January in an instant

This January I did my best to just love January. I do love new beginnings, but I also love green grass and flowers, sunshine and warmth. 

And since January in Iowa has none of those things, I tried my very best to enjoy what January in Iowa does have: cold, wind and snow. We embraced the snow and boots and mittens and coats and below zero temperatures. We got out and played and discovered and experienced as much as we could without getting frostbite. And I enjoyed it. We tried to make the inside stuff fun too. And I enjoyed it. 

Well, almost all of it. 

I still don't like the wind. 

An irregular Shirley Temple

Kate has been mildly obsessed with Shirley Temple lately. She loves Shirley's music, yes. But mostly, Kate covets Shirley's hair. There's just one problem: Kate's hair is straight. Bone straight. A curling iron does nothing to it, so we tried our hand at sponge curlers. 

When I was a little girl, sponge curlers were a right of passage. And they made my hair curl as tight as a spring for days. We bathed. We sprayed. We rolled. We waited. 

And in the morning...ta da! 

We were a little disappointed, but not deterred. 

That night, we tried again. We bathed. We MOUSSED. We rolled (in smaller rollers). We waited. 

And this morning, I think the smile speaks for itself, but...we were rewarded. 

A day in Dubuque

We took advantage of the holiday and Ryan's day off work today by heading to Dubuque, about an hour north, to go to the National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium. 

We saw all sorts of wildlife found in the Mississippi (remind me to never swim in it!) - catfish, sturgeon, ducks, frogs, turtles, octopus, otters and more. We learned about steam boats (and dressed the parts), got reluctantly close to an armadillo and played in an historical train depot. 

On our way home, we stopped by Galena to grab some root beer at Ryan's favorite local store: Root Beer Revelry.

To sum it up: a good time was had by all. 

Brought to you by the letter S

Today at preschool, we learned about patterns, zoo animals and the letter S. Naturally, we made snowmen, sang songs, baked snickerdoodles, made necklaces out of straws and ate scrambled eggs with salsa, (or sandwiches with strawberry jam for our pickier eaters) and string cheese. Naturally. 

I sure love these kids. 

Leah the Lamanite

Tonight for Family Home Evening, we learned about Samuel Leah the Lamanite. 

Those Nephites princesses were relentless, but Leah won out in the end. 

And, according to our resident sugar connoisseur, the wall was delicious. 

Thinking warm thoughts

Today it was cold. 

Really, really cold. 

So cold school was cancelled for fear of children getting frostbite for being outside for less than five minutes. 

So, naturally, we donned our swimsuits, filled the tub and thought warm thoughts. 

There's a chance I also said a prayer that I will survive this winter. 

P.S. Don't you love Leah's new haircut!? Three cheers for tangle-free mornings!

It snowed...enough

Last Saturday, it snowed. Just a little. But enough to make use of the giant hill in our backyard and the sled our friends left with us when they moved to sunny Texas last May. So, we bundled the girls up and went up and down and up and down and up and down our hill. 

Until dad broke one of the sleds. 

Today, it snowed again. Enough to teach Kate the art of making an angel. 

She was a fan. I think she's got the hang of it.