mike + erin alaska diaries

Weekend Fun!

2012-01-24T17:31:00.000-09:00

We love to spend time outside together and what's better than a winter beach walk? Although it's easy to get bogged down with our daily routines, we really try to get as much family time together as we can, outside of the house! Here's lots of photos to see our Sunday romp in the sand...

**Mike brought the bb gun...Noah felt like a real soldier

We had a pretty amazing time and look forward to eight more inches of snow tonight! Thanks for popping in and if you follow us on instagram (@happyowlerin and @carr_i_ker) some of these are duplicates...

Frozen Sand.

2012-01-16T18:33:00.000-09:00

This weekend we spent outside as much as our little frozen fingers could handle it. We love days like these in Juneau. Our family, all bundled, exploring our amazing landscape. The high this weekend and the coming week is 10'F, but the sun was shining and we had a blast. Here are lots of pictures! Enjoy.
Sandy Beach....

over the Juneau-Douglas Bridge

out the road....at Echo Cove.

sunshine cove...

{other highlights not pictured....Noah had his first sleepover! Mike and I were super excited for him but nervous for our little man but we knew he was in good hands. Logan fell asleep early and Mike and I actually had a date night at home with wine and a movie. Yeah!}

let's

2012-01-14T10:25:00.002-09:00

This is our plan for our sunny, chilly, 3 day weekend. Hoping to share a snipit of it with you soon. In the meantime, you might find us on instagram....@happpyowlerin and @carr_ik_er

saved.

2012-01-10T17:43:00.000-09:00

I haven't spoken too much about this here because it is such a personal, tender experience...but maybe someone who reads our blog will benefit. And this way I can remember this time in our lives, almost like an anniversary every year.

a year ago almost to the day, I was saved. Jesus took over my heart, took over my life and became a part of me. I always considered myself a Christian, believed in God, but I think it took me becoming an adult to really make the final step towards Jesus' love.

things were happening in our life, many of you know the scary details but HE was there for us. In the darkest hour, with unending love, he was there. It's rather impossible to successfully put it into words but there have been amazing things that have happened to me from the inside out; the perspective I have gained, support, tenderness, friendship and relationships I have made.

Mike has been such a powerful, amazing, support through my journey and his as well and through the foundation of Jesus Christ in our marriage, family and community I feel so very blessed.

thank you for listening and if you have a story to share we would love to hear it. God Bless.

Sunday thought.

2012-01-08T15:28:00.002-09:00

nothing makes me feel more at peace then when my husband and my boys are by my side at church.
we worship together.
pray together.
and are fed the word of God together.
today's sermon was in Exodus 16.
It was simple, and meaningful and struck a chord deep in my soul. If you have never read it, you should.
So my question is, how do you receive your daily bread?
I go here...and have this app, it's perfect for me.
happy sunday, now it's time for our afternoon ritual...family nap.

happy birthday brother.

2012-01-07T17:08:00.003-09:00

today is my brother matt's birthday. we grew up 19 months apart so we acted like twins most of the time. I can't say enough good things about him.

we love you uncle matt and are so proud of you! can't wait to see you again soon.

Cabin Living Pt. 1

2012-01-03T19:43:00.001-09:00

It is no surprise to people who know Mike and I to hear that our dream is to live nestled in the Juneau woods one day with our little brude. We crave the simple, rustic, easy, eclectic, outside-coming-in, quiet days that this lifestyle allows. Spending our weekends taking pictures, hiking, making things and just enjoying our Alaskan life without too many worldly distractions. It's a living dream that hopefully will come true sooner rather than later!

all images sourced here

hikes and snowball fights.

2012-01-02T22:22:00.002-09:00

today was our last day of winter break

and I must say that we had the best time.

lots of laughter, snuggles, jammie days, making snow forts and most exciting, sleeping in until 9 every day with no plans ahead

it was much needed and Mike and I loved the extra time that we got with the boys.

we decided to end the break with a family hike in the woods behind our house. It lead to an impromptu snowball fight which is always fun

tonight we had a fondue dinner and are now trying to get back into our old routine of lunches, backpacks, homework and waking up early! I'll let you know later how it all went....

here's to the adventures.

2012-01-01T23:55:00.002-09:00

the whirlwind of 2011 was feisty, scary, exciting, heart wrenching, faithful and amazing.

we have embraced the good and the bad trials we had this last year

and are firm believers in that it can only make us stronger.

above all else we look forward to the adventures that 2012 will bring.

the faith we have in Jesus, the love we have for our family and friends and the respect, imperfections and tenderness we share and love with each other.

we look forward to sharing our adventures with you.
-mike + erin

Sleds.

2011-12-29T13:22:00.000-09:00

Yesterday we went sledding at our local park.

The snow was fresh, the boys were excited.

It was a great day!

Life in snowy Alaska is pretty fabulous.

The sled even helps us bring in our groceries!

Happy Thursday.

Merry Christmas Darling.

2011-12-27T19:30:00.000-09:00

We had a pretty perfect down home Alaska Christmas. We started our night at the Calvary house for some carols, fellowship and a little "Go tell it on the mountain" improv. ;)

Santa was up rather late...3 am two nights in a row; so I am sure he was excited when the boys finally left food for the reindeer and dozed off...at 12 or so. (We tracked Santa on the NORAD website, so awesome!)

Mike and I always try to keep the tradition of patience and enjoying and taking in eachother's gifts; but there is always the inevitable crazy ripping of paper all over the floor!

Logie loved his Power Ranger sword and phone/Noah loved his DS/Mike loved the pictures I took of the boys and especially all his gold panning goodies and his iHome among other things.

Mike and I really went all out this year and tried to give the boys a Christmas like we loved growing up. It is so worth it when you see the joy in their faces when they wake up! Here is one of Noah's favorite gifts, his new skateboard and Logie ended up loving his headlamp. Both gifted from Santa...what a smart little elf.

Jesus' birthday brought us warm sun on our faces which led to Mike and I taking the boys for an amazing drive out the road and ending at Auke Bay Harbor!

Although the day was cluttered with presents, packaging, paper, and other goodies it ended rather quietly with a movie, a new magazine or two that Santa got me with a heaping cup of tea. Here is a pic of one of my many gifts. Mike really spoiled me this year; these AMAZING Sorel boots, a new Marmot Coat...like below but in black and a SUPER cool Photo Cube from Office Depot. If you don't have the cube you're going to want one...it has a doc for your iphone or android and it prints pics right off your phone! I JUST LOVE IT...my mister knows me so well.

So from this little Alaskan family, Merry Christmas and we hope your day was merry and bright.

God Bless!

[I will try to post the videos Mike made in the next day or so. And did I mention Logan woke up Christmas morning at 3 am, throwing up on me! It took all that we could handle to change the bed sheets without waking Noah up and having Christmas at 3 am. Uh well, memories!]

2011-12-27T11:50:00.000-09:00

Wishing that you a yours had a magical Christmas this year.

I know we did...be back soon to share the fun!

Winter Solstice Tradition?

2011-12-22T22:48:00.003-09:00

Today my sweet, dear friend Angie had the boys and I over while our husbands worked to bake our little hearts out. What's better to do on the shortest day of the year than stay inside a cozy house and hang out with a great friend.

Let me just say we had plans, big plans; cookies, decorating, Russian tea cakes, and a new special recipe Angie found on pinterest.

Well, like most great girlfriend days...time flew by and 6 hours later we had a delicious batch of this chocolate-marshmallow-caramel-bacon-bark. Yes, bacon covered in sugar...sounds crazy but it was pretty dang good, or at least her and I thought so!

She has grown to be an amazing friend and an amazing artist. I have bragged about her before but I have to share again. She runs Steampunk Funk on Etsy and hand makes rustic, fabulous, one-of-a-kind pieces of jewelry. She even gave me a one of her vintage jacks necklaces...I LOVE it.

So thanks Angie for a great day, great food and the start of a new tradition.

***Happy Winter Solstice Everyone!! Cheers to more light every day!!

It's that time of year...

2011-12-19T19:37:00.000-09:00

...when the world falls in love.

every song you hear, seems to say...

Merry Christmas,

may your New Year's dreams come true.

...wishing you and yours, the same thing too...

{today was a crazy family day: decorating the tree. holiday shopping. drive out the road. taco dinner. we're happy and full.}

Heart's desire.

2011-12-18T22:06:00.002-09:00

Jesus said, "If you maintain a living communion with Me, and My words are at home in you, you shall ask at once for yourself whatever your heart desires, and it will be yours." translation from John 15:7.

In this season of giving, it's not always the fanciest gift that makes a heart happy. It's an indoor bbq prepared for your man, a yummy candle wrapped in an owl from a student.

indoor grill/owl gift

It's anxiously awaiting vol. 2 to come into my mailbox. It's planning a summer adventure in this great state of Alaska. It's watching, reading and listening to all that we can about wilderness living and outdoor adventures.

kinfolk magazine v.2/some of our Alaska home library

It's this man, with his scruffy beard+plaid shirts+ beanies that makes my heart swell.

many blessings this Sunday.

warm and fuzzy holiday

2011-12-17T20:26:00.000-09:00

the official countdown can now begin, Christmas break has begun!

It was such an amazing start to break already. Mike and I enjoyed our shopping-date night on Thursday! We laughed, held hands, and perused our favorite stores without having to chase a two year old around. Perfect. We can't wait to do it again, but we were happy to come home to our happy babies and their fun gingerbread creations!

Friday was wild and crazy all day at school but lots of fun. We had a pajama party-cookie exchange where we watched movies, passed out presents and crafts and drank hot cocoa. Lots and lots of fun to be had. We surprised the boys after school with a helicopter ride around Juneau to see the lights! It's a Juneau tradition/fundraiser for the Lyon's Club, and tons of Juneauites come out for the ride. Santa even decided to show up! The boys were blown away and LOVED it so much. It is for sure a new family tradition. I wasn't allowed to take flash photos around the helicopters flying (would hate to blind the pilots!) so this iphone photo was all I got.

Today was catch up day, lots of errands, cleaning and Costco dogs for the boys.

Tonight I am laying low, wrapping presents, drinking peppermint tea and homemade Christmas cookies. Pretty perfect.

Night.

Holiday Cheer and a little Kinfolk

2011-12-14T21:50:00.000-09:00

So we've been a little absent here lately, taking in some quality family time. Mike was able to go back to work a couple days ago but couldn't because of a few forms he was waiting in from his doctor. I didn't complain, I love having him home and the boys get excited when he surprises and pics them up at school.

I LOVE his beard and want it to keep it forever.

This week there has been nothing but holiday cheer everywhere we look! My classroom is dripping with Christmas lights, 'A She and Him' Christmas album, rocking out the the '12 Days of Christmas' and glitter all over everything! It's wild and crazy and everyone is happy.

yes, I wore reindeer antlers on Monday...oh, Kindergarten life.

Last night I had some of my best girlfriends over for cookies, tea and treats with a little mix of our kids playing sword fights in between. It was perfect, my heart was full and I we all ended the night with lots of laughter and fellowship. Sadly, I was having too much fun to take any pictures worth sharing.

