And so 2024 is a wrap.

Every time I do one of these, I wonder where the year went. It feels like every month was a marathon and we still sprinted to the end.

December was (as always) a busy few weeks, but not in terms adventuring. There was a lot of running around and cleaning last minute before the festivities.

The first saw our super last minute family photos.

The first full week brought Santa to visit at preschool, the monthly potluck on post (though I took no photos of it), our professional Santa photos, the Home Depot workshop, and the Lighted Christmas Parade.

The 2nd week wrapped up preschool for the year with a Christmas party and the Christmas program.

We finished off that week with taking the dogs for Santa photos at Petsmart. It was a nightmare. The girls didn’t do very good at all, but at least no one slipped a collar and ran out of the store like last year.

The 3rd week calmed down enough for us to get the house picked up for my parents to visit. They weren’t planning to come but a last minute change in plans brought them to us.

Christmas week brought my parents to visit and along with them: way too many treats. I ended up making hot cocoa blossom cookies, cool whip cookies, and wrangled some character sugar cookies. My mom added peanut clusters, cherry mash, peanut butter fudge, popcorn balls, peanut brittle, caramel popcorn, chex mix, and a cheese ball. We’re slowly working our way through everything.

On Christmas Eve, Little Man left Santa cookies and milk and carrots for the reindeer on the plate he made at school.

We also opened our gifts from Grammys and Gramps. Safe to say, he loved his hard hat.

Christmas morning was fruitful and just as exciting for all of us.

That night, we headed to the speedway to see the lights.

The last night of the visit brought us to Nashville to see Zoolumination for the 3rd year. We are glad Nana wasn’t so sick this year to be able to see it. Despite it being packed with people, it was still a beautiful display.

These last few days have been slow and easygoing. I haven’t gotten the decor taken down/put away, but it’s on my list once I can motivate myself.

As I’m reflecting back on the year, 2024 has really been a crazy ride.

In January, we took on Little Man’s adenoidectomy and played in our only real snowfall of the year.

February saw classroom valentines, sickness, and our 2nd Chinese/Lunar New Year festival.

March brought our first Holi festival, the first classmate birthday party, and our 2nd Spring Art Hop.

April was spent outside in the beautiful weather.

May gave us the Northern Lights over Tennessee, Little Man’s very own library card, and reuniting of old friends through music.

June brought us lots of family visits, 4th birthday fun, and first swimming lessons.

July had fireworks, carnivals, and a sunflower festival.

August was for monster trucks, starting a new school year, and a long visit to Nebraska without Daddy.

September brought another Highland Games and pow wow, a first school field trip, and a playdate with a best friend.

October gave us a very special wedding, seeing a favorite podcaster live on tour, and trick or treating in another state.

November gave us another disc golf tournament and a sneak peek at a wonderful new addition.

We waited until after the first trimester (and then some) to tell our immediate families — sorry we kept it from you until now! I was nauseous and exhausted for most of it, and over the last few weeks, I have finally started to feel a bit better. The heartburn is my biggest foe currently, just like it was with Little Man.

We go for our anatomy scan on the 7th of January, though bloodwork has already told us the sex: a girl! I’m still very anxious about this pregnancy, so I will probably hold off on putting anything on social media for a bit longer (so if you read this, please keep our secret until we are ready to officially announce).

This new year is going to bring so many new and wonderful changes. Little Man will finish up preschool, the Mister will officially retire from the Army, and I’m sure there are many new adventures to be had.

We’re looking forward to the next chapter. Here’s to 2025.

Until then,

And so another month has come to pass. I’m not exactly sure where all the time went, but it certainly got away from me.

After we got back from our whirlwind trip to Colorado, we sprinted headlong back into our routine and then some.

We got to see some of the wedding photos and they turned out fantastic!

Right after we got home, Roxie had to go to the vet for her updated heartworm and bordetella shots and that was after Little Man had speech.

She also celebrated her 2nd birthday.

