It’s weird to go this far back and blog about the beginning of a new year already knowing so much has happened since then. Clearly this is not ever going to be a real time blog again, but it’s still a record of our goings on and we love having it to look back on. So, back to January.
We started the year having Alexander and Graeme with us. Western Michigan did really well in…I was going to say football, I think it was football, but honestly I’m not sure now. That’s how much I pay attention to sports. Anyhow, they did well enough to play in some special bowl game(so must be football) in Texas. Andy and Ellen traveled to see it and we got to keep the boys! We had these poor kids moving every second! First day we saw a movie and even got some rare January outdoor time!
By day 2 I had to send a pic of Graeme’s shiner to Ellen because no way that was going to be gone by the time they got home!
On the day of the game, the ladies took the kids to the pool while the guys watched the start of the game back home.
We got home in plenty of time to see the end of their losing game, and serve everyone some dinner.
These two were well past bedtime when they came running in to show me they were learning cat’s cradle!
The last day we headed to an awesome play area where we met up with one of Sof’s old cheer buddies. Reunited!
We were sad to send the boys back, but confident we had thoroughly exhausted them!
January school mornings are cold and dark. Sof is still always excited to go.
You can see the sun rising through my bathroom window. Every morning Sof runs in to see it. If it’s a particularly pretty sunrise she always grabs my phone to take a picture!
Thursdays continue to be skype day. Sof’s class loves it when I come, and I love catching a glimpse of what they are working on!
It took over a month, but we were so excited to receive mail from from our girls!
I have the BEST staff, and we always love a reason to celebrate! The district teacher of the year came from our school this year, so you can bet we celebrated that!
Adrienne performed at basketball games with her pom team. These two are just here for the cotton candy!
We always celebrate Christmas with our family friends in January. Unfortunately we had to cancel because of sickness, but Nan decided to still come!
Mark and I snuck away for a weekend. We happened to be in the area of a shop that my principal’s daughter owns. She carves wood prints and then transfers them to t-shirts and other products. It’s seriously the coolest thing. She’s an amazing, talented young lady, and Mark and I just loved everything about her and her brand. If you’re interested look it up…Woosah, Grand Rapids, MI!
Then we were off to the “Juice Ball” which was a 70’s themed charity event for a soup kitchen. We fully committed to the look.
I’m always telling my kids they need to respect our cleaning lady Darlene by picking up clutter and having things neat so she can actually get to the surfaces she needs to clean. Sof started leaving notes for her and asking Darlene to write back with feedback on how she did preparing her room!
These Valentine cookies from Panera were sooooo good! We had more than one in the month they carried them!
Adrienne was given an entire booth at our school district’s Martin Luther King Jr. celebration to display the work she’s done with Grace Girl’s Home in Sri Lanka.
Allie and Sof came to support her!
The keynote speaker was a holocaust survivor named Irene Miller. She wrote this book “No Man’s Land” and we of course bought it! Sof really thought she was going to read it. She was bummed when she realized I wasn’t going to let her! However, I did read it, and it’s an amazing story that sticks with you for awhile.
We were lucky to have a snow day in January! We didn’t think the roads were bad enough to keep us away from the mall though!
I love that Sof still loves breakfast! Oatmeal every morning with something else on the side!
Kaitlyn has been doing Ninja Warrior classes, so we went to support her in one of her challenges.
The girls had a cheer competition and lots of supporters showed up! An old cheer buddy, the cousins, and Grandma and Papa were all there to cheer for them!
I love this thank you note that Sof wrote to her cheer buddy.
Thank you for the squishy. I love it so much. Also, at the end of the pyramid scooch in a little please.
Starbucks dates are our favorite.
Especially on cold January evenings!
