Northern Lights Mama

She Sews!

2012-02-01T05:00:00.000-09:00

I imagine that some people have a lovely little (or big!) basket where they collecting mending and all of those other little jobs that require a few stitches here and there. I'm sure it looks lovely all sitting there and that those same people are religious about mending weekly or so. Not me. When it needs mending/altering I throw it on the sewing table, then shuffle it around for weeks, sometimes even months before I buckle down and do it. Sewing what I want to sew is so much fun than sewing what I need to sew! Sunday I got down to business and tackled the pile, though. I mended a dinosaur puppet for the preschool teacher, altered two pairs of pants and fixed a PJ top for Stacy, took in two shirts of my own, finished up a project I teased you with a long time ago, and made myself a new skirt! Most of it is not photo-worthy, but here are a few shots of the more fun things.

Here's my colorful and festive birthday banner. I first showed you pics of it in the works back here. I am planning to use it to decorate for the girls' birthdays.

And here's my new skirt! I'll be honest, I feel weird putting these pictures of myself up like this. I bought a remote for my camera and I first tried it out here, where you'll notice I cropped my head off! It worked there, but to me these photos looked even weirder without my head, so here I am in all my cheesy glory!

The skirt was quick and easy and only took 1 yard of fabric! I used this tutorial over at Darling Petunia. Worked out quite well and it isn't bulky in the waist which is always my fear with pull-on skirts. The fabric is a remnant I have been holding on to because I knew I wanted to make a skirt from it. Just wasn't sure which skirt! Now...where to wear it? After I made it I decided it would look great with some boots like these..

image source

But so far I have resisted ordering them. Given that I have worn a skirt less than a dozen times in the last three years I guess maybe I should see if I wear the darn thing before spending $30+ on some boots, huh?

Making Me Smile!

2012-01-31T14:59:00.000-09:00

Last year it appeared on February 4. The year before on February 3. This year...January 31! This has been a rough winter and realistically we still have several months of winter ahead of us. But it feels like spring is just around the corner when the sun starts shining on Whittier again!

Help me...PLEASE!!

2012-01-31T10:39:00.001-09:00

So...I need some help!

I really had fun with the January photo-a-day thing and I am going to continue it on into February. The thing is that I can't decide if I should keep posting all of those photos here or create a separate blog for them. Do you like seeing all of that when you come here or are you here mainly to read what's going on up here?

I know that my reading audience aren't big commenters, but *PLEASE* help me on this one. Just leave me a quick little note in the comments section letting me know if you'd prefer one blog with it all, or two blogs--one with the usual Northern Lights Mama stuff and one with the photo a day. *PLEASE*!

Thanks for your help!

Photo a Day--Day 31

2012-01-31T05:00:00.000-09:00

Today's subject: You, again!

I got a remote for my camera, so here's a shot I took while playing with it! Pretty exciting outfit, eh?

Photo a Day--Day 30

2012-01-30T11:58:00.002-09:00

Today's subject: nature

It's dark out there today! And gray. Supposed to start snowing any minute, and overall it's a dreary day! But Alaska is truly a beautiful natural paradise on a sunny day, so I'm thinking about spring...and remembering last spring! Here's one of my favorite pictures from last March...

Papermakers

2012-01-30T05:00:00.000-09:00

Recently someone here in town handed down an old paper making kit to us. Kelsey has been begging to do it, so yesterday we finally tackled it. 10+ years ago (gasp!) during my first year of teaching I was lucky enough to have a visit from Debbie who was at the time doing outreach and education for Fort James Corporation. My dad had introduced me to Debbie when I worked at the mill during the summer. Debbie came and did an outstanding job of making paper with my students and teaching them about the process. I tried to remember as much as I could from that visit since our kit came without the instruction manual!

First we tore up some paper scraps (that I had fished out of the garbage--yeah for recycling!).

Then we dumped them into the blender. We added some water and blended them up!

We dumped our puree (pulp into the dishpan). Because I don't have 6 hands I didn't photograph the next couple of steps. I added more water into the dishpan because you really need the pulp to float. Then we submerged our screen, put our top screen on and pressed out some excess water.

We removed some excess water by rolling as well.

Then I put them on our cooling racks to allow them to dry a bit faster with better air circulation.

I am hoping to convince the girls to use them to create Valentines...I'll let you know how that goes!

Photo a Day--Day 29

2012-01-29T10:36:00.002-09:00

Today's Subject: your fridge

I cheated a bit with this photo and took it a little early. I took the "before" half on Wednesday night before we went grocery shopping and the "after" half on Thursday night after grocery shopping. As you can see, we needed to go!

Gee...aren't you glad that I labeled them for you? As if it isn't painfully obvious which is which!

Photo a Day--Day 28

2012-01-28T20:42:00.001-09:00

Today's subject: light

Photo a Day--Day 27

2012-01-27T16:03:00.002-09:00

Today's subject: lunch

My photo: Kelsey eating lunch! Kelsey's class has been reading The Knight at Dawn, part of the Magic Treehouse series. For the last two weeks they have been learning all about medieval times and today was the culminating day of those studies. They made shields, banners, and helmets. Today they had a feast where they ate with their fingers, no utensils! Finally, they wrapped up the afternoon with some hockey stick-pony jousting. So fun!

{this moment}

2012-01-27T15:36:00.002-09:00

{this moment} - A weekly ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Inspired by SouleMama.

Photo a Day--Day 26

2012-01-26T22:03:00.004-09:00

Today's subject: color

Clearly this picture wasn't taken today, but when I think about color I think about this picture...I love it! And it reminds me of warmer times...

Book Review--The Search Committee

2012-01-26T14:35:00.000-09:00

The Search Committee is Tim Owens' first novel. It follows the search committee from a southern small-town church as they travel the surrounding area trying to choose a new pastor for their church. There are bumps in the road along the way, and at times the story moved a little slowly for my taste.

The characters are developed in a very believable way. Many of them are so easy to relate to that you feel as if you've known them for awhile. As the search committee travels around we also learn a bit more about each character and his or her own personal struggles.

The high point of the book for me was the use of actual sermons as a part of the story. The authors are credited in the beginning should you want to read more. The author chose powerful excerpts to illustrate his story.

Overall a good book, if a bit slow!

Thank you to Tyndale for providing this book for review. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255.

Photo a Day--Day 25

2012-01-25T19:45:00.001-09:00

Today's subject: something you made

My photo: pizza crusts! I have made 33 of them in the last two days for a school fundraiser...

Snack Cards

2012-01-25T05:00:00.000-09:00

I don't know that this is exactly considered a "craft", but I made it so I guess it might be! Anyway...we have hit a snacking rut here. The kiddos are hungry, but they are never quite sure what they want to eat. What's a mama to do?? Make snack cards!

