2015 in review

 We played a lot. Steve and I picked up toys endlessly.

Holden got handsomer.

 And then it snowed the most beautiful snow.

We got coffee and donuts, a lot. And then mom read about the dangers of sugar so we stopped for awhile. But then we were back.

 We read books. Oh, so many books. And Brandon finally outgrew his ba-ba.

 Holden drooled through many shirts.

 And went from crawling to walking.

 Holden turned one.

 Brandon turned three.

 They dressed up for Easter, before Brandon knew to protest.

 We went to Hawaii with all of the Peleskys.

 It was the most glorious week of my life.

 Hula girls were ogled.

 Moments of friendship compounded into these boys becoming friends.

 I went to my sister’s 30th birthday party as a surprise. I traveled sans kids and it was glorious.

Their hair grew faster than I could trim it.

 In July, the boys met their mom’s first child; their half-sister. And I started working part-time at the coffee shop.

 The boys ran everywhere, yelling, “race ya!” and they almost learned to escape.

We road tripped to Boone, Iowa to see Thomas the train. Brandon got his first bee sting which he took like a champ.

 Days passed and my baby morphed into a little boy.

 We got season passes to Vala’s Pumpkin Patch and went a lot. I mean, a lot.

Brandon learned if he protests, mom will cave. So he picked out the Halloween costumes this year.

 Despite mama’s incessant picture taking, Brandon still doesn’t like pictures.

For Thanksgiving, we traveled to Washington where I cried many tears saying goodbye to my childhood home.

 All the while, Holden kept getting handsomer.

Snow came and blanketed us with something fresh, new and exciting. And I realized that every day is like that, really, when you have two wriggly, growing bodies and minds sharing a space. Three, really, if you count me.

Because many of my Instagram photos never make it onto this blog, here are a few of my favorite posts from 2015.

Happy 2016, everyone. I’ll be practicing yoga and reading and raising these boys and cooking new meals and running. And writing; I will be blogging and novel writing and submitting completed writings for publication. I will do what is important because I’ve already done too much of what isn’t.