Beating the Mid-Winter Blues

 I was flipping through January pics..and many of them are just random.  Thought I would do a quick post on how we beat the mid-winter blues.  Here are some of the highlights from the month...Enjoy :)  

Snow play dough   We made white play dough and put glitter in it to make it sparkle like the snow.  The kids loved it!  

 We loved watching 6 deer walk through our back yard  

 Isaac and puppy hanging out in the laundry baskets  

 We got a warm spell for a day or so...so we headed out to check out the walking path in town.  

it was nice to get fresh air and exercise.  

This is one amazing man.  He is an incredible father!  What a blessing that he loves his family and makes time for us.  The kids and I are madly in love with him. 

For a while, the kids were into putting bibs around their heads (manes) every night after dinner and crawling around like they were lions.  Can you hear them roar?!

 Birthday dinner with Pop.  We made him a wall calendar for home and desk calendar for work with pics of the grandkids.  

 Unfortunately, January also included sickness.  God protected momma...but the rest just passed it from one to the other.  I hate seeing my kids sick.  Here's Bubby and Puppy resting on one of his not so good days...

 More pretend play...on this day, they were shepherds.  

So thankful for the many blessings of life!  

Snowfall

This has been such an unusual winter.  If there was just a little big of snow...we went outside, and I'm glad that we did.  This snowfall brought several inches.  It wasn't packing snow, so we couldn't make a snowman...but Hannah was SO excited to make snow angels.  

 Poor Bubby had to wear Hannah's old snowsuit....but for the number of times he wore it...I'm glad that I didn't buy him one.  Isn't he a cutie?!  

 Speaking of cuties...

 yay for some winter fun!  

A Warm Winter Day at the Zoo

On an unusually warm January day, we decided to get out for some fresh air and time at the zoo with friends.  Our first stop was to visit the Otter.  With very few people there...Hannah got his full attention., he was so much fun to watch.  

One of my favorite parts of the zoo is watching the polar bears swim.  The last few times we've been there...they haven't been swimming so it was a treat to get to sit and watch.  Clara had fun too...isn't she the cutest?!!!  

 Isaac and the ice wall.  

 Hannah had so much fun with the butterflies.  One of the zoo workers gave her a butterfly identification chart.  She walked around matching the butterflies that she found to the ones on the chart.  She loved learning their names this way!  

 Clara needed to eat before we headed home and Hannah is always SO happy to help with this .  What a great day with friends!  

A little winter fun

This has been such a different winter!  We haven't had much snow at all...and when it does snow, we haven't gotten more than a few inches.  On this winter day, Hannah was happy to see the snow and eager to get outside to play in it.  

Isaac wasn't sure all the time, but did have fun being outside in the fresh air

Brother and sister

 Before we went outside we read books about winter.  We talked about feeding the birds and learned how important it is to feed them all winter once we start feeding them.  Birds are Isaacs favorite animals...he loves watching them eat outside of his bedroom window.  

 taking turns..they both loved filling the feeder

We hung our pinecone bird feeder from Milan too.

 We also read about snowflakes...and then went exploring to see how each one is different.  The kids loved using their new magnifying glasses.  

Tea Party

One of the themes for "toddler school" a few weeks ago was tea. We enjoyed reading books about tea and singing "I'm a Little Teapot". We finished the week with a tea party of our own. Hannah gathered some of her stuffed animal friends around and was a great little hostess to them. She thought it was great that I let her put water in the teapot. :)

I love our days at home together...

learning how to properly hold her tea cup.

Snow Day!

During mid-winter break, we had a "snow day" with the teens at church. We spent the whole day together (8am-5pm). We had worship time, played indoor games, and played in the snow....it was great! Hannah had fun spending the day with Daddy at "work". :) Here's a bit of what we did:

The kids played hockey...

and Hannah played hockey

we ate lots of oranges...yay for a healthy snack!

Hannah and Aaron being silly :)

time for fun in the snow!

Isaacs first time in the snow

Daddy and Isaac...two blue suits

what a great snowman!

At the sledding hill...Hannah's first time sledding

down the hill with Daddy, they even went backwards...she loved it!