Happy Independence Day!

I hope that everyone enjoyed their Fourth of July!!

I have to admit that since we've moved to Alaska, it hasn't felt the same.

I grew up spending the day at the beach, lighting fireworks all night over the water.

It doesn't get dark enough in Alaska to enjoy fireworks. It just doesn't quite seem like the Fourth without it.

The girls marched in a parade with their Girl Scout troop.


No 4th of July parade is complete without an appearance from Santa Claus, right? Well at least not if you live in North Pole :)

Nick happily sat and collected the candy that was thrown at him. He didn't like the sounds of the fire truck sirens though.Next year, I'm hoping to spend the Fourth together as a family - watching fireworks on the backdrop of a dark sky.

10 Years Ago Today

Ten years ago today, my sweet little Ellie was born. She came into this world in a hurry. I was only in the hospital for 2 hours before I had her and for a firstborn, that's pretty quick :)
She walked at 7 1/2 months and never looked back.

Could it really have been that long ago? Could I possibly be old enough to have a 10 year old??

It seems like only yesterday that she was Tori's age. Toddling around the house and keeping us on our toes. I'm afraid that I'm going to blink and she'll be 20. It makes me want to savor all of the little moments we have together right now.

Easter Eggs

They were sure happy about decorating Easter eggs. I thought Kate was going to burst with excitement :)

We colored and decorated and got our fingers dyed. You can't be true artist and stay clean, can you?

Then they discovered the wax crayon and decided that they could be spies and write secret, invisible messages which they could read later:

Sisterly Love

Lexie likes to love on Tori. Tori isn't always up for it.

Deployment Milestone

Today is not only Nick's birthday, it is also marks 6 months since Andy left for Iraq.

He already had his R&R leave, so we don't have that to look forward to anymore.

But, it is a good feeling to know that it's all down hill from here.

I have almost made it through the entire cold, dark winter alone. Well, I guess technically I have, but it sure doesn't feel like spring quite yet.

I finally feel like we have the right amount of sunlight. It's funny living here. It goes from one extreme to another. From short winter days with only a few hours of daylight to summer with the midnight sun. It is truly amazing, but I find that it's hard for my body to adjust back and forth.

The kids are doing well. They miss daddy like crazy of course (as do I). Every night, they go to sleep with their "daddy dolls" tucked under their arms. Those have been the best thing that I've ever bought them. It's so nice for them to have a piece of him here. They lay down and push the button and can hear his voice. It's very comforting for them. I will have to post a new picture of them soon. They are getting very loved - I'm glad that they are washable!

Before we know it, he'll be home and we'll be together as a family again. We'll spend next Christmas with each other. We'll celebrate next years birthdays together. I will have an adult to talk to every day - which will do wonders for my sanity!

I feel good knowing that it's halfway over - and that I already made it through the "cold, dark" half. I have summer to look forward to and then he will be back :)

Guess Who's Three?

Yes, Nick is 3 years old. Can you believe it? I sure can't.

I have noticed so many changes in him just over the past couple of months. It's amazing to watch him transform into a big kid.

He is completely fearless, like most 3 year old boys. I am anticipating an emergency room visit in the near future. It's bound to happen. He jumps off of the castle in his bedroom. He runs at full speed wherever he goes. He twirls in circles until he bumps into things. Pretty normal, I think.

We were going to wait and do his party on his birthday, but when we got home last night, we decided to just go for it. I probably should have given him a "real" party, but I just wasn't up for it. I didn't even wrap his presents. At least I gave them to him one at a time. :)

He said that he wanted a "Thomas Happy Birthday", so I stuck some Thomas engines on his cake and called it good. He's easy to please!

Yes, he got a sword for his birthday - at least it's made of foam so no one will be mortally wounded!
He also got a couple of Thomas the Tank Engine puzzles and a couple of engines.
And he got some really cool tools from Miss Michelle. Thank you :) Now I have a handyman in the house!

Summer Plans

It's time to put a rough plan in place for what I want accomplished this summer.

We are probably going to finish up our schoolwork the first week of May. That's unless the kids get ultra-motivated to be done and double up on work.

We can't buy new curriculum and supplies through the correspondence school until July 1st. By the time I order stuff, receive it, and am able to prepare it for us to use, it will be late July at the earliest when we can start again.

