Goodbye 2011

A few thoughts about this past year.  It seems it certainly has flown by.  We've been very busy.  I guess that is what comes with having 6 and 8 year olds who are developing their own lives.  There's been soccer and plays, play dates and camps, doctor's appointments, family trips etc...

Erin has matured tremendously this year, although she's always been rather mature.  She had such a difficult time deciding what she wanted for Christmas and had a mixed list of clothes, books, movies and even an iPod touch (which will have to wait) with some Pet Shops just for fun.  She is now at the Elementary school with the bigger kids.  In February she got her first pair of glasses to be used for reading and any time she's at school.  Talk about looking grown up.  She is delving into longer chapter books such as the Harry Potter series on her own as well.

This summer she competed in the C'ville Jr. Idol competition.  She sang 2 songs and made us all so proud.  In school this fall she landed the lead in the school's production of Wizard of Oz. Yep, in March she's going to be Dorothy.

We also spent quite a bit of time at King's Dominion.  Erin discovered that all those rides she's always thought looked so cool, are cool.  She loves to hang upside down, shoot through loops.  She's still too short for most big girl thrill coasters, but might be able to ride them by the end of next summer.

Jeffrey has grown immensely as well, but mostly in height.  I'm afraid that he's going to be taller than I am before he's 8.  He's already up to my shoulder.  He wears a size 2 shoe!! He's lost 5 teeth!!  Certainly not my baby boy any more.  He's obsessed with anything Lego, especially Star Wars Legos.  We transformed his room from a baby fish theme to a more big boy Star Wars room.  The best part was that he helped paint the room.

The big event of the summer was little more than a trip to the ground, followed by a trip to the Dr.  Poor Jeff broke his wrist right before the end of school.  He didn't let it get him down and after the first few days in the cast really was back to normal boy.  Still, 2011 provided us with our first broken bone.

He doesn't share his sister's love of thrill rides.  He'd rather stay at the bottom and watch.  That is until we went to Disney in November.  I expect he'll be hopping onto the rides along side his sister next summer.  He is still a "fish" in the water though. Can't keep him out of it.  Loves to swim.  Last spring he finished his lessons by swimming 100 meters in 3 different strokes.

He is also becoming more comfortable on stage.  This December he was a card in Alice in Wonderland and had his first assigned lines in a play (ones that were not group lines).  He loves being silly on stage just like his daddy.

Of course we'll always remember the big events of the year.  The plays, the trip to Disney, our summer at King's Dominion.  But the little things will be the ones I hold dear.  The look on Erin's face when she first put on her glasses.  Watching Jeffrey rake leaves with Grandpa Donuts.  Those are the memories to treasure.