January Shenanigans

January, where it's back to a regular routine after the holidays.  In some ways it is nice to be back on a schedule as much as we miss having Will home with us.  Here the girls are below, back to school.  My favorite was finding Emma playing the piano in a Wonder Woman costume.

We had some snow this past month, which I think is always the best way to pass one of the coldest months of the year.  Playing in snow is a great reason to get outside.

Charlie has enjoyed playing in the snow with us.  In clockwise order from top left below: Charlie hiding in a snow fort, Charlie drinking "glacial" waters from the melting ice in our yard, Charlie doing his own Ninja Warrior and climbing to the top of our swing set, Charlie whining for wet cat food, and Charlie trying to get away from Opal's advances.  Charlie eats more food than any animal I know.  He eats the cat food we give him, he eats the chickens' food, he eats the neighbor's food, and he eats the local wildlife as well.  We came home from out of town a week or two ago, and we found woodpecker feathers in the garage where Charlie had been locked up while we were gone.  That was the only time I didn't feel badly about the wildlife he eats.  That woodpecker has been destroying our garage over the last few years.  It must have finally made a hole big enough to get inside, and Charlie took it from there.

We had a cold this past month, and friends stopped by to pick something up and positioned their car in our driveway so that we could chat through the window without passing germs.  Drive through friends sure brought a smile to all of our faces!

My brother came over for dinner and games this past month, and the girls had fun teaching him their favorite card game.

 We had lots of play time indoors this past month and let's just say I cannot wait until warmer weather is here to stay.  In the above photos in clockwise order from top left: the girls doing watercolor, the three older girls being brave together while watching a scary-to-them movie, all four girls playing dolls, and Emma and Violet playing dress up.  In the below photos from top left in clockwise order: Lucy finding a creative way to get some "alone time" away from her sisters - she made a fort next to the refrigerator in the kitchen which is the last place I'd go looking to find a sister, Violet displaying some artwork, dolls relaxing on Violet's bed - with four girls in the house, we have a lot of dolls, Will playing a riveting game of dominoes with the girls, and finally, Will giving three of his daughters a piggy back ride.

Will loves to horse around with the kids, and after dinner is prime wrestling time.  In a small house, it gets a little intense, and to be honest, drives me crazy because it always ends with someone crying.  I can't wait until the weather warms up again and the kids can blow off the last steam from the day OUTSIDE.  I try to stay out of their shenanigans for the most part, and it seems to be a good compromise.  The photos below in clockwise order from top left: Emma helping Will hardwire the TV to the internet, Will being greeted by Violet and Opal when he came home from work, Will utilizing a plastic kid chair to make fixing his snowblower more comfortable, and finally, Will and all four of his daughters watching something fascinating on his phone.

Will and I got out for a couple of kid-free hikes this past month, and the girls and I took a couple of walks from our library to the park and back to see the ducks.  Violet also had impressions made for her upcoming dental appliances.

 We cooked and baked away the winter blues, despite that I don't think there was a single day the entire month of January where the sun shone for more than an hour at a time, and there were many days were there was no sunshine at all.  I'm so glad the days are getting longer and the sun is coming back, slowly but surely.  Below in clockwise order from top left: Will made meatballs in bulk to fancy up our spaghetti sauce from a jar the next couple of months, I made several batches of herb infused soap this past month and this photo shows straining the oil out of the herbs, a screenshot of the text I sent my friend after I had to hang up on our conversation when a loud crash came from our kitchen, and finally, bulk banana bread to be put in the freezer and taken out on mornings where we need an efficient and easy breakfast.

 The plate smashed to a million pieces all over the floor was nothing compared to the poop I cleaned up the night before which fortunately Will was home for because it was an all hands on deck kind of poo-mergency.  In the interest of privacy, I will leave the story at that, but know that it has already become family legend.  Life with four girls is work.  Exhausting, and mostly thankless.  However, the smiles, love and laughter that we share more than makes up for the work, and I wouldn't have it any other way.