Sentence a Day In December (2021)

We had a pretty fabulous month. Our December was a great way to wrap up the year with lots of family and friends. 

1.  It was a beautiful day for a hike but my hiking pals went to help to their grandmother and went out to lunch.  Instead I headed to the post office and Target after lunch; trying out a new chicken patty idea I found while grocery shopping this morning.

a delicious 2 point lunch!


2. Evan and I finally made it out on a hike after a whole week of not walking!  We hiked at Old Furnace for 56 minutes and made it just in time to pick up Alec from school.






3.  We had plans to meet up with our hiking group at Westville Dam but first I had to help Ian with his final paper for his college class and get Evan working on all his schoolwork.  We ended the day with my husband's company Christmas party at the Black Dog-- it was a lot of fun.





4. I took Alec to karate class and then went with my husband to pick up the windshield for the RZR.  It was such a beautiful sunrise! 



5. Sunday morning I spent a lot of time in the kitchen baking up banana bread and making some eggnog snickerdoodle cookies while tossing up a huge salad and getting our pizza pork chops going in the crock pot.  I spent the afternoon helping my husband glue some more board together for our butcher block countertop we're making for the basement. Then we ended our day with a quick RZR ride to check out how the new windshield works. 






6. It was another rainy day and I spent most of it helping the kids with their schoolwork while Alec was at school.  

7. Alec only had a half-day but I still spent almost all day working on schoolwork; Ian needed help putting the finishing touches on his final paper of the semester.  We ended the night eating dinner at our friends' house and had a great time (it was the first time us hiking moms got our entire families together and even the dads seemed to hit it off). 

8. At the last minute, I spent most of my morning running errands after Alec forgot his lunch box at the house and I had to drop it off to him.  I managed to get to the bank, the library, and the post office.  Then Ian and I finished up his last paper for his college class and enjoyed a quiet rest of the day at home. 

9. After waking to a covering of snow in the morning and dropping Alec off at school, the boys and I headed to our friend's house for a wonderful Christmas party.  It was so much fun and so delicious too! My friend even sent home extras so Alec could participate after school--she is so sweet to have thought of him!








Evan's house

Ian's house

My friend even thought to get cookie treat bins for the kids to take everything home in!




10.  My mother in law took Alec to school so I scooted out nice and early to get our grocery shopping done. Then the boys and I went hiking with our hiking group.  It was chilly but great to get some fresh air and exercise. 






11.  It poured ALL day Saturday and I stayed home wrapping gifts, making Chex mix and reading my latest book.  In the afternoon my husband and I went to Target, Lowe's, etc. to finish up all our Christmas shopping and get Alec some stuff for his Christmas party at school.


12. I watched Christmas movies and went around putting ribbons on all the Christmas gifts under the tree (that I was too lazy to wrap properly before).  Alec finally managed to frost his cookies from Thursday's party once I picked up the right sugar for him while out running errands the day before.


13.  It was a beautiful Monday and after dropping Alec off at school, the other two boys and I went through their schoolwork quickly so we could head out hiking.  Ian headed to work with his grandfather but Evan and I hiked for an hour and a half at Pulaski before lunch. 



14. Another beautiful day where Evan and I flew through his work before going hiking at Purgatory Chasm.  






15.  After enjoying another amazing sunrise driving to drop Alec off at school, I got the other two boys to complete their schoolwork quickly and headed out for yet another hike!  We met up with my mother in law to hike at the dam. 





16. Evan and I got a bit lost in the woods when the trail we were following just seemed to end; so we backtracked to where another trail branched off to the side and followed that one instead.  Luckily it was a beautiful day for our hour and a half hike.




17.  Alec only had a 1/2 day of school so Evan and I were meeting up with our hiking group early for a hike at Mashamoquet. 



18. I was a miserable rainy day so I spent my day watching Christmas movies and working on some schoolwork with Alec. 

19. My husband and I ended our day with an hour long walk in the woods even though it was quite chilly out. 


20.  It was a bitterly cold day so after dropping Alec off at school the other two boys and I tackled their schoolwork, did a bit of housework, and then just relaxed around the house watching Christmas movies and reading books. 

21.  Evan and I took advantage of the warmer (40 degree) weather to head out for a hike around Pulaski park after lunch. 







22. It rained most of the day off and on so after dropping Alec off at school and finishing up schoolwork with the other two boys I worked on my nails and on my diamond painting.  


23.  With Alec's last 1/2 day of school for 2021, we spent our afternoon baking. We made Christmas Crack and a trifle cake. 





24.  I had the house to myself most of Christmas Eve day; my husband took the boys to the movies to see Spiderman.  In the evening we went to my mother's house for a Christmas celebration with my family.  We had a great time.



My sister in law made the cleverest money gifts for the boys  using dollar bills (and a few coins)

Shirt and bow tie complete with collar, pocket, and "buttons"

A money tree

a double sided wreath complete with bows

25. Christmas morning we were all up bright and early; we dug into the gifts under the tree and then went to brunch with my husband's family (where Alec made an amazing snowflake cinnamon roll).  We spent our afternoon at home and then went to my mother in law's house for dessert and games Christmas night. 



