January 2019

Here are a few of the messes my kids made on my floor in January:

Lotion and Face Powder

Coloring Books

Old Halloween Candy

Animals

The New Container of Face Powder to Replace the One Dumped Earlier

Celeste was sick one school day, so I took her to class in her stroller and gave her the iPad.  She was barely noticeable.
  

Celeste saw the boys getting haircuts and wanted one, too.  So, I rubbed the handle of the buzzing clippers on her head for a minute and told her she was all done!
  

Our backyard gets its own stream and waterfall when there's heavy rain.  This was an unusually wet winter, so we had a lot of fun looking at and playing in "Brown Creek".  (I realize these pictures are mostly Corinne posing with oranges, but there is water in the background.)
   

I had a lot of fun birding at Bolsa Chica over Christmas, so I decided I'd try to convince my family to spend a weekend at the Salton Sea.  Ryan was totally game, and our friends the Emmersons were familiar with the area, so we went and motel-ed it while they camped.  It's a surprisingly beautiful place.  Apparently, the current lake formed by accident in 1905 due to a dam failure, but there has periodically been a lake there for many thousands of years.  It's the largest lake in California, and is a huge stopover site for migrating birds, especially in the spring and fall.
  

Free Breakfast

Jumprope

The Banana Museum

Looking at a Burrowing Owl

We went for a hike near sunset, and didn't make it back until after dark.

Elise took a picture of some American Coots.

Top of the Hill

There was a total lunar eclipse that night! (Phone couldn't capture it.)

The next day, we split from the Emmersons and did our own thing.  First, we drove down to Calexico to see the border, then headed north to the Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge.  My biggest wish on this trip was to see a Sandhill Crane, and after we finished hiking and started driving out of town, we passed a whole field of them!
   

Border Wall

We drove home a different way than we came so we could see the sculptures at Anzo Borrego.  It was cold and windy, but definitely worth the drive!
  

When I'm teaching Latin, Celeste gets to spend time in the nursery with two other sweet two-year-olds.  The nursery leader's name is Olga, and she's awesome.  Despite not speaking English, she has them do play-doh, coloring, all kinds of make-believe, puzzles, and climbing on the indoor plastic playground.
  

Kaitlyn, one of Elise's friends, spends an hour a day there helping out.

After about a year as an only bunny, we decided that Winter needed a new friend.  The internet said that the most likely match would be a neutered male, so we went to the Pasadena Humane Society to see who was available.  There was a super cute male named Honey who seemed very friendly, so we signed the papers and took him home.  Unfortunately, after a day of settling in, he started lunging at the bars of the cage to bite anyone who passed by.  Poor Celeste rested her hand on the top of the cage for a moment, and Honey gave her a pretty deep bite.

So....Honey went back to the rabbit room at the Humane Society.  Instead, we brought home a small, funny-looking male dwarf rabbit who we named Macaroon (Or Little Mac, depending on who you ask.)  He was a much better match for our family!  
    

Honey the Rabbit

Ow Celeste

Little Mac!

After cleaning the church one Saturday morning, Ryan bought the kids donuts.  Corinne bit into hers and immediately swallowed her long-stubborn loose tooth!  She wanted a picture of the event.
  

Connor began the application process for Saint Monica Academy here in Montrose.  One of the requirements was a photo, so I got a shot of him after church on "Bowtie Sunday".  It was only one of several high school options, but we had to start the process early in the year to keep that door open.
  

Ryan built several planter boxes in the garage, and Corinne and Evan decided they would make perfect beds.  (I thought they looked like little coffins.)  Corinne quickly gave up on the idea of sleeping there, but Evan spent nights in his wooden bed for a month, sleeping on the cement floor in our unheated garage.  He insisted it was comfortable and warm.
   

Random January Pictures:
  

Angry Sick Celeste

Breakfast

Celeste Being Dangerous

I signed her up for spring swim lessons that week.