It's not that I have a burning desire to start in the middle of summer. August is a beautiful month in Alaska and I want to take full advantage of the sunlight and good weather.

We will probably be on a modified schedule and we won't have any of our normal extracurricular activities until September, but we really have to get an early start this year.

Andy will be returning from Iraq in September and I want to have the flexibility to take time off to spend together when he gets back. Also, we will probably be moving in May of next year, so I need to make sure that we are completely done with school by then.

So, back to our summer plans.

We will have a much needed break from gymnastics, dance, art, Girl Scouts, and AWANA. I am very excited about this! It will free us up for other fun adventures.

Ellie and Kate are each going to a week of camp, which they are both looking forward to. Kate's is a day camp, so she will be coming home every night. She's not quite ready for the overnight experience yet.

The girls have plans to fill the greenhouse with lots of cool plants this year. Gardening should keep them busy with things to do. Planting, watering, weeding, and enjoying their harvest.

I would like to get out and enjoy the sunshine and fresh air as much as possible. We will take day trips to Pioneer Park, the Botanical Gardens, Creamer's Field, and maybe go panning for gold at one of the mines. I won't be making any long trips though. Driving a long distance in the Alaskan wilderness alone with the kids doesn't sound like a very good idea to me...

The kids will spend lots of time riding their bikes in the yard and maybe on the trails if I feel brave enough. I will spend a lot of time on my swing, watching them play.

I am thinking about putting Ellie in a week-long handicrafts class. They offer weaving, knitting, crocheting, and some others. She has been happily finger-knitting and starting to learn to crochet. I'm finding balls of yarn all over the house. My skills aren't good enough to teach her much more than she already knows though.

I plan on taking a lot of pictures and learning how to use Photoshop Elements.

I am hoping to work on some genealogy in the evenings.

I am going to give the kids nature journals when the snow melts and hopefully they will be full by the time snow falls again.

We might do a session of swimming lessons if they are offered on post. The kids have been absolutely begging to swim again and I can't take them all in the pool myself. Lessons are the only way that they can swim for now.

I will be doing some much needed Spring/Summer cleaning. It feels like a cave in here during the winter. I'm ready to air out the house and declutter a bit.

And last, but certainly not least, I will be preparing next year's schoolwork. I still haven't made the decision on what curriculum we will be using, but I know that I absolutely won't begin until I am prepared this time! Period. End of story.

What are you planning on doing this summer?

Busy Day

What a busy, tiring day. Piano, dance, shopping, a birthday, and a Pampered Chef party.

I am about to fall into my bed here in a second...

But first, I had to show you what our new FIVE year old looks like:
So, here is the update on her:
1. She is starting to read pretty well. I finally figured out that she sometimes she gets some "extra help" on her AWANA verses, because they hold the book out when she is being checked. I think that they assumed that since she was 4 and a Cubby, she couldn't read. I think that I will have to enlighten them. :)

2. She is about half-way through Horizons Math K. She is counting past 100, and by 5s and 10s. She is adding and she enjoys math!

3. Today she had her meeting with her piano teacher. She starts lessons this week! How exciting! Since the classes are offered through post (and they are free while Andy is deployed), I decided not to pass up the opportunity. I think she's going to have fun.

4. Even though she's now 5, she will always be my little mouse. My only brown-eyed kid. My middle child. My sweet little girl :) I love her so.

Respite Report

Tonight was respite care. The night where spouses of deployed soldiers can drop their kids off for a few hours of free babysitting. What a much needed break!

I only left the middle three kids. Tori is still nursing and I hate to leave her anywhere for very long. Ellie was desperate for some one-on-one time with me, so I decided to treat her tonight.

It was wonderful. We had a drink at Starbucks (which I never go to). Ellie felt so grown up.

We went shopping at Barnes and Noble, Fred Meyer, Petsmart and Old Navy. It was nice to be able to peruse the stores without having to keep Nick from grabbing everything we passed!!

We bought Andy an ipod. Yes we're becoming iNerds :) I am going to fill it with music so that he can ditch the CDs and have tunes with him in his office in Iraq.

We picked out beautiful matching summer dresses for the girls and a shirt for me. I thought that we could take a family picture this summer in the yard - minus Andy of course. :( I just hope that it gets warm enough to actually wear them. It has warmed up to the 20s, but it felt a bit weird to be shopping for warm weather clothing already.

