No more "I Wuv You's" and "Joy to the Wield"

There has been so much I"ve been meaning to write about the last couple of weeks. Its been a bit of a whirlwind, between starting the coast guard base physical therapy job, sending packages off, setting up holiday decorations, holiday events.... but its all been excellent, fun, different. Between winter weather, the light show, christmas decorations, new work location, there has been so many new fun things in our lives with the kids this holiday. 

SPEECH IMPEDIMENTS

One thing I"ve been meaning to write about is Stuey's speech impediments. He was evaluated by the speech therapist and I don't know yet if he'll start school speech therapy, but he has been working on sounds along with Nora. For instance, when Nora was working on L, he decided to as well. Now he almost over-accentuates the L's and says, "Bah-lue" for Blue. And his cute "I wuv you's" have officially turned into "I love you", with an exaggeration on the love. Its nice to see the progress. One thing that has been cute is him singing "Joy to the Wield" when we sing Christmas songs together!

NEW JOB

I"m really enjoying the coast guard base job. Everyone has been incredibly welcoming and warm. After working on my own with only an office manager for 4 years, working in a big building with other people is a fun change! The time flies. I'm very glad I accepted the position. 

TREE RE-DO

The tree pictured below is our "re-do" tree.. we purchased it from the Kiwanis tree fundraiser. The kids decorated every bit and it makes our house smell nice. (And yes, that is laundry on the table that has been sitting there for a week...sigh...maybe tonight it will get folded!)

NORA GIRL SCOUTS

Two nights ago was Nora's girl scout pinning ceremony. Nora got lots of new patches for her vest, which she insisted I sew on right away the next day. I am happy to see how much she enjoys the girl scouts meetings and all that they do.  I didn't do girl scouts growing up, so this is all new to me...

Zoya

Buck on Ice

Today while I was skiing on Island Lake I ran into this guy.  What is he doing out on the ice!  Some nice horns on that buck, and very very tame.  I skiied right up to him and took a few pictures.  When I'm hunting I'm used to using all the tricks to sneak up inside 300 yards to get a shot at a guy like this - so what gives with a tame one out on Island Lake?  Is someone feeding the deer near there?  Patrick

My Christmas Bird Count Hike

Every year the Audubon Society has a Christmas Bird Count where local chapters across the country see how many birds and how many species of birds they can find in a limited area in one day.  Kodiak is one such chapter and in some years we find the greatest variety of species of all the counts in the entire State of Alaska.  This is a huge point of pride, and there are people out in boats, driving the neighborhoods, watching their feeders, and hiking in the woods - no matter what the weather - all trying to make sure that we beat Juneau and Ketchikan.  We usually tally somewhere just shy of 80 different species, and Juneau and Ketchikan are our main competitors in terms of species diversity.  If we get less than say 75 different species there is a good chance that we will get beat, but if we get over 80 we are hard to beat!

Every year it is my job to climb up into the mountains and make sure that Kodiak has a ptarmigan recorded for its count.  Ptarmigan only live high up in the alpine and most birders will not see them unless they make a concerted effort to do so.  The other bird teams call us mountain climbers the ptarmigan SWAT teams because that's all we are really supposed to find.

Anyway, today it was really blowing and it was fairly icy.  I even brought along crampons, and at one point I got out my ice axe to help me get up a particularly hairy section.  At the top I peaked over and there was a goat looking at me from about 10 yards away! I took the picture above a few minutes later. The funny thing is that I ended up seeing 3 different herds and 53 goats total - but I only saw 13 birds total and only 1 ptarmigan.  Kind of funny that I saw more goats than birds!  But all that really matters is that I saw a ptarmigan.

Unfortunately, on my way home my pack came open and my climbing skins dropped out.  I did not realize this until I got back to the car - ughhhhh.  And I did some serious bushwhacking.  Now tomorrow I will have to do it all again in reverse to find my climbing skins (they cost over a 100 dollars).  I'm thinking I'll bring along my good camera and use the opportunity to try and get some good goat pictures!  Patrick

New Traditions...

I"ve decided this is the year of new holiday traditions for our family. We have done several new things together, including the light show we went to last night.

This is the second year of the Kodiak light show on Otmeloi and our first time attending. I was BLOWN away by how fun and incredible it was. 

For some reason, when I think of light show, I think of something gaudy and over-the-top. Boy was I wrong! This light show was very artistic and well thought out. We tuned our radios into 88.9 FM, then watched for 45 minutes as different holiday tunes played and the lights danced along with the music. All of us were in awe to watch the magic that was coordinated right before our eyes. 

