The Spaulding Story

Finshed Half Bath!

2012-02-15T20:28:00.004-06:00

The downstairs bathroom is finished (minus the new flooring on order). Mike did an amazing job! I love it:) We are planning to hang some black and white pictures in black frames, but haven't fallen in love with anything yet.

Future Flooring in bathroom and then entry/kitchen/dining room.

Valentine's Day 2012

2012-02-15T12:39:00.007-06:00

When the girls woke up yesterday, they were super excited to go downstairs when I told them they had a surprise waiting for them. Erin ALWAYS wakes up early if she knows it is a holiday or someone is coming to visit, so she was up before my alarm went off. I was glad we had some extra time so I could make them a special Valentine's breakfast.

Heart pancakes with Japanese chocolate pen decorations (thanks Jami!)

My little sweethearts:)

The girls both had heart sandwiches for lunch:)

I volunteered to help with Erin's party at school, so we were there by 1pm with homemade cupcakes in hand. I discovered the BEST buttercream icing recipe I have ever tasted! Let me know if you would like me to pass it on to you!

Passing out her cards:)

Mike wrote me the sweetest letter and brought home a bouquet of beautiful red tulips!

Kitty Bath

2012-02-15T12:31:00.004-06:00

Poor Tac! I was carrying her around on my shoulder and went upstairs to run the girls' bath and decided to sit her in the tub to see how she would react. I started running the water and she just walked around unphased by it. So, I poured some water on her back...still unphased! I ended up giving her a nice warm bath with Aveeno lavendar baby soap and she smelled so sweet afterwards! She didn't care for me rubbing the soap in, but didn't mind the overall bath experience. After almost nine years, I figure this out! I can't help but smile at the sight of my sweet husband cradling her in a towel while looking at Pintere...er...manly stuff on the computer:)

This is how she spent the remainder of the evening:)

Courtesy of Pinterest!

2012-02-09T00:28:00.007-06:00

I really do love finding all these crafty ideas, recipes, decorating tips, etc on pinterest. I definitely don't log onto it every day, but I love knowing where to look when I am thrown a curve ball... like baking a V-Day treat for Erin's class that doesn't contain corn syrup or red dye due to allergies:) Just thought I would post some of the cute things we have tried...courtesy of pinterest!

These turned out super cute! Just bummed that while the pictures were processing, I received an email from her teacher asking us not to include candy due to the issues mentioned above.

Why didn't I think of this one? I used to keep a notebook with all these dates and times for giving antibiotics to the kids and it got sloppy. Why didn't I think of this before?

Yummy Valentine's Day fudge! This was super easy...just melt a bag of white chocolate chips, stir it in with a can of strawberry cake frosting, and place it in the fridge in a 9x9 pan for a few minutes. Oh, and don't forget sprinkles:)

I know I posted her "A is for Apple" craft, but I did get this cute idea from pinterest that was posted to a blog. Here is her "B is for Butterfly"

What do you do for a teacher when you remember the night before that your little one insisted that she needed to take a birthday gift to her? GO TO PINTEREST:) I found the template for the tag and printed it. Then we found a yummy cookie recipe using only eggs, sugar, nutella, and peanut butter. Took all of 15 minutes for all of it:)

I have tons of other things we have tried, but I don't have time to list them all!

We got some snow....

2012-02-06T00:27:00.007-06:00

Where's the swing?

I am not sure how many inches we got on Thursday, but it snowed ALL DAY! I am not talking about a light snow with tiny flakes...I am talking LOTS of BIG snowflakes coming down fast!

I asked Mike if we could clear the area we use for additional parking since Erin's party is in two weeks. What a chore!

Walk way leading to the front porch

Bathroom Facelift

2012-01-30T23:10:00.004-06:00

I just realized that I never took any before pictures of our half bath...whoops! This is what happens when are stuck at home all weekend:) I decide to start tearing down hideous fishing border!

We had a long rectangular mirror that came all the way down to the top of our pedestal sink.

Wonder what we are doing? Hopefully I can show you soon:)

Turf Time

2012-01-30T22:54:00.005-06:00

There is a sports center here in Wasilla that has something called 'turf time for tots' Mon-Thurs. Some days are free and other days it is only $3/kid and they get to play with tons of outdoor toys INSIDE an indoor soccer field. BRILLIANT! What a great way to burn off energy on these long, COLD winter days:)

They Make Me Smile:)

2012-01-30T22:34:00.006-06:00

Playing the 'air guitar' I guess:)

He really is a great sport:)

Extra cash

2012-01-27T21:42:00.007-06:00

I have been keeping a few kiddos the past few weeks to give Emersyn some kids to play with while earning some extra cash. We keep Liam on a regular basis, but we had Dani the past two weeks while she was waiting to get into a new daycare. Just thought I should share some pictures!

Silly Geese:)

2012-01-27T21:35:00.004-06:00

Just some random pics of our crazy kids:) Enjoy!

Making Valentines for her class:)

Fondant Practice

2012-01-27T21:21:00.004-06:00

I made a cake earlier this week just to practice making marshmallow fondant for Erin's birthday cake. The fondant was very time-consuming and I wasn't going for perfect, so I thought my first attempt turned out pretty decent:)

I think it tore and cracked during my transfer because it didn't stay in the fridge long enough.

"Mommy, take my picture with the cake!"

Tough Dog

2012-01-26T02:56:00.003-06:00

Poor Kira:)

Stretch!

Northern Lights

2012-01-26T02:47:00.005-06:00

We heard there was an 'exteme aurora storm' prediciton for Tuesday night, so I was ready! Despite having a sick little one and a broken heater in -3 degree temps...I was going to see them! They started peeking out from behind the trees at around 10:45pm, but the nice show started around midnight. I admit that I woke Erin up, put her in our heated van, and pulled out into our long driveway while begging her to "look!". She may remember it, may not. Either way, I wasn't going to pass up a chance at her getting to see them:) AMAZING!!!

Polar Bear Party at the Zoo

2012-01-22T17:35:00.017-06:00

Erin is obsessed with polar bears right now...in fact, that will be the theme at her birthday party next month! So when we heard that the zoo would be celebrating the polar bear birthday at the zoo this month, we marked our calendar! They make a big deal out of each year and make this giant ice cake filled with goodies for the bears and even wrap presents for them. We invited Sabrina and Misti to join us, so we met to play at the base before heading to the zoo. The kids had a great time, but it was COLD at the zoo! They had a table all set up with a grill beside it to make s'mores, but the marshmallows never would melt...it was THAT COLD! They had fun little crafts inside, so that was a nice break from the outdoors:)

Yup, we're crazy!

He ripped this sign down with his teeth right after I took this picture:)

She LOVES polar bears, but not near as much as she loves crafts! She lasted about 10-15 mins watching the bears before deciding a warm craft room sounded much more appealing:)

Cold outside, but beautiful!

Polar bear crafts:)

Mike took this next one...awesome shot!

Mike ran back outside to take a peek at the bears and this one was stripping little pieces of wrapping paper off his present one strip at a time. I am guessing there were fish in the presents.

We drove up to a place called Flat Top after leaving the zoo and hiked about two minutes to see this...

Mt McKinley on the far right!

One Hundred Club

2012-01-22T17:22:00.003-06:00

Erin's class has been practicing counting to 100 and she has been working on it at home as well. When she could do it for her teacher, she received a medal and became a member of the '100 Club'. She was so excited! I can't believe how much she has grown since we moved here. She is wearing the same dress she wore her first day of kindergarten in this picture, but it is now a shirt on her!

We are so proud of her!!!

