I often hear folks say that time passes more quickly as they get older. I’m convinced this is true! It feels to me that every year flies by more quickly than the last.
Somehow we’re at the end of 2019! I’m taking a few minutes to reflect on this past year.
Winter
As happens pretty much every year, I started the New Year with many hopes and goals. My primary goal was to keep short lists. My family had numerous experiences in 2018 that reminded me of the fragility and brevity of life. Because of this, it was my goal to keep short lists (i.e., to prioritize and be fully present).
We had a mild winter, so we spent a lot of January outdoors.
However, we also took part in several “snow” activities for families living in warm climates.
We spent most of February focused on serving others. We were able to complete about 1/3 of the items on our Intentional Act of Kindness Calendar. Hopefully we’ll complete even more this year!
In March I shared about how I no longer apologize for my messy house.
My hands were (and still are) full of so many good things that housework often falls by the wayside.
We ended March with the purchase of a second minivan. We love the van we purchased when we had our third child on the way, so we chose to get a second minivan when my husband’s car needed to be replaced.
Spring
My husband and I have been striving for debt-free living since we got married. We’re not there yet (we actually have a long way to go), but we budget carefully and work hard to pay off our debts. I’ve learned a few things from our experience, and I shared these in April when I discussed how budgeting reveals more about your heart than your wallet.
How Budgeting Reveals More About Your Heart Than Your Wallet
We also celebrated a lovely Easter.
I addressed several topics related to our kids during May, including a post on the topic of screen time and young kids.
My parents (Grandma and Mebop to my kids) visited us at the end of May and into June. During their visit my dad built my kids an absolutely amazing sensory table!
Summer
Towards the end of June we celebrated Nitara’s birthday. She’s now 3 years old!
I share recipes year round, but I shared two noteworthy ones in July. One is the recipe for my Unparalleled Carrot Cake and the other is for Classic Potato Salad.
We had a wonderful visit from my husband’s mom (Granny to my kids) towards the end of July. I also shared about alternatives to facial tissues.
Shortly after publishing this post, my parents mailed us a bunch of hankies they made from flannel. They simply cut the flannel into large squares and finished the edges. We use one and then toss it into a bucket that we keep just outside the door from our house to the garage. I wash them as needed. These are great!
August is extremely hot here on the Texas Gulf Coast, but we still managed to get outdoors some. For my birthday, which is in late August, my husband gave me a handheld vacuum. A vacuum likely isn’t an item most people want to receive as a gift, but this has truly revolutionized my cleaning! My kids get crumbs on the floor all the time. It’s so much easier to clean these up with this vacuum than with a broom and dustpan.
Fall
In September we started school again. My oldest daughter is in kindergarten and my middle child is doing preschool. Towards the end of the month we celebrated Gilana’s birthday. She is now 1 year old!
We had another visit from my parents at this time. They brought us several things they picked up at a garage sale. The best item is undoubtedly an ice cream maker (similar to this one). We’ve used this ice cream maker so many times in the last couple of months!
We began October by celebrating Amaris’ birthday. We started her birthday with special birthday cake pancakes! She is now 5 years old.
Later this month we made special efforts to check on our friends.
We spent most of November engaged in gratitude activities, enjoying Sweet Potato Waffles, and eating pie.
My older girls are starting to be interested in cooking, so they helped out several times with dinner preparations.
We enjoyed many traditions during December, including baking lots of cookies and doing Jesse Tree readings. We also had fun walking through our neighborhood on a Christmas light scavenger hunt.
