Time flying...

Over the past few days, there has been a subtle change around here that lets me know that time if flying far too quickly. It's so subtle that I doubt anyone would notice it but me. Somehow, a certain "baby" girl has graduated from calling me mama to calling me mommy. *sigh*

Tugboat Tour

Two weekends ago, we were treated to a tour of Crowley's brand-new tug, the Nachik. Crowley held a huge christening party at the railroad terminal, with lots of free food and giveaways for all their employees and special guests. We were then allowed to ramble around the tug, let the kids sit in the captain's chair, and Andrew even got to blow the horn (hence his delighted grin in the collage below)! Mark was invited because Ace is one of their primary vendors, and Mark does a lot of ordering for them, as they're one of his biggest customers. We had a great day getting out together as a family, which seems more and more rare these days...we all enjoyed it!

Why Wendy likes the D.O.T.

The last week of April, I was the recipient of an entire, unexpected, "honey-do list day!" Remember how, after the bridge in Minneapolis collapsed, there was major national scrutiny on all of the bridges in the whole-wide country? Guess where three of the worst offenders are? That's right...Seward Highway, and Mark crosses all three of them daily (twice) for his commute. They finally are getting around to fixing said bridges (how many years has it been?), and they scheduled to close the highway from 10 p.m. Friday night to 5 a.m. Monday morning over the last weekend in April. The bets were on to see if a government-funded project would actually run according to schedule...ha!

Well, by Sunday evening the rumors were floating around town that it would be 8 a.m. Monday morning before they were done, even though DOT had not updated their website to reflect any time change. I've lost track of how many people kindly called Mark with what they had heard!
He headed to work a little before 6 a.m. on Monday (it's only about 5 miles from our house to the bridge, so it wasn't a major deal to check rather than depend on rumors). You guessed it...still closed, estimated to open at 8 a.m. 8 a.m. came and went...new estimate was noon. Noon came and went, changed to 5 p.m.

And by this time, our sleepy little town is positively overflowing with poor travelers who thought they would be able to get to S. When you only have one way in and out of a town, it's fairly simple to notify travelers of road closures and such. That is, IF the electronic sign that sits outside of Anchorage headed south is actually updated. Which it wasn't. So meanwhile, 75 miles later, you've got some pretty frustrated people hanging out at the only eating establishment in town.

And this was some major upheaval for life and business in S. People were missing airline flights in Anch. Emergency services were re-directed. A cruise ship even had to pull out of the harbor without all of its passengers because their food for the next leg of the voyage was on a delivery truck that couldn't get in!

5 p.m. Monday rolls around. Still not finished. New estimate: 8 p.m. Then 11 p.m. Then 5 a.m. Tuesday. Then 8 a.m. Finally, the highway opened at 8:20 a.m. on Tuesday. There was literally "no room in the inn," for a goodly number of people on Monday, and we even ended up with a family sleeping in the church Monday night.

All of this frustration and upheaval was totally lost on us. For our family, it was simply a guilt-free extra weekend day! Mark got an unbelievable number of projects accomplished that day! So, we finally have our swing set back up and in use at our house! As you may (or may not) remember, we had moved it, and a lot of our other "outdoor stuff" from our old house back in Dec., before we got too much snow, and stored it at Chad and Kindra's (at that point we still weren't sure where we would be landing after the move)!

Mark was heading to the dump (a 1/2 mile from our house), and it dawned on me over an hour later that he still hadn't come back. So I called him, just as he was headed back in the driveway with a truckload of our "outdoor stuff," and Tommy pulling in behind him w/ their one-ton truck and the swing set! It was great fun for the boys, who got to share their excitement with their friend Adrian. Both of Adrian's parents work at the only eating/lodging establishment in town, and Adrian goes to school in S...so he needed a place to go for the day, and we gladly took him!

Needless to say, it was a great day! The kids were thrilled to have the swing set back, I was thrilled to have my stanchion built for the goats, etc, etc! And the work continued the next morning, as both Mark and Tommy were ready to head to work, but couldn't make it through for a few hours, so the basement got some major overhaul, too! I'm so grateful to D.O.T. for not having their act together!

'at.

How much fun can a hat be? If you're Anna, there is apparently a great deal to be had with a 'at.

And a one and a two...

The other day I was helping Jacob and Anna learn their Bible verse from Sunday school. Jacob is "old hat" at memory verses, and does really well learning even long phrases, but I wanted him to model the process for Anna. Here's how it went:

Me: Love...
Jacob: Love...
Me: one...
Jacob: one...
Me: another.
Jacob: another.

Me: Anna, your turn! Love...
Anna: 'ove...
Me: one...
Anna: two...

She didn't understand why we all instantly cracked up laughing, but she joined us in the laughter anyway!

