January 2021

Who is ready for my monthly photo dump/recap to come back?

I honestly have no idea why anyone would read these posts, but I like to keep them as monthly scrapbooks that I can look back on. It’s essentially how I organize my photos and memories and it helps me mark the passing of time. One month done, now to look ahead!

January Stats:

35 miles ran

12 hours spent outside

5 blog posts published

1 book published

Up until this week, it has been a mild winter and I have been following the rule that if it is above 32 degrees, we need to get outside. There have even been several days that I have made sure to get outside and it was below 32! One thing about this winter, however, is that is has been DREARY. We will literally sit in puddles of sunshine every time we see them!

The toughest part of winter is keeping the kids entertained! Thankfully, we have some creative minds around here to keep everyone from climbing the walls…we’ve got stretching and exercising…..with a bunch of bananas? No idea. Maybe we have actually gone insane…

We had our own beloved Corinne staying with us while college was on an extended winter break. It was an adventure fitting 3 adults and 3 kids into our 1100 sq ft one bathroom house, but we LOVED having her- especially the kids! I am hoping/dreaming that we can have a little bit more room in our next house to do stuff like this more often. But of course, Corinne is welcome back ANYTIME!

A day with SUNSHINE meant hitting up our favorite park- Grant Park!

The highlight of January for me was getting an entire weekend to myself while Theo took the kids Up North to his parents cabin. I love my family, but I really needed that refresher! Don’t worry…Theo and the kids had a blast, too!

While they were gone, I did something that has been on my goal list for THREE YEARS- I published my first book! It’s self-published and it’s not winning any awards anytime soon, but I did it and it’s out there and I just cannot believe it!

Theo even threw me a little dinner party just to celebrate my book! Patience (the cat) seems thrilled, doesn’t she?

Another highlight of the month was our school putting on a super fun outdoor scavenger/geocache hunt. It was COLD (27 degrees!) but so many people came and we had a blast running up and down hills and the field and through the woods, then warming up with hot chocolate and a big bonfire. I love our school, I love the community and I especially love how they have been so willing to get creative in this time of COVID.

A low of the month was this kid getting sick yet again. His immune system seems to be functioning just fine, but the problem is WHEN he gets even a mild cold, it goes straight to his lungs and he cannot breathe. It’s so scary and so sad. But, thankfully, we have not had to go to the ER for ONE YEAR thanks to modern medicine and the ability to use a nebulizer at home.

Packing lunches, hanging out at the copy machine and cutting/laminating things is the teacher life for me! I tell ya…if teacher were payed by the hour…we would make a LOT more money. Ha!

#KidsWereHere. I love finding little things around the house that show me that my kids brains are working hard and thinking creatively. This dinosaur must have gotten hungry enough to eat a puff ball!

Another COLD park trip! We are working to complete the Centerville 51 Parks Challenge- if you visit all 51 parks in Centerville, you win a picnic!

We ended January with our first real snowfall this winter. And it was actually quiet disappointing because we got much less snowfall then predicted and then it rained the entire day and turned into slush. We are ready for a really good blizzard snow fall, and then spring can come whenever it wants! I’d be fine with that!

Happy February!