Each New Year when I set new goals, I usually start out pretty ambitious. Then by February I’m burnt out and by March I’ve adjusted my goals so I don’t feel like a big fat failure. This year, I tried to keep it manageable from the get go. My simple goals are to drink less caffeine and be healthier. I’m down to one soda a day now! Soon I will only be drinking it every now and then.

Kender teaching Rhett to play chess

I admit I did feel like a failure when I tried to start our new "manageable" school routine on Monday. All I wanted to do was add in daily family scripture study and one lesson per child from our favorite curriculum. Oh, and make the boys make their beds and brush their teeth every morning. That’s it. Well, I ended up fighting with Rhett for about an hour because he thinks making the top bunk is too hard... and I don’t disagree... But we were both feeling stubborn, and tears were shed by both of us. We ended up doing school as usual, with none of the "reasonable" things I wanted to add in.

I love watching Mason use his imagination to play with toys! He’s growing up so fast.

Feeling defeated, I started listening to my current audiobook, "Call of the Wild and Free". It talked about all the homeschool curriculum out there, and how it’s great, but not really necessary in this day and age with all the information and resources we have constant access to. It talked about the importance of letting kids learn at their own pace, and nurturing their natural passion for learning. I decided I’d rather have a messy bed and a happy boy than start every day making my sweet 6 year old cry. Today, I didn’t mention the bed or the teeth brushing, and he actually decided to get started with school on his own. It was a much better day for us!

So my new goal is to start each day with a family scripture lesson from our church’s Come Follow Me curriculum and then have the boys continue doing our school routine that is working for us right now. I hate that there isn’t as much "one on one" time available with each of them that I’d like, but at this stage in life, I need to remember to give myself some grace. 2020 was nuts, and 2021 is kind of starting that way too. We are doing pretty dang good all things considered!

Goals for 2021

Tuesday, January 12, 2021

Daily Life, goals, Homeschool

Kender teaching Rhett to play chess

I love watching Mason use his imagination to play with toys! He’s growing up so fast.

January 2, 2021 was Rhett’s 6th birthday! We had cousins in town, so we made a cake and partied at Nana and Grandpa’s house. Rhett shares a birthday with his cousin Soren, so he always enjoys celebrating with him. We decorated a birthday banner, played with toys and balloons, had cake, and opened gifts. Rhett screamed at the top of his lungs when he opened a new lego set from Nana, and he begged me to go home so he could play with it for hours after. I’m really glad he’s so easy to please. Give Rhett some cars, some legos, and some cake and he’s a happy camper!

We love you so much Rhett boy ❤️.

Rhett Turns 6

Monday, January 4, 2021

Birthdays, Family of 5

We love you so much Rhett boy ❤️.

We had a pretty great New Year! Ryan’s sister Nicole and her family were in town so the boys enjoyed spending time with lots of cousins, and we enjoyed our ‘new foods’ tradition. We had a pink cheese ball (definitely my favorite thing), kimchi, Chinese bbq pork, British candy, and more. We stayed at Nana’s house with cousins until about 7:30, then we headed home and got everyone to bed about 20 minutes later than usual. Everyone was exhausted, so they were ok with not staying up late, thank goodness!

Welcome 2021

Friday, January 1, 2021

Family of 5, Holidays, New Years Eve

Christmas this year was a little different, but not because of COVID. Ryan’s sister and her family went to California, so it was just us, Nana, and Grandpa. It was more quiet than we’re used to, but it was really nice. We were happy to be together, and I think we all felt so grateful. I didn’t get any pictures from Christmas Day, but here are a few from December: