January came and went just as quickly as December. It was a whirlwind of packing up the old, ringing in the new, re-acquainting ourselves with familiar routines and throwing in some new ones for good measure. It was a good month! Here are some of the more mundane moments of January - the things that filled our days and the breaths in between the hustle and bustle.
I love how Maryn seeks this spot each morning - she gathers all her things around the heat vent and contentedly sits and draws or reads until it is time to get ready for the day. This time of year we're all a bit leonine as we stalk the heat or occasional spot of sun, then pounce and claim it like predators - eager and grateful for warmth!
The kids learned all about football from Chris and we had "family football" Sundays. They now probably know more about the rules of the game than I do. As you can see, Lucy got pretty into it!
We celebrated my Dad's birthday, complete with German chocolate cake. Happy birthday, Papa!
The kids are now fort-building experts and no fort is complete without twinkle lights! I would love to have a permanent fort like
this one, but I guess the magic is in the building and reconstructing just as much as the finished hide-out.
I just really like these photos! The girls put together some awesome outfits (or "ensembles" in Fancy Nancy speak) and I love how colorful they were that day. They pretty much eschew pants for the most part, unless worn under a dress or a skirt. And the more color and pattern, the better! Oh, and Maryn has been talking to me a lot about "taste" lately. As in "mom, I think you would like this - it's your taste," especially when talking about clothes or fashion. Maybe she's caught one too many episodes of Project Runway??
Speaking of funny sayings, the other day Lucy watched a flock of birds take to the sky, then very seriously asked "are they migrating, or your-grating?" We all absorbed that for a minute than burst out in giggles. These kids are too much!
I made good on the "eat more healthfully" resolution by adding spinach to our smoothies. The kids generally do not like plain fruit, but will drink pretty much anything in a smoothie. We make ours by throwing in large handfuls of frozen strawberries and blueberries, adding a couple of heaping spoonfuls of plain yogurt, tossing in some washed spinach leaves and covering it all with OJ. Sometimes I add a bit of honey if the berries are at all tart. Yummy and healthy!
The dark winter mornings necessitate something cheery with your caffeinated beverage of choice, and I enjoyed every last sip of coffee from my new rosy mug. I felt guilty buying it in December when I should have been shopping for everyone else, but after using it just about every day this month I consider it money well spent.
So, that's our January rundown, minus one or two things I may (or, let's just be honest, may not) post about later. So far, so good, 2011!
