We sent our our Christmas Cards with the saying “Best.Year.Ever.” and oh, boy, was it true! 2015 was the year of adventures, of getting out of our comfort zone, of trying new things, of friends and family, travels, joining the league of homeschoolers, and so much more. It was a year filled with many, many wonderful memories and moments, and here are a few of my favorites.

JANUARY

January was cold. Like bitterly, don’t dare go outside with wearing five layers, kind of cold. Yet, it was strangely void of snow. We had a big dumping over Christmas, enough to go sledding in near blizzard conditions, and then one warm week melted everything off just in time for temperatures to plummet again. It limited our outside activities, but we managed to to make our own adventures indoors just the same. One day, after watching a LEGO superhero movie, the kids decided to become superheroes themselves. And so they did.

We also were gifted with tickets to a Hockey Game featuring our very own Alaska Aces… “Let’s go, Aces, let’s go!” It was probably the first game that we’ve attended where the kids actually paid attention throughout the whole game instead of getting bored halfway through the first period. I mean, come on! Who gets bored watching hockey?!

But the most exciting moment of the month came at the very end when we (finally) decided to give my office a much-needed makeover. When we had first moved into he house, the walls were painted a soft green color that we had used in another house and loved. Unfortunately, we remembered the name incorrectly and it came out much more neon green than subtle green and I hated it all year long.

Thankfully, January is a time for new beginnings and honey-do lists. 48 hours, two gallons of paint, and a billion screws later and my office was done. A year later, it is probably my favorite room of the house and has proven to be that calming “retreat” that I needed- and I have the increased productivity and decreased stress to prove it.

FEBRUARY

Ah, February. The month that broke our fence. Literally. One of the very few not-so-great aspects of Palmer (seriously, we love it here!) is that it has severe winds that come in off the river. Most of the time the wind is strong, but it just means I need to wear a long skirt or risk a Marilyn Monroe moment. But apparently during the winter when the natural buffer of trees and foliage is gone, the winds get even more powerful and intense, garnering enough strength to take out entire fences and rob our neighbor of their trampoline. (And yes, it’s happened again this year, too)

That’s pretty much all that happened that month. Woohoo.

MARCH

March was better than February, by far. For starters, Caleb turned five years old that month. Of course, I was a complete ditz and didn’t take a single picture for the birthday party. But it was a Lego themed birthday party (do you notice a trend yet?) and we had a blast. Of course, since there are no pictures or video from said event, you’ll just have to take my word for it.

Moving on.

The little snow we had received during February was almost gone by then and the trails were clear enough for us to go on our first hike of the season. We’re blessed to have a trail system close to our house, and we spend many a summer evening walking along the river.

March was also the month where I felt myself coming into my role as a work-from-home/homeschooling mom of two. Up until then, I had worn so many hats and juggled so many tasks that I never felt able to do my best at any of it. My house was always messy, my son weeks behind in his schoolwork, my business unorganized and stressful, and I had no time for “me”, much less the time to actually enjoy my family. But something had begun to change in my heart and my perspectives, a subtle shifting in my priorities. This was the moment when I felt myself fully deserving of the title of “Mom” – and finding joy in that role.

APRIL

I think that we can safely put this next one down as one of my least favorite moments of 2015 and one of my all-time biggest “mom fails”.

Caleb’s teeth were bad. There, I said it. Somehow we had been brushing his teeth wrong (how can there be a wrong way of brushing teeth?) for over a year and given him entirely too much apple juice, even though it was watered-down. The result was cavities galore and teeth desperately in need of repair. In fact, the procedure would be so in depth that Caleb needed to be put under so they could do the extensive dental work needed. Oh, my poor baby.

Of course, now he’s quite proud of his metal teeth. Meanwhile, my momma’s heart aches a little bit every time I see those teeth glean. And you’d better believe that we’re the poster family for properly brushed teeth now.

With the weather getting nicer by the day, we found ourselves spending more and more time outside. Now, I’m one of those people that hates going somewhere alone (unless it’s to the grocery store!) and I especially hate hiking by myself as I haven’t felt capable of keeping up with the kids by myself. But I was determined to make a conscious change to my physical activity level, and especially to my endurance. I was tired of feeling tired. Having started a workshop regime back in December, I added weekly solo + kids hikes to my routine. Needless to say, the kids were thrilled with that choice.

