Every now and then, I get a few minutes at work while I eat at my desk to look at my favorite websites. Today, I checked our lovely little blog, kept up to date lovingly by Jean, and noticed that we haven't updated it once in 2011. So sad.
But I needed to write a blog post at least once this month, or risk being hounded by friends and family when we see you next.
But let's be honest...we all hibernate a little in January. While we haven't gone so far as to stock up on provisions and bar the doors, we do tend to put our heads down and plow through the winter months, every day thinking more about the sun that will soon warm our faces in the Spring and Summer.
But we have had a couple of things going on this month:
-We have enjoyed several Penn State wrestling matches. Alexander started really liking them last year, and Jean has now attended two matches this year. For those of you who aren't into wrestling, we understand, but on a cold and snowy January afternoon, we have enjoyed watching our recently top-ranked Nittany Lions on the mat. CJ justl looks forward to the popcorn and soda...
-State College hasn't really gotten a big snowfall this year, just several one to three inch coverings. But when the temperature doesn't rise above 30 degrees for the entire month, snow piles up a bit and now we have 6-8 inches on the ground. So this weekend we played in the yard a bit, unsuccessfully tried to make a snowman, and went sledding on our tiny hill in the backyard. Unfortunately, the hill likes to steer sleds directly into our shed, and at one point I pushed CJ down the hill only to have her go head first into the corner of the shed. Needless to say, she immediately wanted to come inside for hot cocoa...
-Jean and I have consumed more than our share of red wine this month. Enough said.
-We signed Alex and CJ up for a wrestling/fitness class Wednesday nights with the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club. It's fun to watch CJ run around the mats in her socks playing tag with 200 pound behemoths, and equally fun to watch Alex wrestle his buddy Luke after receiving instruction from some serious wrestlers.
-CJ is taking a gymnastics class on Tuesday afternoons. Look for pictures from Jean soon. I think CJ is more excited about wearing a leotard than about the actual gymnastics.
-The Steelers run to the Super Bowl has been tremendously exciting for our family. Alex is a true football fan, watching every game intently. Even more fun to watch are the mock games he plays by himself in the kitchen area, scoring touchdowns and interecepting passes with ease. He even keeps score, and accurately predicted a Steelers victory over the Jets (although his predicted score was Steelers 84, Jets 14). CJ just likes that we make nachos and have soda for every Steelers playoff game. (Do you sense a pattern here?)
-Finally, we've had two events for me this month. I was honored at my final "Dads Are Cool" breakfast at the pre-school earlier this month. The highlight of the breakfast, other than the 4 pancakes that each of our kids ate, was CJ standing on her chair singing the, "Dads are cool, dads are cool, sometimes they bring us to school" song... This past Saturday was the annual "Doughnuts for Dads" event sponsored by the elementary school PTA. Doughnuts and coffee, and a presentation by the general contractor on the elementary school renovation! Good times!
Hope everyone else is surviving this winter without Seasonal Affective Disorder...
Zack
