Thanksgiving with my father, I found I had an interest in family history and started piecing together our family tree, starting with my father's mother and managing to get back to 1503 and discovering several surprises.
I discovered natural sleep aids, we had our second annual HS Thanksgiving.
In December, Ben turned 11, we hosted a Jane Austen Tea for her birthday, starting what I imagine will be another annual tradition as well as adding a book swap to our line-up of things to do. Chan tried out and was cast in another play, so there starts 2011 with rehearsals and performances. It's a 2-monther from start to finish, so I am not complaining! That will occupy our colder days and be over in plenty of time to be out of doors.
I wonder what 2011 will hold? I know my plans-the play of course, Chandler's 13th birthday, our annual and yet-unplanned HS camping trip. Matt and I will celebrate our 14th anniversary, Jake's braces will be paid off and possibly come off later in the year. Disney in September, followed by nearly another month on the road, one of those weeks with Jacki and her girls.
I hope to replace and upgrade some items in the house, add more insulation in the attic. Drive and camp the Natchez Trace all the way to the end. Get the kids to Louisiana.
It's not quite time to start losing animals, but Oly the 'pig will be turning 4 and Kat will be 9. It's not going to be too many more years before that starts to factor in. Zeppie is about a year old, next are the kittens, who are 3, Kuma is 4, Jessie 5, Cleo is 7, Kat is almost 9, the pigs are about 3 years old, Olympia is about 6 months older than Blitz who is about 4 months older than Mochii and Tanuki.
Ah, that's sad, I'd rather think back over the fun we had this year and look ahead to the fun we will have next year with our wonderful friends, the joy and blessing of homeschooling another year.
