As I mentioned in my last post, Travis and I rang in the new year in California while the girls were with Paw and Rae Rae in Trussville. Unfortunately, Savannah also started out 2024 with a stomach bug. January as a whole was a pretty wild month between a lot of sickness in our family and crazy weather. Here’s the recap:
Brooklyn and Savannah got 3D pens for Christmas, and they took them to Paw and Rae Rae’s house to try out. We were impressed at all the things they made! Brooklyn even surprised me by making a look-alike Santa ornament shaped like the state of Alabama. She’d overheard me saying that I wished I’d bought one for our Christmas tree like Rae Rae has, so she decided to make me one with her 3D pen. So sweet!
Savannah was feeling a little better on January 2nd, and Paw and Rae Rae took the girls to Let’s Play in Hoover. They had a good time!
Feel free to skip this part if you don’t want to know all the details of our sicknesses this month…haha.
Savannah still wasn’t feeling 100% and was looking pretty pale when Travis and I got back into town. Her stomach issues continued for another day, but then on January 4th, she started running a fever and refusing to eat and drink. I took her to the doctor that afternoon, and it turns out she had strep! Good grief! Brooklyn also came home from school not feeling well on January 4th (only she and Abigail went to school on the first day back). She took a nap after school and ended up throwing up after dinner. She also had diarrhea the next morning. She felt bad all day Friday and was running a fever by Friday night. Not sure what she had…stomach bug or something else?? She had stomach issues the entire weekend before finally feeling better on Monday. She stayed home Monday (January 8th) and finally all the girls were back at school on Tuesday for the first time since December. Meanwhile, on Saturday Abigail woke up feeling bad and running a fever and felt bad all day (no vomiting or diarrhea though). She was completely better on Sunday though!
I also felt worse and worse as Saturday went on with aches and chills. I realized why I felt so bad Saturday night when I took my temp and it was 101.8! Sunday I felt better too though. However, Tuesday afternoon I started feeling poorly with stomach pain and really bad diarrhea. It was probably the most miserable stomach bug I’ve ever had, but the weird thing was that it only lasted about 8 hours. I went to bed that night, and Wednesday morning when I woke up I felt much better. So strange! Travis came down with a cold or sinus junk on Thursday, so we really had a rough start to the year with sickness.
In the middle of all of that sickness, we also had to have Gabby put to sleep after coming home from our trip and finding her very sick at home. It was especially difficult timing because we had already agreed to take care of our neighbors’ cat, Pixie, while they were out of town on a long vacation. Basically, whoever wasn’t sick would go over and check on Pixie each day. The girls usually enjoy taking care of her, but this time it mostly just made them sad :/
Brooklyn made this cat and vase of flowers with her 3D pen as a “get well” present for me. I thought that was so thoughtful!
When I moved Gabby’s litter box and food/water bowls out of the laundry room, it looked so empty…
Abigail and her classmates celebrated the new year when they got back to school :)
Travis took the girls to the All Pro Dads meeting before school on January 10th. The topic of the meeting this month was problem solving :)
Loved how this watermelon that Brooklyn made turned out!
Brooklyn’s science teacher was collecting artwork for an Arbor Day poster contest, and this was Brooklyn’s entry :)
Savannah’s goals for 2024 were to read 15 minutes every day, be able to dribble with her left foot in soccer, and get better at drawing animals :)
One interesting thing about basketball is that it gave us a chance to see what some of the other elementary schools’ gyms looked like on the inside. Brooklyn practiced at Midtown Elementary (the newest school in Madison) on January 11th.
Brooklyn led her sisters in a yoga class ;) The girls also worked on a 1000-piece puzzle a good bit this month. It stayed on our coffee table for weeks, and they would work on it a little bit at a time. They never did finish it, but maybe next time they will!
On January 13th, the girls played their basketball games back-to-back on the same court at Dublin today, which was really nice. Savannah’s game was first at 1 pm. They had the whole team there today, and she played 3 of the 4 quarters. Her team won 16-9. She played good defense and took one or two shots today. She also dribbled the ball a little bit in the game. We are proud of her for trying something new and doing her best! It was exciting to have Cici, the Loveless crew, and Phil and Gigi there to cheer on the girls.
Brooklyn’s game was at 2 pm. The other team only had 4 players, so Brooklyn’s team technically won because the other team had to forfeit. The teams went ahead and played anyway without referees. This was Brooklyn’s second game of the season, and we were proud of how hard she tried. She really hustled. She scored a basket down near where we were all sitting, and we all cheered really loudly! Her first basket of the season. She also accidentally scored a basket on the wrong goal when she got confused during the press in the 4th quarter. She was pretty upset about it after the game, but we tried to encourage her because she did her best.
