2013 Year in Review

So, I know I'm totally absent from this space but I wanted to give a quick 2013 year in review.  Nothing extraordinary happened to us this year but nothing devastating happened either -- I'll take it.

(I opted to do captions instead of writing under / above the pic.  I think it's too small or I'm getting too old.  Either way I'm too lazy to fix it so I hope you can read it.)

January:

I love this picture of Joe, just because.  I heart him.

Joe lost his first tooth!  It was a long time coming.  Seven years old and in the second grade.  He's 8 now and has still only lost the bottom 2 teeth.

February:

Evidently I took a lot of pictures of Joe at the beginning of the year.  This is when the boys were filling out Valentine's cards.

March:

We went to visit my cousin in Chicago in March.  This is A.  I love her.  Lots.  Want to put her in my pocket and bring her home.  She is the middle of 5 kids!  My cousin just might be crazy.  :)

We also colored eggs and had an Easter egg hunt.  I guess this is where color entered my photography this year.  :)

April:

Ummm. . . I only took some pictures of tortilla soup that I made.  That's it.  The entire month.  That is how exciting my life is.  So you get a lime.

 May:

My mom and the boys.  We made it home for the weekend and grandma had some free time.  She often works weekends so it was nice to be able to spend some time at the park with her.

I just like this one.

This was something we did for the grandmas for mother's day.  Out of 4 grandmas, only one got it.  I was not paying attention when getting frames and prints and it was one disaster after another.  Maybe we'll try again next year.

June: 

I blocked out the faces since I don't have the parent's permission to post.  James graduated from Pre-K.  Not everyone showed up for graduation but it was still cute anyway.  Look at how little my peanut it.  :)

James had a birthday in June and turned the big 5!

We went to visit my dad in June (he lives in the middle of SD) and then we continued on with him to see Mt. Rushmore.  After spending countless summers in SD it was somewhere I always wanted to go but never had been before.  We had lots of car issues on the way but it was a vacation to remember.  :)

Didn't want to overload this month but I had to post this one.  He just gets crabby and sometimes needs some time to himself.  This is one of my favorite captures from the trip.  Maybe I'll get around to editing it one of these days.

July:

Pool time at Grandma's over the 4th.

I love this pic of my cousin's twins.  First, they are adorable.  Second, I love the joy on their faces.  We were watching fireworks in the alley.

August:

I took some senior pics for a family member.  :)  I also did some family pics in August too.

We had a fun playdate with a friend of mine and her 3 girls.  I love this pic of little Kaitlyn and her momma.

September:

One of my favorite pics of the year of these two monkeys.  I just love them so much.

As much as I love the first pic, I adore this one.  This captures the fun loving side of James.  The contrasting side to the grumpy pic from June.  :)

This is my life.  During that little photo shoot this is what James collected.  He brought it home.  We have a treasure box (an actual pirate treasure box) filled with all of these "treasures."  Life with boys.

All he needed to say was "Carla.  Fix your shirt."  Funky shirt aside, this is the first day of school.  Joe is getting so big and I still can't believe my little peanut is in elementary school already.

October:

The boys finished soccer season.  Joe played most of the summer in a U8 league and then they did the fall K-2 league together.  Joe even scored 2 goals in the last game! 

I had the opportunity to take some newborn photos.

Went to my BFF's brother's wedding.  No pics with the bride or groom, but I got one with Amy -- friends since 1988. (It might have been the beginning of 1989 actually.)

Joe turned 8!  We celebrated with our traditional number chocolate chip pancake.

Halloween!  I don't want to forget about my little criminals.  They were so cute this year.

November:

The only pics I took in November were these couple of karate pics.  I guess I didn't have much inspiration.  :(

 

The first official day - before they even got their white belts.

December:

My dad turned 60 in December.  We took some pictures for him.

We also had to ham it up a little.

The little monkey.

Brothers.  That rare moment when they weren't fighting.

I didn't include pics from Christmas because this is the first time I've had my laptop on since the 24th and I haven't even uploaded the pics yet.  All in due time.


I know quite a few people that have had a lot of death and hardship in 2013.  Praying that 2014 finds everyone loved, healthy, and happy!

C

trying not to lose it

This is it folks.  We officially have one more full day and then James starts kindergarten.  What about me, you ask?  (Because everything must circle back to me, right?) I'm just hanging in here, trying not to lose it. 