Ellie talked me into walking around Petsmart. She decided that she might like a lizard of some sort. I don't know that I could handle that. I told her that she would have to do some research and write me a paper on what would be required to feed and care for them before I made any decision. I committed to nothing!! She does have her own room now though and so she could conceivably keep a pet in there and care for it on her own. She would not receive any help from me with a lizard though, I can tell you that! Maybe a kitten?

When I went to pick the kids up from respite care, the report from Nick's caregiver was terrific! She said that he was so well-mannered. He was very polite and played with all of the kids. No crying. No fighting. No tantrums. When he saw me, he simply said "Oh, Mom! You're back!" and happily got his coat on and returned the toys he had been playing with. My little boy is growing up!

So, I have to say that I am very grateful for the respite care that is offered to us each month. It's nice to have a few hours here and there to spend without all of the kids. I just wish that it could have been scheduled for tomorrow night. No babysitter = No Bunco night :(

Great job Andrea!!

I'm so proud of my little sister. She came in 4th in the all-around at the Worlds Women's Highland Games in Phoenix last weekend. She also broke the U.S. record in the hammer. She looks super cute in her kilt too! ;)

Good Luck Andrea!

Weight for Height

Sheaf Toss

I just wanted to wish my little sister good luck as she heads down to Phoenix, Arizona to compete in the Women's World Highland Games Championships this weekend. I would LOVE to be in Arizona, cheering her on, but that's not possible this year. Alaska is just too far away for a weekend trip.

I absolutely love Highland Festivals! The dancing, the games, the food, the kilts, the bagpipes in the background. The games are really amazing to watch. If you're in the Phoenix area, go and cheer her on for me this weekend!!

(Here is a site explaining some of the events for those of you wanting to know more!)

Happy Birthday Kate!

Katie at about 7 months old.

It was 7 years ago today that I gave birth to my darling second daughter.

She came quick. I was 10 cm dilated when we arrived at the hospital and she was born almost immediately. Andy still likes to tease me, because I didn't even have to push her out. The doctor had me give a few big coughs and out she came, 9 lbs even. I'm not kidding!!

The funny thing is that she has never slowed down. She always has to be moving and doing and going, and I think that she probably always will. It's just who she is.

Happy Birthday to you, my sweet little Katie! You are my little firecracker and I love you!

To clip or not to clip? That is the question.

Tori was born with a very tight frenulum. It extends to the end of her little tongue, giving it a heart-shape. It is hereditary, and it's entirely my fault. I was also born "tongue-tied". Mine was clipped when I was very young (I don't even remember it).

Apparently they don't clip them now like they used to. They like to wait and see if it poses a problem (ie. with eating or speech etc.). Children often "break" them during the first couple of years by falling or running into things.

I had a harder than usual time getting Tori latched on when she was born, but she is now a champ at eating (as you can tell by the rolls on her arms!). So, why clip it now?

My fear is that as she reaches toddlerhood and preschool age, she might have delays in her speech because of it. Do I want to wait and see if she has problems and then have it clipped? I am afraid that then it would be traumatizing. I would rather she didn't remember it. I would also rather clip it now before it causes trouble. I would hate for her to be behind on her speech development because ot it.

I should add that Nick was also born tongue-tied, although his did not extend to the end of his tongue like Tori's. However, I had an EXTREMELY hard time nursing him in the first month. I almost went to bottle-feeding, because it was just too difficult and painful. I stuck with it though and eventually he was able to nurse, although never quite as well as his siblings.

When he was a couple of weeks old, I took him in to have his frenulum cut, because he was losing weight since he couldn't eat properly. The doctor couldn't do it though. His was very thick and it would have required surgery. I couldn't put him through that, so we didn't do anything about it. He is speaking a lot now and I am trying to keep my eye out for any possible speech problems. It's so hard to tell at this age (almost 3).

Tori's frenulum is not thick like his was, so hers could probably just be clipped with scissors (which is how mine was done.)

So, today we are headed to the doctor to see what can be done. I am not looking forward to it. Who wants to see their baby hurt? Not me :(

Am I making the right decision?

So Busy

I have been so busy that I have barely been able to blog.