I spent a few minutes the afternoon taking pictures of all of the snack possibilities that we always have on hand, then created a Word document where I put the picture and the word for the snack together (like flashcards), printed them out, covered them with Contact Paper, punched holes in them and hung them up. Now we have a quick reference to check when we're stumped at snacktime!

Here's hoping it helps snack time go a little more smoothly!

Photo a Day--Day 24

2012-01-24T14:15:00.001-09:00

Today's subject: guilty pleasure

My photo: Pinterest!!

One of my favorite quotes applies here..."If you enjoy the time you spent it wasn't wasted!"

Photo a Day--Day 23

2012-01-23T21:10:00.000-09:00

Today's subject: something old

My photo: buttons from Grandma

Gettin' Outside!

2012-01-23T05:00:00.000-09:00

As I'm sure I have mentioned here a time or two, the weather here is challenging. Winter brings, wind, snow, and ice. And more wind. And more snow. And more ice. And so on... So when it's decent outside we drop everything and go out. We had a nice break last week after our snowpocalypse. As soon as it stopped snowing the wind picked up and blew snow all over town. The wind howled on and on and the temperatures plunged to near and below zero and we weren't able to go outside for 10 straight days. We were all experiencing a touch of cabin fever, let me tell you!

Things settled down midweek and although the warmest temp we saw while outside was 5 degrees, the girls and I went out for 3 days in a row. It's very unusual for us to see temps so cold...average winter temps here are in the upper 20's. This winter has been different, that's for sure! While heading to Girdwood the other day Scott and I saw temps as low as -36 degrees. Yes. -36 degrees! Ridiculous!! Regardless, it was decent enough to go out for a little bit at least.

Saturday was another nice day. A friend and I decided to hike up behind the BTI. In the summertime it looks like this:

But right now it looks more like this:

Slightly different, eh? It was a h.a.r.d. hike up and we didn't make it quite to the top. The snow on Saturday was very windblown and hard (that was before temps went up 30 degrees and we got 24 inches of new snow on Sunday!). The top is very steep and we reached a point where it just didn't seem safe to continue on snowshoes. Not to mention the wind was blowing at the top making it very chilly, even though we were working hard!

So here's the view from the top...breathtaking, isn't it?

It was a great day to get outside! We ventured down to the harbor where these two were keeping an eye on things.

We met up with Scott and the girls at the Inn at Whittier and warmed up cups of hot chocolate. Then the girls talked me into going sledding. Needless to say, I slept like a rock!

Hope you had a wonderful weekend as well!

Photo a Day--Day 22

2012-01-22T19:09:00.003-09:00

Today's subject: my shoes

I don't have a very exciting shoe collection! I did just order two new pair for an upcoming trip I am taking where I need to look less like a stay-at-home mom and more like a professional, though! As I was digging through my shoes today I came across these lovelies...I wore them on my wedding day 10 years ago (come July 20!), so I thought I'd try them on again and share them with you...

Sorry...two weeks in a row that you've had to look at my feet! I just checked the rest of the subjects for the month though, and I should be able to complete this challenge without and more shots of my toes!

Photo a Day--Day 21

2012-01-21T20:28:00.001-09:00

Today's subject: reflection

I had actually planned to be very artistic with this photo and take a picture of my journal and such, but then a friend asked me to go snowshoeing and I got this awesome picture with a totally different kind of reflection and I couldn't help myself...I just had to use it!

Photo a Day--Day 20

2012-01-20T20:49:00.001-09:00

Today's subject: someone you love

{this moment}

2012-01-20T05:00:00.000-09:00

{this moment} - A weekly ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Inspired by SouleMama.

Photo a Day--Day 19

2012-01-19T21:43:00.003-09:00

Today's subject: sweet

My photo: a sweet text message from my sweetie and a sweet treat!

Right Now

2012-01-18T15:52:00.000-09:00

Right now I am…

:: warming up after a jauntoutside…even a short walk at -2 makes for chilly cheeks in a hurry!

:: listening to a certain 4 yearold narrate as she watches out the window

:: waiting for my heart to beready to read another book after finishing the Hunger Games trilogy

:: eagerly awaiting March 23 whenthe first movie based on the above trilogy hits theaters

:: thankful for the sunshine thathas shone on the mountains across the way for two days in a row now

:: hopeful my new mixer bowl willarrive tomorrow

:: loving my new jacket (postedbelow) and looking forward to wearing it someday when it’s a tad warmer

:: headed off to a parent meetingat school

Hope you’re having a great day,too!

Photo a Day--Day 18

2012-01-18T13:32:00.002-09:00

Today's subject: something you bought

This is my latest purchase. I have been admiring it for a long time at Old Navy and when it was on clearance AND everything on clearance was 50% off AND I coupon for an additional 15% off AND it was available in my size AND the color I wanted I figured I was *supposed* to have it! And now I do!

Photo a Day--Day 17

2012-01-17T19:41:00.001-09:00

Today's subject: water

My photo: The beautiful waters of Passage Canal in Prince William Sound in the sunshine. That's very good news...sunshine on the water means that the sun is getting closer and closer to peeking over the mountain behind us and shining its warm golden rays on Whittier once again...just a few more weeks!!

Photo a Day--Day 16

2012-01-16T13:23:00.001-09:00

Today's subject: morning

Morning time is often craft time around here! Today the girls decided to make some more fairies, so that's what they're hard at work on below.

Backseat Crafting

2012-01-16T13:17:00.000-09:00

This craft is so easy I did it in the back seat of the car on the way home from town on Saturday!

I found the idea over on Pinterest which linked it back to here. There are directions over there so I won't bother reposting all of that.

It is very bright and colorful--it will make a great door decoration as our birthday season approaches! Just need to add some sort of hanger and we're good to go!

Photo a Day--Day 15

2012-01-15T21:45:00.001-09:00

Today's subject: happiness

Yes, of course one of those books from yesterday's pile is right next to me! I finished Catching Fire today and am now into Mockingjay. Great books!

Photo a Day--Day 14

2012-01-14T18:52:00.001-09:00

Today's subject: something you're reading

I love to read! It's funny because last week I finished one of those a.m.a.z.i.n.g. books where you can't read anything for a few days afterwards because it was so good. I didn't know what to read next. Then all of a sudden I had this stack next to my bed. I usually don't like to read two books at once, but I am right now and I'm loving them both!

Photo of the Day--Day 13

2012-01-13T10:40:00.003-09:00

Today's subject: in your bag

I don't really have a bag! I have purse, but aside from the fact that I carry OFF wipes with me (it's Alaska folks!) there's nothing very exciting in there. And since I only carry it to town, there's not much in it, either. But speaking of town, we're headed there tomorrow and "get ready to go to town" is on my to-do list for today, so I decided to show you what it takes to "go to town" with two little girls this time of year!

