The Praying Plank

I have visited my doctor lately to see why I am going CRAZY!  Who knew, that is what happens when you get older.  Her suggestion, start taking my vitamins again and get back to exercising.  Ok.  I already knew that I should do that but it made a difference when a professional told me that I had to. 

So I have.  Tonight I was about a minute into my second plank and Ellis joined me.  His comment was, "We should pray during our plank instead of count."  Before I could even comment, he started praying.  It was the most peaceful and fulfilling plank I have ever done and will ever do. 

My cup runneth over.

I now pray within all my planks. 
You are all in my praying planks. 
much love.....

My Monster Garden

I really can't believe that the last time I have blogged was in September.  Time really does fly. 
Quick recap of October:
1.  I am almost adjusted to working full time. 
2.  The family is almost adjusted to me working full time. 
3.  The "extra help" that Brad promised has almost fizzled out.
4.  We have been focusing on some home improvements lately to try to beat the snow fall.
                     We almost made it.
5.  Kids are BUSY!  Drama club,cornet lessons, guitar lessons, jazz band, wrestling, cross country, wrestling, family time.

Ok, feel caught up?
Now that I feel that I have justified my lack of blogging...
Here is what we are up to now.

I want to address my sibling's incredible gardening abilities.  They have both blogged recently about their
awesome and monsterous produce.  Well, I live in Alaska and have no desire to grow a monster cabbage or broccoli.  Also, we spend our 2 months of our very short growing season, in the lower 48.  So the hopes of a garden here is slim to none.  I'm ok with this.  I have a monster garden of my own.  Enjoy my monster garden.

Ballerina Ghost

Geek

Cowboy Avery

Add a ninja and I have a whole garden of my very favorite monsters!

Celie did not want to touch the pumpkin guts.  Can a lip get more pouty than that?

Thanks for visiting my garden!  Happy harvest.

A Tepee in the Woods

 A couple of weekends ago, the big boys and their friend spent an entire Saturday making this...

It is a tepee made from whatever they could find in nature.

I am in awe.  I am happy.  My kids know how to work within their environment.  They can explore and discover and invent without electronics, or a premade plan, or adults guiding them. 

 It is still standing.  I imagine it will still be there this winter.  I'll keep you updated....

Explore....

Our Sunny Sunday Adventure

Last Sunday we were all needing some exploring, bonding, quiet, communing time.  The sun was shining, the sky was blue and the creek was calling.  We grabbed our mud boots and off we went.

 This is undoubtedly my new favorite pic of the kids.  They were on there way.  They had a plan without planning. They were connected.  To each other, to nature, to the experience around them.

 Little E was determined to find fish.  The salmon are pretty much gone for the season. 

Baby O couldn't make it through the deeper sections of the creek without getting water in her boots.  Isaak helped her through.  Why didn't I?  Who else would have taken this sweet picture?  Also, Av was wearing my mud boots so I was in tennies.

 Precious...

 Later, she decided it didn't matter and she went plowing through the water anyway.  She said she was glad she did because now, "my boots make crazy noises when I walk."  They really did.  They were completely full of water!

 Av is always ready for a pic.  Funny kid.

 Baby O kept asking, "Can you see me?"  behind every tree we came across.  We have alot of trees.  She asked alot.  She stopped asking after I took her picture.  Why didn't I ask sooner?

I am always nervous about going to the creek.  We have every possibility of meeting this guy or one of his friends in the woods.  He was around on Saturday, not but a few feet from where we were playing.  He is a mere few inches from being legal.  Brad spent a good hour calling him in to make perfectly sure if he was legal or not.  He was not.  Too bad, he looks tasty.  He also looks like he would stomp me to death if we met on the creek.  I really need to consider getting a dog, or learning how to use a gun.  Let's start with the dog.  Better yet, lets take Brad with us next time. 

Great sunny fall day.  May have been our last.  Clouds are back, along with chillier weather.

Happy Autumn!

Wit and Wisdom Wednesday

I really have a hard time believing that it is already Wednesday again.  I have so much to share with you about the happenings going on here but I really don't have the energy so I will sum up now and expand later.
Summary:
*Hunting season has hit the fan.
*We have a squirrel trying to make a winter home in the shell of our new motor home.
*The attempts at catching the squirrel involves animal traps and reminders to the children to stay away from the motor home if you like your appendages.
*I spent all weekend crafting!!!!!!  See craft blog later this week for full details
*Brad is leaving for 7 days to hunt, I work full time now, and the children are somehow involved in everything. I am already tired.

Now you are up to date. 

Are you ready for some wit?

Here are two bits of humor from a kindergartner and a second grader at school this past week.

Teacher:  "I am going to tell you my name so you can see how to match up the letters with your name card.  My name is Sarah."
Kindergartner:  "Her name is Sarah?!  I was not expecting that!"


Second grade student 1 in their best teacher voice with their instructional finger outs says to second grade student 2:  "I am serious.  I took math class last year, I do know how to spell."

Cute, right?  If only life was so simple as to be totally thrown back by knowing your teacher's first name and that taking math class will teach you how to spell.  Gotta love that theory.

