2013: Resolved

Confession:  I wasn't wearing makeup so I overexposed this picture on purpose in order to hide my (many) flaws.  Overexposure hides a multitude of sins. 

  
You knew it was coming, right?  

Goal-making.  Resolutions.  A roadmap to a new year and becoming a new, more disciplined person.

The thing I most like about resolutions is not in the beginning (though the lists are fun to make and think about and the expectation and anticipation around it is exciting) but actually, in the end.  The flip side.  The end of the year, when I can look back and see how far those goals got me- through dedication, through (sometimes) hard work, often through diligence and always because I was resolved to think about them, to take notice, to consider those things important.

Even if I don't make every goal to the "T", it is the striving to be better- more complete- more disciplined that makes it worthwhile.  And then, finding out that in the end, I actually WAS those things....that makes it FUN.

This year was particularly hard to consider making any sort of plans for the new year because the foreseeable future seems plenty bleak these days with all the economic woes and Christian blows we are facing in our nation.  A teetering nation, we are.

And yet- I suppose that it is times of unrest that require the most steadfastness and dedication to what is true and noble and good.  So, resolutions I will make.  And there are many.  Some more noble than others, as you will see, but all are mine.

HOPESTEAD GOALS~  
(Matt has his own list for Hopestead.  These are mine.) 

• Plant several Christmas trees 
• Plant an asparagus bed
• Plant several fruit trees
• Cut back very overgrown Lilac Bushes
• Prune Apple trees (second year)
• Begin concrete plans for Hopestead Herb Farm 

FINANCIAL GOALS~

(I'll be frank here.  This economy scares the bejeebers out of me, especially now with Christian businesses potentially going out of business thanks to ObamaCare(s not a lick) so I am putting our family on spending-lock-down this year in order to best use our finances to prepare us for the worst (while hoping for the best).  The figures you are about the read are really crazy considering Matt's take-home pay which is very modest...especially for these figures.  I am being VERY hopeful and maybe a tad-bit unrealistic here.  LAUGHABLE, really..  But, you know what I like to say~ "If you shoot for the moon and don't succeed, at least you are among the stars!"  Any dollars I can set aside toward these goals will be well worth the efforts in the end.  Best case, we get our house paid off faster just because I was unjustified in my fears. Is that a bad thing?  I think not.)

• Give Matt $40.00 per paycheck (because he's earned it, after all.)
• Pay $10,000. toward principal of house (on top of mortgage payments.)  
• Save $5,000 toward a new van (ours has 130,000 miles on it so a "new" one is inevitable.)
• Save $1,000 to put toward investing

To even remotely accomplish the above goals I need to:

• Reevaluate our budget and spending and completely overhaul it to accommodate our CODE ORANGE, LOCKDOWN status.  :-)  (Yeah.  Smiling NOW.)
• Cut all unnecessary spending.   (ouch.  It hurts already.)

I have no idea how we would/could/will be able to do this- but I am shooting for the moon here, people.

PERSONAL GOALS~
(These are the non-trackable, SILLY things.  The biggest non-trackable, not-silly goal I have for myself this year is to be more fearless in speaking the Truth to people who need to hear it, especially those people I LOVE.  This is hard for me because I often don't want to hurt peoples' feelings or make them angry and I worry too much about peoples' opinions of me.  I am going to be working on this but it is not something that is "attainable" or "trackable"- two things that I think resolutions need to be in order to be do-able.  The goals in this list make my life more beautiful- not my spirit, necessaril but are both attainable and trackable..  Silly stuff, like I said.)

• Read through a not-dorky devotional.  (Any suggestions?)
• Learn to knit socks. (Tell me you didn't know this was coming...)
• Decorate, even thriftily, the childrens' rooms.
• Make something for myself to KEEP.  (My family tells me I have a bad habit of giving away everything I make.  So I will try and KEEP one thing for myself this year.
• Invite people over for dinner at least once a month.  This includes people around the community as well as friends and church family.
• Lose 5# a month until I reach my goal weight.  Which, if the "average for my size" goal weight- should be in March; if the "Got Married This Big" goal weight- should be by May.
• Wake up to send Mattie off to work each morning (while conscious) and make him lunches to take with him.
• Reestablish family read-alouds 
• Begin reading the Classics (using Susan W.Bauer's The Well Educated Mind as a guide.)
• Take one photo a week finding Beauty.  I was talking to a gal a few months back who said that I often take mundane moments and make them beautiful by photographing them.  I love that about photography- it gets you to see the beauty even when it is hard to find.  But that she had said that about me was more than generous, because I haven't felt like I have done that in ages.  So, this year, I knew a personal photo challenge was in order.  Once a week.  My life IS beautiful- this shouldn't be THAT hard, right?  
• Get a church website up and running...preferably sooner rather than later since the elders of our church have been waiting for two months already...
• MAKE something once a month.  Maybe a Christmas present.  Maybe not.  Just MAKE.  Because it is good for me. 