Tonight Noah had his winter music performance. He got a new outfit that will be for Christmas too, Logie wanted one also.

Tomorrow Mike and I get to...GO ON A DATE!! Ok, so it's a date so we can get the boys the rest of their gifts. But I'm sure we'll get some peppermint mochas, cruise the town and hold hands a bit...yah! I feel 15 again. Our friend is coming over to make gingerbread houses with the boys so it's a win-win.

One thing before I go...have you bought all your gifts yet? If not a perfect gift is the amazing magazine called 'Kinfolk'. It's very affortable, has warm and cozy pictures and articles all inspiring surrounded around the concept of small gatherings with appreciation for the outdoors. I JUST LOVE IT!! I would love to contribute one day, but until then go out and check out their online journal and magazine!

***11 Days 'till a (hopefully white) Christmas!

new snow/ Noah's Lego Nativity

Frosted Windowpanes.

2011-12-08T20:26:00.001-09:00

Health scares are never fun, nor is being admitted to the hospital in the middle of the night. Mike has been enduring all of the as of late and in turn I had been sitting next to him only being able to help by fluffing his pillows.

source

We are home now and it's a warming feeling when you realize how much love you are surrounded by. A friend staying almost the whole night with your boys, and watching them after school, a phone call turned into a prayer at 2 am in the hospital, loving emails and texts and even friends who want to shake me for not telling them ; ) . Surprisingly we are rather private and quiet about personal dealings and with my iphone being fixed I was even more quiet with close ones.

source

But the love of family and friends is really quite amazing. Life can feel so warm even on those frosty nights.

baby cakes.

2011-12-05T23:02:00.001-09:00

do you want to know what keeps a marriage going strong after being together for 11 years and married for 8? it's the little things

coming home from work to a husband who wants to take a family date to the local Fred Meyer superstore and treating us all to Starbucks. Then coming home, making blueberry and chocolate chips pancakes for all of us for dinner.

Yummy-delicious-jumbo berries-drenched in syrup-sprinkled in powder sugar. He even used his secret ingredient (instead of water) in the pancakes.

It was rather perfect. I sat there lovingly watch him, cook, flip, mix, pour and clean the kitchen when he was done. A rather perfect night in our little nest.

Happy Monday.

retreat dreams pt. 2

2011-12-05T14:14:00.000-09:00

We never want to move from Juneau, or outside of the US for that matter; but lately much of my home ideas and inspiration is Norwegian/Scandinavian country inspired. It's the clean, more is less, motto I crave. Will do.

source

Mike and I are talking a lot about our someday soon home; in the woods, in the sun, with a garden and room to play, in Juneau. It's fun.
Here are some of my new favorite home inspired sites...1-2-3

Bowling Kings

2011-12-04T20:38:00.001-09:00

We had a relaxing morning in bed. An extra cup of coffee, the movie "My Idiot Brother" with a great cast that I LOVED and some much needed quiet time. We decided to surprise the boys this afternoon and take them on a much needed bowling adventure.

It's our small town Taku Lanes with the old school carpet, cheese fries, greasy pizza, soft pretzels and 80's rock and roll blasting in the background. It was fabulous.

Logie was his wild self and gave Mike and I a workout but all in all it was a great night. We'll be back again soon...Mike even got a couple strikes. I got a spare or two with help of the bumpers. ;)

Perhaps I am a bear.

2011-12-03T15:34:00.001-09:00

I have been rather lazy lately. Mike's been under the weather and I just rather lay in bed with him and the boys all evening than take on any adventures.

But today I did some more holiday shopping.

Checked some more presents off our list.

Ventured to the holiday craft fair and bought some holly.

And am exciting for an evening of tree trimming, apple cider, peppermint bark, holiday music and some happy family cheer. Mike and I love to be merry! ;) But in the meantime I leave you with this quote I found rather fitting for me this last week...

"perhaps i am a bear, or some hibernating animal underneath, for the instinct to be half asleep all winter is so strong in me." - anne morrow lindbergh

happy saturday...22 days until Christmas!

holiday dreamin'

2011-12-01T20:53:00.001-09:00

just in case you were wondering ;)

shop: ruche/modcloth/american eagle/uo

I'm a sucker for vintage-floral-plaid-campie-dainty-cooking-crafty-photography-outdoors-alaskan and hand picked with love.

*happy shopping*

hints of the holiday.

2011-11-30T17:28:00.001-09:00

we are busy writing letters to Santa and trying to stay off of the naughty list ; )

The advent is about to begin....

retreat.

2011-11-29T17:26:00.001-09:00

source for all photos

I truly adore skandinavian-electic-argentinian-granny chic-vintage-white wall-rustic modern style. No biggie.

Sunday

2011-11-27T18:36:00.001-09:00

This afternoon we took a drive, drank coffee, looked for our dream house and put up lights.

Pretty nice.

We give thanks

2011-11-25T14:29:00.001-09:00

It was a great day all around. Mike did have to work from 8-4 but it gave me the chance to do something that I have been uneasy doing for years, the whole Thanksgiving feast on my own. And I did it! This year I made the turkeys and all the fixings, alone! I only had to call Mike once about a turkey question too! Needless to say, it came out a success. Mike was so impressed, very appreciative and we filled our bellies to the brim all night. There was homemade apple and pumpkin pie, apple-bacon roasted turkey, pomagranate and lemon brussel sprouts, rolls, stuffing and mashed potatoes, whipped fruit salad and of course gravy. Hooray!

I took the boys for a beautiful walk in the woods in the morning and we loved it so much we did it again today! We spent the night watching movies, relaxing in bed and talking to family near and dear.
It was a great day and I am oh so grateful for this life I lead.

Many Thanksgiving blessings to you.

Full of Thanks

2011-11-22T18:53:00.001-09:00

I thought I would start a little tradition and write down the 5 things we are thankful for each year. I encourage you to do it too!
Enjoy.
2011 Thankful List-

Noah:
my God
my family
my food
my home
my earth
Logan:
power rangers
ninjas
Noah
Daddy
Walter (our dog)
*haha, he needed a lot of prompting. at first he thought it was a Christmas list, then he figured it out! I didn't make the cut, but I know he loves me ; )

the Shrine this summer

Mike:
family
our health
God
our right to worship
our careers
Me:
my mister and my boys
my extended support of friends and family
my kinder nuggets and their families. I love them so
the growing love of Jesus; I learn everyday
Juneau...especially in the summer.

perfect Juneau day.

I am thankful for so many things and really could go on and I, but that would be cheating. mainly I just want to add what I'll call a p.s. I'm thankful for hope. The ability for a person to dream big, take that initial step and make their dream a reality. Four years ago Mike and I took a leap and moved to Alaska; it has become the greatest, best, brightest, smartest adventure of our lives. No regrets, it's given us bigger hearts to love one another, understand one another, become better people; full of faith and joy and mostly hope.

Love Alaska

2011-11-20T20:50:00.001-09:00

I have told you time and time again that I love living in Alaska. I love the adventure, the beauty, the wilderness, the excitement, everything! Well here are a couple of my favorite shows that Mike and I enjoy watching...

R5 Sons The Perrins family, 5 adult sons and their parents running a lodge outside of Anchorage. The scenary is breathtaking, the adventures are unique to Alaska and the only way you can get there is by plane. It's perfect.

Alone Across the Wilderness...1000 Across Alaska
One man, Buck Nelson hiking and canoing across our great state in a mountain range north of the Arctic Circle.

We have tons of other shows that we love and more that we discover each day. One of our favorite channels is Alaska 360 North, or GCI's Alaska On Demand. If you have a favorite Alaska show I would love to hear it!!

Happy Sunday
(pics taken from their respective websites...sorry if they are blurry)

Before

2011-11-16T21:13:00.000-09:00

Last night I got to thinking....
Before kids I
-had hours to sit at a coffee shop and read (my favorite thing)
-went to bed a 8 if I wanted and woke up at 10 if I wanted too
-went out for late dinners or movies without warning
-had half the amount of clothes to wash, sort, fold, put away
-didn't step on Lego pieces taking over our house
-rarely cleaned mirrors because they didn't have two year old fingerprints on them
-didn't find old cheerios and McDonald's toys in the back seat of the car
-watched adult television and not just Olivia, Wow Wow Wubsy, Indiana Jones and Harry Potter over and over

-went to the gym when I wanted not when the daycare was open
-got to spoon my husband at night and not just hold his hand from afar with our boys in the middle like a sandwich
-went on an afternoon run, whenever I felt like it
-had half the amount of junk I have now.
-could take a road trip, unplanned to Vegas on a Friday with Mike.
-did yoga in my living room without Logan thinking I wanted him to wrestle me while doing warrior pose

But now...and two beautiful boys later, I

-am surrounded nightly by kisses and hugs everywhere I go
-play hide and seek and listen to happy giggles under their covers ("mom I hiding here!")

-miss having a little baby to nestle and now just have a silly two year old monkey and an awesome 6 year old.
-get to watch their excitement on the first snow, Christmas morning, losing their teeth, learning about Jesus, making friends, signing up for basketball, and playing in the park

-can go on spontaneous trips throughout Alaska when we want, with just a LITTLE planning
-exploring our beautiful state with myself and 3 boys and watching the wonder that each new adventure brings
-look into my sons eyes and see my beautiful husband and feel pride, love and joy overflowing with all that we've accomplished.

So yes, our life is different.
Yes, I am not the same person I was at 18 (thank goodness ; )
as a newleywed at 23, or even as a new mom at 24.

I am a mother of two, wife of an amazing man, friend and daughter.
I live a blessed, wild, crazy, messy, adventurous, amazing life of laughter, love, and wonder.
I wouldn't change a thing for the world....not even for a few extra hours or minutes in a bookstore alone. :))

p.s. thank you for all the entries to my giveaway. The winner is Megan! I will email you soon.

(some of these pics were from our Halloween Festival at my school, others were on a fishing adventure this summer!)
Now I encourage you to watch this! A beautiful story about how life changes but your love can overcome! Enjoy!!

The Ruetschle Story from THE PARSONS photographers on Vimeo.

Snow Day!

2011-11-14T18:19:00.001-09:00

I woke up bright and early hoping that the schools would be closed, but no...'all schools open'. Sad face....So I got in the shower and followed my usual morning routine, was 5 mins. away from leaving with the boys when the phone rang. It was the district recording, "all schools closed due to snow". Yeehaw, happy dance, wahoo! We were excited to say the least!

So I got to put back on my jammies, let the boys watch cartoons longer than usual and lay in bed with my (still) sick mister and relax...until about 8:30 when the boys couldn't take it any longer and wanted to go out and enjoy the fresh fluffy snow.

We shoveled, played, laughed, threw snow balls and of course built our first snowman of the year. Pretty soon it started dumping snow again. Our city turned into a snow globe. Our snowman became covered, walkway covered again and we decided to head inside.

