Dark and Early

This is what we call "dark and early" when we head to the bus stop each morning!

Last week was the first full week back into routine, and I decided that we were going to make a concerted effort to have the kids in bed, lights off by 8:00 every night to help everyone adjust.  We didn’t hit the mark every night, but we were close, and the mornings were SO much easier with everyone feeling rested.  It also gave us time after the kids were in bed to get our own stuff done and get ourselves to bed earlier too.  This is one benefit to the dark and cold days of January – it’s a great time to burrow under the down comforter and fill up our tanks with some extra rest.

Sleep expert

The January Thaw hit us on Saturday (55 degrees!) and melted all of the snow, before blanketing everything in ice.  The kids had a last hurrah playing in the snow on Friday afternoon/evening before it melted, creating a snow obstacle course.  Then, Evie and I jumped on the opportunity to sell some Girl Scout cookies door-to-door on Saturday morning while it was so balmy.  The unusual weather has kind of cramped our outdoor recreation plans, though, and skiing/snowshoeing were out of the question.  I took the kids ice skating on Sunday to burn off a little energy, and they both had fun.  Evie can skate pretty well on her own, and Noah made some great progress and had fun (previously, he didn’t even want to try it, so that’s a big win!).  Now we're back to the grind for another week!

Winter Obstacle Course

Very creepy looking snowman during the thawing process

Yahtzee - always a favorite during crummy weather

Noah + Daddy lunch date at school

Evie loves creating treats in the kitchen in her free time

Evie baked some delicious chocolate peanut butter brownies!  She's getting very good at following recipes.

 

Evie's Lego creation.  Both kids have spent countless hours building Legos lately!

Ice skating (and smiling - yay!)

Taking a break from skating in the penalty box