January - a great way to start off OUR year

Hair cut

Hannah got a hair cut this month.  She didn't like me combing or doing her hair in cute ways anymore, so we decided it was time to chop it.

It was long enough for her to donate so we took about 8+ inches off.  At first, I was a little sad about it.  Her hair hasn't been this short since she was about 2 years old.  But it was well worth it because her hair is super easy to comb and do now.



Ballet

One evening, Hannah said she wanted to do some ballet for us.  Not exactly sure where this came from as she is currently not enrolled in any dance classes.  So we put some ballet on the TV and she danced for Nathan and I.

After one of her dances, she asked Daddy to come help and lift her while she danced.  It was very sweet.  I'm glad we have our own Mikhail Baryshnikov in the house.

Hosting an FPU class

You may recall that Nathan and I took FPU in the fall last year.  The class changed our lives so much that we decided to host a class ourselves.  We have 8 households taking our class, and it's been an incredible experience!  We are seeing peoples lives change right in front of us, and that is the best reward there is.

Cutting up credit cards

We taught Hannah the difference between a credit and a debit card, and how you can identify the differences between them.  We talked about what credit cards do and why we have decided not to use them anymore.  It was a great teaching moment for us, and her.  Then we let her cut up a card that we had closed.  Let's just say that she went to town and loved it.

Birthday fun

We celebrated a birthday in our household.  Hannah decided she wanted to decorate for it by putting all of her little animal/play figurines on the piano and chair.

She also made a card for Nathan.  I spelled out the letters for her on a separate sheet of paper, but she did the rest on her card!

She was so excited to give Nathan his card that she put it in her little toy mailbox, and left it by the front door (you can see the mailbox right next to her right foot).

Nathan got a surprise from his family: a ukulele.  Thanks to Danny and Mom and Dad C for giving Nathan such a fun present.  He was pleasantly surprised.

Check up

Nathan and Hannah got their annual check ups this month.  Hannah loves going to the doctor.

She kept telling me the day of her appointment "I'm going to get a shot, but it's alright."  She is such a good sport and can be a tough kid at times.  But when the nurse came in to give her a flu shot, Hannah all of a sudden looked at me with somewhat watery eyes and said "I don't think I like shots." After it was over, she needed a big, reassuring hug and then she was fine.



Weather

January has been very different than last year.  Last year we got about 2 feet of snow in January. This year, we only got about 4-5 inches during the whole month.  Woo woo!  Heck ya!  So happy about that!

And about a week after the snow storm we had a nice warm day of about 60 degrees and it melted the snow right off!

We have green grass in January!  How awesome is that?!  We are really enjoying this warmer winter.

Miscellaneous

One day, Hannah and a neighborhood friend were so engrossed in their playtime that I had to take a look.  I came around the corner and saw almost every single toy pulled out of the toy chest and put in the family room.  They played for HOURS likes this.  Unfortunately, they didn't enjoy the clean up as much as they did the play time.

We received some belated Christmas presents this month which was fun.  Who doesn't like getting presents?  Hannah enjoyed wearing her new dress and hand muff.

One evening, we all played with some Play-doh.  Hannah enjoys rolling the doh out with her little rolling pin.  It's fun for Nathan and I to play with this stuff too as it brings back some childhood memories.

Every winter Hannah's hands get really scaley and dry.  Sometimes it is so bad that we have to wrap her hands at night.  I think she actually enjoys it though.  She likes sitting on the counter and letting Daddy wrap her hands.

It's hard to believe that it's been one year without our little cat.  We've missed him very much at times, and we think of him often.  Hannah will talk about Kronk still.  She says "he's dead, but he lives on in our hearts."  Very true kiddo.  Very true.