When we left, there were 5 other cars watching, and people just come and go as they please. Free of charge.  (And I must admit, one of the songs brought me to tears, it was so beautiful. Cheesy to admit, I know, but something about the lights really captured the holiday spirit)

can you see the snowman?

We also did burger grinding last weekend, an annual winter tradition. Lisa, Gregg, Philip and Brooks came over to grind their various meats. The kids and I were at a bowling party for most of the time, which I think made their efforts more efficient.

 This year I made a successful batch of sugar cookies, its been many years since I've tried making them. The cookies  actually came out the shapes they were supposed to; I was blown away.

I used a new recipe and made the dough the night before. After school on Tuesday, we rolled them out, cut them out and baked them. (I was so unsure of my dough that I had  back up Safeway sugar cookie dough in the fridge in case my home made dough didn't work! Fortunately, we didn't have to use it.) The cookies came out great.

Sugar cookie decorating...by Stuey.

Nora and her friend Estella decorate together. 

Zoya

Bark and Moss

At Abercrombie all of the ice and snow has melted off of the trails and I have been taking the dogs on evening walks into the park.  We have 2 feet of snow on the ground where I go skiing up above Buskin Lake and none in Abercrombie - quite the contrast.  I kind of like having the option to both go for a ski or for a hike in the woods.  Kind of like having my cake and eating it too.  Patrick

Oh Christmas Tree... and new job tomorrow!

OH CHRISTMAS TREE

Last weekend Patrick cut a tree off our cliff, our annual tradition. 

This tree was  a bit small, and very bare on the backside. It took a lot of propping up with blocks under the tree stand to get it vertical. After some initial skepticism about the small tree, Nora and Stuey really got into it and decorated away. That night, the tree fell over and Patrick and I decided it would be best to get a bigger tree that would be better balanced. Stuey took all the ornaments off last night, wrapped them in their paper wrappers and put them back in the box. Later this week we'll try again with a new tree. 

NEW JOB!

On another note, tomorrow I start as a contract physical therapist for the Coast Guard Base. I'm very excited, and nervous all at the same time. I haven't had a "first day of work" for over 12 years, when I started working at the hospital. 

Tomorrow I"ll meet my co-workers, support staff, doctors, etc. The job is out of  the physical therapy clinic on base. Tonight I was thinking about which outfit should I wear, and those ridiculous thoughts that run through ones mind on the night before a new job. 

When I was nearing graduation from PT school, I did briefly contemplate going into the military but obviously never did it. It will be exciting to be the physical therapist for the active duty men and women on the coast guard base. 

I'm looking forward to the 15-20 minute drive. By Kodiak standards, thats a commute! I"m rather excited about listening to music, or books on tape. Or just silence. As Patrick calls it, "Decompression time." 

The drive can be a very beautiful one, along the water. 

The kids and I in front of our first-try tree

Stuey and Nora doing decorations all on their own this year!

Zoya

Almost Powder Skiing

Today Philip, Adelia, Maya and I tried to go skiing before the snow turned to rain.  And joke of the day  was that the snow was 'almost powder', or that it was 'almost snowing'.  I think the joke was on us.  But we did have a good time skiing in the rain, and it really did snow for the first 20 minutes or so of our ski.  We returned home soaked, and I needed a 30 minute shower to warm up my extremities.  It's nasty out there!  Patrick

Snow Drama

Today after work I went cross-country skiing with Lisa M, and as you can see I continued to make good use of the 'drama' setting on my camera.  I love what this setting does!  It makes everything look so .. . ..  well dramatic.  Bleak, Apocalyptic even. The photos I took on the normal setting looked flat, and, well, normal.  But I am a little worried about over-using the 'drama' setting.  Perhaps I should just take all my photos at the normal setting and go for the drama effect in photoshop?

Anyway, Lisa and I had a good ski, and even skiied up the river into the Buskin River canyon.  Whoo Hooo first time I've been able to do that this winter.  Patrick

Tuesday, In Anchorage

Patrick and I decided that weekday trips to Anchorage are the best. Everything is open and not crowded! Sure, the kids were playing a bit of hooky from school but it was well worth it.

The kids learned Mastermind Junior.

Walking to the museum in 0 deg weather. 

Baby Alligator Exhibit at the Anchorage Museum

Bubble Fun at the museum!

Museum fun!

Lunch afterwards at Spenards, again. My favorite.

Headed home. 

Zoya

Friends and quotes

Some recent quotes from the kids...

