The Amell Family Blog

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We disappeared for a while! Life suddenly got very busy and several things were going on in our lives that demanded our attention and the blog fell by the wayside. I apologize for that. I am beginning to dedicate more solid time to finishing projects I began on the blog and I have developed a plan and schedule for posting moving forward. This post is a quick catch-up over these past two years.

Homeschool

In September of 2023 we began our first full year of homeschooling. We learned a lot that year in terms of how to and how not to complete schoolwork; what we liked and what we didn’t like in curriculums. There were many mistakes to learn from and many successes we have continued. I have seen so many fruits from this journey. They are able to be themselves without peer pressures affecting them. The children have a more focused and personalized education plan which is benefiting them greatly. We get to create the schedules for our days, weeks, and years and we get to create the curriculum map for their entire education plan. There are so many great opportunities for skill development for them in homeschooling and they have more time to be kids!

I have learned a lot about homeschooling and I’m sharing this journey in the Amell Homeschool section of the blog. I feel quite passionate about homeschooling now and want to help others see that they’re able to do it too if they want to. I’m not going to sugarcoat it though. It is hard work but seeing my children learn every day and grow is so beautiful!

New Job

We welcomed Jonah into the world in February of 2023 so we were busy getting used to being a family of 7. Josh was able to deter his parental leave to that summer so we were able to spend lots of time together enjoying the summer break. The fun aspect of this decision was that Jonah was older so we could go out and do more things, but the drawback was that the postpartum time was a tad more difficult for me.

Josh spent his parental leave, evenings, and weekends over these past couple years working to further his work certifications and after all the sacrifices and hard work, studying and exam taking, he is more than 6 months into his role as an Investment and Retirement Planner earning several certifications like Personal Financial Planner. We are all very proud of the work he has put in for his family! He is working hard and we do our best to support him. He has such a financially savvy mind and it is so nice to see him out there helping people understand and navigate their finances especially in financially tough times.

Family Time

I last blogged in August of 2023 where the family went on an impromptu vacation (which was so fun!) and we had the amazing experience of getting away for a week to a family camp. This week at family camp was such an amazing way for the family to reconnect again! We didn’t know we needed this reconnection and it has been so fruitful for everyone. The kids were able to make new friends that they get to see each year at camp now. We have now been to this camp for three summers in a row and foresee this continuing. This camp was and is such a blessing to us!

Setting Boundaries & Personal Growth

In 2023 I took on way too many volunteer positions along with everything else I was already doing (family life, new baby, homeschool, blog, coaching soccer). While I enjoyed it, it definitely burnt me out. So it was time to re-evaluate my priorities and step back from the volunteer commitments that were taking me out of the home because my family is my first priority in the list of “things” I was doing.

Along with other personal matters we were navigating in our family, 2024 was a tough year of hard decisions, hard work, and figuring out our new normal as a family. Setting boundaries became extremely important and setting standards for how we accepted treatment from others was vitally important. We show our children through our actions (or lack of action) what is acceptable and what is not and when we allow others to move boundaries we have put in place, our children will as well. We did not like this realization and we made changes accordingly. It was difficult to make some of the decisions I have, but when others are not respecting boundaries, family members, family values, etc., then parents need to act accordingly to do what is best for their family.

Once my volunteer commitments ended in October of 2024 and I was finally able to begin relaxing and mending from burn out, things started to feel better. These past two years have really helped me to discover who I am and not who others want me to be. I have to say when you’re not living life trying to please others and are just focusing on being the best person you can be, life feels so much better. Over these past several years we have grown so much as a family: grown in our approach to parenting, grown in setting boundaries for our family, grown in our mindsets and our faith and I couldn’t be more excited for our future. God has blessed us immensely and we thank Him every day for it!

New Baby

In January of 2025 we welcomed a beautiful baby girl to our family! We are now officially a family of 8! Jorja has such a unique birth story that I can’t wait to share! She is such a special addition to our family and I can’t believe how full of joy she is. The “4th trimester” really is such an adjustment period but we were able to enjoy it as a family. Josh was able to take parental leave after Jorja was born so adjusting to a new baby, establishing nursing, and everything else that goes on in the postpartum period was much easier with Josh at home. The children have fallen in love with their baby sister. It has been beautiful watching everyone look after her, play with her, feed her, and love her. With everyone walking over to her and smiling at her all the time she became such a smiley baby from day one. The sibling connections that have formed as well over these years is also beautiful to see.

Summer 2025

The kids had a great summer this year (2025) full of various camps! They were able to go to a music camp which was really outside their comfort zone. They really enjoyed it and it was wonderful to get them outside their comfort zone to discover activities they didn’t know they enjoyed! They went to a Scouts camp with Josh which was such a wonderful father son experience for Josh, Joshua, and Jonathan. The rest of us enjoyed some quality time at home. The three eldest went to a Catholic camp where they were able to enjoy learning about their faith with other Catholic families in the area. Then we all enjoyed our time at Family Camp. We did have schoolwork to finish up over the summer since we took time off after Jorja was born, but we were still able to enjoy many days at the beach, the park, and enjoying our own backyard.

Final Thoughts

One final highlight and lowlight from this past year to conclude my makeup post which should get us caught up to present day.

The lowlight was losing my grandmother. She did have poor health for the past couple years, and while it was really sad to lose her, it was also so beautiful to watch my grandfather care for my grandmother the way he did. It has really shown me what the goals of a marriage should be and what marriage vows truly look like when lived out. Marriage is a dedication to each other in sickness and in health, for good or for bad, for richer or poorer, until death. It really is an inspiration to see what it looks like when two people truly dedicate their lives to each other and care for each other the way that they did.

A highlight of this past year was obviously the birth of Jorja, but another amazing experience was having Jorja baptized in the extraordinary form. I really do not understand why the Church has almost completely turned its back on this way of celebration. The beauty and reverence in the extraordinary form of the sacraments leaves me speechless and filled with the Holy Spirit every time. It is most definitely my preferred way of attending Mass and I cannot wait for Joshua’s Confirmation in the extraordinary form.

Stay tuned for regular postings on the Amell Family Blog and thank you for reading!