Ok, just a little bit

I am writing this, but want to go to bed, so consider yourselves lucky!  :)

I am going to do this from recent to past so bear with.....

I finished my first sewing project today.  I made a hooded bath towel for a friends baby shower. Yes I took pics and no I am not posting them now, but I will lie to you, and say pics are coming soon.  ;)

This project was so easy that I am thinking I might go on a towel making binge and completely outfit my children with so many hoodies it will look like a rainbow in the bathroom.

I am also going to attempt a zippered pouch.  I found a very simple pattern, and I really really love zippered pouches! 

Caleb has been sick all week.  It always happens when Kevin is gone.  Poor guy has had a fever, croup, and just lies around.  I am hoping tomorrow will bring a new day.  I feel bad for the orthotic guy today.  We had an appt and could not miss it, so asking a 2yr old to try on the new shoes on his brace was like asking the sky to change from blue to purple.  Plus Noah was schooling the guy on all the characters in Toy Story 2 and their role in the movie.  Whew, was I glad that 30min was over!  

Noah has been busy with school and hockey.  He is so awesome.  He is really pushing off on his ice skates and is gliding!  His main objective is to go "super speed".  This has always been Noah's objective ever since he learned to walk, uhm no, ever since he learned to stop crawling and start running.  So, if he pushes a net frame (imagine a small hockey goal frame with no net attached) he can fly across the ice.  He loves it!  However, the goal is to skate without assistance so he can go on to the next step, stick handling, better skating control, etc.  So, when he is skating unassisted, he is still going fast, but not to his level of "super speed".  I can't believe how quickly he caught on, and his determination.  Caleb loves watching.  He now says, "Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, hockey today".  We go to hockey on Tues. nights.  He cheers on Noah and usually checks the bag, "helmet, yep, skates, yep, pads, yep".  It is too much to handle.  

Kevin is at arctic survival in Fairbanks.  He spent 2 days learning how survive in extreme subzero temps and has spent the last two nights, surviving.  I will finally hear from him tomorrow night, when he gets home.  Yay!  I am hoping that when he leaves again next week, we can all stay healthy and schedules can be smooth and unchanged cause these past 2 weeks have killed me!

I have not been to the gym since last Wednesday and I have some crazy version of cabin fever.  I have a lot of energy and no way to let it out!  Between church obligations and sick children, I have missed my gym time.  I have my fingers crossed that tomorrow I will get to sweat it out.  I am doing an indoor tri a the YMCA and need lots, o lots of training for my tri sprint in May.  What I really need is Jillian to walk into the Y tomorrow and scream at me, sit on the machines as I lift and just seriously kick my booty!  My good friend is schooling right now to be a personal trainer.   I think I might become her first client.  She is really good at calling me out and making me push it out.  I was reading about eating clean.  I think I am gonna give this a try.  

I got a new point and shoot.  Yes, another one.  Kevin has threatened that if this one gets broken I am just up the creek.  So, I got one with a neck strap instead of a wrist strap.  It was way cheap.  It isn't the greatest, but I have broken the better ones and can't afford to keep doing that.  

We have a volcano that is likely to erupt.  Look it up.  Mt Redoubt.  Let's hope that it calms itself down.  

We had like 3 weeks of -30 degree weather.  Then for 3-4 days it warmed up to like 45.  Bad news, cause all that snow melted, then it refroze into a nice 3-4 inch layer of ice.  Then it dropped back down into the middle teens and is snowing.  Whooopppeee.  

So, this snow covered ice was to blame for my first fall.  Luckily I had Caleb on my hip.  Now before you say, "Lucky?", and give the crazy face, having Caleb on my hip caused me to fall more sideways that straight down on my bottom.  Thus saving my tailbone from another blow, and my hips are padded enough to take it.  Caleb was ok.  He just looked at me and said, "ok mommy?"  

ok.  that 's it.

Copy and Paste to Play

I copied this from another blog...some numbers are missing...play if you want! BOLD the ones you've done...

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity.
7. Been to Disneyland (I think Disney World counts, too!)
8. Climbed a mountain.
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept in an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitchhiked
23. Taken a sick day when you're not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run/walk a marathon (I have run a 1/2 marathon)
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse (solar)
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo's David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason ( I bought them...it doesn't say "received" flowers!)
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten caviar.
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chicken pox
89. Saved someone's life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
94a. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a lawsuit (class action, not personal)
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day

Time, Time, Oh Where Do You Go?

So, life is chaos and as usual my blog has become the thing I think of, well lets face it, I think of it never. I keep on telling myself, as I read the updates on other's blogs, that I need to get back in the game. So prepare yourself, this might be quite long.

