4th of July Weekend. Part II

Chandler and Bear swimming together. It was so funny to watch.

A little back story. I decided that the innertubes looked like so much fun, that I wanted to try them out myself. So, I brought the tube over to the shore, slowly sat down, and inched my way out deeper. And then, I tipped back far enough that the cold water spilled over the edge, and I was freezing!

So then, (after he stopped laughing at me) I talked Matt into trying it out himself. These are his reactions to the cold water as he sat on the kid's innertube!

We had so much fun spending our days on the Matanuska River.

We spent the 4th of July evening with Karin and Jeff and their kids. (happy birthday to Both Karin and Jeff!) It was so fun to spend time with them, BBQ-ing (yummmmy food) and shooting off fireworks. (a perk of living Wasilla-we can do our own fireworks display!)

The "Big" boys playing with their fireworks.

Trent and Josh decided to have a duel of sorts with the 'kids' fireworks. We bought Roman Candles, and I think they were confused about the whole "don't shoot these towards anyone" part of the lecture Matt and I were giving the others.

More shooting Roman Candles at each other. (kids, don't try this at home)

The 'Tamer' group of fireworks gurus.

Our last day by the lake.

Castle Cake

Keep in mind, we had much better pictures, but I haven't been able to get them yet. This is the cake I made for my nephew Hunter's 8th birthday. He saw it in a book, and I tried to recreate it. The one tower in front kept coming off its skewer and was leaning a little, but other than that, I think we were pretty happy with it. (especially since I only had about 24 hours to make it, from start to finish) which isn't a lot of time, considering I usually bake the cake a little ahead of time, and freeze it.

Gabe's First Soccer Game

Gabe is playing soccer again this year, but we are discovering that U-10 division is much different than even the U-6 or U-8. Its an all boys division, and very competitive. And while we thought we had quite the little competitor on our hands, compared to the cut throats he's playing with, he's quite the little pacifist.

Matt has to sometimes hold me back, and shush me, because I'm one of those competitive team moms who isn't afraid of being loud, cheering the kids, and saying (under my breath to the single dad who stands on the side line telling my kid what to do, and what not to do) "hey bud, why don't you coach your own kid, and leave mine alone". Gabe LOVES playing forward, and the coaches right now, are really good about moving the kids around to figure out where they are the best, and which positions suit them.

The irony of Diet coke and 8000 calories worth of chocolate.

I had a really bad day last week, and took this picture of my purchases at Target that night on my way the tanning salon. If your a girl, and you have that special friend that comes to visit you once a month, the contents in this photo cannot be a surprise to you. The funny thing was the girl at the check out stand. She rung up my stuff, than said "wow, all this chocolate is making me hungry." I said "ya, its just something to wash down the Midol" I don't think she was more than 12, so she didn't laugh, or even get my joke. But when I got home, I just had to take a picture of what I had walked out with.

Don't worry...I shared with Matt. (except for the Midol)

He loves me, Loves me more!

My little Morgan is so cute! Everyday, she comes up with something else hilarious to say. Today, we were walking home from Grandma's house, and she had picked some flowers (typical 4 year old girl). Gabe and I were showing her how to pick the petals and do the whole "he loves me, loves me not" thing. She really got into it, but instead of the typical "he loves me, (pick a petal) he loves me not (pick another petal)" She decided to change up the words a little bit. What can I say, my child likes variety, and understands that sometimes, our feelings are not ways so cut and dry. So here's her variation of the childhood rhyme.

He loves me (pick a petal)
He loves me not (pick a petal)
He loves me (pick a petal)
He loves me more! (pick a petal)
He loves me (pick a petal)
He loves me most! (pick a petal)
He loves me (pick a petal)
He loves me more than Mom! (pick a petal)
He loves me not (pick a petal)
He loves me the mostest! (pick a petal)

Gabe and I were cracking up!

Gabe and Hunter's Baptism.

Ok, here's the first of several weekend posts. I warned you there were lots of pictures. Isn't that why we all read other people's blogs anyway? For the pictures? Here's Gabe's baptism, which was combined with his cousin Hunter's .



Here we are practicing the kids song before we started. Gabe and Hunter, waiting for their dads to finish changing.

Still waiting. Gabe was very anxious, and excited to get the show on the road.

Cousins by chance. Best friends by choice. Congratulations on your decision Hunter and Gabe. We are all so proud of you two boys. Thanks for being good kids and choosing the right. Daddy and his boy.

Obviously, since I had no camera with me, I was at the mercy of my sweet SIL to take all the pictures. Thanks Sally.

Me and the Princess.

The Proud Grandparents. We wish Matt's parents could have been here, but after years of missing the other kids and grandkids stuff like this, we are happy to share them. Love ya Grandma and Grandpa Stastny!
Morgan "insisted" on leading. Or so that's what Grandma said. Personally, I think she just wanted out of the job herself and the kid was a convenient excuse.

