Mid January.

January has been cold!  Very cold.  I've not walked at the park since Christmas.  There has been many people that are sick and I hope this will help freeze out the germs!  January has also been a month of declutter for me!  I love to start out a new year with going from closet to closet and drawer to drawer and organize and through out trash and take things to the thrift store.  January has also been busy with basketball practices and games ... Austins and the high school boys!  Take a look ...

Austin is all into trapping and caught a huge rabbit so far.  Wyatt helped him skin it.

I love the idea of winter mugs on the shelf!  I thrifted some cute ones to add to my collection.

The winter skies are so beautiful.

We've been having some time to do puzzles.  Here's a fun one we are borrowing from Jody.  Matthew took one look at it and said, "This looks like diabetes to me."

Austin is learning more about basketball this year!  His coach is intentional and uses every minute of their time to practice well!  It's really fun to watch boys this age learn skills and then go do it on the court!

Another pretty sunrise!

Here's a quick glance at some of the things I am throwing out.  Old Easter eggs, candle waxed tray, and so much more.  I can't believe all the things that I clean out just by opening up a drawer and taking 10 minutes to clean it out!

This is how my January Pinterest board looks ....

Another closet clean out.  I have a few scarfs that I don't wear anymore.  Same with cardigans.  Some of these items have been in my closet for years.

I moved to the pantry and organized!  The popcorn bags got placed in a basket instead of in two cardboard boxes.  Looks better!

Another good practice.

I felt very blessed at work out class on Wednesday!  Every week, Suz picks someone from her class to bless.  It's not always from the the class I attend but this week it was me.  I was blessed with a supper meal, candles and fun things to use!  Thank you friends!  I love Empowered Fitness!

I'm having a hard time liking this protein.  I don't like it just in milk.  So I tried blending it with yogurt, a banana, peanut butter and ice and water.  It's delicious!!!!

I thought this was accurate.

My winter view while driving in front of a plow truck.

And got my nails done while it snowed outside.

And this was the sunrise this morning!  We had a snow day today because of the weather.  The cousins came over while Lena went to market.  It was a day of laundry, cleaning and working on the puzzle.

Winter time is a time of going slow and being at home!  When we have a basketball game that's fun to get out to!!!!  Mostly I love it when I don't have to drive in the snow!

It's the weekend and we have the Chiefs to watch and cheer for!  We have more freezing tempts and some snow in the forecast.  Matthew loved the night on the ice and playing hockey on a pond is always a winter highlight!

January begins.

 January is here and so it winter.  It's cold outside!  

January always has me thinking of a word for the year.  It has me thinking of goals.  Decluttering closets and deep cleaning is always a must!  It's a time to go much slower and enjoy days at home!  Winter is still my least favorite season but I have really come to enjoy it too!  It's the only month that I just go slower and wish is stay indoors and complete some cleaning projects and finish puzzles!

Arie had five puppies and of course Ashlyn and Austin begged to buy one but raising a puppy outside during the winter months did not seem like a good idea to me.  I know how it goes.  Excitement and yes's at first but by the time winter really gets cold, the dog would not be top priority.  However, we loved on the puppet until they were sold and sent off to happy homes!

Austin had his first basketball practice!

We stayed healthy through all the holiday activities but New Years came and the stomach bug hit us.  Mike and Ashlyn are the only ones that threw up but I kept the kids home from school last Friday just to be sure we are clear from this bug!  They cleaned out their cubbies.  I think it was necessary!

Stewed crackers just smoothies the belly if it's unsettled.

The bluebirds are here and we are so happy to watch them from the kitchen window!!!!  They are just so pretty!

After the holidays and the stomach bug, we cleaned the carpets!  This is always a good feeling.

Austin had his first basketball game and they won!  Go BUCKS!

Our first snow day, a virtual day for school, we still had two appointments to make.  One was for Matthew to an ENT doctor to see if there's something we can do about his snoring.  They think it's allergy related.  Then Ashlyn had a dentist appointment to fill a cavity which she absolutely despised!

When we were home, the kids played in the snow making snow cones.

They did school work as their Kool Aid syrups cooled.  Snow days are fun and we love to watch it snow!  It's winter time and when it snows it's an extra celebration happening here!

Puzzles are so fun!  We finished this one up this week!

Rest is something I'm thinking of quite a bit.  The earth rests during the winter and I think it's important for us to rest also!  I love to just go slower.  Take longer sips of coffee!  Do some extra reading.  Take a nap.  Clean house while the outside is frozen.  Listen to sermons on YouTube and Hope 94.5 while I blog and fold laundry.  Winter time is a time of extra rest for me and I know it's my choice how busy I make myself.  Going slow is a preference these days!

Every Christmas, we get sent a box of Florida citrus and every time I juice them, it just tastes so delicious!

Just like that stores move on to the next season!  I love to declutter in January and go through clothes we don't need or want or use anymore but it's also a time when I love to look through the clearance racks at Khols, etc..  All summer things are at a big discount and I love to look through the racks!

It's a blustery and cold day here today.  It's also workout day so I have to go out in the weather but I've come to really enjoy my gym time with new friends made and working muscles I never knew I had.

Stay warm!  Winter is here!