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2015 in Review

December 11, 2015 by Emilee Evans

I know it’s not the end of the year yet, but I don’t suspect anything too significant is going to happen over the next few weeks besides my dad’s upcoming surgery. Each year I check my beginning of the year posts from the previous year, and I had to laugh that in my 2014 in Review I said I couldn’t wait to change the fact that we haven’t fully unpacked in over 5 years. Well, the tradition still stands – we haven’t fully unpacked! *Sigh*

2015 in Review

2015 in Review
Unfortunately, my health issues continued in 2015, and although it has been refreshing to be “back home” with family and friends, it’s still not easy to struggle almost daily – even when you do have an amazing support network. I have definitely been so very thankful to be connected to my friends and family again. It’s been such a blessing! We’ll be celebrating our one year anniversary of our move to Ohio on Christmas Eve, and it was hard to move but so worth it.
I have started seeing specialists, though, which is a huge step in the right direction, and I am hopeful 2016 will bring some answers (and relief). After realizing I needed to open my heart, I started sharing my heart when it comes to living with a chronic condition, challenges of a special needs family and faith in the midst of trials. I even started sharing some recipes! Overall, though, it wasn’t a fantastic year as far as blogging goes, but health and family must come first.
Never Alone
This year I continued with the Schoolhouse Review Crew and was excited to be asked back for 2016. Being part of the Crew is such a huge blessing for me and our family! I shared my excitement to be back on the Crew and our favorite curriculum from 2015. Overall, our homeschool year was uneventful. We didn’t really do anything spectacular. With my health issues, I was just glad to get through the days sometimes!
For here on Pea of Sweetness, my initial goal was to narrow down my niche, but I did something I wouldn’t have predicted – I sold my other blog and opened Pea of Sweetness up again to reflect all of me. Exactly the opposite than what I planned, but it is actually a refreshing change for me! I feel like I don’t have to divide my time anymore!
I did also opt to cut down my contributor list as well, but I hope to be able to get back into it this in 2016. Despite these changes, though, I didn’t completely just lighten my load! I was excited to start freelance writing for Findlay Family. Plus, I have other blogs. We kicked off 2015 on Sweetness Sisters Media with a group giveaway, but both my co-owner and I decided it just wasn’t “our year,” as we both were very busy with our own blogs and lives outside of the Internet. We do hope to get it up and running again this year, though.
Plus, my husband and I have decided to take on a project together. Our blog, Nerdy Household, will launch this year. We’re excited to work together to share our love for gaming, anime and all things nerdy. If you love gaming, be sure to follow Nerdy Household on Facebook and Twitter to stay up to date on our launch!
A few other highlights that happened in 2015:

  • Our daughter joined American Heritage Girls, and after a couple of months, I became a volunteer as an Assistant Leader for her troop.
  • My husband started working a part-time job. He’s a Disabled Vet, and he does have physical limitations. He thought getting a part-time job would be OK because of the few hours, and he loves the discounts. It’s proving to be more difficult than he expected, though, so we’re reevaluating what will be best in the new year.
  • We got a kitten, and our daughter was so thrilled. So now we have a dog, cat, kitten and 2 gerbils.
  • Our oldest son went on his first camping trip with Royal Rangers. It turned out to be a cold and rainy time, but he toughed it out!
  • Our daughter also went on her first camp out!
  • We did a lot of fishing this year! We fished at the lake at the sports club, the river and got an inflatable boat that we took out many times on the reservoir. I even got to try out some great fishing equipment!
  • We spent a lot of time with friends and family, and my mom has given my husband and I the chance to have regular date nights!

I’ll be sharing my top posts, goals and word for 2016 soon, so stay tuned!
I’m excited to see what 2016 has in store! What were your highlights from 2015?
 

