The Month That Wouldn't End

Every day I look at the date, hoping that somehow, time miraculously skipped a few weeks while I was sleeping so we could get January over with. No such luck. I always have a hard time in winters. As I read back through journals, I tend to very easily slip into bouts of depression during the winter. So I've been trying to be proactive about not letting that happen too often. Sometimes I sit down and just start writing things I'm grateful for to get my mind to snap out of self-pity. Or I plan something fun to do with the kids even if I don't feel like it, or arrange a date with Kenny so I have something to look forward to. But holy cow. It's still January 15th.

Anyway. I realized I haven't blogged once this month, so looking back through my phone pictures helped to jog my memory. Thank goodness for that thing! Here's a little of what we've been up to. And if you follow me on instagram, sorry for all the repeats.

I took the kids to the Anchorage Museum again--Thursday, Jan. 2nd

Such sweet sisters

Constructing with spaghetti noodles and mini marshmallows. Tyler did the 3 that look like something, Bryn did a shush-ka-bob :)

Jan. 7th: Soccer season started up again! Brynlee's first time playing and she really loves it. It's such a great outlet for them every Tues. and Thurs. evening. 

These two like to stay busy running up and down the sidelines :)

Thursday, Jan. 9th--We went to Bouncin Bears with a large group of homeschoolers (all with IDEA). It was our first time there, and while it was fun, I don't think it's worth the cost. But the kids especially liked this huge jumping pillow

I'm not sure why, but lately I find her in this spot a lot. Just laying on the bottom stair, it's so funny

Can't a mother use the potty in peace?! The answer is No.

Bryn started this whole thing. She wanted me to roll her up "like a cheese taco" and all the others followed her lead.

Cold, but beautiful.

Too hard for these little ones to play in the snow, but the big kids like it

They make a big wet mess, but they love to be my helpers in the kitchen, whether it's cooking or washing dishes. This was actually a really sweet time for me. I love having my kids all around me when they're happy and helpful. They were singing and getting along, and I just wish it were like that all the time! :) Ha!

I gave Brynlee a hair cut for my first time! Thankfully she has curly ends to hide any imperfections

Sat. Jan. 11th--I took Tyler and his friend, Kai, to the Eagle River Nature Center for one of their free Jr. Naturalist Program activities. This week they learned about feeding birds in the winter time, and got to make their own bird feeders! This activity was just right for Tyler, my animal lover. Did you know it's a law here in AK that you can't have a bird feeder out past April 15th or so? You could get seriously fined for it, because it draws the bears, no matter where you live. We had a bear get into ours last summer (we knew it wasn't a bird because it was broken and scattered all over the ground). But we figured it was just because there were bears back behind our house. Now we know better!!

Silly Kelsey keeping herself entertained while I make dinner

Last Friday Kenny was supposed to have it off but ended up working, which wasn't a big deal. But we were bored and missed having him around so we picked up Moose's Tooth pizza for dinner (my favorite!!!) and went to his office to eat with him. We ate down in their cafeteria and the kids thought that was pretty neat.

Also last Saturday we had a big stake youth activity that our ward was in charge of. We had 4 different stations that the groups would rotate through throughout the night. I somehow got wrangled into co-teaching the dance portion of it for the entire 3 hours! It ended up being a lot of fun, and only embarrassing when I thought about it :) So I tried to forget how silly I looked, and just enjoy myself. I do love being in YW, they make me have more energy.

Today we went to a playgroup with our old ward friends and had a fun time catching up! It was at the church too, so we brought balls, bikes, scooters, and roller skates and they had a great time. Anytime we can get out of the house is awesome. :)