Well my lovelies - we've made it through January - hurrah!

I always think January is a bit of a shock to the system. Seeing as how the shortest day of the year happens in December I'm prone to kid myself that once we get into January, the Winter's nearly over.

Clearly, that's not the case. We're all still getting up in the dark, coming home in the dark and, after a somewhat warmer spell, we've also had another cold snap.

Plus there's no more Christmas fun and of course I'm back on the dreaded diet. Yuck.

Fortunately, it's not all doom and gloom - curl up with a lovely cuppa (and maybe a biscuit or two) and check out January's best bits...

If you too are feeling a little blue this January, pop over to Mummy Zen's for some tips to Beat the January Blues

Rosie Scribble reviews what looks like an awesome product which makes imaginative play even more fun in Hours of Fun with a Cardboard Box - *want*

Rachel Pattisson asks Is Co-Sleeping a Good Idea over on her blog - fabulous comments here too.

Liz from Living with Kids explains why she Tweets for Missing Teens - a post highlighting how we can raise awareness of children that are missing online.

Crystal Jigsaw shares a lovely post about her daughter in My Bunnykins Baby - reading it made me a bit teary - just gorgeous!

Over on A Mothers Ramblings PippaD teaches us how to Make Cleaning the Stairs Fun - a fantastic way to get kids to help out with the housework!

Mrs Shilts is running a Craft Giveaway - but hurry competition closes on 4th Feb.

I'm definitely late to the party but, if you haven't already, I'd strongly suggest you join Blow Your Own Blog Horn over on Mummy's Little Monkey - it's a great way to find new bloggers to add to your reading list!

Pop over to Thinly Spread to find out more about National Story Telling Week - some great tips here too!

And finally an awesome photo from Frugal Family - Ouch! *giggles like a small child*

So, what did I miss? Do let me know via the comments!

Image credit