Wes's New Past Times

So a couple of weeks ago Wes came home from school telling me that we had to go to the public library here in town and get a book at 5:30pm. He told me over and over again. I didn't really understand what he was talking about. All I got out of his rambling was, "The guy at our assembly told us to be there at 5:30 to get the book. Be sure to be there." It was very important to Wes for some reason, why? Because a strange man at school told him to be there, so he needed to be.

So we ate dinner, he was a good kid after school, and we went. On the way there, I called my mom to ask her what she thought about this weird thing, and she thought it might be an author and a book signing, which made perfect sense.

So we get there, and I have no idea what style of writing this author writes or who he is, but I see a family that is from out neighborhood and tons of kids Wesley's age through high school and even adults. He writes everything apparently. Wes was thrilled. We bought a book, Alcatraz versus the Evil Librarians and Brandon Sanderson even signed it to Wes and everything. It was everything Wes was dreaming about that very afternoon. Now he has something to read this summer.

Wes has also become really interested in baseball. So Dave has put aside his dislike for the sport and is learning about it and having fun with Wes. Wes was fun to watch the first time he picked up the bat. We thought it was going to be the most hilarious thing ever to watch, if you know Wes, he isn't a sports kinda kid. But he did great. He hit both Dave and myself with the ball! Just watch the clip below. I hope it works. He has even gotten better in the past week. Now, if Dad will send one of our gloves down!

Oreo Truffles

Hmmm...these are yummy! I found this recipe from Bakerella, they are really easy to make. I would say the hardest part is dipping them. Partly because I don't know how to dip chocolate. She makes them with other cookies as well, like Nutter Butters, hmmm, those would be so good too. Anyway, I just halved the recipe because I didn't want a ton for me to eat. Try them...

1 box Oreos, minus 7 cookies
8 oz cream cheese, softened to room temp
dipping chocolate (she didn't say how much, so your guess is as good as mine!)

1. Crush Oreos in a ziplock until a fine crumb.

2. Using a strong wooden spoon stir in cream cheese. It really wasn't too hard, only took a minute or two.


3. Spoon into 1-inch rounded balls onto parchment lined cookie sheet and place in freezer for about 10-15 minutes. This will help when it comes time to dip, helps them keep their shape.


4. Melt chocolate as instructed on wrapper. Dip truffles and place back on cookie sheet. When finished place in fridge to finish setting chocolate and enjoy!


Becky, my sister used Vanilla Bark instead of Chocolate Bark to dip hers in. That is what Bakerella uses too. Also, Bakerella has some other instructions on making other shapes with hers, like chocolate kisses and heart shapes.

Happy Mother's Day!

Mother's Day has been fun so far. I tried really hard to get to church on time, that didn't work! We did get there in time for the talks and for the Primary kids to sing, which is what I really was looking forward to. In my class, we made cards for the girls mom's. And Wes and Brooke made cards and flowers for me out of skewers, Mother's cookies and gum drops (which were all eaten by the time we walked home). All women 18 and over received a cd with beautiful music on it. I thought that was a really nice gift (I don't have to worry about watering it!)

So yesterday Wes found this empty box in my room and asked if he could use it to wrap my present. I said sure and then he brought it to me, completely excited for me to open it. I told him I wanted to wait until tomorrow, Mother's Day, to open it. It drove him crazy. But he managed. So after church, we go home and had some lunch and I got it out of the cupboard (I put it there so he would forget about it).

I had Dave take the pictures without the flash, so they are a bit blurry. I also want you to notice why there are two pictures, not because of Brooke...

but because he put two pictures on either side of the box and labeled them. "My durty toes" and "Leaf Man". Look how proud he is in the top picture. He could hardly wait for me to open it. Now for the good stuff, what was inside: enough tracks for a circle for a hot wheel to go around, a hot wheel for the track, a marker, a colored pencil, an erasable crayon, and an aqua doodle marker. He had no money and no car to go to the store, so he got creative! He built me the track and now we can play together.

