A Look Back at 2009

I saw this here & thought I'd give it a go. Although I was unable to keep it to one photo per month. Sorry for the lengthy but it is shorter than the 111 photos I chose from last year.

January 2009

We spent the day at my parents - sledding & having a "January" birthday party (both parents, both sisters, J5, my grandpa, and a niece all celebrate their births this month). We took the last family photo that had my mother in it - unfortunately a sibling got the shot as I can't find one on my computer.

But I had lots of sibling shots....

February 2009

My sister spent a lot of time with my mom at the hospital advocating for her so my nephew spent a lot of time here. He & N8 are only 10 months apart.

We went snowtubing - for free - thanks to one of hubby's clients.

We spent some time at a local community college at a science fair geared towards kids. It was crazy with the number of kids there but it was fun too.

We got a TON of snow & I almost lost a kid or two in the snowbanks.

I took my three plus my nephew plus Miss L to our favorite (and free!) museum.

March 2009

Cabin fever began to set in....

...so we played a lot of Settlers.

And the saddest day my year occurred the day before I took this photo...

I lost my Mom to leukemia/lymphoma complicated by MRSA after a short fierce battle.

but life moves on...

This is the house I lived in while going to college & where I met my hubby. It was pink then though.

April 2009

We spent the day at "Lego-Mania" - the boys had a great time.

And we began doing a lot of watching this...

We met a T-Rex...well, kind of. We touched a replica of a T-Rex skull which was still pretty cool.

B13 & N8 spent the day at TeenPact with Daddy. B13 was really B12 here. This year we'll have to decide if he'll do the four day actual TeenPact program or not.

May 2009

My nephew celebrated his first birthday.

And we celebrated Miss L's 2nd birthday (this is the little girl I watched this spring)

N8 petted a camel & made sure I knew it.

And Miss H seemed to have a great time being back with the "gang." (the other little girl I babysit)

Hubby shot his first wild turkey.

My FIL surprised us with six Barred Rock chicks.

June 2009

Miss H's brother joined us on occasion this summer.

It rained...a lot...really...A LOT!

N8 & I spent a weekend in Mass visiting relatives.

Highlights of that trip....

...riding the commuter train in to Boston...

...seeing the Acela high speed train...

...riding on the carousel...

...riding in Uncle Jimmy's convertible...

...spending one-on-one time with just Mom.

There was also time spent at VBS...

and hubby spent time playing softball on the church team.

July 2009

My almost teen starts mowing the lawn.

The chickens are big enough now to be outside.

We'd seen so little of the sun that I had to go document it one day when it was out.

The two younger boys participated in swim lessons at the local lake.

We spent four days at camp in Moosehead.

We took a class at our favorite museum on worked on making our own arrowheads using original methods.

August 2009

Home school started back. Actually, the learning never stops...

I finally confirmed I had funding for my insulin pump one more through the insurance company so I'm pumping once more. One of the happiest days of the year for me. No more daily injections! Woo-Hoo!

We officially have a teenager.

 

We celebrated a belated 2 year birthday for Miss H.

We took a fun trip to the Maine Wildlife Park.

September 2009

N8 started playing soccer with the town rec team.

We added six new chicks to our flock. Our older chicks move in to more permanent digs while the new ones take over the chicken tractor.

We start a series of classes at the natural history museum. The first is on birds and watercolor paintings.

We have way too much fun (but boy was it cold!) at the Common Ground Fair:

running in snowshoes

jumping into piles of hay

sledding down a hill on cardboard

We took a tour of an apple orchard:

October 2009

N8 met Matt Bown - a hometown guy who hosts N8's favorite TV series - Extreme Trains on the History Channel.

Another science class - it was on bugs.

Meeting Newsboys & then enjoying a concert.

Fire Station tour (we love field trips!)

Last of the soccer games for the season

Spending the morning at a corn maze - lots of fun!

Last science class

My baby sister got married.

November 2009

We added to our animal family with...

Snowball and...

Hershey.

And the chickens finally start laying eggs.

N8 turns this old goat shed in to a new clubhouse.

December 2009

cuteness abounds around here.

See!

Child labor is a wonderful thing.

Friends who help find amazing deals are amazing! I am still loving my freezer!

Christmas cards from around the world make for a great geography lesson.

Decorating the Christmas tree is always a highlight of December:

No better way to spend a cold winter night - on the floor under blankets with the dog while watching a movie - or at least that's what these three think.

Homeschool Christmas Party - making ornaments...

playing games plus eating food - and lots of it!

An early Christmas at my Dad's...

I'm pretty sure he likes this gift.

My nephew gave some of his things to my boys this year - including this big stuffie for N8.

Our big family gift this year. We're all still having a blast playing it.

And we ended the year by going to Build-A-Bear courtesy of Grammy:

2009 to me felt like a long year full of heartache with the death of my mom as well as my grandfather (who was 95 years old) & a favored great-aunt (also close if not in her 90's). But looking back on these photos I saw how much we did enjoy & how much fun we did have. I know that 2010 will be filled with many great memories as well.