Been busy in our house lately. So busy that I've decided we're going back to basics around here these days.

After the craziness of the holidays and our post-holiday holiday celebration mid-month with my family who lives in Florida, we settled back into our normal routine. Well, sortof.

This week Mister Man had off from school on Monday for Martin Luther King, Jr Day and the Inauguration, we had a mini snow event on Wednesday night causing a 2-hour delay on Thursday, and then yesterday the schools is our county closed an hour early due to more snow and therefore afternoon preschool was cancelled. It's been a tough week to get anything done for this work-from-home mama! But I'm not complaining. Even though I cannot stand the frigid winter temperatures, I do love how beautiful everything looks the morning after a snowfall. I made the kids pancakes and oatmeal with strawberries this week to shake off the chilly feeling we woke up with. We stayed in our jammies longer than we usually do and just had fun doing inside stuff like coloring in our new coloring books with markers and crayons and watching Disney movies cuddled under fuzzy blankets on the couch.

We are trying to eat dinner as a family together at the table as often as we can. In the past we've had the kids eating together at the small table in the kitchen while my husband and I eat sitting at the island bar stools or standing which we both know isn't ideal. So whoever is cooking now takes care of preparing the meal while the other sets the table and keeps the kids happy until the meal is served. We're cooking using recipes from our new vegan cookbook, Veganomicon, and have loved almost every one we've tried so far. The kids are being very open to trying new things and have found that they really like eating vegan and vegetarian meals. I'm thinking we may transition them from cow's milk to almond milk in the new few months, but I'm not going to force anything on them if they decide they would rather not make that switch.

When I found myself feeling terribly unmotivated this morning, I made the decision not to dwell on it and just got up and started moving. An hour later I was amazed at how much I got done. Once I dug in and got started it wasn't so hard to forget about those negative thoughts. I was able to unload the dishwasher of clean dishes, reload it with the dirty breakfast dishes, clean up the rest of the kitchen, put away all the kid's clean clothes, tidy up their rooms, and rally the troops to get ready to head to swimming while my husband relaxed with a cup of coffee on the couch. I appreciated the fact that I could get that housework done while he kept the kids occupied, and we all made it out the door on time for swim lessons.

My husband and I booked a 10-year anniversary trip to the Riveria Maya in June with friends of ours who are also celebrating their 10-year anniversary. The guys were each others' best men and we always have such a fun time with them reminiscing on old times and making new memories whenever we have the chance to get together. (They live in Texas now so we only get to visit once every other year or so.) I didn't want diamonds or a new kitchen to celebrate this milestone, just time alone with my better half. It's going to be heavenly and I am counting the days. (139 to be exact.)

I loved every minute of the holidays and spending time with family and friends. Now that January is almost over I'm getting excited for February because it is the month of birthday parties (my best friend's, her son, mine - 34 - eeek!, my Grandma's, my good friend from highschool, my hubby) and then Valentine's Day when I get to spoil my loves.

So yeah, we're getting back to our old routines but with lots of exciting stuff coming up. Therefore, here's to a new year of appreciating all the craziness that life throws our way!