A is for Apple

2012-01-21T20:24:00.002-06:00

I am working on letters with Emersyn nad I found this cute website on pinterest. Can't wait to work on the rest of the alphabet with her:)

Learning about Fathers

2012-01-21T19:48:00.005-06:00

Erin's kindergarten class invited the dads/male role models to come into their class last week to tell the class a little about their careers. They had been learning about their Heavenly Father and the teacher wanted them to take time to learn what their earthly father does. I joked with Mike about how nervous he was even though he briefs Colonels on a regular basis...he agreed:) He did a great job though and you could tell Erin was proud to have him there. I videoed him while he talked to the kids (I was the only mom that stuck around to take pictures...I am that nerdy mom:)). He handed out lots of goodies, so he was a hit with all the kids:)

V-Day Crafts

2012-01-21T19:42:00.002-06:00

I feel better posting these pictures that are almost two weeks old since we are that much closer to Feb:) I have a Target $1 bin problem...I really do. I found lots of fun, quick Valentine's Day crafts and stocked up, so we pulled a few out during our snow storm:) Sorry to spoil the surprise, grandparents!

Snow Storm

2012-01-21T19:20:00.003-06:00

We had some major snow about two weeks ago, so I took some pictures to show just how much we had.

Well hello Mr. Moose!

2012-01-17T02:55:00.006-06:00

I am waiting on pictures that Best Buy is backing up for us, so I only have a few random pictures and stories to blog. The good news is that we replaced our old computer!

Erin modeling one of her new outfits from Christmas

Erin has been doing really well in school! She brought home a picture a couple of weeks ago that stated what she wanted to be when she grew up and a picture she drew describing it. She drew an amazing picture of an artist with an easel! She was so proud when she told me that Mrs. McD told her "I think you already are an artist!" I have to agree:) A good friend called last week and commented on the picture (posted on facebook) and suggested I keep this paper in case Erin does in fact become an artist one day. I then had to confess that I have kept almost every.single.paper she has brought home from kindergarten since August. Yikes! I know I need to sort through them and pick my favorites, but it will be tough!!! She also came home and told me that she learned about a place where the police are called 'bobbies' and about a queen named "Queen Spaulding". She obviously meant Queen Elizabeth, but she just remembered that she and the queen shared some part of her name:) TOO CUTE!

We DO have mountain views!!! If it is a clear, cold day with bare trees anyway:)

The girls skyping with Gigi and Sophie on our new computer:)

This gives you an idea of how much snow Anchorage has gotten! The next few pictures were taken with my phone at various places between Anchorage and Palmer. Most of you have seen these on facebook, but I have a few family members who aren't on facebook.

Sounds bad, huh? Not if you live in Fairbanks! It was -64 the same day this was taken here in Wasilla!!

Feelin' Crafty

2012-01-17T01:53:00.004-06:00

Emersyn and I were feeling crafty last week and decided to try some of my pinterest finds:) I have bittersweet memories of me and Erin doing crafts together and that is still one of her favorite things to do with me when she is home:) I always miss her when she is at school, but when we are doing something she would love..it makes it harder. On the other hand, I am so blessed to have the opportunity to share these things with Emersyn!

Paper towel butterflies-

When you are finished dipping them, you are supposed to let them dry before adding pipe cleaners to the center of it to form a fan. Then you are supposed to add little antennas. I would love to say we finished them, but they are still "drying" on our kitchen counter almost 6 days later:) Maybe tomorrow we can finished them!

Finished toilet paper roll butterfly:) I was so impressed that she made sure each side matched the other all on her own!

Slumber Party

2012-01-10T12:09:00.002-06:00

Erin had a friend over this past weekend--this little girl has been asking to stay over for a few weeks:) So Sabrina came over after Erin's gymnastics on Friday night and I was sure they would be out by 10pm after school all day and gymnastics. WRONG! They had ice cream (after I burned the last bag of popcorn), watched Dumbo, and bounced in the bounce house. I finally made them go to the guest room to talk quietly at around 10:30pm and put Emersyn to bed. They were STILL up at 10 till midnight when I finally called lights out. They had a great time together though!! I made them waffles with cool whip and blueberries the next morning and we did hair/nails. Lots of fun!

Got Moose?

2012-01-05T17:03:00.005-06:00

Okay, so let me start of saying that I do realize moose are dangerous animals to be admired from a distance. They seem very calm and laid back, but if you get between a cow and her calf...watch out! People have been killed by moose and are considered even more dangerous in Alaska than bears. Anyway, my Grandmother had mentioned a few days ago how cool it would have been for a moose to come in the yard while we were skyping, but no such luck. I happened to be on the phone with her this morning when I noticed a moose back in the woods in our backyard. We got on skype and she watched the 'little black spots' moving around. I tried to be quiet as not to scare them, but they didn't seem bothered by us a bit. I stood on the back deck with Erin's IPAD giving Grandmother the best view possible and the moose just keep on eating. A mother moose even appeared higher up the hill, but didn't care about us either. The calf started walking into the yard around the swingset and headed straight for our deck! He wasn't charging, his ears weren't back...just curiously walked towards me and I hurried back into the house still with the door open. The calf acted ready to come right on the deck! He watched me for a long time then went around to the side of the deck, so I went back out on it and took pictures. About this time, another moose and her calf appeared in the woods! My Grandmother got a once in a lifetime moose experience with me and so did Emersyn! I ran to the front porch when he finally went to the side of the house and he came right up to the front porch and did the same thing. I really think someone has been feeding him for him to come 3 feet from me! As I type, the second mama moose and calf are sleeping soundly in our backyard:)

New Years Eve

2012-01-04T01:30:00.006-06:00

We had a pretty laid back day on New Years Eve! Mike & I spent the morning organizing all that paperwork we have acquired from Japan to Alaska. The girls played and Mike made french toast out of the bread I baked (have I mentioned how much I am enjoying my new stand mixer?). Then Mike organized the garage while the girls and I entertained little Liam for a few hours. Some friends that live just down the street from us have a big shindig for New Years Eve every year---I am talking like thousands of dollars worth of fireworks! They had a big bonfire in the front yard and had invited us down, so we bundled the girls and headed that way with Mike pulling them on a sled. We only stayed about 45 mins (about 20 of that in their house:)) since it was -8 degrees F that particular night. We were nice and toasty by the fire for awhile, so it wasn't bad. I can say that after a week of subzero temps, I have experienced what it is like to have your nose hairs freeze. Not cool! Anyway, the girls were in bed by about 8:30pm even though the fireworks went off until 1AM. Winter fireworks are a big deal here since you can't really shoot them off for 4th of July in the summer with the sun out at midnight:) Mike & I enjoyed some fireworks from the deck and windows and called it a night:) Happy belated New Year!!!

Can you believe all those fireworks???

We each had on several layers!!!

Christmas 2011

2011-12-28T01:01:00.009-06:00

We made gingerbread people on Christmas Eve day before heading to church for the evening service:) This was my first time to ever make gingerbread and probably the first time me, Justin, and the girls had ever tasted it! It was a lot of fun and we have decided to make it another Christmas tradition for our family.

After church, we had a nice Mexican dinner together and we each opened our Christmas Eve present (another tradition-- PJs to wear that night). We took LOTS of pictures using my camera timer since it was set on 2-3 sec delay. I was so glad when I figured out how to change it to ten second delay!

Cracked us up when the girls instructed Justin to sit in front of the tree so they could 'take his picture' :) Such a good uncle!

We really enjoyed Rosanne while she was here!

Posing in her favorite dress for Erin

Erin posing for Emersyn:)

Setting out cookies and chocolate milk for Santa

Then Emersyn said "we have to put it by the fireplace like on Max & Ruby!" with a very serious expression on her face:)

We thought they would NEVER go to sleep so we could set everything up! Emersyn even walked in when got started after thinking she was asleep. Luckily, the lights were off!

The children were nestled all snug in their beds....

Christmas morning! We made them wait until I got downstairs with the camera and my parents and Gigi on Skype:)

Checking out her new ornament from friends who traveled to Germany:)

The amount of presents our kids got from everyone was pretty ridiculous. We feel blessed and they loved all of them, but we may have to set a limit on grandparent gifts next year (hint hint:))

He liked them:)

Merry Christmas to Justin! He hadn't seen any moose since he arrived and happened to look out the window on our way out to church on Sunday to see a moose and her calf! We then saw four more on the way to church:)

A beautiful white Christmas!

The girls received a bounce house from Mimi and PawPaw. What a great form of exercise for these cold winter days!

