Why I Love January

• Those decorations that looked so festive in December end up looking dusty and cluttered in January. Packing them away for another year is not a chore I enjoy, but I do enjoy the fruits of my labor. A clean house is a wonderful way to start a new year.
• My calendar that was bursting at the seams in December is now blissfully blank in January. Well, not completely blank. But back-to-normal-blank.
• With our warmer than usual weather this January, I've enjoyed several long walks with Ginger. I think one of the best things about owning a dog is going for walks. After pushing strollers for many years, I am thankful to now simply hold onto a leash.

Ginger surveys her domain in the backyard

• The school year is half-over. When the kids complain about going to school I can tell them, "You're over half-way done! You can do it!"

I'm sure there are more reasons to love January. My brother would add his birthday to this list. :) Aaron and Kaleb would add the upcoming Pinewood Derby race. Derek would add his latest deer hunt. In fact, I think I have a picture of his most recent hunt. And it's even "blogworthy." :)

Later this month we'll be taking Aaron to see a pediatric neurologist. We're just not seeing results with the Zarontin. On Wednesday our pediatrician consulted with this neurologist and he told us to start Aaron on Depakote. Now he's taking both medicines, with weekly dosage changes. So far we haven't noticed any more side effects like we did when he started the Zarontin. That is a huge praise! Now we're hoping to see the seizures disappear.

Not too much else is going on around here. Derek's taken the boys to work with him a few times in the evening or on the weekend. They really like to play in the school after hours. Maybe when they're high schoolers they will remember these times. They've also been to a couple of boys' basketball games. Grandma and Grandpa kept the boys overnight this weekend which gave Derek and I a chance to have a date night and spend part of Saturday afternoon rearranging our basement. The ping pong table no longer hangs out in the middle of the room.

I love to see them all play together.

One funny before I call it a night. Early in December we had about 5 inches of snow. It was great, and we were all sad when it melted. No one was sadder than Kaleb. As the snow was all but gone, Kaleb said, "Oh no! Now I'm going to have to start mowing the lawn!" Can you tell he prefers cold, snowy days? :)