Peanut's First Christmas

Granny and Grandaddy made the frigid trek north to be with us for Peanut's first Christmas.

Here, he's not so sure about it all.

Better now.

Squirt Boy and Peanut love their Granny!

A mean game of Candy Land with Grandaddy.

What a blessing to celebrate Jesus' birthday together with family. Before the big day, Squirt Boy would take baby Jesus from the nativity scene and sing "Happy Birthday" to him. Too cute!

Florida Finale

Last chance for the playground.

Peek a boo!

YUMMY freshly picked strawberries with cake, ice cream and whipped cream.

Thanks again, Grandma and Grandpa, for a wonderful visit! We love and miss you.

Florida Fun

This fantastic creature greeted us at the Chicago O'Hare airport. I love dinosaurs; it made the 24 hours of travel with two small children MUCH more satisfying.

Dinner with the Graham family.

Pool Party!

Lawn Ornaments----or are they?

Sandhill Cranes

A hawk on the back fence

Piano lessons with Grandma




Giggles and Grandpa

Tampa's Lowry Park Zoo

Where's the Alaska town below?


Just hanging around....




The Petting Zoo

Angie the Llama

African Penguins (sweltering with us in the 80+ degree heat)

We saw giraffes, kangaroos, wallabies, rhinos, elephants, camels and more.

But the highlight of the entire zoo experience?

Feeding the budgies!

Ed. note: No animals were harmed in the making of this post. No baby heads were pooped on, either.

We made it...

For those of you wondering if we survived traveling for 24 hours by auto and four airplanes with a two year old and seven month old, we DID.

I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
glad that Papa was able to come with us, and not only because we get to soak up the Florida sunshine together.

Highlights in the last two days:

• Squirt Boy and Grandma playing the piano together,
• Grandpa rocking Peanut (now known as Giggles by Grandpa) to sleep on his lap,
• seeing manatees just down the road,
• visiting with a trio of sandhill cranes (also visiting a warmer clime in the winter),
• drinking TWO cherry limeades from Sonic,
• washing down Chik-Fil-A with the best lemonade ever,
• sharing dinner with my stepsister and her family,
• taking Grandma to buy her first skein of sock yarn
• buying a ball winder and some SMOOSHY yarn to make druid mittens at Knit N Knibble, a yarn store where you can buy yarn AND hot drinks AND munchies - wahoo!,
• playing at the playground,
• taking as many walks as we can handle in the 70ish degree temps.

We're having a good time. I'll post pictures and video when I can.

Know that I'm sending glorious sunshine your way.

Living in the moment

Something I've been pondering lately, as I take classes while carrying an infant and chasing a toddler through the sophisticated construction zone that is our home, is rejoicing in the RIGHT NOW. So many times, I'm stuck in the past, with "Shoulda.....Woulda.....Coulda..", or I'm fretting about the future (as simple as tonight's dinner, or as complex as, "Who will take care of my boys when I student teach in the spring of 2010?"). I grump and growl at Squirt, Fuzzy and Peanut when they want my attention NOW.

Of course, NOW is where I am. The past is gone and can't be changed. I can't ever be in the future, either. I want to be a good mama, a good wife, a good friend, a good sister, a good student, a good daughter. I want my sons to remember me as someone who wondered at the wood frog that interrupted my grass mowing, who marveled with them at the snowflakes falling, who delighted that birds actually came to our bird feeders, who dropped ALMOST anything to sit and read books in front of the fire together, who talked to God with (and about) them, who took the time to look them in their beautiful eyes and truly, fully, presently LISTENED to what they had to say.

I want to remember that TODAY is what I've been given to do my best with. I'm glad my little boys will be that constant reminder. I hope I'll have the gift of many more 'todays' to make much of.

'Bye, Cranes!

Winter comes early in the great white north. The autumnal equinox marks the END of fall, really. Frost and temps in the 20s greeted us this morning. Our golden leaves carpet the ground and swirl in the wind. Snow frosts Donnelly Dome, a prominant point a few miles out of town.


A huge harbinger of winter is the mass exodus of sandhill cranes. We live along their major flyway, rejoicing at their spring arrival, and sorrowing at their departure. This afternoon, we watched hundreds of cranes wing their way south, over our house. Squirt Boy waved, and said, "Bye, cranes!" We look forward to seeing you in the spring!



