Peanut butter and Jan...uary

January 1st brought lots of snow! We went sledding, slid around a bit while driving, and had lots of time staying warm inside.

Lots and lots of dress-up time

Alex has a permanent grump face in all these pictures because he hated the snow, poor guy

Even more snow! It was so beautiful coming down. I've sort of forgotten what it's like to be around snow regularly

The day after New Year's, we went ice skating with cousins and made another stop at Cafe Rio!

Before driving home, we had to use all of our sparklers and poppers that we'd forgotten about.

Adaline initiated a spa day. She painted my finger and toe nails and then did my hair. Top notch!

Adaline had her first dance recital and my mom came into town! The last dance recital (back in June) was on a Sunday and so Adaline opted not to go. I asked the director of her dance studio if that was typically the case, and she said it was. No big deal, but I told her Adaline wouldn't be able to go to the Sunday recitals. When the director told me that the winter recital was going to be on a Saturday, I was shocked and so grateful! Adaline was beyond thrilled, and my mom booked a trip out here to watch. Adaline did an amazing job and I am so proud of her! My shy, little girl exuded so much confidence on the stage and she had practiced hard and really knew what she was doing. I love getting to witness my little people grow into even more amazing people with new strengths and talents. In addition to the dance recital, we also went hiking and explored IKEA during my mom's couple of days with us.

Little man fell asleep during a grocery trip 

Happy 8th Anniversary, my love

I got to babysit a friend's kids for a few hours and learned that I can fit 6 car seats in my van. lol

This girl wishes so badly that she had a little sister

The newborn isn't pictured, but there ended up being a short time where I had 8 kids in my house. Mom, I don't know how you did it, but I'm guessing it helped that we were more spread out than 6, 5, 4, 3, 3, 2, 1, newborn. It was a super fun day

One of his favorite hang out spots

Sometimes I complain about living in CA, but one thing I sure enjoy is being able to spend a day sledding and then come back home and put my shorts on. We drove up to the snow with some friends, and had a blast sledding (sometimes way too fast), building snowmen, hiking, and making forts. On the way home, Adaline requested that we stop at Cafe Rio, and I was more than happy to fulfill that wish!

Totally sums up how Alex feels about snow

My kids have so many ideas, and every once in a while, I feel like I'm able to keep up and help them achieve what they want to do. Decorating cookies on a Sunday afternoon was one of their easier requests.

Everyone freeze! There is a slug to inspect!