Goals for 2016

In 2014 I focused on habits and traditions. There are certainly a few that the kids really enjoy like having donuts for breakfast on each of our birthdays and me buying a gallon of chocolate milk the week each child has a birthday. Last year I focused on grace - being more willing to bend the rules from time to time and being a bit more relaxed about school work. The fact that I took off a week from school work the week of Thanksgiving was proof that I have been more relaxed this year. This year I want to focus on patience and gentleness. I am thinking of moments such as when Oliver spills milk for the second time that day or writes with a marker on the couch. I want to show more love and less frustration. Hopefully this list is realistic, but even if we only achieve some of the goals, that will represent progress!

1. Once the weather gets warmer I'd like to get back in the habit of running 3-4 times a week and gradually increase my pace and by next fall I'd like to be able to run as far as 10 miles and also

be able to run one mile in 12-13 minutes (maybe that is overly ambitious, but it's a goal to shoot toward anyhow). I'd also like to lose at least 6 more pounds (or more if I gained weight since I last weighed myself). I think it is going to be much harder for me to run once Paul starts working FT for Kennedy Concrete in May, but I hope to find a way to work it into the schedule. If I get a job, then we can afford to pay a babysitter while I run.

2. Having a regular family fun night and a regular family game night. I think we should target Saturday night for the family fun night (rotate among us as to who picks what we do that night together), and I think Friday night would be a good night to declare as our game night for the first four months of the year. Once Paul starts working FT at Kennedy Concrete, I think Sunday night will be best for game night because M-F when he works at the plant by the time he gets home and takes a shower, it is usually time to put the boys to bed.

3. Although all three kids are potty trained, there is still room for growth in this area. All three could do a much better job with remembering to flush. Oliver needs to learn to put his own
clothes back on afterward and making sure all the pee goes IN the potty. Ian needs to remember that toilet paper goes in the toilet not the trash can. Oliver and Nadia need to remember to close the door for privacy.

4. Ian and Nadia need to continue to like a wider variety of foods, particularly vegetables and soups. Oliver needs to become more independent with eating. He *can* feed himself, but often times he still prefers for me to feed him. I want to keep trying new recipes even after we finish studying different countries each week. Ian needs to consistently finish his lunch and his dinner in an hour or less. I would love to see Ian and Nadia learn how to cut their own food and remember to stay seated until they are done eating.

5. I want to work with Nadia and Ian on memorizing their basic addition and subtraction facts, using coins, and telling time. Ian also needs to work on being able to count to 100 by ones and fives (he can already do so by tens). I would like for Oliver to learn to count to 20 and identify the numerals 0-10 accurately. By the end of 2016 I think Ian will have completed the first grade math textbook and Nadia will have completed the third grade math textbook.

6. Oliver needs to learn to identify the letters of the alphabet and begin learning how to write upper case letters. I would like to see Ian finish Level 3 of reading and also complete Level 4 of the reading curriculum. I hope that by the end of 2016 he is reading easy chapter books independently.

7. The household chore I would like to focus on this year is dusting. I am making that Ian's new chore now that he's six years old, and I think if he and I dust a part of the house each week, that would be a big improvement. Ian and Nadia need to hang up their wet towels and do more than just pull the comforter over their beds each morning.

8. If we do move this year, I really, really want to go all out at trying to make at least one or two friends for myself. I also need to make progress with emotionally handling this drastic change of plans for our lives. I am hoping to meet with a counselor or pastor at church next month to that end. If I
go back to work, I need to make the transition from being a SAHM to being a mom who has a FT job. Hopefully we will still be able to homeschool the children, but if not, they will also need to make the transition to attending school.

9.  Ian needs to break the belly button habit, learn to tie his shoes, obey the first time I ask him to do something, and decrease the whining and complaining.

10. I would love to see Oliver learn to ride a bike with training wheels, be kinder with his words, learn to do a forward tuck roll, and continue to make progress with controlling his temper.

11. I want to have Nadia start using a writing curriculum, get back to using Rosetta stone for Spanish, get back to working on her keyboarding skills, finish the fourth grade spelling textbook by the end of 2016, become more flexible (she's become VERY picky lately in regards to many different things), learn to write in cursive, remember to put the hairbrush back where it belongs, not scream when her hair is brushed, and see drastic
improvements with her attitude and tone of voice.

12. I want to continue to hone my photography skills. I am planning on using most of the money my Aunt Janet gave me for Christmas toward a Lightroom course. I think taking that class will be very helpful and "force" me to make progress (and start shooting in raw).

13. I have not read through the whole Bible in a year lately. I would like to do that in 2016. I also want to help Nadia get in habit of having a daily time of prayer and Bible reading.

14. The financial goal for 2016 is to no longer have a mortgage. We've paid off the van and Paul's student loans. I want the only debt we have to be a loan from my retirement accounts to buy our next house because it means we would not paying interest to any bank.

15. I wrote most of this post a few weeks ago and just added pictures to it this week, but this final goal I only wrote last night. My mother was told yesterday she has cancer. We don't know any particulars yet in terms of exactly what kind, how far along it is, what the treatment will be, etc., but my goal is to be as much help to her as I possibly can. They usually make more trips up here to visit us than we do down there to visit them, but I imagine we will be making more trips than usual in 2016 to help my mom out through this battle with cancer. I wish with all my heart that she did not have to go through this, but I am praying for the Lord to heal her as only He can.