Where has 2013 gone & what does 2014 hold?!

Wow, it’s the 21st December already? Where has 2013 gone.

This year although its been a bit up and down with the injury from the car accident and redundancy it has been the most amazing year for memories.

We’ve been on our first trip abroad as a family, 2 weeks of glorious sunshine, no internet and just quality family time for the 4 of us. After the end of 2012 and stressful beginning of 2013 it was just what we needed and we loved every moment of it.

Kayleigh and Ethan ask us so often when we are going back on the plane and I can’t wait to get out to Lanazarote again, we’ve already booked our trip back to Sand’s Beach for 2014!

We have also finally begun to make our house more homely. After buying back in 2007 we had hardly any money left. Not long after we then welcomed Kayleigh into our family followed by Ethan after meaning the house has been put on the back burner.

Slowly we’ve been doing a few things to the house and this January saw us install the much-needed double glazing and decorate our living room. This really is the hub of the house and the one room that we spend 90% off our time, so having this done was one of the best decisions we ever made to spend our money on.

Then in August the day after my birthday, I received a surprise email telling me I had won some items from a Victoria Plumb bathroom competition. This came as a complete shock, never did I imagine winning a bathroom! Since then we’ve been working with Victoria Plumb and Topps Tiles on our bathroom and this is currently being fitted! I’m so excited to see this finished, this has been the one room I have hated since we moved in as it was a horrible green colour!

That is just a couple of things that have happened this year however there is so much more!

• Daddy Vs Work turned 30 and as well as our holiday, we treated him to a trip to Old Trafford but of course it wasn’t just any old trip. We had a tour and a visit to the museum plus match tickets to see United play. However we seemed to strike it lucky as our trip coincided with them being presented the trophy as well as Sir Alex Ferguson’s last game.

• Ethan started pre-school! For so long Ethan has been desperate to get to school with his sister and this year was his year. He is such a confident little boy and enjoys playing with other children and learning so much that preschool to him has been a bit of a breeze. He misses it so much when he’s not there too!
• Kayleigh started reception class – This one was hard. I think as Kayleigh is our first, she has all the first experiences which means we learn as much from them as she does. However this felt like my baby was turning into a big girl and there was no going back! She is thriving at school though, learning to read and count plus so much more but the most important thing of all is her confidence. She is growing in confidence every day and comes out smiling from school.
• We had our first charity of the year – Fundraising for Findlay – Back at the end of last year whilst I was off work, I was trying to get my head around the anxiety and the best way I could think of dealing with it was to focus on something. This was when I thought about a Charity fundraiser.

Knowing how many requests I get for helping out charities I knew I had to work with just 1 or I’d get overwhelmed and  that’s where our charity of the year came from. After putting it to our followers and making the final decision we went with Fundraising for Findlay. Then I was on a mission.

I knew I couldn’t just half heartedly do it, I needed to raise as much money as I could. I’m not going to lie though it wasn’t always easy. There were times when I felt like giving up, like maybe I had bitten off more than I could chew but I didn’t and I’m glad at that after seeing Findlay in his new wheelchair today, it has reminded me what I have helped contribute too.

I’m not sure what 2014 has in store for us but we are ready for it. Life is too short to plan everything to the last detail and sometimes thinking on your feet keeps you going! Here’s to hoping we can make so many more memories in 2014 and enjoy every second of it.