The laundry basket in back holds everyone's winter gear. Outer jackets, warmer gloves, etc. The stuff you need to have with you, but can't really wear in the car. The girls pack their own backpacks now, full of whatever they want to play with on the way to and fro. Then we have water for mama and the girls, snacks for the girls, their blankets, and the bag of things to return "as long as we're in town". Not pictured: my purse, camera, Scott's gear, and the gear we'll wear.

Photo a Day--Day 12

2012-01-12T18:45:00.000-09:00

Today's subject: close up

Photo a Day--Day 11

2012-01-11T22:19:00.001-09:00

Today's subject: where you sleep

Well...when the kiddos were younger I could have taken a picture of just about any "sitting" surface in the house because I truly slept in all of them. Couch, recliner, rocking chair, dining room table, you name it, I probably fell asleep there in those sleep-deprived days. Now that the girls are reliably good nighttime sleepers and have mostly outgrown naps though, I mostly sleep here. In my bed! I once wondered if this day would come!

In case you're wondering, those two pieces of art are Korbe originals. I blogged about them here last summer when the girls painted them for us.

Chevron Quilt

2012-01-11T05:00:00.000-09:00

My inspiration...

image source

So far at my house there have been squares...

And half-square triangles

Then there was (and still is!) ironing...

Then sample laying out...

This is one of my quilts for Kelsey's NICU this year. Last year's quilts and a little bit about the organization Lullaby Quilts can be found here0. A bit about why I make these quilts can be found here. This year I am making two again...one in pink and one in blue thanks to a fabric donation from my mom! She bought it for another project and then changed her mind, so here I am, making it into quilts. Yippee!

Photo a Day--Day 10

2012-01-10T19:59:00.003-09:00

Today's subject: childhood

My photo: my girls' fairy house...

In the Sewing Room

2012-01-09T19:22:00.001-09:00

Ha! Like that title? If only I had a sewing room! My sewing room is also the computer room and the playroom. But it works! I spent some time sewing this weekend and here's what I emerged from the back room with:

Two plus pillows made from the scraps of my plus quilt...

And this brightly colored project in the works...

I'll share more about that one later, but I can't tell you how happy it made me to sew with these bright colors when it was looking like this outside! I have also started on my NICU quilts for this year. I've got two of them in the works! Hopefully I can show you something soon...

Photo a Day--Day 9

2012-01-09T19:06:00.001-09:00

Today's subject: daily routine

My daily routine...a workout followed by a cup of coffee!

Snowpocalypse

2012-01-09T05:00:00.000-09:00

Wow. We have really had some weather here for the past week or so! Snow, snow, and more snow, interspersed by wind, wind, and more wind. Here in Whittier we are not strangers to this sort of weather, but it is unusual to get it at this time of year--this sort of storm is more typical in March and April. Other towns in Prince William sound, however, are not so prepared. Cordova and Valdez been in the news, mainly because their populations are bigger. The villages of Tatitlek and Chenega Bay (also part of our school district) are also getting hammered, but like Whitter they aren't getting much (any?) media attention.

On the up side, on the days of the heaviest snowfalls lately the wind has stopped, so the girls and I were out both on Thursday and Saturday. It was fantastic! Sledding on Saturday was the best! We went out both in the morning and in the afternoon. The bigger kids had been out mid-day and smoothed out a nice little run complete with a little jump that was just right for kids big and small, so we got to enjoy the fruits of their labor during our afternoon jaunt.

Here are a few pictures to illustrate our fabulous weather...

10am on Sunday morning--the car had been completely cleaned off and parked in a cleared out spot at 7pm on Saturday evening

A friend's full-size Toyota Tundra--parked Tuesday night, this picture taken on Saturday night as we prepared to dig it out.

Our school playground...not so slowly disappearing!

Stacy and I on Saturday in the middle of our sledding-fest

Of course, the downside of all of this is that Scott hasn't had a day off in forever. He and his crew have been plowing, plowing, plowing, and plowing some more. Hopefully Mother Nature will back off soon and give them a break. Until then...

Photo a Day--Day 8

2012-01-08T15:00:00.002-09:00

Today's subject: your sky

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! There is no way the writer of this challenge could have predicted how fabulously cloudy, snowy, and windy our sky is today! I might as well leave the space below blank. But I didn't...so here you go. I even included a light pole, just to prove it really is the sky and not a gray sheet of construction paper!

Photo a Day--Day 7

2012-01-07T15:02:00.002-09:00

Today's subject: your favourite (remember, this challenge originated in Australia!)

I decided to photograph my favorite color, purple. I walked around the house and grabbed an armful of purple stuff I own, then headed back to my bedroom and pulled out purple clothing. As I was putting it all away I found a few more purple items and realized I am also wearing a purple top today. Purple, purple, purple!

PS--That is a a total of 8 purple tops there in that photo, plus the 3 additional ones I found later. And the purple PJ pants. And the purple sweatshirt!

Photo a Day--Day 6

2012-01-06T11:48:00.001-09:00

Today's subject: something that makes you smile

Mine--SUNSHINE!! Even if it won't shine on my shoulders for a few more weeks!

{this moment}

2012-01-06T07:02:00.000-09:00

{this moment} - A weekly ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Inspired by SouleMama.

Photo of the Day--Day 5

2012-01-05T11:28:00.000-09:00

Today's subject: something I wore

Here's mine! I wore it when Scott and I went out the other night. It is *absolutely* my favorite outfit right now because of how it makes me feel...I love it! I look forward to trying it out with some different accessories, too...scarves, necklaces, maybe even a belt. It's my little black dress of the moment!

Photo of the Day--Day 4

2012-01-04T22:35:00.001-09:00

A quick Google search today revealed that I was right about today's subject! This challenge originated in Australia, so I wasn't 100% sure exactly what today's subject "letterbox" was, but my hunch was correct. Mailbox! Here's ours...

Recipes I Love Lately

2012-01-04T05:00:00.000-09:00

I love trying new recipes, so I thought I'd share a few that we've been loving lately! Many thanks to Pinterest for helping me find all of these...though do be cautious about browsing over there if you're hungry!

First up, my new favorite soup! This delicious cheddar broccoli...easy peasy and soooo delicious. Everyone here likes it and I can make it in half an hour. I have tweaked the recipe a little, adding in some garlic and by using frozen broccoli I can cut the cooking time in half.

image source and recipe

Next up, this Crispy Cheddar Chicken. Anyone who knows my hubby knows that chicken is not his favorite food, but even he loved this! It's another quick and delicious one. I omitted the additional salt since cream of chicken soup is pretty salty to begin with. The girls even ate seconds!

image source and recipe

Here's my favorite side dish lately...I even served it at our New Year's Eve party. Another quickie and again...delish! The first time I used the seasoning salt they recommended--yum. On New Year's Eve I used dried dill instead--yummity, yum, yum! I love all those crunchy edges!

image source and recipe

And finally, a brand new one I just tried on Monday. Again...everyone loved it which if you look at the ingredients was a bit of a (pleasant!) surprise to me! I cooked the chicken in the taco seasoning and then added a bit more taco seasoning to the soup. I actually Googled a taco seasoning substitute recipe since I was out of taco seasoning. Turned out fabulously! We ate it with some leftover cornbread instead of chips.

image source and recipe

Now...go ahead and try one! Or better yet, share one of your favorite recipes below in the comments section for all of us to try!