Do you have any goals for the coming year?  

Shiny

Tomorrow is our Newman-side-of-the-family Christmas, which means I can still blog Christmas things and not feel guilty about it.  This is good because I happen to have (more than) a few Christmas-y pictures from a visit to a local museum in December.

Art.  History.  Trains. Christmas. A Mansion.  All wrapped up in a billion shiny bows.  I went with my sister and her littles and by the end of the night, was thirsty from all my drooling.

I love how Andrew has his arm around his sister.  Awww.  Sweet brother.

My train boy was in his glory.

Lots of displays about how different countries celebrate Christmas.  I loved Denmark.

Then there was the MANSION part.  A real home, once upon a time.  Unfathomable (to me, the peasant class.)

I want this for my home.

This one too. 

Blurry- but it is all of us.  The museum must have been quaking in their boots when they saw us walking in!  

I spent my New Years Day de-sparkling the place...such a sad, plain, empty space it is now.  Without all the glitter- it was easy to spot all the dust bunnies and cobwebs from a month (or two) of neglect so I charged after them. I moved furniture and mopped under it all.  Washed walls and windowsills.  Sorted.  Polished.  Shined.   It felt glorious to start the new year with clean, fresh slate.  And when I was done, I realized the house looked sparkly again-just in a different sort of way.

Been thinking about the future a bit too and all my hopes for the new year.  I'll share them one of these days.  I don't know about you, but I think that this time of year is just plain fun.  Brimful of possibilities, life is.

2012

 

I sat the other day and thought about all we accomplished in 2012:  

~ helped make 70 gallons of maple syrup
~ learned to spin wool
~ got a miniature horse
~ hung on hammocks
~ watched the Middle Barn fall down
~ cleaned up the Middle Barn wreckage
~ built a treehouse
~ had a date in the treehouse
~ made a hankie shower curtain
~ went on a dinner cruise for the first time ever
~ read lots of books
~ painted the living room trim
~ rewallpapered the bathroom
~ painted the bathroom
~ spent the night in a HOTEL.  That had a pool.  And I didn't pack bathing suits, knowing we couldn't AFFORD a hotel with a pool.  But the cheap motel was booked solid.  Lesson: Always bring suits.  Period.
~ Built a "coat closet" in mudroom
~ skidded many loads of logs out of woods
~ spent holidays sawing them up at the sawmill
~ glued maps all over the school room wall
~ spread turquoise all over another wall
~ built a stone foundation for the entryway to the barn
~ built a grand entry into the barns
~ re-sided a portion of the barn
~ rented dumpsters and cleaned all the outbuildings and garbage dumps around the place.  Made enough money on scrap metal to pay for the garbage dumpsters AND a woodsplitter.
~ split 18 cords of wood for the winter.  NOT enough.
~ hung hundreds of loads of laundry
~ put new ceiling in mudroom
~ planted a first-ever SEPARATE pumpkin patch.  Loved it.  Will never go back.  Ever.
~  replaced our washing machine
~ started drinking "sweet water"
~ fixed roof on barn
~ tore down the drop ceiling in the living room
~ made soap for the first (and second and third) times
~ taught a class at a library on herbs.  Made lavendar lemonade, peppermint tea and chamomile muffins for the occasion.
~ Sold an old tractor and bought a less-old tractor
~ spent many sweaty days doing garden work- the largest we've had.
~ set up a saw-horse summer kitchen.  (A brilliant idea)
~ had many parties
~ had Hopesteads' first-ever hayride
~ spent lonely nights when Matt was gone
~ had many happy homecomings
~ got electricity out to the barns
~ started attending a knitting class where I learned to INCREASE.  (wahoo!)
~ Started "officially" homeschooling TWO children
~ planted two filbert trees
~ paid several thousand dollars extra toward principle on our mortgage
~ went to the doctors twice.  Once for a Judahbear.  Once for a Mama.
~ spent many-a-day canning and preserving summers' bounty
~ pruned apple trees
~ spent a summer organizing all our clothes and stuff in storage.  (That was fun.)
~ Had two yardsales and made over $300.00 getting rid of said junk in storage.
~ had our first really successful year of corn planting
~ Found a signed, hardcover, first printing of an Eric Sloane book that Matt DOESN'T already own for FREE in the library Book Barn.  For FREE.  It was a great, (did I mention FREE?!?) Christmas present.
 ~ built a cabinet around a gifted dishwasher in the kitchen.  Still not working-but some time.
~ cleaned out the back half of the basement
~ dug out a new drainpipe for the kitchen.
~ killed (not enough) mice
~ planted over 30 perennials- most GIVEN to me by neighbors.
~ laid a new foundation for the front of the house.
~ sang carols at a nursing home
~ began a new hobby.  Carving wooden spoons.  (My first will be done very soon!)
~ started dreaming of building a log cabin in the woods.
~ listened to a million (not-funny) jokes but laughed anyway because I love the jokester.
~ lost 10 pounds (in the last month) after a year of trying
~ made almost all the gifts given for Christmas
~ Tucked children into bed night after night and snuggling into Misters' warm arms...wondering how I have things so good.

