Winter is in full swing

Winter is in full swing here in Alaska.

Everything has a layer of snow on it.

The river is frozen over.

And it was below negative 20 degrees out when we drove to piano lessons this afternoon.

We have the humidifier running full blast to keep it from getting to dry in the house.

We now have to keep our lips covered in chapstick and our hands slathered in lotion.

Ice is forming on the outside of the windows.


And the days are getting shorter and shorter.


Just think, only 5 months until break-up. :)

A Great Week Ahead!!

Can you believe that the weather forecast tomorrow is for a 55-60 degree day?? We don't have snow on the ground yet. The little bit that we got a few weeks ago is long gone. We've been busy raking leaves and preparing the house for winter. I'm thinking that we need to take advantage of this wonderful weather and head out of town for a day or two - especially since Andy is on leave. We'll see...

Here are some pics of the kids which I took yesterday.


Here is Kate on our front porch:Lexie:
She is always being a ham in front of the camera. She can't seem to keep a straight face. :)
But I managed to catch one or two without a tongue hanging out.
Ellie with her favorite furry sweatshirt:
Kate doesn't like having her picture taken very much. I talked her into it.
She decided that she wanted to see what she looked like cross-eyed. Pretty goofy! :)
Lexie is almost always ready to have her picture taken.
Ellie again. I think this jacket will have to be hung in the closet while we're living in Savannah.
She's going to miss it.

Oh No, Not Snow!!

I'm not quite ready for the white stuff yet.

The leaves still need to be raked and the toys picked up from the yard. Plus, I really like driving on dry pavement.

I wasn't very happy when snow started falling this morning.

Thankfully, it melted by the afternoon. It won't be long though before it's on the ground for good. I'm just hoping that it waits another few weeks.

It's not that I don't like snow. Who doesn't love a White Christmas? I just don't like a white Halloween and a white Easter.

There is one good thing about the snow this year. I now have a husband here who can shovel it. :)

Smoky Summer

I am very thankful for the rain we've had the last two days. Even if it was only a small amount.

The wildfires have been awful this summer.

They are a ways off, so we're not in any danger of actually losing our house or being evacuated or anything as dramatic as that.

But they have left a thick smoke over the area for the past few weeks and I'm getting really sick of it. Some days, I will wake up to ash on my car.

I've had to keep my windows shut - and even with them shut, my house often smells like smoke inside.

I know that I just posted about this last week, but it's driving me crazy. I just want to enjoy our summer - it's way too short as it is!

Choking on Smoke

Our weather forecast said "smoke". Sounds strange, but it's true.

There are dozens of wildfires raging around Alaska right now and a couple of them are close enough to be sending a lot of smoke in our direction. One of the closer ones is over 340,000 acres. Isn't that huge??

We're not in any danger of the actual fire where we are, but the smoke has been horrible. They have canceled all outdoor sporting events and the air is considered "very unhealthy". So, the kids have been cooped up in the house - with me!

I look forward to the summer, so that I can kick them outside to get some fresh air.

The temperatures have been warm, but we've had to keep the windows shut. Without AC, the house is almost unbearable.

To top it off, my ceiling fan died on me 2 days ago. I have had it on nonstop for a month, so maybe it just couldn't take it anymore. Then yesterday, my floor fan died too. So, we went out to buy a new (and better) fan today. The ceiling fan will have to wait for Andy to take a look at it...

I'm hoping for some rain so that we can get these fires out and get back outside before it snows!! :)

Miserably Hot

We are miserably hot right now.

It's 90 degrees out at my house. We have no air conditioning. One ceiling fan and a couple of small fans is all. It's just not cutting it.

If you eat enough popsicles, does it qualify as a meal? I don't feel like cooking anything. I suppose we'll eventually need to eat some solid food :)

I'm thinking about taking everyone for a drive - just so that we can enjoy the air conditioning for a bit.

55-70 degrees out is plenty warm for me. I suppose I would enjoy the warm weather more if we had AC and a pool.

How on earth are we going to move to Savannah next year?? I think we're all going to melt....

In a Haze

Summer has finally kicked in. It's been in the low 80's!! Time for swimsuits and popsicles!!

We don't have air conditioning, so it's pretty miserable in the house, even with the ceiling fan on.

I've been trying to kick the kids outside as much as possible to enjoy the weather while it's here. Before we know it, snow will be falling again :)

The problem is, there are some huge forest fires to the south and west of us (One of them is 75,000 acres, another almost 30,000 and another almost 20,000 - that's pretty huge). They are very far away, but the smoke is here. The sky is hazy and the air isn't very clean.

It looks like we won't be enjoying our heat wave as much as I had hoped.

Finally!!

Today's trip to Wal-Mart involved bubbles, hula hoops, sidewalk chalk, and much begging for new bikes. Need I say more?

I will say more though. The forecast is for 70 tomorrow and 75 on Wednesday. How crazy is that?? Even if it only lasts a couple of days, I will be very thankful for it.

I might actually be able to get into my greenhouse tomorrow!!

Spring is REALLY here

Yes, today was it. The first day of really good weather. The end of the snow and cold.

