I was thinking that before we got too far into 2016 (it's only 12 days in so that's okay, right?!), I should think about what happened in the past year and pick out some highlights.
Last Year:
*We started out the new year deathly ill with the real-deal influenza and still remember the horrors of it a year later!
*Last January, we
finally felt settled enough to begin to get involved in things and come out of our Ohio shell-shock.
*Zakkai turned 8 last February and got to celebrate with his Lego party on a cold winter night:) It was lots of fun!
*Zakkai started Tae Kwon Do at the end of March and is now on his 5th belt! It has been SO good for him, in gaining confidence and learning to control his body. He was even brave enough to test by himself this last time which was a big deal!
*Samuel started baseball in the spring, having only done some recreation baseball at the Y in Chicago. Ben was his assistant coach in the spring
and the fall and they really enjoyed it! Samuel definitely grew in his skills and learned to love pitching and first base. He wants to do it again this year!
*Challenged myself to a huge May Minimalist game and got rid of tons of stuff and had my first garage sale!
*Samuel turned the big 10 in July, double digits! He got to celebrate with a friend/cousin party at Magic Mountain. He has definitely matured a lot and we begin to see what the dreaded "P" word will look like with him. (hint: emotional!!!) He also has a great sense of humor!
*We had a rough year at school and in March, knew something had to change for the next year. After months of talking, praying, checking out options, we made our big decision in July to homeschool for 2015-2016. Wow, what a change that has been! It was a rough start the first few weeks, as we did and did not anticipate but we began to see a change for the better after the first month.
*And...right when we were starting to get into the swing of things, we moved! It has been a
great change for us for the most part. We really love our new home. It has lots of great space for us and just feels a lot more like home. Everyone who comes in usually loves it, too:) It's also great for hosting parties, as we have found!
*We found a science co-op to attend, started this fall and it has made a world of difference in our homeschooling adventure. We have met the
nicest families and have learned a lot. Glad we took the plunge on that one!
*Our Joy-Girl turned FIVE at the end of October, after eagerly anticipating it for at least 6 months:) She had a rockin' Ballerina party, complete with a surprise bouncy castle! Her emotions have been up and down since turning five but she is working on it and is still (mostly) as sweet as sugar:)
*I also entered the world of building furniture with my re-purposed
entertainment center-turned-sewing desk and my new
kitchen island. It's really fun and kind of addicting! I already have new ideas for the next project...:)
*We reconnected with a few old friends, made several new friends and at the very end of the year made a church switch (same church, new campus) and have enjoyed that change. It's been better for all of us.
And a few silly things:
*Favorite books read by me this year:
"
Seven" by Jen Hatmaker. Truly rocked my world. Loved it.
"
The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up" by Marie Kondo. Recommended to me by a few people. It's a Japanese style of approaching de-cluttering and it was really cool! Some parts were...interesting but a lot of it was great and I am using a lot of it in my house and my mom and I are helping other people, too!
"
More Charlotte Mason Education" by Catherine Levison. This was the book that finally made everything click about homeschooling for Ben and I and everything took off from there. It had some really great food for though about our children's education!
I read a lot more but those are three off the top of my head that really impacted me in different ways.
This year I am started off with favorite books on a totally different note as I research our family health and eating habits. My current favorites are:
"
It Starts With Food" by Dallas and Melissa Hartwig
"
The Whole30" also by Dallas and Melissa Hartwig. We'll see what comes out of reading these but they are definitely giving me "food for thought." Pun intended, haha!
Favorite Movies of 2015:
"
Inside Out" definitely! We've seen it 3 times!! Once in the movie theater in 3D (in which I discovered I should never ever see 3D movies!) and then on Redbox. It's worth owning so if you haven't seen it yet, do it!! (side note: after watching it again over New Year's break, our little family was talking about our emotions and who we think we are mostly "driven" by and it was such a fun conversation! We all agreed that Eliana is mostly driven by "Joy" and it comes to my mind often as I watch her sing and dance and just enjoy life!)
"
Saving Mr. Banks" I know this wasn't a new movie but it was new for us! It's the story behind Mary Poppins and the author. It was so well-done, even better than we expected and we loved it!
"
The Shop Around the Corner" It's the black-and-white, old version similar to "You've got mail" with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. I loooooved this movie and Ben did, too. We are suckers for old movies!!
I am not sure what to think yet about this new year in front of us. It will be filled with changes (as years always are) and I must admit I am gun-shy of changes after the last several years but I am hoping to approach a new year with a little more hopefulness and eyes opened to the ways in which God is working.
Happy New Year!
