A Love Hate Relationship.

OK, so first let me say, I like it when the kids all have their hair combed and styled before they go to school. There, I said it. Call me a horrible mother, but I do. I'm a control freak I guess, but there you have it. So this morning, we over slept, and were rushing to get everyone ready for school. I did Morgan's hair first, with little to no problems. (ie: screaming, whaling, gnashing of teeth, clutching at the back of her head, etc.) Then, I moved on to Gabe. He's easy, cause he likes to look good for the ladies. Then came Chandler. "No! not the moose, just spray it with water. The moose makes it sticky. Look, Its all smooth now, and your gonna make it sticky!" Unfortunately for Chandler, he has Matt's hair. Which is great, in that its really thick, and there's a lot of it, (for now) but its also a bear to get it to stay in one place....thus the usage of moose. I just ignored his pleas, (like I said, we were late) and sprayed a bunch of moose into my hand, than attacked his hair with it. Morgan stood by watching in horror. When I was all done, and his hair was combed, Morgan came up to me, and with her hands on her hips said "his hair was all smooth. I felt it, and it was all smooth, and you ruined it!" Then she turned, with her back to me and walked out of the room. I tried not to laugh. (see, I told you I'm horrible) But it was also nice to see her coming to her oldest brother's defence. They've been butting heads quite a bit lately. (Reminds me of when Chris and I were younger)

So I start up the stairs to go tell Matt what had happened. And I hear a shriek from the kitchen. Morgan and Gabe had discovered the cupcakes I had made the night before for their class parties today. (pictures to follow tonight) She came running into the living room all smiles, and saying " Thank you thank you mommy. I love them. Even when I hate you, I still love you!) I thought Matt was going to die laughing.

Falling for the Alaska Zoo, all over again!

We had Thursday and Friday off last week, so Friday was spent as a family, in Anchorage. We took the kids to the zoo, and they had a blast. We hadn't been in over a year, and loved seeing all the new additions. Gabe thoroughly enjoyed watching the seals in their new exhibit.

The boys and I in front of the Polar Bear exhibit.

The whole gang in front of the swan pond.

Over all, Morgan did pretty good, but she still got kind of tired, and needed some mommy hugs every now and then.

You know you're a TRUE ALASKAN when...

d

What's cool to one kid...not so much to the other.

Okay, first I have to give a little background...

At the risk of being a name dropper, I'm just going to say it. I live in the same community as Sarah Palin. There, I said it. She is a normal person with a normal family, and they do normal things. Like Sarah going to Walmart in her jeans and flannel shirt, or Todd Palin pumping his own gas at the station down the road. Well, another normal thing us women like to do is work-out. I go to a gym that (I have come to understand and appreciate) is the "who's who" of Wasilla. Real estate owners, Bankers, Board members, and the former Governor. Its not a big commercial gym. There is one owner, who is also the class instructor, personal trainer, and mentor. Her name is Alina, and she does it all! But it is a small gym. Only 2 elliptical, 2 treadmills, and one workout room. I think some people prefer this, because you don't have 50 people staring at you while you sweat, and they like the personal touch that Alina gives. The cycling class accommodates 20 bikes. I have been going here for the last 2 1/2 years. (since it was opened) And for the most part, I know everyone that goes there.


So, the other day, Chandler turns to me and says, "hey mom, how come you don't go to Alina's Gym anymore?" I tried to ignore the implications of his comment, and instead said "I do go, you just don't see it, because I go early in the morning while your asleep, or later while your at school. In fact," I said "I was in cycling this morning, and raced with Sarah Palin" (Alina has two rows of bikes, and divides us up to race each other in order to make us better and more competitive.)
"who's that?" he said. (I know, I need to work on this kid a little more) Thinking I had failed as a parent, I hear Gabe yell from across the room "NO WAY! You don't know who Sarah Palin is Chandler?" Chandler shrugs his shoulders. "Chandler, she almost became President!" Gabe exclaims. "Chandler, you don't understand! She was THIS close to becoming the almost President of the UNITED STATES!"

I just shook my head, and laughed. I thought it was hilarious that my one child didn't have a clue about politics, and the other, got excited about the mention of a former candidate's name even a year after the elections. So I guess to Chandler, I don't exercise enough, and to Gabe, I'm the coolest mom ever because I sweat next to a former VP candidate.

Christmas in October.

I hope my mom and SIL Jayme don't mind me steeling this picture, but I just had to show it off!!! Can you believe how adorable?!!! Morgan is the littlest angel. Chandler is Joseph, and Gabe is the Wise man in the middle. I don't want to spoil all of Jayme's secrets from our photo shoot, so I'll just say, She's Good! Either that, or my kids and all my nieces and nephews are the most angelic group of kids when it comes to taking pictures.

