Viking Halloween Party

For Halloween we went out to the valley for our friends annual Halloween bash!!!

The theme... norwegian vikings. Surprise. Surprise.

Minnesotans stick together and there is most definitely a strong representation of this norwegian influence. Its pretty much if you were not born here in Alaska... you are either from Minnesota or Oregon.

Every few YEARS I meet a fellow Floridian.

So as you can see by the pictures... pretty much everyone from Minnesota REALLY does look like Paul Bunyon. For a second I really did feel like I was back crusading with Lief Erikson and plundering land and seas for steins of brew.

You gotta love all you Minnesotans... I love you guys so much I married one and now I talk like one.

You betcha.

Fer Sure.

Happy Halloween

By the way... this is supposed to be a Viking.

Yeah... I didn't win any pumpkin carving contests on this one.

Who is that baby?

OK everyone... are you up for a challenge? Can you name each Head baby? List your guesses in the comments and number 1 to 6. The winner wins moose poop earrings!!!! If there are multiple winnings you will just win regular moose poop.

Choices are: Cora, Keenan, or Lyla!

This is just the first round... so it is an easy one. The next round will include multi- generational pics and will be more challenging.

Testing

Testing the new camera...

the only willing subjects... Cora & Budda.

Picture Perfect

Yes. We. Have. Purchased. A. New. Camera.

This really is a monumental occasion... many stars, planets, and budgets had to align in order for this to happen. Pretty much it means that Mike and I had simultaneous moments of splurging. When the tightly wound purse strings and clenched cold frugal fist of cheapness miraculously decided to open at the same hour on the same day and off to Costco we went before the prudent and miserly ego awoke.

30 minutes later and the Canon SD1200 was in hand.

No more dangling from the rafters while holding the cord in place as we try to download the pics to our computer.... and 1/2 the time we lose them anyway.

No more embarrassing moments of ...the perfect shot... and oh the batteries are dead (they pretty much held charge for 3 minutes), SD card full (max held 8 pics), oh wait where is the camera? And yes I am aware that this can be fixed with a new SD card, new battery... but really it was an exhaustive search to find replacements for the Gateway camera of the 90's.

No more will we be the laughing stock of the picture taking community. We will be prepared. No more will we hear....

"Oh what a surprise the Head's camera is (dead, SD card full, frozen, covered in peanut butter and/or lost at the bottom of the diaper bag) .....AGAIN!"

OK so we all know the last statement is baloney. I will still forget to charge it and lose it in the massive Head bag where it is probably making out with my elusive cell phone.

Come on people... lets be real here... its a new camera.... not a new personality.

Sweet Seeds

Mike came up with a new recipe for pumpkin seeds. Season as usual... then add his secret ingredient...brown sugar. Bake in oven and you will soon have these salty, crunchy caramelized bits of goodness! Almost better than kettle corn. Almost.

Pumpkin Fun

A Great big fun gooey mess!

Community

I absolutely LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this old 70's poster. 

It is so Spenard. 

And I love me some Spenardism:)

Mike and I have a dream of one day living in the woods - off grid. 

In the meantime we are in the city... and in an amazing community of neighbors. I never would have imagined that this scenario is exactly what I needed while staying home with these wee little ones. Being a stay at home mom is sometimes so isolating and lonely. I now know that being in a beautiful house in the woods with nothing but the bears to converse with would have been extremely unhealthy for me. I love the hustle and bustle of our home and community. It keeps me sane to hear the school bell ring, watch the bus drive by, and have daily chit chats over the fence with my neighbors.

One day we will find our lake house... but right now striving for  urban homesteading is a pretty good thing.

Papa and Grandma come for a visit

 

Mike's parents came for a visit for the last two weeks in July. We had such a good time. It was sooooo nice to have family here.... it really does get lonely way up here away from everyone. Check out the bottom few posts of some of our fun doings:)

Thank you to Joy for all the pics!

The Mural

 

It's a jungle in here...

 

When we left our old little house I was most sad to leave our orange tree behind. No it was not in the backyard... but on the wall of the kid's bedroom. Joy had painted the orange tree on a visit after Lyla was born. So on this visit we decided Keenan deserved to have his own jungle...because he is my little monkey. We are so lucky to have such a talented artisit in the family. We love the mural and every night we say good night to all the animals on the wall (which he has creatively named ALL of them Keenan) Goodnight Mama Elephant Keenan, Goodnight Giraffe Keenan....

Oh and did I mention that Joy painted this masterpeice sometime in between...

recovering from bronchitis, flu, and much more

going to the zoo, hatchers pass, the airport beach, the park

baking pies, cookies, and apple struedel

entertaining 3 wild children

and

doing dishes, doing dishes, doing dishes!