Looking forward to seeing all that the Lord has in store for our family in this new year of our Lord, 2013.  Maybe less work?  But I somehow doubt it...

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Lingering

Sweet moments of happy still lingering from Christmas. 

He fell asleep on me.  I couldn't resist.

Embroidered pillowcases?  Love.  Quilts?  Love.  The Bear?  Love.

I finished that knitted dishcloth, by the way.  ;-)

 

Last minute gift making

This is what happens when your crazy brother swipes your camera

The camera went off without me and everyone thought it was hilarious.  I love their REAL smiles.  This picture makes ME smile.

For Mom- these were the two keepers.  You decide!  ;-)

Christmas morning.   Stockings are one of my favorite parts of Christmas.

I wasn't the only one making gifts this year.  Andrew stitched this cow for Papa all by himself. 

This was the first year in 10 that we stayed home for Christmas and by the time I realized I would be feeding my own family for dinner, it was too late!  We ate leftover lasagna for dinner but I made Brandy Snaps for dessert so that made things "feast-ish".

Candles, too, always make things special.

A timely read and some beef stew with a biscuit,  It was snowing- so it was perfect.

Hope the joy of Christmas is long lingering for you also!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Merry Christmas to you and yours~ from me and mine!  May your JOY be great, for HE HAS COME!

And this years' letter~ for the record (and giggles).

Merry Christmas!

This past year has been a flurry of activity for us, as I am sure it has been for you!  Time has a way of doing that, doesn’t it?

We celebrated being in our new (permanent!) home for a whole year on October 31^st and I couldn’t help but look back at all the things we have accomplished here so far. 

We came into a place that lay listless and still~ dormant and sleeping soundly~ and we shook it awake again- and have every day since we stepped foot on the place!  I think, though, that the Place rather likes the playful feet that once again tromp circles round the house, the laughter that echoes through hallways and the quiet whispers that go on well into the night.

It certainly looks as spiffy as ever, with fresh colors on the inside, new barn boards on the outside, and wood floors rediscovered throughout!  It can’t help but shine. 

We call it, affectionately, HOPESTEAD because we have grand hopes and dreams for the place.  It will take time for them all to be realized, but the greatest has already become real; We are Home.

The biggest reason we have accomplished as much as we have this year just happens to have a name- Matt.  The man is a machine!  You wouldn’t believe how much he accomplishes around the Place, despite his crazy work schedule and all-too-frequent trips out of town.   His idea of fun is working at home and I have to work at not being jealous of his attentions.!  He is one of a kind.

The children too, are one of a kind….all four of them. 

