Aright Already!

I really wasn't going to try and work on my blog this week because Scott is gone on training for the month. But, since it's been a while I felt like it just needs to be done, even if that means it ends up lame! Forgive me, this really is the best I can do right now!

My soldier's gear

We sent Scott off on the first and we have had seven days of one mishap after another! I don't know what it is about dad being gone that makes these kids act so crazy! Julianne slipped on the steps and sprained her ankle pretty good. It swelled up and bruised but she's ok I think. Wesley slipped on the steps and busted his lip. It bled like crazy but didn't end up needing stitches. Desiree burned her arm on the oven making brownies. She would have had to go to the doctor if I hadn't already had some burn medicine from last year when Isabelle burned herself with a curling iron! Then one of my precious angels turned the thermostat in the basement up to 90! We have in-floor heating so it takes DAYS before you feel a difference. I avoid the basement like the plague since that's where most of the kid mess ends up so when I made it down a wall of heat just smacked me in the face! It's been a few days since I turned it back down and it's finally cooling off. There are no windows and only the stairwell for the heat to move out. We had another disgusting incident that I won't mention. Suffice it to say that it involved Wesley, no diaper and my carpet. Why must these things happen when I am on single mom duty? I don't know, but I am very tired and it's only been a week!

In order to deal with Daddy being gone I like to keep the kids as busy as possible. We do a lot of shopping and as much playing as we can. Our library on post had a fun midevil-themed reading program this summer that we participated in. The kids and I got prizes which was very exciting for them. The library also had a renaissance fair after the program ended so we went and checked it out. It was cute! There were knights having sword fights and crafts and treats for the kids. The only problem was that it was freezing! Dang Alaska!

The kids made these really neat paper hats at the fair. And of course, Bubba got a sword!

When I saw this picture of Isabelle it just struck me how grown up she's getting and how beautiful! That girl drives me nuts like I never thought anyone could but I love her still! I see glimmers of the wonderful person she's going to become behind her snarky pain-in-the-butt attitude and I am so excited to see her grow!

Someone caught Desiree with the DSi camera and I just found this picture. Isn't she amazingly beautiful? She is a joy and a wonder to me. She is so smart, fun and totally original! I am very proud of her!

Last dinner out with Daddy

Trouble times three!

All the boys! Charlie is HUGE! I think he's gotta be 18 pounds now at 3 1/2 months! He is such a happy and sweet baby, he even puts up with Wesley! Wes is a little imp, always busy and into stuff. He keeps me on my toes! He is sleeping on the bottom bunk as of this week because he literally dismantled his crib during nap time...Yeah, I know.

Hopefully I'll have more updates for everyone next time! know that we love and miss you all!

Isabelle Turns 12!

Scott and I have spent the last 12 years watching our first born grow and develop into the beautiful and intelligent young girl that she is today. Isabelle has always been in a hurry to grow up. She rolled at 3 months, crawled at 6 and walked at 9. And started talking talking talking! I remember her hounding everyone with "What's that?" by 2 years old. Most of all she has loved to be with people, friends and/or family. Her first friend was a little girl named Heather that lived next door to us. She was a year older but Isabelle didn't have any trouble keeping up! She learned to ride a 2-wheeler at 4 just to keep up with the big kids of the neighborhood. Isabelle was more than ready to go to preschool and kindergarten, going through 5 before finishing elementary school! She has moved 10 times, lived in 4 different states and driven through Canada. She was the first of all the grand kids on both sides of the family and the first "great" on both sides. Most of all, Isabelle has been an amazing big sister, taking on more responsibility at younger ages than most kids ever see. She has always been my big helper and saved me more times than I can count. I am so grateful that Heavenly Father sent her to us. The next several years are going to be an adventure I'm sure but we are going to have a blast along the way! Happy birthday babe, we love you!

Wesley Turns 2!

Today is Wesley's second birthday. I can't believe how fast he has grown and how much life has changed in the short two years since Wes was born. He came into this world at about 100 miles per hour, literally! What a crazy delivery that was!

Wesley has moved three times, been driven over 3,600 miles from California to Alaska, seen snow, sub-zero temperatures, wild moose, glaciers and most exciting of all, a new baby brother born! With so many exciting things already experienced I think this little boy is going to have an amazing life.

Wesley has what we in this family like to refer to as "an excess of personality". He is wild, hilarious, headstrong and loving.

He is a joy and we love him with all our hearts! Happy birthday baby!

