Sweet Sunshines of Mine: January Recap

January has come and gone which means one month closer to December. This is a good thing in Parker's world since she's ready for Santa to come again. We have, I don't know, like 1534 kid books and what does Parker want to read every single night? The Night Before Christmas.

We beat the snow and had loads of fun this month. Here we are all bundled up and ready for our Fire and Ice date. I wouldn't say that Parker actually loved the fireworks. "Mommy, too loud. Mommy, almost done? YAYMOMMYALLDONE!" Maybe next year.

Maybe next year she will cooperate for a photo too.

I made lots o tasty treats this month. One in particular was this bad boy. I'm a granola fiend. I also have a slight obsession with Costco so I have jars of peanut butter the size of my house. What better way to use them up than by making peanut butter granola? Super easy, super cheap, and when you get that craving for granola at 10pm—no? never? only me?—you’re only a few ingredients and 15 minutes away from satisfying that craving.

Ingredients:

¼ cup peanut butter

¼ cup honey

½ tsp cinnamon

½ tsp vanilla

2 cups old fashioned oats

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Lay parchment paper down on cookie sheet and set aside. Combine peanut butter and honey in a bowl and microwave until peanut butter melts. Stir cinnamon and vanilla into peanut butter and honey mixture. Add oats and stir until oats are completely covered in peanut butter mixture. Spread out oats mixture onto prepared cookie sheet and bake for 7-8 minutes until granola is slightly browned.

Yum to the o.

January also brought my return to work, Teagan’s start at daycare, and Parker moving back to full time at school. Work is still going swimmingly and I’m very much enjoying being back. Teagan is still soaking up the attention from her teachers and has made some adorable little buddies! And knock on wood, has yet to catch a cold from her friends. Maybe that flu gave her some good immunity. Parker is learning at an alarming rate. I can’t even tell you the number of books she picks up and “reads.” And reads them correctly! Girl got a memory, that’s for sure.

Documented evidence of sharing.

I was back to the office for a whopping week before daycare closed for a snow day. Bonus! Unfortunately I did not get this memo until after I stumbled from bed at 5am, wrangled babies into clothes and winter gear, and bundled them up in the car. It was only once I saw our neighbor (one of Parker's teachers) walking back from school when I was notified that they were closed.

Sure enough on Tuesday I was met with an email in my work inbox from daycare the day before about the snow day. And sure enough I updated my email preferences to gmail that same day.

The snow, sleet, and cold motivated me to turn our vacation talk into reality. Come September we'll be soaking up the rays beachside in good ol' Myrtle Beach! We booked a week at a resort where one of my coworkers owned a condo. The toughest part I have with vacation is not really knowing the condition of your room until you arrive. Trip Advisor only clues you in so much so I'm glad to know straight from the source that we're in for a good time.

Up North trips will happen soon too thanks to my wonderful coworkers and their wonderful cottages though those trips don't need to be set in stone. Six years in Michigan and we've never made it up north...I know! If you live in Michigan you know how insane that must sound. Recommendations on sights to see and where to dine will be much appreciated :)