Anne is (has been) 11 (for awhile now)

Somehow time has a way of going so slow and yet flying by at the same time.

Between painting signs for the fundraiser, Thanksgiving, Caroline's 5th birthday, Christmas and New Year, I allowed myself to get propelled along without sitting down to blog about two special birthdays.

Beautiful Anne

Back in November, which is now nearly three months ago, Anne turned 11. Eleven! It seems strange to think that I've been a mom for over eleven years. I don't even feel all that old. Ok, maybe some days I do.

Anne is a really awesome kid. She is very responsible (like, way more trustworthy than I was at 11). She is a fun girl to be around with a good sense of humor. Anne loves to read books. She recently took her 5th grade CAT (California Achievement Test) exam and scored ridiculously high in all the reading sections (we're talking high school/college levels).

Growing up!

It certainly wasn't a surprise as I am with her everyday so I know how much she reads, how quickly she reads, and how accurately she remembers what she reads. Truly, it's mind boggling how she can recite something from a book she just read. Even when she was little she could quote nearly full sentences from books she has only read once. While this is an excellent skill it makes her less than wonderful at summarizing a book because she remembers and wants to retell every little detail.

Anne has a love, zeal and passion for life. She likes to do just about everything and is nearly always willing to try something at least once. She still wants to be a nurse when she grows up which is great because she is intelligent, compassionate, and hard-working. I have no doubt that she will excel in whatever she does as an adult because she is already a great pre-teen.

Speaking of being a pre-teen, yes, we have had some challenges. While she is as described in the above paragraphs most of the time, Anne will be the first to admit that she isn't always like Mary Poppins and "practically perfect in every way".

Both Anne and I have had some difficult emotional swings in the past couple of months. I am glad that I remember being 12 and how terrible I was. However, in the moment of Anne's outrage I raised her up one and instantly regretted allowing myself to be baited by an eleven-year-old. In the end, both Anne and I apologized to each other and were able to move on. In my regret I worried for days about how my own actions would spoil our good mother-daughter relationship. When I brought it up to Anne several days later she said, "Just forget about it, mom. I already forgave you and you forgave me."

Have I mentioned how awesome she is? I'm pretty sure I was not that magnanimous when I was eleven. Heck, I'm not sure I'm that magnanimous at 34.

Anne is a fantastic big sister. She is always a great help with Caroline and Ruth. She is growing up quickly and has outgrown most toys, but still likes legos and board games. She loves drawing, especially pictures of horses.

She still would love to have a horse, but she'll have to settle for a lamb since she is joining the 4-H Woolies Club. It should be an interesting learning experience.

Anne is growing so quickly these days. She is now 5 feet tall, just three more inches and we'll be the same height. This past year she grew three inches so I wouldn't be surprised if by the time she turns 12 she is as tall as me!

Happy (very belated) birthday to my Anne. Thanks for all you do for our family. You are my biggest helper and things would be much more difficult without you. I love you, Anne-girl!

Hello 2019, Goodbye 2018

Earlier this week we said goodbye to 2018, the year of generosity.

I mentioned previously that the year started out with much excitement and anticipation. Our focus was not on the dollar amount given, but on showing the act of giving to our children.

Then in June we started our second adoption. While we were still giving, our focus changed more to acts of service than items or money given in order to save as much as possible towards bringing sister six home from China.

And then, the most incredible thing happened. Our year of giving generously turned into receiving the generosity of others. It has been extraordinarily humbling. Many people have donated their hard earned dollars toward helping change the life of a little girl we haven't met yet. The fact that our friends and family deem us worthy of receiving their funds is truly humbling. Not a single person has given in a way to bring glory to themselves.

Matthew 6:1-4 says

“Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.

“So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you."

It is my earnest prayer that those who have given so freely to our family will receive even more than they have given (on Earth and in Heaven). That has certainly been the case for our family in 2018. 

We then welcomed a new year, 2019, the year of growth. 

Each child has set their own goals for areas of growth this year in three categories, Spiritual, Mental, and Physical. They considered these things on their own and came up with their unique goals. Some of them really surprised me in their intensity. While I don't think their goals all fit perfectly with the category title, it was still something they felt strongly enough about that I decided it wasn't necessary to change them.

Anne made up nice little papers for each person in the family to write their goals, so here we all are!

Mama: (that's me! haha!)
Spiritual: Read the Bible in a year again, Bible Studies at Change of Pace, and Self-Control with reading books (this last one may seem weird but I struggled at the end of 2018 and found reading books on my device extremely addictive. I deleted the BookBub app off my phone to help curb the instinctual picking up of the phone and reading....)

Physical: Exercise 2-4 times per week (not for weight gain/loss, but just to be more healthy). And just three days into the New Year and I have already injured my back from running on the treadmill so I think I'll stick to fast walking on my treadmill days. I have Scoliosis and tend to have back/rib/shoulder/and wrist pain as a result of the curve in my spine. However, the physical therapist I saw last year for a shoulder injury was telling me if my core and back were stronger I wouldn't have as much pain. So late in 2018 when I was having rib pain again I started joining my sister about two times per week at the gym. I'm hopeful to keep it up as a lifestyle change.

Mental: I want to learn to farm lavender and plant several rows this spring.

Anne: age 11
Spiritual: Self-Control and Kindness
Physical: Work at getting better at softball
Mental: Read the Bible more and try to learn more Chinese

Abbey: age 9Spiritual: Obeying mom and dad without complainingPhysical: How to spend money wiselyMental: Learn more about the Bible. Read the Bible in 1-year

Maggie: age 8

Spiritual: controlling my temper
Physical: growing better at soccer
Mental: how to do division

Carrie: age 5

Spiritual: niceness (she desperately wanted our word of the year to be "Niceness")

Physical: coloring (I guess this is fine motor skills, right?)

Mental: Math

Ruth: age 3 // we helped pick her goals ;) 

Spiritual: Self-control, especially the volume of her voice, especially when angry

Physical: Eat and drink enough to grow bigger and bigger

Mental: speak more clearly and learn to read

Dad:
Spiritual: do an in-depth study on what the Bible says about salvation/heaven
Physical: run on the treadmill or outside 2x per week
Mental: Learn, research and scout for deer hunting spots to help Anne and I hunt deer in November.

Do you guys choose a word of the year? How do you manage to stay on top of your goals throughout the year?