The rest of the afternoon was spent relaxing, drinking coffee, working on my striped crochet blanket and watching 'Crazy, Stupid Love' with Mike. It was pretty hilarious. (on a side note we watched 'Water for Elephants' last night and I LOVED IT!! The best movie I have seen all year. Mike tolerated it for me too. Mike told me the author's story paralleled the story of Jacob in the Book of Genesis, interesting. ) We also had a fun playdate with our Hosh friends which wiped Logie out and he's been asleep since 4:00...oh well.

Yeah for snow days, hope there are many more to come this year!!
p.s. I want my healthy husband back so I can kiss him and his new beard!!

Quiet bits of Randomness

2011-11-09T20:51:00.000-09:00

I have been quiet here lately. ~~Written~~ Started many different entries for my different moods and never clicked post. As a wife, mother, friend, daughter I have found myself tender this week. Pondering things as deep as friendships to as simple as decluttering and decorating. Mike has been really exhausted this week and his long hours and lack of sleep caught up with him and today his body woke up mad. So mad it kept him in bed all day with a nasty flu; aches pains, fever, nausea, you name it. So I loved on him from a distance. I felt like he needed that, deserved it.

Do you ever realize at the end of the day that the person you love the most you didn't show them? Well, I'd been feeling like that lately; not giving him the love he deserved. So today, I took care of him. Made him chicken potato soup, nestled him in our bed and watched over his fever from afar. I adore him, but don't want to get sick either. ; ) Meanwhile, here are a couple pictures of our week...

new anthropologie catalog and amazing book

my little lefty doing is homework on his own and my class p.j. party

With winter on the horizon and the days turning colder and shorter the boys are feeling a little more confined and our place isn't very big. When they get irritated with each other, I tend to get irritated too. Bad, I know and with Mike working a couple nights this week the distraction and play time with daddy wasn't there. So it was just me. After a few days of this, I feel tired and needed today to just be still. I yearn for the day that we have a large home with a fireplace for the boys to spread out and have their own space. For Mike and I to look out the window and see the beautiful Juneau landscape around us, I wouldn't mind it being nestled in the woods either.

author Heather Lende's blog...go check it out!!

Also, my dear friend Hannah and her brother went to the Calvary Chapel Worship Leaders Conference last week and I was able to watch some of the worship on the last night with Paul Baloche. These words stuck with me. Music is really the rhythm of my life. How I remember things, express emotions, love things. Like my dad, I turn the music up loud and proud no matter what it is!

"You're calling us all by name. The same love that set the captives free. The same love that led eyes to see. "(Here are some of my favorites, that I always go back to)

Here I am at your feet. My life is an empty cup, I am here Jesus, for you to fill it up.

Jesus you're all this heart is living for.

So my tender heart this week was strengthened by His love, and I read these words by A.W. Tozer (modified) "Know well that the world will never see you as God sees you, so stop caring...".
I have the love of my husband, my family, my Lord and some special friends.
I am very blessed.
On a lighter note, I had a great chat as usual with my brother Matt tonight and got the jump on some Christmas presents...trying my hardest to do majority ETSY purchases. Small businesses or bust! :))

Taking it all in...

2011-11-06T08:47:00.000-09:00

Yesterday I took the boys to McDonald's for lunch. We decided to play inside, take our time and let the boys have some happy meals. Noah and Logan were running around like crazy having a great time and I got a few minutes to sit and relax and just watch them. Just watch them be boys. Climb, explore, laugh, slide, run, and play. Now while we were there some other children were of course playing too. One of them was a boy about 10 and he had special needs. He was there playing, but to watch him next to my boys it just made me sit back and take a huge sigh. I took in all that my boys are; wild, silly, playful, giggly, sometimes even naughty, but mostly just angels that I have no business complaining about. Especially when there was a woman there, who was a worker, not his mother, trying to coax the special needs boy out of the slide when he didn't want to leave. He couldn't speak very well and it took a lot for her to get him to go.

Mike tickling Logie last night in bed.

Now as you know I am a teacher in kindergarten. In my room alone a 5th of my class is identified special ed. We have the gammit of disabilities and I get to see it all. Two years ago Mike worked at my school as a para-educator for special needs children also. One of our favorite students was David, pictured in the Halloween post. He has down syndrome. He is amazing and he LOVES Mr. Mike. Could care less about me...he only calls me by my last name. But my point in all this is even when I work with special needs children on a daily basis I still forget sometimes how lucky my life is. I am only human I know. I get tired and grumpy and sometimes that extra snack at night or late night wrestling match might annoy me more than it should. So every time I want to take that extra childish sigh when I am worn out and just want to be lazy I need to think of David, my students and that boy at McDonald's and be grateful that my worries are so miniature compared to some. Jesus has blessed me with a beautiful family, loving husband and healthy wee ones. And if you are a parent of a special needs child, I applaud you, send you love and prayers and want you to know you are appreciated so, so much.
I posted this video from my friend Candace on Facebook the other day, but if you haven't seen it here you go. I cried, a lot when I watched it. :))

Happy Sunday.
p.s. did you change your clocks?
p.s.s did you enter my giveaway?

The First Snow and a FUN Giveaway!!

2011-11-05T09:58:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone! It has been such a crazy week with Halloween on Monday and a slow sugar meltdown for my students and our sons since then. So it was super exciting to wake up Friday to snow!! It brightens everything up, and brings the joy of the season to come in full effect. I have mentioned before how much I love each season in Juneau, but this year with our boys I am especially excited for winter. We plan on teaching the boys to ski and get back into snow boarding ourselves...it's been a while.

At school the kids were buzzing, so we made sure to write, talk and draw us playing in snow! Then we bundled up and headed out to recess early! (after we went over the snow rules; no eating, throwing, etc.) This is one of the reasons why I love teaching at Noah's school...I got to play with him in the snow at recess! Pretty soon I will get to do this with Logie too.

Once the school day was over we raced home, grabbed our sleds and headed to our favorite sledding spot, Twin Lakes. The lake isn't frozen over so we had to sled on the smaller hill. Still so much fun and I even saw one of my students there, so he hopped on the sled with us a few times!

We had a great time and I am even more excited to wake up today and the snow is still here...AND it's still snowing! We heard it was going to rain the rest of the weekend which means bye bye snow till next time. (For Juneau it's a bit early for the snow to 'stick')

*Now for the giveaway!
My Memories is offering our readers your own digital scrapbooking software for free! Their site has tons and tons of easy to use layouts with lots of fun features; including fonts, backgrounds, embellishments and designs. It's an $80 value and lots of fun. Above is what I did on their site this morning and it took me no time at all. Their software is rated #1 by Amazon for scrapbook, cards, calendars and gifts and now I know why! This couldn't happen at a better time. I was in the market for some fun calendars this year for sure not to mention it's always fun to spruce up your blog photos! And for a working mom like me I don't have a lot of free time to cut, paste and glue a scrapbook together...so a digital one is PERFECT!!

To enter simply go to their digital scrapbooking site, My Memories, and tell me which feature they have that you like the best! You can enter as many times as you want. I will choose a winner November 15th!
**Also as a special for all of our readers, we give you your very own Share the Memories code that provides a $10 discount off the purchase of the My Memories Suite Scrapbook software and a $10 coupon for the MyMemories.com store - $20 value!) Just click here! and use this code:STMMMS75990
Make sure to check out My Memories
Blog- http://blog.mymemories.com/
Facebook- http://www.facebook.com/pages/MyMemories/140359372717593
Twitter- http://twitter.com/#!/mymemoriessuite
for more ideas!!
Good Luck everyone

Hallows Day 2011

2011-11-01T19:51:00.000-08:00

Pat Costello...amazing Juneau photographer

Yesterday turned out to be one of those fabulous family days where really their is nothing to complain about! Mike had the day off and was able to come visit us at school. Noah's class and mine had Halloween festivities in our rooms all afternoon which included a costume parade, oreo spiders, fingers made of cheese, popcorn balls, donuts on a string, dancing, singing and lots of glitter and glue. It was so fun! I wish I could show you my class picture but for privacy reasons I can only show you my personal photos. I was a Raggady Ann thanks to Katie's adorable idea and my class just loved it!
(excuse all the iphone pics, just easiest and fastest way to take pics these days with my little family on the go...we will whip out our Canon soon)

Excuse the cheesy photo...just had to play the part!

As you know Noah was Indiana Jones...

And Mike was his adorable self (bare with me and Noah's shaky picture taking skills ; )

After the festivities of the day we picked up Logie, little Indie, and headed home for a bit before heading out to our local mall. We have never been there for Halloween festivities, but I must say it was perfect!

the cowboy was my old student from 3 years ago, David. Mike worked with him that year as a Para-educator. He LOVED Mike...barely remembers me, "Hey Mr. Mike". David really wanted me to take off my wig.

A big place for Logie to run safely (before the crowd arrived), a rain-free indoor-warm space. The kids went up and down the mall trick or treating, checking out everyone's amazing costumes and saying hello to our friends.

It was great and when we got home at six the boys were trick-or-treated out. They just wanted to stay in and pass out candy and play with their toys. And with the huge rainstorm outside, Mike and I were fine with that.

The night ended rather quietly with a bit of candy, a rigorous teeth brushing ; ) and a family movie in bed, 'Pirates of the Caribbean; on Stranger Tides'. It was so great! Happy family, happy night!
I hope you had a great night too!

By Grace Blogger V.2

2011-10-30T13:26:00.001-08:00

**For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God- Ephesians 2:8**

{This is a series dedicated to beautiful bloggers who strive to live in the footsteps of His word}

Today I wanted to introduce you to Amber from the blog

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She has been a blog friend of mine for quite some time and I can say she is always so uplifting and encouraging to me with His word.

She journals her daily musings of school, work, being a wife and mother of her pooches all on her blog. Amber consistently marvels at the world she is blessed to live in and shares her appreciation of Jesus daily.

What I have to say that I love most about her is her willingness to share her thoughts on Jesus. This is something rather new to me and I constantly marvel at how gracefully she does it. A woman who can outwardly (even in a blog) show her love for Jesus is something that I truly admire.

If you don't already know of Amber, stop by and say hi.

Now here is what she shared with me....

Jesus is my favorite part of me.

- Thats just about my favorite sentence these days. Sometimes its easy to pick myself apart or expect too much of myself, but really I am enough because of Him. He is my favorite.

**on another note, here is a book I am starting to read from my church's library, 'The Uncommon Woman, Making an Ordinary Life Extraordinary', I will share my thoughts soon.

Happy Sunday! Tonight we are off to our church's Harvest Party at the local pool : ) Let's just hope Noah feels well enough to go. He's been a little sick all weekend.

In Celebrating Halloween...

2011-10-28T16:42:00.002-08:00

There are many mixed feeling as the holiday season approaches, especially concerning Halloween. In our home, in our life, we embrace every holiday. My husband and I are Christians. We love Christ Jesus, he is our savior. In our home, in our life it does not stop us from embracing Halloween. So if you are questioning; "well I want to bring Jesus into my heart, can I not celebrate Halloween?" (We believe) The answer is no, of course you can!