Happy Wednesday everyone. 

Wit and Wisdom Wednesday

I have decided to start a new reason to make me blog more often.  Hence forth I give you Wit and Wisdom Wednesday.

Today a bit of wisdom for you.

Since my trip to town yesterday to get a dehumidifier, which you would think you could find at Home Depot, Lowes, Walmart, Fred Meyer, or Target, of which none of the previous mentioned stores carries a dehumidifier, however Sears carries only 4 dehumidifiers to choose from in the whole Valley (note my frustration and anger - that came from having to go to Walmart, I know it happens to you too).
Wait, what was  talking about?

Oh yeah,  wisdom.

So as I was driving madly around the Valley looking for said dehumidifier, there it was...
termination dust on the mountains.  What is termination dust you ask?  Here comes the wisdom for the day:

According to an unusual website about Alaska slang, termination dust is "The first, light dusting of snow; on the very tips of the mountains.  It's a warning. The first, big snow is just around the corner.  This of course, triggers a huge shopping frenzy."  http://www.decorphoto.com/ak-slang.htm


I did not take this photo.  I found it online.  I don't know what mountain this is, but it is a definite picture of termination dust.

I suppose my shopping frenzy was simply due to the termination dust.  I sure wish I was in a shopping frenzy for new clothes, furniture, jewelry, you get the picture. 

So, your wisdom for the day, termination dust.  It is the end of my happy season.  Darkness looms, cold will soon hibernate in my bones, and lots of hot chocolate is in my near future.  Oh yeah, all the smiles and laughter I get from watching my kids play in the snow.  Also looking forward to a new adventure in cross country skiing, Christa promises that I will love it!  Does she know I don't like to be cold?

Enjoy your last hurrahs of summer for me everyone in the lower 48 (another bit of Alaska slang).  Wanting cooler weather, think of me and I will send you all my chilly energy!

Happy Wednesday.  Be wise and witful.

Makes Me Happy

Today, these thoughts make me happy.

 My son watching and learning more about playing guitar from his Great Granny.

 My boys getting to be "farmer boys" in the summer picking sweet corn in the early morning hours near the banks of the Missouri River.

 My children experiencing the force of nature and learning about how they as a person and a body that takes up space, interacts with the environment around them. 

My children when they are so full from the day that they completely crash and can't make it any further than the bottom two stairs.

A good wine.  And lately, lots of it.  Yes, the glass is crooked.  Our butcher block has seen alot of wear in its day.  It had a previous life in a local Chinese restaurant.

 Slow cooked sweet onions in a cast iron skillet. 

 My newly, almost finished office that Brad made for me.  More on that in another post.

Today, this is what makes me happy.

What makes you happy?  I'd love to hear all about it.

Brains

No this is not a post about Halloween.  It is just a simple dedication to the brain.

The Brain
Remarkable
Complex
Approx. one hundred billion nerve cells
Action
Feeling
Memory
Experience
The center of function
The Brain
 

School has started and many big changes have occurred in our household. 
First, Ellis has started Kindergarten.  He LOVES it!  He is part of a new program in our district called STEM (Science Technology Engineering Math).  If you know Ellis, this is right up his alley.  So much fun for him.  The pictures in this post are of Ellis' "growing brain".  He has been growing this brain in a water bath for 4 days.  Today, he said his brain was big enough.  It is now on display in the kitchen.  It is also quite appropriate for the beginning of school. 
Second, I have gone back to work full time.  I started the year with moving back to the classroom after 5 years of itinerant work in multiple schools.  The opportunity for full time opened up and we decided that this was the time to make that move.  Well, I have certainly gotten myself into something else. 
Needless to say, we are busier that ever before. 
Third, Isaak started middle school.  That is a whole new level of scheduling.  That is all I have to say about that.

So in reflection, or to tie this all together, the brain.
It is what is being taxed daily in this household. 
It is what I depend upon it to get me going in the morning to get everyone ready for school. 
I rely upon it to remember what students I am seeing next and for what subject. 
I expect that it will continue to fire rapidly as I move into our after school schedule. 
I hope it doesn't turn to complete mush when I collapse at the end of the day and stare blankly at the television wondering if the laundry will wash, dry, and fold itself each night.



Thank you brain for all you do.  Hang in there, we'll get through this together.

Sincerely,

Me

A Long Week

Do you ever look at the sky and really want to just be wrapped up in it, in complete silence, with nothing to think about, and nothing to do.

Just to be.

Silence, stillness, calm, simple.
Just a thought.
It has been a long week.

Mud, mud and more mud

We have had several days of rain and were ready for some sunshine.  I know there are many states needing rain and we are glad to share, however, Mother Nature hasn't been answering my calls lately.  The other morning we woke to sun coming in the windows!  Yeah!

We got right to work on some projects outside and the boys were busy building forts, making swords from sticks and chasing each other through the woods. 

While in full swing on a furniture paining project, guess what surprised us?  I felt one, then two, then a down pour. 

