Happy New Year!

Wow!  What a wild ride this year has been.  There is (hopefully) personal growth in every year, but some years it is a small change and others it is quite large.  This year was one of those explosive years.  Though it was not without its setbacks, the general trajectory is miles forward from where we started 365 days ago.

In one year, we:

• Got licensed to become an in-home daycare.
• Grew the daycare business to exactly where we needed to be - and primarily through our friends or referrals - the highest form of a compliment.
• Grew the gun business to more than double the business of last year - again primarily through referrals.
• All of this while maintaining the life coaching business.
• Had a baby turned toddler.
• Lost a family member FAR too soon.
• Went on our first vacation ("stay-cation", really) as a family of 5.
• Had a toddler turned preschooler.
• Had a preschool turned kindergartner.
• Welcomed Great Grandma Annette to Omaha.
• Celebrated Thanksgiving with extended family that we haven't seen in many years.
• Survived our (hopefully only) brush with cancer - everything was benign, but still far too close for comfort!
• Thrived not only as individuals, but also as a married couple and a family.

Russell

One of the factors in my quitting my job to stay home and do in-home daycare full-time was so that Russell could get off of the night shift.  Well, that lasted about a year.  Once Jameson started kindergarten, he realized that he really didn't get to see him except for maybe an hour in the mornings.  So, it was back to nights for him.  But, this time we have a better system in place so that he is able to get more sleep.  And he got back on basically his same crew as before, so that's good!

We had a little health scare with Russell this year.  He had (what he thought were) 2 cysts removed a few months ago in an in-office procedure.  When he went back in for the follow-up, they told him that it was some disease and the cysts were actually benign tumors and the tissue around it contained precancerous cells.  He was told that he was going to need to have a surgery to remove that tissue and a margin around it.

He went in for the surgery.  We were expecting an area of about 6 or 7 inches to be removed, based on what the surgeon drew on his chest.  Right as they were about to wheel him to the operating room, they told him that they needed him to sign one more form - in case they needed to do a skin graft.  WHAT?!?  The surgery took about an hour or two.  The surgeon came out to talk to us.  He said one they got in there, they found that more tissue than they were expecting was affected, but that they did not need a skin graft.  The incision ended up being over a foot long and we later found out that he was actually really close to getting a skin graft.  But, so far everything looks good and Russell is disappointed that this scar, although long, won't be quite as wicked as he had previously imagined.  He'll have some follow-ups, but we're hoping that this is our only brush with cancer!

Shannon

This year, I have made myself a primary focus for the first time in...well, probably ever.  I realized that I had been putting everyone else first at a detriment to myself, so I decided that it was time to make some changes.  These changes were internal, such as becoming more assertive, overcoming fears, defining boundaries, and finding forgiveness - not only for others, but also for myself.  Soooooooo much forgiveness.  There have also been external changes.  I got my lip pierced, am finding my own personal style, and pursuing my own hobbies - when none of these things were important before.

Something that has become very important to me is to carve out time for myself regularly.  For one, I joined Jazzercise.  I relish each day that I am able to get out and do it.  An hour to myself, with adults, is golden.  Plus the endorphin boost from the exercise doesn't hurt either!  Kellie, Jenny, and I have started a monthly "mom's day out."  It is so important to have some time to unwind and to reconnect as friends.  And let me just tell you, I am SOOOOOOOO blessed to have such amazingly loving and supportive friends.  At a time when I was questioning most of the relationships that I had ever foraged, they held me up until I was strong enough to stand on my own two legs.  Seriously, they are AAAAH-MAZING.

Lastly, I am working on identifying and developing my own hobbies.  For so many years, my focus was my education and career and then my children came along and I just never allowed myself the gift of doing anything just for the pure enjoyment.  I've always enjoyed reading, but it just wasn't what I was looking for - I needed something to get me out of the house!  This spring/summer, I threw myself into garden.  Both the vegetable garden in the back and (finally) adding to our landscape.  The vegetable garden flourished and I'm looking forward to seeing how the landscaping looks in the spring.  Probably over 6 years ago, I mentioned to Russell wanting to try archery.  He finally took me this fall.  And I LOVED it!!!  As of this Christmas, thanks to my generous husband, I am the proud owner of a new beautiful pink bow and gear!  I can't wait to break that baby in! 

I can see incredible changes within myself and I'm really liking what I'm seeing!

Jameson

Jameson has had some HUGE changes this year.  He went from being in the 4's classroom to being a preschool graduate.  Then this summer he was officially considered a kindergartner able to go to camp with the school-age kids.  He could not have been more excited.  He went from half days to full day summer camp.  He was quite popular.  He talked about some 5th grade girls that hung out with him and we were told by the camp counselors how much they adored Jameson.  They told us "Jameson is the best!  No seriously, THE best kid."

Then Jameson started kindergarten.  This was a scary leap for me.  He went from preschool where I knew his teachers, had a lot of contact with them, and knew all of his peers.  To Kindergarten, where I had to leave him at the door.  But, I feel much better now that I know how highly his teachers think of him.  Speaking of which, Jameson is officially the most advanced kid in his class in regards to math and he is now able to read simple books.  He is constantly sounding works out.  Jameson has stated that he wants to be an artist when he grows up (among many other things), so we signed him up for art classes after school.  He has made some amazing things.  Where did my baby go??

Delilah

Delilah turned 3 early in the year.  Poor girl, had to wait several weeks for her birthday party because Russell was in DC for the Navy.  And THEN her party was all but snowed out.  But she was a trooper and took it in stride.  And we had a fun time!

Delilah's transition to school was not quite as smooth as Jameson's.  The first week of summer, we signed the kids up for a special week-long animal camp that they could go to together.  Then when their actual summer camps started, Delilah had a hard time because we dropped Jameson off first and then took her to her room.  She was sad every day to be away from Jameson.  She eventually got to the point where she tolerated it, but never seemed to really enjoy being dropped off during the summer.  Once fall came around, she started preschool and her three teachers were teachers that Jameson had at some point.  Delilah was familiar with all of them, so getting her to preschool was a little easier.  But, she used to get really quiet in the 40 minutes between Jameson's drop off and when she needed to be to preschool.  

The good news is that Delilah has since really flourished.  She gets sad on the days that she does not have school.  She talks about all of her friends that she has made in class including her boyfriend (who comes from a well-known Omaha family - what can I say, the girl has good taste!) and her girlfriend.  She tells me that she and one of her friends at school "just laugh and laugh."  I just love that Delilah is really coming into her own.  :-)

Ephraim

Has grown considerably - as all babies do.  In 2013 he has gone from a fairly needy 5 month old baby who only wanted his mama to being a full-blown toddler.  He has developed impeccable comedic timing.  He has figure out how to make a noise by blowing on his arm and he has figured out that the best time to do this is at the dinner table.  He is starting to talk and his favorite word is "LILAH!!" followed closely by "NO!"  He loves playing with the big kids and can usually get them laughing hard.  He is a climber - he sleeps in a pack and play because he can climb out of the crib.  He had turned into such a cuddle bug.  He loves blowing kisses and giving hugs.  And if he really wants your attention, he'll grab you by the cheeks and plant a few kisses on you.  He is by far the biggest Bennett kid in both height and weight at his age and he has a hearty appetite to keep up with it!

2013 has been a growing year for all of us.  I hope that it has treated all of you as well.  My resolution is to keep this forward momentum going and make 2014 our best year yet!!  

Happy New Year!!