Brooke picked out a card for me when we were buying cards for Gramea and Grandma. She loved it because there were tons of shoes on it. And Dave gave me some shirts and a membership to Gold's Gym (I have been wanting one). Looks like I am a gym junkie again. It has been 4 years since I have been! I am excited to start the yoga and spin classes there. They have some other cool classes now.

I hope Gramea is having a great day, knowing how much your kids love and appreciate you. I have been thinking about you all day. Thanks for silently teaching me all along the way. I love and miss you.

You Know You're From Alaska When...

Before you read this, just know I was laughing when I saw it. Some of it is really true, at least for my family!! How sad is that. The list was much longer, I shortened it by about half. I want to know about you other Alaskans or even you Jim, how does this compare to "Escanaba in Da Moonlight"?

You've worn shorts and a parka at the same time.

You know the real meaning of slush.

You know who Binki was and were sad when he died.

You know several people who have hit a moose more than once.

You design your kid's Halloween costume to fit over a snowsuit so you can take them trick or treating in a blizzard.

Driving is better in the winter because the potholes are filled with snow.

You know all 4 seasons: almost winter, winter, still winter and road construction.

You have more miles on your snow blower than your car.

You find 10 degrees 'a little chilly'.

Your relatives/friends think you live too far away for them to come visit you, but keep asking you to come see them more often.

October is the month of your highest income.

Your idea of a traffic jam is ten cars waiting to pass a camper on the highway.

"Vacation" means driving to Chitna to dip net.

You go to McDonald's and order of the $1.50 menu because it's equivelant to the $0.99 menu everywhere else.

You where appalled by the Carrs/Safeway merge afew years ago.

Everyone you know gets cabin fever, and Hawaii is the only apparent cure.

The municipality buys a Zamboni before a bus.

You've ridden the school bus for an hour or more each way.

Your kids catch the bus in the dark and get off it in the dark.

Your school classes aren't canceled because of snow. Your school classes were cancelled because of ice.

The last thing you do before going to bed is plug in your vehicle.

You own three modes of transportation: boat, 4-wheeler and 4X4.

You think it is safe to drive as long as you can still see the snowplow's flashing light ahead.

Your wardrobe consists of polar fleece, Gortex and wool, and nothing really matches.

You think Bald Eagles aren't that great.

There's nothing like Matanuska Maid.

You get an attitude when you have to pay sales tax in the lower 48.

You sleep through an earthquake like nothing ever happened.

You own moose nugget earrings.

You know who the Sleeping Lady is.

You know that the phrase "the kings are running" has nothing to do with royalty.

Half of your friends own a snow machine and you think people that call them snow mobiles are insane.

You can spell and pronounce words like Chatanika, Venetie, and Kuskokwim.

We wait until 2am to light fireworks on the 4th of July because it's the dimmest part of the day.

You know a tail-dragger is an airplane, not a bad day at the office.

You know going "outside" involves a whole lot more than opening a door and walking into the yard.

You have learned to never say to your kids, "Be home by dark".

You know that the term "Break Up" has more to do with the weather than personal relationships.

You have washed your car while there was still snow on the ground.

You learned to swim indoors.

You leave your Christmas lights up, year round, because as soon as it gets warm enough to take them down it starts getting dark enough to put them up again.

You know a "white out" has to do with winter conditions not correcting fluid for typos.

You've taken your kids trick-or-treating in a blizzard.

You frequently clean grease off your barbecue so the bears won't prowl on your deck.

You know which leaves make good toilet paper.

The trunk of your car doubles as a deep freeze (or your front porch).

You attended a formal event in your best clothes, your finest jewels and your Sorrels.

You can play road hockey on skates.

Shoveling the driveway constitutes a great upper body workout.

Wes Lost a Tooth!!

