January Happenings

January began with the carpet finally arriving for our new house.  We were so glad to finally be able to move in the rest of our furniture.

 

We celebrated Epiphany with our galette des rois and crown.  James, as the youngest, assigned out the pieces from under the table, and I was the lucky one to find the feve in my piece.  I chose Davis as my king. 

   

For Martin Luther King Day, we headed to Snyder Park, just over a mile from our house.  The kids had fun exploring the new playground, and it was a beautiful sunny day!

     

An AWFUL week of sickness came right at the beginning of January too.  You name it, we had it.  Flu, cold, ear infections, pink eye, stomach bug, etc.   Asher had it the worst with a flu, and was super tired for several days and didn’t eat much of anything.  It probably affected him worse with his HLHS.  We were glad when he finally started feeling better and we had our happy Asher back!

Shane installed the new swings Santa gave the boys for Christmas, and they go out there almost every day!  They love to swing, even Asher.

 

We found a new path that makes the walk from our house to the library only 12 minutes long.  It’s a nice walk that mainly follows the quiet path and small streets.  We made the trip a few times, and also met some new friends at story time there.  We’ll definitely be making many more trips!

   

Asher turned 10 months old on the 21st of January.  He is getting more and more curious at exploring around our house, including all the cupboards and the stairs.  He likes to make messes, and not just be pulling things out of the cupboards.  He is my messiest eater, loving to rub his hands through his hair multiple times while eating.

   

James is still our fun silly boy!  Here he is with his minion shirt he got from Grandma Malan, safety glasses, and Lightning McQueen hat.  Grandma Morris made him the jean apron for Christmas, and he loves to wear it while helping me in the kitchen (especially if he gets to lick the beaters after).  He’s become quite the speed demon on his little trike outside too.

   

And a few more miscellaneous ones:  Davis and James eating donuts after a bike ride with Shane, Asher watching James ride his trike out the window, and family scripture study.

   

The Zoomer

This January was Landon’s, and our, first Pinewood Derby.  Shane figured out that it was his first of probably twelve Pinewood Derbies, with three for each of our four boys to compete in!  Shane and Landon started by doing some research online, and they found a book about building a Pinewood Derby car. Shane had Landon read from the Pinewood Derby book to find some things he wanted to do.  Landon read to have one wheel a bit higher than the others so that really only three wheels touch the track, minimizing the friction.  He also read about putting most of the weight in the back, and a few other tips.  After gathering their research, they got to work.  Landon was really excited about working on it, and Shane was good and had him do all the work.

  

It took many nights to finish it up, and a few mishaps (mostly a cracked car the night before when Shane was trying to cut out a little more space for some more weight.  Luckily wood glue did the trick to keep it together).  Davis and James kept themselves entertained while Shane and Landon were working dressing up like a superhero and a bad guy.

 

Finally, the night of the race arrived.  I think Davis and James were just as excited as Landon was, or maybe even more.  Before leaving, Shane reminded Landon that this is really about the experience of building the car, and that hopefully it will win some races, but just to have fun.  Landon was excited when his car won the first race it was in.  Then, it won another.  Before long, Davis hurried over to us and said that Landon’s car, the Zoomer, had won six times.  His car wouldn’t start out in front, but always by the end, it will glide ahead of the others before crossing the finish line.

   

Before we knew it, the “Zoomer” was in the final heat, to race four times on each track against the other top three cars. Davis and James were so excited by this point that they were jumping up and down, cheering on each time the car raced by.  I didn’t get a good picture of them, but they were quite the fan club. 

   

And the winner!  I told Shane we’re in trouble now!  The pressure’s on for future years.  Davis came home and drew a picture of the car he wanted to make for the Pinewood Derby and wanted to get started on his right away.  Shane was relieved it was all over, and glad that it wasn’t quite time to start another one quite yet.

Grandma and Grandpa Malan Package

When we got back from our Ashland trip, the boys were excited to see a package here waiting from Grandma and Grandpa Malan.  They had sent it to us long before we left, but somehow it took much longer than expected to arrive.  The boys had fun opening a few more presents before Christmas officially came to a close.  The minion shirts were a definite favorite, although the play snowballs and sand dough were close seconds.

      

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa Malan!  We loved all the great gifts!

New Year’s Eve Party

For New Year’s Eve, we went bowling in the morning, then had our now traditional glow-stick dance party that night.

   

Dancing to the year’s top dance songs.  The kids all especially love getting in a big circle and taking turns dancing in the middle.  My mom found some fun glowing balloons this year too that were a hit. 

   

And that was the end of the party.  We headed home early the next morning to get ready for the carpet installers to come and finally put in our new carpet.  It was a great vacation, and we loved being in Ashland at “Grandma and Grandpa’s house” as always!