I decided to completely rearrange the house. I have given the older 2 girls their own bedrooms and made the playroom the bedroom for Nick and Lexie to share. That involved a lot of moving furniture and clothes. In the past 2 days, I have:

1. Moved my treadmill to my bedroom (which involved pulling it sideways down the hall and removing my bedroom door)
2. Moved a dresser and 2 beds downstairs.
3. Put together a full sized bookshelf (Making mistakes which I had to redo along the way).
4. Rearranged the living room.
5. Went grocery shopping at the commissary.
6. Went shopping at Walmart.
8. Went to the furniture store for the bookshelves.
9. Tried to keep my sanity while Ellie is spending the night at a friend's house. She is the one who watches Nick when I need a minute or two to do something. Kate was watching him while I was putting together the bookshelves. He took a butter knife to the BRAND NEW flat screen TV. It has been VERY hard not to loose my temper too much.

Tonight or tomorrow, I will be rearranging the closets and cleaning up my bedroom (which is pretty crowded now with the addition of the full-size treadmill.). Then, hopefully I will be done and we can all enjoy our new bedrooms :)

I'm also going to make our monthly trip to Sam's Club tomorrow. We got our paycheck and tax return in one day, so it has been nice to have some extra money!! Most of it is going to bills. I'm paying off our Expedition - it will be so nice to not have a car payment anymore!!

Alone Again

We dropped Andy off at the airport this morning and I am single parenting again.

4 months down and 8 months to go...

It was so nice to have him here for 2 whole weeks - especially since he didn't have to work. We went bowling, watched movies, ate too much food, and just spent time together.

But now we're back to reality. He's on the other side of the world and I'm alone with 5 kids again. I know that we'll be all right. I just have to get used to the fact that I don't have help anymore- or adult conversation in the house. :)

I let a lot of things go during the past 2 weeks and I have a lot of catching up to do this weekend. I have floors to mop and laundry to do. I also have to get the girls' progress reports done and turned in and I need to prepare their schoolwork for the week. They also have classes to go to and did I mention that I only got 2 hours of sleep last night? I'm still running on the cup of coffee that I drank this morning (I normally don't since I'm still nursing Tori, but I didn't think I'd make it back from the airport without some caffeine!). I didn't let the kids go back to sleep (except for Tori), in hopes that they will go to bed at a decent hour tonight. We need to shift our sleep schedule about 3-4 hours anyhow, so I figured today was a good day to start!

Well, I had better quit typing and get to it!

Time is dwindling

Our time with Andy is dwindling away. A few more days and he will head back to Iraq for another 8 months. I'm trying not to think of that too much and I'm trying to focus on the fact that he is here now.

We went bowling yesterday. I'm not sure if I should call it bowling though. Maybe kid juggling would better describe it. :) We were handing off Tori and Nick back and forth, in between helping Nick and Lexie on their turns and taking our own also. We had a lot of fun, but one game was definitely the right length. Any longer than that and I think everyone would have started getting cranky.

Today is a quiet day at home. Andy is going to help the girls make their derby cars. They are racing them at Girl Scouts and AWANA this year. I can't wait to see how they come out! I am thankful that he is here to help them with it :)

Heat Wave!

Tori, my little snow bunny :)

As you can see, Lexie was having some color-coordination problems today. But, at least she was having fun!!

Look how close Nick's feet are to the ground. The snow has made the swing very low :)

Kate, my little snow princess.

We are having a heat wave! It's about 20 degrees outside and I think it's getting warmer by the minute. The snow is starting to melt and fall from the trees in clumps.

We bundled everyone up and headed outside to play in the yard. The snow was pristine. Can you believe that it's January and the kids hadn't ventured out to play in the yard since October? Pretty sad, isn't it? They had a blast riding on the sled, swinging on the swingset, building a snow fort, and just playing in the fresh air. They're still out there as I write this. I came in with Tori since she was hungry and tired. She's now peacefully sleeping in my arms. I guess it's time for me to go and make some hot cocoa - with marshmallows of course!

Family Time

This is what many of the signs look like when it gets super cold out.
You'd better know where you're going :)

We missed going to Christmas in Ice this year.
It was just too cold to walk around outside with the kids.

Driving in the bitter cold and ice fog last week- notice the sign says -39 out.

The view of the mountains today from near our home. We could probably see this from our deck if there weren't so many trees in the way...

Our house as we were driving home today.

The sunset near our house a few days ago.

Girls being silly, as usual :)

Nick sure missed having Daddy around.

We sure have been enjoying our family time!
Lots of food, a big mess in the house, no work or school, no schedule, and good times.

