Made it so far

Well the boys made it through Christmas...and so have their parents so far.  They enjoyed opening their presents and of course were disappointed when they were all finished.  Nia didn't really care about the opening part.  She was having way to much fun with the playing with what was inside part.  She has great taste.  She doesn't care if it is dollies, action figures or stuffed animals.  She will play with it.  Jenner's new Hulk caught her eye in particular.  She must love a guy in green because we finally had to hide it from her so that Jenner could take it up to his room.

Funny thing too, Nia got a little tea set and Jenner is just enthralled by it.  You will peak in her bedroom and see both of them sitting on the ground having a tea party.  He loves the little cups as much as her I think.

Merry Christmas

Well we consider it a pretty even trade when you go to a white elephant party with hot coco mix, a dvd, and a flashlight and return home with chocolate chip cookies, Back Bay chocolates and a board game.  We all had a really good time, the snacks were excellent...especially the fudge my kids say.. :)  ...and the kids were very happy with the gifts...

So let us say Merry Christmas to you all!  For any of you that I forgot in the email shuffle I am posting our Christmas card!

Merry Christmas!

Snowball fight...and a record

Well we are proud to have our first family snowball fight up in Alaska.  We are also proud to hold the record in our family for the first snowball fight in the rain.  It was a lot of fun...it was also very wet!  Thank goodness for coco, fires and dryers!

Cookie Time

Who doesn't love a good Christmas cookie?  Well this is the second time in a two days that the kids have had the chance to decorate sugar cookies.  Do you think any of them turned it down?  NO way!

School Program

It went rather well.  The little kids acted like, well, little kids...and the older kids did a fine job.  Here is a copy of what we managed to capture with our unattended camera.  We will be getting a copy of a better filmed program....

We can finally say it's Christmas!

Christmas came a little early for Nia.  The school was able to get a new fridge and her brother's made a house out of the packaging for her.

 

 

We finally dried out the tree and had it placed were we want it so the kids could go to work...

and work they did!

 

and did...

and did...

 

don't forget to consult!

 

we don't get many shots were someone isn't mugging for the camera...this wasn't one of those times either...

 

 

And these are pictures of the side project I have had going on...

 

 

all the younger kids...in the town...are going to get capes from me this year..



 

we ended up with a pretty good assortment....

any guesses on which one's are Nia, Ender or Jenner's??

Ahoy!

well here it is almost nine a.m. and I have managed to do the following:

bathe and dress nia

bake 2 cakes

wash all dishes

start 3 capes

dress myself(I know you were wondering)

get all four boys fed, dressed and off to school

finish the family Christmas card

and now blogging...

 

sounds amazing till I tell you I have been up since 4:30 doesn't it?

 

but anyway...

 

for our 13th anniversary on Sunday we were able to charter a boat to go out and look at the islands and watch for sea life.  It was a lot of fun.  We didn't see any whales but we did see sea otters and seals.

 

Oh Christmas Tree!

 

Well we had a new family experience.  Instead of throwing up the ol' fake fir tree we went Christmas tree hunting.

 

It was fun....only a bit of fighting when it came to choosing an actual tree.  Mom and Dad had veto power and made them choose between two trees...

 

One was tall and lofty...easy 15 ft...

The other is the one that came home with us...

 

Merry Christmas!

It's in the Gene's!

Christmas shopping with Style!

Well with Nia style anyway...

We received an American Girl magazine in the mail and she glommed onto that one rather quickly.  She browsed the pages....

 

 

...and found the one she wanted....

 

...and then I am not sure if she called Grandma or Santa or who...

But I am guessing we will see if it got through come Christmas morning....

 



Restoration

My computer is back on it's A game.  Thank heavens!  I missed this fella so much.  The tablet is not the way to do emails, blogs, or shopping! 

So now it is catch-up time.

I thought I would share a picture of who came over to our house for Thanksgiving dinner.  I think you will be impressed....

computer woes

well good intentions or not I did intend to write about Thanksgiving but between black Friday and our computer deciding now was the time to break I haven't been on the Internet much...as it is I am typing this on my tablet which leaves MUCH MUCH to be desired...so more later just wanted everyone to know we are still kicking...

computer woes

well good intentions or not I did intend to write about Thanksgiving but between black Friday and our computer deciding now was the time to break I haven't been on the Internet much...as it is I am typing this on my tablet which leaves MUCH MUCH to be desired...so more later just wanted everyone to know we are still kicking...

computer woes

well good intentions or not I did intend to write about Thanksgiving but between black Friday and our computer deciding now was the time to break I haven't been on the Internet much...as it is I am typing this on my tablet which leaves MUCH MUCH to be desired...so more later just wanted everyone to know we are still kicking...

computer woes

well good intentions or not I did intend to write about Thanksgiving but between black Friday and our computer deciding now was the time to break I haven't been on the Internet much...as it is I am typing this on my tablet which leaves MUCH MUCH to be desired...so more later just wanted everyone to know we are still kicking...

computer woes

well good intentions or not I did intend to write about Thanksgiving but between black Friday and our computer deciding now was the time to break I haven't been on the Internet much...as it is I am typing this on my tablet which leaves MUCH MUCH to be desired...so more later just wanted everyone to know we are still kicking...

computer woes

well good intentions or not I did intend to write about Thanksgiving but between black Friday and our computer deciding now was the time to break I haven't been on the Internet much...as it is I am typing this on my tablet which leaves MUCH MUCH to be desired...so more later just wanted everyone to know we are still kicking...

So Romantic

My husband took me out on our very first Alaskan Date!  Doesn't your heart just swoon at the thought?  Mine did.  Especially when I learned what he had in store for me.

My very first of ever trying to Kayak.  Doesn't that spell romance for you? 

It was actually quite fun.  I am sure once I get the hang of paddling...not like a canoe...I will manage it better.  I tend to lead to the left.....

We are hoping to go on a family outing before it gets too much colder.  All of the boys have gone with dad, and Nia has too, but we need two capable adults to take them all out....

Should have known!

 

You know I have learned over the years with my boys that when they get too quiet you check on them.  Well they decided that since I am well versed in that, that they needed to add another one to my already lengthy list...

 

Apparently asking them to do their chores...more specifically cleaning the bathroom...is now a license to do the cleaning..they do want to be able to play....but to add their own creative flare to accomplishing the levels of cleanliness that their mother holds them to.





 



So now I know that I either have to check up on them, accept their little twists, or be much more specific in what I want to see when they are done...

But thanks Judge.  The bathroom did look great.

Little Storm

The kids were disappointed when they woke up on Monday morning and the snow was gone...that was until they saw this on the way to school....

But it was even more fun on Tuesday when they woke up to this...

 

Kale says at school you can tell anyone who isn't local for sure because they hear every 10 to 15 minutes....look it's snowing!

 

P.S. I am not a bad mother....Nia had a hat on when we started...you have to go behind her and put it back on every five minutes cause she pulls it off...