Beautiful

This year we are truly appreciating what goes for "summer" here in Alaska. Sure, there's no outdoor swimming and we still can't leave the house without sweaters "just in case", but it is really beautiful here! Thanks to our education in rain and bugs while living in Georgia the weather and insect life don't bother us so much. Rain here is more like a mist and the mosquitoes are huge but slow and easy to avoid, unlike those dang sand gnats in Savannah! The best part is that when the sun does come out it can be absolutely breathtaking! 

The kids and I have spent a lot of time at our favorite park on base and made a special visit to the lake across the street from our church building! The Canadian Geese had hatched their goslings and we wanted to get a peek. Unfortunately, we missed them when they were cute and little with yellow fuzz. Instead, they looked like goofy miniature ostriches! We liked them anyway, especially when they laid on their tummies with their feet sticking back!

Since Scott was on leave this last week he took the kids swimming at the indoor pool on post a few times. They had a blast and I was really glad that they got to go and brush up on their swimming skills. Me and Charlie stayed home with Wes while he had his nap. Wesley has never been swimming the poor guy! We are going try to get him there but the problem is that the open swim hours are during Wesley's nap time, and trust me, you don't want to be around if he hasn't had a nap!

While Scott was home I had wanted to go camping but the timing just wasn't right, so instead we investigated some possible camping sites. There are lakes on post and one is called Otter Lake. They have cabins around the lake plus bathroom facilities and a little store and boat rental. It's definitely a family campground, not for the rugged outdoor type who prefer to wipe with leaves! It was so pretty and peaceful there and we had a nice picnic enjoying the sun and scenery!

Scott and the big girls played some football. He and I tried to play catch but the baby was fussy. (Turned out he was getting an ear infection!)

The kids all had fun blowing bubbles, playing in the dirt and swinging. Unfortunately for our picnic there were a lot of "flying bees" as Spencer calls them. They were just giant flies but all the kids were screaming and running for their lives so they didn't really eat much! What a bunch of wimps!

Wesley loves it outside! It was so sad to watch him all winter look out the windows and wish he could go out. Unfortunately, he just wasn't big enough to negotiate through the snow and he HATED the sled I got him! (Probably because the first time I put him in it the thing tipped over and I drug him about 10 feet before I realized it!)

Spencer was worried Darth Vader might show up on our walk so he was prepared to protect us! My little Jedi!

Julianne is always so sweet! She spent a good portion of the time at the lake just blowing bubbles for Wesley. She is my little momma!

Madeline has been learning to appreciate nature a lot more (as long as we don't have to walk too much and there are no bugs!) and she loves taking pictures!

Desiree gets more beautiful by the day! She loves our adventures and is our little naturalist!

Isabelle got to go to Girls' Camp with church this year and it was very exciting for all of us! I am loving watching her make this transition despite all of the challenges and frustrations. She has great leaders and good friends so of course she had a wonderful time. She can't wait until she turns 12 this month so that she can start attending Young Women on Sundays and going to Mutual on Wednesdays!

There are still a few more things we want to do this summer and I hope the weather and timing allows us! It already feels like winter is just around the corner, particularly because I've been doing so much preparation for school! My next entry will most likely be all about our homeschool and getting that set up. We are really excited about it and I can't wait to tell you all what's going on!

Adventures

Anything in this family is an adventure, whether we are just getting ready for church or traveling across the country, but taking this crew on a hike in the Alaskan wilderness is especially...exciting, challenging, drama-filled...you can choose your favorite adjective there!

The day started for me at 6am. It takes that long to get everyone going by 9am! We almost made it out of the house on time and headed out for a hike on a gorgeous morning to Williwaw Lakes!

On the way we encountered our first bit of controversy. Along the road there was either a very large house cat or a small bob cat fishing in the stream! I'd love to show you a picture but the camera wouldn't work and by the time I had my cell phone's camera ready it was gone! Nonetheless, I say bob cat!

Here we have our next controversy. I found a trail online. It was called the Williwaw Lakes trail and described beautiful emerald lakes. That was not what we found, however. At the trailhead we learned that the Williwaw Lakes were about 12 miles through the mountains and could only be reached via several criss-crossed trails, beginning where we were! Oh well, we had trails and wilderness aplenty!

It was a pretty hike with some nice views of the Anchorage bowl and we even saw Denali! Once again, we are having some technical difficulties with our POC camera so I can't show you a picture. Here's one of the trail views with some of the kids waaay down the trail instead!

