Halloween town

Usually by this time of year there is a few inches of snow on the ground. This year has been so different. No snow on the ground and even weather in the 50's!!! I'm not complaining one bit!! 

This past weekend the town on Halloween town. Different businesses decorated cabins and passed out candy, including me. It was so much fun watching all the kids and a few adults come through in their costumes. It was estimated that over 3,000 people went through. By far, my favorite trick or treaters was Andy with the kids!! Sooo adorable!! 

I had worked very hard to make Lexie a mummy costume, but when Andrew went to put it on her she wanted nothing to do with it and cried "I'm a princess! Not a mummy!!" With Lexie's help Andrew picked out everything pink so she would feel like a pretty princess! 

I loved seeing how creative some people were with the costumes!! 

This morning Andrew headed to Anchorage for a week of training. The kids and I have lots of Halloween fun planned for this week. 

Laid back week

This week was pretty relaxed. We really didn't do anything exciting, just the normal inside play and painting.

Andrew worked 14 hour days all through the weekend and this week and Lance had the sniffles and a cough plus I am determined to keep Lexie calm. I want to make sure her arms heals correctly. 

Today she has a checkup with X-rays to make sure everything is lined up straight still. Once I see everything is good I will be able to breathe a big sigh of relief and stop being so uptight. 

Daddy took the day off today! A 3 day weekend will be soooo nice especially since he has to fly to Anchorage all next week for training.

A few funnies

I ask Lance if he wanted milk or water to drink. He says "milk, please. It has more protein!"

I told Lexie that she was so pretty. Lexie then said "I know! I'm like you!" 

Lance was in trouble and not very Happy with mommy. He told me "I'm going to tell Santa that you've been bad! He isn't going to get you anything!"

Funnies

I haven't been the best lately at keeping track of the funny things that the kids have been saying. I always think i'll remember it but end up forgetting. 

Lately with all that's been going on with Lexie's arm I have been visiting blockbuster to pick up movies to keep her calmed down. One of her favorite shows to watch is Scooby Doo. It was funny because yesterday the kids wanted to watch an episode so I told them to help me pick up the living room first. Lance grabbed the shoes and toys and Lexie grabbed the clothes. She picked up a piece of mail and ask me what it was. I just said I didn't know so she goes "maybe it's a clue!" It was funny.

After we was done picking up I got out the vacuum. I told the kids "look how fast we get done when we work together as a team!" I started up the vacuum & Lexie starts jumping up and waving her arm chanting "yeah mommy! Go mommy go!" My little cheerleader is too funny!

One evening as it was getting dark Lance says to us "you know where the sun goes when it gets dark?" Wondering what his answer would be, I just so "No". He then says "it goes into outer space with the moon!" Not sure where he came up with that, but it was cute! 

Last night after eating lots of yummy food I was messing with Lexie and I pooched out my belly and said "I'm full!" She then gasped and said "is there a baby in there?" I said "nope, just Chili and pumpkins bread." She then would pooch out her belly & say "I'm so full of beans & pumpkin bread too!" She was too funny trying to pooch out her little belly.

Lance loves to tell jokes. Lately he has been making up his own. He gets pretty silly. He loves knock knock jokes. One of his favorite little jokes to tell goes like this "want to hear a dirty joke? I fell in the mud. Want to hear a clean joke? I took a bath!" 

I love the kids sense of humor! They are so witty and funny. They always keep us laughing! I am sure reading some of the little funnies don't seem so funny, but when you hear it being told in their little voice with their funny expressions it is sure to put a smile on your face. 

Update

Friday we went back to the doctor again for the 4th time in a week. It was a pretty long appointment. They removed the hard stint, put on a new hard cast and took more X-rays.  This time the doctor helped out on the cast. He wanted it positioned (molded) just right so it would heal with no problems. My little girl did amazing! I'm serious, she couldn't have done any better. The doctor had me stand on the other side of the table to keep her distracted. He was bending her arm which looked like it would be so painful but she didn't even flinch. She just kept watching me do silly things with a plastic glove. I blew it up, made it fart, milked it, high fived her and whatever I could think of.

Lance did great during the appointment too. Since we are now regulars at the doctors office, we are well known and as soon as everyone sees us they turn cartoons on for Lance and help make him comfortable. Since we don't have cable or anything at home all of the cartoons are new to him, which keeps him pretty interested.