Gingerbread House

2011-12-24T02:09:00.005-06:00

We all worked on our gingerbread house over the past two days and it turned out pretty cute! I had to laugh at how many people it took to construct the walls and roof:)

The girls and I worked hard decorating it this afternoon:)

We also made lots of goodies today to take to all our sweet neighbors. You have to make peppermint popcorn if you have never tried it! I think that was the hit in our house by all my taste-testers:) Super easy and makes a ton! I would be happy to share the recipe:)

These peppermint cookies were super easy too! Ritz crackers dipped in semi-sweet bakers chocolate with some peppermint extract added to it---then sprinkle crushed candy cane on it and refrigerate for 3o minutes!

We made these cute little reindeer on Monday and thought they were too cute not to share! Another cute pinterest idea!

Alyeska Ski Trip 2011

2011-12-22T03:08:00.007-06:00

We stopped along the coastline to get some pictures of Justin and Rosanne, but we almost blew away! The weather on Tuesday was pretty yucky, but it made for some good snow for the girls to learn to ski on!

Lobby of Hotel Alyeska complete with Northern Lights

Mountain view from our room.

Emersyn did great for a three year old! We got the girls a private one hour lesson together the first day (we weren't able to ski because of the weather, but they took a lesson). She did great for about 30 minutes and then she was done!

Erin did awesome both days of skiing! She enjoyed her lesson on Tuesday even though it was pretty dark and the snow was really coming down.

Testing out her skis while waiting for her lesson.

Our little pro skier with her Uncle Justin:)

Snowball fight!!!

They had an Australian instructor named Max:) He was really good with them!

Gives you an idea of just how bad the snow got!

Erin skiing the bunny slope alone!

I have TWO camera batteries and a camera on my phone, but I forgot to pack the extra battery AND my phone didn't charge all the way last night. So I didn't take many pictures of Day 2, but Justin got this one on his phone. This was our view going up one of the lifts and Mike & I witnessed a beautiful sunset back behind this on our last run of the day!

Snowman Weather

2011-12-22T02:54:00.004-06:00

One would think that we could make snowmen here in Alaska for months on end....wrong! The snow here (at least in the Valley) is what they call 'dry snow', so it doesn't pack well at all. Your snowball turns into dust as you throw it:( Anyway, we had a heat wave (haha) and the snow started to melt---perfect recipe for a snowman!!!

Daddy did a lot of the work:)

We had a great time just hanging out as a family! I hope we have more days like this in the near future:)

Erin hanging out on her "snow bed" as she called it while Mike put salt down on the walkway:)

Cookie Decorating

2011-12-22T02:42:00.003-06:00

Gigi sent us a big box of her famous tea cakes, so we decorated a few this past week. I attempted to tint the strawberry icing red, but I didn't have much luck. The girls had fun though and they taste delicious! Thanks Gigi!!!

Erin's First Field Trip

2011-12-18T00:14:00.003-06:00

Erin's school (well K-3rd anyway) took a field trip to an assisted living facility on Thursday. They needed parents to drive kids, so Rosanne and I took Erin, Emersyn, and one of her classmates. They sang several of the Christmas songs they sang at her school program last week and then they went around wishing the residents a Merry Christmas. Erin did great:)She only had a 1/2 day on Friday and now she is out of school until Jan 3rd!

Emersyn turns THREE!

2011-12-17T22:29:00.010-06:00

We got up on Friday morning and Grandma and Emersyn got to baking the four 8x8 cakes I needed to make her castle cake while I took Erin to school. I found this youtube video by Betty Crocker on how to make the cake and they made it look so easy of course! This was NOT an easy cake to make for my first 3D cake and I almost tossed it and went another route. I actually got so frustrated at one point that I went to the store and bought five boxes of cake mix and five tubs of icing with the intention of using my round pans so no cutting would be required, but Mike and Rosanne talked me out of it. They convinced me that it would look fine after it was all decorated and the imperfections wouldn't matter. They were right! Emersyn loved her cake and I thought it turned out cute considering all it went through:) At one point, we were in the kitchen baking the last two cakes and the men working on our roof knocked on the door. When I opened the door, there were FOUR moose walking right through our yard. Two cows and two calves!! Rosanne was dying to see a moose and she lucked out seeing four since we have never seen that many in a group. I called out to Emersyn as I raced to get the camera and it scared them, but I got three of them leaving our neighbors house!

Three of the four!

Finished Cake:)

Mike and I put up the decorations last night while the girls watched a movie in our room upstairs. They knew not to come down or the movie would go off, so we were able to keep Emersyn from seeing it all until this morning.

Emersyn helped me make these edible princess wands on Tuesday after gymnastics:)

We set up this big cardboard castle for the kids to color during the party. The girls had to get in it as soon as they came down this morning:)

The princess requested donuts for her birthday breakfast:)

We let Emersyn open gifts from friends and family that weren't able to come for the party after breakfast.

Modeling the dress the Malcolm family sent her (which she chose to wear for her party)

Both girls got these cool Christian armor set for pretend play from the Ebert Family. Such a unique gift!

Grandma made sure Erin had something to open too:)

The birthday girl with her cake!

Mikw sword fighting with one of the 'knights' at the party:)

Playing pin the crown on the princess.

Edible wands...YUM!

The game below was an activity I came across while googling princess party games. You put 'gems' in white cornstarch and the children get to stick their hands in to find them (and get to keep whatever they find). We aren't sure what that has to do with princesses, but this was by far the favorite game of the three we did! We put chocolate coins in for the boys too:)

This was the first attempt at singing Happy Birthday and blowing out candles. She didn't know she was supposed to wait until the singing finished and kept blowing at it. Mike covered her mouth as seen below...

and this was the result...

So I had to take her into the bathroom until she could calm down and she came back to hide:) What do you expect when your 3 yr old stays up until 11:30pm the night before and has no nap the next day!

Enjoying her cake:)

Erin even had a cone!

She cracked up when she got two pillow pets from her friends since she got one from Erin earlier that morning.

Fit #2 when we wouldn't let her open anymore until she said thank you. We waited a LONG time for this thank you!

Big girls chanting for Mike to put up the new castle tent we got Em:)

Mike being a good daddy:)

Christmas from England:)

2011-12-17T22:24:00.003-06:00

The girls were so excited when gifts from friendsin England came this week:) We are mean parents...making them wait until Christmas day to open them. But they were so cute opening the big box, so I had to post some pictures!

Mary!

2011-12-14T03:43:00.002-06:00

I am so glad the girls have been focusing on the real reason for celebrating Christmas--one way they do this is by recreating the nativity scene. Unfortunately, Harley is forced to participate as well.

"Look Mommy, it's Mary!" ~Emersyn

3 year checkup

2011-12-14T03:37:00.002-06:00

Emersyn went in for her three year well-child visit yesterday and she is a HEALTHY little girl! Praise God! She told me all the way there that she didn't want to go to the doctor, but she didn't cry once! I think she actually enjoyed herself actually:) She got special attention, got the Alaska State Fair room, and she got to color on the paper they put on the exam table...not to shabby! She weighs 32 lbs (Mike's exact guess) and she is 37 inches tall. I have to wonder about her height though...note the tip toes in her pictures:)

Erin's Christmas Program at Church

2011-12-14T03:31:00.003-06:00

Erin has been practicing with the preschool choir (not sure why the kindergarten kids are considered preschool, but anyway...) for the past month on Sunday evenings. They had their performance this past Sunday evening and she was adorable!!! I have video that I will try to upload on here or to facebook soon:) It was quite amusing when Emersyn had to go potty during the second song when I had a part using bells in the audience. I am sure the video from the video camera Mike handed me during it is all over the place:)

Happy Birthday Gigi!

2011-12-09T01:31:00.003-06:00

Grandmother,
You are the most amazing Grandmother and Gigi on this planet! I can't imagine what life would be like without you and I hope I don't have to for a very long time. You are the first person that comes to mind when asked about my spiritual role models. Your faith and trust in God has been such a great example for me and my family and for that I will always be grateful. Your laugh is contagious and I can't help but be happy when I am with you:) Thank you for being a part of my life! I wish I could be there to celebrate another birthday with you!!! Have a blessed birthday!

