On the first day of January, it was a beautiful, 40 degree day! There was no snow on the ground and we took a walk/scooter ride to the playground. I remember thinking that if the rest of winter was this good, I would be happy!

We had celebrated New Year’s in Iowa with my family. On the way home, we stopped at one of our favorite places; the Wasserbahn at the Amana Colonies. We splashed and played at the waterpark first, and then we drove to Amana to our favorite German restaurant, the Ronneburg. It is a once-a-year treat to be able to eat schnitzel and sauerbraten at the Ronneburg.

The after-holiday blues set in soon after we got home. Then winter also set in. The temperatures dropped, school was cancelled, and I got the “cough and fever” that was going around. It felt like January had really begun.

We slowly got back into our routines once school started again. I started feeling better and took down the Christmas tree, the kids went back to school, and we finally got a little snow. The temperatures crept back up into the 30s, and one Saturday, we went skiing! Fun things do happen in January!

Just as I thought things were getting back to normal, Lily got the stomach flu. Bam! Home from school again! Fortunately, it was only a 24 hour bug and she was back to normal in no time.

Then I got it, too. I was down all day last Saturday. I couldn’t even function, and I had so much work to do! Laundry needed to be done, meals needed to be made, and there were a couple of writing deadlines looming over me. But I just couldn’t do it. The silver lining was that Ed was home that day, and he took care of everything for me. Well, not the laundry, but he took the girls to piano lessons and fed them. That was good enough for me.

This week, the last week of January, has been very normal. School every day (yay!), everyone is healthy, and I figured out what to make for dinner every night. That in itself is an accomplishment.

And on Monday, it’s my birthday!

How was your January? Link up your January post right here, and be sure to visit other Spins and leave some comment love!

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