This weekend Andrew had to work. He was working at the gold mine which means 12 hour shifts and 2 hours of drive time. No fun, but amazing pay. It wasn't so bad since this was the first weekend he has had to work since moving here. 

Saturday was beautiful. The temperature got up to 54! The kids and I went to feed the ducks before they head south. 

We Did some walking around at Pioneer park where I will be doing a booth for a special Halloween event next Saturday. Pioneer park is over 40 acres and is so neat. It has several play grounds, a small train and lots of old cabins that are apart of Fairbanks history. 

After we visited the park we headed south to North Pole to meet a lady who has a male Golden Retriever. I have been looking and looking for a registered male to breed Happy to when the time comes again. This dog is absolutely beautiful and him & Happy hit it off great! It won't be time again for a couple months, but I am so glad to have found her a mate.

Yesterday was a pretty low key Sunday. We did a quick trip to Walmart and spent the day playing and baking. I noticed Lance was getting a little stuffy so we didn't venture outside to play. The kids loved helping me practice a new show demo for some upcoming cooking shows. They also helped me make some pumpkin purée and then bake up some pumpkin bread. We made two big loaves. One we are taking to the surgery center to the wonderful nurses that took care of Lexie. 

Andrew didn't get in till after 7 and the night before wasn't home till after the kids were asleep, So when daddy got in last night they were super super excited to see him. 

We didn't have our normal family fun weekend, but we made the most of it and had fun anyway. We have less than a month till we head to Missouri which we all are so excited about! This will be Andrew's first trip out of Alaska in over a year! 

Lexie's broken arm

Monday was Lexie's check up appointment for her arm. I really expected everything to be great with her arm. They did some X-rays to check how everything was healing and then we went back to our room. The doctor came in, looked at me and said "come here. I want to show you the X-rays." My stomach sank. I knew it wasn't good. The X-rays had showed that the small bend in her bone had went from a bend of just under 10 degrees to a bend of 35 degrees. He said that he would need to do surgery rite away to break the bend in the bone so her arm could heal properly. When he said surgery my mind thought "rods and pins!" I gulped and felt like crying. Luckily I had a bottle of water in my bag to sip on. Sounds weird but it helped.  I held back the tears as he explained the whole procedure. As soon as we got home I got the kids settled and eating lunch then went upstairs to call Andrew. As soon as I started telling him about everything I lost it! I knew everything would turn out ok, but I just couldn't help worry about my little girl! I hate so bad that she has a broken arm and has to be in a cast, but now has to go through even more! 

It was a long evening and night! I couldn't help but be worried. I kneeled beside her bed and prayed for her while she slept. I know God is the ultimate healer and everything is in His hands. 

Lexie's appointment was first thing bright and early yesterday morning. We arrived by 6:30 am to the surgery center.

They called Lexie back right away. I went back with her while daddy and Lance watched cartoons and ate some snacks. We explained to Lance some of what was going to happen to Lexie and how he needed to be the best big brother to Lexie and helper for mom & dad. We gave him a couple little hot wheels cars (his latest obsession) for being so good.

Lexie did great prepping for her procedure. She got a party dress (gown), party hat (hair net) and bracelet (ID bracelet). Lexie did so good even when the nurse took her away from me. She really thought she was there for a party. I went to sit with daddy and Lance and the waiting began. It really wasn't long at all but it felt like hours. They finally came and got me and sat me in a room. Lexie's doctor came in sat and told me all about how the procedure went. He showed me the new X-rays. He was very pleased with the closed reduction and said the bone should heal up nicely.

Soon a nurse came and got me and told me Lexie was awake. I knew this would be the hardest part. Seeing my little girl so scared and crying broke my heart!!! I gave her a Snow White Barbie thinking it would make her happy. My poor baby! She just wanted to go home. I grabbed her up, held her tight and rocked her. I cried a little, but didn't lose it like I thought. 

The nurse was getting some last minute readings (blood pressure, heart rate, etc..) while I held Lexie. Lexie wanted her gone to bad. She said "I don't like you! Go away! Shoo! Shoo!" When the nurse tried to talk to her about her Barbie Lexie yelled "don't touch my Barbie!" The nurse ignored her and kept on talking to her about how pretty it was. Lexie covered her Barbie and then yelled "don't look at it!" She was so mad! I have never seen Lexie act this way. SHe is normally the sweetest little girl. Once the IVs were out we was able to go home. 

