With 2014 wrapping up and the new year right around the corner comes the thought of New Year’s Resolutions. How can we make ourselves better people in the coming year than we were in the past?  But let’s not do it now; let’s wait for a certain date to come around. Right?

I recently took a job in Marketing within the company that I work. Part of my duties include writing. I am currently reading a book by Marketeer Ann Handley who I met briefly at a B2B conference earlier in the year. Her book has partially inspired me to start refining my skills as a writer. So I’ve decided to take it on as one of my New Year’s Resolutions in the form of blogging. Along with losing weight of course. Just like last year.

I’d started this blog about 2 1/2 years ago in hopes to keep up with chronicals about our family.  Yeah, that didn’t happen.  But a lot has changed in our McCauley Family since the summer of 2012 when I wrote last. Still in the same house. Still have the same kids. Same dog Rosie. But the kids are growing like crazy and starting to get more involved with their individual activities and school functions. They’ve been fun to watch and be with. They’re really great kids and I couldn’t ask for them to be any better.  When I thought about all of the directions that life has taken me (or could have taken me), it’s really quite amazing to think about the incredible family that I’m a part of.  Here’s what the kids have been up to.

Zach

Zach is now 13 1/2. I’m waiting for him to turn into the monster that I was about his age (or earlier) but he hasn’t yet. Boy I hope he keeps it up. He’s been quite the model teenager so far. He was baptized earlier this year. August 10th. He asked me to baptize him. What a proud moment for me. I’d just given a sermon and I’m sure that he’d made the decision long before that evening, but it was a touching moment for me to see him come forward. He’s had a growth spurt lately and is now officially taller than his mom.  He’s still playing baseball in the summer months, enjoying it, and doing well.  He’s currently in the 8th grade and doing well in school also.  The latest that I’ve gotten out of him as far as his career plans is that he wants to be an architect.  But it was a while ago now that I asked him that, so that may have changed by now.  Like any other kid his age these days, he’s on his iPod a lot playing games.  It gets under his mom’s skin sometimes and rightly so.  The kids (especially Zach and Eli) do spend too much time on their electronic devices and not enough time interacting with their family (and friends).  But overall, he’s been a good kid and we can’t complain about the young man that he’s becoming.

Eli

Eli just celebrated his 12th birthday last month and is in 6th grade.  Eli continues to be probably the most entertaining member of our family and he seems to get funnier every day. Still the loudest one too. Thankfully he tones it down when we’re in public.  He’s started this thing recently where he dances around the house, either as a robot or a break-beat dancer (I think I have that term right).  It’s quite the sight to see.  He’s taken on the baritone in band this year and he’s doing quite well with it.  After taking his pre-band test in 5th grade, he wasn’t quite sure that he wanted to go into band.  But after a phone call from the 6th grade band director, practically begging him to join (based on his test scores we were guessing), he decided to at least try it out for a year.  Who knows, but I think he’ll probably stick with it. He’s also doing very well with his other school subjects. Smart kid. Even though Eli has got a fun, quirky personality, he continues to be a very sweet and thoughtful person.  You can tell that he looks up to, and gets along very well, with his big brother, while being a mentor to his younger siblings.  He’s a great “middle child”.

Cross Country

Zach and Eli ran in cross country together this year.  I’m so glad that they have been running.  They certainly didn’t get their athletic abilities from me.  It’s been more fun watching them run than I’d originally thought it would.  Zach ran for 3 years and Eli just finished his first.  Zach isn’t sure that he will go on and continue to run next year in high school (HIGH SCHOOL???), but we are hoping that he does.  They’re both natural athletes and they make us proud when they compete.

Savannah

Our daughter Savannah is now 8 1/2 years old.  We can’t imagine life without her.  We don’t talk much about what happened to her back in the Spring of 2008, but I often reflect on that time and how thankful we are that she is here with us today.  You always hear about how daughters wrap their fathers around their little finger.  Holy cow.  That couldn’t be any more true between her and me.  I could not have asked for a sweeter daughter.  She just wrapped up her winter basketball season.  Her athletic abilities are more evidently coming from my side in the family (maybe she’ll be great in band).  But she does like to play, and that’s what’s important.  About three month ago we started renting a violin for her since she’s been wanting to learn how to play.  That was about the same time that the teacher we had picked out for her moved to Florida (see Seth’s paragraph).  So there is sits on her floor.  One day perhaps.  She has really started to enjoy reading this year, which has been wonderful.  She’s doing very well in school this year as well.

Seth

What can I say about this amazing 7 1/2 year old little boy? There are several times that Sonya and I catch ourselves thinking “is it possible for us to just freeze him in time and keep him like this forever?” But we’ve been saying that for a few years now.  I’ll try to say this as non-biased as possible, but I think he’s probably the cutest kid on the planet. He’s still got his tow head and probably will for the rest of his life.  I’m thinking big-time lady killer in high school.  Like his big brother Eli, he’s bounced around playing different sports, but hasn’t really settled on anything that he really likes.  He says he wants to try his hand at baseball again in the Spring.  We’ll have to vet that decision a bit since that’s an expensive one.  About this time last year we bought him a banjo. He’d been begging for one for about a year and we finally bit the bullet.  We found him a teacher at Guitar Works here in Greenwood and he was doing well (other than not wanting to practice much between lessons).  Then his teacher moved to Florida (right after we’d worked out a deal for him to teach Seth and Savannah alternating weeks).  So there the banjo sits dormant.  Sonya and I both think that one day he’ll want to pick it up and he’ll take off with it.  I really hope that he does.  He’s attracted a lot of attention to himself by wanting to play.  Our little Sleepy Man Banjo player.

That should bring us up to date for now.  I’ll try to do a better job keeping updates coming.  Here’s to New Year’s Resolutions!