Preschool was closed for election day and I had a doctor’s appointment so Little Man tagged along and got to hang out with the Mister while I did labwork etc…then we went to vote.

Then, the Mister took his annual trip to Texas for the disc golf tournament with other SRU warriors.

He did the usual glass blowing, plant potting, and, of course, disc golfing.

The rest of the month kept Little Man busy with school, a classmate’s birthday party, and an odd end of the month Home Depot workshop (two this month).

Preschool was full of fall learning and Thanksgiving fun.

Home Depot had two workshops this month. Since we only physically attended the latest one, we were excited to get to build/paint.

Thanksgiving came and went without much fanfare as my mom didn’t get to visit this year. Still, I cooked the big meal and we all ate too much and took long naps.

December might look a little different too. From the sounds of it, no one is traveling so we’ll enjoy what is likely our last Clarksville Christmas solo. As usual we have Santa photos for Little Man scheduled and quick snaps for the pups as well.

We’ll have Little Man’s Christmas party and program at preschool and will likely check out the German Christmas Market as well as Zoolumination at the zoo. Nothing too extensive since things are a bit tight budget-wise this year. We’ll still make the most of our time together — as we always do!

Until then,

Oh boy. October was not our normal October. No pumpkin patch, no Dia de Los Muertos festival, no Oktoberfest, no GHOST at Austin Peay.

Instead, we packed up our tiny car and headed out to Colorado for my baby sister’s wedding. But, before we get into that, let’s recap the rest of the month. It’s been chaotic.

The first week was spent at preschool and speech.

The next week, my in-laws came for a visit. The Mister and my father-in-law were able to finally get the roof on the back deck changed out and the ceiling fan up.

We went to Lowes for the monthly workshop and Little Man got to get up close with a firetruck.

We wrapped up our visit and took the week to try to get ready for our long trek to Colorado.

Of course, that week couldn’t be without some excitement. We got to see our favorite YouTuber/Podcaster mrballen live on tour in Nashville.

As great of a night it was, #WaidLuck struck again. TDoT was repaving the lanes on I-24 and we hit a pothole in the only open lane and blew a front tire. After a few hours and a swapped out spare tire, we rolled home by 3am. Unfortunately, to get the busted tire fixed, I had to hustle to special order a new one and we weren’t sure it would make it before we needed to leave for Colorado.

Thankfully, the tire came and we were able to get it changed on the Thursday before we had to leave.

Little Man got to pick a pumpkin at preschool and they made Halloween cookies. I’m glad he got to have a little Halloween fun since he had to miss his costume parade at school.

We finally got on the road for Colorado on Sunday. We stopped at my parents’ place for the night before heading to Colorado Springs.

The wedding week was chaotic and stressful. I went to Painting with a Twist with Whitney and one of her other bridesmaids before we went to Evergreen to the AirBnB.

The drive to Evergreen was frigid and it snowed the whole way. The road to the house was a bit scary, especially in the dark.

Thankfully, the snow subsided and the wedding day was beautiful and not too cold.

We even managed to go downtown to trick or treat for a little bit with Little Man. I didn’t take any photos (I was cold and exhausted), but he was the cutest Spiderman.

We took off for Nebraska the next morning to break up our long drive home. We got back to mom and dad’s with enough time for a quick visit with Grammy and Gramps. I’m so glad we got to see them, even if it was just for a little bit.

We made it home late on Saturday night, and boy, are done with travel for a while!

The rest of November should be much calmer. I don’t have anything planned for the month. I’ll probably cook for Thanksgiving, though I don’t know if we’ll have anyone but us.  Ready for a more relaxing month for sure.

Until then,

We finally got settled back into a somewhat normal routine this month. That’s not to say we took it easy.

We finally got the Mister back home and we kept him hopping the first week back.

He and Little Man took a night out together that Friday while I got together with some girls I met through one of Little Man’s classmates from last year to paint some spooky pottery at the Pottery Room.

That first weekend was busy.