Photo a Day--Day 3

2012-01-03T13:23:00.002-09:00

Today's subject: something you adore

The key word above for me was someTHING, not someONE. Someone would have been easier! Something is more difficult, especially since I'm not much of a 'things' person. Next I looked up the definition of 'adore', just as a refresher.

From Merriam-Webster.com:

1: to worship or honor as a deity or as divine

2: to regard with loving admiration and devotion <adored his wife>

3: to be very fond of <adores pecan pie>

— ador·er noun

— ador·ing·ly adverb

Since I am unable to take a picture of God and the challenge specified something versus someone, I went with definition 3. So here is the thing I am "very fond of"...

Photo a Day--Day 2

2012-01-02T09:44:00.001-09:00

Today's subject: breakfast.

Clearly I am not a food photographer, but regardless, here is my breakfast today!

Photo a Day--Day 1

2012-01-01T19:43:00.002-09:00

The subject for today's photo was "you", so here's my photo of me! One in color and one in black and white, just for fun!

Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T05:00:00.000-09:00

It's 2012 folks! We rung in the new year with a group of fun friends and an impromptu party at our house. I was cooking a ginormous ham and at the last minute invited everyone over to share. I am so glad we did...it was a wonderful evening!

The kids had lots of fun playing...

The adults had lots of fun watching someone try to get their truck unstuck...

And we watched some fireworks...

A great way to start a new year!

{this moment}

2011-12-30T05:00:00.000-09:00

{this moment} - A weekly ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Inspired by SouleMama.

My Quilt...Done!

2011-12-29T13:22:00.004-09:00

It's finished! I have posted about it here, and here, and here, and here, and here, and here, and finally right here! This is the first quilt that I have made for myself and I must say, I have loved every minute I have worked on it. Now that it is done I smile every time I see it...I really love the colors, the pattern, the quilting, the back, the binding...I love it!!

Bear with me...I also love all these pictures of it! :-)

the binding

the whole thing

up close

even closer

at home on the couch

Coming Soon...

2011-12-28T05:00:00.000-09:00

...to a blog near you!

I am going to be working on this Photo a Day Challenge in January. I've seen lots of people doing their 'Project 365' which involves taking a picture every day for a year. Yikes! Talk about setting myself up to fail. I don't know how many days I would make it, but I for sure wouldn't stick with it for 365 days. I figure my chances are much better at taking a picture every day for 31 days. So stay tuned and check in on Sunday to see how it starts off!

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T20:55:00.002-09:00

Christmas is love in action. Every time we love,
every time we give, it's Christmas.
-Dale Evans

We had a wonderful Christmas day today, and hope you did as well! We celebrated (via Skype) with my side of the family today and will celebrate with Scott's side of the family tomorrow (also via Skype). Technology is wonderful on days like today!

As we ponder all that we have to be thankful for and the many gifts we have been given I'll share this photo of our sunset today. Truly a gift!

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Christmas Eve

2011-12-24T22:00:00.000-09:00

We had a fun Christmas Eve around here! I went snowshoeing with some friends out to an area known here as Second Salmon Run. It's part of the road to Shotgun Cove which is big doings around here! It was an awesome hike...beautiful morning! And we were gone for exactly the right amount of time, too! Just as we got back to the car the wind kicked up and by the time we arrived back at the BTI it was snowing and blowing.

The above is the creek at Second Salmon Run. It is fed by a waterfall that is amazingly beautiful in the summertime.

Later that evening we heard a whole lot of honking and such. We dashed to the window and saw the fire truck headed up this way. A little elf had told this mama that Santa would arrive via firetruck, so we dashed downstairs to be a part of the festivities. Santa did arrive with his elf!

Santa and his elves distributed gifts and goodie bags to all of the kids in town. The girls were *slightly* more comfortable around Santa this time. I find the whole situation quite funny as the guy in the Santa suit is a close family friend of ours! Of course the girls don't know that, but still...cute!

Then we were off to bed, visions of sugar plums dancing in our heads!

The Eve of Christmas Eve

2011-12-23T18:33:00.002-09:00

We had a pretty busy and very fun day! We've been working on baking up lots of goodies for gifts bags for our friends here in Whittier. We wrapped up the baking with sugar cookies. The girls were very excited to help out and we tried something new for decorating them, egg yolk painting.

It was really easy, just separate out the yolks, add some food coloring (I used 4 drops) and paint away!

When you bake the cookies the egg yolk cooks up too, making it all safe to eat and coming out with very vivid colors!

One pan apiece was enough to paint apparently though--we put sprinkles on the next round. The painting was fun enough that we saved the paints and have another batch of dough to chilling in the fridge to make more to keep at home today.

After the morning cookie baking we took advantage of the lovely weather and the four of us headed down to the skating rink. Scott chose not to skate, but instead was our official photographer of the afternoon. It was an afternoon right off of a Norman Rockwell painting!

An outdoor rink, no wind, snowflakes drifting gently down...it was lovely!

Then we loaded up all of our gift bags and went delivering. It was a great way to spend an afternoon--enjoying the beauty around us and celebrating the spirit of giving!

{this moment}

2011-12-23T05:00:00.000-09:00

{this moment} - A weekly ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Inspired by SouleMama.

Moving Right Along

2011-12-22T19:42:00.000-09:00

The weather today was atrocious! The worst blizzard of the season so far. And we're dogsitting, so I got to go out in it three times, lucky me! The good thing about the weather is that it seems to have jump-started my Christmas spirit a bit! The girls and I are working on some last-minute gifts for friends here in Whittier. We had a nice first day of winter break--the girls both napped, so while they were napping I got the binding sewn onto my quilt. I had quilted it while Scott was at fire meeting last night. Now...on to hand stitching the binding down on the back side!

The Holiday Program--a Video

2011-12-21T11:27:00.000-09:00

This video shows the heart of the Holiday program last night, the dramatization of Snowmen at Night. It was so sweet! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. And for those of you out there in cyberland wondering...yes, I cried! Kids performing (and movies, books, commercials, and parades) always make me cry!

If you'd like to see the videos of the kids singing in the program, hop on over here!

Why I Blog...