Probably the most exciting thing we encountered on the hike was a fast moving stream with a foot bridge over it. We stopped on the way in and out to enjoy the view, take some pictures and rest!

The kids did really well until it started getting close to lunch time. We made it just over a mile in then had to turn back. Luckily I had planned a picnic lunch for after the hike so everyone had lots of motivation to return! We didn't carry any snacks because we are still nervous about bears. With as many people we saw on this trail, though, I think our concern was unwarranted.

Spencer couldn't go on when were about 1/2 mile away from the trailhead so Scott and I took turns carrying him. I had Charlie on my front in the Moby and Bubs on my back! When I got too tired and the trail started going up hill I put him down. Scott took over carrying him in his arms with Wesley on his back! It was quite a workout!

Finally, we made it back, much to the kids' relief! We managed to hike about 2 1/2 miles, which is awesome for this family! Our picnic was well appreciated and enjoyed after all that work!

I don't know if the kids will grow up and see this as good times or whether they look back and think about how mom and dad tortured them in the woods! I hope that we are making happy memories for them, I know they are for me!

Running Out of Hair

While this has been just another regular week for the kids it has been a momentous week for me personally. I began my fitness journey on Monday and started running for the first time since Spencer was born, which is about five years! The base here has a fitness place called Arctic Oasis. It has an indoor playground with a gym allowing moms like me to work out while watching their kids play. Supervision is required of course, and I am so lucky to have such great kids to help me out! Isabelle and Desiree take turns watching Wesley and Charlie while Maddy and Juju keep Bubba in line. So far it's working out great!. Isabelle has also begun taking on a little more responsibility by babysitting for short periods. Having them get a bit older and more helpful has really made exercising possible for me. So, here is my progress so far: On day one I ran one mile in 15:45 which a whole lot better than I expected! The next day I ran a mile in 13:30! It was so exciting for me to discover that my body still worked pretty well! My main goal is to be fit. I want to run and not be weary, I want to enjoy playing outside with the kids. In addition I would really like to loose weight so that I don't feel so shocked every time I look in the mirror or see a picture of myself! It's kind of funny when you have an image in your head of what you think you look like then you see what you actually look like! So far, after one week, I am really enjoying running and I look forward to my time! I hope that my enthusiasm continues as that will make reaching my goals much easier! I should also add that the kids are having fun too. They have either been at Arctic Oasis playing or at the park and having a picnic all week. Getting out of the house makes the summer more enjoyable for us all. I will be keeping everyone posted on my progress and hopefully using that as way to keep myself accountable. I love hearing about everyone else working out so FB me with what you are doing each day!

Another big change I guess you should know about is my stupid hair. As you can see it's very very short! I buzzed it with the clippers because I was sick and tired of fiddling with it and it was bugging me when I ran! I know it's pretty extreme but it's comfortable! I change my hair almost as often as I change my clothes so who knows what I'll do next. The good thing is that there isn't much left so I don't have a lot to screw up! Maybe I'll start wearing wigs...

A New Start...Again

We FINALLY got our internet back so I can get back to blogging somewhat regularly...I hope. What can I say, life happens! Change comes so fast for our family these days, it's hard to keep track. Having babies around seems to emphasize that, probably because they change so quickly. Charlie is six weeks old already! He has gone from a sleepy newborn to a cranky farty pants sweetie. He smiles and coos and looks into my eyes. I love that part. But the part where he cries from about 8:30pm to 11:30pm every night...not so much! That's just his crying hour I suppose!

The kids are all home for summer, or what Alaska calls summer anyway. This whole week has been cold, overcast and raining. It definitely has forced me to get more creative about our summer acitivities. For one thing, we don't wait around for a perfect sunny day to go to the park. If it's only cloudy or just slightly raining, that's good enough for a park day! We were lucky to start the summer with some wonderful friends visit plus Granny and Grandpa Phil! We might possibly try a campout. Yeah, I know, we are crazy to even think of it with a new baby but, hey...if we wait until everyone is "big enough" it will never happen! I'm sure a few hikes will be in order and a trip or two to the zoo and museum, of course. I'll be sure to keep you updated and try to take pictures too! Thank goodness for my iphone or a whole lot of precious memories would go unrecorded!

Hopefully my next post won't be this lame, but I had to make an effort or else quit entirely! That's basically my mantra as I go through each day anyway!