MAY

In May we went on our first “big adventure” of the season and hiked the McHugh Creek trail along the Seward Highway. We’ve visited McHugh Creek dozens of times over the years but for some reason never tried the South Trail. But one sunny Sunday afternoon we decided to turn left instead of right, and although we didn’t make it the whole way, it was the epitome of a perfect day.

Apparently we kept up the trend of perfect days and so for Mother’s Day (which often marks among the first of our long, warm, summer days) we spent the afternoon cooking out moose burgers and playing football along the banks of the Knik River. And yes, I find it wonderfully ironic that I spend the day set aside for celebrating my motherhood by being “one of the guys” and honestly, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

On a productive note, we got exasperated with Remington slowly taking over the yard and decided to enclose a section just for him. This corner gets good sun while still having shade for most of the day, is right next to his best friend aka canine buddy so they can “chat” through the fence, and can see right into the living room so we can check on him when he’s outside. Of course, we  neglected to do a sufficient enough job with pulling up the grass roots so the mulch lasted barely a week before the weeds started to grow and overtake the area once again, but hey, at least it looked good for a little while.

May was also filled with that beautiful, spontaneous moments that just “happen” – one such moment coming on a warm afternoon while Micah was working in the garage. The kids went into our side yard and I think the golden light streaming down had a little magic mixed in with it. Next thing I know, Caleb was asking me to take their picture and I was more than happy to oblige. Dancing, tumbling, hugging, and laughing. Childhood at its best.

A few days later we had our own beautifully spontaneous moment. One evening Micah said he wanted to go to the river to collect driftwood and asked if the kids and I wanted to go along. So we did. What followed was hours spent playing, exploring, and making these beautiful memories together. That day went down as one of my favorite moments of the year, and probably of my life. No cell phones, no distractions, no deadlines. Just us, being a family.

JUNE

Come summertime, Alaska is green from head to two and pretty much every waking moment is spent outside, especially once fishing season starts up. The first months of June were spent checking out new fishing spots up in Hatcher Pass, one of the prettiest and most beloved spots in the MatSu Valley.

Micah’s mom and youngest brother came for a visit and we had the chance to visit the Museum of Transportation which housed vintage airplanes, trucks, cars, and farm equipment. But the pride and joy of the collection was an original train that you could go in and explore to your heart’s content. Oh, I loved that train.

JULY

The big event of the month was that MY LITTLE BROTHER GOT MARRIED! We welcomed Auntie Kristen and I finally got a sister to join me in the Shaw family.

The trip down there was probably the smoothest traveling experience we’ve had with kids. Flying with two little ones, five and three years old, is no light matter and kids get antsy after the first two hours. We tried to take all this into account when booking tickets and purposely chose long layovers in kid-friendly airports that had playgrounds and plenty of room to run and get those wiggles out. Additionally, I packed new magazines and books, small toys and treats that we doled out every few hours of our trip. I also packed food and snacks.. apparently way too many as we also used the snacks for the return trip and still had some left over. But better to be over-prepared than not at all, right?

Once the wedding was over, we stayed another two weeks visiting with family. Our first stop was the Adventure Science Museum. This place was huge! One of the largest museums that we’ve been to as of yet- there were whole sections that we never even got to see during our visit. Oh, and those animatronic dinosaurs? Yeah… the kids were terrified of them.

Another unique place we visited was Cannonsburg Village, a recreation of the original townsite from when Murfreesboro, TN was founded. It’s one of those places that we always overlooked while I lived there and during every trip back, too. Yet, it seems that it was worth my wait since I got to experience it with my parents and kids for our very first time. We explored cabins, witnessed life in the 1800’s, saw original farm equipment from nearly every century, and really get a sense for what it was like in this small, country town.

AUGUST

My sister and brother in-law, Rebekah & Jacob, and their family just so happened to be passing through Nashville during our last few days there and we were able to see them. It’s amazing how much kids can grow in just two years! Jacob had always wanted to see the Nashville Parthenon and once we picked our jaws up from gapping at it’s sheer size (it’s a full-scale replica of the original building), we then visited the Frist Center for the Visual Arts. While their main exhibit of the evolution of fashion was, ahem, not quite suited to our tastes, their hands-on art center was! The kids had such fun painting, building, and sculpting. We have quite a few budding artists!

