What January is good for . . .

While I've been rambling on about all my spiritual realizations...which are great for me but very possibly getting old for all of you...
life has been happening here in our January.
I don't mean to imply that we own January. Quite the contrary. If I owned something it would be March. Not January. Though, to be honest, this general time of the year is really growing on me...
Anyway, I am simply saying that life is happening for everyone this January.
And I am here to speak only about ours.

And our January has been good for . . .

Family Home Evening

We got some great games for Christmas and they have been playing a big part in our Family Home Evening Activities as of late.
This one week, it was Bethany's turn to pick the game. She picked Pretty Pretty Princess.
If you are unfamiliar with the game...the general objective is to land on the appropriate spaces on the board and gather, one at a time, all of your jewelry PLUS the coveted crown and then you shall be crowned the winner and, of course, the Pretty Pretty Princess.
In a family where the boys outnumber the girls, this game still happens to be a favorite.

Ben has some sort of luck going with being the first to snag the crown.
Every time we play, this has happened.

Bethany gets crown envy pretty easily.

But good things come to those who wait.

James loves when he lands on the space that earns him the villain card.
You can't win the game while the villain card is in your possession.
Like his ring?

Ben, you must forgive mommy if she shows this to your friends someday when they come over to shoot pool and watch action-oriented movies.
(Read as: When you grow to be such a man that I can't stand it anymore and you have begun to take your masculine nature too seriously, I will pull out silly pictures of you when you were small and squishy and make myself feel better by embarrassing you until you hug me and beg me to stop. ...What? That's how it would play out, right?)

(Luckily, you won't ever have to know how to properly adorn yourself with jewels)

I like this shot of my boy child James wearing pink earrings. And his heavily bearded father in the background, playing the princess game with his children.

Yay, James won the crown!

And doesn't Daddy look happy when it's his turn?

And the winner of the night is.....
James!
(...with something in his teeth...)

Bethany had a few tears at not being crowned the princess (yep, we are there) but felt somewhat consoled when she got to take a picture wearing all the getup.
Now THERE'S a pretty pretty princess if I ever saw one!

January is also good for...

New Toys

When Ben found himself fully potty trained (YES! It happened!!!...more to come on this eventually.), we all got new toys to celebrate. (and to wean us off the m&m after every potty usage.) James got an awesome Spiderman "space ship."

Bethany got these new horses. Or...technically, a pegasus and a unicorn.
Which she regularly takes for a nice swing in the backyard.

Which makes her happy.

Another new and exciting development of January is an obsession with all things...

Pink Panther

Oh man, this is a big deal these days. We discovered the cartoon on Net Flix and I cannot tell you the interest that then ensued. It is nothing short of being the runner up to the Toy Story obsession.
Mostly for this one...
(pink is now his favorite color, pink panther stuff is all he wants for birthdays and Christmases forevermore, and he constantly wants his face painted as follows)

(Oh, and he has me hum the pink panther theme song every night at bedtime...twice.)

A classic gift of January...

Citrus!

JC brought home some grapefruit from someone at work a couple of days last week.
Yum.
Our kids are strangely drawn to all things sour. They love lemons and grapefruit.
(The other bowls are applesauce that was quickly abandoned when Daddy brought home the grapefruit)

Yeah, grapefruit makes me feel like that sometimes too.

But they slurp it down, nonetheless.

Though James does get frustrated at trying to scoop it out. We all know that pain. It's like, the actual fruit always escapes your spoon...leaving only juice and seeds.

Which will, of course, dribble generously down the front of your shirt.

As we start to play outside more now that the chilliest of chilliness has passed (yes, I know it doesn't get that cold here but since we don't own really warm bundle-y clothes, we get kind of stuck inside while it's colder!), Ben takes opportunities to steal my camera and snap some shots.

Ben's Photo Ops

He got this one of Scout next to our poor frozen bushes.
I tell ya...we spent tons of time in the really really cold weather covering all of our plants. And they all still managed to freeze.
Hopefully they will be okay once they get trimmed back.

I like this one.
Self-portrait.

A favorite past time of ours reappears on those days when the weather is just so lovely you can't stay inside...

The Park!

We returned to what has been dubbed "Ben's park" or "The Playgroup Park."
This is because the first time we went there it was just Ben and I, and it was for his playgroup. That he doesn't go to anymore because he apparently wants nothing more than to sit at home and stare at me.
And...fly through the play equipment when we go to the park as a family.
Caught him mid-air.

Frolicking in the sun.

Posing on the...the...I don't actually know what to call this thing.

I love this picture.

Swings are fun. Closest thing to flying.

Hopefully we will be spending more and more time at the park in the coming months before it gets too hot!

And last but not least, January is also good for...

Hanging out with my honey.

Always a favorite.

So...there you have it. The month thus far. And here we are in the last week of it! Yikes!
Seriously, time goes by so fast.
At least this last week of January is an exciting one! Monica is getting married on Thursday!!! Oh I can't wait! I am so excited for her and Austin. And we have family trickling into town and...it's good times.
Back soon with more of family, fun, festivities, and before long...February.