Last of the snow

On any given day, you will find Karsten outside working on getting rid of this snow mound.  There's not much of it left but that's because he's been working so hard at it!  And don't anyone dare tell him that the sun would melt it without his help!!  There's a lot of energy expended in this very important job that he's doing.

April Showers

We were hoping for rain showers in April, but things are a little different in Alaska and instead we got 4 1/2 inches of snow today.  Rats.

The kids were good sports and had a good time outside anyway.   But please - no more!!!

Tuna Casserole

It's been a LONG time since I've had tuna casserole.  And today there wasn't anything else that I could even be tempted with.  Maybe it was having sick kids home this entire week.  Maybe it was the fact that it was snowing.  Again.  Maybe it was the fact that I was sick the past two days.  Who knows, but can I just say that it was the most delicious meal I've had in a long time.  I'm going to go get seconds. 

Treasure Hunting

Hidden treasure?  Count us in!  David introduced our family to the world of geo-caching this weekend.  Boy were the kids excited!  David downloaded some coordinates onto his GPS, and we set out to find some treasures.  Since this was our first time and we really had no idea what we were doing, we luckily ran into an expert geo-cacher (shown in the picture) who helped us with our first find.  It was so exciting!  The "treasure" turned out to be some old toys and a C.S. Lewis book which we decided to leave since we forgot to bring anything to add to the box, but the kids were excited nonetheless. 

Sierra found our second treasure, called "The Silver Bullet."  Our third find took a bit of hiking, but we found it!  It was called "The Fun Box."  It was such a fun way to be outside and hiking around.  Hiking will never be the same because who knows where there might be a geo-cache - they are all over the place! 

Smarty pants

Skyla just got put into the IGNITE program at school which is for students that are testing at least 3 grades above their grade level.

Sierra just got the results from the TerraNova testing which tests kids nationwide and she's in the 99th percentile of all 5th graders.


We've got some smarty pants on our hands.  :)

Skyla celebrating the fact that we can see grass! 

Bed Bugs

Actually we don't know WHAT bit my son, but we counted 32+ bites.  Yikes!  Quite possibly he may be the next spider man?? 

Daily Fun

Sierra got this game in her Easter basket and we are all addicted!  We play it daily - especially Karsten.  Another Hymas highly recommended game for you...

100 Days

Karsten goes to the cutest preschool.  I love the teachers and the kids and the activities they get to do.  Last week Karsten brought home a volcano (shown above) that erupted with vinegar.  He was so proud of his volcano!  Last week also marked 100 days of preschool and they had quite the celebration (notice the hat with 100 things on it.)  Hurray for good preschool teachers!     

Snow or no Snow

Yeah, I'm still running...

I remember when it first started snowing and I put away my running shoes because who runs in the snow, right?  And then I DID see people running in the snow and I thought "Alaskans are the toughest people."  I admired them for months.  And then one day I realized that I am tough.  So I put on my shoes (with attachable grips which are like cleats so I won't slip on the ice) and I started to run.  I realized that 7 degrees is too cold without a face mask, and 21 degrees feels really cold until you start running.  I often run past moose.  My biggest fear when  running isn't being mugged or attacked anymore, it's running into a waking bear.  Things are a bit different here...

Oh, I miss the days of running in shorts (will it ever be that warm again?) and some days it's hard being this tough, but I have to admit it feels good and running is what keeps me sane.  So snow or no snow, I'm a runner. 

Sugar-induced happiness

I had to pull out all the stops this morning.  Yes, we are having sugar cereal for breakfast.  This is normally reserved for birthdays and special treats, never breakfast.  But today it was necessary.  Notice the view out our window.  More snow.  Two new inches and it's still coming.  Yesterday they were hula hooping on the deck and blowing bubbles.  Today it's back to snow pants.  They are not going to take this news well.  Let's hope the Fruity Pebbles does the trick...

Zoey

I have a beautiful new niece!  Baby Zoey was born April 6th.  It is absolutely killing me to not be closer.  

 

My sister's newly updated family - too cute!

Easter

While at first it seemed very weird to not be going to church on Easter Sunday, we quickly adjusted and realized it was wonderful having a relaxed, family day.  Thanks Becky for joining us for brunch (I've never been able to do a brunch before!) and for the Turners for inviting us over for dinner.  And yes, that is MY fabulous husband in the kitchen.  Helping.  :)

Time is ticking...

Can someone please tell me what I'm going to do  next year when this guy is in kindergarten?!  My heart is breaking...

.

Dang

I guess it's not quite spring...  Sigh.

Ahead of Schedule

This gap should still be filled with a tooth.  However, a few months ago Karsten got mad and bit his zipper.  So his first visit from the Tooth Fairy happened ahead of schedule.

Gender differences

David's friends from college are coming to visit!  They have NEVER had a reunion all together before so this is a big deal.  Ironic that now David is in Alaska, they are coming?  They used to all live a bit closer and it would have been much easier to get together.  It is this testosterone state beckoning them.

MY girlfriends are trying to get together.  I miss them dearly.  However, they're not coming here.  They're trying to get me OUT of Alaska. 

Isn't it wonderful that friends know what we need?  I'm laughing at these gender differences. 

All done

We're done with the snow.  My girls were ecstatic to see grass the other day - even though it was still brown.  Karsten is rolling around in the mud.  Sierra and Skyla are rolling around in the snow.  We're going a little crazy.  We miss warmth.  We miss grass.  We miss romping.  We miss color in nature.  All we've got right now is white and lots and lots of brown.  Springtime in Alaska is NOT pretty. But it is making us tough!!

Dessert for Dinner

Karsten was so excited when I said for April Fool's Day we got to eat dessert for dinner.  He dug right into the potato frosting which was surprising enough only to find meatloaf inside.  But the kids all loved the hamburger dessert! 

 

I told Karsten that morning that it was a special day where we got to do pranks.  He quickly got the idea and came up with a prank all by  himself - books in the girls beds.  It was HILARIOUS!  He was able to keep the secret from them the whole day and they were so surprised when they went to bed.  Although not as surprised as David when the girls pranked him the same way!  (Karsten helped them come up with the idea.)  But they put the books under the sheets which was even better. 

What a fun day it was!!