2008

Here is an very thoughtful article I recently read that reaffirmed my thoughts on the subject and also speaks of another wonderful topic. This is one piece that I really liked...

"Halloween was always one of Christopher’s and my favorite just-for-fun holidays! It is a day when you can really let your creativity show, and it’s somewhat acceptable to go out in costume."
I love that, YES, it's a just-for-fun holiday!! (Here is another article too...)

And this leads me to how we 'direct' Halloween in our home...
-not in the past, now, or in the future will we have our boys carrying around bloody masks, swords or other Satanic-like made up creatures. I'm not even a big fan of skulls to be honest.

2009-Logie's first!

-we keep it fun, happy, exciting and playful! In no way shape or form do we venture to the 'dark side' of the day (Darth Vador doesn't count ; ). When our boys are old enough to understand as Christians that we don't focus on the relics, false gods or demonic aspects of the day; we will share that with them. For now, we keep it pumpkins, dress up and dancing monsters. ;)

2010...when Noah was obsessed with Star Wars...Logie was Darth Vador :))

-with the little ones, especially school aged kids it is literally their WHOLE existence for a week or two. It's all they talk about. They are so proud of their costumes and want to share their superhero, fairy, princess, animal costumes with their friends! We get so much language, creative writing and amazing storytelling out of this day. If you're not a teacher, I'm sure you wouldn't believe me. But I tell you, it's true. One of my students wanted to come to my house and show me her costume when she thought that they couldn't wear them to school! I mean really, too cute!

Now, if you do not celebrate Halloween for the obvious reasons, I understand your argument too. Either way embrace the excitement in the air, the change of the season and the first holiday of many soon to come.

God Bless and happy harvest.
xo

Question?

2011-10-26T18:17:00.000-08:00

Do you....

-talk to your husband via phone or text when you're at work? Or if you stay home, while he's at work?
*We do! I must say I love it! Our daily little 5 min. check ins are always nice. Even it's a quick "hello, just wanted to make sure you were awake in time to make it to work. I know you are tired from your late shift. Love you, be safe at work!'...well that's pretty much the conversation today. But nevertheless, I love it.

-try to make one day a week just a family day? Usually for us it's Sunday. We always get our coffees, enjoy some fellowship at church and then depending on the afternoon; go for a hike, go see a movie or just lounge around at home playing board games and watching movies! Either way, your should set aside one day, one evening just family. No sport, no practices, no lessons or boy/girl scouts. Just solitary family time. It will do wonders.

-read with your children? Read TO your children? Read the Bible as a family?
*We do all three! I did a post in the past about HOW IMPORTANT READING TO YOUR CHILD IS and as a Kindergarten teacher, our little people (as I call them) live and breathe for literature. Getting a child hooked on a book, a series or even an author is really priceless. Not to mention watching their eyes light up when they realize that they are readers too! "Mrs. C look! There is the word 'see' in my book!!!" When I hear things like that it really makes my heart skip a beat! I told you the other day how Noah got his first chapter book! Wahoo...

*As believers in Christ we know how important His Word is to read, understand and know. Noah has his own Children's Bible and he picks out a story or two or three each night that we read. It's really exciting when he hears about something at church and can relate it to a topic or story we've discussed at home. Having your child allow the Lord into their heart is a very special gift. I encourage you all to do it! Open your heart to His word and you will find a life you didn't know existed. I can vouch first hand. (I will tell you more about that later)

-Lastly, do you dream?

*Not alone at night in the comfort of your mind, but do you dream with your partner and your family about your future. Share goals that you want to accomplish, places you want to visit and things you want to see? We do, daily. We love it, we thrive on it. Currently we are dreaming of a little house in the woods for our boys to roam and grow. We want to travel around and see all of Alaska and eventually most of the US by VW bus!

So many things to love about our little life. :))
xo

By Grace Blogger V.1

2011-10-23T20:09:00.000-08:00

**For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God- Ephesians 2:8**
{This is a series dedicated to beautiful bloggers who strive to live in the footsteps of His word}

Hi everyone! I am excited to start off this new series with Paige from the blog

It used to be entitled 'We Three Pilgrims' but her husband and her are expecting their second daughter in a few months!!

She actually writes a blog that I've read for quite some time and decided she would be perfect to start out this series. Paige is so talented as a photographer, mother, wife and has her own collection of mainly handbags called Lightnest Collective.

But I have to say what I love most about her blog is her honesty and humble nature when it comes to her love for the Lord. Her eagerness to become closer to Him is inspiring and her willingness to admit her need for Jesus in her life is something I can always appreciate.

If you haven't yet popped over to her edge of the internet I highly encourage you to do so!

{if you have someone you would like to have highlighted on the series feel free to email me, even if it's you!}

Sunday Note

2011-10-23T17:45:00.000-08:00

Last night I found my Bible. The one my grandparents gave to me...the day I was born. Not only do I love it because it is His Word, but because it has my late grandma Gayle's manuscript inside. Beautiful. I loved how she wrote. I will always cherish it.

Happy Sunday.

source: Big Picture Farms blog (in Iceland)

...In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. -Matthew 5:16

weekend fun!

2011-10-22T22:16:00.000-08:00

Autumn is in full swing here in Juneau, which means wind, rain and lots of fallen leaves. I just love it! It means lots of fun, colorful tights, headwarmers and scarves for me.

The boys came home Friday from school with a big box from my parents, Nana and Papa! It is the tradition for my parents to buy the boys their Halloween costumes and they always send them up with a bunch of fun treats too. Noah has been anxious to say the least for the box to arrive. Can you guess what the boys are going to be this year?

My mom and dad did a great job of piecing together 2 Indiana Jones outfits...the one already put together in the stores were pretty lame. From experience, Mike and I learned it's easier if Logan is the same thing as Noah. I can't say that Noah liked that idea, but he got over it.
Here's the rest of the goodies that boys got! I also got some new colored tights and of course an Indian Jones movie was in the mix.

We used some of the things dancing stuffed toys to add to our decor

The boys literally played Indian Jones for two days straight! Noah acted out Indie being scared of snakes ;) and Logie went to bed with his pants on and whip in hand!

Here they are watching the movie they got during a special dinner, in costume of course.

**Today Mike worked the day shift so the boys and I went to get coffee from sweet Ashleigh and I found some FABULOUS things at the consignment store. A new plaid shirt I've been eyeing, a striped dress and peter pan collared dress in the costume section! I love things that they think are actually costumes, ha! Also I grabbed four pairs of tights from urban outfitters there, thick-comfy and colorful. Just how I like 'em.

The boys spend the afternoon playing indoors while I redecorated our bedroom a bit. I repurposed some old drawers and turned them into shelves.

Turned a fitted sheet into a tablecloth

Cut and finished some old curtains

And took an old wire hanger (NO WIRE HANGERS!;) and some yarn and made the finishing touches to the LOVEly space over our bed along with a mini banner.

Finally when Mike got home we had yummy steaks, and a delicious glass of Chardonnay and had a little game night. A game of Sesame Street Chutes and Ladders

and a Guess Who Tournament? I love that we can finally play games with Noah the way they are meant to be played, not just his pretend game all the time.

The night now ends with Mike reading Noah his FIRST CHAPTER BOOK! Can you tell I am excited about this? I am over the moon that he has such a passion for books. In the used bookstore today he went straight to the chapter books and chose the 'Red Badge of Courage'. A classic. He liked it because it was an old fashioned army book, he said. So, so sweet. What a great weekend so far...

night.night.
(oh and thanks for all the lovely emails, comments and instagram comments regarding my last post! Comments will stay up for now, but still not sure about it...hmmm.)

Your Path

2011-10-19T19:01:00.000-08:00

I have learned so, SO much about myself, my goals, my family, our hopes and dreams, our commitment and love through my seeking the Lord in my life. I mentioned in our FAITH tab a little about what that commitment has meant to my family, especially me. But what I wanted to journal today is one huge 'a-ha' I have had this last year. Now let me tell you that what I am about to say is nothing new, and many of you might know this already as I did. But knowing it and FEELING it is two very important, distinct things. It all came very clear to me after a sermon our Pastor Brian had one Sunday morning. Now I can't remember exactly what story he was telling...(it was a side not for a sermon he was giving. He is great about interjecting things into his sermons to make them relevant, I love that)! But what I do recall was his message, it was this and it hit me like a ton of bricks.
YOUR PATH (IN LIFE) IS NOT THE SAME AS SOMEONE ELSE'S PATH. No matter how hard you try to make someone else's life, dreams, goals, lifestyle, etc. fit your own it won't work. It won't fit. The reason, it's so simple...it's not meant for you. Like I said, I always knew this before, but I think when it was put into a biblical sense it REALLY nailed it for me.
The Lord knew us, individually, specially, before we were even in this world. And as it says in the bible "I have great plans for you..." No matter how hard we try to do something that we THINK is the right thing to do. Our parents would like us to be ____________. I really should live in _____________ because..... It just will never feel right. You have to do what you feel deep inside your soul. And that feeling deep inside your soul is the Lord, slowing tugging at your heart, planting that seed on your life.
As our Pastor has said, "rarely does God hit me like a lightning bolt. Brian, today you will...." It is more like a gentle tug, or pull or even just a feeling that you should be doing something else, you should be somewhere else or acting some other way.
Now, how do I make this all fit into my life you ask? It is simple. Listen to your heart, take note of the tug in your soul and follow it. It could be something as simple as choosing to play with your kids vs. watching tv; or something as big as knowing and appreciating your family and what you have become with them, like I have.
Since I have moved to Alaska, I have never been more happy, fulfilled in my marriage, secure in relationships with friends and family and realistic about my abilities. I think that so much of it is due to this; my faith in the Lord, my love for Jesus, my appreciation for my family and my commitment to my husband and children to be the best wife and mother I can be.

The sooner you stop comparing your life, your bank account, your car, your clothes, your body, your hair, your blog, your job, etc. to someone else's; the sooner you will find confidence in yourself and start really listening to the voice within you. Here are some versus I found about our path and just really loved....
in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. - Proverbs 3:6
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.-Jeremiah 29:11
I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you.-Psalm 32:8
A man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps-Proverbs 16:9
**Here is my favorite one of all...
Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path -Psalm 119:105
and a link to many, many more!
***today, I decided to open up comments. If you have any thoughts I would love to hear from you...

Pumpkin Carving Year 2

2011-10-18T10:22:00.001-08:00

Traditions are always so fun here in our home and this event is really the beginning of many to come in the next few months. Although we were ready to rock tonight and carve our little hearts out, it just wasn't our night.

It started off great, as usual with Noah giving Mike an elaborate carving idea. Last year was a Star Wars Storm Trooper, this year was (of course) Indiana Jones. Mike is so awesome at stuff like this. He goes right along with it and tries his hardest to make Noah his precious little pumpkin.

The boys loved going elbow deep in the pumpkins and all the ooie gooie seeds inside. Logie loved it so much he was flinging the seeds off his hand and they inevitably ended up all over the table and floor, oh well.

ooh Mom, gross!