That's right, rain.  We quickly hustled the bookshelves into the garage and the boys took off their shirts and ran through the yard like we have been in a month long drought!

Here is what came of the rain and the boys...

WARNING!!!  The following pictures involve our snake pit!

I hear mud masks help your skin look and feel younger and smoother.

Of course throwing mud is also necessary for a full mud experience.

Mud body drawings anyone?

Here is the snake pit.  The rain left a nice puddle in the bottom and the boys couldn't resist trying to board down into it.

Why bother with a board?  Why not body slide instead?

Ahhh, mud.  Tons of fun, until you have to clean up. 

I am thankful that my brother-in-law told us to install a hot water tap on the outside of the house as well as a cold one.  The kids cleaned up in warm water.  They were thankful.  So was I.  So much less mud in the house.  Thanks Billy!

It is over

Yes, vacation is over. We have returned to our nest in the North and I was freezing the moment I got off the plane. Complaining aside, it is nice to be back in my own bed and to have our routine back in our days.

Vacation is a funny thing.
We anticipate it with such gusto and enthusiasm. However, we anticipate its end just as much.
We had such a laid back vacation this year, we all feel a bit lazy and have tackled projects around the house with a vengeance. Brad and I have sanded and painted furniture, moved furniture and I am completely unpacked and have but one project left to finish from the things we brought back with us for the house.

Isaak has decided he needed some money and has taken on raking all the rocks out of our yard and dumping them along the side of the driveway (I estimate that he has almost 3/4 of an acre of yard to tend to). He is on day 3 and the size of the task is starting to shake his confidence and challenge his work ethic. But, he trudges on.

We had a few warm and sunny days last week for our return, but now we are looking at 57 degrees, cloudy with sprinkles. Yuck! Crossing my fingers for some more warm weather before I go back to work.

I have decided I am going to revamp my blog this fall. Just have to find someone that can do that sort of thing.

Till then...

St. Louis Day 2

Today we went to the St. Louis Science Center and the Zoo.
Our first stop was this station. Totally fits right?!

Here we are in the natural science lab. Yes, we had to wear lab coats, safety goggles, and gloves. It makes for a realistic experience for the kids. The stations were really set up like a lab. Fun. The kids have been asking alot about DNA this summer and they had a DNA lab. We extracted the DNA from wheat germ! The computer takes you through each step and explains the science behind each step. Really interesting.

Everyone had steps to do. There were test tubes, stir sticks, pipets, scientific fluids to mix with and guided observations. Very well done and so very interesting.

Here is the DNA. See the white stuff floating in the clear liquid area? That is DNA. It was very cool. Each step was described perfectly for the learning mind. DNA extraction, who knew!

Here baby O played us a wonderful little tune on the laser harp. Very cool. No strings. As your hands pass over the laser, a specific note sounds. Technology always amazes me.

Inside the bird house, these little guys were quite friendly. Little E wanted to join the parade.

Little E outside the Bug House. This one is going in a frame for his room, right above his bug collection. He said that he couldn't decide what part of the zoo was his favorite, he loved it all!

The hippos were amazing to watch. So graceful under the water. They were trying their best to stay cool. It was a scorching 102 that day.

Another wonderful, science filled day. My mind feels so full! Full of facts, fun and memories!

St. Louis Day 1

We have come and gone from St. Louis. It was a great and busy trip! Sorry for the underlined text, I can't seem to get it to stop.

First stop, the Arch.

The interior elevators that take you to the top are under repair so we did not go inside this year.

Next we went to the City Museum downtown. It is incredible! An old building reconstructed to be an amazing interactive art/science museum. Check out the website for more information: http://www.citymuseum.org/

Yes, the oldest is pushing the next oldest into the hind end of a whale. Apparently there is a tunnel that goes through the whale.

The inside lower level is made of mazes, caves, tunnels and slides that range from sea life, to tree forts, to stalactites.

Here the kids were coming out of the whale's mouth...

Here Av is climbing somewhere in the forest above us...

One floor was a giant skate park, minus the skateboards and bikes. All you had was your body. The boys spent most of their time here of course.

Here you could run on the side of the wall. It was harder than it looks.

Of course there were several ball pits.

Another fun area was a carnival type room with odd and end popular characters. The whole place was just odd. You never quite knew what to expect around any corner. I like to describe it as the ADHD museum that was allowed to grow and develop as its mind wandered.

Here is a picture of the exterior. The plane in the front is part of a maze of cages and walkways that lead to an actual plane. You can also walk out onto the plane wings and through a cage back into the building. I believe the plane is about three or four stories up. Av was the only one who did the whole thing! He is Amazing! The roof is a whole nother play area. Yes, you can go onto the bus and sit in the drivers seat! That area was extra and we were overwhelmed by that time, but promised ourselves to come back another year to give it a go. And, there is a ferris wheel on top too!

It is truly an amazing place. I HIGHLY recommend it! It is only a few blocks from the Arch and totally worth it! When we were done, the kids were covered in sweat and the goobers of all humanity. But, the smiles on their faces and the bounce in their step out weighted all of that.

Up next, Science Center....