Top posts
Here are the 10 most popular posts I wrote during 2019:
- Play Guide for Baby’s First Year
- Classic Potato Salad
- Superior Chicken Noodle Soup
- Connect with Your Spouse Using Marriage Check-In Questions
- Easy DIY Puppet Theater from a Cardboard Box
- 20 Self-Reflection Questions for Christian Wives
- The Dirty Truth About How Often Kids (and Adults) Need to Bathe
- 10 Alternatives to Parties for Celebrating Kids’ Birthdays
- Alternatives to Facial Tissues
- 5 Reasons I No Longer Apologize for My Messy House
Final thoughts
In this post I’ve focused on the positive things that we’ve experienced this past year. We’ve also faced a number of challenges. I’m not going to go into detail about those right now, but I do want to acknowledge that you are probably facing something similar: Last year had both highs and lows. I always appreciate the sense of newness that each New Year brings.
I hope that the words the Lord spoke to His people during the time of the prophet Isaiah will be true for us this year:
“Look, I am about to do something new. Now it begins to happen! Do you not recognize it? Yes, I will make a road in the wilderness and paths in the wastelands.” Isaiah 43:19 (NET)
What are some of your highlights from 2019? What things are you eager for in 2020?
What a beautiful family Shannon! I enjoyed reading about your year!
Melissa | Little Frugal Homestead
Thank you, Melissa!
What a gift it is to be welcomed into your home for this visit with your family!
Happy 2020!
Thanks for reading, Michele!
It seems like your parents were a great blessing to your family in 2019. Happy New Year! I enjoyed reading about your year with your family.
Hi Kristie,
Yes, they were! I can’t think of a year when they weren’t.
What great highlights from the year! That Easter picture of all of you is fabulous-it’s amazing how big your girls are getting! It’s also fun to hear that you got an ice cream maker-do you have any favorite recipes? I was just given an ice cream maker for Christmas, and I’m very excited to use it 🙂 Also, what kind of minivan did you guys get? We just have one car, a small sedan, but we’ll outgrow it when we no longer only have 2 kids. I’m not sure if we’ll go the van route or the SUV route, so I would love to hear ideas about what’s good!
I love the Easter picture, and the girls certainly are getting big!
Our favorite ice cream recipe so far has been a chocolate cherry variety (I can email you the recipe). However, we’ve made several, including blackberry lemon, vanilla, candy cane, and mint chocolate chip.
I’ve written before about the minivan vs SUV decision (see it here). I would definitely choose a van again, especially with 3 kids. The van I drive is a Honda Odyssey and the one my husband drives is a Dodge Caravan. I would buy the Odyssey again in a heartbeat, but not the Caravan. We purchased both used with similar number of miles and they are the same age. We’ve never had any issues with the Odyssey, but have had a couple of significant mechanical issues with the Caravan. This is just a case study, of course, but we know a lot of families that have had similar experiences. The Odysseys cost more (as do the Siennas, which we also considered), but we will probably stick to these in the future. I can tell you more via email, if you’d like.
Oh please send me that chocolate cherry ice cream recipe! That sounds really good. My husband isn’t a fan of cherry flavored things, so that’s more for me, right? 😉
Thanks for linking to your car post and for sharing the information! It kind of boggles my mind to see just how different the amount of storage space and legroom is for minivans vs. suvs. I grew up in a minivan family, and my husband grew up in an SUV family, so seeing your very objective examination of this is very helpful!
I’ll try to email it this weekend.
We were surprised at the differences between the SUVs and minivans. When we saw them, though, we knew that a van would be better for us.
You have a lovely family and with three boys we LOVE our handheld vacuum! My boys have been asking me to buy a second one to keep upstairs since I do allow them eat snacks in their rooms now that they are older and can clean up after themselves. Thanks for sharing with us at Encouraging Hearts and Home. Wishing you a wonderful new year filled with warm memories.
I would love to have a second one to keep upstairs! I often run down to get ours because there is something that will be easier to clean up with it. Who knew such a small tool would be so helpful?
Lots of great posts here! The one that resonated the most with me is “keep short lists.” Such good advice, regardless of our age or season of life. When I have long lists, I feel pressed for time. But when I keep my lists short, I feel time expanding. And I am SUCH a list-keeper. 🙂
I am as well, Lisa, and it certainly does feel like time expands when the lists are shorter.