It was over 60 degrees out. We were in T-shirts and shorts. Tori was in a sundress.

And I was chipping away at the snow and ice on the driveway and in front of the greenhouse. That felt a bit weird - it being so warm out yet there still being so much snow. It will be gone within the next couple of days though.

We saw a butterfly. We heard a small plane flying by (there is a little neighborhood airfield down the street). We even got the bikes out. How exciting!!

Unfortunately, with the melting snow comes mud. Lots of mud. And it has been tracked through the house - from one end to the other. I have to admit that I did a bit of the tracking. Now I have a bunch of floors to clean. Darn!

Here is Ellie, swinging. You can see her reflection in the mud puddle:

Bring on the light

Today was the first day that I really noticed the change in our amount of light.

The sun set at 10 p.m. Convincing the kids that it was in fact time to go to bed was hard.

I don't think that I will ever get used to the extremes here. From cavelike darkness in winter to perpetual daytime in the summer. It is so strange.

I am however thankful that I am now in the middle of the lighter (and warmer) time of year!!

Oh, the sweet smell of....

Rain.

Yes it rained today in Fairbanks. It seems like it's been ages since I've smelled rain on the pavement and the dirt.

Maybe it's the Washingtonian in me, but I really love that smell. And I actually like a slow drizzle. Call me crazy.

The snow isn't gone yet, but its days are numbered.

Each day, a small portion of it melts. It's almost completely gone from my roof. Soon we will have a yard again. A yard full of leaves that I need to rake. The funny thing is that we raked in the fall - a couple of times. Unfortunately, the first snow came in September, before all of the leaves fell, so now there are tons of them that have been hiding under the snow for the past 7 months. I'm just glad that I don't have to clean up after the dog this year. Wow, was that a mess!! The only think I need to shovel out of the yard was left by the moose...

We planted more seeds today in the mini-greenhouses inside. Tomatoes, zucchini, cucumbers, wildflowers, lavender, mint, basil, thyme, rosemary, chives, and various flowers. The kids picked them all out. As soon as we can get into the greenhouse, I will move them in there. I don't have any garden area in the yard, so the greenhouse will have to do. It has large raised beds, so I think that it will work through the summer. I just hope that we can actually get some things to ripen before it gets cold again!

Sprinting

We've been super busy here at Island Academy. We're on the last leg of our race to the end of the school year and we are in a full sprint to the finish line.

We are all in need of a break - me probably more than anyone.

It's tiring trying to keep the girls on task and trying to keep Nick and Tori happy and out of things. I think it wouldn't be so hard it I wasn't the only one ferrying them around to classes in the evening and putting them to bed at night. I'm ready for some free time - something I haven't had in months. I want to be able to read a book and go on the treadmill or spend some time outside!

Not that the weather is especially spring-like yet. It has been in the high 40s and the snow has been melting more and more each day. I could see grass under the trees and I could see parts of the roof. I was starting to get excited.

But we woke up this morning to a light dusting of snow. I'm sure that it will melt soon, but it is depressing to see - especially when there is still so much of it piled in the yard. I need to shovel out a path to the greenhouse so that I can get some plants started. It's already late, but better late than never.At the rate we're going, we should be done with schoolwork in about a week or so. That is exciting!!

Spring Has Sprung

I think that I can finally say that Spring has sprung.

Today was the first day that I really felt like it was warm out.
So maybe this isn't warm to some people, but I was in a T-shirt today. (Remember when I posted in January and it was below negative 40???)

When I dropped Ellie off at dance, I passed a guy on the street with NO shirt on. Yes, it felt nice out this afternoon. I think I'm ready to peel the saran wrap off the outside of the windows so that I can air the house out.

The plow came through the neighborhood and scraped the streets. Now there are huge, dirty piles on the sides of the road, but that's okay. On the road, it was slush. The sound of wet slush under my tires was music to my ears.
Lexie and Nick were hanging out on the deck this afternoon. Wishing Daddy were here to grill them some steak and shrimp....
You can even hear birds chirping outside. We hung up the bird feeder that Ellie made last year at Girl Scouts and filled it with seed. The birds were going crazy on the deck, until Nick took a stick and emptied it - pinata style. Now the birds are under the deck eating the seed.

The kids (Nick) even managed to break the screen door off already. I expect nothing less!
We're supposed to be up to 40 almost every day this week. That should start the snow melting. I can't wait to see my backyard again!! Of course, there is always the possibility of more snow falling.....but I'm not going to think about that right now.

Here is Lexie, wishing that she could go back outside. We had to get back in the car and pick Ellie up from dance. Maybe tomorrow :)

Welcome Spring

I want to formally welcome Spring and let her know that she can start melting the snow at any time.

I would love to see some blooming flowers.

It would be heavenly to hear and smell the rain.

Warmer weather would be nice too. I would be happy to wear something besides boots on my feet. Leaving the house without a scarf would be pleasant.

I'm ready for anything besides snow and cold...

Bring on the sunshine!!!

Snow Day

After finishing some math and grammar, I officially called the school day off on account of snow. We must have gotten about a foot of it yesterday.