And the fun kept on coming… this time we went to the Discovery Center at Murfree Spring with “Auntie Katie” and she got to experience the never-ending energy kids have when it comes to children’s museums.

Let’s see… we also visited the Nashville Zoo, one of my absolute favorite places. Of course, we had the distinct pleasure of visiting on what seemed like the hottest day of the summer and filled up our special-edition Icee cups no less than a dozen times each. My brother, Brandon, earned the title of “most awesome uncle” that day and was up for anything, including taking the kids into the petting zoo and being Sam’s personal mode of transportation.

On our return trip home we flew out of St. Louis, arriving a few hours early so we could tour the city a bit and visit two important landmarks: the St. Louis Arch and the St. Louis Cardinals Stadium. Of course, we’re not Cardinals fan ourselves, but Micah’s brother is a huge fan and we certainly couldn’t go to St. Louis without seeing the Stadium in person and rubbing it in his face just a little.

 SEPTEMBER

As soon as we got back home, salmon season was going full-swing and we were out fishing most days… afternoons… evenings… nights… By the end of the season we had gotten so much fish and game meat that we had to get a second stand-alone freezer for all the bounty. To this date, a good 80% of our meat comes from our freezer and I’m so thankful for the healthy provisions and blessing to our finances. We also managed to find a few untapped places for picking berries and picked enough that Micah was able to make another year’s worth of jelly. That’s another blessing- we haven’t purchased store-bought jelly since 2014!

One big thing that September held was the official start of Caleb’s schooling! We followed in Micah’s footsteps and enrolled in IDEA, a homeschool umbrella school here in the state of Alaska. While officially enrolled in Kindergarten, he is doing both K and 1st Grade work. With both Micah and I having been homeschooled, the learning curve was easier than most but adjusting our daily schedule to accommodate schoolwork and making sure we covered every topic properly has not been easy. But Caleb is learning and enjoys learning, which is the best part of all.

OCTOBER

Even though Samantha’s birthday is at the end of October, we hold her party as early in the month as possible. Not only is late October a very busy time for church events, but there are also several other birthdays that take place then among our friends and we try to keep the parties from overlapping. Personally, I like have Sam’s birthday celebrated as early in the month as possible so we have the best weather possible and can overflow to the outside for the party. The same rule is followed for Caleb’s birthday as we hold his party as late in March as possible so the snow has a chance to melt and our cabin-fevered kids can round around outside like banshees.

Thankfully I learned from my Caleb’s birthday-fail and actually picked up my camera to snap a few pictures during Sam’s “Enchanted Woodland” themed party. Samantha was, of course, a fairy, as was I. Meanwhile, Caleb and Micah grew their best beards and went in full lumberjack mode after shooting down my gnome idea. Oh well, at least the costumes were easier.

But before the birthday party we “remodeled” our living room, making some pretty big changes and getting rid of the Builder’s Blah Beige (its official title) and painting the entire living room- sans our blue accent wall- our beloved Gray Ghost color. We also added a rug (that will need to be replaced since it did NOT hold up to both a dog and kids, but a more neutral tone and pattern this time), new chair, new side bookcase, curtains, accents, you name it. The transformation was pretty incredible, but was still only step 1 of our long-term plan.

Later that month, the remodeling continued as we decided to redo our master bathroom by painting and getting a real sink + cabinet. Oh, my! Counter space, how I’ve missed you.

NOVEMBER

November, like February, was a relatively quiet month. It snowed, we went sledding, or as much sledding as can be done in an inch and a half. Micah and I celebrated eight years of marriage and went out for the evening. We ate way too much for Thanksgiving. Installed a new floor in the Studio. It was boringly nice, if that’s a thing?

DECEMBER

Ah, December. The month of Christmas and holiday celebrations. Like most Decembers, it was a bit of a whirlwind but we tried to set aside dedicated time for family and friends, celebrating, and sometimes, staying home and doing absolutely nothing.

