Happy New Year 2024!!

 

Happy New Year friends!!! If you are reading this then this is my Christmas card to you! You’ll get recent pictures and updates on each member of the family. There’s also a few fun questions that I like to use to reflect on the year gone by and look forward to the next! This year I felt was a little easier on us than the previous couple of years. I mean, don’t get me wrong, it had its fair share of challenges, but in comparison to what we had been through recently, 2023 felt like a more restful year. We found better routines, Piper started sleeping through the night and Sam found relief from his back issues.(still not completely resolved, but closer!!) So yes, things have started to feel like I’m not just about to drown. Treading water feels good, even with a little forward movement here and there too. I’ll take it!!

Legend of Zelda Halloween costumes this year!

Here are my 2023 updates for the family oldest to youngest!

Jane bought me a Legend of Zelda phone bag. I love it!!

I am still in the midst of my never ending pursuit of balance in life and becoming more like Jesus everyday. My dear friend, Emmali, opened my eyes to the wonder of audiobooks through the local library using the Libby app. I have loved to read since graduating from high school. After having kids the only thing I could read and stay awake reading was Manga and I love that, but I did miss reading non-fiction. Audiobooks fill that book longing in my heart! I love to listen while I do the dishes or other chores and when I work early in the morning. It helps me stay focused and awake instead of distracting me like I thought it would. I have to pause my audiobook to compose an email and I can't do fiction audiobooks while I work and I don't really enjoy audio fiction much anyway. I would much rather read a physical book for fiction. I did fit in a few physical books that weren't Manga this year! That is thanks to Sarah Mackenzie's Podcast called Read Aloud Revival. She recommends carving out a 30 minute read time for everyone during the day, even mom! She talks about how important it is for your kids to see you reading and enjoying it. So the kids either pick whatever they want to read or they listen to an audiobook together while I do my own reading. The kids are loving the Ramona series right now. Some of my favorite non-fiction books this year have been, Raising Kids Who Read, (actually physical book read!) Take Back Your Family (I already read the physical book but the audio is awesome too!), Essentialism, The Road Back to You, Made for People, Culture Code (loved the physical so much last year I had to listen to the audio too), The Whole-Brained Child, To Hell With the Hustle and Mindset(still reading but so so good so far!). I don't make much time for full novels right now, but I did read one novel this year! Leo the Leper and the Senseless World. It was great! I would definitely recommend it. I can't wait for my Sister-in-law's next Novel continuing the story started in Outside of Grace! It's on my to read list for 2024! Of course, I still read a good amount of Manga too. Because Piper is sleep trained now, I get to play video games again! I had a great time Playing Zelda: Breath of the Wild this year along side Atlas playing his own file. It's so fun to enjoy video games with my kids! Now I'm currently playing Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom(Atlas is playing his own too), Super Mario RPG (Thanks to my bro for getting it for me!) and Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town (Jane and I are both playing files). During the day I am still working 2-3 hours a day (more during the beginning of the month) and went up from officially home schooling 2 kids to 3 this year! Life is incredibly full, but at the same time incredibly fulfilling! I wouldn't have it any other way!!

Drawings for this year

Well, this is my third New Years update to feature a health section for Sam. After it had been some time after Sam got the disc brace put in his back and his swelling and discomfort was still not all the way down they referred him to a cardiologist to make sure nothing else was amiss. The doctor thought it was a vein problem where he would have to get a small procedure done to fix it. When they did the ultrasound they ended up finding blood clots in his leg, which is exactly the thing that they first checked for at the ER when all this started in July 2021 and he had no clots. We figure they either missed it at that ER or more than likely, the sedentary lifestyle that was a byproduct of having back problems created a blood clot sometime in that 2 year span. The good news is no more procedures or surgeries! All he has to do is take blood thinner meds, wear compression socks and go back and get it checked on again to see when he can stop taking them. That appointment is in February. It may get moved up sooner if they have an opening. In regards to his swelling and discomfort, it's pretty much completely gone!! Yay!! He can do almost anything he could do before! Of course having a history of back problems means he should be careful with his activity, like no bungee jumping right? Not that he would have ever done anything like that anyway. He made it through a whole Labor day weekend at Tejas trip with tons of walking and activities with no problems. The only lingering issue is that he can't turn to look behind him as easily or quickly as before, but that is because of the brace surgery and could probably be worked on with a little PT. So yes, it feels amazing to have my husband back!! Another update that is mostly about Sam is that we moved his desk into our bedroom and out of the dining room. We added leaves to our table and made it so all of the family can sit at one table for dinner for the first time in years! It's awesome. Sam loves his cozy, secluded corner in the bedroom. It helps him recharge more fully after work to be on his own for a moment rather than being in the dining room right in the middle of everything right after work. So he has more energy for us! He started helping me with the dishes when he can and it's been so wonderful! Sam started playing Magic the Gathering with his co-workers and they sometimes have a guys night at a card shop/restaurant. It makes me feel better about going to my moms night out dinners when he gets to have some just dudes time too! Otherwise he is enjoying playing Balder's Gate 3 at the moment and is always listening to music or watching a new movie, show or anime in his free time.

