A Joyous Start to the New Year

So, first post of the year on the 9th - could be worse I suppose.  I had every intention of posting on the 1st, then the 2nd, then it all got away from me.  It's felt like 9 weeks since the beginning of the year, not 9 days.

ccb ghd - I stepped away from the computer, and Miss Gracie wanted to start poking on the keyboard, so this is her contribution, "ccb ghd."

We sat down to talk about our resolutions on New Years Day and it was actually a short reflection time and conversation.  The resolutions are pretty simple - continue being wise about our money, spend more time with our kids, and make smart decisions.  Finding a church home is high on the list, too.

Our Christmas decorations are still up - 9 days into the New Year - and work is a killer - just a week back - but we have experienced some nice joys in this brand new year.

Gracie started ballerina class this past Thursday.  Santa brought her a ballerina outfit and lined up classes for her, paving the way for the first ever organized class-of-the-arts for any of the kids.  Although it was hard to get any pictures of her in action, wrangling th boys, too, Steph was able to capture the moment before the class.

And as you can see, by the running - or dancing - off to the right, she was pretty active in her first class.

When I got home from work that night, she did a performance for me and she knew all the moves.  Instead of her running around doing free-form dancing (like she's always done), she actually had a little structure this time.  Alot of structure, really.  She picked it up real good for a first timer.  I think she's going to be a wonderful dancer.

Then, today, we experienced our first snow of the season.  It's something that we knew about late last week and anticipated all weekend.  It was supposed to rain all night last night and then get cold enough to turn to snow by the morning.  We all woke up like it was Christmas morning, wanting to run to the window and see snow on the ground.  But all we saw was rain.  It just wasn't cold enough.

After church, we walked out and there it was!  So, the kids wanted to do nothing but play in it, but there really wasn't enough on the ground to do anything other than get them real wet.  It kept snowing though, and after nap (at least Gracie's nap), there was plenty.  Steph took her over to the Schwarte's (Alecia was put on bedrest this past week and hasn't been a very good patient - Steph went over to keep her company and make sure she didn't do anything.)  The kids played in the backyard and built snowmen.

(That's Jackson and Katie along with Gracie.)  Steph even bundled up to help.

I love that Gracie can experience snow like this - even if it is just a little - while she's young.  That's one thing that we miss about New York - exposing our kids to things like snow.  All the other stuff, not so much.

Steph's Nouna is coming in town next week, so all in all, it's shaping up to be quite a beginning of the year.  I just pray that we're as blessed this year as we have been in the past.