We had Sunday lunch at Tyler and Alisha’s on January 14th, and I caught Abigail and Luke reading a book together on the couch :)
The meteorologists were predicting some winter weather that would start that Sunday evening in our area. We thought we’d be getting several inches of snow, but we woke up Monday morning (January 15th) to not even a dusting of snow on the ground but a layer of ice on the sidewalks, driveway, and road. It continued to sleet/rain for much of the day, which froze on the ground. The girls briefly went outside to gather a little snow/ice into cups to try to make snow cones. They added sugar, food coloring, and sprinkles. It tasted better than I thought it would! 😉 I tried not to be too upset that we weren’t getting actual snow like they said we would. We stayed inside playing games and having a dance party in the foyer :)
On Tuesday morning (January 16th), the ice was still there because it was so cold. We bundled up and went outside to try sledding. The girls decorated a big box as their sled and we tried it out in the driveway. It worked okay! We carried it around to Sarah’s parents’ driveway and met Sarah and her girls out there. They had some little plastic sleds and bilibo seats that worked better than our box. The girls had a blast!! We finally found something that our steep driveway was good for…sledding!! It was super cold though, so we only stayed outside about 45 or 50 minutes before calling it a day. It was interesting to see how thick the ice was packed down…we didn’t really make tracks in it at all. We had to warm up our toes by the fire when we were done!
On Wednesday (January 17th), we met Sarah and her girls at 10 am and walked to the school to see if we could find any good sledding spots. This time, we brought our green plastic baby pool to see if it would work as a sled. It was definitely more slippery today than yesterday outside. I think some of the ice had partially melted and then refrozen. The sledding wasn’t great at the school (I don’t think the hills were steep enough), but we walked back toward the neighborhood and found a great spot near the old mill at the corner of Balch and Mill Rd. This was the most fun day! The girls sledded down the hill over and over and went super fast. Sometimes we had to block them from going into the road 😉 There were more cars out driving than I expected, but thankfully they were going slow and being careful. Some of them took pictures of our kids as they drove by. I guess they were entertained watching us…haha. After a little while, the Johnsons walked around and joined us too. We are blessed to have such wonderful friends in the neighborhood! Thankfully it wasn’t quite as cold today as yesterday so we were able to stay out longer without getting as cold. After we walked back to the neighborhood, the girls found some loose snow in the Johnsons’ driveway and started a snowball fight and trying to make a snowman. Most of the precipitation was packed snow/ice, so they were excited to find some they could actually grab with their hands! It was a lot of fun.
We took the opportunity that afternoon to work on Abigail’s project for the 100th day of school. Her project was supposed to include 100 of something, and she chose to make a gumball machine with 100 gumballs. Thankful for Pinterest so that I didn’t have to come up with the idea from scratch! It turned out cute and was super easy to make. We also tried on her “granny wig” for the 100th day of school to see how it looked ;)
On Thursday (January 18th), the driveway and road were still completely covered with ice. It was super slippery today! We tried sledding with laundry baskets down our driveway, and it worked really well. Katie and her kids walked over for a little while, and Abigail enjoyed playing with Emily. It’s interesting that usually when we get snow, it’s in the grass and the driveway/road stays pretty clear or clears up quickly when cars drive over it. This was the complete opposite experience!! We stayed outside about 1.5 hours today, and I think I got frostbite on one of my toes. It was taking a good while for the feeling to come back, and when I took my sock off, one of my toes was yellowish/white and I couldn’t move it. It scared me initially, but thankfully when I soaked my feet in lukewarm water, the feeling came back. I definitely need to get some snow boots because rain boots don’t cut it, even with 3 pairs of socks on! We weren’t sure how much longer we would be iced in, and Travis braved the roads to go to the grocery store for us that afternoon. Thankful for him being willing to do that! We would have been fine if he hadn’t gone, but we would have had to get creative with some of our meals 😉
That afternoon, the girls spent some time painting “memorial stones” for Gabby to go in our front flower bed. I loved how they turned out! We also decorated a few sugar cookies that evening.
On Friday (January 19th), we didn’t go outside because the road/driveway was definitely starting to melt/turn into slush, so it wouldn’t have been good for sledding. We stayed busy inside though! Savannah did Abigail’s hair. We played some chess and made “brinner” – pancakes, eggs, and bacon. It was delicious! I’ve enjoyed seeing what the girls have kept themselves busy with this week…making things with Perler beads and their 3D pens, reading, drawing, making word lists, playing baby dolls, etc. I’ve gotten the chance to clean out the freezer, organize the pantry, and get caught up on some blog posts!! In some ways it’s been reminiscent of the pandemic because we were “stuck at home” for almost a week, but it’s been nice in a way to have the calendar cleared and just be able to spend some time together and get to some things that normally I can’t get to.