I had to google the age range to be sure but Jane is officially a preteen! She’s 9 1/2 and in 4th grade. She made a reading breakthrough this year! (I think partially to all the books I read about reading and applying the tips I learned) She will read for pleasure now! Not all the time, but one time she read for 3 hours in one day to finish a pretty lengthy graphic novel! That book was called Sisters and she says it is her favorite. She also enjoys the branches series of books by scholastic, princess pink and the land of fake believe, diary of a pug, owl diaries and party diaries are a few of her favorites. She just started reading the Graphic Novel Series of The Babysitters Club done by the same Author of Sisters! She still likes to play Roblox and she is really enjoying her new game from Christmas Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town. It’s a farming simulation game by the creators of Harvest Moon. A game I grew up loving! This past fall she enjoyed retaking Perler Beads and PE at Super Friday and loved the crafting Nailed It class. She is so excited to try Sewing, Crochet and Lego Innovations this Spring! Maybe she can teach me to sew! Jane still loves to take care of her baby sister. So much so that when I was thinking of hiring a mother’s helper during the busy time of the accounting month (I’m still home) she agreed to be in charge for the mornings until 12pm. So when I have extra work for the first 5 days of the month Jane will take care of and entertain Piper. She’ll also be making breakfast for the kids. (Cereal and pop tarts usually or warming some mini pancakes in the microwave) and handling any toy or snack requests. She’ll be paid $10 each morning she is in charge and she is looking forward to making some money! All the kids agreed they would rather have Jane than having a teen come to be in charge. So she starts January! We will see how it goes!

Atlas is 7, almost 8 and in 2nd grade. He continues to excel with his school and is enjoying reading the branches series, Press Start. In fact he finished the whole series that has released and is moving on to Kung POW Chicken now. His love of video games only grows. He wants to be a game maker when he grows up. He is loving Mario Wonder that he just got for Christmas! Other games he really got into this year were Zelda:Breath of the wild, (he beat it! I was impressed.) and Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. Sonic Frontiers is still a big favorite as well. Atlas loved his first semester of Super Friday!! He took duct tape warfare, Perler Beads and PE. He says duct tape warfare was his fav. He is looking forward to the spring semester and he’ll be taking Chess, Spanish and Rubik’s Cube!  

Alexandria is 5 now and in Kindergarten!! She has loved starting Kindergarten! There are very few days where she gets upset. She is doing really well forming letters and her remembering her sight words. Math has been pretty simple for her so far because of all the little counting lessons we did last year. She continues to love animals of all kinds. Dragons are still number one! She loves stuffed animals that have a zipper with more little animals inside. She found a snail outside earlier this year and she asked if we could keep it! I couldn’t say no! We kept 4 snails for about 6 months. It was fun, but eventually I was done being the only one taking care of them. So we released them back into the backyard. She can make friends almost anywhere she goes! She has two little girls at park day that she is closest too though. She has started playing more make believe games with Jane and seeing their relationship grow has been so sweet! <3

Flynn just turned 4 and is my little tornado! He is a bundle of energy and activity! He rarely stops moving and talking or making some sort of noise. He became obsessed with tornados and volcanos right at the beginning of last year. He still loves dinosaurs and trains too. He fell in love with a YouTube viral character called Siren Head (it’s so weird to me, haha!) and always asks to watch it(he only gets to watch it on special nights with me or when my dad puts it on at his house) He loves his new Siren Head stuffy he got for his birthday. He does a few preschool activities here and there, but not much yet. He is a snack monster and always going to meet new friends at the park to see if they have anything to share. I meet so many new people because of Flynn. Haha! He has gotten a lot better with not throwing as many fits and reducing his volume. He’s still loud and crazy, but at least it’s a little more controlled and can reason with me much more than he could last year.

