Does everyone wander around lost that week between Christmas and New Year’s? I know I spend the week alternately cleaning and straightening but also being incredibly lazy, all while saying I can eat what I want because New Year’s is coming and I will probably not be eating healthy for those two days anyway so why bother now? And so on…

This year Billy had the entire week off with Wyatt and I! I would like to say that we did lots and lots of cool things, but in reality we spent a lot of time bumming around the house together. That doesn’t mean we didn’t have fun though. Because we did. It was actually really nice to have all that time together while also having time to do different individual projects. Billy spent a few days making bread with my sourdough starter. (I made one for my stepmom too, and I named it The Grateful Bread) We also made homemade chicken noodle soup in the instant pot. It was delicious!

I worked on school things, different plans, watched a lot of YouTube, painted and played games and with different toys with Wyatt, who had lots of new things he wanted us to try out together. And so many books for us both! We have been reading up a storm around here.

We did get dressed in actual clothes and ventured out a few times though.

We went for a hike one afternoon, and were hoping that it would snow while we were out there. There is nothing like being in a forest while it is snowing. And wouldn’t you know it, the universe provided.

Another day we took a field trip to one of my favorite shops, The Conservatory. I love it there, especially in the winter. All the green!! It just makes me so happy. It was short outing but a good one. And I ended up bringing home a new pothos, a Silver Satin that I named Sam Elliot.

And I was excited to learn that The Conservatory is expanding and opens up in it’s new location (two doors down from its current one) on the 8th of January! I may need to take another trip. We followed our plant shopping up with pizza at my mom’s, where my brother and his family joined us. It was a nice night!

We pretty much laid low the rest of the week, watching The Witcher and Brokenwood Mysteries (which we finished…noooo!), doing the same stuff we did earlier in the week. New Year’s Eve we didn’t do anything too special but we did have plans for New Year’s Day! We woke up early (because that is not an issue when you don’t do much on NYE) and headed to the woods as we do every New Year’s Day.

The snow was gone sadly, but we were expecting a bit of a snowstorm later that night – right when we had plans for dinner with my brother and SIL. It was a low key dinner, spaghetti and homemade bread at our house while my mom watched the kids, and gave the four of us a chance to chat and catch up a little without the kids around for a few hours. And that was the extent of our socializing for the week! Sunday we watched movies (The Big Year and Encanto) and all of a sudden, vacation was over.

What do you do that week, if you are not working? Are you productive, or a bit lost like a lot of us?

It’s a brand new year, y’all!! Happy New Year!

My One Word: I always set a word and intention for the year, much like I do resolutions. This year, the word I chose was Explore – as in explore ideas, new places, the outdoors as much as I can. COVID and work will obviously put limits on where exactly we can travel still for a while, but I want to take more small road trips, see different things and places this year whenever it is possible. But beyond the physical, I want to explore new ideas as well, new ways of living, authors, habits.

First Book of the Year: The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley. I am so excited! I waited to read this until the New Year like a nerd, because the book takes place at the new year.

For fans of Ruth Ware and Tana French, a shivery, atmospheric, page-turning novel of psychological suspense in the tradition of Agatha Christie, in which a group of old college friends are snowed in at a hunting lodge . . . and murder and mayhem ensue.

All of them are friends. One of them is a killer.

During the languid days of the Christmas break, a group of thirtysomething friends from Oxford meet to welcome in the New Year together, a tradition they began as students ten years ago. For this vacation, they’ve chosen an idyllic and isolated estate in the Scottish Highlands—the perfect place to get away and unwind by themselves.

They arrive on December 30th, just before a historic blizzard seals the lodge off from the outside world.

Two days later, on New Year’s Day, one of them is dead.

The trip began innocently enough: admiring the stunning if foreboding scenery, champagne in front of a crackling fire, and reminiscences about the past. But after a decade, the weight of secret resentments has grown too heavy for the group’s tenuous nostalgia to bear. Amid the boisterous revelry of New Year’s Eve, the cord holding them together snaps.

Now one of them is dead . . . and another of them did it.