On Saturday, we headed to Hendersonville for the Middle Tennessee Highland Games (for the 3rd year in a row now).

Then Sunday, we attended the Trail of Tears PowWow (I think this was our 5th or 6th year attending in our 8 years here). The weather was perfect for both and we enjoyed ourselves.

I had to deal with some more car issues the following week. The Dart had a slow leak in one of the tires. It was covered from when I bought the tires but they wouldn’t let me make an appointment to get fixed (because apparently they don’t do that except for installs), so I scheduled an oil change and my friend Kimberly came to get me for lunch/antiquing while we waited. Hopefully now, we’re done with all that car crap.

The next weekend, Little Man and I got together with one of his classmates for a play date at Sunny Day Studios.

We also met up with some of the Mister’s friends he met in Texas to go bowling with their families on post. Little Man enjoyed it immensely. I’m also thrilled the Mister made a conscious effort to keep up with these new friends who can understand/relate to his time in treatment.

The following week, Little Man took on the dentist and got a haircut in time for school pictures.

The rest of the month was low-key.

Little Man had his first field trip to Historic Collinsville – a late 1800s reconstruction outside of town. It was a bit advanced for his age group, but he enjoyed a few aspects like making a cloth doll and turning cream into butter.

We had planned to attend Oktoberfest at Beachaven, but Hurricane Helene brought a boatload of rain all the way to Clarksville. Normally, we wouldn’t mind a bit of rain, but fall temperatures also made an appearance and standing out in the rain when it’s cool in a drindl and lederhosen is not my idea of a good time.

October will bring some adventures! My in-laws are coming for a few days, we have tickets to see Mr. Ballen on tour in Nashville, and at the end of the month, we travel to Colorado for my baby sister’s wedding. I’m sure we’ll squeeze a few more things in there (that’s how we roll).

Until then,

Can you believe it’s almost time to start school again? Summer seemed to fly by and we’re speeding towards the end of the year.

We kicked off July busier than anticipated.

The first was my sweet Jack Jack’s 14th birthday!

Then we had the 4th of July. We played with sparklers and went on post for the firework show.

Little Man was super interested in the fireworks this year. Every time we heard them go off, he’d drag one of us outside to see if he could see any (even in broad daylight).

This year, post finally brought back the carnival, so we braved the heat and went for a few hours (and $150 later between arm bands, food, and games).

Safe to say, he enjoyed it.

We wrapped up the first week with his Home Depot workshop.

The second week of the month brought a bit of a hiccup. My car’s battery decided to die and Little Man and I ended up stuck at the mall while we waited for the Mister to come jump it (we had the jump box, but the battery was dead dead and sucked the juice completely out). We bought a new battery and found out the one I had wasn’t even the right one for the Dart. I swear we’ve changed the battery more times than we ever should have for an 11 year old car, but it is what it is since it does have all the bells and whistles.

The upside came during the weekend, when we attended a sunflower festival at Red River Farms in Springfield.  It was blazing hot (seriously, one of the hottest days to date), but we had a nice time.

There were vendors (though we didn’t check them out — we were too worn out to trek back up the hill), tractor rides, helicopter rides, monster truck rides, and a pick your own sunflower patch.

The last couple of weeks ended up being slower. My dad’s hip replacement surgery got rescheduled to August so he could get his teeth implants done first. We put off our visit until then so we can be back home for that.

We had a neighborhood kitty show up in our driveway and befriend us. He was very sweet.  He spent the night on the back porch (Hina got to come inside) out of the rain.

I scheduled him a neutering appointment with the humane society, but there were no openings until September. I figure the $45 is worth not having new litters of kittens all over. He’s since wandered along, but I’ll keep the appointment just in case he decides to come back.

July certainly felt like it went on and on forever. We are looking forward to August, though it’s going to be a strange month.

My parents are coming down for monster trucks, then we are following them back to Nebraska so Little Man and I can be home for my Dad’s hip replacement surgery while the Mister is in Texas for therapy. We’ll get back in time for Meet the Teacher night for preschool and have a few days to get back into our routine before school starts back up. Before we know it, it’ll be September and the rest of the year is downhill.

