We have a lizard.

He’s really a gecko.

His name is Spotty and Santa brought him to Audrey on Christmas day.

And if I am being honest we don’t know whether it’s a he or she, that won’t reveal itself until later down the road when Spotty gets older. But he feels like a he so we are referring to him as such.

We’ve been worried about our little gecko for some time now. He wasn’t eating those live crickets that Audrey has lovingly been covering in calcium powder and throwing into his home.

I was worried that maybe Santa didn’t realize he brought us a sick little gecko and in my head began planning how I would let Audrey know of his passing.

Then last Tuesday night happened.

It was during our evening floury of activity, half-naked children running in and out of bathrooms preparing for nightly baths; me attempting to find missing socks and unload the dishwasher; Audrey trying hard to get Spotty to eat.

Audrey’s scream pierced through the chaos.

“He’s eating guys, he’s eating. It was the coolest thing like ever!!!”

The four of us gathered round his little tank to watch him lick his lips, the ultimate sign of satisfaction.

We were mesmerized.

“Aud let’s feed him another” I suggested.

She obliged and we held our breath watching to see if Spotty would take another treat.

He stalked his prey and in a matter of seconds pounced and another of our cricket friends bit the dust.

Nose pressed against glass we all squealed with delight, in awe of life unfolding in front of us.

These are the moments you cannot fathom will delight you as a parent when you plan to become one.

Sheer joy derived from watching a gecko eat a cricket.

I am happy to report Spotty continues to eat very well…

As we set out to tackle 2015, the girls and I sat down over the weekend to talk about individual goals for the new year. It’s an interesting conversation when you’re plotting life  with a 10, almost 8 and 4-year-old.

As usual they teach me more than I teach them, so with their help we’ve come up with quite a few goals for our new year.

Mine will include running 4 half marathons, picking up 4 new sports/physical activities and most importantly walking away from work for a full 2 weeks this summer to spend time with the girls on St. Simons Island.

Sidney has decided she wants to “dedicate herself to her riding”.

Audrey is stepping out of her comfort zone and is willing to “try new foods” and Ellie thinks she should watch more Winks and “learn how to dance better”.

We discussed the need to form goals for our little family as well and landed on a doozy – the four of us will spend time exploring our faith and finding a spiritual house to call home.

Each of my girls have strong feelings about their relationship with God but they also feel strongly that what we are doing each sunday doesn’t feel like “it should”. Some may disagree, but I believe they have every right to participate and decide on the path our family should take.

So here we head into the new year full of promises and plans.

Glad these little ladies are on this journey with me.