Happy New Year!

 Welcome 2026!

We are excited and ready for a new year, but first we remember this last year. 2025 was a full year. We went on so many adventures, grew closer as a family, dealt with some hard stuff, and accomplished a lot. I am proud of the things we've learned, the people we are growing into, and the depth of our family bonds.

This was our 5th year where we aimed to get 1,000 hours outside. Every year we get a little bit more. And this year was no different. Isla was our winner with a whopping 927 hours outside!! Being outside for this much time is so important to us because of how beneficial it is to our bodies, mental health, physical healing, learning, and spiritual health. Besides all of that good stuff, getting outside allowed us to experience so many exciting things like camping, meals over the fire, water play, hiking, gardening, and adventures!

We plan on aiming for more hours outside in 2026... who knows, maybe this will be the year someone reaches 1,000.

We started out this year getting our first hour of 2026 on a family hike! We hiked out to our favorite spot and spent time watching the nesting eagles dive for their food. The kids were excited to try out their new backpacks, complete with water bladders! 

One of my personal goals this year was to read 50 books and more read alouds as a family. Reading is an important part of our lives... it's how we learn, grow, change, and experience the world without even leaving the couch. I surpassed my personal goal with a total of 84 books read this year!! In 2026 I'm aiming for a whole 100. And we read more books as a family too which sparked their own little rabbit trails, learning experiences, and inspiration for many projects/trips/adventures/creativity.

One of the more challenging things from the past year was health related issues. Ewan has been dealing with sleep issues and deprivation plus the symptoms that follow for most of the year, but it got really bad this fall. We have made huge leaps with his sleep in the last two months, but we still deal with nightly wakings and issues related to fatigue. Our main goal for Ewan this year is to get him back into his bedroom, to conquer night wakings, to bring up his iron levels naturally, and to reduce anxiety within his body. He also informed me his goal for himself is to "start to learn to read" (tricks on him since he's been doing that for awhile now:)). I'm proud of our sweet boy.

My own health has been a problem too. My sinus headaches continue to get worse and worse every year. On average, I deal with a severe sinus headache a few times a month. In the spring and fall when the weather fluctuates so much, I deal with sinus headaches multiple times a week. Sometimes they get so bad that I throw up and can't even blink without excruciating pain. Michael has had to take work off several times this year to be with the kids when I'm like that. 

On top of that, my endometriosis and PCOS has really started to rear it's ugly head. Pregnancy and breastfeeding suppress a lot of the symptoms related to both disorders, so now that I'm not doing either the issues have only amplified. Endometriosis is a chronic inflammatory disease and PCOS can be triggered by inflammation, as well. It turns out sinus pressure/pain/infections can be triggered and flared by excessive inflammation too. So, although I hate it... it's time to get back to my anti-inflammatory diet that I've done in the past to achieve pregnancy. My main goal for myself in 2026 is to reduce inflammation in my body in hopes of healing my sinuses, endometriosis, and PCOS. Pray for my family this next month as I go through MAJOR withdrawal... it's always the worse part! 

For the girls, their goals aren't as health-conscious. Isla is crawling along in her reading and my goal for her is to get a little better at reading overall this year. Her goal this year is to cook an entire meal, sew on her new machine, and learn to skate. Eleanor recently moved to a big girl bed (after she was caught trying to crawl out of her crib)! I only got a little teary eyed when I realized it was an end of an era with no more kiddos in a crib. She has done fantastic and is so proud of herself for staying in her bed. The true end to the baby era will be when she is completely potty trained. That is my goal for her this year as we embark on official potty training. She goes sometimes, so the hope is she becomes completely independent with it :)

The last goals I have for our whole family is to go on more adventures. This last year, we traveled or experienced a mini-adventure almost every month. This year, I'm hoping to do the same. Because we homeschool, we spend a lot of time, well, at home. Getting out of our routine and experiencing a new place is not only fun, but really important for our family. It's our favorite way to learn! Additionally, homeschooling allows us the freedom, time, and flexibility to travel. And Michael's job also allows for this. Not every adventure is grand or even far away, but they were all important parts of our year.

This last year:

January- Anniversary trip to Clearwater, FL

February- Magic House in St. Louis, MO

March- Great Wolf Lodge in Gurnee, IL

May- Morton Arboretum in Lisle, IL and Louisville, KY

June- Beach trip to Lakeside, MI

July- Big Michigan trip home

August- Birthday trip to Chicago Science and Industry Museum and Mama trip to St. Joseph, MI

September- Birthday trip to Wildlife Prairie Park in Hanna City, IL and Grant's Farm in St. Louis, MO

October- Aikman's Wildlife Park in Arcola, IL and Museum of the Grand Prairie in Mohomet, IL

November- Best friend trip to Valparaiso, IN

We have some big (and small) adventure plans for 2026 and I'm hoping to keep up with the monthly thing again :) And of course, doing it all with my favorite people is what makes it so fun and memorable.

To kick off the new year, our dear friends invited us over for a little NYE celebration. We played euchre, stayed up too late, and had a grand time. It was a fun way to start the year.

To end this post and begin the new year, is an old blessing I love:

May God be a smooth path ahead of you,
And a bright star to guide you
May his loving eyes be upon you
tonight, tomorrow and always.
May the God of love strengthen us
in our love for others.
May Christ Jesus be our living hope
And the Holy Spirit surprise us on the way

Happy New Year