Goals For 2014

It's that time of year again--new year, new goals.  Here's my list for 2014:

Run a 5K.  

Sound familiar?  Yep, one of my goals from 2013 that I failed to complete!  I hope to accomplish this goal by running in the New Year's Hustle on January 18.  After seeing David and Mary's amazing performances in their races this past December, I fear that people may accuse me of being fast by association or something. Nope, I am the slowpoke of the family. I just hope to run the entire race and still be breathing after I cross the finish line.

Make Danish pastries.

I love, love, love to bake.  Recently, we made croissants for the first time for a history project.  (I love it when education and food intersect!) They were a lot of work but so worth it.  To make Danish pastries, you start with croissant dough (yum) but add a filling in the middle (double yum).  Maybe a special treat for Valentine's Day?

Complete the chronological Bible reading plan.

I have always been one to read through the books of the Bible in order, but I feel like it's sometimes hard for me to put together the order of events from start to finish.  As I was praying about what to read during my devotional time, I came across this reading plan, which, ideally, I would finish in March. But, seriously, I'm a mom, so I am hoping to finish by the end of April.

Put together a 2013 photo book.

I know this one sounds familiar, too, right?  If I don't include it on my goals list, it won't get done.

Potty train Matthew and Jonathan.

I know I've really been dragging my feet on this one.  I have had the underwear in the drawer for at least six months but have not even let either twin put it on yet.  Not only have I never potty trained a boy, but I have never potty trained twins!  I have visions of two little boys running around the house squirting each other for fun. Gross. On top of that there are three other siblings to use as targets. Double gross. Alas, I know I can't avoid the issue much longer, so I will at least try to potty train these little guys this summer.  

Get caught up on my periodical backlog.

I have pretty much a year's worth of BHG, LHJ, Costco, and AAA magazines to read.  I really enjoy reading them, so I don't know why I haven't.  I hope to get caught up in 2014!

Open our home to someone from church at least once per month.

It is really, really difficult for me to invite people over to our home.  I'm a crummy hostess.  My house is usually messy.  To say my cooking is sub-par is being extremely generous. My kids aren't used to having people over, so they get over-excited and really, really loud and act like they have never heard of "manners" before! Nonetheless, David and I have been convicted that God wants us to fellowship more with the other members of our church family, so no more excuses! 

Learn how to crochet.

I really enjoy doing crafts with my kids.  Mary especially is interested in different crafts she can do with her hands, like weaving potholders, knitting hats, and embroidering towels.  I would like to teach her to crochet, but first I have to learn!  I think I'm just going to get some supplies at the craft store and follow this tutorial.

Build a unit for the laundry room to organize jackets, shoes, and bags.

That was pretty funny, right?  Me, build something?  When David told me how long it would take for him to get to this project, I told him that I could just build it myself.  Suddenly, it moved up in the list of priorities, ha, ha.  Well, I have a design, but I can't figure out how to paste it here, so you'll have to take my word for it that it's an ingenious use of space:)

Learn computer programming in JavaScript faster than Mary.

In December, the Khan Academy had a greeting card project to encourage kids to code during the Hour of Code. Mary really enjoyed learning to code and is eager to learn more.  I signed up for an account at the Khan Academy and am just hoping to keep one step ahead. 

       
Read Life Skills for Kids.
I came across this book when browsing through the Rainbow Resource curriculum catalog this past summer and am really looking forward to reading it, but I have to finish two other books first.

Find out David's answers to Pastor Peter's 39 questions.

Recently, our church had a Christmas party for the couples/families affinity group.  At this party, we teamed up with another couple to find out how much we knew about our spouses.  Each individual chose 15 numbers between 1 and 39 and then answered those specific questions (of a list of 39) on a piece of paper.  Then, we traded papers with the spouse of the opposite sex and tried to answer the way our spouse did. Point values were assigned to each question and awarded for each correct answer. Although David and I have a wonderful marriage, I'm pretty sure we were in the running for the lowest scoring couple with a combined score of 23.  From my calculations, the highest possible score was 65. I plan to find out the answers to all 39 questions in 2014!

Of course, all of this is secondary to keeping my kids alive, fed, and cleansed enough to be socially acceptable! Happy New Year!