I'm old and Some Cage Ball

Today was Professional Development at school.  Meetings, information, meetings, and cage ball.  We ended the day with "team building" exercise.  Or as I like to call it, Rubbing our Noses in our Age or Tribute to Ice Packs and Tiger Balm. 

We tied.  I dislocated my shoulder and ripped a nail almost off (thanks to my Principal's swift ninja kick as I was throwing the ball).  Good time had by all.

Pictures to follow when I get them from school.

Thanks for looking, I have to go ice my shoulder and change my finger band-aid.

Grits

It has been so cold around here (still -22'ish), we are finally recovering from our bout of nasty colds, and we are back into full swing with school and activities that I am in need of some serious comfort food.  I really wanted chicken fried steak with some creamy mashed potatoes and gravy.  But I couldn't bring myself to frying something.  So, I settled for cheesy grits.  They hit the spot!  Mmmmm, yummy creamy cheesy grits.

I used the recipe from Pioneer Woman's Tasty Kitchen site.  If you have never made grits, it was simple and the product was delicious. 

All I am saying is, give grits a chance.

Beauty and the Beast and a Birthday Boy

Today was Av's birthday.
Today it was -22 degrees.
Today Avery requested breakfast in bed.
Today we went to see Beauty and the Beast, the broadway musical. 

Yes, another broadway musical under our belt.
I have to admit, there is one benefit to living in Alaska.  We do get some wonderful entertainment.  I think everyone in the lower 48 feels sorry for us being so far from civilization that they send great entertainment!
We have seen many shows and entertainers living here.

Now for a check.  Anyone missing? 
Yes, Isaak.  When I bought tickets, he said he didn't want to see this one.  I guess he is too cool to see a "girl" show.  His loss.  Gaston was very manly, in an egotistical, degrading, bully kind of way. 

Now that baby O is bigger, she was ready to see her first musical.  Beauty was coming and I couldn't pass it up.  We had a blast.  It was wonderful!  We all loved it.  It was exciting.  It was magical.  We were mesmerized.  Get the idea?

I love seeing their reactions and hearing their perspective on different areas of theater.

Happy Birthday Av!  Gosh, I love that boy!

Birthday!

I love birthdays!  Don't you remember the excitement of your birthday as a kid?  Being one year older.  More options and opportunities open before you. 

January is a month of birthdays in this house.  Isaak at the beginning of the month and Avery this weekend.  Today we brought home 4 extra boys for a sleepover.  Brings our total to 7 stinky boy bodies. 

What do 10 and 12 year old boys do for a sleepover?  Well, tonight we watched the final matches of Isaak and his friend's wrestling tourney, picked up pizza, the boys went out to sled and snowmachine (in -8 degree weather and the dark, crazy boys), and now at 11:00 everyone has plugged into some type of device and they are zoning.  My only concern, they all stink.  Did you know that boys stink?  They do.  They smell like frito chips mixed with something that is starting to rot.  I think I am going to send them to their rooms to stew for the evening and then suffer the consequences in the morning when I have more energy. 
Hopefully the house will air out while we are bowling tomorrow. 

To those of you who are smart enough to hold your child's party away from your home, I salute you.  Smart choice. 
Till tomorrow....

Weather and Weather Men/Women

I have lived in many places in my life.  I have watched and followed many weather men in my life.  One thing I have learned was that if the weather man said severe weather of any kind was on its way, you had two choices.  Choice one was to believe him and batten down the hatches.  The second choice was to continue in your merry land of bliss and ignore the forecast because the weather man is, and will always be, usually wrong. 

How many times has the forecast been for thunderstorms or 6 inches of snow, and all that fell was 3 raindrops or a few flurries.  Would you say that this was the case more often than the actual "severe" weather?  Yup, I thought so. 

All this discussion leads us to our current weather forecast.  Severe winter weather is on its way.  It has also been referred to as a blizzard a few times today.  I personally like my merry land of bliss.  We have not battened any hatches.  We are not storming the grocery store for "supplies".  We are planning that there will be school tomorrow and we are hoping that the 37 degree weather does not melt all the snow we finally have.

I can't wait to wake up tomorrow to see if any snow has fallen at all.  Maybe we will wake up to this....

 

Disclaimer:  I did not take this photo. I found it on USA Today's website.  It is from the recent snowfall in Cordova, Alaska.

But, I don't expect to see this out my window tomorrow morning.

I'll let you know....

Dear Mother Nature,

Dear Mother Nature,

We have had such a nice relationship lately.  What happened?

The snow this year has been lovely. The temperatures have been tolerable.  Now, wind and above freezing temps?  Really?  You know this will result in huge drifts, sloppy roads (that will freeze over night), and ditch divers.  Well, if that is what you want then you had better not try to pull this same weather in February. 
We will have to have words like last year.  Remember that?

So we agree.  Crazy weather now for a nice February.  Too much to ask?  I don't think so.

Thanks,
Me

Family Pet

I thought about complaining in this post about how sick Brad and Ellis are.  And about how much it will stink if the rest of us get it.  And how I won't get to lay around and ignore all the children's needs if I get sick like Brad was able to do.  But, I decided that this post should be perky.  Up beat.  Something to make you giggle.

So, here is your perky, up-beat, giggle.
Are you ready?

Ocelia is convinced that we should get a kangaroo as a pet. 
Why a kangaroo you ask?

Well, for those of you who have dogs or cats, and who's home we have visited, you will remember Ocelia's reaction when she saw your four legged pet.  FREAK OUT!  SCREAMS!  Child trying to climb nearest adult to escape terrifying family pet.  Funny stuff that memories are made of.

We hoped that she would out grow it.  Not yet.  We are considering getting a dog (we are still trying to work out how we will handle our 2 month travel across North America with or without a dog, but that is another post).  Ocelia decided to join the discussion one evening recently with the simple comment..."I don't like dogs.  I don't like cats.  I do like kangaroos.  Lets get a kangaroo at the animal shelter.  I bet them have some."  Yeah, we are working on her pronouns. 

So, now she is obsessed with getting a kangaroo.  Santa brought her a stuffed one for Christmas that doesn't leave her side.  She is making plans for our family kangaroo a place to sleep, eat and where it will sit in the suburban. 

In conclusion, if anyone has a kangaroo you would like to volunteer a brief vacation to Alaska, I think it may cure baby O of her family pet obsession.

G'day Mates!