When it was time to carve, things started to go downhill. Noah lost interest and happily ran to his room to continue his imaginary Indiana Jones adventure and Logie tried to stay and carve with us. Our little buddy had been so amped to carve pumpkins since we brought it up on Friday and I think the excitement was a little too much for him. ( He just couldn't understand why he couldn't use that sharp little knife and carve the pumpkin himself) poor guy.

Needless to say, we had to take a break and give Logan some time to process it all. Mike was so fabulous with him, calmed him down and chatted with him about it for a while while he ate some dinner.

Finally we got back at it and Logan held the knife with me and we cut the pumpkins up, added candles and voila! We plopped them out on the porch and the boys couldn't have been happier.

So yeah, the tradition continues!:)

**Mike didn't get to finish his so he plans on doing it with the boys today. I am on day 2 of a teacher inservice while my mister romps with the boys all day until he runs off to work himself. Yesterday Mike got to spend a special day with Noah while Logan was at daycare and they went geocaching. Have you tried it? Noah LOVEEESSSS it! He is his own little Indiana Jones and it is a special thing for just the two of them. **

this morning

Have a wonderful day! Oh and the weather says snow flurries Friday. :)) It probably won't stay on the ground for long, but it's the start of a very fun season...

Hi all!

2011-10-16T21:32:00.002-08:00

We really are lucky to live in such an amazingly beautiful place. There are countless things that we love about Juneau (but that is for another post). What I am really loving lately is all the beautiful golden fall colors and this drive home everyday with my Noah in tow telling me about his day.

This wild little munchkin that runs circles around us everywhere we go but is the most loveable little pumpkin we don't stay irritated for long.

The new striped blanket I am crocheting. I am trying to get ahead in my holiday gifting and planned on giving this one away; but I'm loving it to much I just might have to 'gift' it to Mike or the boys. ;)

I still haven't gotten around to all of our Halloween decorations since they are in the bottom/back of our garage. However, I hung some homemade garland for autumn and made a centerpiece out of jar, orange cinnamon candles and yarn. Easy, cozy, smells yummy and lasts longer than Halloween.

Lastly, I am really, REALLY loving my Sundays. Mornings in bed with my three boys and Mike not having to rush off to work anymore. We get our coffee and all head out to church. Have I told you lately how much I love that place? Standing there side by side with my man. Swoon. And when we're there it's all about the 'family', the fellowship, the friendships, the music, the teaching, the learning, the loving of the Lord. I feel full and yet always eager to learn more when I leave.
Today when we got home we lovingly lounged around for a while then got some more movies (we love Blockbuster!) and finally picked up our pumpkins. So you know what that means?! Tomorrow is our annual pumpkin carving/caramel apple night. I can't wait! And it will be much needed after a two day inservice I'm going to.

So, have a wonderful evening. I'm off to put our little rascals to bed and get a bit of quiet time with my man before I doze off myself.
******
Now, I leave you with this...
God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. (1 Corinthians 1:9)
If the Lord has planted a seed in your heart, or you're questioning/wanting to know more. Go and find it. My sidebar has an active-helpful-amazing link that can help lead you to a place near you and your heart (Do You Know God?) If you have been recently saved, email me! I would love to hear.
xo

the boys on 8mm

2011-10-12T18:45:00.001-08:00

one of my favorite iphone apps is 8mm, and if you don't already have it you definitely should! Here are two spontaneous videos of the boys from earlier this afternoon.
*Logan...I caught him looking at a picture of my parents, Nana and Papa, and I video-ed what he was saying.

(he's talking about the Indiana Jones costume they are mailing him, whip and all!)
*Noah...was doing his homework at the counter and started singing! I just had to get it on video. Pretty cute!! Our music teacher at school, Mike Maas, is teaching the whole school some awesome songs. Now parents don't mind if their kids sing in the back seats of the car anymore ;)

Oh and sorry about my raspy, deep voice...I'm not sick, I always sound that way. :)
Happy Wednesday.
xo

A Happy, Splendid, Lovely Little Weekend

2011-10-10T21:23:00.000-08:00

my pretty street

Like most, I love my weekends. Don't get me wrong. I adore my job but after a week of teaching little 5-6 year olds I need a few days to recooperate ;) So in my class, Fridays are always happy days. We call them 'Fantastic Fridays' to be exact AND we even do a happy dance with jazz hands and all. I AM that dorking singing-dancing teacher! But it gets me through the day, what can I say.

Logie visited my room for a bit and had snack with my class

Fantastic Friday was just that. Fantastic-Amazing-Fabulous-a grim from ear to ear- type of day. We got our PFD's which was awesome and I finally was able to pick up my new-to-me car!!!!! I have wanted it for two months and everything finally was ready to go, new rebuilt engine and all. We are happy campers over here for sure! Can I just say I drove around town all weekend like a 16 year old, blasting the radio. I am such a dork. (My friend, Latecia and I joked that I was listening to a little Coolio or P-Diddy...you never know ;))

love my silly boys...they said they just had to have these!

Saturday was one of those crazy busy mom days. Mike was working and we had lots to do. The boys and I went thrifting. I got lots of great stuff for the kitchen and some perfect Bass boat shoes. Mike thinks I look like I'm from the 80's but I'm still rockin' them ;)

Then we had a birthday party for our friend's one year old in the Mt. Jumbo Gym. Lots of running around, playing and even balloon animals and hats were made! Logie was so wiped he slept until 5 pm!

Lastly we headed over to our friend's the Lawler's for dinner. Mike was stuck at work but we still made the most of it and Angie was nice enough to send me home with leftovers.

Lucky for us, Sunday slowed down quite a bit and all we did was church (where I got my baby fix in the nursery)

and we went straight home and literally sat in bed for the rest of the day. It was perfect! Mike got some much needed rest, and although I didn't sleep I got to be a lazy bum! Yeah!! I ran to Blockbuster, grabbed a few movies, crocheted a cowl for Christmas and started a new book. The boys were happy to laze around too and them were so cute with their toys. If I haven't mentioned already Noah is quite obsessed with Indiana Jones and Logan thinks he's a Power Ranger. He even wore his PR pajama shirt to church, and told me he couldn't clean up his spilled ice cream because, "Power Rangers don't clean up".
*What a weekend. I'm full, and my heart is happy and I just can't get enough of our beautiful town...

Now, here is a short video that Mike sent me today when he and Noah went on a hike in Douglas.

It was Mike's day off and we let Noah have a special 'stay home' day just the two of them. They had a blast, Noah got his first air soft gun and he got to play in the woods and play Indiana...it was quite adorable!

Mike and I are super crazy safe with gun safety...don't fret ;)

Happy Monday.

What Are Your Go-To's

2011-10-05T21:25:00.001-08:00

I know you have them. Those things, places, stuff you do that you can always count on no matter what. Well, I thought it would be fun to share mine.
So here they are, my go-to...

*drink-coffee with sweet cream.

*book-the Bible. I always find what I need in there. I also love Corrie ten Boome and Greg Laurie. Everything they write is amazing.
*outfit- for absolute comfort leggings and a v-neck. If I was a SAHM I think I would never change out of them. Otherwise, I love a good pencil skirt!

*person to call (besides my mister)- parents and brothers. Always can share a funny story or good laugh.
*thing to do- inside- piling in the bed and we all watch a movie or have a wrestling match.
outside- beach hike. I could do it everyday if my schedule would allow.

*workout-yoga! I've done it for 12 years and I always find I'm most happy doing it.

Well, that was fun :) If you are so inclined come up with your go-to's on your site too!

Favorite Weekend in a While

2011-10-02T18:33:00.001-08:00

I just LOVE Autumn in Juneau! Always have. The colors, the crisp air, new snow, holidays nearby and it really doesn't get any better when the weather is as sunny and as gorgeous as we've had the last few days.

This is the boys' and my new favorite spot to wait to pick up Mike for work. This day the tide was CRAZY high!!

But the view is amazing and the sky was spectacular.

We ventured out the the indoor garage sale downtown. Didn't really find much worth mentioning but Noah just had to pose with this guy...

I did score these fabulous shoes for $3 but it was across the street at the Thrift Store.

This time when we went back to our fave spot, the Wetlands, the tide was really low and we had lots to see...

The main find was the duck hunters in the distance...

As far as I could see they came back with four ducks and very happy doggies!

The tide started coming in quick.

We dropped Noah off at our friend's house for his first big boy-mom and dad not staying there-birthday party. He was in great hands and it gave us some special Logie time. It was priceless...

Today we woke up too late for church but decided to adventure out and enjoy the morning with Mike before he had to head into work. We finally decided to check out Boy scout Beach...

I have to say, this scenery, literary, took my breath away...

like I said there is just something about autumn...

But honestly, I adore every season in Juneau. Even the wet ones. :)

We stomped around awhile and had to leave before we made it all the way to the end of the trail. But we had such a blast. Throwing rocks, checking out salmon skeletons, basking in the sun and taking in the fabulous day.

Noah, the rock collector, couldn't leave without finding two rocks for me. He loves the white ones.

Logie just loves digging and making messes with his sword.

We were just happy we got ~~five~~ ok, maybe two minutes of uninterrupted hand holding time. :)

Now Mike's off at work for the night. The boys are running around playing pirates naked of course and I am enjoying some alone time with my favorite websites and purging my closets. I have a serious case of nesting (don't worry NOT PREGNANT) but I have lots of new decor ideas stewing in my brain about to errupt. I will post pics if they are worth sharing. ;)
I did want to mention I downloaded the Harvest.org iphone app and I love it! Just listened to Laurie's message on What Jesus Taught about Marriage and Divorce and it was fabulous!! Check it out (it's free). The best quote I loved from it was at the end from Ruth Graham, "a successful marriage is made up of two good forgivers". Perfect.
Happy Sunday.

While We Wait to Pickup Daddy

2011-09-26T21:06:00.001-08:00

There are many, many days where Mike's work schedule is extended. Actually, almost every shift he works :( When you are a supervisor in a youth correction facility, you don't just get to leave when your shift is done. You really need to make sure everything and everyone is in line. So today was another one of those days. I obviously don't know the ins and outs of why he's running late but I often get the call, that he's dealing with an 'issue' and he needs more time.

love an AK sunset...Chilkat range in the distance

Although today I felt horrible (the Logie bug from last week and Kinder germs finally won over on me); it was gorgeous out so I took the boys to our amazing part down the street. As usual we played and played, slid and swung but today we decided to venture over to the floating dock that we've seen all summer. The boys just loved it! And you couldn't beat the scenery. On a dry day, you cannot beat fall in Juneau...absolutely amazing!

Noah's trying to tell Logie to stop running;)

obsessed with throwing leaves in the lake...and getting his feet wet :)

Since we didn't get home until 6 and Mike and I feel horrible, we ordered pizza. After our usual homework/reading routine we all snuggled up in bed and called it a night. I have a date with some Nyquil and hoping to wake up refreshed in the morning!

we love you daddy!

