Some Really Great Reads

Do you follow the blog Rambling Renovators like I do?  Well you should... especially today!  A little while back Jen emailed me and asked if I would like to participate in her Great Reads Series-- a series where a few of her favorite bloggers share their favorite posts of 2011.  Of course-- I was honored to be included in the series!  So, if you want to see what my favorite post of 2011 was... go check it out here. Thanks for including me Jen!

Now, as you might imagine-- choosing just ONE post was an exceptionally difficult task.  Really, I have way more than one favorite post!  So since it's the end of the year I thought I'd do a little recap of ALL of my favorite posts from 2011-- month by month.  So without further ado... here are some MORE of my favorites from 2011...

In January we decided to renovate our office.  The best part of the renovation was the built in bookcases we (and when I say we-- I really mean Doug) created out of three Ikea Billy bookcases.

On a snowy day in February we packed up the kids and spent the day in Vancouver getting around via public transportation.  It was a real good time.  Especially when I jumped onto the wrong crowded bus without my wallet and phone-- just me, my infant daughter, and a soother!

In March I was feeling the need to entertain my kids... so I devised a fun new game to play at the grocery store.  It was a big hit...

In April I bought a new light fixture for my bedroom.  And... if you want to know why that was such a big deal for me you can read all about why the pre-existing light fixtures in my house were so offensive...

In May I did a tutorial on how to make your own fitted crib sheet.  Really, it is as easy as it looks...

June's favorite post was about the shelves we put in our bathroom.  I love my shelves because they look pretty-- and because they were free-- we created them out of a few scraps of MDF we found in our garage.  What's the best kind of project?  The free kind!!!

July was all about Road Trips.  I love road trips.  And even though the kids did not quite understand the concept of "it's a really REALLY long drive"-- we still had fun.  Most of the time.

My highlight of August was Emerson's first birthday!  My little lady turned one... and that's pretty fantastic.  But the other thing I love about this post is that it so appropriately showcases a typical day at our house-- crazy and sometimes dramatic.  Let's just say the day included food, a lot of people, an incapacitated hostess (me), crutches, a few cupcakes, a major allergic reaction, and a trip to the emergency room.  Today (four months later) I'm finally laughing about it...

September was a ridiculously crazy month.  I wonder why-- maybe because I was recovering from knee surgery on the couch and parenting my two children... at the same time.  So the fact that I was able to take Caleb to his first day of preschool was exciting-- especially when I had to bum scoot my way down my front steps on my way to the car.  Who needs crutches when you can scoot!  And... I just love how his "first day of school pictures" turned out... that's my boy :)

My favorite post from October is the one about my thankful tree!  It's my favorite because it was so super easy to do... and maybe because I only actually cleaned up the tree last week?  Did Thanksgiving really happen over two months ago?  And Christmas is over?  Someone's behind the ball around here...

November's favorite post would most definitely have to be the one with pictures of my little lady.  My girl just melts my heart.  Even though she thinks her daddy is way cooler than me...

In December I shared the advent calender I crafted for our house.  And I am happy to say that we actually managed to do a fun activity with the kids on every day-- except for one.  I figured the 25th was pretty self explanatory and required no additional hype.  Am I right or am I right?

And that my friends was 2011 at our house.  Thanks for reading along with me!!  Hope next year is equally fun and entertaining...