Well, it's 2015 and it's COLD!

Dang January! Why do I live in Maine again? Sure, sure, summers are amazing, fall is beautiful, spring sometimes doesn't totally suck, but winter is guaranteed to be awful. Cold, icy, windy. At least we get a brilliant winter sun though. If there's one thing that was positive about that winter in Austria, it's that it taught me to appreciate winter sun. I'd always just taken it for granted, but no more. In fact, as I write this, it's only 22 outside, but the sun is streaming in through the dining room window, and my back is feeling nice and toasty.

The big cold hit for the first time right at the beginning of January. We had one morning that we woke up, and had to drive to school in, about -10. Crisp! We made it above 0 that day, but not by much. A few dustings of snow too, but nothing really fun. Enough to look pretty at least.

We ended out our wonderful, relaxing Christmas break with a trip to Portland to see our old friend Heath. We'd hoped to jump at this indoor trampoline park in South Portland, but the wait was 2 hours! Holy cow! So instead we went to Target to spend the gift cards that Aunt and Unk had gotten Nina and Maggie for Christmas. (Nina picked out a big chair for her room, and Maggie a Lego kit. On the way home, she was reading the box. "Ages 7 and up," she read. "Well, I'm a pretty capable 6-year-old," she said. "I think I can do it." Ha!) After Target, we went to build-a-bear. Sigh.... I thought I'd maybe escape the build-a-bear money trap, but no. The girls absolutely adore their bears though, so I guess it was worth it. Maggie named her's fluffy and says she's her best friend. Here they are, looking fabulous:

They're going to a party tonight while I'm at my mom's night out, so Fluffy had to get dressed

 And here's the stuffy zip line Maggie made, so the stuffies can have fun while we're all at school.

Tonight I'm headed to Portland for our first ever Big Time Mom's Party Night Out. Should be fun!