January was a month full of basketball, snow, and playing inside for us!
Dawson's 2nd basketball season started at the beginning of January (they started practices in December). He is number 14, and his team name is the Eagles! His buddy Carson is on his team again this year, and he has gotten to play against a lot of other friends which is making it even more fun for him.
This was the first game...
Dawson's school started their One Book Blitz where the entire school reads the same chapter book for a month. This year's book was The Mouse and the Motorcycle. We REALLY enjoyed reading this book as a family each night. Carter got into it just as much as Dawson! To celebrate the first week of the One Book Blitz there were a few dress up days. The first dress up day was Surfer Day (since the book takes place in California). This just so happened to also be the coldest day of the school year so far! So Dawson wore his surfer attire over long sleeves and pants! We listened to the Beach Boys ("surfer music" the kids called it) at breakfast before school, and I told Dawson some surfer words to say...surf's up, hang ten, etc. Dawson reported that he didn't say any of these at school; Carter, on the other hand, kept saying HANG TEN all day to Nora Kate haha!
Then we had our first snow day! We woke up and there was only a little on the ground, but it was still coming down. I tried to convince the kids to wait until there was more snow to go out and play, but everyone was too excited so we went on out and played in the small amount of snow. Then later we went back out to play when there was a lot more snow! (You can tell by looking at the pictures which ones were the morning snow play time!)
The second basketball game of the season...
We have built LOTS and LOTS of fires this year in the fireplace, but Dawson requested an outside fire to roast marshmellows on. John decided to build a small one, and Dawson was SO happy!
Dawson had also seen a wooden ladder some construction workers had built out of scrap wood. He requested one, and John had it built in no time. The kids have had so much fun with this ladder! haha Here's Carter eating a s'more on the ladder!
Watching the snow come down!
We had a playdate at our friend Harper's house, and Nora Kate cannot get enough of their cats! Thankfully the cats are pretty patient, because Nora Kate REALLY REALLY wanted to try to hold them!
So big! She love's this vest!
John and Grandad took the boys to another UT basketball game this month!
They had a lot of fun!!
We went out to Steak and Shake one Friday night in January to celebrate Dawson's excellent report card....BUT Dawson was the one who refused to take a selfie with us while we were there! Too cool, I guess.
He did, however, have a blast eating burgers and shakes and wearing the hat!
We went to the library several times this month. Nora Kate always LOVES the big doll houses at the library!
This is WAY out of order, but I was REALLY missing Dawson on his first day back to school from Christmas break at the beginning of January. I had gotten so used to having him home, it seemed so lonely without him here. When he came home from school, he pulled this card out of his bag and said he made it for me during indoor recess! SWEET BOY!
Every other month this school year I have been the teacher for the kindergarten Sunday School class at church. I have really enjoyed being with such a sweet group of kids! This group especially loves arts and crafts, and so we've done a lot of fun little projects. Here's Dawson's net that "full and breaking" from one of our lessons in January!
oops another one out of order...but this was Carter taking a selfie on the UT Bus after the basketball game. The way he talked about getting to ride the "orange bus" after the game was possibly more excited than how he described the game! Haha!
Dawson has been doing awesome with his sight words (and all school work in general this year). His teacher is GREAT! In January he got this certificate because he knew all of the sight words through MARCH!
We were playing in the snow and Carter REALLY wanted to give the slide a try. Between there being a little bit of ice on the slide and his slick snow pants, he FLEW down the slide!
look he's still in the air in this picture coming off the slide!
He thought it was hilarious and fun!
These two conned me into a cookie from the cookie company during a quick trip to the mall. Carter informed me, "Daddy always gets us a cookie from here!" Haha, well I will not be outdone! And, let's be honest, baby Clayton wanted one too!
The kids have been REALLY into games lately which is perfect for all these cold days!
Don't Break the Ice is always a favorite
They like the game Fibber because of the glasses and noses even though Carter and Nora Kate don't really get the concept of this one yet!
As I mentioned, Dawson had a few dress up days for the One Book Blitz. They partnered with a school in Texas for this, so one day they were supposed to wear their Western Wear!
Carter is an amazing counter! And this is a favorite "game" lately too!
Also, notice the mismatched pajamas...this is SO Carter. He LOVES to wear his pajamas (all day if I will let him) AND not just any pajamas usually mismatched pajamas!
