April Monthly Goals 2017

March wound up being a crazy month, which made getting to my goals harder. But, it also made me think about the importance of the goals too.

My Four Year Long Themes:

Balance - Find balance across all areas of my life.

Purpose - Reflect on the purpose of the things I own and my time.
Health- Spend time focusing on improving my own physical and mental health.
Organization- I am always striving for better organization, everywhere.

As these are big goals, I'm working on approaching them in manageable chunks. 

ECHO, Leahy Center for Lake Champlain (Family Fun in New England)

In January we launched our Family Fun in New England series by sharing about a favorite, local spot for us, The Montshire Museum of Science. This month we're happy to share about another New England family attraction which we've enjoyed several times - ECHO, Leahy Center for Lake Champlain. ECHO is a science center and lake aquarium located on the Burlington, VT waterfront.

Although ECHO is a bit of a drive for us, we still make it a few times a year and the kids look forward to it each time.

New Year's Eve Family Interview

I never really enjoyed New Year's Eve as a younger person, but a few years ago we found a way to make it a fun family holiday, and since then I've enjoyed it much more! Every year we have our own special tradition on New Year's Eve involving a series of easy, at home activities and treats. Each activity or treat is hidden within a paper bag. You can read more about our New Year's Eve Bags for the Whole Family here.

Last year, one of our activities involved a quick family interview. It became an instant hit with everyone, even Daddy. We liked it enough that this year I've created a new, cuter printable version that we can use again and share with others!

Connect (August Monthly Goals 2016)

Anyone who is with a long term partner and has children knows that connecting amid parenting is hard. This coming month my husband and I will have been married 8 years, although we've been together much longer than that.

There is not another person in the world I would rather share this journey with. We met as teenagers, grew with each other for several years, and in our mid-twenties eagerly took on the challenges of creating a home and family together. We both acknowledge that marriage is a journey that requires commitment and flexibility. With all the requirements in life; (Kids, jobs, household needs, volunteer commitments, etc.) it can be easy to prioritize something else and let our partners take the back burner.

Traditionally the eighth year anniversary gift is pottery or bronze, but this month I'm hoping we can give each other a little extra time.

Summer Fun in the Upper Valley (VT/NH)

For quite a while now I've hoped to start sharing some family activity resources for the New England area. So with summer on the horizon it seemed like a great time to start sharing!

For this post we're focusing on summer activities in the Upper Valley region. The Upper Valley area is the Vermont and New Hampshire towns which border the Connecticut River. Visitors may be coming to the area for Dartmouth College, Dartmouth Hitchcock, the Vermont Law School, several local lakes, or favorite tourist stops like Woodstock and Quechee, VT. For many of us in the area, this is also the place we call home. Whether you're visiting or you live here, it's likely that at some point in the near future you'll be looking for something to do as a family.

We've collected some of our favorite places (and a few places we hope to get to) below.