Cool Sunset

One thing about winter in Alaska is we have some pretty incredible sunsets of pink. The mountains and snow take on this rosy shade and it truly is incredible. We live in a river valley and so we have mountains on two sides of us and a view of the cook inlet on the other two. This was taken off our back porch looking towards the mountains to the side of the house. Just the beauty of things really helps turn a crummy day into a better one.

Wipes, the mom's duct tape

I decided to cut the boys hair last night and I'm not sure if the boys hair was very static or what but there was hair everywhere in the bathroom. Instead of breaking out all the cleaning supplies and doing a real wash down I decided to use the chlorax wipes. Quick, easy and only two left. So what to do....wipes. They are great for wiping up all the hair off the floor. That got me to thinking about what other things I use wipes for. There are the usual sticky faces, hands, to blow a nose (mine or the kids), wipe off public high chairs, muddy slides at parks, car windows, and toys at garage sales (to see if they really are worth it). Then there is the camping and fishing world and that opens a whole other can of worms, pardon the pun. Still while cleaning up hair I wonder what other creative things mom's have used wipes for. So I would like to hear from you guys. How do you use your wipes?

Wow, Time Flies

It is so crazy how fast time is flying by. I can't believe that in two more days we will be in March. We've been busy with all the normal things of life. I played in an annual snowshoe softball tournament in anchorage that is just crazy. You wear these old tennis rackets and try and play normal softball. Luckily it was about 25 degrees, which actually allowed me to take off a glove in order to throw the ball. I keep thinking that only here would 18 teams of 12 people put these things on and torture themselves for two days and actually enjoy it. In one of our games two people scored and the batter got a triple off of a hit to the pitcher. The bright orange ball got lost in the snow and there were three people searching for it.

The kids came out and saw the sled dog races that go right by the softball fields. It is always so fun to watch these dogs run. I always have to wonder if any of these animal rights people who think these dogs are being abused have not seen them at the start or during a race. These dogs are so excited to run and they are going just crazy wanting to get going. It is all the people can do to hold them back until it is their turn. It is really cool to see. They had a juniors race of 5-12 year olds and now the kids have a new things they want to do in life! The only problem is that I am not adding a dog to this household!

They breed dogs with certain traits that make them better race dogs. I think these ones were bred with extra long tongues!

At the end of the day. The lady in the funky cowboy hat is just a little taste of some of the costumes people wear. Donald Duck even made and appearance. I would also like to add that I have several, several layers on!:)

The great snowshoes, left over from world war two. These are what we use to play in.

"Superman only saves the day on Friday"

The title of this blog comes from a classic Benjamin statement. It has been a long couple of weeks with lots of different adventures. The cold has settled in and so the only time we breath fresh air is the dash from the car into whatever building we are heading to. We have some beautiful blue skies with lots of sun so we are praying for clouds to help warm things up a bit. Life gets a little rougher in February and March. I know we have been in the house to long when I spend more time prying Benjamin and Carsten apart than anything else. Any fun indoor ideas would be very welcome. Carsten made a customary first of the year visit to the emergency room to get 7 stitches in his chin. He was stepping from one chair to another when one chair slipped and he flew to the next chair parallel to the ground. This was not a Friday and so Superman was unavailable for saving.
I need to go on a bit of a rant about medical personal and doctors. We have had lots of recent experience dealing with some great doctors and nurses who work some very, very long hours to make sure that my children are taken care of. Doctors are only human and we forget sometimes they make educated decisions with the info they have but they are not all-knowing as some people seem to expect. I just wanted to say how grateful I am for these men and women who work hard, with little sleep to help care for us. Josette was recently admitted for a partially obstructed bowel and we had surgeon checking in on her at 3:30 am to make sure things were going ok, because a major car crash was coming in and he would be in surgery for the next couple of hours. That to me was over and beyond since all of her tests weren't scheduled until later in the morning any way. Are they worth all the money they get paid? You bet they are and I hope that I can always remember that, even when things might not go as well.

Cooking group

I finally get two hands to type with and so I'm taking advantage of it. I just wanted to tell people about this great thing I get to be a part of called a cooking group. A lady in our ward started it years ago and different families move in and out creating openings and last spring I was asked to substitute for a couple of weeks and now I'm a permanent member. There are 4 families of equal size and you each take a night a week that will be your day to do the dinner. So for 3 days a week I get hot, fresh, nutritious meals delivered to my door at 5:30pm. On my night of the week I do the cooking and delivering. I do spend the afternoon on my day cooking but it all balances out because I don't have to worry the other nights, and we usually get enough food to have a leftover night. So then I only have to come up with three meals a week and the temptation to get the quick easy stuff is no longer there. The menus are planned a month in advance and all food is made from scratch with fresh ingredients. Planning ahead as a group also keeps a bit of variety, no chicken for 4 nights in a row. Not only that but the women I'm in with are great cooks. For example Farfelle pasta with fresh mushroom, asparagus with burnt citrus butter, home made french bread and brownies were dropped off at my door and I was able to have a fabulous dinner and still get laundry folded and homework done! Another perk is that I'm forced to plan my menus ahead and shopping is much easier and I use everything I buy fixing for 20 people, I also make good use of my Cooking Light Magazine. When my mom was here she loved it and is trying to get it going with some of the empty Nester around them. You and your spouse have to be willing to try new things and Matt and I definitely will eat most anything. It is also great because the kids get to eat some foods that I might not ever fix otherwise and there is no complaining about what's at the table because mom didn't fix it and there is nothing else to eat. It's a great idea for those who don't have time to cook a good healthy meal every night but certainly like to eat one!

Fun with Kohen

Sunday we went to the Galloway's to celebrate a birthday and while we were preparing to go over this was a conversation we had with Benjamin.
Benjamin: I need to give some toys to Kohen.
Matt: Why do you need to give Kohen some toys?
Benjamin: Because Kohen doesn't have any toys.
Catherine: He's got toys, they are just baby toys like Josette's.
Benjamin: Sister Foster, my primary teacher says that I can give Kohen some toys that I don't want anymore.
Matt: That's great!
Matt and Catherine: If there's toys you don't want anymore we can still give them away to some other kids who would want them and be old enough to play with them.
Benjamin: No, I can only give them to Kohen because I know him. I don't want to give them to somebody else!
We figure that understanding 50% is not to bad. It was so funny and said in a way that only a 4 year old can say. The boys love Kohen and we got to watch him tonight for Lucy. It was fun and he and Josette seem to be making a connection. A bit like Sophie and Isaac (whom we still talk about regularly). Kohen is two months older but about double Josette's size ( about like the other two mentioned earlier..) and they were having fun holding hands and chit chatting.

"Well, you see....."

"Boy I'm good! Holding the ladies hands already!"

My 2008 Carsten List

Now Carsten is as cute as they come but things just seem to happen to him. One of the things he is getting known for in our family is his uncanny ability to help me clean things out. For example, the kitchen drawer just fell off in his hand after hanging on the handle and somehow pulling. I was next to him when it happened and I'm not exactly sure how it ripped off, he didn't fall on his keester when it did come off. Because of this ability I thought it would be fun to really keep track of this and thus a sidebar list has been created.