Corynn is in her last year of single digits (How can that be?  I am too young to have a nine year old!  Right?!?) and she is such a joy.  She has such a sweet heart and helpful spirit- Lately, her little sister has been climbing into bed with her at night (and subsequently, taking almost all of it for herself!) so I asked Corynn laughingly one morning “SO-why do you let Adele’ sleep with you if you have just an inch or two to squish into (your own) bed with?”  And she said, “Well.  She says ‘Pleeease Wyn.  Can’t I sleep with you?’ in such a sweet, sad little voice I just HAVE to let her!”  That is the kind of girl our Corynn is.   A real gem.  I am enjoying sitting back and watching the young lady growing from the girl.

Andrew is 6 now and is, not surprisingly, still smitten with cows.  He has breeding books by his bedside and writes cow chores for copywork.  When he was still five, he drew an amazing three-dimensional collection of barns and outbuildings  (a farm “town”) which I will keep forever because I am still in awe of it.  He still talks with a drawl and has a cowboy gait, and I am thinking that that is just how is going to be…  I love it.   He’s working on learning to read- with lots of cowboy books!

Adele’ just turned four last month but is so petite and teeny that you can’t help but think of her as the baby of the family.  But baby she is not.  She loves to “do school” and she colors amazingly well.  She stays within the lines of all her coloring (and often draws in eyelashes on the people- the girlie girl!) and draws really great portraits.  She is fiery though and can hold her own when there is conflict in the house.  My mom says I deserve it, for what I put her through.

Judah is probably the biggest, dearest 2 year old you ever did meet.  The boy just melts me into a puddle.  It won’t be long before he outgrows Adele’- they look more like twins than anything.  He is a big, loveable, happy boy who is enamored with tractors and trains- and makes all the boy noises that go with them.   But he is still baby enough to crawl on my lap and snuggle with me (for a few seconds anyway.)  I am potty-training him and before he pees he will look at me with a glimmer in his eye and say “Here it comes!” as you would if a toy train were nearing you  or a sheep was trudging your way.  Life is just so pleasant with children to make it fresh and new and fun.

(Yes.  I did just write a pee story in an annual Christmas letter.)

I am doing well.  I turned the big 3-0 this year…I am officially grown up.  (And don’t ever expect to write my age again.  You’ve been forewarned.)  Matt can’t joke about robbing the cradle anymore!   One thing that occurred to me this year was that at 30 years old, my life is everything I ever dreamed it would be.  I have arrived! 

Some people wouldn’t believe me, many people would scoff- but I really feel like I am living the dream.  It can be hard work- caring for these souls and this house, home educating and growing our food, being and doing everything when Matt is gone…but I feel so amazingly blessed that my life is what it is.~ Hard and trying and overwhelming at times~ but mostly sweet and tender and lovely and most of all…worthwhile.

God is good. 

I pray that you will see God’s goodness throughout the coming year and that this Christmas-time, you can’t help but be drawn to a Fathers’ love, who sent his Son~ the greatest Gift.

Love from us all~ the Newmans

Jolly Good Times

       
I took this week off of school instead of next week (like the public schoolers) because I knew I would need most of my time PRE-CHRISTMAS, not POST. Every day I wonder, though, if that was a big mistake; the children seem more...QUIET...when doing math than when running around the house in a state of free oblivion.

This is the madness that ensues...

The Judahbear makes a scarily sweet girl, don't you think?

I am fluttering to and fro trying to finish the making and the wrapping and the writing and the tying with red ribbons and the baking WITHOUT the snitching (try THAT one!) and all the things I enjoy so much.

I actually enjoy a good pre-Christmas bustle.

~~~~~~~~~

Every morning the first thing that is spoken is the Christmas countdown (five more days!) and then, added for effect "And TOMORROW it will be only FOUR days!" as if I needed THAT reminder...

I still have things yet to do, quite a bit in fact- but I think five days ought to be PLENTY of time to hatch all my plans.  Right?!?  And yet- here I sit...blogging.   ;-)  In all fairness- I just finished canning up the last of our pumpkin patch into Pumpkin Butter to pass along to all our neighbors and librarians and such. 

Here are a few Pinteresting plans I am working on (and will be working on up until the very end) with a few extra projects thrown in for good measure.

Pleeenty of time............

What are your days looking like this fine day FIVE before Christmas?

Any last minute to-do's in your workshops?

Are you feeling Jolly or just overwhelmed?

Five more days!!