Craters, Sledding, and more

January didn't feel long at all in our household - I was chatting with Mom and she and I decided that March is truly the harder month to get through. Januray is still definitely WINTER so you just busy yourself with winter things. I follow @busytoddler on instagram and this is one of her ideas for something fun for kids to do. I put a cookie at the end of each of their paths...motivation hahaha.

Oh man...when Daddy's in charge...

Ha! Justin captured this moment - his face kills me🤣

practicing his steering

Logan reading to himself

Emmett killing a spider

Daddy shenanigans

I managed to sub two days in January. More recently I had the 5tha nd 6th graders for social studies. One kid said, "Mrs Rose, you're like, the only sub that - like - actually makes us do our work." hahaha. 

In serious need of a haircut and color

 We had a few semi-nice days in January, meaning it was in the high 20's low 30's mixed between the below-zero and wind chilled days. I loved watching the kids play outside while I made dinner.

 Lacy (lives in Grandma's house) and I did a babysitting swap so we had Urban and Sloane over for a few hours and then we took all the kids sledding. Holy. Cow. This sled hill was insane. I thought it looked steep but the other moms were sending their little kids (some smaller than mine) so I thought I was just being a baby. So I decided to go down with Logan to start. My life flashed before my eyes! It was so scary and I had to put the brakes on to keep us from going too fast. The other moms convinced me to go down with one of their sleds so I did that with Emmett. It was more sturdy than mine but it was still horrible!

awesome view of the mountains

on the last run I let Emmett go alone with the other kids...oh my...

Emmett made a triceratops family

The kids love playing pretend with my hot glue guns

Mom watched the kids one Saturday so Justin and I could hike around Craters. I made it to the top of one of the cinder cones (Justin waited about 100 m below) and had an awesome view of the rest of the rift zone, plus the Lost River range across the way. I love me some quality time with Justin.

rift zone

The kids love "going fishing" - If I was a cooler mom I'd take them ice fishing again. Sorry kids you'll have to wait for Uncle Chase to come back.

I made a lemon-chicken soup the other day - the broth was to die for!!! I've been getting tons of recipes from @lifeisbutadish on instagram

playing around with parting my hair on the opposite side

pretty winter sunsets

Thank you Grandma Rose for the paint brushes!

I meal planned the ENTIRE month of January - this is so unlike me - but the payoff was so great that I was motivated to do it again in February. I'll include my list of dinners from January and what I have planned for February. We made a trip to Costco (just in time with all these drifts and road closures!) and stocked up - I even bought one of those ridiculously huge things of ground beef and separated them into ziplock bags at home to freeze for individual meals. 

JANUARY MEALS

French Dip 

Cresent Rolls

Chicken Fajita Soup

Lemon-Parmesan Chicken

Mexican Lasagna

Bang Bang Chicken

Spaghetti

Honey-lime Enchiladas

Corn Chowder

Butter Chicken with Garlic Naan

Enchilada Casserole

Sweet n Sour Meatballs

Turkey Taco Bake

Lemon Chicken Soup

Chicken Orzo Skillet

FEBRUARY PLANNED MEALS

Lasagna

Chicken and Black Bean Nachos

Taco Salad

Hawaiian Haystacks

Asian Salad with Bang Bang Chicken

Cresent Rolls

Meatloaf with Twice Baked Potatoes

Asian Beef and Broccoli

Fajitas

Valentine Burgers

Butter Chicken with Garlic Naan

Cornbread Casserole

Chicken Wings with Garlic Herb Potatoes

Spaghetti

Homemade Pizza

Zuppa Toscana Soup

Pulled Pork with Kale Salad 

Turkey Burrito Bowls

Chicken Pad Thai

Creamy Chicken Pesto Pasta

 I know I already posted on facebook about this but I've got to record it here too: I'm the new primary chorister! I'm excited and also not at the same time. Like...I think I need my own church budget haha! So many things I'd like to do but I need to reign it in 🤣 I made a liahona to play with during singing time on my first Sunday. We didn't get to use it for long so I think I need to pull it out again next Sunday. Anyway! It's fun having Mom and Dad in primary (though I can't look at them or I'll cry) and I LOVE looking down at the little sunbeams and seeing Emmett there while we sing the simple truths of the gospel 🥰 (also can't look at him too often or else 😭).

