JANUARY

We survived.
This January was remarkably blue-skied and bright.
And our second annual attempt at jazzing up the month was remarkably successful. Nevertheless, we thought we should celebrate the end.

How does one celebrate the end of a long, cold January?
Well, with...

and

With

and with

!

That's right. A SNOW PRINCESS PARTY with a darling, dressed-up group of Lucy's local little girl friends. They twirled and whirled, danced and decorated. Some of the activities (over which I'd been stewing for a few days) were a hit...
Dowels wrapped with ribbon and topped with a colorful "snowball" = big hit.Lucy discussing party with Mom: "Mom, know what's even more fun than friends?"
Mom: "What?"
Lucy: "Twirling with friends and wands."Note to self: Make ALL wands PINK. (I thought the blue and white ones were cute...)

...some would have worked better with an older group...
I had visions of a fun story telling time...you know, one person starts the story, the next adds on, the last one finishes. But...the girls were too little. I should have just come with a fun story to tell or read.

Critiques aside, at least one little party-goer settled into bed after the big day with a smile (and a wand and a crown):

And it made her mom smile.

And those smiles were before the hour and a half tired-Mom-tells-tired-Lucy-to-go-back-to-bed-a-gazillion-times-and-tired-upset-Lucy-wakes-up-tired-sick-Spencer-and-Mom-looses-her-cool-and-ends-up-with-two-tired-crying-children scene that played out after bedtime.

So at the end of the day, all I really have to say is: It was a fun party, but...Here's to February!