January day at home

As you may have guessed, our family of four made it home from Texas:)  We flew back home last Saturday.  It was sad to leave Granny and Grandad’s home, and frankly, even after 11 days, I wasn’t really looking forward to the end of the vacation.  However, happily, when we got back into our sweet little house and spent some time with our kitties and all the many little things that make our home the cozy nest that it is, I found I was indeed quite happy to be back.

I still have a few pictures from our visit on my camera.  And, bizarrely, I haven’t picked up my camera since we returned.  That’s nearly one week.  No blogging and no photography for a week!  I haven’t gone that long between blog posts since June!  I question whether my name is actually Althea nothing Dotzour.

The simple answer is that I was reading books.  And when I read books, well, it’s a good thing that the house stays standing, because my attention does not waver from the task at hand.  I kept wishing that someone would show up to sweep the kitchen floor or take that load of laundry out of the dryer or feed my children.  Sometimes I love taking care of the home.  And sometimes I feel like reading or working or photographing or blogging.  These days, I love doing anything that involves a cup of hot coca, a blanket, and a child or cat or computer on my lap.

I’ve been reading business books because I’m spending the next few months really focusing on my photography business.  I read The E-Myth, Hug Your Customer, Building Your Photography Business, and Trade-Off.  So many great ideas and suggestions to work on!  I love managing and imagining my business!

Andrew and Sylvia are thriving.  Andrew had a wonderful, wonderful time in Texas. And Sylvia is talking up a storm, is now going around during the day without her pacifier, and has joined in our family adventures to an increasingly great degree.

Yesterday, the kids and I had our first Music Together class at Happy Bambino.  Since HB just moved their store down the street from our house, and since it had snowed a lot the night before, I thought it would be fun to pull the kids on their sleds to our music class.  Well, it was indeed a charming idea.  But I learned that Andrew is as heavy as a boulder on a sled and Sylvia won’t keep her mittens on…resulting in very cold hands and a very sad girl.  I was huffing and puffing and sweating as I trudged down the street like some sort of draft horse.  Andrew walked along, wandering into people’s yards, and getting stuck in snow drifts.  We were late, which took away some of the charm of the endeavor, and I laughed to myself to think how much more fun things sometimes sound or look in retrospect than as you’re doing it.

On the way home, Sylvia decided she would be happy to keep my mittens on her hands, and she and Andrew played in the snow for nearly an hour as we slowly made our way home.  That afternoon, worn out from all the fun, I took a nap.

Today is snowy and chilly, but we have nowhere to go.  Sylvia isn’t napping.  In fact, right now she’s in her crib saying “Wanna pay (play)!”  Then she’s saying “Pleph!”  Which means that she’s wanting to spit out her paci into the paci jar so she can get out of her crib and play!

Hope your early January is off to a good start!  We’re enjoying the crispness of the new year and the coziness that winter weather brings.