Wordless Wednesday: Scenes from Christmas Break

The Year of the D's

So we are officially three days into 2012, and I have finally decided on my New Year's Resolutions.  They all begin with the letter "D" for some reason, so I'm going to roll with it.

1) Devotion

I want to place more importance on my daily prayer life.  Luckily, I am able to attend Mass four days a week at work, but I want to add to that more family rosaries and maybe a weekly Adoration and Benediction. 

2) De-Clutter

This is a huge priority for me this year, and we've already made great progress over the past long weekend.  I cleaned out the kid's coat closet and found seven size 8 boy's jackets.  Seven!  And they were all hand-me-downs.  Now we only have one spring jacket and one winter jacket in each size. 

When my house is clean and clutter-free, my whole life feels so much better.  I am at peace and I want for nothing.

3) Diet

Well, what would a New Year's Resolution be without a renewed commitment to diet and exercise.  I've got the exercise part under control, but I'm trying to be more strict in what I eat during the week, and save treats for the weekend.

4) Discipline

I'm talking about general discipline in all areas of my life.  I want to be disciplined enough to stop procrastinating what I need to do, and actually complete the tasks before falling on the couch every night.  I want to be disciplined in everything from my half-marathon training to my use of Natural Family Planning.  I want to serve my kids a home cooked meal every night and stop our weekly McDonald's trips.  I want to be disciplined in flossing my teeth and taking my vitamins.  I want to be thankful for all the gifts God has bestowed upon our family and stop seeing what I think I'm missing.  Basically I want to be healthy physically, mentally, spiritually, and emotionally - and it all takes discipline.

5) Debt

We have been trying to save a little each month for the past few years, and now I'm finally at a point where I want to stop saving temporarily, and start paying off debt more aggressively.  The way I have it planned (and we all know how funny God thinks our plans are) is that we will have my van, Phil's van, our IRS loan, and our college loans paid off in two years.  It is worth living simply to be freed from debt!  Of course we will still have our mortgage and car payments once we need replacement vehicles, but we're striving to get rid of our current debt as quickly as possible.

I hope by the end of the year I will feel that I accomplished at least some of these goals.  Yesterday is the past, tomorrow is the future, and today is a gift from God - that's why it's called the present.  I want to live each day recognizing that gift and challenging myself to make the most of it. 

What are your New Year's Resolutions?

2011 Through the Months

JANUARY:

Lots of snowy but fun-filled days.

We enjoyed the next six months doing "big kid" activities before baby was due to arrive.

FEBRUARY:

We went on a long-awaited vacation to Disney World!  I love this picture because Maggie was having a moment ;)  

Also, John-Paul and I shared our birthdays while in Florida.  He turned 8 and I turned a year older.

MARCH:

Eamon celebrated his half-birthday on Gammy's real birthday with breakfast in bed.  

Can you tell how excited he was?

APRIL:

Lisa came up to visit and, along with my dear friend Anabela, we attended the Moms Day Away hosted by Faith and Family.  

It was awesome!

MAY:

John-Paul received his First Communion.  

It was so beautiful and emotional.

JUNE:

This month brought lots and lots of baseball games and practices.  

John-Paul and Andrew played on the same team, and improved so much from the year before.

JULY:

Alexander Blaise was born!  

He was worth every single contraction (a whole week's worth!)

AUGUST:

Xander gets baptized, and John-Paul becomes an altar boy.  

What a holy month!

SEPTEMBER:

A new school year.  

J-P started 3rd grade, Andrew moved to 1st, Eamon began P-4, and Maggie went to P-3.  

Phil started his ninth year teaching high school theology.  

Eamon turned five!

OCTOBER:

I started my new job as the Catholic high school's Business Manager, which I love.  

Andrew turned 7 this month, and Phil turned 31!

NOVEMBER:

All Saints Day costumes were recycled from the year before.  

A last minute trip to MD was planned to attend the funeral of our nieces, and celebrate Thanksgiving with Phil's family.

DECEMBER:

Maggie turned four on the 1st, and we had so much fun planning for and enjoying the Christmas season together as a family of seven.

2011 was such a great year, and I can only hope that 2012 will be just as wonderful.  We are blessed in so many ways, our family, our health, our faith, and our friends (including all my bloggy buddies!)  

Happy New Year!