These two are still in their pajamas but it was a dreary, cold morning and we needed to get out some energy so I stole an idea from Dawson's teacher and pulled up Go Noodle on the ipad. Dawson's class uses this especially for indoor recess to get wiggles out...well it worked great with these two too! You can tell they're mid-jump here following the instructions on the ipad!
John got to go to a special breakfast at Dawson's school just for Dads and their kids on (early) morning in January! Dawson was SO, SO excited for John to go. They had to be there at 7:10, but Dawson didn't have a problem getting up early at all because he was SOOO excited! They sent me this selfie from the breakfast!
Nora Kate is REALLY into getting her nails painted these days.
Look at those sweet hands!
I was following these two up the steps and caught a sweet moment between them. I had my phone in hand and was able to snap this quick picture. Carter is always such a good helper. Nora Kate was carrying a doll up the stairs, so he was helping his little sister...without being asked!
More snow pictures!
Dawson's tiny snowman he just had to make before it snowed very much at all. We had more snow after this, but he was pretty proud of his little snowman!
While Nora Kate still doesn't like the cold weather, she is so much happier to play in the snow this year than last year! It makes it a lot more fun for everyone.
Dawson got two days off from school for snow mid-week, so we made the most of these rare snow days and played out in the snow A TON! We also had to build a few fires and sit by them in our pajamas drinking hot chocolate!
The playset is even more fun in the snow!
And we made snow cream for dessert one evening!
Our driveway is always horrible in the snow! John finally managed to get parked at the bottom of the driveway out of the road and walk up, but then the next morning the driveway was still covered. Thankfully, Dawson likes to help shovel the snow!
One of my new favorite pictures of these three...they're so happy together.
Our house in the snow
Our house in the snow!
The boys REALLY wanted to walk down to the creek to see if it was frozen! They threw a big stick in to try to break the ice! They're such boys!
Then we had some more snow on the next weekend! This was perfect because the roads were clear this time, but the kids and I got to enjoy the snow fun with John! (and John was home to shovel the driveway so we weren't trapped at home!)
The following week Dawson's class celebrated 100 days of school! I went to volunteer for their party, and it was lots of fun! Here's a creation they made with 100 cups!
His 100 Party hat!
The class secret pal came while we were out of the room doing 100 day activities, and the kids were SO excited!
They each "signed" the promethean board for 100 days! Here's Dawson signing.
This makes me laugh every time I see it! The kids put together an adobe voice thing on the ipad. They used an app to make themselves look old (see the wrinkles, saggy cheeks, and gray hair?) and then told what they would be like when they're 100 years old...Dawson's said when he is 100 he won't be able to walk!
The boys have been doing amazing with their new chores for this year. They each earn $4 a week for doing them and are so excited! We have been encouraging them to spend a little bit of their money here and there. It's fun to see what they pick with their money. Carter was SO excited to buy this volcano kit with two weeks of his money! It was really involved but he LOVED it! Here we were making the mold.
The next day we painted the volcano.
And that evening we made it erupt orange lava. Unfortunately this ended up being a little messy so I couldn't grab my camera for the final step, but Carter LOVED this entire "spear-mint", as he called the experiment!
Dawson's school had kindness week, and Dawson wanted to make a poster board to thank the cafeteria helpers. Here is his poster which was hung in the cafeteria. I like his drawing at the bottom of the cafeteria!
We try to go eat lunch with Dawson at school 1 or 2 times a month. Carter and Nora Kate ask to go every.single.week, but I want to make sure Dawson gets time with his school friends too. They just love going to eat with big brother. This particular day, Dawson didn't want us to get a picture with him while he was eating, but everyone loved it because we sat at the table with his whole class instead of a booth where visitors usually sit. All three kids thought this was AWESOME!
They love the puzzles at the library!
Nora Kate has discovered a new favorite book series...Fancy Nancy!
Dawson had perfect attendance the first half of the school year, but in January he got a sinus infection he just couldn't shake. I kept him home one day to take him to the doctor and let him rest. He was so disappointed not to go to school, but when I told the kids they could all make "nests" with their beanbags, blankets, and pillows, and watch a little tv every (including Dawson which is SO RARE) laid down to watch tv. Even though Dawson protested staying home, I knew if he was laying watching tv he must not be feeling great. Thankfully his medicine and rest helped and he was feeling great in no time!