New 4H topic

Now that we've wrapped up dog mushing for 4H (later I'll post pics of his poster and a video of his presentation from last night), we're ready to delve more into the world of chickens! A few weeks ago we went to another 4H-ers house who have been working with chickens for a while, and we got to see chickens at every stage from incubated eggs to just hatched chicks to pullets and up!

Anna's "new" doll babies

I have saved, since I left home, a storage bin of my favorite stuffed animals and dolls from my childhood. Not a lot of them, mind you; it's not a huge bin. But about four dolls and as many stuffed animals, some of which I had already gotten out for the boys over the past few years. Well, a few weeks ago, while Anna and I were supposed to be picking up toys in her room before bed, I decided to get out the bin. And let me tell you, this girl loves her doll babies!

She was quite taken with both "Kinzi" and "Rebecca." Both dolls were having a seriously bad hair day after being in a bin for the past, um, several years. Anna didn't hold that against them, and quite enjoyed the fact that I was actually combing their hair!

Kinzi has her 'at that Anna enjoyed taking on and off her head. Rebecca has a few extra features going for her...eyes that blink and she cries when you turn her over. It's hard to believe that the little cry box in her body still works after 30+ years! The whole crying feature is important for you to remember in one of the videos below, lest you fear that we have subjected our children to being shaken and that she's just repeating what she has experienced!

As a result of the apparent temptation it is to poke baby doll eyes that blink, Rebecca did not get to stay out of the bin. She enjoyed her evening out, and has been returned to the bin till Anna's a bit older (much to Anna's consternation). But Kinzi is still out, enjoying the happy life that all toys are meant to live.

Love a pretty hair bow!

Anna doesn't usually, unfortunately, let me put bows or barrettes in her hair. But she was willing to wear this one, provided she could fix it herself! Nothing like Easter finery!

Happy "Easter"

Or should I say "Happy Resurrection Sunday?" There's been some tension lately among church members on celebrating "Easter." And when I say tension, I don't necessarily mean that in a negative way. Tension can be good-it's all part of "iron sharpening iron." I think. It all comes down to knowing the origins of why we do what we do to supposedly celebrate Christian holidays. The word "Easter" actually comes from the pagan goddes Astare, otherwise known as Eastre or Ashtaroth. If you know your Old Testament, whenever they mention "Asherah poles" and the like, they are really referring to the pagan goddess for whom our celebration has been named.

So how did Christ rising from the dead get connected with a pagan goddess? There was a pagan spring festival celebrating Astare and fertility, replete with the age-old symbols of fertility: rabbits and eggs (haven't you been wondering all along how in the world they came up with a bunny hiding eggs? That's how)! Christian missionaries, not wanting to draw too wide of a line in the sand, just overlaid that pagan festival with Christian meaning, in an attempt to gently "woo the sinners from their pagan ways." Or to coat their sin with sugar. Hmm...maybe that's where jelly beans came from! (There is obviously more to it than that. I'm really probably up too late and am too tired to attempt to handle this post well. I guess I'll just suggest that you google "origin of Easter traditions" or something similar, and that will get you started).

So now, there are those that say that to even use the word "Easter" is akin to having the devil in for coffee-why give honor to a false god when it's all about Jesus? And how do we think God can stomach us essentially participating in false religion? In the other camp are those that say, "What difference does it make? When I say the word Easter, in my heart I'm celebrating Jesus rising from the dead." And there are numerous camps in-between. Like "go ahead and participate in the usual traditions but teach what the meaning really is." Or "If anyone says Happy Easter to you, just say He is Risen in response, and do whatever you want with the rest."

We haven't yet determined in which camp we're hanging out. Obviously, the kids colored eggs. And I told them that just like chicks hatch from eggs and are a brand-new life, when we accept Jesus in our hearts, we have a brand-new life, too. Sounded better than "let's color eggs to remember the sexuality of the pagan goddess Astare." But I may be off-base for lying. :}

I would love for you to share your thoughts on this one! In the meantime, enjoy the pics of our kids celebrating Resurrection Sunday!
















I was impressed with how patient the boys were with the whole process!

















Anna was thrilled that she got to get in on the good stuff this time!
















Opening their baskets from Miss Dianne! Dianne, the kids are still enjoying their goodies, esp. the books! Thank you so much for making the day special-you are such a blessing to us!















The only place to prop the camera on timer had us facing directly into the sun! More pics coming of Anna and her hairbow!

4H Dogmushing

We've had a really great experience with the dog mushing 4H project! At first, Andrew intended to teach Sophie to mush, but we talked through the project objectives, and settled on just learning as much about dog mushing as possible right now (Andrew realized that Sophie is too big and slow to be a sled dog)!

It was really helpful to have his friend Ashley in our group, as she truly does intend to be a musher. She has had a fascination with dog mushing for about 3 years now, and while her parents kept waiting for it to be a passing phase, she only became more involved. It's to the point that she actually helps as a dog handler for the Seaveys.