2014 in Review

January 17, 2015 by Emilee Evans

By the end of this month I should finally have all my “good-bye 2014, hello 2015” posts done! Lol Seriously, unpacking has been crazy, and I’m not sure we’re even half way done! In the past probably 5 years or so we never completely unpacked. I can’t wait to change that in 2015! Here is my 2014 in review! Next week I’ll be sharing my goals for 2015!
2014 in Review
Between the military moves (including moving three times on one post!) and the constant “he’ll be getting a Med Board soon” (which ended up getting dragged out for two years or so) it just seemed silly to “get settled.” This year we moved twice. We never got fully settled at the first house just because we were under so much financial stress which led to physical and emotional stress and, unfortunately, an eviction as the Social Security didn’t get resolved until right after.
A lot happened after that and what we thought was a blessing turned out not to be. It actually was a blessing in disguise, though, as it caused a stirring in our spirits to seek God’s Will for where we should go long term. After much prayer we knew we should move to Ohio. It is “home” to me, but it wasn’t an easy decision. I shared this on my personal Facebook:

You know, deciding to make such a big move especially near the holidays (and from a warm, sunny state to the freezing cold) wasn’t easy. We sacrificed quite a bit, but after a lot of prayer we knew this is what was best for our family, and God was calling us to go now. We knew we had to cut our losses and follow our path. If you face a crossroads between choosing what you know is right and choosing what would be easier this year, I pray you have the courage to choose the right path. Only your family and God know what that path is, so don’t let outside influences affect your decision and don’t look back or you might miss out on the blessings ahead.

Moving to Ohio
Through all the trials in 2014 my health got worse – both my physical issues and my depression. I think Pea of Sweetness reflected this. I shared my hope in the midst of the fire but worried it sounded like I was whining. The truth is, though, it made me realize I want to open my heart to you. God wants me to open my heart to you. Even in the storm I know He’s there, and that’s what He wanted you to see.
I also shared different ways I view trials. It can be hard to see in the midst of the trials, but they have a purpose.
How do You View Trials
This year I continued with the Schoolhouse Review Crew and was asked back for 2015. Being part of the Crew is such a huge blessing for me and our family!
I continued to move Pea of Sweetness toward my goal of narrowing down my niche, which is part of why I chose Purpose as my Word for 2015.
In 2014 I also became a contributor for The Homeschool Post and Our Homeschool Forum and hope to contribute more in the new year. I became a Family Christian Blogger and got more involved with VeggieTales, and did some great reviews through FlyBy Promotions. I’m so excited to continue to share faith-based resources with you!
VeggieTales Day
I really grew my other blog, Deals of Sweetness, over 2014 and announced we’ll be launching Sweetness Sisters Media next month to connect brands and bloggers and offer blogger support. I’m partnering with my amazing blogger friend Krista from Savory Savings and finally got to meet her and hang out at the Chicago Toy and Game Fair. I shared some pics on Instagram, but stay tuned because I’m about to roll out a photo album on Facebook and introduce you to some of the great brands! I have some reviews coming up, too! Time got away with me with the holidays and move shortly after!
So 2014 had some amazing highlights as well, but I feel my blog suffered a little this year due to all the issues. I shared my Top Posts from 2014 and felt disappointed honestly looking back on my posts for the year. I do feel like I needed that time, though, to really look at the big picture and move forward with purpose.
Top 10 Posts from 2014
We started our new homeschool year this week, but we’re repeating a year. Unfortunately, the stresses took a toll on us in that area as well. I’m hopeful, though. I know 2015 is going to be a year of growth and purpose both personally and professionally, and I’m so blessed to have you follow me on this journey! What were your highlights from 2014?
 

Homeschooling: 2012 Recap

December 30, 2012 by Emilee Evans

2012 has been interesting for us in many ways. We began many new adventures! In January we were still settling in to our house on Fort Hood after moving down here from Fort Belvoir near Washington DC just a couple months prior. I knew I was going to continue homeschooling even though we had just begun. I did my research to find Texas is a VERY homeschooling friendly state! Whereas Virginia required my diploma, letter of intent to homeschool, and a curriculum, Texas didn’t require any of it! I was looking forward to the ease of transition at least for homeschooling since many are aware moving with special needs kids is definitely NOT an easy transition! We actually delayed finishing up our homeschool year quite a bit, but because I knew 1st Grade would recap a lot of Kindergarten and Brayden overall seemed ready, we decided to take the summer off anyway. I was hoping my instincts were right. Praise the Lord they were!
You may remember the pictures I posted on our first day of the 2012-2013 year. If not, or if you missed that post, let me share again!

