what's up weekly.

Another Friday, another What's Up.  God is in His heaven, and all is right with the world.

We finally made the full transition out of Christmastide this week.  Penelope and Laurelai took all the ornaments from the tree, and then organized them by owner, and I spent ten minutes wrapping them and placing them in their proper boxes.  I can't tell you what a blessing it is to be in the second decade of parenting, having so much help.  Those early years are so, so sweet, and I wouldn't trade them for all the money and bread in the world, but these recent years are something so different and yet equally sweet.

I also packaged up our nativity sets, our advent candles, our lights, our stockings, our wooden shoes, our banners.  And when Callista got up from nap, after all of this activity was finished, she was mortified.  "Where did Christmas go?  Why did you take Christmas?"  And then, on Tuesday, when we watched the garbage truck dispose of our tree, she had a full-on Cindy Lou Who moment.  She looked at me with those cartoonishly big eyes and said, "Why they taking the Christmas tree?  WHY?!"

She stared at the Grinch and said, "Santy Claus, why?

Why are you taking our Christmas tree? Why?"

Is this not the spitting image of Lissy Lou Who, only with hair?

So we've been working through our grief this week.  At least, the kids' grief.  I am surprised by how ready I am for the fresh start that January brings.  The house is less cluttered, and am I feeling All the Pulls toward productivity.  I have started back on the Healthy Eating Train, which is not a thrill ride but it gets you where you're wanting to be.  It has basically consisted of a casual adherence to Trim Healthy Mama principles, casual but consistent commitment to exercise, and (less) casual calorie counting.  I'm casually expecting results to roll in at a leisurely pace eventually.

I'm also eyeballing new endeavors.  First, I want to learn a new creative skill this year, like cross stitch or quilting.  (Cross stitch seems more likely since I can do it while sitting on the couch and watching/listening to Victorian Farm.)  I'm also wanting to expand my productive domestic know-how this year: pipe dreams are of chickens or beehives.  (Who am I kidding?)  I am definitely going to plant a full garden this year, and perhaps try some new canning/preserving recipes.  I want to also keep honing my sourdough skills and try more new cheese recipes - perhaps attempt aging some.  I have big plans for the year, folks.

Anyway, what else happened this week?  We logged our second full week of school since Christmas.  I am always flabbergasted by how the time just keeps marching along.  (Just yesterday, I said something about March and realized it's only six weeks away... I just picked up the first seed catalog of the season up at the Amish this week.  There's a light at the end of the tunnel.)

And other than that, our week has been pretty normal: lots of get-togethers with friends, errands, an Azure drop (okay, that's pretty not-normal, but it was fun), cleaning, and playing outside in the beautiful mid-fifties weather.  No complaints here!

Lolo got a little Bible story/song player for Christmas, so she has spent lots of time blasting out her eardrums listening to songs about getting along well with siblings.

In case you didn't see, I posted every day this week!  So go back and take a peek if you haven't already.