what was up this (restful!) weekly.

Oh, this week.  This wonderful, wonderful, glorious week.  It was so very normal.  And because of that, it was so very restful.  We didn't have a single appointment to go to.  We only had one daytime ministry commitment, and it was during lunchtime, so our mornings and afternoons weren't disrupted by anything.  We had nowhere to be, nowhere to go, and nothing we had to do, other than school.  And can I tell you, I could live every single week of life like this and be JUST FINE WITH IT.  Kind of like this:

Monday, what did we do?  Nothing.

Tuesday, what did we do?  Very little - a college gal came over for a bit, and then we had Connection Group in the evening.

Wednesday was a little busier - we headed up to the Amish, then on our way back into town, we stopped into Lowe's for a few things.  I got some supplies to shore up a couple of wonky closet systems I installed all wrong when we first moved in.  I got some paint samples for Callista's room.  I got a big shelf unit for the garage so I could start getting organized out there.  We also had a leaders' meeting in the evening.

Thursday, what did we do?  Nothing.

Today, what's on the schedule?  NOTHING.

Oh my word, I have needed this so badly.  The last six months have been so hectic with appointments and everything else, and I have been holding it all together, but I haven't felt rested.  I have felt ragged and worn thin.  I am really frustrated with how slowly Atticus' speech therapy is going, and frazzled by all the other """"necessary"""" appointments we have found ourselves having to navigate, and I miss the life we had for such a long time - a life that involved very little going-and-doing, and so much more staying-and-being.

I am working hard at reviewing 2017, noting my highs and lows from the year, and setting goals for 2018.  (I'm clearly a bit behind the eight-ball.)  This week has made me realize just how important it is for me to intentionally protect our time, and how I'll need to be proactive to keep the 'good' and 'necessary' from robbing from our 'best'.

Anyway, there were a few simple, sweet moments that I'm glad we got to revel in by being home this week.  Like Callista sitting in the Bumbo for the first time, and wearing THE. CUTEST. tutu-pants I've ever seen.

Because we had so much free time on our hands, we found ways to fill it.  I got so much done around the house - I packed up our Christmas stuff and rearranged the bedrooms a bit.  A bookshelf moved from our room to the girls' room, but not without some much-needed structural support being added first.  Atticus got to lend his handy skills to the job.

The girls' room is so close to being 'done enough'!  I got the bookshelf up and decorated, we recently hung another little bookshelf on the wall above Penelope's bed, and I'm working on getting a few things hung on the walls.  After that, it's just curtains and maybe a little ceiling paint, and that room will be crossed off the list for now.  I'll show you pictures when it's all done!  For now, here's a sneak peek at Penelope's new wall shelf - how cute did that turn out?!

I also made some great headway in the garage.  That place has been a certifiable hole.  We don't have any storage space inside, other than one narrow end of the laundry room.  (No attic or otherwise unfinished basement space.)  So instead of parking in our tiny one-car garage, it has been our catch-all room.  It's where I keep our homeschool and craft supplies, the décor I haven't yet found a place for inside (I'm a sloooooowww decorator), our yard tools, all our coats and shoes, Todd's dresser, and our deep storage stuff like Christmas decorations.  It's also where Atticus does all his woodworking, so everything is covered in pine shavings and sawdust, and the floor is littered with rogue nails just waiting to Home Alone my feet.

So I spent a few hours out there yesterday, organizing everything.  I still have a long way to go, but it's getting there.  Once I can move all our clothing bins out there from the laundry room, I'm planning to install a family closet down there.  So much domestic activity!

Beyond all of that stuff happening, we've whiled away the hours with our noses in books.

This is Penelope's reading tent.  She is under there reading Tanglewood Tales.

I've been dealing with a lot of back pain over the last few months, and recently it's been flaring really badly.  This was the only way I could sit that was comfortable, if you can believe that.

And here's sweet Post-Bathtime Yacco to play you into the weekend!