Until then,

This is an interesting month.

We kicked off with both Home Depot and Lowes having their workshops on the same day, which also fell on Free Comic Book Day.  Talk about full speed ahead!

Then we celebrated Roxie’s Gotcha Day. How has this little girl been with us a whole year?

That weekend, we were lucky enough to be able to see the aurora borealis this far south.  Unfortunately for me, Little Man and I went to bed around 10:30, so we missed it completely. Luckily, an old coworker snapped a couple photos.

We tried to go look outside again the next couple of nights, but the neighborhood lights (which rarely turn on) were on full display.

Mother’s Day came and went without fanfare, but given the mental health situation of our household recently, I didn’t get my hopes up anyway. It is what it is and getting frustrated about it doesn’t do any good.

The following week was Little Man’s last week at preschool for the year. We had a family picnic one day and his spring program on the final day.

His last day of school was super short with only the spring program on the agenda. Next year will be preschool graduation.

He didn’t sing or dance during his program and yawned a lot while looking around. We’ll have to work on that this summer. My plan is to keep his schedule similar on his normal school days with some Highlights workbooks and lots of outdoors time. We are also planning to hopefully get into swimming lessons next month to get him more used to the water (he is fine with splash pads and in the tub, but I want him safe around deeper water).

Routine will be key since I think the Mister is planning to go to the inpatient therapy after Little Man’s birthday. Though, we still don’t have anything set. We are crossing that bridge (and handling it) when we come to it.

Finishing off the last of our “normal” routine weeks, Little Man got to attend another birthday party for a classmate at Chuck E. Cheese. No one in our family had ever been to one before, so it was a new experience for us all!

The rest of the weekend, we went to a $5 movie at Regal and took a short trip to the local library for the first time.

We got our very own library cards and Little Man even got to pick out what design he wanted on his. He is so excited to have a card with his own name on it for his wallet.

We will plan to spend more time at the library now that school is out. We have the calendar for the summer and are starting the 1000 Books Before Kindergarten challenge. I have no doubt we are already halfway there. We read between 3 and 5 books a night before bedtime, so it’ll be close by the time kindergarten rolls around in a year or two. It’ll be a fun project!

On the 21st, an old friend from high school was playing a show in Nashville. I decided to make the trek down to see him play. Since it was so late in the evening and we didn’t have a babysitter, I had to go solo.

I’m so glad I went. I hadn’t seen Jon Dell in 15+ years (we were still in college the last time we’d seen each other in person) and it was awesome to hear him play/sing live again. I have a couple of his vinyls and Little Man enjoys them too.

We were also treated to a surprise pop-up from the Rowan Brothers. It was so cool!

On the 24th, the Mister and I celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary. We didn’t do much but did have a nice meal and even better dessert.

A windstorm ripped through over the long weekend, punching some holes in our porch roof and blew a bunch of branches down.  Clean-up wasn’t too bad, but we’re waiting for the insurance adjuster to come out and see what needs to be done to repair the roof and how much they’ll cover for that. It might be a blessing in disguise since the roof over the deck really needed to be replaced a while ago.

The last week of the month was filled with panic cleaning for our company coming for Little Man’s birthday next month and a really unfortunate cold/allergy issue. I did not realize my nose could run so much constantly. It needs to hurry along out my system before the party because I am over it!

We also had our monthly potluck and the Mister won the disc golf portion of the individual games and his platoon won overall for the day. Not that his ego needs any more inflation, but he deserved the serotonin boost.

June will be a strange month, I think.

We kick off with Little Man’s 4th birthday (he even has several classmates attending as well as both sets of grandparents) then we may be trekking back to Nebraska if the Mister decides to go to Texas. It’s all up in the air, really. If not, I need to get swimming lessons sorted and start on Little Man’s summer learning routine. Either way, weird month ahead. We’ll see how it shakes out.

Until then,