2008

When Joe went to school we counted down the days and I cried nearly every one of them.  This time it's different.  I think I might be in denial a little bit.  Back to school conferences (that's what their school does) usually help the idea sink in, but we didn't have them this year.  Their school has been under construction all summer.  All the classrooms were gutted and things were not ready for conferences or even an open house.  It made me really sad.  I feel like James really got cheated out of that experience.  I did e-mail the teacher and she has e-mailed me back as well as talked to me on the phone.  That fact, coupled with the fact that she was Joe's teacher so James knows her, has helped get me past the no open house debacle.

2009

Can I tell you I have such mixed feeling?  I know it will be great for James - to be away from me and to be somewhere that challenges him, but he's my baby.  He has a very short temper so that worries me.  That's about the only thing that worries me.  Well, maybe the fact that I have a sneaking suspicion that I will get a phone call from the principal in the first two weeks telling me that either James was the ringleader for something inappropriate or that he yelled "Be quiet!" in her face. 

He's my baby.  My last one.  (I think.)  He's tiny.  He may walk like he's ten feet tall but he's tiny.  It's going to be hard to watch that little guy walk into school.  I KNOW it will be good for him.  I KNOW it will be hard for me.  It's hard for moms to let go sometimes.

2010

2011

2012

2013

 

My baby.  I love you, James!  I'm so excited to watch you keep growing into this amazing little person! And I will try not to cry while doing it.  :)

linked 2013: everyday

Well hello there.  Did you miss me?  I haven't blogged for quite awhile.  I have had a few blogger issues and I missed the last "linked" because of an injury.  I was going to do the "me" post after my work trip to Florida, but I happened to dislocate my kneecap while I was down there.  Much pain and physical therapy and I'm feeling a little better.  More physical therapy to go.  :)

Everyday.
I took a few pics of some everyday stuff.  I took them with my phone because it was easy.  They are unedited because it's easier that way.  Everyday I have a lot to do so I might as well make some things easier.  :)  (I do apologize for the crappy quality of the photos.)

 

 Every morning I pick accessories to wear.  I never use to change jewelry or wear much.  I like how I can dress things up by the jewelry I wear.  Perfect for work.

Everyday I wear those crocs (next to my purse) to work.  Closed toed shoes for safety.  :)  I wear those black flip-flops everyday that I'm not at work.

 

I have one can everyday.  I usually grab it on my way to work to drink with my lunch.  Confession - I do not like many kinds of pop other than this and I don't keep it in my fridge at home or I would definitely drink more than one can a day.  (Yes, I call it pop.)

Everyday (it might be almost everyday), I eat peanut butter.  It's usually on a banana for breakfast.  The other day it was with an apple.  I had to try the new "whips" kind.  The jury is still out on that one.  Also, everyday (almost) my children eat some sort of goldfish.  We have a problem and may need an intervention.

Everyday before bed I set the boys' clothes out for the next day.  It's already hard enough to get them out of bed most mornings - I do not need to argue about what they are going to wear.  It's always the same -- James on the left, Joe on the right.

Everyday, I love these two.  

 

Everyday, I climb into this bed.  I love it.  Sometimes I watch TV.  Sometimes I read.  Sometimes I play on my phone.  I never really make my bed but rather just pull the covers up and call it a day.  I love my bed.

There it is -- a little glimpse into my EVERYDAY.

Check out these other "linked" ladies

Amanda, Rachel, Hanne, Heather, Janet, Jenn, Rhonda, Tracey and Tracy

Linked 2013: reflection

So sorry that I missed May's linked.  I had a lot going on with work and it just didn't happen.

For this month's theme I thought I could get deep and "reflective" to go with the theme.  That's just not happening.  I was also thinking I should take some cool water reflective picture or a cool one from the reflection of a picture window.  That is also not happening.

Instead you are getting a series of random reflection photos from my phone from my recent vacation.  If you follow me on instagram (csknudson) you might know that we had a few car problems on this trip.  More blogging to come on that whole adventure.  Short version is that we (myself, Joe, James, and my dad) were in car that was overheating on our way to see Mt. Rushmore.  Lots of stops to cool the car off.

These would probably be better photos if I edited them but I just got back into town on Wednesday and have been running errands / at sports practices non-stop since.

On the road -- my dad was a little weirded out when I was sticking my camera in his face to get the reflection of the open road off of his glasses.  :)

Waiting to get diagnostics done on the car -- sitting in the parking lot.

This is what I caught in the rearview mirror while we were waiting.

 A little selfie. Stupid phone had to be plugged in almost the whole time.  Went shopping and got a new one today.  :)

One of our stops to let the car cool down.  Family pic by way of a bathroom mirror.

There you have it -- reflections of a vacation.

 Amanda, Rachel, Hanne, Heather, Janet, Jenn, Rhonda, Tracey and Tracy