Weekendings

2011-09-25T21:45:00.000-08:00

This weekend has been rather relaxing and uneventful. But sometimes, we're ok with that. :) Lately we have been spending as much free time as we can with Mike; whether it's before he leaves for work or once he gets home. And it always seems that we congregate on the bed. Sometimes for wrestling or tickle fights, sometimes for movies or cartoons but the other night it was for light finger play shows. This is Noah's little creation. He's such a doll.

We got a chance to have a bike ride to our friend's the Hosh's house for a play date. Always fun.

Once the boys were asleep I spent some of tonight in bed, drinking tea, nursing my sore throat and watching This whole series, Virtue. It's amazing, relatable, and so honestly spoken. This snip-it is one of my favorites....

A pretty quiet weekend all around. But the rhythm of our family works for us.

Hope your weekend was lovely and quiet as well...

Just Popping in to Say...

2011-09-22T18:23:00.002-08:00

Happy Autumn Equinox!

What an amazing day it has been in Juneau today!

-He is like a tree planted by streams of water....whatever He does prospers. - Psalms 1:3

I might be the last to know...

2011-09-20T21:59:00.000-08:00

Logan was up again last night from 2-4 throwing up. Can I just tell you, if you've never dealt with it before, babies throwing up is THE WORST. It's not the throw up part that bothers me so much, I can handle blood and puke, snot and poo quite well ;) but it's cuddling your teary eyed babe while they throw up which makes me so, so sad!! Nevertheless he felt fine by morning, once I already called a sub. Go figure. But to play it safe we just relaxed and were lazy all day. We took a two hour nap with daddy before he went to work, ate yummy Cashew Chicken and I found some new inspiring sites.
With winter around the corner I love finding new online inspiration to give my body and soul and little boost. Not to mention I tag all decor I love and keep in on hand if I get inspired one rainy or snow day or for our new home one day.

Here is the first site that I discovered today. Like I said, I might be the last to know ;)
Angela Hardison's Blog

both photos from her blog

Next there is Eat, Sleep, Cuddle by Whitney Johnson

photos from her blog

Both sites are beautiful, inspiring, simple and whimsy. An eclectic mix of design, clothing, recipes, and lifestyle...Right up my alley.
******
Lastly I snapped a picture of the boys in their new bed that we bought from our Landlords. They love it, mostly because they have Power Ranger sheets that I found at the thrift store on Saturday! Yeah...

And I wouldn't want to miss out on the new blog header we have. Oh little Logie. Are you really our last baby?

Nighty night.

The Weekend...

2011-09-19T16:44:00.000-08:00

So this is kind of how our weekend went...
*hung out with the boys at home Saturday, being lazy, with Legos.

*picked up Mike from work, saw a sucker hole...or two.

*made silly faces while we waited for daddy to be done with all his reports.

*woke up at 4am Sunday to Logie throwing up on me. Poor guy, and yuck ;).

*had to pass on church, so I began my bible study through Harvest (Greg Laurie). Loving it.

*might have eaten 3 or 4 cookies for lunch, shh!

*Logie puked most of the day but took a long nap in the afternoon and woke up feeling like his old self. :)

*went to bed too late worrying I would get thrown up on again.

*woke up to my sweet husband who was going to bed as we were leaving for school. :(
Now he's at work and we are playing a little wii, doing a little laundry and being lazy on this Monday.

(this is a photo of Mike I found last fall..he's pretty handsome if I do say so myself!)

On the bright side, I have been doing 30-40 minutes of yoga each night once the boys are in bed and I've missed it so. Did you know I used to be an instructor? Like I said, never mind the cookies I ate for lunch Sunday ;). Mike and I are working hard to get our healthy diets back on track, we are going to be getting a new car (for me) in a couple weeks, and my friend DeAnna is in labor having her baby anytime. Mike really likes his new unit leader at work and is loving his job, YEAH! Teaching kindergarten is a blast and I couldn't be happier with my little munchkins and my mom is making the boys' Halloween costumes this year. So all in all, things are fabulous. Hope your weekend was super which leads to a relaxing week ahead!~

Praying for Katie...

2011-09-16T19:03:00.000-08:00

Katie and her husband, Noah.

I don't know Katie, but my sweet friend Kelly Ann does. But it doesn't matter really, she needs our help.
Here is why....

she was just diagnosed with High Grade Hodgkins - Aggressive

Katies condition has worsened. If she remains in Sonora they are unable to see her until friday. Her breathing is shorter and more labored, her body is more tense and her pain and cough have increased.

We are preparing to head to Stanford Emergency now.

We are not without HOPE and FAITH in His ability to heal Katie COMPLETELY! We are praying for favor with the hospital, doctors, financial aid and EVERYONE Katie comes in contact with.

We are still having a difficult time nailing down clear coverage for Katie and Noah financially. There is a LOT of red tape, a LOT of forms to fill out, a LOT of people to talk to...all while trying to manage her pain, create times of rest, and investigate the actaul thing we are fighting in her body.

Please pray for more financial breakthrough and clarity, for favor with Noah's job as well as the rest of the family's jobs.

It is an intense day but we are SO VERY ENCOURAGED by all of the support both in prayer and financially that has already come in. PLEASE continue to cry out to Jesus to arise with HEALING in His wings!

"I would have fainted, unless I had believed I would see the GOODNESS of the Lord in the land of the LIVING" psalm 27:13

They need our help in any way we can. **And make sure to continue to check their blog, her husband, Noah is updating her status often.

Happiness Is...

2011-09-16T13:41:00.001-08:00

bath time pirates, Argh matey!

new Anthropologie catalog

awesome homemade banana bread

gift from sweet Jessica with my fam's initials

getting all my lesson plans done for next week

adorable writing from Noah

Yeah for beautiful, surprising sunny days, my husband having Friday and Saturday night off, fabulous-generous friends and our car being fixed!

Not to mention seeing our friends' amazing pictures of Family Camp with our church that we will MAKE SURE to be able to go to next year! (Mike's schedule didn't allow it this year; and I wouldn't go without him :)

ashleigh's photo

Happy Friday Everyone!
xo

One Way

2011-09-13T17:30:00.000-08:00

Some days are better than others. Some days skies are blue, you take your boys on a run to the park.

They bring their swords, make new friends and get to play, play, play for hours.

It could rain for weeks straight but three days of this beauty makes it all worth it.

Everyday I wake up proud of my family. My husband, and his relentless spirit and love of his job and family. He is my knight.

We make the best out of a bad situation, our car being out of commission for a few days. We are lucky to have such wonderful friends who help us. And the boys are happy to finally ride the bus!

These days Mike and I have talked a lot about our future, more babies, our path. We realize we are lucky, content and ready to plan our many adventures....just us four.

Some nights when you're tired and worn out you find out LA's Harvest Crusade is on TV and you gleefully watch it. Moved by Greg Laurie's words, loving the bands that have played and appreciative that I was 'there' in spirit.

Seeing Noah's smile when some of Greg Laurie's words of Jesus' love resonated in him. Adorable.

I've heard this many times, and Laurie said it again last night...
"all roads lead to heaven, but only one road leads to God, through Jesus Christ."

The scripture says:
"I (Jesus) am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me" (John 14:6)

Here's my favorite verse from Hillsong...
"You are the way, the truth and the life. We live by faith and not by sight. For You. We live it all for You".
Here's the video
***I have spoken a lot lately about my love for Jesus, much more openly than ever before. If you have any questions for me, would like to share your story, etc. I would love to hear from you!

10th Anniversary Memorial

2011-09-11T19:53:00.000-08:00

This weekend has truly been amazing. The weather, the time with friends, the parties, and lots of family time. But today was a really, really good day. Today I was a proud wife, a proud mama, a proud American. Today, was the Nine Eleven Memorial at Rotary Park. We loved it and were so glad we didn't miss it.

on the right is one of the 343 memorial helmets made for the 343 firefighters lost. Juneau received #343.

Mike and I are proud Americans on an average day, so today was extra special.

this man cried as he put his hand on the helmet. everyone has a story, I would love to know his.

We prayed, the bagpipes played and there were tears and Mike and I always make sure to reminisce about the accounts of the day when our relationship was new. My dad calling us, telling me to turn on the TV. Him telling me that this means America was going to war.
Mike and I thrive on history and we make sure to watch one or two 9-11 documentaries out of the numerous ones that are on. I cry every time. Today I watched two of them. One thing that stuck in my head was the account of a man who was in Tower two and he was saved and help saved another man, Stanley, he had never met. There stories were similar to many you have all heard. But the thing that struck me was that before he departed from Stanley and took his taxi home, Stanley gave him his business card. It was the only thing that kept him from thinking Stanley wasn't a guardian angel. With tears in his eyes he said that that very business card he keeps in his wallet to this day.
I just love hearing stories like that. The power of strangers finding the good in themselves to save another. The many pictures you see of people running like herds away and firefighters running in. It's amazing. It's heart wrenching. I feel blessed to know that I have this experience of feeling the accounts of 9-11-2001 to share with my children and my grandchildren, even though I was 3000 miles away. It broke the hearts of all Americans.

But with that being said; today we felt a sense of pride, love and faith. Knowing yes, there is evil out there and Sept. 11th proved that very clearly. But above that evil there is good, Jesus-loving, faithful people who will not let any evil overtake them. That makes me happy and eases my fears when I hold my children tonight.

God Bless America.

nine.eleven.

2011-09-11T08:00:00.000-08:00

I read this tonight on Greg Laurie's blog.
There has been a lot controversy over the fact that there are no clergymen or prayers planned for the official remembrance ceremony at Ground Zero on 9/11.
I believe that is wrong, as faith has played such a key role in America in the aftermath of this horrific tragedy. We remember prayer vigils on street corners and the members of congress breaking into “God Bless America” on the Capitol steps. Churches were filled to overflowing after 9/11 as people looked for answers from God and the Bible.

*He also wrote this article, 'Securing a New Homeland'. Here is the part I was touched by the most...

On September 11, 2001, God allowed in the life of a nation what He so often allows in the lives of individuals: tragedy. I wish I could tell you that tragedy only strikes in the life of the godless, but we know the godly also suffer. Why does God allow tragedy?

Of course, there are no easy answers to this question. But I do believe that one reason is because suffering peels away the veneer of self-sufficiency in our lives. It melts away the pretense that we don't need help. It reminds us that we need God. C.S. Lewis wrote "Pain removes the veil; it plants the flag of truth within the fortress of a rebel soul."

It may come as a surprise to some people that the Bible does not promise a life that is free from suffering. But it does promise the presence of God for the person who believes. The Bible promises that God will help us through that suffering if we allow Him to.

*****

People have taken away so much from that day. Memories shared, patriotism renewed, flags waved, hearts swelled with sadness-pride-and even anger. Above all else it showed me strength, love, renewal and faith.

We are now off to a memorial for the NYFD with Mike and the rest of Capital City Fire and Rescue. The sun is shining it should be an amazing day, Pictures to come

-God bless.

