I haven't been feeling up to much blogging lately. It seems like some combination of I or Lance or the kids were sick most of January. But we all had to keep going so here are the highlights of what went on around our house in January.
Hannah's birthday is the end of December but we always end up celebrating at least some of it in January.
This was her friend party invite this year:
She got to go to a BYU basketball game with Daddy at Energy Solutions Center in SLC. So of course that required a cute outfit! She also got her birthday spankings!
She chose three friends to come to Trafalga with her for a fun night. Her friends are Abbie Price, Annabelle McKinnon and Erin Roberts. They had a great time! JJ invited his best friend Josh (Abbie's brother) to come too so he had someone to hang out with. Hannah climbed all the way to the top of the rock wall again. She really loves doing that which is so surprising because she has always been so afraid of heights. The girls went i the frog hopper, which is like a baby version of tower of terror and had fun doing glow in the dark mini golfing. The boys play laser tag a couple of times. We had cupcakes and ice cream for a treat.
This has been the coldest, snowiest, inversion-iest winter we've had in a LONG time. Because of the cold temps and the very bad air, we have spent a lot of time indoors. The kids have enjoyed playing with their Squinkees, Leogs, and Star Wars Fighter pods. Of course Bo, our old cat, insists on sitting on top of what ever they are playing with and Jax our pug puppy still eats Legos any chance he gets.
Since I am working at the school I get to be in on some of the activities that happen in the school that I would probably never see otherwise. This month Ronald McDonald came to talk about staying active. It was only a little self-serving and the kids really had fun pushing this big square filled with air around the gym.
With Asher being in kindergarten this year, he and I still have some time to hang out during the day and we try to go do something fun at least once a month. This month we went to the Aquarium on a day that the weather wasn't too bad. It was a great time to go because there was hardly anyone there so we got to watch the otters and penguins without anyone standing in front of us. I am going to miss these special times I spend with just me and Asher when he starts first grade. I love my other kids tons but Asher and I have a special bond and he is a delight to be around. I hope he is always my special little buddy!
Asher said to one Sunday: "Don't I look like a missionary, Mom?" And yes, yes he did. I can't believe how fast he is growing up!
I had to throw this picture in too, though, because I had to show that he is still my little boy who falls asleep in the chair with a story book behind his head and his stuffed panda "Barry" snuggled in next to him.
Asher is an extremely smart boy who knows vast amounts of info on everything from animals to geysers but he struggles with reading, spelling and writing. So when he came home with a 100% on his spelling test - we celebrated! We headed over to Station 13 donut shop for some hot cocoa for me and a donut for him.
One of the highlights of January for me was the the surprise opportunity to go see a Sundance Film Festival screening of Austenland. Austenland is one of my favorite books by one of my favorite authors, Shannon Hale. She's a "local Mormon" girl who has had great success with her books like the Goosegirl young adult series, Princess Academy and Austenland which was her first book targeted at adults. The book is about a girl obsessed with Jane Austen's book Pride and Predjudice and the BBC mini series of the the book starring Colin Firth. Ok so anyone who knows me at all will admit that I could be the main character of Austenland! I am more than a little in love with all things Jane Austen. Well with the help of another "local Mormon" girl Jerusha Hess (who brought you Napoleon Dynamite and Nacho Libre) and Stephanie Meyer (yet another "local Mormon" girl who brought you that little known series: Twilight) Austenland was brought to the big screen. One of my friends from our old ward and book club was able to get 4 tickets to a screening up in Ogden at the Peery's Egyptian theater. This was my first experience at this theater and it was awesome! I loved that before the movie there was a gentleman up front playing movie themes on an organ. He had no sheet music of any kind. He played completely from memory. There is a lot of of background noise unfortunately but you will get the idea from this video.
This is Jerusha Hess and Shannon Hale at the question and answer session after the movie.
I put in my vote for Austenland - not that it won or anything. The movie was picked up for distribution by Sony so hopefully it will be at a theater near you this summer! It is a MUST see. I laughed so hard I literally cried, and I wasn't the only one. The theater had every seat filled and everyone was laughing so hard. It is quirky and doesn't take itself too seriously. I can't wait to buy it and watch it over and over until I can say all the funny lines in casual conversation.
After the movie they had a reception that everyone was invited to. They had food, drinks, live music, and teenagers walking around dressed in regency clothing. As we were leaving we caught Jerusha Hess and Shannon Hale in the hall. Jamie and Jana got pictures and autographs with Shannon. I have an Austenland book signed by Shannon Hale, thanks to my sis in law Ruth, which I treasure so I hung back and took pictures.
Crazy Hair Day
3rd grade Dad's and Donuts
Hannah and JJ started Jr Jazz basketball. This is Hannah's first experience with basketball and so she has had a lot to learn. Thankfully one of our friends is her coach and is doing a phenomenal job at coaching her team. She has learned a lot and is having a great time. This is JJ's second time playing basketball so he is improving. He still lacks some confidence in his shooting but is a good team player. He is on the same team this year as last year, with the same coach. He has some amazing players on his team so the score in the picture below is pretty typical for his team (his team is home). One game they actually stopped keeping score near the end because it was such a blowout.
Most people know that we have a lot of pets at our house. We really like our pets even if they do require more work and cleanup. Here are some random pics of what the pets have been doing this month:
Charmin is very posessive of the heating vents. If he could talk he would be chanting "my precious, my precious".
Hannah and Jax had matching outfits. If he could talk he would be saying "come let me lick you or ooh that Lego was delicious".
We got another ginormous egg that had conjoined double yolks.
Abby likes playing in the snow but it is so deep she has to hop from one snow drift to another and gets little balls of snow all over her chest.
Buttercup was the only hen adventurous enough to try and wade through the snow.
January has got to be my least favorite month of the year with all the snow, sicknesses, ice, cold and the let-down after the holidays but this year we kept busy despite all these things and when I look back now it turned out to be a pretty darn good month.
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