Homeschool

I know I mentioned the curriculum we chose. What I may have failed to mention (OK, I’m almost certain I did) is that I had every intention of starting Aurora at the 1st Grade Level with Brayden. I would teach them simultaneously, and if I needed to fall back to Kindergarten for workbooks, etc. I would. That’s one thing I love about homeschooling – the flexibility! I know many that their children do one grade level for a certain subject and another grade level for other subjects. This allows them to be THEM. I think like a lot of things we try to put education in a box – a “this is what they SHOULD do” box. I knew she was ready for more because she was bored last year with the Preschool level, so I let her do some Kindergarten work, and she was even bored with that! I want our kids to always be able to learn at their full potential. Clearly, though, I was afraid I would receive some backlash, negative comments, etc. because you can see I put “Kindergarten” on her sign. Well, we are halfway through the school year, and she has only done Kindergarten work once this whole time. Otherwise, she has been plugging away with her big brother on the 1st grade curriculum, and they are both doing great!
I also told myself we would do “more” this year as far as group field trips, co-ops or other type of group activities, and between their having therapy 3x per week, my husband’s doctor appointments, and sharing one car, it really hasn’t worked out well for us. There are a few things I’ve learned, though, in our attempts:

  • If it requires us to leave the house before 9am, accept that it won’t work out. I tried this a few times just to end up with major meltdowns, and we stayed home. It can be somewhat frustrating, but I have to remember this is who we are – special needs and all, and mornings just aren’t a good time for us.
  • If it’s on a therapy day it makes for too long of a day, which may seem OK until that night. I had to evaluate the situation and determine it wasn’t worth the emotional overload it put on them.
  • It’s not required, and it’s not “hurting” them. Again, I feel as homeschoolers we get a lot of pressure, and “socializing” is one of them. They are in therapy 3x a week, which gives them a chance to interact with different people all the time. Plus we go out and about a lot, so they are constantly around others. They actually do better in natural situations versus planned situations. Looking back on it, I don’t feel any regret and will continue to do what is best for our family’s needs versus what people “think” we need. Besides, God new what He was doing when he blessed us with this opportunity, and He does a great job taking care of us! And yes, I’ll say it, “I socialize my dog, I educate my children.” I particularly like that quote because I used to be a dog training, and I always talked about socialization, and that is always what I think of when people use the term “socialize” with children.

I haven’t given up altogether on group activities, but it’s definitely hard to find any that work around such a tight schedule. I also think it will go over much better once Chaz is a little older because he is often the one that has the hardest time with those type of adventures, and then that rubs off on his older siblings (and me), and then everyone is unhappy! We are part of a few groups here, and at the very least we get a lot of great ideas for things we can do on Tuesdays or Thursdays (when they don’t have therapy).

Homeschool

Overall, the 2012-2013 year has started out great despite not going the way I had hoped with the groups. Brayden did graduate to a bigger desk than the one pictured above, but it took a lot of convincing to give up his beloved Thomas desk! Brayden and Aurora are both doing really well, are getting better with handwriting (which is a challenge for both due to motor skill challenges that are also being addressed by their Occupational Therapists), are reading short words and even some short, simple sentences, and are doing great in Math! Aurora is a little artist and is great at drawing, and Brayden is a “thinker” and is great at puzzles and strategy type scenarios. I’m really excited we’ll have a chance to review some new curriculum this year as well. Even Chaz is going to start doing a little bit of “school!” He generally entertains  himself on the iPad while I teach his siblings, but at least there are some great learning apps!

I will be doing a half-year evaluation next week just to gauge how we’re doing in terms of academics as well as implementing an SEP for all 3 kids like the one I discovered on SchoolhouseTeachers.com. I feel really great about where we are, though! I am definitely looking forward to the next half of this school year and many more to come!

Read some other great 2012 reflections from the Schoolhouse Review Crew Blog Cruise!

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