January 2019

Let's just bang out a full month a year late, shall we? Last night at dinner Nell asked that we each say the 5 best things that happened to us in 2019, and she was ready with answers! Her first one was "Seeing Mary Poppins in the movie theater on the first day of the year." I was surprised she remembered the exact day, but she replied, "yup, it was this day last year. I remember because it was New Year."

And sure enough, it was! It also must have been a Tuesday, because that's the only way we would have afforded it, ha! I remember that I took Nell and Coraline to the new Mary Poppins and Reid and Dad opted for the new Spiderman. We didn't dare take Mara just yet, but she probably could have tagged along with the boys because when that Spiderman hit Netflix she fell absolutely in love. So did I, actually. It makes me cry a little every time. They have both become two of our family's favorite movies.

After the girls' movie but before the boys' I took the three big kids sledding. Nell wasn't a big fan, but Coraline was loving it. One of my favorite videos of the whole year was captured that day. It was our first time at the new sledding hill at the new park in our little Town of Algoma. There were lots of other families enjoying the park that day and I still remember how fun and exciting it all felt.

All I've got for pictures the rest of that first week are sweet Mara, doing the usual 2 year old stuff. Snuggling for a nap, making a huge mess out of dinner, destroying our front room before 7:09 am, and just being adorable. Ah, two year olds are the best.

Trying to sneak away in Nell's boots

Seriously, it was perfectly clean when she woke up, and this was captured at 7:09 am

It must have been a stay in your jammies all day, sort of day. 

This was technically taken that 2nd week in January, but it still fits with 2-year-old craziness

That second weekend in January we headed down to Illinois for some fun with the cousins. You may remember that we'd just seen them a couple weeks prior at Kalahari, but the kids were still so excited to have more time with them. We spent most of Saturday just chilling at their house, but that evening we headed up to their YMCA for a good family swim and then out for pizza afterword. We stayed through Sunday and went to Church with them.

Pictures like the above of Coraline make me sad that I don't blog anymore. I'm sure there was a story behind this, and I'll have to ask Ben since he took the picture, but I can't for the life of me remember why this was so photo worthy a full year later. Little kids do and say the darndest things and I feel us slipping out of this stage with each passing day. 

This was our annual girls night party. Ben and Reid were at the Father and Son's campout, so I took the girls to Festival for fancy cookies and we stayed up late watching a princess movie. They may or may not have all slept in my bed with me afterward. 

How's this kid getting so big? I'm sure he is playing Minecraft in this photo. He was introduced to it at the 2018 Father and Sons campout and still loves it 2 years later. 

These three girls figured out they could have some pretty awesome sleepovers if we put both the twin bunk bed mattresses on the floor. Nell tired of it pretty quick, but we made this special arrangement a good half dozen times on the weekends last winter. 

I believe it was MLK day, or perhaps just a regular old Saturday, that we took a family trip up to the Neenah library. Winter can have a sense of cooped-up-ness that needs to be fought off, so exploring a new library can be just the trick. 

Coraline started attending the rec department Tot Spot back in January 2019. She loved it most days but also insisted on skipping it entirely some weeks. I usually caved because I don't feel a need to force my children into school or day care settings at such a young age.

Checking my calendar, I also see that Mara had some diaper studies back in January 2019. It was such a great way to make a little extra money. I've been enrolled as a potential since we first moved here, but anytime they came up I had to say no because I had a baby or juts too many small kids at home to feel like I could make arrangements to go. Finally with Mara I started saying yes, and I either lined them up with Coraline's tot time or I just had her go play at some friends' houses. The diaper study room was really an awesome play area and Mara and I always enjoyed it. It was a nice little bonus for living so close to Kimberly Clark (Huggies diaper makers).

These two obviously had a blast painting away one morning. I can't believe I'll never have two littles home for the full school day ever again. It's crazy to think this stage is over. I'm sure I tried to live it up, but I also know there are about a million at home preschool ideas I printed out and never used or pinned (on pinterest) and never completed. Man life happens fast when you are surrounded by love. 

This picture is kind of random, but I love the beauty of it. I took it while I was working out one morning at the downtown Y (my regular routine while Lou was in tot spot). When we first moved to Oshkosh this building was abandoned, but still so gorgeous. Thankfully some rich kids who have so much money they don't know what to do with it decided to bring this club house back to life. I still haven't been in it a full year later, but there is a bowling alley, ballroom, bar, and all the things you'd imagine from a 1920s era club house. I love seeing Oshkosh grow and improve. The Y I was in when I snapped this shot has been demolished and rebuilt since we moved here as well. Exciting times!

Those three photos were all captured the same Friday night. Sometimes the best thing to do in January is just sit around your house and chill. There is a word for it in the land of my ancestors, hygge: roughly translated as coziness. I believe that the night before I packed the kids a PB&J dinner and we went to our nearby Y for some swimming. We actually do a lot of swimming each winter. 

And then our first (school's out) snow day hit. Talk about coziness, we loved every second of it. I'm seriously so grateful my kids can be locked up inside for most of a day and manage to find so much happiness together. They did go out and play in the snow for a bit mid afternoon, and I think I caved and let them watch some TV late afternoon, but honestly, we spent most of the day dressing up, hiding in forts, making crafts, putting together puzzles, and cooking some warm comfort foods. It was so lovely!

This 300 piece puzzle took all day!

Some brownies to accompany our Chicken Pot Pie Casserole

You know it's cold when I bundle up this much!

These two and their sweet friendship

They always cuddled up together on the love seat to watch movies. 

That's all I have for January 2019! Now I should go back and do 2018, huh? Can't believe that one day these memories will all be nearly gone. As I drove Coraline to a friend's house this morning she told me "You're going to be a hard working Grandma one day, cause all your kids will come home when they are adults and that will be a lot of work." She also informed me that she is going to buy a house on Tammy Rd. She and Reid have always been so much a like in quirky little ways, and that is one of them. Around age 5 they have both been obsessed with finding a house close to me for when they grown up. I can only hope my little loves, I can only hope.