Our nephew Christian was born late on January 19th, and it worked out because basketball was cancelled the next day so that we were able to go to the hospital in Birmingham for a quick visit to meet him. The roads were much more clear, which worked out perfectly! And because we hadn’t gone anywhere all week, we didn’t have to worry about the kids sharing any germs with their new cousin. He is ADORABLE!! The girls all wanted to hold him. Savannah volunteered to go first…Abigail even held him although she wasn’t sure how to do it. Brooklyn held him too. Christian briefly opened his eyes but was mostly asleep for the time we were there. We are so excited to watch him grow!
Savannah gave Abigail a reading test on January 21st, and she made a 98%. I liked the handmade name tag :)
We met the Crawford girls at Kids Kingdom on January 22nd since school was out for MLK Jr. Day. This was our first time visiting Kids Kingdom since it was completely redone. It was a fun afternoon!
Brooklyn had a basketball game on January 23rd at 7:30 pm. I took her by myself, and Travis stayed home with the other girls. Savannah had checked out of school earlier in the day complaining of her tummy hurting, and also because it was a late night, we decided not to take the whole family. Brooklyn sat out the 3rd quarter, but played the rest of the game. Her team has lost all its games so far, but they got out to an early lead today and were actually leading 7-5 at halftime. They were playing her friend Addy’s team. The other team came back and ended up winning 16-9 though. Brooklyn did her best! I don’t think she loves basketball, but it doesn’t help that her team hasn’t won a game. They are also not getting great coaching (according to Travis).
I took Savannah to the doctor on January 24th because she was still saying her stomach hurt a little. Dr. Dudley tested her for strep and did some bloodwork, and everything came back normal. Her temp was around 99 to 99.5, but she mostly acted like she felt well and didn’t nap or lay around much. It was hard to know what was going on, but I wonder if her stomach was still recovering from the nasty stomach bug earlier in the month. Thankfully she was able to go to school Thursday and Friday! The girls have missed so much school this month due to weather and sickness. She spent most of her off day making school worksheets for Abigail ;)
Savannah has made some sweet friends this year in her 3rd grade class, Macie and Harper.
Savannah’s team played at 1 pm on January 27th. She sat out the first quarter and played the rest of the game. She had one shot today that didn’t go in, and she played good defense. She also dribbled the ball down the court one time! Her team won 14-6. She had fun!
Another Sunday…another sweet day spent with cousins.
Savannah wanted to make a decorative garland for Brooklyn’s birthday sleepover coming up :) She cut out all of the triangles and strung them together before hanging it above Brooklyn’s bedroom window.
We were proud of Brooklyn for being chosen to be in the Scholars Bowl Club at school this year!
Both girls had games at Dublin on January 30th. Travis was out of town this week, so it was just the girls and me. Savannah played first at 6:30 pm, and they played Coach Dusty’s team. The Sky got out to an 8-4 lead at halftime, and the final score ended up being 24-9. Lillie was on a roll tonight and kept hitting her shots. Savannah had a good shot and almost scored. It was a fun game! Mr. Mike came to watch the girls play tonight and brought some Trader Joe’s candy…which was a hit, of course. Abigail read him probably 3 or 4 books during the games…haha. She definitely hogged his attention 😉 Brooklyn’s team played at 7:30. They kept it pretty close for the first 3 quarters and were even leading 14-12 at the end of the 3rd. But the press got to them during the 4th quarter, and they ended up losing 16-26. Brooklyn had a couple of rebounds and blocked a shot from the best player on the other team. She also drew at least 2 fouls! She played the whole game because her team didn’t have any subs.
January 31st was the 100th day of school, and all of the kindergartners were invited to dress up as 100 year olds for the day. Abigail wore the same wig and glasses I’d bought when Savannah was in kindergarten, although Savannah only wore them for a picture and not actually at school. I was so proud of Abigail for rocking her wig the whole day!! She even made the school’s Facebook page!
I drove back down to Trussville during the school day to visit Jenn and Christian. Couldn’t get enough sweet baby snuggles!
Savannah got to visit the book vending machine in the library that day as well. It was a good way to end the month!
Notes and Quotes from January 2024
- 1/8/24 – We were talking about how God can do anything. Abigail chimed in, “God can make cotton candy just using sugar and flour!!” :)
- 1/12/24 – Abigail was pretending to make her baby doll swim and jump across the water. The doll landed hard on the ground. I said, “Oh no! It sounded like her head cracked.” Abigail replied, “No, that was just her eyeballs flickering!” Haha!
- 1/28/24 – Abigail: “Hey Daddy! Do you like this pig noise? (Starts making funny noise with her mouth.) It tickles my ears!”
Thanks for reading!!