Saturday night we went to dinner and Wes wanted Dave to pull out his tooth, but it was too attached in the front, so Dave just told him to keep wiggling and twisting it.

So Sunday, during Sunday School, Wes came into my class and got me out and was telling me that his tooth was hurting and he was afraid it was going to come out during church. Well I wasn't going to pull it out! So I peeked in the door and luckily, Brother Barson was standing right there. A retired dentist. I asked if he wouldn't mind slipping out and helping me! He came out and we got some paper towels out of the janitors closet and he yanked it right out! Wes had his friend Savannah and her mom watching and cheering him on. Brother Barson said he had pulled thousands of teeth before, but this was his first time during church!

Wes went and rinsed his mouth out with cold water and went back to class sticking his tongue out his new whole in his mouth showing all the kids. He couldn't wait to see what the tooth fairy was going to bring him...a $2 bill!! Which he had to wake up at 6:45 am to see. He NEVER gets up that early. He must have been so excited!!

Happy Birthday Andy!!

Hey Andy! Happy Birthday! How old are you now? Sorry, I had to steal this picture from Becky's blog, but it is the only one from you birthday dinner here. Hope you are having fun back home. It was 80 degrees here yesterday and it is supposed to snow today/night! Crazy I tell you. Snow on your birthday, has that ever happened before? Sorry if your first message from the kids was all screaming, and the second one was really long, Brooke had the phone and refuses to give it up! Have a great day. We love and miss you already.

Pictures from, oh, about the past month!

Here goes my longest post so far! This will bring me up to date, starting with were I left off...Easter.

"Quick-nic" 2008
My family always goes on what we call a "Quick-nic" in Alaska, because it is too cold on Easter for a real picnic. They are short, on the side of the Seward Highway on your way to Girdwood or just after and half in the car and halfway out! Down here, we just try to keep them to 45 min max! This year was 30 minutes, I believe. Last year we went to this park and so we picked up Andy again and went to the same place. Poor kids, just when they really start to have fun, I tell them it is time to go. But that is what a "Quick-nic" is all about!
Wes was a bit nervous on the monkey bars, last year at this time is when he fell off the monkey bars and broke his humerus and was in a cast from his armpit to knuckles for 8 weeks! I made him stay up there until I got a picture. He just wanted Andy to stand by him.

Of course, anything Wes does, Brooke has to do. Andy was holding her so she wouldn't fall.

This wheel spins around, it was kinda hard to do with only one hand. Andy is a fun uncle to play with!

Wes' Piano Recital

Where are the pictures of Wes? Well, I took a video of him playing just for the blog and it turned out to be 189 MB and won't load! So all we have of this night is Brooke on the chair with his piano book!

Wes's teacher said he picks up playing the piano really fast. He is amazing when it comes to music. He has a true fascination for classical music. He is one smart boy. For the recital they got to choose which songs they wanted to play, he choose a song about a train and one about chimes (it sounds like chimes from a coo-coo clock).

Now let me introduce to you Brooke's first crush, Hayden. He is 10 years old and lives up the street. His mom and I are good friends. Brooke tells me everyday that, "Hayden awesome." , "I love a Hayden." and "Hayden a cool." Last year Hayden taught Brooke how to give hi-five. He thought that was pretty cool too, so now they are best friends. I really like this picture!

School Field Trip to Bean Museum

This picture is just in here from this past month to show you how tall Wes is! These are kids from his class. I think the little girl on the right is so stinking cute.

Toast and Jam
Brooke and Wes love toast and jam, however, when Brooke eats it, she always ends up looking like this!

Dinner With Becky's Family

One Sunday Becky's family came over for dinner, Brooke was especially excited. Lately she has been wanting to be called "Ashley" when she gets out of the bath and is all wrapped up in her towel and having her hair brushed.

Becky, Ashley (Brooke's cousin) and "Ashley"!

Becky decided to do Brooke's hair. I don't know how, but somehow it ended up in two braids, with one of them swooping around to meet the first! Pretty creative. Brooke loved it and once again did her princess dance.

