Around the blog this past year, I’ve been quiet for the most part with the exception of sharing a little life update back in August. Considering we’ve been home the majority of the time and life has completely slowed down (comparatively speaking), it would seem that the opposite would be true. That said, life with four teens at home is nothing short of full. :)

Keeping up with school has been, at times, challenging – mainly keeping motivation going for both the kids and myself. College options are going back and forth with McKenna and Laurianna, and life is moving along in general.

Rather than sharing an exhaustive list of all that is happening in our lives, how about a quick sum-up?

• Laurianna returned home in October 2020 (FINALLY) from Mercy Ships where she had been serving since May 2019.
• Swim competitions began opening up, slowly but surely. At the end of March we even traveled to Florida for two big swim meets for the boys (so thankful they will both be in the same age group meets next year!). Zachary even had a chance to meet a few Olympic swimmers including Caeleb Dressel (pictured above) and Ryan Lochte.
• McKenna and Zachary both started working at the same restaurant and have been loving their jobs
• Zachary is now an officially licensed driver, after so many delays thanks to slooooooow mail and other restrictions.
• We’ve enjoyed continuing with a small weekly co-op for literature and chemistry with Zachary and a few other high school kids (all girls – poor Zachary).
• We are prepping for McKenna’s high school graduation and contemplating what her fall will look like.

In March I also traveled to Nashville to speak at Teach Them Diligently, where I was able to spend some time with one of my best friends, Carisa. I am so thankful we were able to see each other and incredibly thankful to be able to spend a few days relaxing. The trip to Nashville was the first time since everything shut down last March that I was by myself – literally a year. (Hear me on this – I love my family, but it was nice to just be completely alone for a few days!!)

A few weeks ago, while Rick and I were sitting on the beach and the kids were playing around in the water together as the sun was setting, I was honestly overwhelmed (and started crying) as we were watching the kids together. Life is far from perfect in our household. There are lots of stories and things that happen behind the scenes that aren’t shared for all the world to know (you know, respecting privacy and all). But in that moment – seeing them all together laughing, talking, and just being together – it was just so amazingly wonderful.

I’m probably feeling overly sentimental these days again as we prepare to graduate McKenna from high school and in a few short months send Laurianna off to Minnesota to start college. McKenna is weighing her options for school this fall as well and will likely start off with community college for now.

That’s the teeny, tiny nutshell of happenings in our home for the time being and in no way exhaustive because life is moving along.

How has your year been going?

Tonight I’m sitting here and pondering. Feeling immensely behind in all that needs to be done and started for the upcoming year. 

Because here’s the truth you all – I haven’t completely wrapped up last year yet. 

There are so many excuses I could give and they are all valid, but the biggest one is this: we put stuff on hold because our girl was leaving to head across a huge ocean and would be gone for over a year. (gulp)

Every moment we had with her was precious. Filling out course descriptions for kids that aren’t close to graduating – well, that could be put aside. The focus was on the most important thing: relationship.

And yes, now I’m feeling a bit of the crunch in this moment. Each year isn’t just a “cookie cutter” year of what our older children have done. While that may have been a bit more so when the kids were younger, as our children have aged, both their interests and abilities have varied drastically. 

One kids loves medical stuff. 

Another one is a sports enthusiast. 

Still another – drama and music.

Each year is different and new, offering a chance to reevaluate decisions we’ve made in the past and the opportunity to make changes for the future. 

You know what I love about each new year though? Each year is an opportunity for me to learn all over again along with my kids. Sometimes that is in a new subject area and other times it’s an area that originally filled me with fear, but now I look forward to with anticipation (biology labs, I’m looking at you). 

In the next week I’m tackling some of the areas that have been driving me crazy. Curriculum that hasn’t been put away will find its way to the proper shelf. New curriculum to be ordered (and hopefully some missing items will show up…). A semblance of order should hopefully be established for the upcoming year.

Here’s the thing. We may not be starting as early as I had initially hoped, but we will be starting. One of the kids may be working on a few lessons that weren’t wrapped up last year (oh yes, it’s true) before launching into the upcoming year, but we will get it all in. 

And the focus? 

Enjoying the learning together and finding the JOY in the opportunity that we have: being with our kids and guiding them in the learning process. The past few months with our oldest out of the house have shown me nothing short of this: our time with our kids is so precious, so we need to soak up every second we have!

How are your plans coming for the upcoming year – no fear, friends! JOY!