Thank you Grandma:)

Trip to Hatcher Pass

 

A fun day trip to Hatcher Pass... including: blueberry picking, jumping in FRIGID water, family photos,  and a crackers & cheese picnic. Hmmmm.... could a day be anymore perfect? Well minus the bit of screaming by the kids during the road trip:)

Hercules

I just sat down to enjoy "my time"  - when all chickies are in their rooms for nap time - when I start to hear a gentle banging coming from "that corner" of the house. 

Meaning ... Keeny's room. The gentle banging becomes more and more boisterous and this is when the big question of my day arises - Do I go in his room?

I'm gonna be pretty honest here - in most cases I don't go in there. I just let him bang away and I horrifically imagine all the destruction he is causing. Eventually he bangs himself into exhaustion and surrenders to sleep mid destruction. This is always most amusing to me as I have found him in many odd postitions when I eventually check on him after nap time.

 - Buck naked with butt in the air asleep backwards on his bed. Clothes, diaper strewn everywhere.

 - Sleeping right next to his door with little fingers still pushed under the door. This one really is a favorite... I love walking down the hall and seeing 3 tiny little fingers wedged under the door - as if they are saying "help me please... break me out of here..."

-Asleep in his closet (did I mention that his closet doors are "supposedly" baby proofed with a latch). This one sent me on a panic hunt around the house - "Keeny where r u?? He eventually wakes from his slumber and I hear a tiny voice, "Here I am"... which sounds more like "Heeh I wam" I had to literally use force to get his head unstuck from between his closet doors.

- The last few episodes have been poop related. Involving poop in the carpet, books, bed, clothes... I really don't want to rehash these.

So today I decided to go in there - the banging was really becoming a bit scary and I thought maybe he is trying to tell me he pooped in his potty. We are attempting to potty train this week.

So I opened the door and I found little peanut Keenan holding his 8ft curtain rod (including curtains) over his head and jamming them into his closet doors. Just imagine Hercules with a javelin/spearing type motion - again and again.

Yes he had torn down his very large, long, and heavy curtain rod and curtains.

When I came in he promptly looks at me - lowers his spear and says, "Look Mommy bwoke." This statement is accompanied with a very convincing bewildered look that suggests he has NO IDEA how it could have broke.

I akwardly attempt to take the curtain rod and remove it from his room (did I mention it is really long) while trying to be very stern with my "No." The only thing I could come up with in the quickness of the moment - "Just wait till your Dad gets home - he is going to be VERY upset that he has to hang this back up. Now go to bed." All the while I am still trying to manuever this long spear out the door and not very gracefully. Upon completion I promptly shut the door with one more stern - "No."

Ahhhh the banging has ceased. 

Two seconds later the loud crying begins.

Sweet Tea, Sweet Tea... We All Scream for Sweet Tea

My family came up for a visit last month... the first time meeting the new little one. A tradition we have started when Dad & Johnnie visit is hosting a Southern Sunday Brunch. And this visit was no exception. I just love it. When you are 8,000 miles away from family and home there is nothing better than food to help savor those memories.  And what could be better than Southern food. 

Ummm hello can we say biscuits and gravy. 

Oh no it gets better... fried okra, pork chops, black beans, and collard greens. 

Yes it gets even better... sweet southern iced tea. Oh baby a tall glass of heaven on ice. When I first left the south I was shocked that places in the world don't serve real sweet tea. But for some bizarre reason they think they do.

Me: "Do you have iced tea?"

Waitress wearing flannel and Sorrels: "Sure do."

Me: "Is it sweet tea?"

Waitress with baffled, dazed, and confused look: "Ummm... sure."

Me: "Great... I will take the biggest glass you have!"

Few minutes later I am presented with tarry looking liquid with two sweet n low perched alongside. Or worse yet a glass of "liquid-powder-rasberry-peachy-nestle-chrystlelight-ish-should-of-stayed-in-powder-form-I think-my-name-is-tea" tea.

Everyone deserves a real glass of Southern Sweet Tea. You need to brew it perfectly and spoon in the real sugar. Oh I am sorry did I say spoon... I meant to say dump in cupfuls of the real sugar. And just when you can feel your waistline expanding and your cavities screaming... you dump in one more cup for good measure. Then you sit back in your lawn chair and take a long sip from your canning jar glass of iced tea. That's right - the only real way to drink sweet tea is from a jar. And in that one sip a rush of memories flood your senses... sun tea sitting on the back patio brewing the natural way, the smell of orange blossoms, and sand spurs sticking in your bare feet. I guess its a lot more than just a few bags of tea leaves and sugar - its pretty much your authentic childhood poured into a jar. 

Thanks to my family for bringing a little bit of the south to the last frontier.

I am linking this to Scribbit - Write Away contest. Check it out:)

I'm Back

I know, I know...  I have been a neglectful little blogger. This I can guarantee... if the words aren't ah flowin' it must mean the sun is ah shinin'!

It has been a true Alaskan Summer - BUSY. Trying to cram everything from camping to visitors to weddings to construction into 3 itty bitty months.

Where have we been? What have we been doing?

I will try to catch up over the next few days.