Ahhh, after the holidays and everything that goes along with it January is slow.  It's almost to the point that I wonder what I should be doing.  I've taken care of a couple of projects like filing away all of those papers I've been stashing for the last six months, listing things on Craiglist and working on Samantha's first "big" party.

The kids have been enjoying this unusually warm weather.  We've had one skiff of snow and the kids thought they were in heaven.  Even though it was cold they played out in it for at least an hour-and-a-half.  They did everything you could think of with that little snow.

I don't think it was a week later and we were out on a bike ride.  Although we had to wear a light coat or vest it was still a beautiful day.

One morning Samantha asked for some OJ but I let her know that her dad had finished it up that morning.  She was sure that wasn't right so she left him a note on the fridge for the next morning.  He responded....

Travis celebrated his birthday on the 21st of January.  Grandma and Grandpa came into town to help us celebrate it.  We picked up number candles for him and I accidentally got the wrong number.  Good thing I was a number lower instead of number higher!

Celebrating the 100th day of school is a BIG thing in Kindergarten. We heard about it for quite some time and it finally came about on Tuesday, the 24th.  Another mom and I put 100 helium balloons in the classroom the night before so the kids could some into a room full of balloons.  Samantha had to take 100 of a healthy snack and we had to put 100 of something on her shirt.  Ms. Wallace treated them to a ice cream and the kids paraded around the school with a chant celebrating their 100th day.

See all the kids' t-shirts here.... 100th Day of School Pictures

That Friday I let Samantha skip school because I'd purchase tickets for us to see Sesame Street Live- Elmo Makes Music.  We went with our neighbor Braden and his mom.  The kids enjoyed seeing the characters up front and watching the show.  It was a big treat for them and their first experience of going to a show....

I took on a little project of recovering our dining chairs.  They were to the point of embarrassment.   My mom and I picked out fabric and then Travis helped me actually do the work (of course it required a new tool).  We were thrilled with how they turned out!

I keep forgetting to blog that when Blake really means something in a big way he'll say "all around the neighborhood...."  For instance if he thinks something is quite large he'll see "It's all around the neighborhood big."

I recently received a ticket for speeding (guilty as charged although I wasn't sure I was going THAT fast).  I was talking to Travis about it while the kids were there that I was going to have to use my Christmas money for it and now I won't be able to buy new clothes with that money.  Samantha's eyes instantly became quite large knowing that no new clothes would be a sacrifice.

I tried to let the kids know that yes, I was speeding and I disobeyed the rules so I must face the consequences.  I thought I should go ahead and use it as a teaching tool :)