I just want to start by saying that I’m so blessed to be “mama” to these 4 little ones! They are the sunshine of my life!
They are so, so precious to me, and in 2018, my goal is to enjoy more undistracted moments with them. As a mom, I find myself multi-tasking all.the.time. But recently I have been trying to unplug from everything else around me and focus on one task at a time. It’s not always possible to do this, and I still need to work on it a lot more to make it a habit, but here’s what that looks like…
When I’m reading them a book, I put my phone somewhere where I won’t even feel it buzz with a text, and I try not to think about what else I need to get done this afternoon–I ignore the stack of laundry waiting to be folded. I want to be 100% into the book that we’re reading together. I want to entirely engage in the moment with all these precious little people stacked around and on top of me, giggling at the silly voices I make for different characters in the book.
My goal for 2018 revolves around the word “Cultivate” which I took from Lara Casey’s book by that title. In her book, she talks about cultivating the things in our lives.
For me, that means putting roots to what I already have going, pruning out the unnecessary, and intentionally not reaching for new opportunities and ideas.
This is a challenge for me, because I’m the type that sees possibilities all around me, and I tend to start too many projects and chase too many ideas. It might seem like a funny goal for 2018, but my goal is to NOT start anything new.
Five months have already slipped away since Caleb joined our family, and it seems like the blink of an eye. Keeping the perspective that my time to spend teaching, loving, training, and watching their silly antics, is limited to just a few years, makes it easy to see the things in my life that are truly important.
When they are grown it will not matter whether we made it to places on time, but it will matter if they grew up in a home with joy and love surrounding them.
I want them to have memories of baking together, telling silly jokes, running around outside, reading shelves full of books, playing board games, and visiting grandparents.
I want them to learn how to apologize and forgive, how to work hard, how to care for others, how to enjoy nature, and so much more… They won’t learn these if all I’m displaying is a rushed, stressed sort of life. These things only come intentionally.
Time doesn’t slow down, but we can.
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Here’s a quick Christmas letter/Family Update:
These two are best buds. Their big accomplishment this fall was learning how to read! Addie is only a bit behind Kenny in their reading books, so he’s working hard at staying ahead of her. She has a way of motivating him like this in lots of areas. 😉
I’m guessing I won’t be able to get this shot for too many more years. 😉
We’ve been working on including Michael during playtime. Kenny & Addie are learning how to give him parts to play in their pretend games, and help him build his own wooden train tracks so he doesn’t wreck theirs. It’s certainly an exercise in patience for the older two, but we’re seeing some progress!
Michael loves “his baby” so much. He brings him stuffed animals and covers him with blankets, then let’s me know that he made Caleb “cozy.”
This little gal has serious long hair goals. She told me this week that she’s going to have hair as long as Rapunzel’s. I’m not so sure about that, but we are letting her grow it out, and I’m going to have to actually learn how to style her very silky hair. Wish me luck!
Addie is taking off with her piano lessons! We put her violin lessons on hold for now because she was really struggling with those–but doing piano instead has been just what she needed. Not only does she love her lessons, but she is also moving quickly through her beginner books, and played in her first piano recital this month.
Lover of books, and big brown-eyed “snuggle bear” (as we like to call him) still has a lot of baby in him, but considers himself to be a big guy. We discovered that he loves to be needed, so are coming up with more ways for him to help around the house.
Caleb gets so much attention, but seems to thrive on it! Whenever he gets a little grumpy, his siblings will bring him toys, roll him over gently, or do silly little dances to make him laugh. He may be a bit spoiled, but if he is, he’s the sweetest spoiled baby ever!
Kenny is flying through Kindergarten and has fun with his bookwork, but also enjoys doing “man work” like stacking wood and fixing stuff with Daddy. For his birthday Grandpa & Nana got him a real toolbox that he keeps in Grandpa’s shed. He’s always ready to help anyone with anything!
“Let’s pretend we’re asleep! Take our picture, mama!”
Sometimes when Caleb needs attention, Addie will rub his head and say, “Do you need your little mommy?” referring to herself.
And this is what happens when the 2 year old gets tired of sitting still and smiling!
It will be exciting to see what the New Year holds! We have plans to do a bit of traveling, and we’re looking forward to that!
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