january.

Hello from sunny but cold South Carolina!

This winter has been bewildering. It started back in November, and has given us lots of rain and nighttime temperatures in the low 20’s. This is not typical South Carolina weather.

I got winter boots and a very soft pink beanie for Christmas and have put them to good use.

January has flown by. I thought I’d jump back into blogging by telling you what we’ve been up to this month.

I’m sorry to say that I have zero recent photos to include. I’ll do better in February!

 

Riding bikes

Amie got a new bike for Christmas, and Noah got one for his sixth birthday on New Year’s Eve. Amie passed down Judah’s old bike to Gabe, so all three kids are enjoying a new set of wheels. I offered a larger bike to Judah, but he said riding bikes isn’t his thing.

Funny fact: the only bike Noah would use until this December was a balance bike he got when he turned three. It is tiny. Every time I gently tried to suggest that he could probably ride a two-wheeler, he’d said, “Maybe when I’m ten.”

His birth mom, Christi, gave him the bike for his birthday and Noah made her boyfriend John attach the training wheels first thing. He was very excited about it.

Well two days later, on Noah’s actual birthday, his big kid friends, Zion and Jerome came over to play, and one of the training wheels knocked loose. The boys said “Let’s take them off!” Noah immediately agreed (go figure). I removed the wheels and on his very first try he took off like a light.

That boy has been happily biking ever since, and has endless amounts of energy.

Even though it’s been cold, Amie, Gabe and Noah have biked many days this month. There’s a quiet street at the end of our block where I take them to ride, and a small loop they can ride by themselves. David has taken them riding at the river too. They love it.

 

Reading

The header photo for this post came from our first book club meeting of 2019. We discussed our Enneagram numbers and specifically the book, The Road Back to You. It was so much fun! My friend Jessica did a great job coming up with insightful discussion questions. If we could do it over, we would’ve had us break into groups by number for the last 20 minutes or so, but oh well. I loved getting some new insight into my friends.

I spent some time this week updating Goodreads for the first time this year, and am now on track. Goodreads continues to be my favorite way to document what I read.

I read over 100 books last year, and set my reading goal at 100 for 2019. I really don’t consciously work toward a goal; I just read when I can. But I do like tracking what I read or I’d never remember it all, especially for my bookshelf posts.

I realized that I’ve read 15 books already in January and it struck me: I think reading fast is my gift.

Of course I always have a good excuse for why I’m reading so much … the books are short, the print is large, I’ve been home sick. But the truth is, either way, I’m a quick reader. Some of you have been trying to tell me that for awhile now. Okay, okay, you’re right!

I don’t have a lot of gifts, but I can read! Hooray! I’ll take it.

What’s on the docket currently?

I’m head-over-heels for Louise Penny’s Chief Inspector Gamache mystery series, and am waiting to start book 10.

Do I like mysteries? Not at all. But this series is just delightful. I love the characters. I love the setting of Quebec, which until now I knew next to nothing about. I love the plot twists and turns. I love the food and drink — a constant stream of cafe au lait and croissants and melting brie and crusty baguettes. I’ve copied down whole conversations in my journal because they’re so profound. I’ll give the heads up that there’s some language in these books, but even so I’m confident this is a series I’ll reread again and again.

I’m also working my way through Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events. This is one of Judah’s all-time favorite book series, and he got the first 9 for Christmas. They’re too depressing for me to say I actually enjoy them, but I have to concede that they’re very clever and I do enjoy those Baudelaire siblings.

I’m reading Dare to Lead, by Brene Brown, and am surprised by how much I like it so far.

Judah and I watched Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them this weekend, in preparation for the sequel, The Crimes of Grindelwald, and so of course I had to start the Harry Potter series again immediately afterward. Ah well, it was about time for my annual journey through Harry Potter.

And finally, I’m always reading Jan Karon’s Mitford books, last thing at night before bed, and just finished book 4 for at least the dozenth time.

There! You’ll get fuller updates in the next Bookshelf post. What are you reading?

 

Shows

The main way I read so much is that I’m not a TV watcher. But there are a couple of shows I’m into right now.

In December our family watched Season 5 of the Great British Baking Show together, and enjoyed it immensely. I miss the old hosts and Mary Berry, but like the new cast of characters very much too. We’ll take a break and then start Season 6. The kids and I are also working our way through Planet Earth II for science.

Season 3 of Victoria just started on PBS. I was very excited about it, but thought the first episode started a little slow. Do you agree? Now I need to catch up on episodes 2-3 to give it a good chance.

See, this is why I can rarely stick with TV dramas … my interest inevitably wanes after a couple seasons.

David and I finished the first season of The Final Table and are slowly watching the new Netflix show 7 Days Out together, and enjoying it.

 

Tutoring

Remember how I mentioned our delightfully slow fall semester?

Well I’m glad I enjoyed it because life is picking up for us this winter. Church life always feels like a whirlwind from January right through Easter. Also, Amie got accepted to the Dyslexia Resource Center, and will start going for tutoring two afternoons a week.

This is such a provision. We’ve been stuck in some ways with spelling, reading, and writing, and I’m so glad God provided a couple of friends to recommend the center to us, and the money for her to go. She knows her tutor from church and is excited to start this week.

 

Church

As I mentioned, church gets much busier after Christmas, but with exciting and fun things. I’m always grateful for this in the months of January and February, when the weather feels like a drag and my whole being longs for it to be warm again.

On Sunday we commissioned a missionary couple who left for the field today. We won’t see them for 2-3 years, and my throat aches with missing them already … after several years together, they feel more like family than friends. But I’m so, so excited for the way God has provided for them to live out their dream of serving Him overseas, and the way CPC and our family get to be apart of their ministry from here in Columbia.

My favorite thing about this particular couple is how close our kids are to them, and how real it’s made missions to them. We pray together for them daily, and our kids are just as likely to know their specific prayer requests any given week as David and I are.

Next Sunday we start with two Sunday morning worship services. We knew this was most likely coming back in December, and as a church family we’ve been soaking up these last few weeks of the simplicity of one service, of all of us meeting together for worship.

Our growth is a good and wonderful challenge — there isn’t any new person or family joining our midst that I’d trade — but it also feels like the end of an era, a very sweet era.

Even so, we’re ready and excited for a new chapter to begin in February.

 

Being sick

Judah and I got hit hard with a virus last week, which may or may not be the flu.

We never got tested but a friend who did get tested has the same symptoms.

I’m very thankful it’s not the stomach flu — just fever, aches, and sinus stuff. But we still felt pretty miserable, and while we’re on the upswing today, neither of us are at a hundred percent. It just seems to hang on. But after five days straight of wearing sweatpants, I decided something had to change. So I showered, fixed my hair, put on some make-up, and changed into leggings rather than sweats. Afterward, I felt completely weak and tired, but it’s a start.

We had a very cozy weekend laying around doing a lot of nothing. Gabe was sick for a day too, but bounced back after 24 hours. Maybe he had a different virus? The first day I felt too sick to even sleep or read a book, so the kids and I had a movie marathon and watched all three Toy Story movies in a row. We hadn’t seen them in years, and it the perfect way to distract ourselves from feeling crummy.

Amie and I have also used all this down time to practice knitting. I’m happy to say I’m making slow-but-sure progress. I can now cast-on and do the knit stitch reasonably well. Next up: the purl stitch, which is a bit trickier. We ordered some more yarn from Amazon yesterday and are both looking forward to starting a project.

Unfortunately, yesterday David and Amie came down with the virus. So … we might be home for another few days.

I hope all of you have managed to stay healthy and are enjoying the last week of January!