Love,
Meagan

Holiday Fun

2011-12-09T01:15:00.005-06:00

I have been dying to start baking for Christmas--treats for neighbors, teachers, Erin's classmate, Mike's work---but it is still too early! I finally couldn't take it any longer, so Emersyn and I stopped off at Target after dropping Erin off this morning at school. I have found so many cute ideas on pinterest and I thought this one would be pretty easy to do with a little one:) I was right! They turned out pretty cute even though the 'cookie pop' idea was a bust. I bought the large craft sticks instead of the popscicle sticks, so the cookies ended up cracking and falling apart every time I tried to insert one. Lots of fun though! We had Christmas music playing and the fireplace going:)

Cookie tester:)

We have also been doing some Christmas crafts! I am so torn when we do this stuff while Erin is at school. I really miss doing this kind of thing with her, but I try to tell myself that we did this when she was Emersyn's age and Em shouldn't miss out on fun alone time with Mommy. I am excited about Erin getting out for Christmas next week so we can really start baking with Grandma!

Family Pictures

2011-12-09T00:58:00.005-06:00

We had family pictures taken by a friend from church a few days after Thanksgiving. We couldn't decide on a picture for our Christmas card and it was only $20 for the 10-15 min session plus a cd with photo rights, so I figured we didn't have much to lose. I thought they turned out pretty cute and wanted to share now that most of you have received our Christmas card:)

This first picture got some comments on facebook about how cold Mike looks...well it was 7 degrees outside people:)

"It's FINALLY snowing!"

2011-12-01T01:25:00.004-06:00

As we drove to church on Sunday morning, we watched the temperature drop down to -14 degrees (you read that right). So you can understand why we think today was 'warm' at 34 degrees and our kids weren't wanting jackets. We went to church this evening a little concerned because it was raining lightly and the temperature was rising...recipe for really bad road conditions if it were to freeze overnight! Luckily, the rain turned to huge snowflakes on our way home and the girls ran out of the garage when they got out of the van. Erin was yelling "It's FINALLY snowing! Santa is coming tonight!". WHAT???? We have had like 10 inches of snow since Halloween and she is saying it is 'FINALLY' snowing??? :) She cracks me up! It was already an hour past their bedtime, but we couldn't resist watching them play like this for a few minutes....

Liam

2011-12-01T01:23:00.004-06:00

I started keeping the sweetest little 7 month old baby boy, Liam, on Mondays and Wednesdays. Emersyn loves have a baby around to play with and I am earning some extra cash at the same time. He is such a happy baby!

Thanksgiving

2011-11-27T03:05:00.004-06:00

We spent a week in Texas with Grandma before heading back two days before Thanksgiving. While it is difficult going into the holidays without someone we love, we were even more aware of what we have to be thankful for. Some friends from church invited us over for lunch on Thanksgiving, so the girls helped me bake pumpkin pie to take with us.

Our tradition is to put the Christmas tree and Christmas decorations up after lunch on Thanksgiving day. I have fought the urge to put it up for about a month now though....with so much snow and the negative degree weather, it just felt like our Christmas decor should be out:) The girls were really excited about hanging ornaments on the tree and even more excited when we dragged out wrapped presents to put under it. Erin immediately asked if it was Christmas yet and began guessing what was in a present with her name on the tag. It is going to be a long month:)

I took a few pictures of some of our sweet ornaments we have collected over eight plus years...

Grandpa

2011-11-16T00:10:00.004-06:00

We love you and miss you Grandpa! We find peace and comfort in knowing exactly where you are now, but we will miss you until we meet again!

It's beginning to look a lot like Pinterest:)

2011-11-15T02:51:00.003-06:00

I have found some really cute ideas on pinterest and I had to share this one with Christmas just around the corner! Go to Lowes and buy a $2 Tomato planter stand, flip it over onto a pot, and string with lights. One of two that will be displayed on our front porch:)

Winter Fun

2011-11-15T02:28:00.004-06:00

This past weekend was SO nice! We played in PJS until almost noon and enjoyed cinnamon rolls for breakfast. We eventually got dressed and headed out to find a good place to go sledding after lunch. We were told that a golf course about 5 miles down the road was a good place to sled, so we went looking for it without much luck. We finally decided to head back to our subdivision where we saw a huge pile of snow that had been piled up to take the girls on. It was really steep and I laughed so hard I cried while watching Mike try to get up the thing with a sled (I did video this part), but Erin was able to get up with minimal help! She slid down on her bottom a few times and went down on the sled once. We now know of a place popular for sledding, so we hope to check it out soon.

We enjoyed some hot cocoa when we got back home...great Saturday:)

Winter Weather

2011-11-11T02:48:00.002-06:00

We aren't experiencing any major weather from the 'Snow Hurricane' that is hitting the coastal areas of Alaska, but we have gotten a lot more snow today. I worked Erin's school book fair this morning and ran out to grab snacks for Emersyn after being there for an hour...WOW! There was 3-4 inches already sitting on my windshield! We enjoyed more dog sledding and fun in the snow after Erin got home from school this afternoon. It takes a good 15 minutes to get the girls all bundled up and ready for snow. Usually, they whine and cry about not wanting to go out and end up having a blast:)

Crafty Princess

2011-11-11T02:42:00.002-06:00

I wanted to do a craft that I knew Emersyn would enjoy and came up with a princess using tin foil and tissue paper. She thought it was great and I really enjoyed watching her make the crown:)

I am so thankful to get to stay home with this little girl!

Mush, Mush, Mush...

2011-11-08T00:29:00.005-06:00

I am going to totally bore all of you with posts on snow. I will understand if you abandon my blog for the next 7 months:) I just can't help myself since it has become part of our daily life! We have talked about getting harnesses for the dogs to pull the girls on sleds since we found out we were moving here, so we tried it out today. We had PLENTY of snow to try it out on and the girls were ecstatic about the idea!
Look how high it comes up on her!

I feel a little guilty about dropping her in the snow just to see how far she would sink:)

Harley is such a good sport! I could tell she didn't WANT to pull a toddler on a sled, but she did it anyway:)

Erin kept yelling "Mush, Mush, Mush!" Kira didn't enjoy pulling the kids all that much unless we were headed down the block. After I convinced her to pull them down the driveway, she was good to go.

I giggle every time I look at this picture of Kira booking it towards the garage. She would REALLY pick up speed when we would get close to the end of our driveway. At one point, she bolted down the driveway with Erin laughing hysterically as I ran after them screaming at Kira to stop (envisioning a nasty crash). Once the sled and dog came to a stop and I saw Erin was okay, we laughed our heads off:)

Snow Ice Cream

2011-11-07T00:06:00.006-06:00

Mike worked this weekend, so the girls and I stayed busy playing in the snow! We have had the 'don't eat yellow snow' talks a few times and Harley was nice enough to demonstrate the yellow snow part for us:) We have had several inches of snow over the past 48 hours (4-5 inches I guess) and it is still coming down!

The girls helping me shovel the driveway Saturday morning.

Waiting on Daddy to get home:)

Burying Daddy's boots

A snowball to the head compliments of her big sister:)

We were invited over to Sabrina's house after church this afternoon for some sledding and hot chocolate.

She was in a mood until we went inside for hot chocolate:)

Gigi has been telling me to make the girls some snow ice cream, so that was dessert after dinner tonight! Thanks for the idea, Gigi! Snow, milk, vanilla, and a touch of Strawberry Nesquick:)

Snow Day!

