May 2025 goals

In March, I mentioned a trio of unwelcome disruptions to our family’s typically-stable life. Interestingly, all three arenas have experienced movement of some sort just one week into May. Not resolution, necessarily, not total healing, but movement — and as my physical therapist sisters like to say, motion is lotion. Sometimes, you just need to move forward, even if you’re not sure if it’s the right step, even if you’re sure it’s not a forever step.

One tiny example? I now find myself an interim movement and music instructor :) After abruptly saying goodbye to our preschool (the preschool we’ve had children enrolled at for 8.5 years, sob), Annie just completed her first week at a short-term teacher-led and parent-organized co-op. We’re all chipping in as we can, and for our family, that mostly means bringing the snacks and leading parachute chaos every other Wednesday.

Here’s what else we have on deck for May!

The garden on April 20th and the garden yesterday!

On my calendar:
— Teacher Appreciation Week! We’re going with gift cards for a favorite shop in our cute downtown for our kids’ primary teachers, local ice cream shop gift cards for secondary teachers, and small Target gift cards for specials teachers. And hand-painted cards for all, inspired by Jodi’s ideas!
— Mother’s Day! I’m organizing something special for the ladies at our church and celebrating my own wonderful mom and mother-in-law.
— A weekend trip to Wilmington! The last time John and I visited I was a few weeks pregnant with June, so things will be a bit different this time around. The battleship, the beach, and some fun restaurants (here, here) are on our itinerary — recap to come in due time :)

What I’m loving right now:
— Let’s make this the John edition! I recently rounded up a bunch of his favorites here (maybe helpful for early Father’s Day shopping?) but wanted to highlight a few, starting with this soft, sunwashed sweatshirt. He has it in red but I’ve hinted I’d like the periwinkle in my own closet.
— John has suffered from back problems off and on over the last few years, and two things have recently helped. One is switching to a standing desk. We have it in the prettiest green and he now stands for basically his entire workday (!).
— The other thing that’s helped is an online healthy back course. Y’all know John loves his Instagram ads, and this was another success story! We’re big believers in traditional physical therapy, but it can feel hard to get there a few times a week with work and kids. Doing these exercises faithfully each day for 21 days really helped him get back in a good place without leaving home.

As a reminder, you can find allll the things I’ve loved over the last few years neatly organized right here!

What you’re loving right now:

This is where I highlight a few items here that have been popular in the last month with fellow readers, based on my analytics. Here’s hoping this will help you find something you’ll love!

— This preschool version of a paint-by-sticker book. Our family has long loved the kid version, but this simpler version was perfect for Annie (age 3). She carefully completed every page on our HHI road trip; we’ll definitely be stocking up for summer travel. (There are so many to choose from!)
— Our favorite summer swim goggles for kids. No hair pulling (praise!).
— These spa-like waffle hand towels, which are now in all our bathrooms.
— Our non-plastic cutting board…
— …and our non-plastic dishwasher pods!

Last month on The Connected Family:
— Let’s talk about the village | It takes a village to raise a child… and withstand technology, too
— The baby shower I want to host every month | One vision of the village in action – and how it helps us to push back against a tech-mediated world
— One way to give your kids more free play | An antidote to the phone-based childhood

What I read in April:
— Table for Two | While I loved The Lincoln Highway, this collection of short stories might just be my favorite Amor Towles creation yet. The writing is so sharp, the characters so deftly sketched, the endings so satisfying. Plus, I don’t know, there’s just something that feels posh about reading a short story collection?! Ha! Perfect bite-sized treats to read before bed. Highly recommend!
— Wedding People | This was a blockbuster hit with the gals of Articles Club (and I was 705 on the library hold list at one point!), but I might actually have quit it early if it hadn’t been the one book I packed with me on my weeklong work trip. (There’s quite a bit of language in it, which I generally don’t care for.) Cornered into continuing, I found myself reading too long into the night by the time I got to the halfway point, eager to see where the characters and plot would land. I was happy with the ending, and chuckled aloud several times, so take all of that for what you will :)

My reading list for 2025! I’m 6 / 24 so far.

Revisiting my April goals:
Film Annie in April
Take Rosalie’s watercolor landscape class
Complete two more watercolor postcards
Record the first TCF audio AMA with John (Done! And it’s live!)
Review the TCF course outline with John
Finalize and print itineraries for our reunion weekend
Choose a new Psalm and begin memorizing it as a family (Thanks to Abby’s suggestion, we are working on Psalm 100!)

May goals:
— Hire a bathroom contractor now that all estimates are in
— Complete three more watercolor landscape postcards
— Edit Annie in April
— Finalize, print, and send itineraries for our reunion weekend
— Make reservations for our reunion weekend
— Refresh our plan for summer days at home
— Plan for and lead dance class; wrap up my third grade book club

As a reminder, many of these are drawn from my 2025 PowerSheets goals!

Thank you so much for being here, friends! Feel free to respond to anything I’ve written or anything else that’s on your mind. xo

Affiliate links are used in this post!