Keep your friends close, the old adage goes. But just how close is too close?

I can’t wait!

Resolutions: I’m going to keep this simple. I always make resolutions but never get down on myself for not accomplishing them. I feel it is ok to dream and try without always having success!

• Yoga. I miss yoga so much. I need to make time in my life for it again. Before I had Wyatt I did it almost everyday and I loved how it made me feel, physically and mentally.
• Feeding the chickadees in our neighborhood from my hand. Yep. This is a goal of mine. How cool would that be? I will feel so very Snow White.
• Eat more whole foods, and keep buying local to support small farmers when and where I can.

And that is it! Keeping it simple. Kind of. Lol.

Traditions: Today we are watching The Big Year like we do every single New Year’s Day for the past ten years or so. This movie I think “flies” under the radar and it is just so good. Especially if you love birds. And Jack Black. And Rosamund Pike. We will take a hike through the woods, taking time to stop and listen and look around. And hopefully eat something good too.

What every you do today, I hope you have a good day!

It’s hard not to take a look back at the year when you reach the end and a new year is looming. I’ve mentioned before that New Year’s Eve makes me a bit melancholy, the passing of time makes me feel a bit wistful for the things that were and used to be. New Year’s Day I am ready for the fresh slate and adventures to be had, but New Year’s Eve is different for me. Anyway, let’s see what we really loved this year!

Movies:

Hmm. Where to begin? I absolutely loved the new Rebecca and The Secret Garden.I think both were just visually stunning, especially The Secret Garden. I also really loved The Dig – I am intrigued by all of these discovery, archaeological finds from the past and Carey Mulligan was amazing in this movie. Disney and I also had a good relationship this year. I was a huge Indiana Jones fan in my youth, and I loved Emily Blunt’s character. Had I been a kid when this movie came out I probably would want to be Lily Houghton when I grew up. As for Luca, I loved the beauty of this cartoon, the story of acceptance, and of course, the Italy part. And Coco! Wyatt and I watched this together in October for the first time, while Billy was on a camping trip. It is probably one of my favorite Disney movies ever now. I just loved it – although I did totally cry at the end.

YouTubers:

1. Rachel Maksy: I love this channel. Maksy is a maker, and makes the coolest costumey type clothes. Her videos make me laugh, she is whimsical and weird, and has the cutest dog, named Frodo.

2. Roots and Refuge: A gardening/homesteader channel I watch. I learned how to grow fantastic tomatoes this year thanks to Jess!

3. Alexandra Roselyn: I just started to watch her channel recently. I love that she includes YA and middle grade reads in her videos as I am working on our home library for Wyatt beyond picture books. I know I will include tried and true favorites like the Little House books, Narnia, etc but I also want to explore newer options as well.

Music:

I hesitate to include this as I am not very knowledgeable about music; I just listen to what sounds good to me. But without a doubt, I became a Swiftie this year. Not really her earlier music, but her Folklore and Evermore albums in particular.

And now for some random favorites, as I did say there would be randomness!

Cereal: We eat a lot of cereal in this house. Well, Wyatt and I do. Our go to’s are Mom’s Best Cereals Mallow Oats, Nature’s Path Sunrise Crunchy Cinnamon, and Nature’s Path Envirokidz Panda Puffs.

Pens: This set of Tul pens in assorted colors. I always get a set of pens for Christmas and these are my favorites!

Favorite Starbucks Drink: Matcha Latte – iced or hot, I love it

Favorite candy: Haribo cherries!

Favorite purchases this year: I know Billy’s answer – the InstaPot. I am a tiny bit afraid of it but I like what he has made in it so far this year. My favorite non-animal purchase – all the art I have purchased this year from artists on Etsy. It’s been fun redoing our rooms!

I would love to hear about any of your favorite media that you have been consuming – listening, watching, tell me! Or any of your other favorites as well!