2011-11-04T02:22:00.006-05:00

Okay, so the schools here don't even have snow days figured into the yearly calendar, BUT this was the first snow the girls were able to play in:) I looked out after Emersyn woke up from her nap and it was really coming down. HUGE snowflakes! I noticed it started coming down even harder and within about an hour or so, the ground was completely covered! Emersyn and I ran outside with our dogs for a few minutes before heading to pick Erin up for school. I think Harley and Kira are right at home here in Alaska:)

Erin was ecstatic when she walked out of school to it snowing outside:) I couldn't get her to calm down and get into her seat for a good 2 or 3 minutes! The little boy that comes home with us after school didn't have his snow gear with him, so I asked him if he minded wearing pink snow pants and snow boots...he definitely didn't mind if it meant playing in the snow:)

Snow Angel

Best Buds! Erin was telling me on the way home from church last night that she wasn't sure if she was going to marry Dustin or not yet. WHAT???? Apparently, the kids in her class were all discussing who was going to marry who among the 14 kids in the class. I assured her she doesn't have to make that decision in the near future!

I took this last one a few evenings ago. Isn't is just beautiful?!?

Halloween

2011-11-01T14:45:00.009-05:00

After dropping Erin off at school and getting the oil in the van changed, Emersyn konked out for a good three hours. I used that time to bake for the church festival's cake walk. I was really excited about decorating cupcakes to look like candy corn:)

She finally decided on a ballerina.

The girls weren't even in their costumes when our doorbell started ringing

Our polar bear and ballerina:)

Showing his ballet moves:)

Candy!!!

We hadn't even made it to church for our first stop of the evening---this was taken at 6pm!

Did I mention it snowed for about two hours while I was baking that morning?

Emersyn taking it all in:)

Making Uncle Paul proud with her hockey moves!

This child won THREE times at the cake walk! One dipped pretzel and NINE cupcakes.

Erin couldn't stand the thought of sharing Emersyn's cupcakes, so we had to do the cake walk over and over again until she won some of my cupcakes.

We took the girls to a few neighbors, but it was SO COLD! I don't know how people can spend hours trick or treating here, esp with small children. Emersyn and I went home to pass out candy while Mike and Erin planned to go to 'one more house'---HA! They were gone about 15 mins:)

Pumpkins & Snow

2011-10-31T03:00:00.007-05:00

We woke up to snow this morning! Erin and Emersyn were really excited about it, but bummed they couldn't play in it. We wanted them to take it easy today with Erin going back to school tomorrow and Em's fever on Saturday. They both took a 3.5 hour nap this afternoon!

Tac was at the back door whining to go out, so I thought I would teach her a lesson and let her out in the snow. She didn't mind it, so the joke was on me! I had to run out bare foot to get her without a coat before she jumped off the deck.

I grabbed a few pumpkins on Saturday morning while shopping for our groceries and food to make for church. We usually carve pumpkins about a week before the 31st, but with the girls being sick and just being busy we hadn't done it yet. The girls put in their requests this afternoon and Mike went to work on them. I thought he did a great job!

Their response when we told them to dig out the seeds and pumpkin guts:)

I love the look on Mike's face in this one:)

I thought Erin's polar bear and cub turned out cool!

The girls with their pumpkins:)

Party

2011-10-31T02:57:00.003-05:00

Erin was invited to her first birthday party since we moved here! We weren't sure she would get to go since she was sick all week, but she recovered just in time:) I felt a little guilty when I read the invite to her...'Dress up as your favorite princess'. Erin told me Aurora was her favorite and I told her 'sorry, you are going to be Snow White since we already have the costume for it'. She didn't seem to mind!

Hot Cocoa Cupcakes!

2011-10-31T02:52:00.003-05:00

I attended a Worldcrafts Christmas party last night at church and I was asked to bring a Christmas dish. I made my Grandmother's mexican casserole since she has made it for Christmas Eve dinner a few times and I was so excited to try out one of my pinterest recipes! I thought they turned out pretty cute...

Fun Crafts!

2011-10-29T02:15:00.004-05:00

While I haven't enjoyed my babies feeling yucky, I have enjoyed having a whole week at home with both of them. We have done a lot of fun crafts, so here is a sneak peek....We plan to make Christmas presents out of some of them, so I don't want to reveal too much:)

I am not sure the animals have enjoyed us being home all week!

Harvest Festival

2011-10-29T01:48:00.005-05:00

Erin has been looking forward to the harvest festival at school for over two weeks now, so we were so happy she felt well enough to go tonight. She was sick all week with an ear infection and a yucky virus (one that Emersyn is now fighting), so I think she was just happy to get out of the house for a couple of hours more than anything:)

She pointed out the her little hand on the tree, so I had to take her picture with it!

Her little hand with a bunny on it:)

Cupcake Walk that she won first time around!

We let the girls eat the cupcakes Erin won before bedtime since we felt bad Emersyn didn't get to go. She didn't seem to mind hanging out with Daddy watching Angelina Ballerina though! Note the fancy dress Emersyn has on with the non-matching bow:) She goes through about 20 dresses/day-the fancier the better!

Poor Kira!

2011-10-24T02:43:00.002-05:00

Reindeer Play Date

2011-10-24T02:11:00.005-05:00

Erin & I met some friends from church/school at the Reindeer Farm on Saturday since she missed out the first time around. They had a fall festival complete with pony rides, a hay maze, a pumpkin patch, and reindeer of course:) We really enjoyed hanging out with new friends and having some one on one time together!

Sabrina and Erin

The girls were grossed out by the mud on the floor of Santa's sleigh...such girls:)

She was a little intimidated by this reindeer's antlers, but she warmed up pretty quick. Fun facts: reindeer can float--their fur acts as a built-in floatie! The difference between reindeer and caribou is that reindeer can fly (haha) and they live behind a fence. Caribou live in the wild and are only referred to as caribou in the U.S. and Canada. Everywhere else in the world they are known as wild reindeer.

To give you an idea of how big they are...

We're out of food!

We went through a fun hay maze...something I have never experienced before! They had a 'sneaky bandit' running across the tops of the bales of hay and if you caught him, he would throw tootsie rolls to you. The girls tried their hardest!

I am still awe in how beautiful Alaska is!

Sneaking up on the bandit:)

And this is the elk that BIT my child's arm! The girls were feeding this elk grass and everything was fine. We started walking along the fence back to the entrance and the elk followed. We stopped again to feed him near a trough area with a bigger opening in the fence and he grabbed Erin by the arm and started pulling her (almost off the ground). Me and another woman grabbed her and pulled her back...I was so scared! I think she was more upset about me looking at her arm than she was with the actual experience since it happened so fast. She came out with a bruise, but I am so thankful she had on a thick coat! She quickly forgot about it, but I still haven't. I feel so guilty it happened!

This was about 5-10 minutes after our traumatic elk experience!

Sweet girl:)

Overall, a great Saturday afternoon!

Fall Goodies from Grandparents

2011-10-24T02:07:00.003-05:00

The girls have really made out over the past two weeks! First the package from England and then cards and goodies from their grandparents:) I think Erin was most excited about the candy corn---her FAVORITE!

Pumpkin Cookies

2011-10-24T02:00:00.005-05:00

Emersyn helped me bake pumpkin cookies last week and they turned out great! Not too sweet and they were semi-healthy with oats and pumpkin in them:) I LOVE to bake and I am so thankful my girls enjoy it too. Only problem is the eating it part! I think we are going to bake for local friends/neighbors for Christmas this year:)

She does own clothes! She just chooses to take them off so she can go through multiple outfits/dressup clothes all day:)

No pictures, Mommy!

A Taste of England

2011-10-20T02:20:00.002-05:00

The girls got a fun care package from some dear friends stationed in England:) We can't wait to save up to visit in the next few years!

Little Baker

2011-10-20T02:13:00.003-05:00

One of our sweet neighbors welcomed us to the neighborhood with the most amazing tasting brownies about a month ago. I asked her if she minded sharing the recipe with me and about a week ago she brought it over in a sheet protector with holes to place it in a notebook:) I was going to have some ladies from church over on Tuesday with their kids to work on games for the fall festival, so I thought it was a good excuse to bake a batch. Emersyn LOVED helping me bake them! I remember Erin being around the same age and really getting a kick out of it, so it was bittersweet. Missing Erin's help, but enjoying having the opportunity to experience the same thing with our baby girl:)

The secret ingredient...mini chocolate chips! I think this is why she wanted to help:) Seriously, these brownies are AMAZING and I am happy to share the recipe if any of you would like it!