Just a Speck...

2011-09-10T09:10:00.000-08:00

When you think that you are just a small speck on Earth,

and you might go a lifetime without knowing Him,

then you are missing out on the love of the Lord,

which is far greater than the love that you can give yourself alone.

you can only hope that your children see the light in you

and what He has done for your life

and they too find their strength in Him.

Then you know, you are not just a speck.

You are one of His children.

xo
*happy weekend, the sun is shining down on Juneau and there is much fun to be had*

Labor Day Weekend...

2011-09-05T19:19:00.000-08:00

This weekend has been filled with laughter

silly faces while waiting for Mike to get off work,

cheering on Noah,

soaking wet,

for soccer on Saturday

Go Noah!!

Now that's dedication ;)

We've been sleeping in and staying up late,

watching Star Wars marathons, and playing Pirates of the Caribbean with British accents,

Baking banana bread, making Christmas presents and reading fall magazines,

Logie complaining of the stinky fish smell (ha, ha!)

And ending the weekend with a playdate with the some friends at the Hosh home.

Not too shabby.

Oh, and...
I'm uber jealous of this next weekend in SoCal. I already told my brother about it. But if you can, go see the wonderful Greg Laurie speak and one of our favorite artisit's Chris Tomlin perform. We sure wish we were going!! If you do go I would LOVE to hear how it was.

Your Love Is Deeper...

2011-09-04T16:52:00.000-08:00

"I knew you before I formed you in your mother's womb. Before you were born I set you apart."
Jeremiah 1:5

Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." Matthew 19:14

**We love our boys and the Lord, everyday...a whole bunch. Every Sunday I leave worship a little fuller, a little wholer, more connected to Him, more complete.

"Your love is deeper than any ocean, higher than the heavens reaches, beyond the stars in the sky....
Jesus, Your love has no bounds...."

Happy Sunday xo

Falling

2011-09-03T09:45:00.000-08:00

google images
Fall is in full swing in SE Alaska. Actually it came in vigorously in August. Mike was telling me the other night that it was the 3rd rainiest August, rained 28 out of 31 days and was in the mid 50's all month. A far cry from last August and early September. But you know what, it's all good. I never moved to Juneau with my family thinking I would find the same weather as in southern California. We came here for so much more; the scenery, the outdoors, the friendships, a great place to raise our children, a life of no regrets, re-connecting and really so much more. We were being guided the whole time without realizing it and we're so happy and lucky with the result. If you're curious about our story, we have a CA to AK tab up top.

Wow, I'm getting way off track. My point to this post was, we're embracing the rainy fall and spending as much family time as we can. I made it through my first week with my kinders. They are fabulous and I love them. :) I still have to take you on a room tour, once I remember to actually take pictures. ;)
Our nights are filled with Wii playing, Lego making, and as of late lots of Pirates of the Caribbean watching. Mike and I still haven't seen the whole series the whole way through. We always seem to fall asleep. Last night was no exception.

So with the embracing of fall I've found a lot of inspiration and things to add to my to-do list while we get nestled indoors for the impending winter.

determined to make a quilt this year.

perfect rainy day outfit for sure....& see, she has coffee.-even better

is there anything better than a good book? And this one has a knit cover ;)

quite the dream oven

one day we will have our spread and a cozy little home like this. This one is actually a prefab. home

Next weekend is our church's Family Camp which should be lots of fun and hopefully Mike can squeeze some time in before work.

Happy Saturday. Off to soccer and other afternoon fun yet to be determined.
xo

Movie & Family Review

2011-09-01T20:59:00.000-08:00

Do you ever randomly grab a movie, not thinking much about it? Well that is what happened last Sunday. Our church has a great little lending library with movies and books that I constantly am swapping. I came home with this movie and set in on my dresser until last night. Boys asleep, Mike at work, I figured it was a perfect time to relax and enjoy a new flick. Little did I know I would be completely emerged into the lives, story line and amazing faithfulness found in this true story.

Here's the plot: Angus Buchan's award-winning autobiographical novel is adapted for the big screen by director Reghardt van den Bergh, who traces the story of the rugged South African farmer as he endures remarkable adversity on his quest to discover the true power of faith. Set in the tempestuous hills of the KZN midlands, Faith Like Potatoes follows Buchan from his early attempts to achieve material success, through the personal transformation that follows a series of seemingly insurmountable losses, and a close friendship forged with his faithful Zulu farmhand. Like the potatoes planet in his field, Buchan's faith remains hidden until the harvest, when he learns how the power of faith can help him to begin the personal healing process, and become more accepting of others. source

I was not only deeply moved to tears...a lot by 'Faith Like Potatoes' but I also found it incredibly refreshing and so fitting for our nations today. If you are full, losing, missing, yearning for faith in your life I cannot recommend this movie enough. Take a chance, take a step, and watch it. I commented on FB last night that I was watching the movie and our Pastor's wife and friend Lisa told me there was a documentary about the story....looking for that now. :)

***
On a side note, life has been good in our little hood. Work is amazing, my kinders are adorable, silly, lost little sheep. I love that I get to be there first real experience with school. I love my job.
Mike, the boys and I had a great evening at home. Filled our bellies with steak, corn, salad and I even had a glass of wine. The sun danced on our cheeks and the crisp fall evenings are setting in. As we took a drive around Auke Bay and Auke Lake I held hands with my man and marveled at the beautiful place we live. Might sound silly, but taking a minute to reflect on the good in life...even the small achievements is good for the soul.
I hope your weekend is amazing and bright! We might actually have a thunderstorm which is so not common in SE Alaska. Bye!
xo

Turning Lemons into Lemonade...

2011-08-29T18:17:00.001-08:00

This past week had been a whirl wind. I went from thinking I had an extra week to plan for my kindergartener's to rushing around like a mad woman Friday afternoon. Where did the week go? Anyone who is a teacher knows there's never enough time, never enough prepared, always so much to do. It rained all weekend and I vowed to my husband and my kids to NOT drag them into my classroom and just enjoy time with them. Real wrestling, indoor tag, Wii playing, cuddling up time together. That DID happen, and it was great. I loved every minute. But by Sunday night I was exhausted, had a bit of cabin fever from the week of rain and was anxious for Monday with my students arriving. So while I was making dinner, feeling stupidly sorry for myself and missing my husband at work I decided to snap out of it. And quite literally as I'm over the stove making spaghetti I said, "hey...I have lemons!". So in the midst of noodles boiling I chopped some cucumber and lemon and made a huge infused glass of water. And this simple measure got me to thinking some things:
1. Don't sweat the small stuff. I had been sitting there feeling down and ridiculously sorry for myself for no real reason when really I should be so relieved for my family, the job I love and my friends.
2. When in doubt (or even a rut) add lemons. Whether it be a jar of water or the new paint I chose for our kitchen. Happy, lovely, yummy yellow.
3. A little change can make a big difference. I stepped away from the lesson planning while the boys played Wii and found some inspiration for our home. With winter coming I needed to spice things up and make it our home. I love to decorate. Mike loves to paint. Voila! A perfect match. ;) Mandi has an amazing space and her description of it depicts exactly the look I love too. "In decorating my home, I desperately try to maintain the delicate balance between vintage granny, bohemian hippie, and Scandinavian modern."
Thanks Mandi, well said.

all photos via Mandi's site.

***Later this week I will post about my first two days of kindergarten this year. But tonight we're eating homemade pizza, taking a bath and watching Faith Like Potatoes (and maybe a glass of wine). ;)
See you later
xo

Taking It All In...

2011-08-27T09:03:00.000-08:00

Lately I have been really focusing on...
*my boys.
Trying to be as understanding, nuturing, calming, and mindful as I can be to their individual needs, interests and wants. Taking in every breath and snore that they make each night when we co-sleep with them knowing it's not going to last forever.
*my husband.
Listening to his concerns, needs, respecting his schedule, how exhausting his job can be and trying to eliminate that as much as possible. Just re-establishing our marriage everyday and taking time to focus on just us...even if it's just a quick tv show in bed between Lego building and wrestling with the boys.
*my friendships.
Appreciating the people who have come into my life and knowing all the wonderful things they have done for me. Now that I am back to my work schedule, it's easy to get lost in work and stay in my little cubby hole of life. So I am focusing on making sure to keep up with those connections I have made.
*just being myself.
Finally feeling comfortable in my own skin and sharing my thoughts, faith, friendships, family, ups and downs. And getting the most unexpected, lovely email from a dear friend who shared her appreciation of my faith. Thank you, it meant so much. It reminded me of this scripture, Matthew 5:16, and made my heart happy.
*disconnecting.
I cannot tell you how much I truly love the simple changes I have made in my life. Things are going so amazingly smooth, and although we have daily struggles like anyone we feel truly blessed in life and are ready for all that the Lord leads us to.
Happy Saturday. I'm off to clean, crochet, shower, and lesson plan with a smidge of fishing in between. xo

So far this week...

2011-08-24T12:07:00.000-08:00

This has been a wild week already and it's only Wednesday! I am officially back to work, even though my Kindergarteners don't start until Monday! But they have been coming in to see their new room, meet me and do beginning of the year assessments. So needless to say it has been busy, busy! With help from my friend Meleta, the banners are up in my room and I absolutely LOVE them! Although she did most of the work, I just love that I went ahead with the idea. :) Here's a sneak peek at my room. More pictures to come....

This big boy is in First Grade too! He makes us so proud and he is loving school already!
It's so good for him to be back with his friends, see his teacher who he adores and I love seeing him in the halls too. :)

Poor little Logie had to go under anesthesia this morning to get some teeth removed. Our little dudes have very soft teeth and apparently me breastfeeding in the night until he was over 2 didn't help. Sometimes brushing twice a day just doesn't cut it. :( But he's doing great, just sitting with me on the couch watching tons of his favorite show, Power Ranger Samuri. Lucky me! ;))

So this week has been an interesting one to say the least but I am reminded everyday how amazing our frineds and family are. The support that we continue to give eachother and how magically the Lord works in our lives and hearts. To be a living testament to his faith is one of the most powerful things I have witnessed. So all in all we are happy and blessed. Here are a few things I found amazingly fitting!

I think I've posted this already, but it's worth posting again.

sorry, it's a little fuzzy...but still so true.

Have an amazing week and see you soon! ( I got some fabulous responses to my last post via email, etc. Thank you all for your support.)
xo

The Last Week of Summer

2011-08-21T14:44:00.002-08:00

It has been raining all week. My poor Mike has been working a ridiculous amount of hours. Logie had a tooth ache and needed antibiotics. I've been busy working in my room with my first day back being last Thursday and Noah is days away from being a first grader! It's been a wild little week in our nest.
Here's a smidge of what we've been up to....

*a spontaneous rap video by Noah and Logan:

*a 7th birthday party with the Jackson family at the Rock Dump indoor climbing gym

Noah made it to the top!

birthday girl with her momma

her dad making his climb

Husband and wife climbing team!

pinata time!!

yea!! CANDY!!!!

