Happy New Year 2024

 Happy New Year! Somehow it is 2024!

This past weekend has been pretty fun. On Friday, Jim and Barb brought the kids to town, and John met them at Fizolis (I was working). Then, the kids were home again, and pretty happy to home. 

On Friday we went to Bethel to the gym to play pickelball and let Emma drive her drone around. After that, we headed to Triple Play Cards for another reveal party/drawing. This time we didn't win anything, but the kids still got a couple free Pokemon things. And Elliott found some new cards to add to his collection again. Then we went home and enjoyed a quiet evening. The kids played of their Ipads and John and I watched some Yellowstone. 

On Saturday, John took Emma to the Kitty Cafe in the morning. She LOVED it. She wouldn't stop talking about all the cats, and the smoothie she had, and she wants to work there when she's older. 

Meanwhile, I took Elliott to Dave and Buster's and we enjoyed some arcade time. We spent about an hour playing games and racking up tickets. Then, I took him to a new candy store in town and we picked out some bulk candy, and then finally I got him a smoothie at Scooters. We had a great day. 

We spent the rest of the day at home. We enjoyed some snacks and movies in the evening, and just enjoyed some family time. 

On Sunday, we went to church, and then the boys packed up to go ice fishing in Watertown. They spent the afternoon/evening fishing, and then stayed the night in a hotel in Watertown. They did finally catch some fish, and even kept one to clean. Today, they are fishing again, and then once it gets quiet they will head back home. 

Emma and I enjoyed some girl time yesterday. Emma helped me clean church, and then we went to the movie "Wonka" at Cinema theatre. We got some popcorn and candy and enjoyed a really good movie. We had plans to eat at Cracker Barrel afterwards, but we were too full, so we went home instead. We worked on some art projects, flew Emma's drone, and then watched a movie. Emma wanted to stay up until midnight, but when I was showering at 10:30pm, she put herself to bed. 

Today, we are just chilling. I decided to catch up on blogging, Emma's reading a book, and we have plans to go shoot hoops in a while. 

I also made some personal goals for 2024:

1. Blog more often. I need to try to blog once a week or at least once every two weeks, so I don't have to blog 5 posts in a row to catch up. Plus, I would remember more details and do a better job if I kept up on it. 

2. Read more books. I need to find more time for reading. I don't even watch very much TV, but we do put sports on a lot in this house, so maybe I need to cut back on that and read more. Also, throw in nonfiction and self-help, faith-based books as well. So good for the soul. 

3. Lose 25 pounds. I joined Noom again, and I'm pretty excited about that. I had good luck with that last time, so I'm excited to try it again. I do already go to the gym quite often, now I need to focus on nutrition and eating better. 

4. More quality time with the kids. I need to be better about having game night, or activities to do with the kids. We spend a lot of time together, but sometimes it's with them on their Ipad, and us on our phones, and we need to be better. The years go too fast to waste our time together. 

5. Keep Traveling. I have never regretted any trips we have taken. Both with kids and without kids. I want us to be good about continuing to plan and take the trips as they come our way. We only have so many years left to travel with our kids. 

6. Experiment with meals. I want to keep trying new foods and recipes, sometimes the things the kids end up loving really surprises me. 

7. One on one time with the kids. I love taking one kid at a time to do something. They are so different when they are by themselves with me. I love the talks and things I learn when we have one on one time. 

8. One on one time with John. Also important to get our alone time and date nights in. This is much easier now that the kids can stay home alone. We need to keep planning date night-and surprise ones sometimes are great as well. 

These are the things I plan to focus on in 2024. I'm looking forward to all the things that will come with the new year. 

Happy New Year!!