Cupcakes and Crafting.

I helped out the YW in our ward this week with a little cupcake decorating activity. They wanted to make 3 different kinds. Panda Bears, Pumpkins, and Butterflies. I hope they had fun, cause I had a blast!! I love doing creative things with the youth, and seeing the excitement in their eyes as they create something cute all by themselves. This is also something I've been working on with a friend. I saw these individual nativity blocks on a blog, made with stickers, but the stickers are now discontinued, so you can't get them. And Renae and I really wanted to make a set of "cute" nativity blocks. So, my friend who does vinyl designed these cute characters for us, I just put them on their own blocks.

Then spent a few hours painting inside the lines. It was fun, and I forgot how relaxing painting can be. Its been so long since I've been able to really "craft". I miss it, and can't wait for the upcoming holiday season to let my crafty side back out. What do you think? Cute, or Corny?

What do I do on my days off? Well, bake and decorate two cakes for my lovely nieces of course. It's kind of turned into a tradition that on their birthdays, Aunt Jenn makes cakes for Chris and Sally's kids. I don't mind. It gives me a chance to try something new. They always challenge me with their requests. This year, Kamorah had a Hello Kitty theme, (please keep in mind, I had not yet added the eyes and nose. I had to make a stop off at the store on the way to the party for those items)

And Christa's only request, was she wanted a flower cake. I took the fondant I had used for the layers, and made some roses. And the pearls? Courtesy of your local Walmart. They had a new section in the party isle with all kinds of cool candy to decorate cakes/cupcakes and cookies with.

(yup, those are candy covered chocolates that look like pearls.)

My two lovely cakes waiting to go party it up at the Christensen's

Happy Fall Ya'll

As you can see I'm a day late and a dollar short (as usual). We headed out to Pyrah's Farm last week, and spent a couple of hours at their annual Fall Festival. The kids had fun.
Here's Chandler trying his hand at ropin' a bull.

Gabe mid-lasso.

Morgan especially had fun. We had to eventual just pull her off the saddle. I think she's a born cowgirl.

The hay maze was kind of fun. It reminded me of the pineapple maze in Hawaii. (on a much smaller scale of course) The kids had 6 circles they had to find 6 different colored markers to color it in, then make their way back to the entrance for a prize.

The kids returning from their wagon ride.

Come on, wouldn't it be fun just to have one of these you could ride around the neighborhood?

Another weekend at Independence Mine

We also just had to head back to Hatcher's Pass on Monday after our train rides. We decided to do some hiking around the mine, and a little more exploring. Here we are in front of the old mine.

If you've never been to Independence Mine (which I hadn't until this summer...after only living in Alaska for the last, um 16-17 years) I highly recommend it. Its chocked fun of history, beautiful views, and Jeniece qua.

Morgan got tired several times, and her brothers and daddy were nice enough to give her rides. And when it got too cold for her, Gabe even gave her the sweatshirt off his back. Sweet, hu?

There were Ptarmigan all over the place. For those of you who don't know, the Ptarmigan is the state bird of Alaska. They're a funny looking bird if you've never seen them before. They have white fur on the lower half of their body, and it even covers their legs and feet.

Trains Planes and All Sorts of Fun

We had so much fun last week, riding the train, that we decided to go on Labor Day...this time we took daddy. It was just our family, so the conductor let the kids choose which train they wanted to ride, and they chose Thomas the Train, over the Alaskan Railroad train.
Matt waiving as we started across one of the many bridges on the train tracks.

And, some more.

I found this one that is also a major contendor for the Christmas Card this year. What do you think?

This is so classic Stastny's.

Morgan on the stairs of one of the old buildings. See what I mean about the red trim perfectly matching our outfits?

Chandler found a friend.

LOVE this one. Even though we're scattered. And I love that Matt's looking down at us, and Morgan's kind of doin her own little cute thing.

This is probably the picture I'm going to hang up in the house this year for the kid's pictures. (I hate the school pictures--they never look natural) And dang, does this kid look good in these colors or what?

MORE MORE MORE!

Getting Ready for the Big Day!

The last day the girls were home before their first big day of kindergarten, Sally, Grandma and I decided to take them out for a special lunch. Their choice? Pizza Hut. So off we went. After that, it was such a beautiful day, and Morgan and I decided to head to the park for some fun.

Morgan on her first day of school. She was getting ready, and feeling awefully grown up.

Morgan getting settled into her desk for the day. She has a wonderful teacher. She reminds of Miss Honey from the movie Matilda.