The month that seems to never end is officially over! Now we’re in February which means that March is next month and that means that maybe springtime is near. Right? RIGHT?

This month was a bit of a blur. I actually had to look back through my photos to fully remember all that we did. I’m really really trying to embrace the winter months, but to be honest, I’m pretty much over it at this point. Being able to go outside without a coat seems almost foreign to me, and the idea of of feeling warm just feels so far away. Although, I have been borrowing my husband’s wool socks he got for Christmas and they are heavenly. I wore them for a whole shift at work and my feet felt great. Everyone needs more wool socks in their lives.

We started the month back in Iowa celebrating Christmas with our families. It was restful, we ate a lot and played a whole lot of games. We also celebrated our sweet Hezzy boy turning three! We came back from Iowa and I immediately worked two shifts at work, while Nathan took care of the homestead. I came home from work to a clean house, and a hot meal and kids that were asleep in their beds. Nathan is amazing.

The last few weeks have been full of Hez absolutely loving preschool, lots of dates to my favorite coffee shop with my girl Naomi, and trying to get outside as much as we can.

Hezekiah wakes up every Tuesday and Thursday and asks if he can go see his new preschool friends. They do so many fun activities with them, and it allows me some one-on-one time with Naomi. It’s really a win-win for all. On the days Hez doesn’t go to preschool we have been trying to do a little bit of school at home. It’s really not much, but we like to sing the alphabet, spell our friends’ names, read a bible story and maybe work on some shapes or colors or counting. It’s super simple and Hez loves that one-on-one time with me while Naomi gets to play with toys.

We also have been trying to get outside more. Nathan seems to think that the outdoors is still fun even when it’s January, and maybe he is slowly SLOWLY convincing me too. We took the kids to Devil’s Icebox and it was *dare I say* a little bit fun. Naomi refused to be carried for one second, and Hezekiah was begging to be carried for the last 20 minutes. We made it and grabbed some pizza on the way home and Nathan got some dang good pictures of the kids (& one not so great).

This week we prepared for a big ol’ snowstorm. I headed to a nearby discount grocery store with a friend and loaded up on snacks, and some staples. I had to work Wednesday morning (which was forecasted to be the worst part of the storm) but I took Nathan’s jeep and made it in one piece. It was a fun day to work because all of the babies that were born have a birthday of 2/2/22 and that’s just COOL. Also, there just seems to be some fun energy in the air when theres a big storm outside. Snacks were handed out liberally, some staff stayed overnight so it felt kind of like a big slumber party. I was thankful to make it home fine though (Iowa has prepared me well for driving in snow), and I’m pretty sure I fell asleep by 8:30.

This weekend Nathan’s parents are coming to visit and Nathan and I will get to celebrate our anniversary/Nathan’s birthday/Valentine’s day. four years married to my best friend, what a gift!

FOUR YEARS since one of my very favorite days—even if it was in the middle of an ice storm.

Anyways, that was a little bit of what we did during January. Here’s to hoping February contains just as many smiles and maybe a little bit more sunshine!