PROJECT 12M ~ January 2018

I have never seen a kid run home so fast and whip out reading homework then when Evan started reading about the Titanic.  He couldn't wait to write down his 3 new facts that he learned.

PROJECT 12M ~ January 2018

We had a fun afternoon hanging out with our friends to celebrate this guys birthday!

Happy Birthday Nicky!

Birthday Boy

Goofballs!

PROJECT 12M ~ January 2018

Shaun loves to play basketball with his friends.

PROJECT 12M ~ January 2018

Last night into this morning we had an ice storm which cancelled all after school and evening events scheduled.  That mean Shaun's 4th Grade Winter concert had to be postponed to tonight.  It was a really cute show!  They did Juke Box Time Machine.

Shaun's first cello performance!

He loves when he has a part in the show!

PROJECT 12M ~ January 2018

Tonight was the boys Purple Finches winter concert!  I love seeing all the different levels of kids singing!  They do such a great job!

The boys with their Purple Finches Choir Director

A great concert deserves to be celebrated with an ice cream treat!

PROJECT 12M ~ January 2018

Another snow day!

PROJECT 12M ~ January 2018

The impending snow storm moved David's audition for the middle school musical from tomorrow to this afternoon. I am so proud of him for putting himself out there. He was hoping for one more chance to practice tonight...but he's got this!

PROJECT 12M ~ January 2018

This was Evan's first week of Basketball because we were away for the real first week.  He loves working with the high school kids!

Go PATS!  Ready for the AFC Championship game tonight!

I lost a kid and gained two more!  The boys had a fun impromptu sleepover with their friends!

PROJECT 12M ~ January 2018

The official Orthodonist contract.

PROJECT 12M ~ January 2018

David tinkering with his audition piece Broadway Here I come for the middle school musical All Shook Up!

Broadway Here I Come

Shaun enjoying a Giant Cookie at the first week of Ski Club!

Ski Club days are exhausting!

PROJECT 12M ~ January 2018

It got as cold as -29 where we stayed.  I enjoyed our time away, but next time I want to go somewhere a tad warmer!

Skies cleared this morning and so we actually got to see the spectacular views from our room before we head home and leave this frozen tundra behind (it was - 22 here this morning).

PROJECT 12M ~ January 2018

The weather is going to freeze us out of any excursions.  We decided to take a drive to a nearby town and get some pastries at a the Polish Princess Bakery just to get out of the freezing hotel room!  It's so cold outside that our room cannot keep up and so they offered us a space heater!  The pastries were delicious and the space heater certainly helped keep us warm!  We spent the rest of the day relaxing and even spent some time up in the spa.

When it is so cold that the heat in your room cannot keep up so they give you a space heater...you stay inside and enjoy delicious pastries from a local polish bakery in a nearby town! Brrrrrrrr! 

PROJECT 12M ~ January 2018

For Christmas I booked us a weekend away up north. It's just too bad the weather forecast for the weekend is extreme cold. Not sure we'll be able to do any outdoor adventuring like we had hoped. We enjoyed a nice dinner on our way up in Lincoln at the Gypsy Cafe. Our meals were yummy, but my favorite was the grilled cheese fondue appetizer. When we got to our room, we had champagne and chocolate covered strawberries waiting for us. It was the perfect start to our weekend away!

Starting our weekend getaway off right!

PROJECT 12M ~ January 2018

Snow day #3 - it was very cold and windy - not very much fun for playing outside!  They didn't last long!

PROJECT 12M ~ January 2018

Recovering from the New Years celebration is a process.  Evan had a mini-meltdown at piano and then fell asleep while he waited his turn.

PROJECT 12M ~ January 2018

Back in 2012, I started a photographic journal of our lives.  For 5 years I posted photo a day; it was my interpretation of Project 365.  Not only was it a great way to work on and improve my photography skills but it was a great way to document our daily lives as a family.  And while it was a very worthwhile project, it was a major time commitment and a lot of work.  Some days finding the "thing" to mark the day with was easy, other days I found myself just making something up.  And that sort of defeats the purpose of documenting our daily lives.  I decided to scale back last year and try a weekly project and even that proved to be a challenge as it took me well into 2018 to finish (yes this is a back dated post that I'm writing at the end of April!).  I don't want to give up on this project completely but posting weekly updates for a week that happened 3 months ago, also defeats the purpose, so I'm going to once again tweak things and see if I can find a happy medium!  So welcome to Project 12M.  You'll see a post when there is something worthy of posting and documenting and it will be organized by months! With this tweak, my hope is that I'll be able to keep up with it and post on the day the photo was taken but without the pressure of posting every day! Now with that said; HAPPY NEW YEAR!


We love the tradition of our NewYears-A-Palooza sleepover with our friends!

Happy New Year!

Ringing in the new year with the boys for the first time!

After ringing in the new year for the first time and getting up super early with your friends, it's a crash hard kind of afternoon!

The New Years crash!