For one of our project meetings, we helped the kids make a graphic organizer to learn about the different aspects of mushing, such as the equipment needed, what the dogs need to learn and do, and what mushers must have and know to be good mushers. The kids all shared what they had learned from various Iditarod videos and from library books, and of course Ashley had lots of first-hand info.

Then, we went to Anchorage to see the ceremonial start of the Iditarod, and spent lots of time following the race via the internet. We also went to see the annual "Mayor's Cup" race in Seward, which is used as a fundraiser. Businesses pay an entry fee, and then one of their employees gets to drive the sled in the race. It's a short race that the dogs don't really need a musher for :), around a a half-mile loop or so. It's held in early April, so that the dogs (various mushers lend their dogs for the event) have the Iditarod out of the way already. (Mark got to be in the race a few years ago, and he loved it! This year it was his assistant manager's turn to race, though).

The culmination of our project was a visit from Travis Beals! Travis is from Seward, and he came in second place for the Jr. Iditarod (run by 14-17 year-olds). A pretty impressive feat! He was gracious enough to come out to our house to teach the kids about mushing. He not only answered lots of questions and let the kids get the dogs dressed to race, he actually let them drive the sled! The kids took turns riding in the sled, and the older ones took turns driving. I was completely impressed with Travis with how he interacted with the kids, and how he let them do the driving but totally staying with the dogs and hopping back on the sled to keep it under control. We can't wait to follow Travis in next year's Iditarod, as he'll be 18 and ready to run the big race as a rookie!

Right now Andrew is working on his poster presentation of what he learned from the project. I'll post a picture of his poster when it's finished, and hopefully of video of his presentation at the 4H meeting next week!

Rebecca's Birthday Party!

Rebecca wanted a sledding party for her birthday, so we were happy to oblige! Although from the looks of it, there was more snow fighting than snow sledding going on!















And we introduced my mother to the world of snowshoeing, and she loved it! Andrew and Jacob enjoyed the sledding, too, though Andrew did battle with a tree while sledding, and we aren't sure who really won.
















Rebecca brought her new firepit to set up for roasting marshmallows, and it worked out quite nicely!




















Happy 21st Birthday, Rebecca!

Anna and the Band-Aids

So we have this little girl Anna, who will two in just over a month. And ever since she was three days old, she has been positively enamored with her thumb. She has been one of the most easy-going children ever...give her her thumb and/or her blankie, and she's happy as a clam (although I've never actually understood how the emotional status of a clam was ever determined). She doesn't just suck her thumb when she's tired. If she doesn't have anything else for her hands to do, like when she's being read to, she'll suck her thumb. And, she sucks her thumb after nearly every single bite of food she takes, as though she needs to stop up her mouth with her thumb so that the food doesn't fall out!

Anyway, since her front teeth are starting to show the signs of it, we decided that it was time for her to stop sucking her thumb. She happens to not agree with us. The first nap of "no more thumb sucking," I put band-aids on both of her thumbs (she's ambidextrous when it comes to thumb-sucking), and she screamed for two hours, fell asleep in a exhausted heap for 1/2 an hour, then woke up slightly refreshed to commence screaming again. Bedtime was not much better, except for the fact that she was too tired to wake again after another two hours of screaming about the band-aids. Or so I thought. On inspection in the morning, the truth came out: she had simply finally gotten the band-aids off.

At nap-time the next day, we tried double-bandaging the thumbs. No luck...she still got them off. So, for bedtime, I tried a new trick. Rather than just put band-aids on her thumbs, I decided to put a band-aid on every single finger, so that she wouldn't have any fingers available with which to pick them off! Brilliant, right? Er, no. The smiles were short-lived, and she managed to get all of them off in record time.






















































We put the thumb-sucking cessation program on hold for a few weeks while we were anticipating the onset of chicken pox. (They had been exposed to shingles, so I was hopeful that they would catch them. But, after three weeks of "quarantine," they came clear without pock among them-better luck next time).

But, now we need to get back at it. They do make plastic thumb guards, to the tune of $75, but we would need two of them. And, a major part of ther thumb sucking is done at meal-time, so that guards wouldn't work then, anyway. She likes vinegar. I can't yet bring myself to put hot-sauce on her thumbs. The next best option I can think of is to try putting duct tape on her thumbs instead.

In the meantime, if anyone has any tricks that have worked for them, we're all ears!

A sampler

Andrew loves to take pictures. Some of them are actually really good, especially of people. But sorting through all of his pictures can be, well, see for yourself. Welcome to an Andrew Gallery.

Goatie girls hanging out

I'd like to order a double-cheeseburger and some fries, please.
















Let's see, what kind of soda do you have?
















Sure, go ahead and throw in some special sauce.
















The service here sure is slow. I'm outta here!