And unfortunately, it wasn't a let's-go-out-and-sled kind of a snow day, but more of a if-mom-doesn't-shovel-the-driveway-we're-trapped-in-our-house kind of a snow day.

Definitely not as fun. This is one of those moments when I really wish that I had a husband here to do the dirty work. :)

So, I put Tori down for a nap, put a movie in for Nick and left Ellie in charge. I bundled up and grabbed my flimsy plastic snow shovel and got down to business.

My driveway isn't super-long, but it's not short either. You could probably park 3 or 4 cars in a row and it's the width of a 2 car garage. I never use one side of the driveway since I don't use Andy's vehicle while he's gone. The snow had drifted to that side and was seriously up to my mid-thigh.

Here it is about halfway done. Notice I had the garbage out? While I was shoveling they called to tell me that they couldn't pick it up this week....

Oh, was I in for a workout. I was out there shoveling for 3 1/2 hours without a break. Ellie was nice enough to bring me some hot cocoa - although I had to beg her for some water instead since I was sweating so much! I wasn't a bit cold, that's for sure. It was funny though, because each time I would go to take a sip of my water, it would be frozen over.

Lexie came out for a while to visit me, but went in since it wasn't very exciting.

Lexie, admiring the pile :)

I could have cried when the snow plow came by and dumped even more snow for me to shovel. I kept thinking, how hard would it be for him to turn into my driveway for a sec and clear it for me? Really? He just passed me by...

So, I cleared the majority of the new snow off, but was left with about 4 inches of ice. I began chipping away at it, and couldn't help but think how ironic it was that we were studying glaciers and icebergs yesterday and here I was chipping mini icebergs off of my glacial driveway. :)

Glacial chunks coming off of my driveway. See my trusty shovel in the background? I'm surprised it didn't break.

It started coming off in huge chunks, but I was ready to go inside at this point. So, here I am, about to hop in a hot shower. It hasn't even been an hour and the soreness is starting to set in. I predict that I can't even move when I wake up in the morning....

I had better not be too sore though, because my deck is the next project:

Notice that there isn't any snow on the railing? It got too deep and fell off.

Heart of the Matter: Beating Those Winter Blues

Beating Those Winter Blues.

Oh the winter blues. We have them!! Do you??

This is our second winter in Alaska. It seems like it's winter here all year long! I haven't seen my grass since September. It can get a bit depressing. The summers are wonderful, but way too short.

It was definitely a big adjustment moving here from California, where we had very mild winters. We have adjusted though. I have gotten used to plugging the car in at the grocery store, bundling the kids up in 50 layers of clothes (slight exaggeration), dealing with frozen pipes, etc.

It's actually not the cold itself that bugs me so much. It's the darkness and the lack of fresh air.
When it's below negative 20 out, who wants to spend any extra time outside?? Not me.

Especially since everyone keeps their cars running at the stores and has the heat going in their homes which makes the air outside icky. I know that you imagine Alaska having such fresh air, but let me assure you that isn't the case during the winter in town. Yuck.

I sometimes feel like we're a family of bears, hibernating for the winter in a dark cave. Wake me when Spring comes....in April or maybe May??

The only way I keep myself sane is to keep busy. We get out of the house throughout the winter (unless it gets below negative 40 - then we usually try to stay home if we can). We had a few weeks off during the holidays and then we had a cold snap where it was below -40 for a week or so. We were really going stir crazy. Cabin fever had set in. I'm glad to be back to "normal" again.

I keep the kids in gymnastics and dance so that they can burn off some extra energy - otherwise they are bouncing off the walls at home, and I don't blame them! They are also in Girl Scouts, AWANA, and art classes.

I have a treadmill which I try to get on every day. It cheers me up :)

I wish I had more answers on how to beat those blues, but I don't. I'm anxious to read how you all do it!! I could use some good ideas - and some sunshine :)

Alaskans are a hearty breed

Interior of Arctic Igloo, Churchill, Manitoba, Canada

The people of Alaska never cease to amaze me.

It was in the low negative 20s today. A pretty typical winter day in the interior of Alaska.

I thought I was going to become an ice statue as I pumped gas this afternoon. I was hopping from one leg to another, rubbing my gloved hands together to keep from freezing in place while I waited for my tank to fill.

When I looked up, I saw a woman prying the store's ice chest open, buying a few bags of ice. I thought that was a bit ironic.

Then, I spotted another woman walking into the store wearing nothing but tennis shoes, shorts, and a blouse. I am not very good about bundling up, but that was a bit extreme!

I jumped back in my truck without completely filling the tank, because I got too cold. As I drove away, I passed a man riding his bicycle.

Did I mention that it was almost negative 30 out?

Record Highs

The sunrise from my deck this morning. Isn't it glorious?

After one of the worst cold snaps in decades, where we had temps hovering around -40 for weeks, we now have record-breaking highs. It's almost 50 degrees out as I write this. According to the newspaper, we had an 88 degree difference in just 3 days. How crazy is that? Only in Alaska :)
I went out onto the deck this morning to take a picture of the beautiful sunrise (at almost 10:30) and all I could hear is water - dripping everywhere. I wonder how long this will last. I am definitely not complaining!!!

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!