Welcome to my weekly post I share a peek into our lives, talk about things I’m loving, share links to interesting articles or helpful ideas I’ve collected throughout the past week, and just talk about whatever is on my heart! ?
Kathrynne turned 13 this week! We celebrated with a fun birthday party at the trampoline park with some of her closest friends. I’m so grateful for the amazing gift she has of such good friends.
And I can’t believe that I am now the mom of a teenager! I’m excited about this new season of life. The older she gets, the closer we get and the more that I just love hanging out with her. So I think it’s only going to get better from here!
We had fun watching one of my friends 4 young kids on Saturday night so that she and her husband could go on a date. It was fun to have little ones at our house — something we don’t have very often!
We made banana muffins, played Hedbanz, the older girls made homemade slime with Kaitlynn, and we had fun banging on pots and pans with their one-year-old.
I love this photo! Some women long for flowers and chocolates from their man. I’ll take this. Because it’s almost as romantic to me as when he does the dishes!
And I also proclaimed my love for Roasted Vegetables.
Or because they decided to jump out and do it scared! And/or because they decided to believe that God was bigger than their fears and that He doesn’t call the qualified, He qualifies those whom He calls.
One of my heart’s desires is to raise kids who are confident in who God has made them to be and how He has gifted them. I love watching them develop their unique gifts and talents and seeing what makes them come alive.
Kaitlynn’s teacher at her new school noticed Kaitlynn has a gift for hand-lettering so she offered to pay her $5 to do some lettering on their class plate.
You guys, I have to admit that I was kind of nervous that she might mess the plate up. (I mean, the students had already all signed it and put their fingerprints on it! What if they have to re-do the whole thing because she misspelled a word??)
Yes, I may have some insecurity and people-pleasing issues! But this girl didn’t! She just sat down when she got home from school and got to work.
She never second-guessed her ability or whether she could do it. She just confidently did what she knows she’s gifted at — and had fun doing it!
This girl inspires me to live out my giftings more confidently and to not shy away from doing things because I’m afraid of failure. I want to own the gifts God has given me and use them to glorify Him and bless others.
2018 Goals Update
Personal Goals
1. Read 100 non-self-help books that will build me up/encourage me/inspire me/recharge me. (Fiction/story-driven/biographies/inspirational living books/devotionals.) See the list of 44 books I plan to read this year.
**Progress: 5 books read so far (look for a book update coming tomorrow)
2. Read through the entire Bible.
**Progress: I’m using the Robert Murray M’Cheyne plan and am on Day 28 — yay!
3. Write one handwritten note to someone every week.
**Progress: 5 notes written total this year so far
4. Run 500 miles.
**Progress: 40 miles run so far
Marriage Goal
5. Go on an overnight trip with Jesse without the kids.
Family Goals
6. Read 10 books aloud with the kids.
7. Take the kids to South Africa.
8. Go on a family road trip.
Financial Goals
9. Save up to pay cash to finish off an office for me and workout room for Jesse and me in the basement in our new house.
10. Replenish our Emergency Fund (we dipped into it to replace my car when it got totaled because of the carpet beetle infestation.)
Business Goals
11. Increase our gross income from the business by 8%.
12. Launch 5 new courses.
**Progress: 4 Weeks to a More Productive Life launched in January and we’re currently working on finishing Content Creation 101 — a new YourBloggingUniversity course!
Jennifer says
I’ve been the parent of a teenager for two years now. I have a few words of advice: listen, listen, listen, listen, listen, listen, listen and listen some more.
Ask questions and listen some more. Trust that you’ve done a good job instilling your family’s values. Trust that she will make the right decisions.
The teenage years can bring real life scares to your door but gosh they’ve been a lot of fun for us too, knock on wood.
Also, Kaitlynn’s handwork is gorgeous! I would be worrying about the same thing as you, the kids have already signed it!
Crystal Paine says
Thanks so much for your wise advice!
Amber ravis says
Love these post.. but go listen to:
Zack Williams song Fear is a liar.
It’s a wonderful emotional song about how fear gets to us..
Amber in Ky
Crystal Paine says
Thanks so much for sharing!
Laurel Milam says
Kaitlynn did a fantastic job on the lettering on the plate; it looks very professional! Good for her, & also for her teacher noticing her talent!
Crystal Paine says
We’re so grateful for her teacher and how much she pours into Kaitlynn!
Amanda says
WOW! A teenager!! And I remember when you got married.
We are SO old. 😛
Crystal Paine says
🙂
Holly says
I somehow missed the announcement about the new house. I knew y’all had sold some other properties, etc but didn’t realize you bought something. That’s so exciting! Is there a post somewhere about it?
Crystal Paine says
I haven’t done a post about it yet because a lot of things have been up in the air and I was waiting to share more until we had actually closed! 🙂 But I’ve mentioned it here and there — especially if you follow me on Facebook Live or Instagram Stories. I did talk a little about it here: https://moneysavingmom.com/2017/11/choosing-rent-right-now.html
Laura says
Word to husbands: doing dishes is very romantic!
Crystal Paine says
YES! I so agree!
Luba @ Healthy with Luba says
Crystal, what a simple and beautiful way to celebrate a teenager’s birthday. Have you heard of the book The Teenage Years of Jesus Christ? It is very intriguing!
It sounds as though you may be raising three entrepreneurs in your home. How exciting!
I love how you post your goals publicly on your blog. I may borrow your idea, if you do not mind. ☺
We have saved up to pay cash for a used car for me (we had to sell the other one because of maintenance issues) and are waiting for the car to have minor repairs done on it so that I can have my own car again! It will feel like a luxury!
Crystal Paine says
Thanks so much for your encouragement!
Kimmie says
Thanks for sharing with us a peek into your life:) I enjoy these posts! When are you moving in to your new house?!?
Crystal Paine says
The closing got bumped to this Friday because some of the repairs took longer than they expected. So we close on Friday and then we plan to move at the end of February because we couldn’t get out of our lease early.