It’s been a busy few months, but life with 4 kids is always busy.

Here’s a quick recap of what’s been happening.

In September we went on another cruise. This time we sailed Wonder of the Seas out of Port Canaveral, FL. At the time of our cruise, she was the largest ship in the world (Icon of the Seas has since taken over that distinction).

Wonder is a fantastic ship with so much to do for everyone age group and with friends and family joining us this time, I’m glad there was so much to keep everyone entertained.

Trivia games, bingo, rock climbing walls, ice skating, Flowrider surf simulator, zip lining, carousel, shopping, shows, casino, pools, hot tubs, mini golf, play areas for younger kids, video arcade, shows and so much more.

We had stops at Coco Cay, Bahamas (Royal Caribbeans private island), St. Thomas and St. Maarten. The weather was fantastic, although St. Maarten was VERY HOT! Hubby ended up taking some of the kids back to the ship because the heat was too much for them.

We had our first Halloween back in Illinois in our new neighborhood. It was cold and we even saw some snowflakes. It was Ezran’s first time trick-or-treating and he didn’t seem to mind the cold at all. We didn’t stay out long, but it was plenty of time to get some yummy treats.

Arryn decided to try something different and auditioned for a part in a holiday show at our local community theater. She was offered a role and I got nervous. I had no idea how she would react to being on stage in front of hundreds of audience members. I am happy to say that my fears were unfounded. She LOVED it!!!

Two of Naomi’s dear friends from Texas flew up for a short visit during their winter break. She had missed them A LOT and we tried to make it as fun as possible. We went shopping, baked cookies and headed to Chicago for an overnight visit before taking them back to the airport.

Christmas is always a BIG event in the World of Weeks. We had fun decorating our new house and before Christmas had even arrived, we already had ideas for some different decor next season.

With all our construction projects, my surgery and our cruise, we hadn’t been able to reconnect with many of our Central IL friends and family. We decided the holidays were the perfect time so we sent out Christmas cards with invitations hoping some would be able to stop by. We had 40 people come by for food, drink, catching up on life and lots of laughter. Such a great turn-out and a wonderful time!!!

In our attempt to create the perfect home for our family, we have a few projects in the works. The most exciting project is our garden. We have several raised beds built, although they still need to be filled for planting. We have quite a bit of work to do in the next few weeks and hoping we can get it all done before it’s time to start planting. We are very much looking forward to some fresh produce this summer and fall as well as some time in the kitchen canning and freezing our bounty. Hopefully we’ll have bounty!

As is typical in the World of Weeks, there are several things on the horizon, including a cruise up the New England and Canadian coast. Having only cruised to the Caribbean, this will be a first for our family. One of the kids is not crazy about the idea of this cruise, while another is happy to know we’re doing something different. Our little guy is just excited about going on another cruise while our youngest daughter is excited about time in Adventure Ocean making friends.

Time to get back to my regularly scheduled routine.