All She Wants for Christmas...

2011-10-17T02:13:00.005-05:00

are her two front teeth:)

Seems like it was just yesterday that those two tiny teeth came in...where has the time gone?

Is this not the CUTEST tooth pillow you have ever seen? My friend, Jami, made it for her after I sent her the fabric and ribbon of our choice:) We got it just in time!

Too Much FUN!

2011-10-17T01:53:00.005-05:00

Looking back through these pictures, I can't help but smile! We had the BEST time watching the girls have a leaf fight at Mirror Lake on Saturday morning:) I had a really hard time selecting which ones to post!!!

Emersyn was NOT impressed when Erin started attacking her with leaves:) I am still smiling like crazy looking at these!

They were moving so fast, but I loved this one anyway!

Aunt B getting in on the fun:)

After our fun at Mirror Lake, we ate lunch and head towards Girdwood. We planned to visit the Alyeska Resort and ride the tram up the mountain to see the seven glaciers, but the tram was closed when we got there:( They will re-open it for ski season, so we plan to visit when Justin comes in December. We weren't too bummed since the drive up was so amazingly beautiful and we visited the Wildlife Refuge nearby.

This is the tram we were planning to ride--can you see the lodge at the top through the clouds?

Jewelry Making

2011-10-17T01:33:00.003-05:00

My aunt is one of those crafty people (you know the type) and has recently gotten into making jewelry. She made some really cute necklaces for the girls a few months ago and promised them we would make jewelry when she came to visit. We headed to Michael's for beads on Wednesday after school for beads/supplies and met Mike for dinner at Moose's Tooth. The next evening, Erin made a necklace and I made one for Emersyn at the same time. Lots of fun, but hard work:)

Erin proudly wore her necklace to school the next day:)

Fun with Aunt B

2011-10-13T02:08:00.004-05:00

The girls are having so much fun with their great aunt! Here are some sweet pictures I took over the last few days:)

Aunt B took these next few of the girls modeling their costumes for the Fall Festival at church/school in a few weeks.

Reindeer Farm

2011-10-13T01:53:00.004-05:00

I joined MOPS (mothers of preschoolers) last week and we were invited as a group to visit the Reindeer Farm in Palmer this morning. I asked if they minded if I brought Aunt B and that said she was more than welcome, so we headed out around 0930. I felt really bad that Erin was in school, but we have already made plans to go back as a family when next Saturday. As we got closer to the mountains, we noticed the temp was 21 degrees outside and we weren't really prepared for that. We had decent jackets, but we didn't last long at the farm! It was SOOO cold! Emersyn was really excited about petting the reindeer and I really didn't expect her to walk around the pen with them, but she did! At one point, one she was trying to pet bucked it's head a little and I think it scratched her little cheek and she wasn't all about petting them after that. We had a good time even though our fingers were frozen after about
20 mins:)

What big antlers you have:)

Her expression cracks me up!

We met Mike in Anchorage after Erin got out of school and had dinner at the Moose's Tooth. Aunt B pointed this out on the way home-

Hear Me Roar...

2011-10-13T01:26:00.003-05:00

So I made a complete FOOL of myself yesterday, but I did it for my aunt if that makes a difference! She has been dying to see a moose since I picked her up from the airport late Monday night, so when we finally saw a cow and her calf in the neighborhood we were all pretty giddy. For the longest time, we only saw the mama moose...she kept looking over across the street between bites. Finally, a little calf emerged from the brush and she eventually crossed over to be fairly close to him. Aunt B wanted a picture of the two of them together, so we started patting the side of the car with our windows down in an attempt to spook them into getting close to each other. DID NOT WORK. Moose are supposed to be super protective of their calves, but loud sounds don't seem to count as danger! Anyway, all this was taking place in front of a guy's house on our block--he just happens to work with Mike. I didn't think anything of it...Mike was still at work..shouldn't this guy be too? So I talk everyone in the car (Aunt B and the girls) into 'roaring' at the moose. I roared really REALLY loud for several minutes, but the moose still ignored us. Finally, the calf got bored and crossed the road and we started to drive off. About that time, the guy Mike works with walks out on his front porch with his baby. I was so embarrassed wondering if he saw/heard us, so I called out to him "Guess you saw us make fools of ourselves, huh?". His reply... "YUP". We laughed all the way home and could barely breathe when Mike came walking out of the garage (he had just gotten home) wondering why in the world we were in tears. Mike said he was sure he would hear about it in the morning meeting the next day and was glad he had a heads up. Claimed he was going to tell him I need to lay off the booze. Anyway, enjoy the pictures:)

Tiny Gymnast

2011-10-12T23:55:00.004-05:00

I finally have some pictures of Emersyn at gymnastics-thanks to Aunt B! She had another great class this week and her coach said "she is ready for the next class, when she is ready to let go of you". I am so proud of her, but when I thought about it later...it kind of made me sad. I am glad we have healthy, growing girls who are becoming independent, but I hope they won't ever feel like they 'don't need me anymore'.

Progress...she gave the coach a high five and told him what color sticker she wanted:)

Just an update on the girls...

2011-10-10T01:08:00.003-05:00

I really haven't taken any new pictures this past week...I do apologize for that! We have been pretty busy with school, church, kids- life in general! I did want to share a few cute things the girls have done/said though:)

Erin was laying on the floor pretending to be a baby sucking on her sippie cup of milk in her room.

Me: 'Erin, stop doing that...your teeth will rot out if you lay down sucking on that like a baby' (I realize now that it would take her doing that a lot to actually have that outcome but still)

Erin: 'That's okay...they are all going to fall eventually anyway!"

She also has learned to sing 'Jesus Love Me' in spanish! Her teacher taught them last week and she has been singing it ever since:) While her learning Spanish isn't all that important (although it is a nice thing), it just confirms that we chose the right school for her:) I love that she is learning about God even when she isn't at home or church! Oh, tonight we discovered she will be singing 'All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth' very soon:)

Emersyn started gymnastics last Tuesday and she LOVES it! We are attending a parent-tot class for kids 18 months-3 years and she really could probably move on to the 3 year old class, but there is no way she will let me stand on the sidelines while she performs for strangers:) She begged us to do ballet for months, so about a month ago I took her to try a ballet class for toddlers. She was so excited about getting all dressed in a tutu with ballet slippers! We got to the studio and she started to cling a little. Then when she realized I would be outside the class watching from a window...she lost it! She has been so good about staying in the church nursery and even being dropped off at our first MOPS meeting...not a single tear! But the idea of performing with strangers isn't happening for now! I really enjoyed being out there interacting with her, so I don't mind and I am not going to push it:)

She is doing AWESOME with potty training! We still have some accidents with going #2, but she tells us when she needs to teetee or just goes on her own without saying a word to us! She has been sleeping in panties (her choice) for about 2 1/2 weeks now with only 2-3 accidents! I haven't bought pullups in well over a month and it is really nice!

Who needs a babysitter?

2011-10-10T00:53:00.004-05:00

When you have a 100 lb dog to watch over your children while they sleep:)

Almost a Winter Wonderland....

2011-10-03T12:29:00.002-05:00

The snow is creeping down the mountains at a rapid rate, so we hear it should hit us in about two weeks or less. Erin can't wait for snow on the ground, but we keep telling her that once it gets here it won't be leaving any time soon!

Erin the Gymnast:)

2011-10-03T12:00:00.007-05:00

We enrolled the girls in gymnastics last week and Erin started on Friday evening. She was really nervous about going since she didn't know what they would expect of her and she didn't know anyone. She took gymnastics as a toddler when we were stationed in Wichita Falls, so she has been talking about doing it again. Anyway, she ended up having a GREAT time and she can't wait to go back! The class is from 6-7pm every Friday, so we like that it doesn't interfere with school or church during the week.

