January Journal

January seemed to fly by this year, which is always welcome in my book since I am not a fan of winter!

Yes, we made our gingerbread house in January

We saw some snow this month. The kids loved it, especially Philip, and we spent hours outside. I got them a sled this year (last year I didn't think about it until after the stores had all sold out), so that was a fun addition to the snowy festivities.

 

Body surfing works too!

I took a photography class at the beginning of the month and am trying to experiment with the settings on my camera. I also went on a day-long retreat for my bible study program, Walking with Purpose. It was a wonderful day!

Andy went on retreat the last weekend of the month and had an amazing experience. He also spent much of the weekends preparing for some major presentations he will be giving in February.

After dinner Bible stories with Dad

We took the kids duckpin bowling one weekend and they loved it. This was the first time they were able to last through a full game! We also took them to a bounce house place on MLK day when Andy was off of work.

Julia beat us all

We were able to participate in the March for Life as a family this year. The weather was perfect and it is always an inspiring day when you see so many young people stand up for life! We also visited a couple Catholic schools this month and we are praying about what will be the best option for Philip next year as he enters Kindergarten.

The kids are a lot of fun. They have started to go off and play alone together for short bits of time. It is amazing, and oh so helpful to have them occupied (without getting into trouble) for a while. They started off the year on a healthy kick, trying to exercise with me each day. Their zeal has since passed, but it was fun and so cute to see them trying to imitate the moves on my exercise DVDs.

Philip is convinced that summer is nearly upon us, now that Christmas is over. He likes to find out when he will be different ages, "When will I be 9? When will I be 16? When will I be 43? He also likes to ask us, "Do you promise?" especially when we haven't agreed to what he is asking for yet. "Can I have a special (dessert)? Do you promise?" And he cracks us up by randomly telling us, "Speak the truth!"

I'm afraid that Julia has a case of the twosies and she is getting increasingly impatient and hysteric about lots of little things each day. I am trying to wrap my head around this whole paradigm shift - Philip (who was tough from the beginning) is getting easier, and sweet little Julia is getting to be the challenging one.

Julia is very much into being independent and especially exerts herself when getting into and out of the car.  She is getting into more trouble these days, but is often quick to snap out of it. When she realizes she is being taken to the stairs for Time Out, she will quickly tell me, "I'm going to be nice." Sometimes it's true, sometimes it isn't...

She loves stories, but it can often be difficult to read to her because she is constantly interrupting to ask questions. She also continues to "read" stories on her own and it is amazing what she remembers from different books and also fun to hear what she makes up. She usually makes up a sentence for each page and then repeats that sentence 3-4 times before turning the page. She likes to have us sit down and read a book aloud while she sits next to us reading her own. She also loves to ask "Why." I know all this inquisitiveness will serve her well. Julia is enjoying being at the counter with me while I cook and also likes to "wash the dishes," which always leads to puddles on the floor and wet clothes, but at least she stays busy for a while! She likes to know who gave her each article of clothing, book, and toy she owns and will let us know who she got each thing from when she is using it. I have certainly got a sharp one on my hands!

 

These two little ones are growing up much too quickly for my taste, but they sure are fun to watch!