With the chapter of 2012 about to end, I want to take the time to reflect what this year has bought My Party of 5! It’s definitely been some what interesting. Many ups and downs, new memories created, lessons learnt, there were tears of joy and disappointment, but through all of this we’ve been able to hold onto each other to enjoy the rollercoaster and all the while love, laughter and hope was certainly present!

As I write my last blog post for the year and I look back at all the memories that have been created, it brings to light how busy the year has been and how quickly it has flown by! I question myself then…have I embraced it enough? I really dislike looking back at things with regret, but I’m happy to say that I am ready to shut the chapter of this year with no regrets, only lessons learnt and am really looking forward to a new year with new beginnings and new memories!

2012….

The year started on a good note with great times spent at the coast! It was Mia’s first summer and our first summer as a party of 5! We had a few mini holidays as a family and with family! The kids love going away and so do we!

Once our summer fun was over and Kane went back to work, the reality of me going back to work after having 13 months off started to hit hard! I wasn’t ready at all. Between being diagnosed with my heart condition at the end of my pregnancy with Mia and then Mia being a very difficult baby, I was only just becoming content with everything when the time was up for me to return! It took ages, at least a term and a half for me to settle back into teaching and a new school at that! I’m happy to say I love my job now and am very settled and pleased to be Crestmead State School’s prep/1/2 special education teacher!

With me going back to work two days a week it meant my beautiful mother was back helping us out with babysitting again. It was Mia’s time with nanny as this year our Sie Sie girl started preschool! This was traumatic for us all! Unlike her brother Sienna cried and cried and begged us not leave her (I did that to my mum)! But after a few months the tears were gone and she has become such a confident little student all ready to tackle prep in the new year!

Bailey was so excited to be starting grade 1! He felt like a big boy this year and took responsibly in his stride all year. He had such an awesome year in prep so facing the new curriculum in year 1 was a little bit of a slap in the face at first, but I’m so proud of Bay he never gave up once. Even with more ear problems mid way through the year, he still managed a good report card. He excelled in semester 2 and where he started the year on a reading level 5 he was benchmarked a 21 to finish the year and received a brilliant report card!

It was a very special year for birthday’s this year….Mia’s 1st birthday, mum and dad’s 60th and nana’s 80th! This meant there was lots of cake decorating by myself and lots of family gatherings! Mia started the birthdays off in February when she turned 1. It was a lovely day spent with my little bear. Her first year had been such a trying one, but we’d made it and almost 12 months on she is the cheekiest, most delightful funny little girl, that is soooo full on lol!!!

Two 60ths and an 80th which were fantastic celebrations filled with close family and friends!

And of course we all turned another year older….

Bay turned 6:)

Kane and I turned 32 this year!

Sienna turned 4:)

Like every celebration we embraced it with plenty of decorations and cake! This year Easter was at our house for the first time! The kids had a ball hunting for eggs, playing on their jumping castle with their cousins and I made my first Easter cake:) Halloween was also a hit this year! I made dinner and dessert for everyone to enjoy, while the kids went trick or treating!

This year was the year Kane had been waiting for since Bailey took his first breath….he finally was ready to play football and that he did!! I still remember his first game. I felt nervous for him. I thought so many things that may of happen, but all that happened was my boy running, scoring, tackling, encouraging and most of all having fun! He had a brilliant footy season with his team being undefeated. Kane was assistant coach and it was a great time for him with his son doing what they both love best! They are both bursting at the seams for the new footy season to start!

Bay’s footy is not the only one we supported this year. We supported our Queenslanders to victory and were there when Petro played his last game for the Broncos! Kane still goes for his beloved Bulldogs and will never convince me to convert lol! But our biggest highlight of the year for achievement in sport was my nephew Sebastian. He made the Queensland under 12 rugby league team who took out the carnival in Mackay! This was such a special moment for our family as dad and I had made an under 12 state side as well…we even made the paper!

Our biggest challenge of all hit us mid year when the business Kane worked for went into liquidation. Kane was left without a job and we were down to one car! Thanks to fantastic mates, Kane was able to work and work and work until he finally landed a fantastic permanent job only a month ago. We were prepared for him not to find anything until the new year, so when this came up, we couldn’t believe it! We’d never lived without stability. Living from day to day, watching every single penny we spent so we could maintain our home and investment property! It has been such an unsettling time for us all, but we made it through and all thanks to my wonderful husband who is a work horse!

Visiting daddy at a job site…water playground – score!

But through the hard times I’ve laughed a lot at the kids this year! They are my everything. They are my light when I’m feeling dark. They may drive me crazy at times, but I would not be able to breathe without them….

And like I stated above, I’m not only blessed with three adorable children, I have the best husband to go with it!

I’ve learnt a lot about myself this year! Losing weight and getting fit was the best thing I’ve chosen to do since having my children. I’d never been in a position before where I needed to lose weight, but when faced everyday with a heart condition and letting myself go a bit after having my third child, this has kicked my butt into keeping myself at my best, in order to give myself the best chance of living the longest life possible….this mumma ain’t going no where! Not only am I physically fitter, I’m as mentally fit as I’ve ever been! Things that use to bother me don’t anymore (although my husband may disagree lol) and being forced into not having my husband around as much, I’ve learnt that I can do anything on my own! I owe all of this to running! I believe if I didn’t find the love of running, this paragraph may have been written differently!

Even though we had some really shaky parts of the year, it certainly is ending on a beautiful note! Christmas was so fantastic this year. We embraced it for all that it’s worth and most importantly we were together relishing in the love we have for each other!

My last cake of the year:)

As a new year approaches it gets you thinking what you’d like to see happen, resolutions and goals! All I want for the new year is for us all to be happy! After having such an unstable year and watching my husband feeling unhappy, I just want us to be settled and happy! It’s not about money or possessions, it’s about being settled and grounded, once these things are in place, everything else around you balances off nicely!

Of course there are lots of things that I hope don’t happen in the new year! I’d like us to go one year without having to take one of our children to the hospital to have their ears fixed. It was Mia’s turn this year and already Bailey is booked in for the end of summer if his ears don’t improve….but I am thinking positively!!!

And of course there are things I hope to achieve like cleaning out my laundry/study, the one room I just can never keep organised – it is my dumping ground. I want to get my scrapbooking in order and finish off Sienna’s baby album so I can start Mia’s! I have new running goals and the new year will be my first year where I plan to enter competitions!

Our biggest event that will kick start the year off though is our eldest daughter starting prep! How exciting! I can’t believe that the 10 pound 2 baby I gave birth to is about to start the adventure of primary school. I’m going to miss my little pumpkin so much and so will her baby sister….it’s just you and me Mimi….please be kind to mummy lol!

On that note I shall end my final 2012 blog with thanking you all for your support and reading about my life and My Party of 5! I started blogging as a way of helping others an if I’ve only helped one person with something than I’m happy with that! My goal was to reach 10 000 views of my blog by the end of the year and that has been well and truly achieved with over 10 300 views to date over the 90 odd blogs that I’ve written thus far. I wish you all a very happy new year that is filled with lots of love, laughter and good health and I look forward to sharing more of my life’s findings in the new year!

Seeing in the new year on our holiday at the coast….couldn’t think of a better way to spend it!