Week Fifty-Two: Reflecting and Ringing in the New Year

WOWZA.

I can't even believe that we are on week fifty-two of this *finding*fifty*two* adventure!

I was trying to think of what really stands out this year. What really made a huge difference in my life in 2014?

Obviously Mike is awesome and is the best husband ever. Obviously this little baby {toddler??} is amazing and continues to grow and learn and be so awesome.  But those things aren't new. Mike and my sweet little Owen were awesome in 2013 too.

I think that the thing that had the biggest impact on my life this year is something I haven't really blogged about yet. It has been finding my village. My village of women with babies of similar age to O. If you are raising a child and don't have a village, make that your resolution this year. For real. 

These women are so wonderful and inspiring. They get it in a way only another mom can, and that fills up a void I've had since O came along.

My village has kept me sane when I was at my wit's end. They have made me laugh. Hard. And they've turned from "mom friends" to actual friends in a few short months.

It makes my heart so happy that Owen asks about his baby friends and gets excited to see them. He wants to play with them all the time! And on top of me finding friends in these wonderful women and O finding friends in their babies, Mike and I found couples we enjoy spending time with, too! 

{Hopefully in 2015 our core group of besties of the past 7+ years will be able to get together more than in 2014. Becoming adults with busy schedules is overrated, and I've missed them a lot this year.}

Although the impact the baby village had on my life in 2014 wins, this blog is definitely second place.

My *finding*fifty*two* adventure really pushed me to do things I wouldn't have otherwise done. Crafts, meals, parties, and all the random adventures. On more than one occasion I've weighed the pros and cons of just skipping it for a week. But then what would I blog about? How I failed at my goal? No thanks! Obviously some weeks held more excitement than others, but that is fine by me. It makes the exciting weeks even more exciting. :)

Some of my favorite posts to write {like my posts about breastfeeding, baby led weaning, and cloth diapers} were not even part of my *finding*fifty*two* series! Partially because of that, I think I want to keep blogging. I'm not so sure I have the stamina to do another year of documented excitement each week, but writing is fun and I've definitely enjoyed having a place to ramble on about my life. Hopefully you'll keep reading into the new year, because it's a blast having you all along for this ride!

 

I have a shockingly small number of photos of the baby village, so a partial group shot will have to do. 

For now. 

*Cheers to 2015*

Week Fifty-One: Christmas All Week Long

Oh, hi Christmas. You kind of snuck up on me!

This week we tested out a very travel heavy attempt to spend Christmas with both families.

Can I get a big, fat, OOFDA?!

It was pretty glorious to have Mike and I both on vacation at the same time, even if all our time was spent on the go.

Oh, Christmas Tree, Oh, Christmas Tree

Here's what our crazy week looked like:

Monday: Finish packing, load the car, get on the road to Duluth by nap time. Arrive in Duluth and hang out at Grandma's house.

Tuesday: Happy birthday to Mike! Out to lunch, Lake Superior exploration, and ice cream while O was with my Grandma. Get home, bundled up, and out the door to go see Bentleyville.  Experience Bentleyville and then head out to dinner with my mom, Jason, and Sydney.

Wednesday: Visit and gift exchange with my dad and grandma at dad's house. Visit and gift exchange with my mom and Jason at mom's house. Back to my grandma's house for dinner and the big Christmas Eve celebration. Pack up and get on the road for home before 9pm.

Thursday: Wake up in our own bed! Christmas morning gifts and more packing. On the road to Mankato by nap time. Christmas meal and gift exchange with Mike's family.

Friday: Sweet jeebus how is it already Friday?! More family time and some shopping.

Saturday: Lunch with Mike's bffs from childhood followed by our own happy hour at home while O napped. Then games with the bffs, takeout for dinner with Mike's parents, and a movie.

Sunday: Pack up and head home.

Ok. I am exhausted all over again just writing that out. If you are actually still reading, you get 5 points. Ha.

As a reward, here are a bunch of pictures of all the festivities!

Sledding with Auntie Sydney.

Riding the snow caterpillar 

Silly kid at Grandma Lynnette and Grandpa Jason's house. 

Checking out the trampoline. 

Drum set!

Present opening at Grandpa Pat and Leanne's house. 

Family photo with Santa at Grandma Sandy and Papa's house. 

Papa showing off his drawing skills after Sydney's paper plate on your head drawing contest. 

Grandma won first place!

Comparing art work. :)

Owen and Addie playing phones. 

Controlling the train with Papa. 

Looking for Okee Dokee Brothers on Grandma Lynnette's phone. 

Playing with the twins and their new trucks. 

Excited to dig into his stocking!

Pizza making Christmas morning with mama. 

Reading the book Santa brought him. 

O got to help daddy with a big boy Lego set. 

Trying out his elephant whistle. 

Billy wanted to help. 

O has definitely gotten over his fear of Billy. 

Playing with the hand crafted fishing game from Grandma Carol and Grandpa Mike.

Choo choo!

Playing with Grandma Carol. 

Flying planes with Grandpa Mike.

Playground with Grandma Carol, Auntie Cathy, "Boocock" the dog, and mama and daddy. :)

These are just some of the photos I had on our nice camera. I have so many more on my phone, Mike's phone, and still some that I didn't grab from the nice camera. I'm hopeful that they'll make it into a Facebook photo album sooner or later, because there are some cute ones! :)

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Week Fifty: Homemade Play-Doh

What a busy week!

The last week of work before break is always a blur of calls, grading, and endless emails from people needing one last thing before I'm unavailable for two weeks.

In the middle of all that craziness, I was also prepping {mentally, since I certainly didn't clean my house} for friends to come stay with us for the weekend. 

And because I can't seem to learn my lesson about trying to do too much, I also decided O and I needed to do a craft idea from his countdown to Christmas stockings!  

He has been absolutely obsessed with play-doh for a few weeks now, asking for "tay-doh" at least once a day. What a perfect time to try my hand at some home made stuff!! 

I found a recipe on a blog by an extremely dedicated play-doh enthusiast mom. She tested several different recipes and blogged about how they were initially, as well as a few weeks and a few months later! I picked her top recipe and went for it. I did substitute olive oil for the vegetable oil the recipe called for, only because I didn't have veg oil on hand. 

Plus I added glitter. Because...glitter.

I must say the finished product is amazing. Just as soft, if not softer, than store bought play-doh and seems to be holding up very well stored in a freezer ziploc.

O loves it, but still asks for the store bought play-doh because he likes to smoosh colors together. :) 

Overall, I give it an A+. Easy, quick to make {even with a toddler helping you measure ingredients}, and fun to play with!