Piper is almost 1 1/2 and seems to be trying her hardest to interrupt every single moment of school possible. Either walking around on the table, throwing crayons everywhere, eating marker tips, stealing the glue stick or screaming every moment I put her down or I try to read our read aloud. She makes up for it by being ridiculously cute and so sweet and cuddly! She is a lot while we try to do school, but she brings so much joy! It has also forced the kids to be more independent with school which is good too. She is working on running and tries to jump with two feet off the ground. She can do it on the trampoline, but not quite on the ground yet. She always surprises me how many things she can climb up on. Piper loves to carry around baby dolls pat them and give them to me. She can say momma, dada, night night, hi, ow, uh oh, no, yeah and baby. Ever since she started getting her molars in the only person she wants to hold her is me. Which makes me feel special, but also a little overwhelmed at times. We’ll make it through! Maybe she’ll let others hold her again someday. ;)

I have so enjoyed the tradition of asking these 4 questions at the end of each year! I love the reflection and forward thinking it brings. 

Moms night out with dear friends!

Big family table!

1. What are you most grateful for in 2023?

This year I have a lot of “smaller” things I’m grateful for instead of one big thing. If I had to pick just one I think I would say the return of Family dinners for us. Switching Sam’s desk from the dining room to our room was one the best decisions we have made for our family. It eased so many little tensions I didn’t even realize were there and increased connection!

Honorable mentions: The return of sleep for me, faithful friends, Jane's reading breakthrough and better health for Sam. 

Labor Day Weekend at Tejas!

2. What was your favorite moment of 2023?

Definitely going back to Tejas and staying overnight for the first time in 13 years was my favorite moment of 2023. Watching my kids truly experience Tejas for the first time and doing it alongside their cousins was very special to me. <3

Honorable mentions: Going to Big Rivers with Jane, being back at Tejas for Christmas with my parents and the Riedels.

Christmas at Tejas!

3. What are you looking forward to in 2024?

Honestly? Going back to Tejas for Labor Day weekend 2024!! The kids are always asking when we are going back to Tejas. Especially Flynn! I love it.

Honorable mentions: Trying out our new plan with Jane being in charge for mornings during my first of the month accounting work, still working out the kinks in my routines and forming better habits.

Family pic at Thanksgiving 2023

4. What goals do you hope to accomplish/habits to form in 2024?

Last year I was half and half with accomplishing my goals! I lost the rest of the baby weight from Piper, but did not make any progress on the leftover weight from Flynn yet. I did not prioritize my blog as much as I wanted, but I did implement a habit recently to blog a paragraph a day or so and it's going well. I'm going to continue into 2024. Our family rest day starts on Saturday night with a family night and we have loved it! The kids look forward to it every week! Still working on making our Sundays a bit more restful for me. We did more school outside this year, but I didn't spend more leisure time outside with them. I'd like to do that this year. All in all, I'm very happy with the progress towards my goals! I didn't have this goal on my blog last year, but it was a personal goal. I wanted to limit social media usage to only when the kids are asleep at night and I finally achieved it!! The goal to reduce social media has been on my list since the beginning of 2020. It feels amazing to have it under control.

Ok thanks to my audiobook hobby, I have a new way of looking at goals. Yes, it is good to have an overarching goal or vision to aim at, but you also need daily habits that relate to that goal to help you achieve it and sustain it! So here are my goals and the habits that go along with it!

Goal: Prioritizing my blog - Habit: writing at least one paragraph or working on adding pictures to it for 15 minutes a day.

Goal: making better health choices/losing leftover baby weight - Habits: Meal planning breakfast/lunch for me, going to bed before Midnight, exercising 20 min daily.

Goal: Slowing down to create more bonding moments with kids. - Habits: letting go of my to do list for 30 min a day at least, reading 15 min of picture books daily/being in the backyard 15 min each day as weather permits. Journaling nightly to be more aware of how the day was spent.

Kids answers

Moments?

J: Big Rivers with me and her friend Evelyn

A: Christmas Day

X: The most recent movie we watched. Teenaged Kraken.

F: Water Tornado

All: Tejas Labor Day weekend

Grateful?

All: Christmas at Tejas being a gift from Marmee

Looking forward to?

All: Birthdays, Christmas, Beach, Tejas!

Goal?

J: Doing well with her new responsibility to earn money to give gifts

A: Finish Sonic Superstars

X: Play with Bryn

F: No more potty accidents (I gave him this goal. ;)

Pets are still thriving! 

Cambria got a growth removed from her leg this year and is great!

Milo got out recently and was gone for 6 hours. He came back at 9pm.

Just for funzies.

Most said phrases by me this year: 

Stop it 

Don’t do that 

Do your school 

Good job

Last year I tried out a word for the year and it was Rhythm. It fits well because I do feel like we found our stride last year again.

Let's go again and see what happens. The word that's sticking out to me is:

"Growth"

Goodbye 2023!!!!! Hello 2024! Happy New Year Everybody!

2 Peter 1:2-4

 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.