January

January was another fun and busy month!  We rang in the new year with a great indoor pool birthday party for Anna's friend Madelyn, and then had a belated and very fun Christmas celebration with the Flanagan/Callaway side of the family.  It was great to see everyone!  It was back to school for the ladies on the 3rd, and they were happy to see their friends and teachers again.  Our big event that week was my exciting surgery on the 7th to remove an ovarian cyst (laparoscopic).  It all went well and I am glad it is gone!  I am also glad that I don't need to have general anesthesia on a regular basis...yuck!  We had a fun weekend with gymnastics and a gymnastics birthday party for Anna's friend Alyssa on Saturday (we go to a LOT of birthday parties, but it is a fun way for the kids to play outside of school), and Little Flowers and the annual parish council dinner on the 10th.

We spent the next week getting ready for the big groundbreaking event at church that Bob helped organize with the parish council.  We are very excited that construction on the new church has started, and by next summer, we will have a church!  Erin will probably make her first communion next spring in the gym, but Anna's class should be in the church the following year.  The event went great, even with some rain on Sunday morning that forced them to move inside.  The girls took turns with a stomach bug that weekend, so we ladies weren't able to go, but Bob said it went really well.  We also had a fun playdate with Jimmy and Danny that week, and I got to help out in the girls' classes while Sawyer's mom was tracked out.  Anna also went to a bowling party for her friend Gerald on the 17th. We spent the Martin Luther King holiday with Erin recovering from the illness.

We had some excitement the following week with a snow day on Friday and some snow/ice on Saturday too.  We loved being able to do some sledding!  Having snow boots and pants this year has made all the difference in the kids wanting to play in the snow.  I'm personally hoping for some more snow this month!  It's so nice to be able to spend some time together and not have to go to school, work, or anything else.

The girls were back to school on Monday the 25th with a 2-hour delay.  Daddy had a trip and Sawyer was back to his regular schedule, so we girls stayed busy that week.  I was able to go to a fun night at school on the 29th where a nun from Buffalo, NY came to speak on the significance of Catholic education.  It was more of a comedy hour, and I had a great time!  Unfortunately, I did not win the $1,000 tuition discount for next year in the raffle (or any of the other wonderful prizes).  We had a blast in Concord over the weekend for Ansley's birthday party!  Our big girl cousin is now 7!

So, that was January.  It was less hectic than pre-Christmas, but we still had the surgery excitement, groundbreaking ceremony, and a few other things.  Looking forward to February and some more winter fun!  I'll try to add some pictures as soon as I can get them uploaded.