As we sat in the airplane preparing to leave Anchorage, Stuey remarked, "Mom, look at those windmills. They're going so fast!" I looked out the window and said, "there aren't any windmills here, Stuey." 

Stuey replied, "yes there are mom! Right there!" as he pointed to the propellers. 

I said, "Ohhhh. Those are propellers!"

From then on he called them cro-pellers. 

Lars show Stuey his nerf guns - Stuey HEAVEN

With our friends Julie, Ray and Brian to celebrate Julie's birthday!

Enjoying New Zealand Elk

Opening a present...

On the day after I got the "I (Heart) bacon bumpersticker" Nora said, "Mom, I would like a sticker that says I heart mommy." Very sweet.

Zoya

The 'Drama' Setting

My new camera has a preset setting called 'dramatic' - I just call it the 'drama' setting.  Basically the camera mutes the highlights and increases definition and contrast.  A lot of landscape photographers do this sort of thing routinely, but I have always shied away from the look because it is so obviously a photoshopped effect.  But now that there is a setting on the camera that achieves the look without photoshop I've been having a lot of fun with it.  It adds drama to mundane settings!  Not that traveling with kids is not without its own sort of drama. .. ..

Anyway, check out what the drama setting did to the view from our hotel window (all except for the nighttime picture - third down from top).  These photos were taken sequently from late afternoon through sunset and then the last 2 our from dawn this morning.  And while I was taking them Anchorage experienced a 5.8 earthquake - how's that for drama!

Zoya noticed the shaking first, but I thought the shaking was a result of Stuey running through the room.  But it got pretty obvious it was an earthquake when the TV almost fell off the table.  I looked out the window with Nora and noticed that nobody panicked at the Qdoba Mexican Grill. I was kind of hoping it would keep on going and get REALLY big.  But no, the waitress went back to wiping down the tables.  The earthquake was over.  As far as I was concerned it was NOT enough drama.  When I push the drama button - I want drama!

Patrick

Isle Bells 2nd Annual Holiday Concert

Yesterday afternoon was the Isle Bells 2nd Annual Holiday performance at the Kodiak Auditorium. Ella directed the choir and the music was just wonderful. 

The ladies did an incredible job with many technically challenging, beautiful pieces! Thank you Isle Bells for the holiday treat! 

Isle Bells

Ella and the kids after the show!

Anchorage

Yesterday Patrick, the kids and myself flew to Anchorage for a short trip. We're here to see friends and family and have time together. It is cold in Anchorage, 0 or 5 deg. At the parking lot yesterday Stuey said, "look mom, smoke is coming out of your nose!"

Last week Patrick and I were looking through our archived printed blogs and I realized how I did much more writing back then. Much more writing about things the kids were doing and saying. 

I loved reading about different phrases the kids were saying and goofy stories that happened. I think I have become more inhibited in my writing the last few years and I'm not sure why...but I am destined to change that. I think that I censor myself more, worried that blog readers will be bored by kid writing. Or, perhaps, that since I own my own business, I am more concerned about censoring my thoughts and opinions on the world. 

What I realized when reading those archived blogs was that the writing is the only way to capture those fleeting fun moments, and its the writing which really brought laughter.

Arriving in Anchorage

Bouncy House

Today while Patrick took the kids to the bouncy house, I went to visit a friend and prior doula client who lost her husband in a sudden death last week. I was glad to be in Anchorage to be able to visit her and give her a hug as well as books on grief. As I drove to her place, I thought about how much death is intertwined with life. And how being a doula has exposed to me more death than I had ever imagined. There is death with early miscarriages, late miscarriages, death of hopes or dreams or confronting disability or illness with a child. And now, death of a spouse.  

To attend births means to be comfortable with death and talking about death. Going into birth work 4 years ago, I wouldn't have anticipated death being such a part of working with couples bringing new lives into the world.  Such moments in life make me appreciate the lives of my family and friends around me even more.

In the early afternoon we went to our favorite restaurant, Spenards Roadhouse. It was 1 o'clock on a Monday afternoon and the place was quiet. LOVED it! Typically we go for dinner in the evening, when it is packed and have to wait for a table.

Nora and patrick~Spenard Roadhouse

Oh boy. .. Stuey enjoys a s'more for dessert!

Stuey and I

The vacation has been nice for us to all be together, as the past month has been a busy one for our family...with me moving the business. The dedicated time together has been fun. Also, every trip we take, it gets easier and easier. This time, the kids independently packed their bags, rolled their bags through the airport and have been overall well behaved.

Bumper Sticker from Spenards Roadhouse

The bumper sticker will be my cars first when I get home!

Zoya