Christmas was awesome. Kevin and I both had our mother's in town. Nothing like 20 inches of snow and -17 temp to welcome family! They both were troopers. They both bundled up in many o' layers and braved the arctic winter. Yes, we had a moose encounter and my parking in the middle of the road to get pics was worth it. The boys were treated by Santa who brought things like hockey skates, light sabres and a tricycle. They were totally satisfied with Santa's generosity. Caleb had no interest in discovering the treasures that waited underneath the shimmering wrapping paper. He physically opened only one present. He was totally mesmerized by a hockey stick and ball Santa had put in his stocking. Noah had the pleasure of not only his own surprises, but helping his little brother discover his.

It has been quite cold here is AK. For the first time in my life (and hopefully the last) I heard the meteorologist say, "At these temps flesh will begin to freeze". I don't know about you, but that makes me want to go to Hawaii even more!

I have been continuing my training for this triathlon I am going to attempt. As of late, my training has slacked off due to holidays and a recent injury. I sprained my ankle really good while snowboarding before Christmas. Running has not been possible, or cycling, so I have been in the pool, which still bothers it some. I am hopefully going to get on the treadmill this week. That might be a big maybe since I do not want to injure it further. Recovering longer is better and more efficient than training injured. My pool work has greatly improved. I have successfully been swimming a continuous 500m in 15min. I need to improve that time and really work on my running. I get on the treadmill and I wonder how in the world I ever ran a 1/2marathon last year cause I can barely squeak out 3miles! This must change soon if I am gonna attempt another 1/2 this summer. Maybe 2, I haven't decided yet.

Noah is so not a little boy anymore. He is all boy. He is mostly self sufficient and is has become quite the thinker. On Tuesday he will begin his first hockey lessons. (BTW he ate Christmas morning breakfast with his hockey helmet on and maneuvered food through the cage, he loved it so much!) It will be very basic at first. Just, learn to skate. He had his first experience on the ice today. He attended a friend's bday party and the first 1.5hours was going to be ice skating. Well, it is FRIGID, or as I was told today, it is just stupid cold here. So we lasted all of 20-25min. By this time, Noah, Kevin, nor I could feel our toes. So, we surrendered to the cold and left to retreat in the warmth of Lori's home (Lori is the mom of Noah's friend, and a very good friend of mine). It was so cold I had to hold my toes in the car cause they were hurting so badly!! Anyway, Noah did great! He was able to stand on his skates fairly well. He shuffled across the ice, this way and that, with the use of Mom and Dad's hands. I think when we get in the arena on Tuesday he is gonna have way more fun cause it won't be so COLD! He also starts back to school on Monday which is a bummer, for me, cause I like having him home. We have really been enjoying sleeping in. :) Can you believe he is on his way to being 5 YEARS OLD??!!

Where do I even begin with Caleb?! Besides having a vocab the size of the Webster's dictionary, he is a busy little bee! You can only guess where he gets his nonstop talking from??!! I am going to attempt to get him into hockey lessons as well. Every chance he can he gets Noah's skates and helmet, puts them on (helmet on backwards, of course), and walks around saying, "Go outside, play hockey". How cute! He has a cold right now, poor baby. Tonight was the first time I saw him walking up the stairs, not crawling up them. He was also doing most of the weight bearing on his right leg. The right leg is the one that was clubbed. The doctors said that it was highly likely that there would be noticeable muscle imbalance between his right and left calf muscles and that his right and left feet would be different sizes. Guess what..........God said otherwise and his feet are the same size and his right leg seems to be his stronger side. How cool is that! I can't believe he will be 2years old in just over 2 weeks! That means only 2 more years of wearing the brace at night (we are at the halfway mark!!!) YAAAHHHHHHOOOOOO! I think we might just have a "Bury the Brace" party when he finally doesn't have to wear it anymore.

Kevin is busy right now preparing to do an airshow in India. I wish we could hop on that jet and go with him. He is also preparing to attack the arctic winter during his Arctic Survival School at the end of this month. This takes place in Fairbanks, AK. Lately the temps in Fairbanks have been subzero as the high! It is probably close to -50/60 at night. BbbbbbUUURRRRRRR! He has been trying to pass by the long winter months by occasionally playing basketball, and getting in as much snowboarding as possible.

And yes, I have avoided the post office long enough and will finally mail the rest of the Christmas presents I have yet to mail. Just think of them as New Year presents! A little something to perk you up after the Christmas chaos has become a blur! :)
I have several post office stories, I won't rehash them, but just know that one certain postman's face will be etched in my memory forever and if I could I would nominate him for the worst, most inconsiderate, and most unhelpful postman for life! GRRRRRR!!!

For the past week I have been going back and forth on keeping them up or taking them down. Sadly, tomorrow the Christmas decorations will begin to come down. *sniff *sniff.

I look forward to 2009. Lord willing, we will have a great summer of camping and more Alaskan adventures to encounter, my husband and I will be married another year longer, and we all enjoy more birthdays. Possibly, we will see our last Alaskan winter (the winter after the current), we will see our children grow up even more, we will get more time with family, and we will grow more in our walk with God.

I will end with my usual valediction: I'll post pics later.... :)