Here's her and Dotti leading the closing hymn.

All the kids singing Baptism song with Matt doing a Solo on the second verse. They did really good.

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Upcoming blog....Promise!

We have had one doosy of a busy week at our house. Matt had a BBQ at work, (how's the eyebrows Karin?) Morgan and Gabe each had their first soccer games of the season, we had two birthday parties, which I had to make cakes for both, and we had a kid getting baptised. (don't worry, relatives out of state, your invites are in the mail...tomorrow:) Unfortunately, I hardly got a single shot off on my camera. I was either taking pictures with my SIL's camera, my mom was taking pictures with hers, or my SIL's dad was taking pictures on his.

So.... it'll be a day or two before I get those pictures posted. But don't worry. When I do, it'll take you a few days to go through everything. I mean, you'll probably have to settle down with some popcorn and a soda. But you will not be disappointed. Promise.

I Wike Dem Kissing!

Matt and I have always been very affectionate...even in front of our family. We both feel like its important for the kids to see a healthy, happy mommy and daddy who clearly love each other very much. When the boys both got into 1st and 2nd grade, we of course started hearing a lot more "ewws" and "gross, kissing" from them. And Morgan followed suit, mostly because she copies everything her brothers do. When they do this, we usually try and gross them out even more by making exagurated kissy noices, just to bug 'em.

Well, the other day, the kids caught us kissing, and the boys started in with their "oh, great. They're kissing again" and "ewww, no kissing!". And then Morgan surprised us by saying "no, don't stop. I wike dem kissing". I thought Matt was going to loose it. "You do?" I asked. "Ya, now your getting married, and I'm coming to the wedding".

Yup, we've got a romantic on our hands folks. A 100% no mistaken it girl. Poor Matt. She's going to be a hard one for him to handle. He's torn between wanting to sit there on the porch cleaning out his guns in another 10 years in order to scare away any prospective suiters, and making his little girl happy. She does, after all, have him completely wrapped around her tiny little finger.

My Top Ten!

This week, my Monday was the Monday of all Mondays.

But I learned a few lessons.... and these are my top ten:

#10. The road is not necessarily smoother on the other side. (when that road is a 4 wheeler trail in a forest covered in peat)
#9. my 9 year old is not yet ready, or mature enough to change gears and push on the gas of the car while I'm in front of it, trying to push it out of a ditch.
#8. ALWAYS carry a charged up cell phone with you, no matter how far you are driving.
#7. Never stand in front of a vehicle, while my mother is in the drivers seat, and there's a big black mud puddle between us.
#6. Happy Hookers charges $150 an hour to come get you out of a ditch, plus $65 just for the call to come get you. (and yes, that is a towing company out here in the valley)
#5. There is nothing better than a bunch of wonderful ladies stopping at your distress and trying to help you when your in a jam, even if all they do is take pictures of your muddy face and make you laugh at the situation your in!
#4. My Kia Sadona is not an off road vehicle. (duh!)
#3. Black Alaska mud is nearly impossible to get out of cloths, no matter how much Oxy Clean you use on it.
#2. Looking back, I probably shouldn't have Duke's of Hazzard'd it out of my van in front of my kids, cause now, they think that's how we should always exit the vehicle...through the window. But in my defense, how else was I supposed to do it? I had 2 feet of muddy water on all sides, and come to find out, there's no way to open the tail door from the inside of the car.

and the #1 lesson I learned on Monday
MY SISTER IN LAW IS A BEAST! And I mean this in the best possible 2007 kind of way. She was wonderful enough to come out to pull me out of the ditch. She not only came right away, when I'm sure she had plenty on her own list of things to do with 5 kids at home. But she also came prepared with rubber boots, a shovel, and towing straps and ropes. Me, my mom, and two friends and neighbors stood by and were amazed at her preparedness. She got down in the muck, slinging mud to dig out my towing hook, tied knots in the rope that a sailor would be proud of, and with one quick, but gentle pull of from her car, we were out of the mud, and back in business. Oh, and then she proceeded to wash my mucky, dirty car before dinner once we were all back at my moms. Thanks Sally, your are an amazing woman, and I am so glad to have you close by, and know that you've got my back!

Pass the Salmon please.

I learned something about my family tonight....

....they were not meant to live on the east coast.

We were at Costco today, and Chandler showed a lot of interest in the fresh seafood stand, so I decided to buy some new stuff that they haven't tried. The kids liked the looks of the clams and mussels. I thought, 'oh, this will be fun...we'll have a clam bake, with corn, and potatoes, and this will be great!'. Well, Chandler loved it...at least the mussels. Matt, told me he'd rather have his clams in his chowder. Morgan, I think she tried one bite, shuddered, and that was the end of that. Gabe, said it tasted like dirty water. I thought they were great, as long as I didn't look at the mussels when I ate them. Bear, our dog, however, was a BIG fan. Are dogs supposed to eat crustaceans? Oh well. Too late now.