Ahhh, Becky sleeping on our couch with Ashley.


Brooke Getting Her Ears Pierced

Brooke has been trying to pierce her own ears for a while now, so I finally took her in to have them done. Dave went next door and brought back a little drink of Orange Julious for her to help distract her.

She tells everyone "I have my earrings a pierced."

Spring Break Dinosaur Museum

One of our activities we did for spring break this year was go to the dinosaur museum with our neighbors, the Mason's. Brooke loved it and now is obsessed with dinosaurs.

The only reason this first picture is in here is so you can see that she really did have on a nice shirt at the beginning of the day at the museum.

There is an erosion table for the kids to play in. It has coarse sand and plastic trees and dinosaurs for the kids to play with and then every once in a while the water is let out and washes away what they worked so hard to build.
Brooke got her shirt so wet that I had to take it off of her and hang it over the stroller to dry out before we went back outside where it was windy and cold! So in the next few pictures you will see her in her onsie with her princess stickers plastered on it from using her potty earlier in the day (before getting ready to leave).

Hannah, Wes, and Emily playing.

Rachel and Brooke. Rachel hardly got dirty in the sand and water.

I turned the corner and Rachel and Brooke were right up in the sharks mouth! I thought it was cute. Sharks are another think Brooke is obsessed with, she is always talking about them.

At the dinosaur museum there are 13 gnomes in the wall murals. I took a close up of one of them here so you know what to look for next time anyone goes there. They are fun to find. I haven't found all of them yet, and they won't tell you where they are either.


My Model

One day I braided Brooke's hair and I asked her if she wanted me to take a picture of it for Papa, she said "Yyyyeeeesssss!" So we went into the front room and I let her do what ever she wanted, I didn't pose anything, I did open the blinds and that was all. The rest was up to her and I cracked up. You will see, I just sat in the corner and that was all, I didn't even prompt her. You will see why she is "My Model"

Seaka's 1st Hair Cut

Dave has been pressuring me to get rid of Brooke's "rocker mullet". That was part of the deal with her "earrings a pierced". So here are some before and after pictures at the salon. I took her to the girl that cuts my hair. Brooke had been eating chocolate that the receptionist gave her, so it is all around her mouth.



She loved getting her hair cut. For a couple of days before I would talk to her about it, what my friend Aimee was going to do, like spray her hair and comb it, put a drape on her and cut it with scissors. She sat completely still and smiled the entire time.

When she was finished she did her famous princess dance over and over for everyone who would watch her, they were all clapping and smiling at her. It was the cutest thing ever! So later that day we went back to the salon because a friend from out of town was getting her hair cut and when Amanda was finished, Brooke went right up to the chair and sat down and wanted her hair done again by Aimee! It was funny. Brooke is such a girl, Dave and I love it.


Dinner with Grandma Kay, Tepanyaki Style

Dave and I wanted to go to a movie the other night and Grandma had a better idea, going to dinner. So we went to Tepanyaki. It was a lot of fun. Brooke was terrified of the fire at all the stations and Wes was afraid of catching shrimp in his mouth.

Wes thought the chef's skills were pretty cool with the utensils here. Look at Brooke, she had the napkin on her head in anticipation of the fire. But the next thing he knew the grill was on fire!

Where did Wes go? Now you see him, now you don't. He ducked under the table once it lit up!

When it came time to catch the shrimp Wes was finally excited to try it and that made Brooke all excited. Between the two of them we were cracking up. She sat there with her mouth wide open waiting for one to fly right in. It didn't happen that way.

Wes tried and tried, with no success. You can see the shrimp in the air, which I think hit him in the face. They tried 4 or 5 times and non of them went in his mouth. Poor kid.

Thanks Grandma for a yummy dinner and left overs! We loved it.

Ahhh, finally, done. I need to get Wes's piano video working. He really is quite good at it.