One celebration that we hope will become a yearly tradition was decorating cookies and gingerbread houses with our good friends and next door neighbors, a fellow “P” family. Caleb and Samantha were mirror opposites in their decorating styles as Samantha was borderline minimalist while Caleb put frosting on top of frosting. They loved the resulting creations (which was a good thing because the boxed cookies tasted awful). Meanwhile, the graham cracker “a la” gingerbread houses were proudly displayed for the entire season on top of our kitchen cabinet- and may or may not still be on display a month later. But hey, at least our Christmas lights are down?

Other holiday activities included an Ugly Sweater Party, watching How the Grinch Stole Christmas at the library (popcorn and cocoa provided!), making brown bag reindeers at Storytime, and taking Christmas Day pictures in front of the tree. Maybe next year we’ll try to actually have them wear Christmas PJ’s or at least red & green.

______

All in all, it was a truly wonderful year and probably one of my favorite and most-enjoyed years to date.

What were your favorite memories of 2015?

It seems that one of those inevitable truths of life is that if your morning goes awry, it’s hard to reclaim the rest of your day. Rough mornings throw off your groove, to borrow the phrase. Having a plan usually makes a morning run smoother but even the best of plans can still leave you feeling frazzled, stressed, and drained.

Call me crazy, but I really love mornings. Even on those not-so-rare days where I went to bed too late and got up too early with little sleep in between, even then I still love the fresh promise of the new day and all the potential it holds. Still, for all my pep and hope, if the morning starts to fall apart then my day falls apart, too. I find myself losing focusing, energy zapped, my productivity next to nothing. And if by some miracle we manage to stick to our schedule, I’ve lost every ounce of sanity in the meantime and probably have a couple of new gray hairs to boot.

Last week I met with Caleb’s contact teacher for his umbrella school (I.D.E.A– it’s awesome!) and during our discussion there came one of those lightbulb moments and I realized the difference between having a morning routine vs. a schedule. A schedule has set tasks and if those tasks aren’t completed on time, then you’re left playing catch up the rest of the day. Meanwhile, a routine is merely a series of familiar tasks that happen when they happen. Got showered and dressed quicker than expected? Now you can enjoy an unhurried breakfast and perhaps even a few leisurely moments before getting started with your day.

As a homeschooling family, most of our mornings are spent at home. While we aren’t rushing to get out the door, if we’re not careful I lose track of time and the entire day can slip away. Before we know it, it’s the middle of the afternoon and we’re still in our PJ’s with unbrushed hair, eating cereal out of the box, with phonics pages half done, but the laundry is folded and put away!

The truth of the matter is that I can’t stick to a schedule. But a “To Do List” I can do! A set routine and way of doing things that is so easy I can do it pre-coffee, that I can do. The thing with routines is that they become second nature, and one task naturally progresses to the next. Having the same routine every morning helps make the complicated tasks more familiar and before you realize it, you’re sipping your second cup of still-hot java while the disherwasher’s going, laundry done, living room picked up, kids dressed, and three things are already checked off the to-do list.

My Sanity Saving Morning Routine
(and a few tips too)

– Wake up before kids & take time for myself.
This is a big one but not always easy to do with a little boy that likes to wake up at the crack of dawn. (We set rules for what he can do if he wakes up early) Ideally, I like to wake up 1-2 hours before the kids so I can do my personal devotions and prayer time, return emails, get in a 20-minute workout, and be blow drying my hair as the kids wake up. This head start on the day proves to be invaluable even if I don’t get any tasks accomplished and have spent all the time on “me.” It provides a peaceful, relaxed start where I feel fresh, competent, and in control- ready to meet whatever challenges the day throws at me.

– Allow myself the privilege of sleeping in a least once a week.
This may seem like the direct opposite of the previous tip, but hear me out. We all have at least one morning a week where there is nothing pressing to be done. And on those mornings it’s tempting to wake up at the same time and play catch up on all the things we didn’t get accomplished during the past days. Yet, I’m a firm believer that those days are the most important days of all. Hitting snooze, or better yet, turning my alarm off completely, allows my body to get the rest it needs and has been sorely lacking. Even if I was able to get 8 hours of solid sleep each night for the past week, my body will still receive a boost from waking up naturally vs. jarring awake with my iPhone’s alarm.

– Set out clothes the night before.
The last thing I need is to realize that the kids have no clean socks when I’m already running late or spend 10 minutes arguing over the blue or green shirt. When putting the kids to bed I simply reach in their closets and lay out their outfits for the next day. And if I’m feeling really productive, I’ll even take the basket of clean clothes with me and put away the laundry before tucking them in for the night.