2011-12-21T05:00:00.000-09:00

image source

From time to time I spend some time going back over old posts. It is fun to read the stuff I wrote a year or two or three ago and remember what was going on back then. I also notice that the purpose of this blog has shifted a bit over the last three years. I have always entertained this romantic notion of being an author one day--writing a fabulous romantic novel that makes people long to be one of the characters. Unlikely, as I can't remember the last time I wrote a fictional story. But I recently realized that through this blog I have become a writer. A real live writer!

When I first started this blog we had just decided to move to Alaska. In fact, I had been toying with the idea of blogging for awhile and had nearly started one titled 'YacoltMama'. Things moved quickly that summer though, and before I knew it I was applying for a leave of absence, packing up a house, and moving my family 2500 miles away. In the midst of all of this I started blogging to share our adventure as we embarked on this journey to a new life in Whittier.

As we settled in here, I became a more regular poster. I worked out the kinks in my formatting, learned how to manipulate templates a bit more, and tried lots of different things. For awhile I posted recipes that I was trying every week. I kept the focus on our life here, our kids, and our adventures. Then I axed the recipes in favor of the {this moment} posts and somewhere in there I began to realize that although I rarely post about myself this blog really chronicles my journey as a parent. We are always evolving and changing--and my outlook on parenting as evolved with me. I blog because I want to remember these moments. I try to live very intentionally--I try to choose my reactions to those moments in motherhood where you can smile or scream--I try to live my days calmly, focusing on the positive and with patience. It doesn't always work out the way I envision it--my kids bicker, make horrific messes, get on my nerves, and drive me completely batty some days. But I try.

I believe this blog is about all of us--it tells the story of how we spend our days, the highlights of our lives. But if you read between the lines it also tells the story of me. How I try to stay on top of things but don't always succeed. How I try to balance being a mama, a wife, a friend, and me. How I spend those precious moments with my kids, and how I spend those moments by myself. How much I love my life, my family, my friends, and our Alaskan experience.

So thank you friends! Thanks for being a part of my journey. I appreciate the fact that you pop by here occasionally to read what I write. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy posting it!

Progress

2011-12-20T05:00:00.000-09:00

Ha! I bet you had forgotten I had this little beauty in my "in progress" pile! I needed a big enough place to make the quilt "sandwich" (backing fabric, batting, quilt top). Finally on Saturday I took it over to the school while the kids were getting ready for the Holiday Program and got it all pinned and ready for quilting. It's going to get straight line quilting...hopefully sometime this week! Or next week...

Our Jesse Tree

2011-12-19T20:00:00.001-09:00

We first made a Jesse Tree last year. I can't find where I got the set of ornaments we printed and colored last year, but we all loved the process so I found another set to do this year. Each night we read a bible story (or two if we're behind!) and color an ornament that goes along with the story. The idea is that you read stories covering 25 (or more if you choose to do it during all of Advent--we stick to starting Dec. 1) major people and stories of the bible. It is a fun way to teach bible stories, discuss Christmas, and just spend some time together! This year we are using this set of ornaments and we are a bit behind so we still have about 10 ornaments to add--or in our case 20 since the girls each do one. Stacy pointed out that next year we need a bigger tree. I think I need to pay more attention next year so I cut out a more symmetrical tree shape!!

A Holiday Program

2011-12-19T11:02:00.001-09:00

After *MUCH* preparation, the kids will present their holiday program tomorrow! It is going to be fantastic, I promise you that!

They are acting out the book Snowmen at Night. If you've never read the book it is so cute! One of my all-time winter favorites. It begins like this:

One wintry day I made a snowman, very round and tall.
The next day when I saw him he was not the same at all!
His hat had slipped, his arms drooped down, he really looked a fright.
It made me start to wonder...what do snowmen do at night?

It then follows the snowmen through the night as they go sledding, skating, drink cocoa, play baseball, etc. The kids are going to be decked out as snowmen and dramatize the story. I hope to have lots of pictures and perhaps even a video to share with you on Wednesday!

{this moment}

2011-12-16T05:00:00.000-09:00

{this moment} - A weekly ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Inspired by SouleMama.

What do you like to do?

2011-12-14T05:00:00.000-09:00

Hmmmm...heavy topic here today! Usually I keep it light and fun around here, posting about the cute stuff the kids do, the fun we have, etc. Today however, I am ruminating on a totally different topic. Me.

I have read and heard lots about women and our roles and identity. We are so many different things, wives, mothers, daughters, sisters, friends, and more. We grow and change with the phases of our lives. Sometimes that growth is easy, but often it's a bit painful and scary. As they say, growing up isn't easy...and are we ever really all grown up?

I remember my first days of college. My dad driving me there, leaving me there. My excitement tempered by fear, tears coursing down my cheeks. It was hard. But I ended up having fun. My first days of teaching--so exciting and yet so frightening. And then babies. Oh boy! The circumstances surrounding my transition into motherhood were nothing if not terrifying. But still..the excitement as we looked forward to the arrival of that little blessing. Soon followed by the arrival of her sister. And the cycle of fear of excitement has not stopped since!

Recently I was asked by someone what I liked to do. I rattled off my stock answers, "I like to read, sew, knit, and cook." Then I got a reply that has had me thinking ever since. "Neat! What else do you like to do?" I admit--I wasn't sure how to answer! I really do like to do all of the aforementioned things...but what else do I enjoy?

I realized that I am in one of those times of growth again. My kids are growing. They are both in school this year. Not all day--we still have our afternoons. Afternoons often marked by tired kids, running back and forth here and there, and general chaos. A far cry from our comfortable routine of two years ago. As I sit here my identity is shifting once again. No longer am I the mother of two babies. Nor two toddlers. Not even two preschoolers. As I look into the future I see these years of being a stay-at-home mom drawing to a close and me moving (not so gracefully) into the next phase of life. I am not sure exactly what it will hold, but I can tell you that right now it has me thinking about getting to know myself a bit better. What *do* I like? Right now I can think of a few more things...

:: Spending time with my family! I love Saturdays at home, spur of the moment picnics, and fun family outings.

:: Being outside! Not vigorous hiking for miles on end, but I do like short hikes, meandering walks, snow shoeing, sledding, boat rides and reading books in the sun while the kids play at the park.

:: Dressing up on occasion! Not going-to-the-prom formal, but every once in a while a girl likes to get dressed up and go out to a nice dinner.

:: Taking pictures! This is probably not news to anyone who is a regular reader here, but when I think about how I really like to spend time taking pictures comes immediately to mind.

:: Hanging out with my girlfriends! I love swapping stories, laughing, and hanging out with the ladies.

:: Museums! Whenever we go some place new, I always look up where their museum is. We don't always get to go, but I am prepared just in case.

It is fun to think about all of these things...I might just keep adding on to this list!