Nature is such an important part of our life. We have such a connection to nature, to animals and the trees and the earth around us, that I don’t like to let a solstice go by without some sort of acknowledgement. This year Wyatt and I were able to turn it into a bit of a science lesson as well, albeit a fun one. When we woke up, I talked about how the day ahead was the shortest day of the year, with the longest night, and that the next day would signal the return of the sun, and that gradually, slowly, slowly, the days would become longer and the dark and night would become shorter.

To celebrate during the day, Wyatt and I read Bear Noel and The Animals’ Santa. We had a lot of fun reading them both, but we added a bit of fun to our reading of Bear Noel, with sound effects and participation. I think we might continue this as a tradition, at least for another year if Wyatt lets me. Then we decided to be a bit of an animals’ Santa ourselves, and make gifts for the outdoor animals near us. The birds and the squirrels and the porch opossum, although I haven’t seen the latter in a week or two which makes me nervous. Neither of us like to get sticky fingers so we skipped any ideas that involved goopy peanut butter or even worse, lard. However, dried apples and oranges were just our speed, so we (I) dried the fruit slices in our oven and when they were dry, Wyatt turned them into hanging fruit ornaments to put outside. I also threw some pecans out there as well, for a little added treat.

After our activity, we both had a little quiet time. I read my book and he played a bit. Eventually it became time to make dinner so I switched on some music (Alexa, play Taylor Swift Folklore..) and got to cooking. Every year I want to make sun bread and never remember. This year included. But I did make Greek Lemon Chicken and Rice in a skillet, which was delicious. With lemon to celebrate the sun! Then..we had my ugly cake. I had planned to make cranberry cake which is amazing and delicious. However, I found I didn’t have any sugar! How did this happen! Thankfully we had a spare cake. Lol. The Sunday before solstice we had celebrated my brother’s 40th birthday; I was supposed to make the cake. It was a bit of a baking disaster though, and we deemed it too ugly to take to the party, so we bought one at Kroger on the way instead. My brother was appalled though, and told me I should have just brought the cake anyway. Well, it worked out for solstice because what is a celebration without dessert?

A not great photo of my not great looking cake. At this point I wasn’t sure what was going on with it so I just threw some plastic over it, not caring much about preserving the frosting. It wasn’t too bad though, removing it, we still had plenty somehow. It was actually quite yummy!

After dinner, we moved into the den and read two more books, The Shortest Day and The Longest Night (we absolutely love this one). We talked about some of our favorite nature memories this year – Billy’s camping trip for him, our trip up north with the old Cedar Forest trail and the picnic among the wildflowers, swimming in the lake. My monarchs. Tomato sandwiches, made with tomatoes from our garden. The trolls. So many wonderful moments this year.

That morning, we started the day with two songs – Here Comes the Sun which is Wyatt’s favorite, and Morning has Broken, one of my favorites.

It was a wonderful start to the holiday season! A little tiny celebration before the happy chaos of Christmas.

It was a wonderful holiday this year, full of smiles and laughter and togetherness. Wyatt was so excited about everything, and that makes it so much more fun, the anticipation and excitement.

The days leading up to Christmas we spent baking and wrapping and cleaning (me). Wyatt also wrote Santa a letter and we mailed it from the big mailbox downtown in our city, the mailbox that has direct delivery to the North Pole. And would you believe it? Santa wrote Wyatt back!

Christmas Eve we spent the afternoon with Billy’s mom and dad, then later in the evening went to a small gathering with my mom and brother’s family and my sister-in-law’s mom. This group of five people is our regular bubble, we are like a little team. It was a low key night, with a bit of excitement when both kids decided to pillow attack Devin. This was followed up with Devin reading the kids a book, which was good to calm them back down before heading home to Christmas pajamas and cookies and milk. And no, he didn’t read The Night Before Christmas, but Pete the Cat Rides the Bus, a request from Wyatt.

My little baby is such a big little kid now!

Sunday we spent at my dad’s, to celebrate with him and my stepmom. The kids were once again showered in gifts, to their delight, and to the delight of the grandparents. These kids certainly do not want for anything. Wyatt has so many books, games, painting kits, a pottery wheel, and science kits for growing crystals as well as toys now to keep him busy for a long while. He is currently obsessed with mail carriers (do all kids have weird phases?) and was thrilled with his mail carrier dress up stuff. He also wanted to open his painting kit from my mom at bedtime last night. We settled for giving his dog Bowser a bath.

