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Happy New Year, 2018!

Happy New Year, friends! Ringing in this year will mark my 10th year of blogging. I cannot believe it’s been almost an entire decade! I’m so grateful for the friendships I have made, and for this time capsule of sorts. It’s fun to look back on previous years and see all that has happened.

To celebrate New Year’s Eve, my dear friend L and I went out for drinks, and Match opted to stay in and have a quiet evening for himself. We started the night off with games with Match and Piglet. We played Hungry Hungry Hippos, Mouse Trap and a memory game with playing cards. Piglet was all hyped up and crazy excited to have his “Auntie Weirdo” over.

Match made us a nice dinner, and we relaxed a bit, and then headed out. It was a pretty mellow night, with some fun people watching.

 

I ran into a friend I made through work, whom I would love to spend more time with. Her husband was the one who got Match his job closer to home. I hope we get to see more of them in the New Year.

 

We celebrated New Year’s Day with a family hike at a park near our house. We are so lucky to live in an area with beautiful parks like this right in our home town.

We talked about our New Year’s Resolutions as a family, and what we plan to accomplish.

Piglet’s resolutions are:

  1. To visit someone on a trip
  2. To whine less
  3. To work on not interrupting

Match’s resolutions are:

  1. To swear less
  2. To work on his temper and to be happier

My resolutions are:

  1. To get back to my driver’s license weight
  2. To nag less
  3. To take a fun family trip

I’m also working on updating my 2018 to do list. Looking back at 2017’s list, we actually accomplished quite a lot this year. It was a good year fr us in many ways, but also some sad moments. We said goodbye to our sweet Monkey pup. We also dealt with the Sonoma county fires and the emotional upsets for so many dear to us. But we also welcomed our new baby niece into the world. Match and I are both doing well in our careers. Piglet is growing and becoming this wonderful little person that we love spending time with.

We were very busy, and I hope we can reduce some of that this year, though it feels like as Piglet gets older, the busier we become. We’ve been in our home over a year now, and we’ve accomplished so many DIY projects. The house feels almost finished, and we don’t have any huge projects looming over our heads. I hope that means this year will be the year of travel and exploration, with our relaxing and cozy home base to return to.

Happy New Year to you all. How did you ring in the New Year?

 

 

Surprise Holiday Express Trip

You guys, it’s the Christmas season. I really do love this time of year! On Saturday, my amazing co-worker K treated me and Piglet to a trip on the Holiday Express. It was such an awesome gift. Match had class, and was super bummed to miss out. I didn’t tell Piglet where we were going, just that we were having an adventure. When we arrived, he saw the train, and said, “Oh wow we get to look at the train!” Can I just say how happy it made my heart that just looking at the train would have been enough for him? But I was able to make that little boy’s day when I said, “Oh no buddy, we’re going to RIDE the train!” His little face lit up with pure joy.

When we boarded, as we were driving past the Portland waterfront, he turned to me and said, “Great surprise, mommy!” My.heart.

Icing on the cake of a perfect day was when we discovered that Santa and his elves were on the train! He got a candy cane and he even got to hold Rudolph for awhile.

I love making memories with this little bug. What an awesome experience, and now we are hooked on the Holiday Express. I can’t wait to go back next year!

I’m so grateful for my co-worker for bringing such joy to my little boy’s heart.

Camping, a New Ride, and a Mini-Staycation

Last weekend we loaded up the pop-up tent and headed to the coast. The weather was incredible, almost too hot even at the beach! We had zero wind, and a ton of fun in the sun. We camped with Match’s sister, who is expecting a baby girl in October. She has the cutest baby bump, and it was so sweet to watch Piglet get excited to feel her kick.

I took the plunge and upgraded to a 2013 Toyota RAV4. I’m so excited to have an SUV again. We got rid of my Jeep Cherokee when Match got his truck back in 2014, and I’ve been driving his old ford commuter car for 3 years. I like being higher off the ground, and I love having all-wheel drive again. I test-drove, haggled and purchased this car all by myself, which felt both terrifying and empowering all in one. Match likes it too, which is a bonus. Also, the girlie side of me just thinks it’s so pretty!

I’m on a mini-staycation this week. I was able to take 3 days off work, but Match has to work. I had a stay at home chores day, which felt like more work than when I’m actually at work. Yesterday I took Piglet to the zoo with a few of my dear friends from high school and their kiddos. Today we had 8 kids with us. Whew! We had a blast but I’m exhausted.

Today we’re having a stay at home, relax in our jammies kind of day. I wish preschoolers got the vacation memo. This kid does not sleep in!

 

Piglet’s 4th Birthday

This past Saturday, Piglet turned 4. FOUR! I know I say it’s flying by, but seriously, he’s just one year away from going to school.

He’s our combination of sweet, wild, sassy, smart, silly, talkative, loveable, amazing little boy. I can already glimpse the teenager he’s going to be, and I think, wow we’re in trouble. He’s going to be a little heartbreaker.

We celebrated at the bowling alley, and he had a blast with all his little friends. My youngest brother showed up, and serenaded him with an accordion song in the parking lot. My little brother is a goofy, but awesome uncle.

The kids played, bowled a little, but mostly just enjoyed running around together. The adults had fun, and I loved that we didn’t host and have a trashed house to deal with.

Piglet, you’re such an amazing kiddo, and you have so many people who love you. I can already tell some of your friends are going to be lifelong pals, and we’ve made wonderful friendships with your friends’ parents. We are having so much fun watching you grow up, and turn from a toddler, into a preschooler, into this incredible little person with your own hopes and dreams. We are so grateful you chose us as your family. We love you to the moon and back, little man!

Music Time

Did I tell you all that we have a keyboard now? It’s a fun addition to our musical instrument collection. I love giving Piglet the opportunity to make his own music. I’m sure one day his tastes will change to something like http://www.musiciansfriend.com/guitars/epiphone-hummingbird-pro-acoustic-electric-guitar, but for now, he really enjoys plunking away on the keyboard.

I’ve always wanted to learn to play piano, and I hope to sign Piglet up for lessons someday. He loves singing with me, and my family is pretty musical. I even got him to sit still for a lesson a youtube. I need to make a playlist and start doing it every few days.

Anyone out there teach their kiddos music? How did you keep them interested? Is 3 too young to start?