When Andy showed up, it was still about -40 out. It has steadily been warming up - it was above zero today and it might even get to 20 degrees out tomorrow (above zero!!) It's amazing how warm it feels. The car and house are now both very toasty and warm. These past few weeks, the car was never warm - even with the heat blasting. The kids might actually go outside and play this week. Maybe we could get a snowman built in the front yard like last year :) All of this, as I notice that the cold weather seems to have moved to many of you in the lower 48. Sorry!!

Last night, Andy bought a new TV - a nice flat screen one. He has been trying to talk me into one for years now. I guess it took us long enough! I gave in to him - he very rarely buys anything for himself and he deserves it. Maybe we'll actually have to get cable now to enjoy it :)

This week, we plan on maybe taking the kids to the movies, going bowling, playing outside if it warms up, watching old home videos (We also bought a DVD/VCR that records VHS to DVD so we can transfer our old videos), and just spending time together.

Welcome Home Dad!!!

Yes, Andy is finally home for his 2 weeks of R&R and we couldn't be happier! Well, I guess we could be happier if he was staying home for good, but 2 weeks will have to do for now. We could definitely all use some excitement in dark and dreary January.

What a whirlwind couple of hours.

We picked him up from the airport. When we got home, he took a quick shower (sitting in various airports for days without clean clothes made this a necessary first stop!). Then the kids finally got the chance to open their Christmas presents - which they did as quickly as humanly possible. I didn't even get a chance to take pictures. Yes, it was that fast!

All of the Christmas present unwrapping (and subsequent package opening - who designs those things anyway?) was enough to wear Andy out. He spent last night on the floor of the SeaTac Airport, so he was ready to hop into bed. He has promised to be up in the morning to make pancakes for breakfast though. We are looking forward to spending a couple of wonderful weeks with him.

Added bonus: the forecast says that it might possibly get up to 10 degrees by next week! You probably won't believe me, but that actually sounds kind of warm at this point in time (50 degrees warmer than it was today) We'll be out in our flip-flops and shorts! Ok, maybe not, but I could probably do without the bulky coat and long johns and wear a sweater instead.

*I have to add that I actually made it to Sam's Club today. I couldn't let Andy come home to a fridge without fresh meat. The shopping was fine, but imagine pushing a Sam's Club super-size cart (overflowingly full of course) and trying to help Ellie with the double stroller over an ice-skating rink of a parking lot with huge ice ruts in it when it's -40 degrees out. I was glad when we made it to the vehicle in one piece without freezing!

Cabin Fever!!!!!!!

I know that I haven't been posting much about schoolwork. To be honest with you, it hasn't been all that awe-inspiring or exciting in the past few weeks. The kids are rushing through their basics (math, grammar, handwriting, etc) and we've been struggling to get more than that done.

We've been trudging through our pitch-black days in a state of drowsiness. Our internal clocks are way off and I can't seem to reset them. I have an overwhelming urge to stock the cabinets (and my belly) and just hibernate through the rest of winter. Wake me when Spring has arrived. When the snow has finally melted and there is green grass in my yard. When the birds are chirping and the light of day has decided to grace us with its presence again.

I know, everyone is sick of the weather-related posts. I apologize. I should just get over it and move on with normal life. I wish I could. We've had a couple of weeks of excruciatingly cold weather. I woke up to a balmy negative 52 degrees today and it could get to negative 60 tonight. The forecast for the whole next week doesn't get above -35. It's depressing. My body is longing for a breath of fresh air and some daylight. The only outside air I breathe in is at the store parking lot and it's nothing but fumes from everyone's running cars.

We've gone weeks without having anywhere to go. No outside activities and no events. A break is good and it's nice to not have those obligations for a while, but without Andy here, I'm alone in this house with 5 kids day after day. It's hard to stay sane.

We're still waiting for him to arrive home for leave. Then we will be doing our Christmas festivities. (We still haven't opened presents yet). Maybe that adds to our sense of melancholy right now. We're not together as a family and we haven't celebrated Christmas with all of our normal traditions. The gingerbread house and present-opening are on hold until Andy gets here and that feels strange.

When he gets here, it will be 2 weeks of happiness. I will have help and we can easily get to the store. We will open presents and play games and go bowling and just have fun as a family. I won't care about sitting at home and not doing anything, because I will have someone to do nothing with :) Hurry home Andy!!!!