The adults had a good holiday as well. Besides seeing my family, I had wrens visit my bird feeder on Christmas day! I also feel pretty spoiled, with all the new books and journals and other things I got – included cozy warm slippers! Billy also got me a “Raised by boooooks” shirt with a wolf howling on it, and a “Be Kind to Bugs” hoodie, which I have pretty much lived in the past two days.

We had a great few days! We are looking forward to this slow week ahead of us, reading and writing and playing. Billy is off work for the week so I am hoping to get a hike or two in as well.

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday!

I wish all of you peace and joy this holiday season! I am taking a short break but will be back after Christmas!

I am never on time for this blog event! And I love to participate because Leslie is such a sweet soul. Anyway, better late than never?

DECORATING, TRADITIONS AND FAMILY RECIPES

In what ways do you decorate for the winter holiday season?  Do you use traditional colors or have your own color scheme?  Is there a theme to your decorating? Since Wyatt has been born, I have found myself actually becoming more minimalist in our decorations. I am not sure why, exactly. I am trying to be more mindful, and put out our very favorites. We do use traditional colors, lots of reds and greens and plaids, because I love plaid. And we do try to keep to a nature type theme when we can. Our tree is actually all wildlife/nature themed ornaments except for a few that Wyatt was given as gifts, like Daniel Tiger. And a smurf leftover from my ornaments as a child. I do have all my own childhood ornaments boxed up in the basement but we are trying to start a tree that is all new for Wyatt to keep as his own keepsakes one day, with a few old ones as well. Wyatt also has a little tree in his room that has all of his own ornaments on it.

A story about our tree. When Wyatt was born, it was not under the easiest of circumstances. A total of 12 weeks in the hospital between the two of us, and Billy missed a lot of work. Money was very tight, bills were late. We didn’t know how we were going to do Christmas honestly, and planned a very small, modest Christmas, with a gift or two for Wyatt, socks for each other, and a tabletop tree (the one in his room now actually) And then came Faye. An angel of a person, a family friend of my mom and aunt’s my whole life. She gave me my first job, then made it easy on me. I have so many Faye stories. Anyway, that Christmas she sent us $200, a total surprise, out of the goodness of her heart. I remember standing in my living room crying. We went and bought a tree, some lights, and gifts for Wyatt. That year Father Christmas was named Faye and I will never forget.

Share a family holiday tradition or recipe.  Is there something new you plan to try this year? Hmm.. our family loves to make Empire Biscuits and Coconut Tarts at Christmas. We actually have two camps, Team Empire Biscuit vs. Team Coconut Tarts. My grandma used to make them, then my uncle..now my cousin’s wife and my sister-in-law generally make Empire Biscuits and I will make coconut tarts. Because I am team coconut tart, all the way. I did a post on them here!

FAVORITE HOLIDAY BOOKS, MOVIES, SONG OR SHOWS

Do you have a favorite Christmas book, movie, song or TV show?  Why is it special to you?  Is there a popular holiday book, program or movie you have never seen? So so so many!!! Christmas movies: Emmet Otter’s Jug Band Christmas, a favorite of mine from childhood that I still watch every year, A Muppet Christmas Carol, Charlie Brown Christmas, and Chevy Chase’s Christmas Vacation. I think they are just tradition now to watch!

KEEPER CALM

How do you handle the stress of the holidays?  Do you have some go-to for restoring calm to your life when things get crazy? I have found that starting really early with my Christmas shopping so I am practically done by December helps so much! I have also started to cut down on the activities – we try to do some things, but we don’t need to do everything!

