Better late than never, here we go at recapping the current year we are in ;) January was a slower-paced month compared to December, which was really nice after the busy holiday season. Here are the highlights:
We enjoyed the last few days of Christmas break at home before the girls started school again on January 4th…
It was warm enough to wear shorts on January 2nd!
The girls tried out the new jump rope that Savannah got for Christmas :)
Savannah also painted a wooden cat and dog craft set that turned out really cute.
Abigail rode her bike all the way to and from school to pick up the girls on their first day back :)
Time for a tea party! :)
Savannah wrote a story in her journal on January 5th about Gabby’s “New Year’s resolution” to play with the toys that Santa gave her for Christmas :)
Savannah still loves to play with Hot Wheels cars. She likes to line them up and have them race down the track. The one that rolls the farthest, wins.
On January 6th, Savannah wrote in her journal about Lance and Luna, Cici’s bunnies :)
The thing about having cats is that they don’t usually care too much what the house rules are ;) Gabby goes wherever she pleases, even up on Travis’s bathroom counter.
January 7th was a pretty nice day outside, so the girls and I went down to the greenway near our house. They had fun exploring near the creek and trying to build a bridge with sticks and branches.
The girls love it when Gabby joins them at the table for breakfast :)
Brooklyn and Savannah went to an American Girl doll book club meeting at the library on January 9th, and Abigail read some books and played games on the computer while we waited on them to finish.
Gabby got even bolder this month…she even climbed over Travis’s lap to get to mine. What has gotten into her?
Savannah made a New Year’s resolution this year to earn $4 in one week for doing chores. She even made a plan for which chores she would do to earn that amount. No surprise – she did it a few weeks later!
Abigail and Savannah practiced kicking the soccer ball to each other on January 10th…
Apparently I took lots of cat pictures this month…haha. Gabby also loves to get inside boxes.
“Take my picture with Gabby” :)
On January 11th, Savannah wrote a journal entry about whether or not kids should be allowed to vote. Her answer was NO because: voting seems boring, she doesn’t know how to vote, her legs would get tired of standing for a while, and she doesn’t know who she would vote for. Haha!
I signed Abigail up for Music Together classes that started in early January. We used to do those music classes before the pandemic shut everything down, but Abigail was so young that she didn’t remember them. I thought it would be a fun thing for us to do together before she starts kindergarten in the fall. It was definitely different this time around only having one kid in class who was at the upper end of the age limit. Abigail seemed so big compared to most of the other kids who were all babies or toddlers. She enjoyed the music itself, but many days she didn’t really want to participate in class.
I guess she was saving all of her participation until she got home ;)
It was a rainy walk home from school on January 12th…
Abigail’s doll, Mary Ellen, tagged along on our Publix trip on January 13th.
January 13th was a cold day, but that didn’t stop Brooklyn from attempting to walk part of the way home from school backwards :)
Savannah built a tall tower out of Buildzi blocks that afternoon. I was impressed that she made it that tall without it falling.
On January 14th, the girls and I made a cake for Rae Rae’s birthday. The last few years, we’ve always made a chocolate cake for her birthday, but this year the girls wanted to do something different. So they picked a recipe for confetti cake out of Savannah’s cookbook.
They did a great job with it!
Alisha and I accidentally showed up to church on January 15th wearing the same gray sweater…haha. So we had to get a picture together later at lunch.
January 16th was MLK Jr. Day, so the girls had the day off from school. Paw and Rae Rae came up so that we could celebrate Rae Rae’s birthday together. This was a big one–70!
We enjoyed spending time together :)
That afternoon, the girls decided to make their own mailboxes to sit outside of their rooms. They cut and taped them using boxes from the recycling bin.
They also covered them in paper, painted them, and added little flags on top :)
Ready to receive mail! It has been sweet over the last few months to hear them tell each other, “I put something in your mailbox!”
Brooklyn named her address “284 Mill Sugar Road.” Abigail’s address was “Watermelon Star Road.” Savannah’s address was “358 Soccer Villavourd” I think that’s how she thinks “boulevard” is pronounced :) I loved their creativity!
Abigail drew a picture and told me that it was supposed to be me as a kid :)
One nice thing about the kids getting older is that they are able to help with more things around the house. Savannah rolled the recycling bin up to the house for me!
Savannah and Abigail had races across the backyard on January 19th after school.
Alisha, Sarah, and I finally finished reading through the bible together this month after starting in July 2020! We were slow and steady, reading about 1-2 chapters per day :) It was so great to have that accountability and to hear their thoughts each day about what we were reading. It got me in the habit of reading my bible daily, something I’ve never been very successful at doing on my own. It helped my faith grow and was a really big encouragement to me. We met up at Just Love Cafe for brunch on January 20th to celebrate being finished!
