2014 - update

So at the beginning of the year (okay, maybe a couple weeks into it), I posted some thoughts on some goals we had for 2014 for our family. I thought this would be a good time to update on where we are at, as well as keep myself accountable for what our original goals were. Here goes:

Running

True to form, I have not followed through on the running plan as well as I wanted to. If I had stuck with it 100%, I would be at the 10K marker at this point. I definitely am not. I am not even quite maintaining the 5k level. I have some various excuses, the top probably being the weather (we DID have 2 solid weeks of the world being iced over, and of course LOTS of rain), and second from the top being laziness. Okay, maybe those need to be listed in the other order. But, I’m not giving up, I’m still running, I just need to up my game again. I really do enjoy it, and it is definitely great exercise. Perhaps a sweet new pair of shoes would help encourage me (hint hint, birthday in a few weeks Justin Lee…)

Homeschooling

This is still likely in the works for us. Since our kids are so young, and no decision really has to be made for at least a full year, I feel comfortable just fact-finding and seeking information at this point. I have accumulated a LOT of info on how different families actually DO homeschooling. As in, how their days look, how they work with more than one age, what materials they use, etc. Bottom line is that it can be done, but I just want to prayerfully consider the options and the timing and the actual plan and make sure that I am following God’s intent for our family. In the meantime, we have officially completed our Preschool Alphabet curriculum as of last week. We finished strong and I am really pleased that we went from beginning to end and put in a good effort for a solid 8+ months. It was really fun and rewarding and I think the kids learned a LOT. Admittedly, it is probably more of a benefit to Thad than Thatcher, but I don’t feel like Thatcher is suffering by participating in things slightly above his level. Among other things, Thad’s handwriting has hugely improved. He is comfortable writing all his upper and lowercase letters. Here is an example of his writing on day one (Ant Day, back in September) and during Z week last week:

Friday Nights

What is now known as “Friday night family movie night” in our house has been super fun and awesome. We all look forward to it, and it feels like a great way to go into our weekend. We always have pizza, which doesn’t feel like it has gotten old yet. We have had some super yummy combinations, like salami, feta and pepperocinis, or my personal fave; bbq sauce, mozzarella, grilled chicken, pineapple, red onion and cilantro. YUM.

I have also decided on and dialed in my favorite pizza crust. No more switching back and forth between different recipes. Sometimes it takes making things frequently to really figure out how you like it best.

I try to have dinner ready pretty promptly at 5:30, so we can be done and have popcorn made by a 6:00 movie start time. That way a typical 90 min kids movie still gets done around bed time. The popcorn has been another fun part of the night. We made the recipe that I had posted (for Salted Honey Butter Popcorn) and have loved it so much that we make it every time. It’s the perfect mix of sweet and salty. We decided to invest in an air popper (and by invest, I do mean $17 on Amazon…but still, it’s a commitment for sake of cabinet space if nothing else), and of course that’s always exciting for them to watch.

Another reason for a prompt movie start time is that it doesn’t prolong bed time so much that Justin and I can’t still watch a movie after they go to bed. Historically, we have not been huge movie watchers, especially since having kids (sleep is precious, people!). However; now that Friday’s are set aside as movie nights, we have started to watch much more frequently. Our current mission is to catch up on all of the Marvel movies that we have missed over the last several years.

Date Nights

This is also happening. And it’s quite nice. I think we have both had 2 date nights at this point. The kids all do great, and it goes without saying that we enjoy going out by ourselves every 2 months. Hopefully it’s worthwhile to all involved and it continues on for a while. Like, forever.

Master Update

Currently in the works! Bedspread has been purchased, carpet has been measured for, paint has been chosen and purchased, floor molding is in the garage. I will wait till the project is complete before I post pictures, but it is going to look SO NICE. We decided against navy blue walls, but I love the color we are going with. Hopefully the project will be all done by the end of the month. Justin is so busy, working a lot of overtime, it’s hard for him to fit everything in. He works really hard. He has put a huge amount of work into refinishing our bathrooms this last month. They turned out beautiful, I will post more on that later.

Downsizing Bills

I think this process will always be changing over time for us. Justin is constantly re-evaluating how we allocate our money, how we are paying off our (ie MY) school debt. He does a great job handling a big task. I will say it has been surprising easy to give up cable TV. I honestly would say the effect on our life has been minimal. We still get local stations, so they boys watch Sesame Street most mornings. That plus our Friday night movie is basically all the TV they watch, which I feel good about. It makes me feel comfortable with letting Thad have computer time and playing with Thatcher either on the computer of on my Kindle, without feeling like they have too much screen time. I don’t think either Justin or I miss TV in the evenings. We still watch some TV at night, but probably half of what we used to at most, and I don’t miss it.

We have also been really happy with our cell phones through a wireless company. We are literally paying $20 a month combined for our cell service. We are considering cancelling our home phone, but for some reason it’s a little hard to give up the security of an actual phone. We’ll see.

Donesies

That about sums up our current state of progress in 2014. Next on the agenda for me and the boys is a new summer schedule for “school” stuff. I’m still sorting out exactly what that plan will be. And hopefully, our house projects will be all done by the end of this month. Our month of June is pretty open besides a long weekend to Seattle to visit my brother and his family that we are REALLY looking forward to. The Zoo, a Mariners game, the Sound….should be fun. As I told Justin recently, we are finally at a point where I feel like we can go places without me totally stressing out. Not that my history of stressing out has been warranted, but I get really tense and nervous about how the boys will handle car rides, over night trips, sleeping other places, etc. Their track record is good enough now, and they are old enough now, that I am expecting a stress free trip. Time will tell :)

So, Seattle trip, and then just a little matter of a wedding taking place at Justin’s parent’s house in August…that should be no biggie. No biggie at all…..