– If staying home, wear real clothes.
While it’s tempting to stay in yoga pants the whole day, once my workout is over I get dressed as if I’m going out in public, even if I’ll be staying home. Putting effort into my appearance somehow switches the day from “casual mode” to “productive mode” and has the added bonus of keeping me from feeling embarrassed when the UPS guy stops by. Of course, I’m a huge fan of PJ Thursday. The UPS guy will just have to deal with it.

– Have a dedicated spot for clothes, shoes, and coats.
It does no good to have everything set out in advance if the kids have to look in a different spot each time. The whole idea of a routine is daily consistency. If the kids know that the shoes are always in the wicker basket by the door when I tell them to “go get their shoes on” I won’t be fielding a dozen questions or having to give turn-by-turn directions to wear to find their mud boots. Of course, teaching the kids that the shoes go IN the buckets and not next to it or in the hallway is also key.

– Realize that even the youngest toddlers can still be helpers.
Young children love to help- so let them! It might take a tiny bit longer or turn out a bit messier, but helpful children are happy children and that means a happy mom, too. By giving my littlest simple tasks to do, such as putting the dirty sippy cups in the sink, stacking the library books by the door, straightening the throw pillows, or putting spoons next to the breakfast bowls, I teach her to contribute to the family and keep her from being underfoot or bored. I may still have to go behind and ensure that the task was completed correctly, but keep up the routine enough and soon even Sammy will be a full-fledged helpful helper.

– Create “Mini Routines” with each Morning Routine. 
With all the stuff to do each morning, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. I’ve found that dividing my mornings up into smaller sections, each with its own mini routine has proven to be one of the best sanity saving tips out there. For example, serving the kids breakfast is made up several tasks: first I empty the dishwasher while the kids finish waking up, then I fix breakfast (cereal or toast if we’re going simple, eggs are medium difficulty, pancakes or breakfast bake for special mornings). While the kids are eating I load the dishwasher and start a sink of soapy water so I can wash dishes off and on during the rest of the morning. Last step is putting on a pot of coffee to perk while I finish my breakfast and get Caleb started on school. One main task of “eating breakfast” just took off half a dozen things off my to do list without any extra time and little additional effort.

– Take advantage of the power of five minutes.
It really is amazing what can be accomplished in just five minutes. Part of my morning routine is taking five minutes at a time and focusing on a certain task, project, or room. Living room messy? I set the timer on the oven and blitz clean for five minutes. If the timer goes off and I’m not done yet, I just set it for another five minutes- after all, that’s the beauty of a having a routine instead of a set schedule.

– Don’t put off the little stuff.
Many times I find myself putting off seemingly small, insignificant to-do’s simply because I don’t feel like doing them at that moment. But then all those small things pile up into one big thing and where’s the sanity in that? If something will take five minutes or less, I tell myself to suck it up and just do it. And then I reward myself with chocolate. Or more coffee. Or both.

– Keep the kitchen table/island/counter clear.
This is one of those things that I didn’t realize how much of a difference it made until I incorporated it as part of our morning routine. The kitchen island is our gathering spot for afternoon coffee, where Caleb works on his math homework while Sammy colors. It’s where I go through bills and slice apples for mid-afternoon snacks. It doesn’t have to be spotless, that comes later, I just need it clear and useable.

– A routine puts the kids on auto pilot in a good way.
Every night before bed Caleb asks, “What are we doing in the morning?” and we go over all the events tomorrow holds. He gets most excited to hear that the next day is Library Day and since it’s one of our weekly routines, come the next morning he knows just what to do. Library books are gathered, an extra big breakfast is eaten, and Caleb asks if he’s earned enough stars on the reward chart to get a new Hot Wheels car from the thrift store after story time. Kids thrive on consistency. Knowing what to expect each day gives them time to anticipate their own responsibilities, prepare for any thing they don’t enjoy like nap time or homework, and allows the day to transition smoothly and naturally.

– Know that some mornings will go all wrong. 
It’s going to happen. Just regroup and start fresh. After all, in the famous words of Miss Scarlet O’hara, “Tomorrow is another day.”

What’s your morning routine? Any tips keeping your sanity that you’d like to share?