January

We all got a good laugh that this was the first picture taken in the new year.  Justin was carrying all his new Christmas stuff out to his woodshop (I gave him an air filter for the shop as well as that helmet contraption).

The Brown's came to Utah for part of their Christmas break so we met at Gene and April's house for New Year's Day.  It was so cold that week but we bundled up and found a sledding hill near their house and spent a couple of hours sledding.  When everyone was nice and freezing, we went back for soup, games, and visiting.

Lizzy, Tiana, Molly, Eli

Jake or Sam (can't tell with the hood), Stockton, Ivy, Brynn

Rachelle and Justin

April, Ivy, Brynn

Stockton and Luke

Gene and Brynn

Ivy and Eli

Brynn, Stockton, Jake, Evie

One thing that I wanted Molly to do over the break was to make a batch of cinnamon rolls.  I thought it would be fun for her.  We packed our break so full that we almost ran out of time and we didn't make them until the afternoon of the 2nd, the day before going back to school.  We used a recipe for a small batch of cinnamon rolls and she did a great job.  Working with yeast is intimidating but she'll get it the more she does it.

Ivy graduated from nursery into Sunbeams...finally!  Actually, she loved nursery and her teachers so having that whole extra year was no big deal.  She makes a cute Sunbeam and already had to give a talk.  She rocked it and was so adorable up there.

Later on, she fell asleep like this.  Gosh, I'm glad she's not too grown up!

Stockton inherited these pajamas from Gavin and likes to wear them at night, although he thinks they are too hot to sleep in.

I am on a roll with crafts...three months in a row!  Ivy and I made this footprint snowman for mom school one day.

Stockton had some extra time one morning before school so he set up all these stuffed animals and princesses for Ivy before catching the bus.  It made her morning!

Working on some little girl's pink birthday cake.  Licking the beater is the best part.  More about her birthday later but it was a good one.

This is how I found Ivy on her last night as a 3-year-old.  She had fallen asleep with the witch hat on.

On Martin Luther King Day, we woke up to snow, snow, snow.  More snow than we've seen for a while.  It was nice to have it on a holiday because no one had anywhere to be.  We all went out to play.  The Anderson's have the only hill on our street so we went over there when we saw that they were out.  Zach had piled up a good mound of snow to make the hill a little steeper.  Stockton is so good on the snowboard and the only one of our kids that could stay up the whole way down.

Molly and Easton

When we were done playing there we came back to our yard to make a snowman.  One snowman turned into a family of snowmen.  Then we decided that we all needed props so Justin's got a golf club, mine got an apron, Molly's a soccer ball, Stockton's a baseball bat, Brynn's a gymnastics leotard, and Ivy's a Belle doll, Minnie Mouse, and princess bow.  We even made a miniature Cash but it's hard to see down there in the front.  We were proud of our cute snowman family!  When we were done, we went in for lunch then laid out by the fire and watched Newsies.  Molly went to Sloane's house and played with her chocolate fountain.

We got creative with my phone and a selfie stick to take the pictures of all of us.

We have been setting up beds in the living room all month long.  It's so cozy.  I made them do 20 minutes of reading before the movie.

End of term means parent-teacher conferences.  It's nice to only have to make it to two instead of three.  Both kids are doing great.  Brynn doubled her Dibels score (a reading score) and is really doing well.  Stockton is off-the-charts for his grade level.  I am glad they are both succeeding academically but even more, I am glad that they are nice kids and that their teachers enjoy them in the classroom.  I am happy with both of their teachers.  Mrs. Hall is Stockton's teacher and she really goes above and beyond with her students.  She gives them fun incentives to work for...one that Stockton has earned a couple of times recently is ping pong lunch.  He gets to pick one friend to eat lunch with in the classroom and then play ping pong for the remainder of the time.  After we had his conference, his teacher wanted to play ping pong for a while.  They tried to get so many hits in a row and were going to challenge the class the next day to try to beat their record-they were excited to get to 19 hits in a row!  I love teachers who seem to genuinely enjoy what they do and the students that they teach.

During the month of January, I listened to the book "Uncle Tom's Cabin."  I can't believe that I have never read it!  Even Justin, who is not a reader, read it in high school.  I don't usually share the books I read/listen to, but this one was so good not to mention it.  I have definitely been missing out and should have read it many, many years ago.  Audible books and podcasts have become a lot of fun lately and I listen every chance I get...dishes, cleaning bathrooms, etc.  The narrator for this book was exceptionally good.

Our snowman family got droopy real fast.  Justin took this picture of our snowman dad on the 27th.

Another random sleeping spot for Ivy.  She had been sick the night before so she was needing to catch up on some sleep. 

I usually get all the homework taken care of around here...when help is needed.  It's a treat when Justin is able to help out and I caught this sweet photo of Brynn reading to Justin one night.  Sometimes getting everything done at night can get stressful but I know that I'm going to miss moments like this so, so much.

Ivy likes to pick a different person to read to her at night.  I think it's especially sweet to see Stockton's nurturing side come out.  He has always been a super big brother and very attentive to her.  He always wants her to pick him and is a little disappointed each time she chooses someone else.