Wednesday, January 13, 2010

New & Improved!

I've become a blogger for REAL these days!  I know, I know, hard to believe, given that I have gone for lengths of several MONTHS between posts here at Dressel Familia!  But now that I am a stay-at-home mama, and I've got a semester of my first year of homeschooling under my belt, I have been able to turn some of my time (not that there is a plethora of it...) towards some passions of mine...one of them being writing!  So 2010 is a year where I will write EVERY DAY!  In the beginning it will be on several blogs that I either started or contribute to (see my side bar for them) and hopefully by the middle of the year/summer it will include writing for novel purposes!  I have also began to put together the structure for my freelance writing business...now that I've actually had some paid writing work under my belt!  So hopefully I'll have some more freelance gigs come in from the structure and marketing I am and will be putting together!  Once the website is done for that, I'll post it here for you all to check out!

But other than that, yes, life has been busy at the Dressel home over the last several months.  But I am like many other readers...I love pictures!  So I'll illustrate some of the past several months with pictures and captions...here we go!


May 2009 - The kiddos did a campout in the backyard of Grandma & Grandpa's house with Daddy while Mommy slept comfortably inside (smile!).


Laura turned 10 and celebrated with a Girls Night Out with two of her closest friends, plus Mommy, my friend and little Angie!  They got their hair and nails done, wore pretty sundresses and had fancy dessert at the Cheesecake Factory!

(NOTE:  I got a new laptop somewhere between these two events and therefore many of my Summer 2009 pics are on a different computer!  Notable omissions here include Juancho's 12 Birthday (a mini-golf excursion), the visit of a Ukrainian friend right over Fourth of July, and a couple visits to Chicago in July & August to prepare for and celebrate one of my best friend's wedding!)

 

We celebrated Daddy turning...ahem...34(!) with a quiet at-home party (we are in a recession, ya know!) complete with a home-cooked meal and handmade presents from the kids!


Despite our very cold October, we managed to find a day that was a wee bit less cold to go to the apple orchard with our homeschool co-op.  We made all sorts of yummy apple treats!



A treat that we made from the apples but DIDN'T eat was Wrinkly Faces!  Just in time for Halloween!  (want to know how to make these?  leave a comment!)


  Speaking of Halloween, you can see a bunch of pics and read all about it HERE!


 
 
2nd Forever Family Day Celebration (Nov. 8th)
We celebrated with a lunch at a new local Colombian restaurant and a movie.  The kids were THRILLED to eat a Bandeja Paisa complete with arepas and chorizo...AND drink Colombian soda like Colombina and Pony.

 

Angie had her 1st ballet recital and was just beautiful in it!

 

The kids LOVED participating in Operation Christmas Child and did GREAT picking out gifts for children their age who live in impoverished areas.  They understand all to well what those children are going through, and their genuine compassion is inspiring!

 

This incredibly handsome fella had his first trumpet/band concert and did GREAT!  He's learning more and more every day and really enjoys his homeschool band.

 

Though I've owned the sewing machine for 3 years, I'd only made one set of haphazardly sewn curtains and 2 Harry Potter capes...so I decided to get it out and learn a few things!  I even made some Christmas presents, like this pillow here for Laura.  Next on the docket?  My kiddos are begging for homemade Snuggies!  We'll see...

 


Laura has been taking a group piano class this fall and had her first recital in December.  We were so proud of her!  She tells me she dreams of playing on a baby grand piano someday!


 
 
Christmas 2009 - spent at Grandma & Grandpa's house...with lots of cousins and Tios!
2nd pic is of Holly's niece and her little baby Serenity
3rd pic - the kids first time putting together a gingerbread house!  (along with their cousin Joel)

 

 
We hosted a New Year's Eve party at our house...the girls and I made "2010" sugar cookies for it and young and old enjoy competitions on the Wii!




My dear Grandfather passed away on 12/30/09, so on New Year's Day I traveled out to Wisconsin for the funeral.  Here I am with two of my sisters and my brother along with my Grandma as we celebrated my grandfather's life.

 

We celebrated Angie's 5th Birthday on 01/09/10 with a Princess Party.  It is hard to believe she is already 5!  Growing up so fast, but what an awesome little girl she is!

SO...there you have it - in pictures!  The life and times of the Dressels!  (at least over the past several months that is!) 

Check out my sidebar for some changes in links, etc. 
 

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