An Early Christmas Dinner

2011-12-12T15:05:00.001-09:00

For the past few years we have been the ones traveling at Christmas time. This year is a bit different though--we're staying here! Some of our friends are traveling though, so we decided to have an early Christmas dinner yesterday before they leave. The weather yesterday was atrocious, so our crowd was a bit smaller than we had planned. Scott had to make an emergency run to town and another friend's husband ended up having to to go help shovel snow off a sinking boat in the harbor. In spite of all that, we had a great time!

We had delicious smoked turkey from Indian Valley Meats, a fabulous sweet potato casserole, yummy broccoli rice casserole, homemade rolls, deviled eggs, macaroni and cheese, cornbread stuffing, and both apple and pumpkin pie. It was yummy!

And everyone had fun!

{this moment}

2011-12-09T05:00:00.000-09:00

{this moment} - A weekly ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Inspired by SouleMama.

Merry Christmas, Girls!

2011-12-07T05:00:00.000-09:00

This past weekend, Scott and I gave the girls their Christmas present. A trip to the fabulous H2Oasis in Anchorage! Oh what fun! And a little shout out to Groupon...thanks for offering passes for half price earlier this summer! We first visited H2Oasis at the end of last winter when we were given a gift card to the place. Basically it's an indoor water park complete with big slides, kiddo slides, wave pool, lazy river, and hot tubs for adults. The perfect way to totally exhaust kids! We loaded up our new Suburban with life jackets, swimsuits, and towels and headed off to town. It pretty much goes without saying...the kids had a blast. And so did the adults!

Usually I try to be pretty even in the number of pics I post of each kiddo, but since Stacy wasn't too hot on having her picture taken, there were fewer of her to choose from. And Kelsey just had so many cute ones!

Stacy comes down the slide

Kelsey splashes me at the bottom of the slide!


Kelsey waves to a friend watching from the observation deck


Kelsey under the mushroom waterfall

Snowshoeing with the Girls

2011-12-05T05:00:00.000-09:00

Our first winter here, Scott bought me snowshoes. I had some friends here who were into snowshoeing and I really got into it to. Last winter I bought a pair of used youth snowshoes, but the weather never really cooperated--crazy winds and not much snow! I only got out once myself last winter and only Kelsey got a chance to try it (Stacy chose not to try).

Saturday was a rainy day here, but not so bad for kiddo snowshoeing. Goodness knows we have *plenty* of snow (about 90 inches have fallen so far!), so I strapped the snow shoes on the girls one at a time and off we went.

We just did a little loop around town--nothing far away or difficult. Stacy's loop took an hour and went like this: step, step, stop, chat--repeat for an hour. She certainly had a *lot* to say yesterday when she was away from her sister!

Next it was Kelsey's turn. That girl was on a mission! Her loop took half and hour and we stopped once. For, "Just one minute Mom. I'm having too much fun!".

It was a great way to spend a drizzly morning!

{this moment}

2011-12-02T06:53:00.001-09:00

{this moment} - A weekly ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Inspired by SouleMama.

Sometimes...

2011-11-30T05:00:00.000-09:00

You know how sometimes you want to do something, but for 101 reasons it never quite gets done? Interruptions, too many steps, more interruptions, and so it goes. This is the story of my Cricut and the quote on my door. In January I used my Cricut to cut out a little quote for my door. It looked like this..

Nice quote (or is it more of a saying??), but a little crooked, eh? But it was hard to do and I got frustrated. I always meant to redo it, but...

Enter Pinterest! Time suck and idea goldmine! I found this tutorial and it was my 'ah-ha' moment! Now I see how this is supposed to work! I did it tonight and yup! It is MUCH easier than whatever I did in January. See! Here's my new quote...

Doesn't that look nice? I love it! And it really was much easier this time. Now I am wondering where else I can 'decorate'...

Weekend

2011-11-28T14:35:00.001-09:00

Goodness! We are recovering from quite a busy weekend here! We had a wonderful Thanksgiving on Thursday, a nice little blizzard on Friday, more snow on Saturday, and even more on Sunday. Today the sun has peeked out a bit and the winds have kicked up. Forecasters are predicting a lovely winter storm for tomorrow night, so we're all holding our breaths to see what comes our way...will it be rain or snow??

On Saturday (while Scott was out plowing...again) the girls and I set up a little amateur photo backdrop in the living room and took some pictures. I was trying to get a jump start on Christmas cards and such. I must admit I was quite pleased with our results! Here are a few of my favorites...as usual there are more over on Fotki...

Aren't they adorable?? I will admit I bribed them with ice cream. Er...I mean I rewarded their cooperation with ice cream!

Sparkly Play-Dough

2011-11-26T08:20:00.001-09:00

Lots of posts here lately, huh? Just wanted to share a quick crafting success we had here the other day. We had an older friend come over to play (she's 8), so after the little girls were in bed she and I made a couple of batches of play dough; one for her to take home and one for Kelsey and Stacy. Taking an idea I had seen on Pinterest, we dumped in a little glitter. FUN!! Glitter and I are not always on the best of terms since it is nearly the messiest, most impossible stuff to clean up on the planet. Putting it in play dough is genius though--99% of it is stuck in there! So far very little of it has shed and left a mess.

Here are my crummy, after dark photos of our pink and purple batches...kind of hard to see the sparkles, but they are there!

pink play dough on the table

purple play dough on my fab kitchen counter!

Happy play time! :-)

Playing on Thanksgiving Day

2011-11-25T11:20:00.001-09:00

Looking out our window today you would never know what a great day yesterday was!

Today: snowing and blowing--I haven't been able to see Scott's office (2 blocks away) all day

Yesterday: no wind, snowing--the perfect day to play outside!

We took advantage of the break in the wind and went sledding and ice skating yesterday. The rink had just gotten set up on Wednesday, so it's not quite smooth yet, but it didn't seem to matter to the girls! We laced up the skates and they had a blast skating with Mr. Brad the rink man himself, and Mrs. S his wife. What a great way to get moving after we all stuffed ourselves silly!

I am having a little trouble motivating myself to be productive today, so I fooled around with Windows Live Movie Maker and made this little compilation of videos from yesterday instead!

Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving as well!

{this moment}

2011-11-25T06:50:00.001-09:00

{this moment} - A weekly ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Inspired by SouleMama.

Thankful

2011-11-23T05:00:00.000-09:00

There's so much to be thankful for! I did a quick survey and here's what everyone came up with:

Kelsey: I am thankful for sharing. When someone shares it makes me feel happy. I am thankful for Mommy, Daddy, Mrs. O'Brien (her teacher) Mrs. S (another teacher), God, and soldiers.

Stacy: I am thankful for Miss Mandy (her preschool teacher). I am thankful for Mommy and Daddy, too.

Scott: The incredible amount of time I get to spend with my family, beautiful scenery, and good fishing.

As for me, I am thankful for awesome friends and family who have helped me out in hundreds of ways over the last year. I am so blessed!

So enjoy your turkey tomorrow, and feel free to leave a comment about what you're thankful for as well!

