The sky is dreary grey. After school yesterday, I made Ian change his routine and go for a walk with me with my camera. I suppose if I was a more talented photographer, I could have found something beautiful in the grey. But even the splashes of color – a purple sled on a lawn, a forgotten red ornament on a tree, a yellow garbage can – were sort of dingy and sad. 

Despite the lack of color outside, life in our house is full of color right now. 

I woke up the kids to a rousing version of "Send in the Clowns." They laughed and covered their heads with their pillows. I promised Jonah a night of video games, if he finished his homework efficiently tonight. He ran off to the school bus with a hop and a skip. I made plans in my mind of things I want to accomplish today. Steve drove off to Connecticut with significantly less worries than the day before. What's for dinner? Rice Krispies in red cereal bowls. Outgrown shorts were thrown in the Good Will pile. An ADHD patch applied to a butt with a spank and a tickle. Where's Jonah's lunchbox? Brand new white crew socks lined up neatly in a dresser drawer. A garbage bag of old socks still stuck in a corner. 

Life is good. Sometimes only words can capture color on a grey day in January.