Okay, it IS a long hour when you are just sitting and watching:)

Pointed toes and everything:)

This was fun! She was the first of many to hold onto the rings, push of the wall, and swing back for as long as she could. The whole class counted each time she pushed off the wall and she made it to like 17 or 18! She was in the lead for a long time, but another kid eventually beat her record:)

Emersyn will start her parent-tot class tomorrow morning and we are looking forward to it! Probably won't have many pictures to post since I will out on the floor with her the entire time.

Part 3

2011-09-26T23:59:00.010-05:00

Before we went to the zoo last Thursday, I had taken Mom & Dad by ITT on base to see what tours they might be interested in. Mom suggested a wildlife cruise out of Seward, so we booked it for Saturday. A lot of stuff shut down in early to mid-September, but we were thankful to catch this last cruise of the season! We all got up really early on Saturday and were on the road by 0700. Seward is about a 3 hour drive from Anchorage and you add another 45 mins to that if you are leaving from Wasilla. The girls were content watching movies while the adults talked and enjoyed the scenery along the way. We made it to Seward with about 40 mins to kill before the tour started, so we went in a few cute little shops and played around near the dock.

This orca was carved out of wood!

We had our own table for the six of us up on the top level. They had an all-you-can-eat buffet with salmon, prime rib, yummy salad, bread, rice and DESSERT! Good food, great company, and amazing scenery! We spotted these eagles as were heading out to sea.

They loaned us binoculars during the cruise and they were a HUGE hit with the girls! In fact, we plan to get Erin some for Christmas this year:)

Mom with glaciers:)

Aren't they so cute!?!

They had a Park Ranger on the boat and the girls were able to become jr park rangers again. They had to fill out certain pages in a book, which Erin thought was a piece of cake. We just let Emersyn draw in hers until the Park Ranger came by and started asking her to fill it out with Erin's help. She was so impressed as Emersyn pointed out the things she asked her! Later, all the jr rangers went out and helped pull up a bucket of COLD water from the ocean and they were told to see how long they could keep their hand in it as a test to see how cold it really was. Erin was one of the last kids with her hand in the bucket, but I think she pulled it up and let it hover over the water a few times:) It was really neat how she talked to them about how certain animals were able to survive in such cold water. I love when we take the kids to do something fun and EDUCATIONAL!

This is the look she gives strangers when they try to talk to her or in this case...ask her for a high five:)

We had a long day on Saturday, so we didn't do as much on Sunday after church. We ate lunch and headed back to Hatchers Pass to try to get some family pictures and enjoy the scenery. Erin has been wanting to see the new movie 'Dolphin Tale' since she saw a preview a few months ago, so we all went to the movie later that afternoon. Emersyn fell asleep as we drove into the movie theater parking lot, so she slept the entire time. We ended the evening and Mimi & PawPaw's visit with s'mores:) We had a great time visiting out by the fire and started planning a camping trip for next summer! We miss you already, PawPaw & Mimi!!!

Here are some sneak peeks....I may use some for our Christmas card so I don't want to show too many:)

Making Memories:)

Part 2

2011-09-26T23:38:00.005-05:00

We did so many fun things while Mom & Dad were here! Erin was out of school last Thursday and Friday, so we took the kids to the Alaska Zoo on Thursday morning.

Silly PawPaw:)

I fell in love with this little musk ox. Is he not the CUTEST thing?!?

Erin has been dying to show her Mimi & Pawpaw the polar bears and was hoping they would be swimming this trip.

Mike took Friday off, so we decided to sleep in that morning:) We headed to Anchorage after breakfast to show them the base and head downtown. We did some shopping and enjoyed some Alaskan-made ice cream (the girls had Fireweed & Honey ice cream).

After that, we went to the Aurora Theater and watched a double feature: Journey to Alaska & The Northern Lights. The movies were only about 20 minutes long and the girls were a little bored, but it was pretty interesting to the adults. We started to head back to Wasilla and decided to check out the Eagle River Nature Center on the way (well sort of).

The views were breathtaking and the short trip down one of the trails was really cool, BUT we didn't go far without a gun. Why? Well.....

Mom & Dad Visit Alaska- Part 1

2011-09-22T02:56:00.010-05:00

Mom & Dad arrived two Fridays ago with our pups in tow:) After a long day of traveling, all four of them were happy to be able to move around a bit before driving back to our house. The dogs did great traveling with the exception of Kira shredding her absorbant pad for her kennel to pieces:) I guess we really can't blame her though! We have gone on many walks and they are definitely enjoying the cooler weather. Mom has been cold most of the time, but I am sure she will miss the high 50s when they get back to the 96 degree weather in Texas next week!

Erin had school Mon-Wed, so we really tried to stay close to Wasilla. I felt bad having her miss out on some of the things we did, but I know she will get a chance at some point. We did drive into Anchorage on Sunday after church for a promised trip to Build-a-Bear from the grandparents. We stopped off at Mirror Lake on the way and it was beautiful!

Parents with Sarah Palin's (old) house in Wasilla:)

One day last week, we decided to drive up to Hatcher's Pass near Palmer. Our neighbor had said it would be a good place to take pictures of the girls and we knew it wasn't too far in case we needed to get back to Erin's school. The leaves are AMAZING right now and the views were awesome!

We ate lunch at a cute little cafe in Wasilla before heading to the Iditarod Headquarters just down the rode from us. They do sled rides with the dogs in the summer, but unfortunately we just missed that. We did enjoy checking out all the pictures/trophies and the 20 minute video on the Iditarod. Pretty interesting stuff!

One evening after dinner, we decided to find this reindeer farm in Palmer. I had called earlier that day to see if we could set up a tour since the summer season is over and they were closed until October. We could see the reindeer from the road, so we took a beautiful drive to the farm and discovered the Matanuska River along the way.

More to come:)

Homework

2011-09-18T00:52:00.003-05:00

Believe it or not, Erin hasn't had any homework since she started mid-August until this past week. I guess with the small class size, they don't have as much to bring home. Anyway, I was really excited when she had homework for us to work on together! She had to glue pretzel sticks on the lines to make the shape of a house on the paper and she did great!

Goodies from Grandma & Grandpa

2011-09-18T00:45:00.004-05:00

The girls each got a big box of goodies from Grandma & Grandpa last week...they were so excited! Erin is all about crafts and Grandma sure delivered:) They got white printer paper, scissors, glue, glitter, and so many other crafty things! Emersyn was all about the clothes! Thanks for thinking about us Grandma & Grandpa:) You were so sweet to think of Mommy and Daddy too! I love my new coat:)

Over the Hill

2011-09-16T17:26:00.004-05:00

Mike turned forty on Wednesday, so we celebrated with an 'Over the Hill' celebration:) I waited until everyone went to sleep on Tuesday before decorating the dining room. I had made the cake earlier that day and hid it before he got home:)

Winter coat from Mike and Rosanne

Goobers at dinner:)

Wild Alaska

2011-09-13T02:52:00.002-05:00

We haven't seen a single moose in the neighborhood since we moved in UNTIL tonight. Our sweet next door neighbor tapped lightly on the front door and whispered to look across the street. Here's what we saw:)

Tac's first moose sighting too! She was ready to attack:)

Precious Gifts from God

2011-09-13T02:45:00.004-05:00

We have a bare wall in our living room near the windows, so I started hunting for some pictures to put up. I realized our last professional photos were taken when Erin was not even four and Emersyn was 9 months, so I decided to try a spur of the moment photo shoot of the girls. I think it went pretty well! Erin wasn't feeling it as much as Emersyn was since she was tired from school, but we had a lot of fun taking them:)

Our Home

2011-09-13T02:18:00.008-05:00

We have had several requests for pictures of the house, but we wanted to try to get most everything unpacked and put away first. I am pleased to inform you all that we are pretty much finished unpacking after four days! We have two more shipments set to arrive in the next few weeks and we still are missing some curtains, paint, and pictures...but we are done for the most part:) Enjoy!

Girls' room from different views-still lacking curtains on two of the windows and pictures on the walls.

Guest Bedroom- YOUR room if you come to visit us:)

Hallway upstairs- so this is taken back by the girls' room with the full bath on the left, then down the hall is the office on the left, guest room on the right, and master straight ahead.