All Pieced!

2011-11-21T13:41:00.001-09:00

Look! My quilt top is all pieced! I have the backing, but of course I forgot to pick up the batting last time I was in town, so this one will have to sit for a week or two before I take it any farther. I am so pleased with how it is coming together, though!

A Trip Out of the Tunnel

2011-11-21T05:00:00.000-09:00

Sometimes when it is winter and you live in Whittier you just need to get out. Typically in the winter we just go to town once or twice a month, but sometimes you just need to get out of town and take a little break. It seemed like a good idea this weekend, so we loaded up and headed off to Girdwood to one of our favorite hangouts, the library! After the library we enjoyed a nice lunch at the girls' favorite Girdwood eatery, Chair 5. The drive was beautiful, as you can see!

steam rising off Portage Lake at -9 degrees

view from the Girdwood Library

looking south (towards Whittier) along Turnagain Arm

looking north (towards Anchorage) along Turnagain Arm

We have had an unusually cold week of weather with temperatures in the teens and single digits and winds gusting up past 60mph for the last several days. It is unusual for Whittier to get that cold, particularly this early. As a result there have been a number of weather-related troubles in town the last few days. It has warmed up some--to the 20's--so hopefully the worst of it is over. Several businesses and the school have sustained damages from frozen/bursting pipes and such. So it is pretty out there...but messy, too!

{this moment}

2011-11-18T11:50:00.000-09:00

{this moment} - A weekly ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Inspired by SouleMama.

Progress

2011-11-16T21:02:00.001-09:00

I am getting there! Please excuse all of the other stuff in the picture. My craft room is also our playroom (and spare bedroom!). The horizontal rows are all pieced and after this picture I pinned them in pairs, so it is coming together nicely. I still love this quilt, so that's a good sign!!

A Busy Week!

2011-11-16T05:00:00.000-09:00

This has been such a busy week! I have been subbing at the girls' school this week, as Kelsey's teacher. It is so much fun, but tiring for all of us. The schedule is kind of funny, but Monday and Tuesday were full days and then Wednesday and Thursday are half days, so WHEW...the long days are behind us!

In other news the weather here has turned bitterly cold and the wind is howling. Definitely good days to stay inside.

With any luck I'll have a picture of my quilt to show you soon...the rows are nearly all pieced!

A Four Day Weekend

2011-11-14T05:00:00.030-09:00

We enjoyed a nice four day weekend at home this weekend! The school had inservice on Thursday and Friday (and Saturday, too! Ugh!), so there was no school for the kiddos. Scott was off on Friday for Veteran's Day. On Thursday Stacy made the following list of things she wanted to do over the weekend:

In case you need some help interpreting she wanted to:
     play outside
     play with Austin
     play inside
     have a tea party
     paint her fingernails

I'm happy to report that we got all but one done!

We played outside:

My attempt to take our picture myself!

We played with Austin and had movie night with him too:

Watching TV together!

We played inside:


The girls' classroom setup for playing school.

And of course, we painted our fingernails...and our toenails, too!

3 sets of hot pink toes!

We'll have to make sure to have a tea party this week, though! It was a nice, (mostly) quiet weekend at home with friends and family. The best kind!! Hope yours was just as wonderful!

{this moment}

2011-11-11T05:00:00.003-09:00

{this moment} - A weekly ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Inspired by SouleMama.

A Week of Special Events

2011-11-09T15:06:00.001-09:00

What a fun week this has been! And busy, too! There has been lots going on over at the school and pair that with catching up on the housework from last week when I was gone--makes for a few busy days. Here's what we've been up to:

:: hauling 50ish yards of bark chips into our indoor playground at school
:: running a crafts afternoon at school with a friend
:: Meeting Dave Titus from Oklahoma who is a genius presenter for all ages

The three musketeers making letters with their strings

:: Hosting the kids from the Moose Pass, Cooper Landing, and Hope schools today for some arts time and then a show by the amazing Eric Gilliam of Anchorage

the three musketeers waiting for the magic show to start

So as you can see, it has been a busy week! We've crammed a lot into three days of school. We have some days off Thursday & Friday for teacher inservice, so we can all recover from all of the excitement!

Home Sweet Home

2011-11-07T19:36:00.001-09:00

I am home! Not surprisingly, everyone did just fine in my absence. I was anxious about leaving them, but I had learned long ago that typically most of the anxiety is on my part. Turns out it was true this time around as well...mostly anyway! There were a few tears here and there when I called home, but overall my fab husband and wonderful friends held things together while I was away. Some things I missed while I was gone:

:: hugging my family every day
:: eating homemade food
:: sleeping in my bed
:: hanging out with some of my favorite people

On the other hand it was nice to have a break from some of the more hum-drum household duties such as:

:: doing all of those dishes...by hand!
:: laundry
:: cleaning house

It was a fun conference. I learned a great deal, met some great people, and had a great time. But all in all, I am glad to be home! And I promise some pictures next time...a post without pictures is just no fun to read!

Hotel Room Sewing

2011-11-02T22:13:00.000-08:00

I am at a conference this week and since I had to leave my kiddos behind, I brought Lily along with me to keep me company. So far I have 3 rows sewn together and ironed!

Snow Before Halloween!

2011-10-31T14:34:00.000-08:00

Happy Halloween! This used to be my least favorite holiday of the year. It still is, but I have learned to enjoy it a bit more with my kids. Hopefully I will be able to share some pictures with you soon, but the next few days are promising to be busy, busy, busy in different areas of my life! Posts may be a bit sporadic, but I'll try!

It started to snow here yesterday and before long it was accumulating. Last time I was outside we had about 6 or so inches of the fluffy stuff. It's still coming down, too! Usually our first snow(s) melt within 24 hours, but not this one! Here we are having some fun outside yesterday:

It made me smile the way the girls were SO excited to play outside. I promise, the enthusiasm wanes by April! Either way, it was fun again for a little while at least!

{this moment}

2011-10-28T05:00:00.000-08:00

{this moment} - A weekly ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Inspired by SouleMama.

Making Progress

2011-10-27T19:13:00.000-08:00

My (new) knitted sock is several inches long again, and I laid out my quilt last night. I changed a few things after this picture, but for the most part it will remain the same when I sew it all together! Sorry for the crummy picture...should have taken that polarizing filter off. :-)

A Sunny Afternoon at the Park

2011-10-26T05:00:00.009-08:00

Sunday was a nice fall day--it wasn't pouring and the wind wasn't blowing. That rates a 9.5 around here! The girls and I headed outside to enjoy it a bit. We headed down to the city park where we played on the swings, climbed the gravel piles, played in the trees, and ran in the field! It was so nice to be able to play outside!

A real smile--it's so hard to capture these lately!


Almost a real smile...

Kelsey *desperately* wanted to climb a tree--no good climbing trees, though!

