January Activities

Snow Days

Near the beginning of January, the unbelievable happened-- it snowed in Houston AGAIN! How crazy to think that before this year, it had been close to 10 years since measurable snow had fallen in Houston, and now we've received snowfall twice in one season. How exciting! It's still funny for Jason and me, after living in Montana and Michigan for 12 years, to see how crazy Houstonians get over snow that doesn't even cover the grass. ;) Still, the icy precipitation is fun to see and particularly enjoyable through the eager eyes of our children!

Because of the icy road conditions (insert eye roll for anyone who has lived up north), Jaden and Cody's school was cancelled for two days in a row. What fun it was for them to have two surprise days off! We spent part of each day playing a bit outside, even though the snow was more like icy chunks, not ideal packing snow.

Adley gave us a few smiles but quickly got too chilly being outside. It didn't help that we no longer own any toddler-sized gloves to give her.

Jaden and Cody marveled at the whiteness covering our yard and enjoyed "crunching" around on the snow.

After awhile, the boys decided that they wanted to play snow soccer. Two of Jaden and Cody's neighborhood buddies saw them playing and came across the street to join in. It was a slippery game!

After the chilly game, we warmed up inside with some yummy hot chocolate and marshmallows.

During their days off school, Jason still went into work, but Jaden, Cody, Adley and I spent the majority of our time indoors and didn't travel anywhere. The kindergarten teachers at the boys' school sent us emails with fun activity ideas to keep us occupied at home. One day we listened to a youtube video of a lady reading a book about snowmen, and another day we read and talked about bears and hibernation. We appreciated having some creative new learning ideas! We also spent some time doing some snap circuit activities from a kit that Aunt Kim and Uncle Matt had given the boys for Christmas. Jaden and Cody particularly enjoyed this activity which included a flying saucer. What a fun toy!

Playdates

Adley and I had a playdate at my friend Amy's house one day this month. We enjoyed our time playing with her little ones Katherine (who also happens to be our sweet little goddaughter) and Andrew.

Andrew was so funny with Adley. He wanted so badly to wrestle and play rough with Adley. When his mom asked him why he kept trying to knock her over, he said, "Because I love her so much!" Even though Adley looks a bit irritated in this picture, she really did seem to enjoy her time and especially loved all the new fun toys Andrew had.

Our Amaryllis

We enjoyed watching the plant that Grammy and Papa had given us for Christmas continue to grow and grow this month. Each morning the boys would come downstairs and say, "Wow! Look how tall it is!" and then ask to measure it. Unfortunately, this amaryllis never bloomed but the leaves grew as long as 15 inches. We had to start using the yardstick to measure it. That was exciting! 

Wild Kratts

Probably the biggest highlight of the month for Jaden and Cody was attending the Wild Kratts Live show downtown. This was our big Christmas gift to them, and they seemed to absolutely love it! Both boys wore their Wild Kratts vest and gloves to the show. They were pleased to see how many other fans did the same thing! Aunt Kim and Uncle Matt watched Adley for us that afternoon so we could fully enjoy the experience with Cody and Jaden (thanks for that gift of time, Kim and Matt!!).

The guys that produce the PBS show Wild Kratts (Chris and Martin Kratt) are experts on interacting with kids. They made the show so engaging by having the kid-filled audience answer questions, vote on things by cheering, finish their sentences, and watch little video clips. They had a great blend of educational information and silly, humorous parts.

Cody and Jaden loved it when Chris and Martin came out on stage in special creature power suits and showed off special feats-- such as jumping super high to catch a "flying" bird...

and using a rhino horn to crash through this stone wall.

 

Needless to say, the boys were totally engaged and literally on the edge of their seat throughout the whole show. Money well spent!

And here is our Wild Kratts-loving duo!

I just had to post these extras... For every picture that I post with decent-looking expressions, I get about a half dozen of THESE pictures first. These shots definitely give a truer picture of our everyday life. :)