*We fit some time in to see our friends Angie and son Maddox. It's always fun to hang out with them. We drank coffee, ate her homemade pumpkin cookies and she gave me this great catalog!!

*Mike and I decided to put the Legos in bins according to color. We're obviously not done. The boys prefer it like this ;)

*Mike made this little friend for Logie, called Eggie. (he blew the yolk out of a pinhole) He loved it!!! Mike even made a bed for him :))

so far Eggie is still in one piece.

Overall this week has been filled with a lot of prayer, reading and sweet chats with my husband. I am growing everyday, trying to realize what I want out of life and how to make myself the best me possible. In our church service today our pastor talked a little bit about vanity of men (and women) and how all that doesn't matter if you are truly walking with and for the Lord. I found it so true, captivating and telling on how so many people are including myself. There is no place for vanity for me or my family in life and through this blog. So with that being said I have decided to take off the follower and the comment tab and just have this be more of a photo diary of sorts. You can always contact me through email and other social avenues including facebook and dare I say a phone call :)

Happy Sunday!

Indulge yourself

2011-08-15T14:02:00.001-08:00

I was thinking the other day what I was doing about this time 7 years ago before Noah and Logan were born, before I even knew I was pregnant and Mike and I were barely married. We were living on a mountain overlooking the Pacific Ocean in Ventura, CA. I was teaching kindergarten just as I am now and Mike was slaving away at a sales job that sucked his energy away. (if you're in sales you know what I mean). But as I was cleaning the bathroom and picking up bath toys from the tub I began to remember how different my life used to be. Now although I had the summer off, I am still busy keeping babes happy, fed, somewhat clean ;), letting them create, dig, wrestle, and make messes. They do that part well. Mike is still working so hard like he used to, but he's been recognized for his successes, accomplishments and getting promoted which is such a roller-coaster in the sales/marketing field he used to 'live' in.
********
I didn't have a blog yet, did they even exist? But what I used to do religiously (ask Mike) was spend hours in a Barnes and Noble drinking coffee, reading books and magazines and simply indulging in me time. Now, I read when I can and I'm not diffusing the boys' arguments or trying to figure something out for dinner...last minute. Don't get me wrong...would I rather have hours of me time over two cuddly babes and a handsome husband- NEVER! But the long winded point that I am trying to get at is Mom's, especially new(er) moms; DON'T BE AFRAID TO MAKE TIME FOR YOU!

That is exactly what I chose this afternoon. Granted, we have are limits. It's not a full afternoon by no means. It's about an hour or two between us coming back from my classroom, Logan napping and before we get Mike from work. But it's fine with me, just enough time. No dishes, no laundry, just coffee, chocolate ice cream, some left over birthday cheesecake and my book ('Let God Change Your Life', by Greg Laurie). With the rainstorm taking it's toll on the day this is a perfect little break for me. Not to mention Noah is happy playing race cars on the kitchen floor for a while, alone.

just an image I love :)

Then in a short while I can get back to my hectic reality that quite honestly, I would miss if I didn't have it around. Enjoy your day and I leave you with this funny little quote...

Weekend driving and the Shrine...

2011-08-14T18:01:00.000-08:00

It's been a crazy weekend with lots of driving around our little Juneau town. We started off Saturday taking Mike to work, then out to Lena for Noah's soccer game where he scored two goals, Go Noah!! Then back downtown and headed to my favorite store, Trove for a birthday present for a friend.

Home for a short nap for Logan and lunch for us, then back to get Mike from work and drop off the present. We took Mike home and before I could take a breath, I took the boys out the road to the Shrine where Logie had a wedding rehearsal. He is the ring bearer. It is truly a spectacular place and an amazing church to get married in.

**the most beautiful part of my day was when we got to the Shrine and Noah saw the cross and sat down in front of it and said, "Mom I need to pray". It was so sweet.

Today was a little bit more relaxed and a lot wetter! Mike got some much needed rest while we went to church. Then we were able to come home for a bit before Logie got gussied up and we headed back out to the Shrine for the wedding. Logie did great, was bribed with M&M's and we made it out with no big drama! The wedding was beautiful. Filled with lots of love, warmth, friends and beautiful scripture and prayer. It has been raining cats and dogs since but it forces me to dig deep and get to cleaning and making banners and pom-poms for my classroom. Then at midnight off to pick Mike up from work. Oh the joys of having one car again. But we've done it before and we'll do it again until we find the right car for me.

flower girl with Logie

action shot, he was so uncertain

the beautiful ceremony

Thanks for the prayers and hopefully you all had a wonderful weekend yourselves.
xo

Important (and Awesome) Parent Iphone Apps!

2011-08-13T08:53:00.001-08:00

I've been meaning to share these for a couple days now. We all have the fancy and fun phone/video apps, and I hate to say it but Logan is playing Angry birds as we speak ;). But here are some very important/helpful/interesting FREE apps I have found or friends have introduced me too!

1. FBI child id- hopefully this is never the case, but if your child is lost or missing this app is SO AMAZING! You have the most current picture of your child, you can enter in all their features, weight, height etc and in just one click your child can be placed on Amber Alert. For Mike and I this one was a must!

2. Cozi Family Organizer- it's a organizer, calendar, shopping list, to-do list and for non-bloggers even a journal. I just love this one! And Mike and I can share it with a family password.

3. MyFitness Pal- I NEED to get back into working out and eating healthy. I have slacked so much this summer. This is great app to do that, especially if you are not doing weight watchers

4. Fooducate- it reviews/compares food, gives extra info about ingredients, calories, sugar, etc. All things that a family on the healthy track need.

I also love having an app for our bank, a fertility/period tracker, Daily Bible Verse, and here is my newest photo/video apps....FotoRoid and 8mm!
Let me know what you think! A busy day ahead first off to a soccer game...go Daredevils!! Then Logie has a dress rehearsal, he's the ring bearer in a wedding tomorow. The Lovely Life of a Mommy!
xo

It's Teacher Time Again

2011-08-12T15:30:00.001-08:00

I must say I have just had the best time staying home with the boys all summer! Although we didn't do anything too crazy; we did have a lot of playtime in the yard, naps, laughter, play dates and the new game indoor dodgeball ;)

If you are a teacher you know that your class just doesn't magically put itself back together. It takes many days and hours of organizing, cleaning, purging and decorating. This year I am teaching kindergarten again and moved into a classroom next door. The teacher before me retired so although I have lots of wonderful things she left; some of it is just a lot of things. Needless to say I was very overwhelmed this morning when I saw my room. The boys were rock-stars and played and played while mommy dug in and cleaned and de-cluttered her heart out.
This is what it looked like after about an hour, yikes! Yes, I was stressed.

After about 4 1/2 hours it looked like this. I am no where near done but at least I got a lot of the old stuff out and most of my furniture in the right place.

I have been spending a lot of time downloading/pinning and exploring new sites and teacher blogs for inspiration this year. I am so excited to be teaching these little people and I want to try so many new things. Here are some of the things I have found lately...
Hoping to get my room to look like this. Making the banners/pom poms this weekend

Making this teepee for my library...

One of my first day of school activities...

Simple and sweet...

I love these vintage printables...

and you've already heard about these (now used for my blog header)

Starting the 22nd I am having some fabulous bloggers be a part of this guest blog feature!

Can't wait to share more.
Have a great weekend. I have lots to do and nothing all that exciting to share.
Take care and say a little prayer that we find a new car for me soon.
xi

First Days of 32

2011-08-09T09:24:00.000-08:00

Thank you everyone, family and friends for the amazing emails, gifts, texts and phone calls. It really turned out to be a lovely day. It started like any other Sunday, church, coffee, friends, fellowship. I loved that I started my birthday that way. Then Mike had to head off to work, so I went on a mini-date with my boys. We went to pizza, up the tram, walked to the cross, had ice cream. It was everything they wanted to do but I was happy to do it! It's a mom's job right? ;)

Logie's face, silly-messy boy

Then I got a special phone call from Danielle, it's always so nice to catch up, share advice and stories. Then I got a specially delivery from a friend, Ashley who was in cahoots with my husband. He asked her to make me a yummy chocolate dessert and she came up with homemade German chocolate cheesecake! WOW!! It is so good I feel the pounds coming on ;) She also got me a bunch of other thoughtful things one being this cute little guy (owl kitchen timer!) It fits perfect on this ledge away from Logan's grasp.

The evening ended with a bike ride (Logan's a pro now!) A bear sighting RIGHT NEXT TO OUR LIVING ROOM WINDOW into our salmon filled creek. We watched Veggie Tales, Rio and I got to read a bit of this book....I love Greg Laurie. This quote seemed so fitting to me....

Now with summer coming to an end we've been getting in all that we can. Trying to sell my car and get a new one before school starts (in two weeks!), going to bed at a decent hour, mid-day trips downtown as a family watching the float planes go by, staying away from the internet and enjoying company of friends, hanging with Hannah and diffusing 2 year old tempers and watching light saber battles with Noah and Asher, spending quality time with my husband, just us, no kids (awake anyway).

Hope your summer is winding down nicely. Catch you later.

Thirty Something

2011-08-07T07:48:00.001-08:00

Today I turn 33 32 (Just talked to my dad and he clarified for me. I'm such a dork!) And although I am not celebrating it here...

via pinterest

I just know this is going to be my best year yet!
xo

mike + erin alaska diaries

Weekend Fun!

Frozen Sand.

let's

saved.

Sunday thought.

happy birthday brother.

Cabin Living Pt. 1

hikes and snowball fights.

here's to the adventures.

Sleds.

Merry Christmas Darling.

Winter Solstice Tradition?

It's that time of year...

Heart's desire.

warm and fuzzy holiday

Holiday Cheer and a little Kinfolk

Frosted Windowpanes.

baby cakes.

retreat dreams pt. 2

Bowling Kings

Perhaps I am a bear.

holiday dreamin'

hints of the holiday.

retreat.

Sunday

We give thanks

Full of Thanks

Love Alaska

Before

*Snow Day!*

Quiet bits of Randomness

Taking it all in...

The First Snow and a FUN Giveaway!!

Hallows Day 2011

By Grace Blogger V.2

In Celebrating Halloween...

Question?

By Grace Blogger V.1

Sunday Note

weekend fun!

Your Path

Pumpkin Carving Year 2

Hi all!

the boys on 8mm

A Happy, Splendid, Lovely Little Weekend

What Are Your Go-To's

Favorite Weekend in a While

While We Wait to Pickup Daddy

Weekendings

Just Popping in to Say...

I might be the last to know...

The Weekend...

Praying for Katie...

Happiness Is...

One Way

10th Anniversary Memorial

nine.eleven.

Just a Speck...

Labor Day Weekend...

Your Love Is Deeper...

Falling

Movie & Family Review

Turning Lemons into Lemonade...

Taking It All In...

So far this week...

The Last Week of Summer

Indulge yourself

Weekend driving and the Shrine...

Important (and Awesome) Parent Iphone Apps!

It's Teacher Time Again

First Days of 32

Thirty Something

Snow Day!