The girls played and played...I think they needed a little bit of unstructured outside time. We've been working our way through the Toy Story trilogy, so lots of their play involved them being Jessie, Woody, and the swing being the horse, Bullseye. It was so much fun to watch them!

Coming Along

2011-10-24T20:44:00.000-08:00

All of the squares for my plus quilt are cut! Next up...layout! Here's hoping I can get it all laid out in the next day or two so the sewing can commence.

A Trip to the Pumpkin Patch--Alaska Style!

2011-10-24T20:33:00.001-08:00


L-R: Andrea, Stacy, Kelsey, Austin, Joey, Stephanie photo taken by Nana Diane

What a fun weekend adventure! The 7 of us (6 pictured above, plus photographer Nana Diane) loaded up into Nana's van and headed up to Palmer to visit the Williams Reindeer Farm. We followed in famous footsteps--Mike Rowe of Discovery Channel's Dirty Jobs has visited! You can see the bit here if you haven't seen it before.

There was really a lot to do! There were pumpkins to ponder,

a hay maze to wander,

elk to meet,

a hay ride to ride,

horses to ride,

and reindeer to feed!

It was so much fun! A visit to the pumpkin patch in Alaska requires a whole different wardrobe than a trip in Washington. It was about 34 degrees while we were in Palmer!

This was our last trip to a pumpkin patch in October 2008.

Where did those little girls go????

Reminiscing aside, we had so much fun spending a day with friends!

Houston...we have a problem...

2011-10-19T05:00:00.002-08:00

Good news...I finished the aforementioned sock last night!

Bad news...it's a *tad* too big.

Guess I have a little ripping and re-knitting to do, eh??

It's a....

2011-10-17T14:37:00.000-08:00

...pile of fabric! Hopefully (maybe soon?) it's going to look kinda like this though:


image source

I ordered the fabric from Connecting Threads. It's my first time ordering from them, but the fabric feels wonderful! Ironically, Connecting Threads is headquartered in good 'ol Vancouver, WA! Anyway...I'm excited to chop it all up and start sewing! The quilt is for (gasp!) ME! We are currently using a quilt my mama made for me when I was a little girl. It's starting to come apart in a few places, so I want to make another for our daily snugglin' so we don't completely ruin this one. I felt like something colorful since we're headed into winter, so I chose the Folk Heart line. Hopefully it's not *too* colorful!

Weekend Project

2011-10-17T14:34:00.001-08:00

Well. After the tree house we kept things a little more low key this weekend! I found this cool paper plate skeleton while surfing the web and thought the girls would have fun with it. I printed out the templates, and made one change. I made a shorter "arm bone" because it bothered me that the directions called for 3 bones in the legs to make them longer. I realize the whole thing is not designed to be anatomically correct, but that's the sort of thing that K would pick up on!

cut, cut, cut!

A little chocolate on the face left from snack!

Stacy's finished product on our door

Kelsey chose to hang hers on their bedroom door

It's a lot of tracing and cutting, and then a lot of hole punching and tying, but they turned out pretty cute!

{this moment}

2011-10-14T05:00:00.001-08:00

{this moment} - A weekly ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Inspired by SouleMama.

Ten Things

2011-10-12T05:00:00.001-08:00

I am having a great week! Here are ten things that are making me happy right now...

:: Sunshine! Such a rare and oh-so-wonderful treat.

:: Beautiful sunrises and sunsets--amazing the beauty that hides behind our omnipresent clouds

:: Soup! Homemade split pea soup for dinner tonight

:: Sewing machines...mine are home from the shop! I am waiting on some fab fabrics from Connecting Threads to make a new quilt.

:: Anne of Green Gables...my all time favorite books and movies! My mom spoiled me with a 5 disc set of the movies. I am watching them right now!

:: Knitting...my first pair of socks. Actually my first sock...surely its mate will be completed at some point, right?

:: Teaching! I am getting my feet back into teaching a bit this year on a volunteer basis and I am loving (almost) every minute of it!

:: Little girls learning to read and write...such enthusiasm and independence! Does a teacher-mama's heart good.

:: Boat rides on Prince William Sounds

:: My hubby...he always makes me smile!

Boat Ride

2011-10-10T18:54:00.005-08:00

One of the great things about living in a coastal town is the myriad opportunities to get out on the water. I took advantage of one such opportunity with a friend of ours on Sunday. I was asked by a local business owner to take some pictures along the way for them to use for publicity and advertising. No problem!

Our first stop was in Poe Bay where we got to watch a pair of sea lions feeding. This is one of my favorite shots of the day!

Then we headed on over into Blackstone Bay to see Blackstone Glacier. On our way to see the glacier, we spotted this eagle keeping an eye on us.

Then we popped into this hidden little waterfall, where we were treated to the pretty rainbow as well!

There were more sea lions along the way...

...and another rainbow underneath this overhanging glacier (the name of which I cannot remember)!

We hung out in front of Blackstone glacier for a bit, and were lucky enough to watch it calve.

Then we stopped for a bit to get off the boat and walk around.

And on the way back we saw this raft of adorable sea otters! What a wonderful way to spend a sunny Sunday...many thanks to all who made it possible for me to float away for a bit!

{this moment}

2011-10-07T20:47:00.001-08:00

{this moment} - A weekly ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Inspired by SouleMama.

Weekend Project

2011-10-03T15:08:00.000-08:00

Lookie there! When I downloaded photos today I found this picture. I guess Moo Grandma must have taken it on Thursday morning when Kelsey did both her own and Stacy's hair. Cute huh?

We made this cardboard tree house this weekend. The idea came from the most recent Family Fun magazine. The directions are also available online if you need one of your own! It was lots of fun to make, but a bit more involved than I had realized at first glance. They also didn't call for you attach the tree to the base at all except with tacky glue. We opted for good old packing tape! I reinforced lots of joints with it. So far the girls are having a blast! The one in the magazine shows using half paper towel rolls for slides from floor to floor. Great idea, but we didn't have an empty one so we'll have to 'remodel' after we use up some paper towels!

{this moment}

2011-09-30T19:20:00.001-08:00

{this moment} - A weekly ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Inspired by SouleMama.

A Visit to the Sealife Center

2011-09-28T21:32:00.000-08:00

It's certainly no secret that we love the Alaska Sealife Center! We've been there several times and taken lots of visitors. Last weekend it was Moo Grandma's turn! We loaded up the girls into the car (with the portable DVD player!!) and headed out. What a fun day we had! Being a bit older this time the girls showed a bit more interest in different parts of the center and noticed different things this time around. We still spent a great deal of time at the touching pools...twice!

harbor seal


sea lion

halibut

Stacy--a bit more confident this time around

Kelsey--completely in her element!

We wrapped up our trip with a picnic at the wonderful Seward park, and a stop at Sweet Darlings for some gelato...YUM!