Once home Lexie still just wanted her mommy. She didn't want no one else to talk to or even look at her. It was kind of weird because once the medicine wore off she was back to her happy sweet self. Mommy and Lexie took a long nap and then woke up refreshed and happy. After that, the day went great. Seriously, you wouldn't have even known what my little girl had been through that morning. 

Our families called and texted us all day checking in on Lexie. We are so grateful for all the thoughts and prayers! Andrew's Aunt Diane sent Lexie some balloons and a teddy bear.

My sister Julie had sent the kids a package last week which happened to arrive yesterday. Our families really helped cheer up the kids and help Andrew and I feel supported! This was definitely the hardest moment We have had to go through as a parents. Andrew remained pretty calm throughout everything. I was so glad he took the day off! He is my rock! 

This morning we had a quick check up to make sure she had recovered okay from the anesthesia yesterday and that her pain medicine was working. Friday we go back to the doctor to get a hard cast put on again. 

Lexie wearing one of the bows Aunt JuJu made for her.

Weekend fun

Saturday and Sunday are definitely our favorite days of the week. We love spending time as a family. We have enjoyed an amazing fall! The trees are "naked" now (that's what the kids say). We keep thinking any day it could snow, but it has held off and the weather has stayed in the 40's which has been amazing!

I made a new friend who has some chickens and she said we could bring the kids over anytime to see them. Saturday was the perfect day for that so we went out to her house. She held off feeding the chickens & gathering the eggs so that the kids could help. They loved feeding the chickens!! 

When the kids checked the eggs there was just one so far that day. They looked the big brown egg over very carefully. They wanted to know if a chick was inside, and somehow the egg ended up cracked. Oops! I'm glad there was just one!

After playing with the chickens we went on a hike to explore some property we are interested in. We love being out in the woods just exploring nature! 

Sunday was a pretty relaxed day. We went to the later service at church then spent the day hanging out. Since Lance knows his numbers and letters we knew it would be a good time to introduce a simple card game to him. Lance picked up on Go Fish super quick and before we knew it he was beating us with no help at all! 

Fairbanks has been a wonderful change for our family. Having daddy home every night and every weekend is amazing!! 

Catch up

I haven't blogged in a little while. So I'll do a quick update.

Last Friday Lexie had her follow up appointment for her arm. Everything looked good so she got the hard cast on. When asked what color she wanted she didn't hesitate at all. She yelled "pink" right away. All the ladies at the doctor's office just love Lexie. Thy gave her rings, bracelets and lots of attention.

We go back on Monday for more X-rays and a new cast since her arm is shrinking from not moving her muscles. 

Lance is still doing great at learning his letters. He knows most of their sounds and with a little help can put small words together. He sounded out and spelled dad all by himself. 

He really likes words with the OO sound in them. He spelled "hook" all by himself too. 

Saturday we spent most of the day just hanging out at home with daddy. That evening we took a long hike with the kids and Happy to burn up some energy. The only animal we saw on our hike was a ptarmigan. We did see plenty of moose tracks, moose droppings & even some bear droppings. We love getting out into nature and exploring what's around us away from the city.

Sunday we visited a new church. It was bigger then we would like and it wasn't their normal Sunday. They had missionaries visiting telling about their mission work in Burma. The people were really friendly and the kids really enjoyed themselves. They LOVED the worship service! Lance was really getting into the music by clapping and waving his arms. Lexie would sing as loud as she could even though she didn't know the words. After worship all the kids were dismissed to their classes. I think we will visit again to get a feel for what a normal Sunday there is like. 

This week hasn't had too much going on. I like to just enjoy days where we have nothing we have to do and can just enjoy good quality time together. We are definitely taking every opportunity to get out in the nice fall weather. The snow should be hitting any day. 

I attended an H2O at home party with a new friend the other week. I originally thought I would go just to meet some people but didn't think I would be interested in the product at all. H2o is all natural cleaning products that really work!!! Some of the things I was most interested in was for laundry. I purchased a netepur bar to help get stains out. I was so excited Monday when my products came in. I knew the ultimate test would be one of Andrew's work shirts. I did just a little circle right in the middle of the stained up shirt and Wow, it worked!! This is a shirt that has been stained up for over a year and been washed numerous times by a professional cleaning company. 

