January has started 2023 with lots of activity. Alicia had a weekend away on a homeschool moms’ retreat. Lydia has another round of sickness. We got back into the routine of school and extra sports activities. We switched life groups this year and are now hosting one at our home. We closed the month celebrating Anthony’s 7th birthday.
Cordelia was excited to get back to school and her friends. She did have a bit of a bumpy start getting back into her rhythm but she’s getting back to normal at the end of the month. She’s continuing in her basketball league which has been a challenging experience. Her team won one game but have lost all others by a significant margin. But she’s playing well and working really hard. All of her other activities are continuing well.
Anthony is getting into a good groove with his school. He’s enjoying PE class and looking forward to the second semester sports. Anthony is really improving in his piano playing and is starting to learn some basic theory. Anthony continues to love soccer at the next level skills class he’s in now. We celebrated Anthony’s 7th birthday with an underwater themed party. It was a family party with Mimi and Papa able to visit for the party weekend.
Lydia had a rough January. She was still sick from Christmas and missed the first week of school. Once she returned, she was in school for one week before she came down with another illness that had her out for almost a whole week more. Fortunately, she’s managed to stay healthy this last week of January and we hope that continues. We’ve been dealing with a fair amount of defiance and argumentative attitude from Lydia this month. We’re hoping this passes soon and we’re able to work with her through understanding her role in the family and the importance of respect.
Natalie is having a fun time being a toddler. She’s finding her spot in the family and is loved by everyone. She does get toted around quite a bit and generally handles it pretty well. She’s got her own opinions about things too and has some words to make her desired known.
Alicia is continuing her multi-tasking. Alicia enjoyed a peaceful and refreshing weekend away at a homeschool moms’ retreat to start the month. It was a great time to sleep in, get some over-due projects done, and connect with some other moms. Alicia’s PE job is keeping her busy and engaged. She’s thankful to have the flexible job and ability to still stay connected with the work force. Alicia has also been enjoying the time with Anthony and Natalie at home. It’s great being able to listen to Anthony’s lessons and be a part of his learning every day. Awana is also keeping Alicia busy, but it’s been going well and she’s got an amazing team to share the load with.
Tim had some good work opportunities this month as well as some challenges. He’s continuing to stay engaged with interesting tasks. His team took a one night trip to the beach to do some testing. At home we discovered a pressing need to switch out some electrical sockets, which Tim completed. Tim also trimmed the trees and continued working on his workshop organization. Tim and Anthony enjoyed a fun daddy-son day on one of the off Fridays.
Our new life group hosting has started off fairly well. The cold wet weather has made it a bit challenging but we’re trusting that this is what God has for us. The other couples seem pretty solid and a lot more in our same life stage to connect with. We’re hopeful that this will be a good group for us and the opportunity to connect at a deeper level with other Christians.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Shutterfly has announced that they will be discontinuing their shared site service at the end of March. We’re in the process of working out how to continuing sharing our monthly updates and photos. More details to come once we figure things out.