Temps stay chilly during the day, as well. Here are the boys ready for a walk this evening.


By the way, Peanut is FIVE months old today.

Just for Granny...

Every time Granny comes to visit, she wants to see a moose in our yard, or the Northern Lights. Despite her many visits, neither has come to pass.




This morning, the dogs (Fuzzy Butt and her friend Champ) alerted us to this yearling cow calf browsing in the yard. After charging the dogs, she munched for a while on the island of trees encircled by our driveway.

Sorry you missed it, Granny.

Note: The calf stayed in our yard for two days, much to Squirt Boy's chagrin and the dogs' fascination. She pruned my lilac bushes, mowed down my raspberries, sampled our grass and gnawed on the rhurbarb. She's quite the gardener, this little moose!

Recent Visitors

We've had many visitors this summer, including a grizzly bear in our trash on a couple of occasions. Sadly, I have no photos of the bear.

In August, Aunt Angie and Uncle Ralph came to visit. They had a grand time driving around Alaska and learning more about where we live.


Rome wasn't built in a day, but our new woodshed was. Thank you, Ralph!


Over Labor Day, our friends the Petersons made the trek from Anchorage to play with us. The girls were delightful company, for us and for the boys. We loved just hanging out with old friends.

The following weekend, Aunt Jessica, Granny and Grandaddy came to see us. Grandaddy made a great start towards filling up the woodshed.

The leaves have almost entirely blown off the trees, and we are holing up for winter. It usually snows here right around October 1, and stays until the end of April. If you end up missing winter where you live, please come see us.

Stay tuned for future photos of home improvements, when my camera battery gets recharged...

Hands Full

I've had my hands full, which makes updating my blog a wee bit difficult. Summer has come to a glorious end. The leaves are golden, the mornings are crisp, and we find ourselves scratching our heads, wondering what happened to summer.

We've had many friends and family come visit recently, and I'm excited to share photos of those good times with you.

House progress continues, too. The doors are redder, the siding greener, the deck railings are soon to be more brown. Beautiful slate tile welcomes you at the door, and lies warmly beneath the woodstove. Creamsicle orange cheers the oft-visited laundry room, and hickory cabinets hang in the kitchen.

For now, please be content with some Squirt Boy and Peanut photos to tide you over.

Squirt Boy eating the ONLY strawberry from our numerous plants. YUM, YUM!



Self-portrait



Peanut is four months old now, smiley and talkative.




I sure do love these boys!

Still Waiting...

It seems that the due date will come and go with no fanfare for Peanut's arrival. Aunt Michele came in last night, and we've been waiting in Fairbanks to see if Peanut would be cooperative, so we don't have to wonder about weather while driving 100 miles over the bumpy road while in a snowstorm (yes, a snowstorm!) to get to the birth center. Yesterday, we drove through a very late season snowstorm on our way to the big city. SOMEDAY, spring will come to the great white North!


To bide our time, we went to the Outdoor Show. Squirt Boy took a liking to this toy. His birthday IS in a few weeks.

We've eaten at some yummy local eateries and basically are waiting, waiting, waiting. We will head back home tomorrow; it may just be we'll drive a couple hundred miles tomorrow. :)

Happy Birthday, Grandpa!

Happy Birthday a day late, Grandpa! Squirt Boy celebrated by dressing himself for the occasion. We still have some work to do...

We also celebrated with 40 degree temps ABOVE zero! Comes close to those warm and sunny Florida days you live in. We love you!

Happy New Year!

Lobster Boy says, "Happy New Year, friends and family!!"

Though I'm still stuck somewhere back in 2005 or so, I am looking forward to what new adventures 2008 will bring our way.

We had a lovely Christmas with Granny, Grandaddy and Aunt Jessica in Anchorage. Squirt Boy was enthralled by the lights and decorations, and finally understands the fine art of tearing paper off of packages.

Aunt Jessica and Squirt Boy baked a birthday cake for Jesus.

Adam and Andrea came to have dinner with us. We always enjoy their company and hope they'll come visit soon.

We are thankful to have spent time with family and dear friends, though we missed being with the rest of our family scattered across the U.S. Know that you are always welcome, in 2008 and beyond!