Emmett got a hold of all the oranges and made a dinosaur egg nest. He was even sitting on them! 🤣

Sunday after church I wasn't feeling 100% and Monday morning woke up with a cold. It was a good day to be home sick because we had 30 mph winds and crazy drifting all day! They cancelled school that day AND today from the drifts! So it was a good day to hang out and do nothing but rest. 

I made a green smoothie for us all to share - we'd been eating blueberries all day pretty much. I've been really strict with my eating for this round of the cold and it has really helped. Not only have I had my celery juice in the morning but I've been doing another round of 16 oz in the evening. Celery juice flushes pathogens and does all sorts of other blah blah good stuff - I noticed after drinking it I would feel less congested! It's like the juice sucked all the snot away.🤣 Justin has been skeptical of my celery ways, but even he couldn't deny my improved state. Normally when I get sick I am down and out - not this time! This was one of my motivators for trying celery in the first place. I don't have the best immune system and your gut is responsible for 70-80% of your immune system! This juice is great for gut health. I also started taking zinc really early with the tickle in my throat and would take a couple capsules every few hours - zinc shock therapy. 

He's my favorite 💖🥰

January was a good month overall! I've been crushing my goals - I read seven books toward my goal to read 60 for the year. I'll include the list of what I read, plus my 2019 list.  ** denotes a particularly good/important book in my opinion. I read a mix of novels, non-fiction, and self-help/parenting. I think of parenting books as my "professional development" and try to read one every month. 

JANURAY 2020 BOOKS

Just Mercy **

To Kill a Mockingbird

The Tattooist of Auschwitz ** 

Before We Were Yours

Nine Perfect Strangers

The Millionaire Next Door

Oh Crap! I Have a Toddler

My 2019 Book List

AUGUST

The Heavy

Into the Wild

Missoula **

Under the Banner of Heaven

Three Cups of Tea

Three Cups of Deceit

The Great Alone

A Long Walk to Water **

The Nightingale **

SEPTEMBER

The Out-of-Sync Child

Maybe You Should Talk to Someone **

Boundaries

All We Ever Wanted

How to Make Children Mind (without losing yours)

The Complete Guide to Fasting

OCTOBER

Station Eleven **

Something Borrowed

Where Men Win Glory

The House We Grew Up In

Uninvited

The Kite Runner **

The Total Money Makeover 

Night Road

NOVEMBER

The Next Mormons **

A Thousand Splendid Suns

Where the Crawdads Sing **

David and Goliath

Oh Crap! Potty Training! ** (like 100 times in preparation for potty training Logan).

DECEMBER

We Were the Lucky Ones **

Little Fires Everywhere

Peace Like a River 

Also read in 2019 (JANUARY - JULY)

The Hate U Give

Night

Educated **

Girl Wash Your Face

Girl Stop Apologizing

The Vaccine-friendly Plan **

How to End the Autism Epidemic **

Leading With Us

Parenting with Love and Logic **

The Subtle Art 

Mobility, mobility, mobility ... that is the name of the lifting game!

I've been working hard to improve my posture to improve my overhead squats and snatches. I'm proud of my progress on my snatch especially - I used to not be able to snatch the bar alone. I started very slow - I couldn't put my arms above my head and do a squat! It was weird...but anyway - making progress.

**I'm able to send these videos to my coach and she tells me what to do to improve** 

Overhead squat before...

Getting better - my coach says when my ankle mobility improves I'll be able to sit down straighter and not have to compensate by pushing my hips back so far.

solid snatch at 55# (again - used to not be able to do the bar!!)

snatch at 60# - a little wobbly but, we got it up there

snatch at 65# - failed. But I can pull that weight (and more) so I know it's just a matter of working on my mobility to be able to safely drop under that weight and catch it.