2022!

It's the end of another year!  I've been through 40 of these and yet every year I'm amazed that it's end of another one.  As if this isn't supposed to keep happening.  This was a pretty good year for our family.  Overall.  In the nitty gritty, sure, a lot of things went not to plan or were hard or just made days/moments/weeks stressful but looking back at the last 12 months...it feels like we had a great year.

This felt, mostly, like our first normal year in awhile, with COVID slowly taking more and more of a backseat (even though we finally got it ourselves.  I am STILL amazed at the irony that I likely contracted it the DAY I packed away our masks).  Our boys are at wonderful ages to enjoy adventures and holidays and just life.  Of course, with growing ages come growing problems.  It's funny to think back on things that caused us stress in past years and how those things don't matter (sometimes) now but that bigger/harder problems have taken their place.  Parenting a kid through the school years is no joke.

It was a BIG year for adventures for us, our boys just being at great ages for that too.  We stayed at 5 campgrounds for 16 nights and 6 hotels for 11.  I don't think we've had a year where we've stayed so many different places since our Europe trip 10 years earlier and I don't think we've EVER stayed in so many hotels in a year!  Looking back, particularly at the summer, many of those adventures are what stands out.  MAINE.  Kings Island. St. Louis. Michigan. San Antonio. Jellystone. Camping with my sister, BIL, niece and parents.  A September camping trip.  Plus another cousin getting married which led to 2 more nights in a hotel. Which also reminds me, given all the solo time I had in hotel rooms with the boys this year (while Matt was doing wedding things, when he was at his conference in Texas)...I am THANKFUL for smart TVs where I can easily put Dude Perfect on for the boys and everyone is happy. (When I was a bit anxious about getting to the wedding at the right time and navigating downtown Indy traffic, again, Luke even pulled up one of my favorite clips which never fails to make me laugh.))

We are solidly campers now, even if we almost exclusively stay in deluxe cabins.  Although, our rustic cabin at Jellystone brings back such happy memories.  I can't look at pictures from that trip, maybe more than any other, without being flooded with happy memories.  Even Maine had it's own share of challenges (SO MANY hours in the car to get there!).  Although, I remember being somewhat stressed at Jellystone too, with having a lot going on the Sunday we were checking out (Backstreet Boys concert!).  But that's not the prevailing memory.  It's not always easy (I still, not fondly, remember yelling at my family, in a deluxe cabin: "THIS IS SUPPOSED TO BE FUN." in a particularly challenging moment) but considering we have FIVE more booked already for next summer (starting booking those the DAY before we left for Texas, apparently I am incapable of not having some getaway planned at all times). 

There is finally a sandbox in our backyard which had been on the list and my end table would be done if not for Matt deciding to make some Christmas gifts at the last minute!  (It's mostly assembled!  Just needs sealed/stained/something.)  I'm sure we did some other projects around the house but those are the biggest ones that stand out, probably because of how long they lingered on the to-do lists.  It actually felt like a relatively calm year, big project wise.  Maybe we are running out of them???  (We will never.)

I ran less than last year (337.15 vs. 407.70) and finished fewer books (hopefully 175 vs. 180) but also feel like we spent the most time playing games with the boys than any other previous year which feels like a good tradeoff to make.  The number of times I got DEMOLISHED in Saints Memory by Sam could be near triple digits.  It DOES make me concerned for my mental state when I get beat by a 4 year old who can't seem to remember to throw his dirty underwear to the laundry.  I might not win often (but still sometimes!) but I do at least know where that goes!

There were plenty of bad and hard things that happened this year (with homework, especially 4th grade, on that list) but I want to remember the good, the countless moments that made me appreciate having the boys with us, at these ages.  Appreciate that we're able to take them on long trips.  Appreciate that I can take Luke on big roller coasters (even if he swore them off forever after that...we'll try again on a medium size one).  Appreciate that they will sit for 2000 (that's not an extra 0, I read them over 2000 books just this year) books.  Elbow each other occasionally during that and whine if I make them do books before screens...but then they'll settle in and I don't know that I have a more content parenting moment than with then snuggled up next to me while we read.  

2023 brings on FORTY.  FORTY.  Trust me, I have THOUGHTS on that one.  But, the 30s have been much better than I expected so I am optimistic about the new looming decade.  Still more than half a year away!  

Life is good.  Life is hard.  Life is life. I'm sure glad this is the one I have, despite it's challenges. 

2021!