Time for school with Mary Ellen and Grace :)
Just a few cuties at Cici’s for Sunday lunch :) Not sure where Savannah was!
Travis did a lot of math tutoring after school with the girls this school year. Sometimes he would use candy as a visual and then Savannah or Brooklyn would get to eat it afterward. Those were always the best nights!
This month, Savannah chose to write about Freddy’s in her journal on a Free Write Friday where she could write about anything she wanted to. I loved what she said and thought I would send a picture of it to Freddy’s headquarters (in a Facebook message) because they would appreciate hearing her kind words. They wrote back and asked if they could send her something in the mail, so I gave them our address…
On January 22nd, a box showed up on our doorstep with Savannah’s name on it. I didn’t tell her to be expecting anything, so it was a surprise. She got all kinds of Freddy’s swag, including a t-shirt and a personalized note. She can get a free custard anytime she visits Freddy’s wearing that shirt. She was very excited! We also really enjoyed using that bottle of fry sauce over the next few months. It was really good on burgers and chicken nuggets :)
I sent the picture of Savannah with her Freddy’s swag to Ms. Kuenzli, her teacher, who asked if she could share it with the school administration. Long story short, they ended up sharing it on the school’s Facebook page, as well as the local Freddy’s page! It was her 15 minutes of fame :)
Savannah wrote about football in her journal on January 24th. Out of the three girls, she is currently the most interested in watching sports with Travis. She will sit longer and get more into it than the other girls (who lose interest more quickly).
Abigail called me into her room one afternoon because Gabby was sitting in her doll bed. She got up before I could get a good picture, but Abigail was excited!
I’m always interested to see what the journal topics are each day. On January 25th, Savannah wrote about the reasons why texting while driving should be illegal. I think I’ll save this picture and show it to the girls when they are driving age as a good reminder! ;)
Abigail and I went on a short jog/scooter ride down the Mill Creek greenway before picking up the girls from school on January 26th. We were really excited to see a great blue heron! He, however, was not as excited to see us ;) Every time Abigail would walk toward him, he would fly a few hundred yards further along the creek. Then we would catch up to him, and she would try to approach him again. It was really neat to see such a large bird up close like that!
Savannah was really excited to have her friend, Annie, walk home with us for an after-school playdate on January 27th. Annie and Savannah were in the same 1st grade class together. This year, in 2nd grade, they don’t get to see each other much at all because their classrooms are on opposite sides of the school.
The girls had popcorn for snack after we got home…
…and had a lot of fun playing together.
Savannah was so happy to spend time with Annie :)
Brooklyn and Savannah invited Travis, Abigail, and me to an animal party in Brooklyn’s room on January 28th. It’s always important to read the rules before entering :)
They had several games, trivia, and performances for us…
I loved seeing them work together on something like that. It was creative and entertaining :)
We went back to the greenway that afternoon for more outdoor time.
Abigail checked out a book about ballet from the library and wanted to show me how to be a “ballet-er” after reading it :)
Abigail and I had a bunch of errands to run on January 31st, so we stopped at Chick-fil-a while we were out. It was a special treat because we rarely eat out for lunch. I enjoyed spending time with my little girl who is getting too big!
January Notes and Quotes
- 1/5/23 – Abigail was telling me about how her doll, Mary Ellen, got a spider bite ;) She said Mary Ellen can’t use her arms and legs anymore. “And we have to give her IV Profen and vitamins to help her get better. But she’s feeling a little bit better today.”
- 1/9/23 – I was singing, and Abigail started covering her ears. “You don’t like my singing?” I asked. “I do, but I don’t like to hear you singing!” she replied. Haha!
- 1/11/23 – Savannah: “Why do some people spell “mom” with a U instead of an O?” I replied, “I think that’s the way British people spell it…they say ‘mum’ instead of ‘mom’. Savannah then asked, “Does that mean they call their dads “duds”? :)
- 1/18/23 – It was foggy on our walk to school this morning. Savannah wanted to know what the fog was, and I explained that it was just clouds that were low to the ground. Then she exclaimed, “Ooh, Brooklyn! This will be our first time getting to eat a cloud!” Then she stuck out her tongue and said, “It tastes like hot dogs!” Haha!
- 1/18/23 – Travis got his hair cut this afternoon. That night, when he was tucking Savannah in, she was commenting on his haircut and told him, “They got you bald-er!”
- 1/30/23 – Abigail and I were checking out at Publix, and we had a cart full of groceries. The lady bagging the groceries asked if we found everything we were looking for. I said “yes” and Abigail added, “We ran out of food in our pantry, so Mommy bought a million foods!”
Thanks for reading!!
