I’ve been making good on my promise to not give myself too much pressure to update this blog regularly! Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years have all come and gone. I thought I’d do some writing over the two weeks I had off, but it turns out that it is harder to do that with two small kids underfoot than I had anticipated.

Those kids are currently watching Bluey peacefully in the other room, but they were definitely at odds with each other a lot over the break. Sev is very sensitive to changes in her routine, and after the excitement and fun of Christmas was over, she had some grumpy days. Oz is acting more and more toddler-ish with each passing day, so obviously he was getting on his sister’s nerves. That said, they’ve also had some quite endearing moments together over the last couple of months. Being a sibling is a strange and special thing, certainly.

My sister hosted Thanksgiving, though we stayed with my mother for the long weekend, as usual. In addition to the usual feasting, the holiday weekend involved a turkey trot, checking out the Peabody Museum in New Haven, making gingerbread houses from a kit, going to watch a train (Oz’s latest obsession), and celebrating my mom’s actual birthday.

After writing last time, I created a Gallery page on the blog, which you can find here. I’m going to continue including images with each entry, but the pictures will also all be in the Gallery for easy perusal. The limits of WordPress (and my own time/ability) mean that they may not all be in chronological order, but in the absence of Instagram, this will have to do!

Christmas prep involved picking out and decorating our tree, attending a traditional Jewish Chinese food feast on Christmas Eve, and hosting Christmas Day dinner as we have been the last few years. We also went to EcoTarium for the first time on Christmas Eve, and we’re definitely planning on going back in the future. Despite living in Eastern Mass for a decade, James and I hadn’t really explored Worcester very much, but I think we’re going to see what other fun can be had there. (More on this later.)

The kids helped build a gingerbread haunted house (but realistically, it was Rosie, James, and me who had the most fun with it). Sev’s most-used gift is probably the K-Pop Demon Hunters soundtrack on Yoto card, which she had listened to virtually nonstop for three days after receiving it in her stocking. Oz was delighted with all of his gifts, which is one of the nice things about toddlers: they’re pretty easy to please with shiny new things.

Oz had a couple days of daycare between Christmas and New Years, so we had a little time to focus on Sev. She was a much more content kid without her little brother following her around everywhere! We ended up going to the New England Quilt Museum for the first time, which, while small, was really inspiring. I’m not particularly interested in quilting, but seeing especially the antique quilts gave me a lot of respect for the sensibility behind fabric selection, color choice, etc. I came out of there wanting to make things, which I call a win!

Speaking of making things, one of the tasks we’ve taken on is repainting Sev’s old dollhouse (a lovely hand-me-down from our friend Laurel, from her own childhood) to be more Gabby’s Dollhouse-themed. I had been planning on repainting it for a while, but when Sev asked for the actual Gabby’s Dollhouse mere days before Christmas, I figured this would prove much more fun (and cost-effective) than buying the toy. We’re not quite done with it yet, but it’s very vibrant, and it’s been fun to work on!

On New Year’s Eve, we went back to Worcester to check out the Worcester Art Museum, which has an extremely impressive collection of arms and armor. James was especially fond of this exhibit, but I was also impressed with the WAM’s dedication to getting guests involved in the learning experience. There were a couple of areas where you could touch and/or try on replicas of some of the exhibits. Additionally, there were themed areas for kids to play, read, and color, and Sev even completed a scavenger hunt that took us all around the museum. I particularly liked the European art area (I blame my college studies), and Sev got to see just how excited I get when I see saint iconography. It was a lot of fun to look at art with her, since she’s really budding into quite the artist herself.

My hobbies have progressed in a way I wasn’t really expecting. Tired of making a bunch of gifts for other people, I decided to make myself something and tried out tapestry crochet for the first time. The result is this awesome cowl covered in skulls! They lean a bit, but I was anticipating that, and I’m happy with the result. I still have more of both yarns, so I’ve been plotting on making some colorwork mitts of some kind. We’ll see, I’m still fiddling with a prototype (who needs patterns, lol).

I also took a sewing class at the beginning of December! It was more of a “learn how to use your machine” class, and while I have a basic understanding of my sewing machine, I kind of just wanted someone to be able to tell me what kind of potential it had and what else could be done with it. I figured out how the button hole function works, learned that I can sew up to five layers of denim (that was nerve-wracking), and that I really don’t need to be intimidated by knits even though I don’t have a serger. 

Since the class, I’ve actually been way more inspired to use my sewing machine, which is awesome. I have made so many cloth napkins…but I’ve also finished making a bag! I’ve historically found sewing to be really intimidating (especially since it’s something that it seems like my entire family can do except me…), but I’m starting to embrace the idea of doing things badly at first in order to learn. That may sound obvious, but I’ve often had a lot of trouble feeling like I should keep up with something if I’m not immediately good at it. (This feeling is also the reason I have such conflicted feelings about knitting…I’m doing okay with it now, but it’s definitely more challenging for me.)

I’ve also been really wanting to make a blanket, so I’ve started a corner-to-corner crochet blanket–another new-to-me technique that I’m really enjoying. I’m using a super bulky yarn, so it’s very heavy…but I kind of like that, honestly. It’s going to be very warm and cozy! I had a couple of cakes of this yarn laying around for a while, so I’m glad to be able to use it (even though I have already had to buy quite a bit more to finish it).

Switching gears to James’s hobbies, he actually fixed my phone screen the other night. It had been on the fritz for months, mostly manifesting as a pink line that ran down the right-hand side of the screen. Occasionally, the entire screen would go green and staticy, and since that was becoming more frequent, I decided to finally relinquish the device to his care. It’s like having a brand-new phone, honestly. The selfie camera is unfortunately not working now, but he has plans to fix that as well. At least, I hope so. I’m too vain to live without a selfie camera for long!

James also fixed the motor in an old Christmas train from my childhood. My mom was cleaning out my grandmother’s attic and passed it on to us since Oz has become so invested in locomotives lately. We were honestly amazed it worked at all (lights, music, etc.), but it wasn’t pulling. A few replacement parts and some soldering later, and it functions quite well! Getting it to go on the tracks around the bottom of the tree is a bit of a challenge since the tree skirt is uneven, but it’s festive and fun. Oz has tried to sleep with the engine and the coal car a couple of times.

We just survived the first week back to work/school. We’ve all been a bit up and down, mood/sleepiness-wise, but that’s to be expected. I took Sev to a “Try the Girl Scouts” even yesterday, and today I’ve gone and signed her up…so that’s something fun that we’re starting in 2026! Let me know if you need a Girl Scout cookie hook-up/ ;3

Neither James nor I do “resolutions” as such–which is to say, I don’t decide “I’m going to write three short stories and a novel” or whatever at the beginning of a given year. What I do, personally, is find some areas that I’d like to try exploring or increasing my involvement with. For this year, along with the usual crafting that I’ve been doing, I’d like to expand my sewing skills, move back toward drawing and writing, and try to find ways to be more involved in the local community. These goals are vague, but they’re a good way for me to think about next steps.

The past year was weird and hard, and I anticipate there will be aspects of 2026 that are much the same. The state of the world is stressful, and balancing work, family, and personal interests is complicated. But when I look around me, I realize all of the ways in which James and I have managed to make a comfortable little life for ourselves. If nothing else, I am looking forward to experiencing 2026 and all it has to offer with this eccentric, fun little family by my side.

I wish everyone reading this a Happy New Year! May it come with many blessings, few hardships, and lots of love. Until next time!