Master Bedroom/Bath

Kitchen

Living & Dining Room

I left out the girls' bathroom upstairs since they were in the bath at the time and also the half bath downstairs. We hope you can all come see it in person soon!

Swingset

2011-09-13T01:54:00.004-05:00

As I mentioned in a previous post, we (mainly Mike) put up a swingset for the girls over the past week or so. Each day we started later in the afternoon and ran into a few glitches along the way, BUT it is finished:)

The kids 'helped' of course:)

This is the moment Mike realized I was taking pictures of his progress...love the expression:)

'Helping' was tough!

Erin really is a great little helper:)

The finished product!

Scenery

2011-09-13T01:49:00.002-05:00

I have had these pictures on the camera for a couple of weeks now, but I had to share:)

Home Sweet Home

2011-09-08T10:44:00.005-05:00

We moved into our house last Friday! We are all so happy to be out of a hotel room. Erin's teacher commented that she was "one excited little girl" when I picked her up. Erin later told me that she told all her friends at school, but one girl didn't tell her congratulations. She told the girl "you didn't say congratulations!" and then little girl did....crazy kid:)

We are all excited to have Tac back!

Our first priority was getting the girls' swingset up and room painted. We still aren't finished with the swingset since we hit rock while digging holes for the slide support and monkey bar ladder, but it should be completed this weekend!

Erin asked for a blue room and we know Emersyn would want pink given a choice, so we compromised with a cheery aqua color to go with their pink & multi colored bedding/curtains. It took FIVE gallons of paint!

The movers will be here today...yippee! We will have phone/internet/cable tomorrow, so I will post more pics soon!

2011-08-29T16:07:00.002-05:00

While I have really been missing Erin during the day, I am enjoying the same one on one time with Emersyn that I had with Erin at this age. She is so much fun to shop with...girl loves to shop:) We have enjoyed the various playgrounds/bounce places in the area and even took a stroll through our future neighborhood last week. We hung out at an awesome park today!

Bouncin Bear

2011-08-28T21:38:00.002-05:00

This past week, Emersyn has had Mommy all to herself and I think she has enjoyed it! We have done lots of fun things to kill time while waiting on Erin to get out of school. On Friday, I took her to a jump place called 'Bouncin Bears' and we had the place to ourselves. We had a blast and a lot of good laughs! She just wouldn't slow down long enough for me to take pictures with my phone:)

State Fair

2011-08-28T20:46:00.009-05:00

We went to the Alaska State Fair on Saturday...what a treat! We were prepared for the crazy traffic and possible rain (aka 'fair weather'), but we weren't prepared for how cold it was! Luckily, we still have a few storage bags of clothes in the back of the van, so we were able to layer the girls a little. It isn't uncommon for it to rain a lot during the fair- we even saw a booth that sold high dollar rain boots for women. You wouldn't believe how many RVs there were! I took a picture of some of them and posted below, but these people take the state fair seriously! We even saw rooms for rent in homes in Palmer on craigslist just for the fair festivities!

Some of the RVs I mentioned...

We were amazed by how organized the parking was. There were people directing cars into evenly spaced lines and there were LOTS of cars!

75th Alaska State Fair

This was in the kidzone prarie exhibit- they could walk through a 'prarie' made from plants and flowers and vote on their favorite ox when they came out.

The girls got to do crafts in the kidzone tent...owl puppets:) When they were finished, they got to meet a real owl!

Quilt Show

We have been eyeing these wooden bears for our front porch since we visited Oregon, but we just can stomach the thought of paying $250+ for a small one!

Yes, he did! Mike had salmon & reindeer quesadillas for lunch. I tried a bite and they were pretty tasty!

Some of the gorgeous Alaskan water color paintings (the sea otter one behind Erin was $880).

I can't believe we somehow missed the huge vegetables that are famous at the fair, but we did. We only saw the farm animals in this exhibit. I think I may go back with Emersyn this week while we are killing time while Erin is at school.

We did find these cute little hats/headbands though:)

Llama:)

No, we didn't try it!

Our cute little panda bear:)

Mike is not a fan of anything that spins, but he agreed to ride the apple ride with Erin since I did the carousel with the girls. This poor kid with them just stared at Mike when he asked if they could ride with him. Too funny:)

Fun House!

We shared a funnel cake---sadly, this was Mike's first funnel cake as well as the girls'!

Kindergarten

2011-08-24T23:23:00.007-05:00

Today was Erin's first day of kindergarten! We spent yesterday evening preparing for her big day: making her snack/lunch, setting out clothes, and making sure the camera was charged up:) We thought 'The Night Before Kindergarten' was an appropriate bedtime story!

We were up bright & early since we had to drive to Wasilla from Anchorage, but Erin didn't seem to mind! She wasn't too happy about me singing to her to wake her up until I mentioned she was going to school today. She popped out of bed and was ready to go after that:) I made her a big breakfast and she barely ate...I guess maybe she was a little more nervous than she let on. Mike came home from work for a few minutes to see her before we left...he is such an amazing daddy! I took a lot of pictures:)

Emersyn wanted in on some pictures too:)

I still can't believe she is in kindergarten!

She was showing off what little nail polish was left on her fingers when I was leaving:) I did shed some tears on the way to the car, but I was/am so excited for her to finally make new friends!

She has chapel on Wednesdays and parents/siblings are encouraged to attend, so Emersyn & I headed back to the school to join Erin. As soon as she saw us, she said "Mommy, I like kindergarten!" Here she is lined up with her classmates before chapel. I know today was an exciting day for all the kids, but I was so proud of her for how well-behaved she was during chapel compared to some of her classmates. Sorry, I had to brag on her:)

Ms. McDonell is her kindergarten teacher and she is such a sweet, quiet woman. Her husband is a pastor at a church in the area and Erin already loves her:)

She seemed tired after school, but she was excited to tell me about the 'polar people' she played with, the picture she painted, going to the playground, and that she of course wants to go back tomorrow:) We went out to dinner to celebrate her first day and let her pick. We had a long day...she even commented on how long it was and how tired she was...but it was great day anyway!

We've GOT MAIL!

2011-08-23T23:43:00.005-05:00

WOW! In the past two days, we have received mail from Mimi, Gigi, Aunt B, and the Ebert family. The girls were super excited about their new clothes, handmade jewelry, nail polish, books, and Hawaii gifts! Thank you all so much for making their day (and mine too)!

Erin loves her new panda necklace Aunt B made her:) She cracks me up poking her tongue out where she lost her tooth!

Thank you for my shirt, Gigi!

Aunt B sent this cool nail art book and Erin was so excited about me doing her nails (usually this is Emersyn).
We decided to try pandas and hearts to match her first day of school outfit she will wear tomorrow....unfortunately the paint was off by bath time (even after using a clear coat over the design:(

Emersyn wanted polka dots

Gifts from Drew and Anna:)

Beatiful Weather:)

2011-08-21T23:18:00.001-05:00

We had one of those rare sunny days in August, so we stopped off at the gorgeous park off the main highway in Wasilla yesterday. The girls really enjoyed getting their feet wet and we enjoyed watching them until we were reminded to check them for leeches, YUCK! They didn't have any, but we left anyway:)

Princess got her dress wet:)

Church!

2011-08-21T23:14:00.002-05:00

We joined First Baptist Palmer this morning and we are so excited to get involved once we move to Wasilla:)

Wildlife Conservation

2011-08-21T22:59:00.003-05:00

We drove to the Alaska Wildlife Conservation near Whittier on Saturday. The weather wasn't ideal, but we didn't mind the light rain when we got out of the car. You can walk and/or drive through the conservation, but you really have to get out to get the full effect! We let the girls ride in the front with us as we drove from one section to the next...they thought that was pretty cool (we made sure they knew this was a one time thing). We saw musk ox, porcupines, moose, eagles, owls, caribou, deer, black bears, and brown bears (aka grizzlies). Very reasonably priced and not a long drive from Anchorage (about 55 mins of beautiful scenery).