Saturday, January 1, 2011

Rummel's Top 10 of 2010

Here's looking back at 2010!


10. Getting a Pool- Can I just say Best. 50. Bucks. We. Ever. Spent. Our entire summer revolved around our pool. We had a blast swimming and having fun all summer. Julian even taught himself how to swim under water by himself.




9. Homeschool Group- I had no idea what I was getting into when I decided to homeschool Julian this year. I didn't know anything about homeschooling. I wanted to join a group, but I was a little intimidated thinking about my own stereotypes of homeschooling families. I am so grateful that I found FUH. They have been a great support group and we have made lots of new friends.

The kids of FUH in a jail cell while on our field trip to the Van Buren Police Department.

8.Julian's Beatles Birthday- How cool that my 4 year old loves the Beatles so much he wanted that as his theme for his party. I have to say making his cake took a lot of time, but it was a lot of fun. He was so geeked to see the finished product. And you know, no Beatles party is complete without playing Beatles Rock Band and getting a yellow submarine for a present!





7.Couponing- Learning how to coupon and save money had been essential in me being able to stay home this year. I never realized before how many things are free at our local stores. I have saved hundreds of dollars in the last few months. We were even able to cut our Christmas spending by 75% this year as compared to other years.

6. Engagements- Love is in the air around here. First, we were beyond excited to find out that Mark's brother Matt was engaged to Lindsay. Then my dearest friend Bree and Andy. Then my mom and Chuck. A few weeks later my cousin Beth announced her engagement as well! Lots of weddings to look forward to in 2011!
My mom and Chuck

5. Toy Story 3- OK, I know it seems really silly. But, thanks to Grandma Taylor we were invited to a special preview of Toy Story 3 on opening night. It was nice that Mark and I were able to do something special with just Julian. I swear that movie changed his life! It has taken over our house....literally. Everything we did this year revolved around TS3. I know in the future we'll be looking back at this time in our life and how engrossed our lives were in this movie.

4. Susan G. Komen 3-day Walk- I spent most of the year fundraising $2300 for this walk. It was something I had always thought about doing and I finally had the guts to sign up and go for it. I'm proud to say I raised my money and began the walk. Unfortunately, my foot and ankle didn't want to cooperate so I didn't get to walk all 60 miles, but I got to walk most of the first day and the last few miles on the last day to the finish line. I'm still proud that I was able to raise so much money (thanks to all of you) for breast cancer research and programs. It was a great experience.
Bree and I at the opening ceremony
3. Leaving Work- In May I finally made the decision to take a leave from work for a year. I am beyond thankful that Mark was so supportive. This has been the best year of my life. I don't think there is one thing that I will ever regret about this decision.

2. Pennsylvania Vacation- This year we took our first REAL family vacation. We spent a week in New Jersey and PA going to the kids favorite place, Sesame Place. We made so many wonderful memories and I will always cherish that time we had together.
Sesame Place, Langhorne, PA.


1. LIAM IS OFF ALL MEDS! Hallelujah! Praise the Lord! Liam has been on medicine for acid reflux since he was 3 weeks old. The Dr. said that kids usually get off the meds. between 6 mo. and 1 year. Although we had tried many times, he clearly was not ready then. Liam also had some breathing problems for awhile that required twice a day breathing treatments, which he fought tooth and nail each and every single time. He was also having frequent ear infections. Last December he got tubes, and everything changed. At one point in his life, he was on 8 different meds. a day! After the tubes, there were no more ear infections and he no longer had any breathing problems. It wasn't until October of this year that he was able to successfully get off his medicine for reflux. It's been over 2 years and Mark and I couldn't be happier to watch our healthy boy thrive! And, he sleeps now!!!! {I think I hear the chorus of angels singing now}

Hard to image this happy guy being so sick all the time.

I'm excited to see what 2011 has in store for us!!!