So for now, I guess we'll have to stick with our local catches of salmon, halibut, and snow crab. (ya, 'cause we eat snow crab on a daily basis) But the kids LOVE it. That, and shrimp. I know, my kids have expensive taste. What can I say?

Happy Memorial Weekend!

Okay, so here's how we spent Memorial Day Weekend. We left Friday for Matanuska River and stayed till Monday afternoon. We had so much fun. Hiking, campfires, singing, playing, reading, and playing at the beach close by our camp. My own personal porta potty that Matt set up for me, close to our tent so I didn't have to go far in the middle of the night all by myself. It was awesome!!! Complete with my own little magazine rack and airfreshner.

This was Matt's favorite family picture from the weekend. I was running from the camera, after pressing the timer button, and I jumped onto the log a little too fast and kept on going. You can see Matt's concern on his face for my well being.

My sweetie and I on the banks of the Mat-su River. Is it beautiful or what? How could you not love this place? It was a wonderful weekend. Sunny, warm, all around great weather. Of course with Matt and Gabe, there has to be sword fighting, right?

Chandler took a wrong step, and went for a little swim in this creek. Can you believe it was that deep?

I love this picture of Morgan. She had just fallen in, and was walking back to our spot to dry off a little.

Happy Memorial Weekend!!!

Our camp was close to a the pioneer cemetary, so we took the kids there, and Chandler and Gabe were able to pass off scout goals.

And the Winner is.....

I'm so sorry, I just realized I never posted the winner of my warmer of the month Happy Birthday to me, drawing! Well, the winner was Cheryl Ekstrum , and your prize has already been shipped down to you!! For those of you who don't know this, Cheryl was actually one of my young women's leaders when I was a Laural. Such a long, long, time ago. I still can't believe they let Cheryl into Young Women's as a leader. She was only just out of High School herself. :) But it was fun having such a good example to look up to. Thanks Cheryl!!! Enjoy your Warmer!

My Adventures in Baking this week.

My SIL Karin is in charge of the cooking school at Allen & Petersen. Its been awesome for Matt to work with his sister when it comes to the cooking school, and classes that he's offering in his store. I was able to go yesterday and take a class from her. It was one I've been looking forward to for months, and it did not disappoint. First we made cake balls. All kinds!! Red Velvet, Chocolate mint, and Coconut. They were totally yummy.

Then, we made delicioso cupcakes. Caramel Apple ones that were to die for, and chocolate fudge, and really moist carrot cake one. I was especially excited to cover them in fondant. We made carrots, and little Carmel apples to stick into our cupcakes. I had a really cute one that had nuts on it, but I gave it to Matt before I could take a picture.

I bet your wondering what these are all about? Admit it, your thinking the same thing I thought when I saw them, "those look like Ethiopian Santa Clause's." You know you were thinking it.

So I was trying to be creative, and thought I would dip little pretzel sticks in red and blue chocolate, and then dip the little end in dark chocolate, and they would look like light sabers that I could then stick on top of Gabe's cupcakes for his birthday at school. The night before, Matt and I were making them. They weren't turning out, and Matt suggested I pipe on some grey icing to look like the buttons on the sabers. After I did a few, I started laughing. "We can't put these on the cupcakes Matt, Gabe's teacher will think I'm racist!" So, we scrapped the 'light sabers' and decided to just sprinkle stars and stick my piped STAR WARS on them. See, for those of you who think I'm always spot on, I do make mistakes, quite often when it comes to baking. I just don't usually spotlight it on my blog. But I'm learning to laugh at myself a little more.

My 21st birthday Celebration!

Matt got me 2 tickets for a girls night out event for my birthday, so I took my girl Renae with me, and we enjoyed an evening of food, fun, and lots of free stuff. Here's our loot below. I won a big beach bag filled with stuff from Hawaii like a sarong, chocolate covered macadamia nuts, chap stick, and boxes of cookies. And once again, people mistook us for sisters all night. That's okay, I'll claim her any day of the week.

Gabe's Birthday Party

Gabe had a Star Wars Party this Saturday. We made Jedi robes for the Jedi Training camp. Luckily, Matt was on hand to be in charge of games, while I took care of the food, and getting kids set up to train in the Jedi way. Morgan, completing the Jedi training. (obstacle course)

Gabe wanted his cake to look like the end of Star Wars III. If Matt was on hand, I'd tell you the name of the planet, and the kind of ship I was attempting to make. As it is, all I can tell you is its on the planet with the lava and fire, and Anni fights with Obi one. (Matt's gonna die when he reads this, and finds out how inept I am at details of his favorite series)

Cupcakes I made to take into Gabe's classroom on Friday. I melted green candy melts, put them in a zip lock bag, snipped off the tip, and piped out the words Star Wars on wax paper. I let it harden, and then stuck it into the cupcake.