Playing our new cornhole game in the basement (it was rainy/snowy out)

My mother in law found the cutest disposable water bottle for Evan!

26. I started taking down all the Christmas décor but did have a long break mid-morning when the whole family headed to my father-in-law's house for Christmas brunch and gift exchange. 

27.  The boys and I spent most of Monday cleaning house, organizing, and getting gifts put away. 

28. The younger boys and I went for a walk along the river trail then I went to get my haircut and told my hairdresser if she had any ideas for a new style I was totally willing to try anything new.  It's much shorter and she styled it straight. 







29.  After a quick grocery shopping trip in the morning, I worked on my diamond painting and made up a list of all the pages I want to scrapbook from 2021 (there are 30 of them so I've got to get working on them!).  In the evening my husband and I worked on the countertop while Alec was at karate-- just sanding and varnishing left.

30.  Alec, my mother-in-law, and I went to check out a "new" used bookstore then headed out to lunch together.  In the afternoon Alec and I began making Ian's graduation cake. 



31.  We cleaned the house, made up a few lasagnas, and finished Ian's cake for the party. We had invited all of Ian's grandparents over for a graduation party and presented Ian with his diploma.  





Linking up with: Spread the Kindness, 





Comments

  1. What a great journal of a busy December! Loving the scenery on your walks! #MMBC

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    Replies
    1. Thank you! We are lucky to have so many pretty places to walk.

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  2. So many wonderful hikes and we had such beautiful weather for them! Love all of your festive treats- doesn't it already seem like a year ago? Ha!

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  3. I enjoyed reading all of the wonderful things you did for the month and I enjoyed looking at the beautiful photos. I hope you have a happy new year Joanne.

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  4. Such beauty and delicious food.
    www.rsrue.blogspot.com

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  5. What a fun month, I love all the hiking you do and the areas are all so pretty! Seeing the Christmas cookies and that crack made my mouth water. Congratulations to Ian on his graduation!
    xo,
    Kellyann

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  6. What a great month December was! Fantastic photos. Your Countertop looks amazing and so does all of the food x

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    Replies
    1. The countertop is so close to done! I am so excited!!

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  7. So lovely to read this. You and your family are so lucky to live the lives the way you do.

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  8. You always inspire me to get out and walk outside more. Growing up I was always a gym rat, but now I love to see Mother Nature (as long as it's not too cold, haha)
    XOOX
    Jodie
    www.jtouchofstyle.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That definitely tends to be my problem this time of year. It has been so cold these past few days I haven't even wanted to go out to my car.

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  9. I cannot believe how much hiking you did! But, if I had that scenery to walk in, I think I would be joining you! The cinnamon roll star is gorgeous...would you care to share the recipe! I cannot wait to see the countertop finished and installed! I am really impressed by woodworking of any kind. I've started doing this sentence a day journaling, but I having added in pictures. I guess I'd better start taking pictures as reminders, too! Thanks so much for sharing!

    https://marshainthemiddle.com/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm working on writing up a recipe for that cinnamon roll; luckily I took lots of photos as he was making it.

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  10. What a great December you had! Sounds like you had a fantastic Christmas too. Happy new year!

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  11. What a great December! I love all the areas you have to hike around you. Congrats to Ian on graduating!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks! I'm exciting to see how his next steps play out.

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  12. What a wonderful December you and your family had, Joanne! I loved seeing your hikes--such pretty areas to hike-- and your family time and baking. Your boys look like happy guys! Have a very happy and Healthy 2022

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  13. Eggnog snickerdoodles sound so good. What a great month! Happy New Year. Hope it treats you so good!!

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  14. What a great end to 2021 for you all with lots of hiking and Ian's graduation. The only positive thing about everything being remote/cancelled for the next few weeks is that we will hopefully get out on some winter hikes. You have such a variety of hiking trails around you.

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    Replies
    1. My son's school started right back to school full time for everyone and I was so glad to just have that bit of structure and routine back! I do like winter hikes but find that we definitely have to pick and choose our trails and our hiking days pretty carefully.

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  15. Pizza pork chops sounds different & delicious, cute gingerbread houses, I like that moss on the rocks, its dry here & don't see much moss, creative money gift ideas. Karen

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    Replies
    1. We have been having such a wet year that I think we are seeing moss pretty much everywhere at this point. I like that contrast of green in the winter when so much else is brown and dead.

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  16. Sooo glad you are going to continue with iSpy. All of us would certainly miss your lovely photographs. That icy lake picture is frame-worthy. Or could be an image on an inspirational poster. Gorgeous.

    The boys are all getting so grown up and mature!! Alec's cinnamon roll snowflake is to die for!! Your Christmas tree is perfect and what a creative gift those money trees made. Would love to try my hand at making them next year.

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    Replies
    1. They really are growing up so fast! I just realized today that by this time next year I'll probably have 3 boys that can all drive!

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