SPARKLE AND SHINE

What will you wear over the holidays?  Do you dress up for New Year’s Eve? I don’t really dress up much for the holidays. I did buy a fancier top from Amazon this year to wear Christmas day, with jeans. It is green with lace detail and almost swiss dots. And short sleeved because for some reason our holidays are always so hot. Lol. As for New Years, not anymore. We do a “Noon Years Eve” with my cousin, his kids, my brother and niece and sister-in-law, where we do a countdown and have fun stuff for the kids. This year my cousin is going to make us winter champagne cocktails too, for the adults. We will probably have a pretty quiet evening and go to bed early. Lol. I have never liked or enjoyed New Years Eve. It always makes me sad and melancholy. So I don’t mind missing it.

How do you feel about snow?  What are the chances you will see a white Christmas?  Do you enjoy any snow day activities?  What will the weather be like where you live in this last month of the year? I love love love snow!! Living in Michigan it is just part of our life. This year however the forecast doesn’t call for snow until the 26th. Which bums me out!

‘TIS BETTER TO GIVE

Do you have a gift-giving budget?  For how many people do you buy gifts?  Do you buy for the postman, your hair dresser, nail tech, children’s teachers?  When do you open gifts?  Who is the hardest person you buy for? My family buys for just the kids these days, and sometimes one of us gets wild and makes gifts for the adults, like jam or soap or something like that. And we buy for our parents. So I guess we just don’t buy for siblings. Lol. I used to buy for Wyatt’s entire team, which was like 6 therapists, a teacher, an aide, and a nurse – now with homeschooling I just buy for one therapist! The hardest gift – my dad and stepmom. I never know what to do for them!

If you could give a kind of impossible gift to someone, what would it be?  Perhaps something beyond your price range?  Or something you can’t buy.  Something intangible. Oh man. So many things. Some so personal I can’t really say. I will say instead..that everyone could be happy for at least one day, all together.

FAREWELL 2021, WISHES FOR 2022

As we bid farewell to 2021, what was your biggest success this year?  Will you be making goals or resolutions or plans for 2022?  If so, what will some of them be?  My biggest success – my monarchs. That was such a fun project that Wyatt and I did together. I always make resolutions, but I don’t get down on myself if I don’t achieve them. You’ll have to check back at the beginning of the year for mine.

Describe 2021 in 3 words.  Name 3 things you wish for in 2022. Keep on moving. And three things I wish for 2021… I am going to just stick with smallish things here. Nothing noble. So lots of picnics, good books to read, and moments of laughter with loved ones.

My Sunday Post is hosted by Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer
Sunday Salon is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz
It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date

We’ve been hunkered down pretty good lately, which was my plan for December. A quiet month of cozy times. Lots of baking and music and comfort foods; cuddles with cats and watching movies under my favorite quilt. Soon we will be emerging from this little cocoon to celebrate the holidays but for now, we are enjoying the quiet.

Billy and I got this Santa 21 years ago when we were married, as a gift from a family friend. Wyatt for some reason has really taken a liking to it, and drags it all over the house with him. It cracks me up – until he leaves it somewhere and it scares me in the middle of the night.

Read Last Week:

My progress on this book has been slow, although not due to lack of interest. My darn Kindle charger is being wonky and charging super slowly! It took literally 24 hours for it to charge to 78%. I bought a new charger and cord, and I just put it on to charge again just now, so hopefully this one does the trick. I am halfway through and I am really loving this story.

Reading the rest of the month:

I will probably read from these three the rest of the month, depending on which I am in the mood for- romance, middle grade, or nonfiction. And of course, after I finish Mistletoe and Mr. Right.

Posted Last Week:

Homeschooling: Ice Age

What Wyatt’s Reading – December Edition

Watching:

Still Brokenwood Mysteries! It was pretty good the first three seasons, but season four has been really fantastic. We don’t know if the show hit its stride or what, but lately the shows have been crazy good. We are also still watching Wheel of Time. As for movies, our list has included Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, and Ice Age Christmas. I am hoping so hard for snow! I need snow to feel complete at Christmas time. I don’t need a lot, but enough so it feels like winter. I have a hard time completely enjoying my favorite Christmas movies without it – I am sure if I grew up somewhere warm, or lived somewhere warm I would be used to it, but for me Christmas needs some snow, darn it.

How about you all? Stay safe and well everyone~