what's up weekly.

Well, we're about to see if quarantine will mean more or less news than usual on Fridays.  On the one hand, we're not out and about, so days have the potential to kind of run into one another.  But on the other hand, because our time isn't being pulled in a million directions, I feel more productive, and our relationships are taking front and center.  So here's to marking the launch of "What's Up Watch 2020."  We'll see what kind of changes happen around here.

I stumbled across Atticus reading a Disney princess book to Callista the other morning.  He is such a good big brother.

As for this week, it started off pretty normal.  On Friday night, Todd indulged me by letting me watch The Greatest Showman again for movie night.  (If you recall, we watched it the week before, and then I also watched it once by myself through the week.)  But this time we watched it on the big TV instead of the laptop, and dang.  There is not a single ugly second in that movie.  If you ever hear about it coming back to theaters for any reason, PLEASE TELL ME.  I want to see all the beauty in giant-size.

On Saturday morning, I went hunting for some more beauty at one of the antique malls here in town.  While I was able to hunt some down, I will tell you that antique malls are not the place to go if you're looking to be wowed.  I left feeling so. depressed.  Those places can be seriously spiritually stifling.

However, I did find some pretty things - I'll share photos next week!

Juniper turned 11 months on Saturday as well.  I can't believe how quickly the time goes.  We are now in countdown mode to her first birthday.  WHY CAN'T THEY STAY ADORABLE BABIES FOREVERRRRRR?  Oh yeah, because they have to grow up into the adorable kids they get to be after that.  It's all very exciting, but I wish it would at least slow down.

She is eating like a champ (she loves steak) and sleeping like a champ.  She claps and waves and sometimes whispers 'dada' when prompted.  I swear she also has said 'mama' and 'hi.'  She is such a peanut (she's still in 3-6 month clothing), but her hair is growing nonstop (lengthwise, not thickwise).  She is chill and smiley and beautiful and oh so snuggly.  She will sit on my lap so calmly, just chewing on a highlighter and watching the activity around her.  She is so content.  I could just smooch her until I die of Smooch Overload.

She was wiggly while we tried to take photos.

Blurry because she was on the move, but so sweet.

On Sunday, church was scheduled as normal, but a couple of the kids had runny noses so we sat it out at home.  Todd went and did the baby dedication ceremony.  We also had a baptism scheduled that morning, and afterward someone else spontaneously asked to get baptized!  God is so good - I'm so glad we didn't close the doors.

On Monday and Tuesday, life trucked along mostly as usual.  I think our schedule and routine stayed the same as always, but I have just been carrying around a heaviness about all of the panic and fear I see happening around me.  So many feelings, so many thoughts, too much to really go into here.  Let me just say it is possible to not feel afraid right now.  It is possible to feel hope and calm and peace when you look to the future.  And I don't mean that in some kind of froofy-la-la kind of way; I mean it is possible to feel actual calm.  It is possible to feel an actual lack of fear and confusion and dread.  Let's chat more about it if you want to.

Atticus' favorite activity lately is looking through the used car ads and then drawing his favorite trucks.

On Wednesday, we headed up to the Amish and listened to Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle on the way there and back.  I don't really check my phone when I'm up there, because I don't text or talk while I drive, and I'm usually too busy when I'm actually there to think to look at my phone.  When we were just a few minutes from home on our return trip, Todd called me and asked if I was okay - he had sent me multiple texts while I was gone, and I hadn't responded.

It turns out they had closed his office building until further notice, and had sent everyone home to work.  Because he walks to work, he didn't have keys on him, and he'd been waiting outside in the rain for us for over an hour.  I felt terrible.

It has been nice having him home, but it has been limiting for him.  We don't exactly have a quiet house, or a convenient place to hole up during the day to work.  He's been using our bedroom, but it still gets loud back there with babies crying and kids fighting and running around.  It's hard to answer phone calls with that kind of cacophony happening in the background.  We've liked having him here, but I think we'll be happiest when life is back to normal for him.

I will say, though, that yesterday I had to go drop something off for our medical insurance, and it was nice getting to do it by myself during naptime.  The little kids were down for naps, and the big kids were watching a movie, so things were quiet enough that I could leave the house under Todd's supervision without anyone needing anything from him while he was trying to work.  They tell me someday the biggest kids will be old enough to hold down the fort like this when I need to run little errands... that will be glorious.

And that brings us to today.  I have big plans to clean the kitchen walls and under the appliances so that I can check "deep clean the kitchen" off my to-do list.  I have spent the week slowly cleaning out cabinets and pantry shelves one at a time, wiping everything down and organizing as I go.  It has been so needed for a long time, and I'm glad I finally got around to it.

What projects have you undertaken with your quarantine time?