In the future, let's just cancel January

So we made it through January, in which we did NOT get back to our regularly scheduled program after Christmas, because we had 4 school days cancelled for extreme cold, 2 no school days for holidays and professional development, one 2 hour delay for snow, and my family added in a few sick days for various kids. In addition to school, all the bad weather and illness has led to cancellations for Awana, Upward, playdates, social gatherings, etc. Anna had pink eye and an ear infection last week and is congested this week. Luke is home from Tuesday school today with a fever (he's only been there ONCE since Christmas), and all the local weather experts are saying there will be no school tomorrow because a storm is coming through tonight. We have not had one normal week in....almost 2 months? We were supposed to have life group last week and five out of six families had at least one member sick. WILL THIS WINTER EVER END????

But somehow, we're still keeping busy. Girl Scouts is time consuming with cookie sales, meetings, and field trips (we went roller skating on one of the days it was 30 below zero - the parents were happy to have something to do out of the house). February is my busiest month with PTA responsibilities, with a Box Tops drive and Scholarship committee. And also...

Anna is WEANED. Let's let that sink in for a minute - after 8 years of almost continuous pregnancy or nursing, I am a free agent. All kinds of emotions about that. Katy, for one, is thrilled, because she's been wanting to give Anna bottles for a year.

Anna was completely ready and is happy with the arrangement. It's amazing all the equipment that goes along with nursing that I'm piling up: nursing bras, nursing pillow, nursing pads, milk storage bags, breast pump, etc. Done.

When Grandpa and Grandma Sue asked what to get Anna for her birthday, I said that she had a lot of blank wall space in her room. They got her this beautiful tree wall decal. The kids had a blast helping us put up the flower stickers on the branches.

Grammy and Papa John came for a visit to see Upward, and they took the kids to Mongolian BBQ one night while I was hosting my Recipe Exchange (group of school moms who exchange recipes and cooking ideas - fun!).  The kids talked about eating at this restaurant for days afterward, they loved the foil helmets.

And they thought it was so fun to make their own "recipes" and then watch it being cooked.

Most of you who read here already saw this on Facebook, but I wanted to put it here so I have it saved in journal fashion:
 In 2000: I wrote a thesis for my Master's.
2002: My adviser asked if I would revise the thesis into a chapter for a textbook he was putting together.
2002-2005: I wrote many revisions.
2006: I was informed that my chapter was cut from the textbook for length.
2008: He passed my chapter to another editor who was interested in it for her textbook, but this one "would take awhile."
2009: New editor brought in another author to update the content (wise).
2013: I was informed that the textbook went to print. I looked at it on Amazon just for kicks.
2014: My hard copy arrived in the mail. 14 years later, after I haven't practiced in the field for 6 years, I'm a published author. AND...they spelled my name wrong.  

(not including the picture of the chapter since it has my last name...even if it's spelled incorrectly...)