I just rubbed this netepur bar over a spot and threw it in the wash. That's it, Amazing!!! 

Lance has been wanting to go swimming so bad, but with Lexie's arm we haven't been able to. Tuesday night daddy took Lance swimming while Lexie & I went grocery shopping. Daddy and Lance had a great time at the pool! Lexie and I bought tons of groceries. We are starting to stock up for the winter. Living in Fairbanks will be quite a bit different than Eagle River. We are almost 400 miles into the interior of Alaska so supplies and groceries are harder to deliver in the winter and there will be times the store shelves will be empty. It's not bad though if you plan ahead and are ready. I'd hate to be without food or toilet paper!!

Lance has really been missing his friends from Eagle River. He asked me "why don't we have friends come over anymore?"  So I wrote a message on Tuesday on the moms meet up group page to see if anyone had a 4 to 5 year old boy who would want to do a play date. A lady texted me saying she had a 4 year old boy and 2 year old girl and they hadn't lived here long and would love to do a play date! It was perfect. We got to messaging about where in Fairbanks we lived. We found out we lived in the same neighborhood, then the same area of the neighborhood then the same street. Turns out she lives just 3 houses down from us! Perfect!! We scheduled a play date for the next day after Lance's checkup. 

Yesterday morning Lance had his checkup to start the round of shots needed before starting school next year. We met with the doctor which we really liked and started talking about what vaccines were needed. I thought that if we spread out the vaccines instead of all at once it would be easier. WRONG!!! I now wish we would have done all 4 and been done. Lance is no dummy, he knew what she meant by vaccines. He has never once cried during shots, but knowing what was coming really made things rough. The nurse took a long time getting back to the room with us. Then she took a long time prepping things allowing Lance time to see the shot needles and ask too many questions which she gave the wrong answers too. Poor Lance was screaming and crying. I thought two shots would go by super quick but the nurse paid too much time to Lexie in between. Lance was screaming "you're hurting me! My bloods gonna come out!!" While poor traumatized Lexie is screaming "stop it! Your hurting him! Stop hurting Lance!" I really thought Lexie was going to hit her. This is horrible but the whole thing kind of made me laugh. I am not a dramatic person so this whole thing just came funny to me. I hated that my poor guy was hurting but I know it's for the best. There was nothing I could do to calm him down. I brought some snacks and that didn't help. Not even the promise of ice cream helped. When we finally got down to the car I asked Lance "what can mommy do to help you?" He said "I just need lots of hugs and holded!" So I said that sounded perfect and we would head straight home. Yikes! I can't imagine what the next appointment holds! 

On a different note, Lance is 3 foot 7.5 inches tall (95%) and 42 pounds (75%) and doing great! 

Once we got home and got in lots of hugs, kisses, snuggles & lunch I messaged our neighbor to let her know they could come over to play. Lance had such a great time playing with his new friend,Jake. Jake is just two months older than Lance and they have so many things in common. The boys played sooo good together! Lexie and Mycah did pretty good together. Lexie was over a head taller than her so she kept calling Mycah a baby which Mycah didn't like. I enjoyed getting to know Mollie and am looking forward to many more play dates together. 

That's are everyday life. Nothing too exciting, but it's my life, my world. God has been so good to me. He constantly puts amazing people in my life. He has blessed me with such an amazing family and the chance to be able to be a stay at home mom. I meet so many women who wish they could stay home or even just work part time and be there for their families more. I'll admit some crazy days being a stay at home mom doesn't feel like a blessing, but I know it's time i'll never get back and never regret. I'm so thankful to God for everything He has done for us!

So Big!

The kids are getting sooo big! If there is one thing (and the only thing!) I can say I enjoy about Lexie having her arm broke is how much she wants me to hold her. I love snuggling with my little girl, but the bigger she gets the smaller snuggle time gets. My arms are getting pretty wore out from carrying her everywhere, but I know one day soon I am going to miss it.

Yesterday I took Lexie in for her very first haircut. I had the lady cut a couple inches off the end just to help make it look thicker and not so thin and stringy. This Is the before picture.

Lexie sat perfectly still. She loved the animals on the cape. 

I am super pleased with how it turned out and I think Lexie is too. Daddy wasn't too thrilled when I talked to him about getting her hair cut, but he went along with it. He is pleased with the outcome also.

Just another sign of how big my baby is getting.

Last night, Lexie went to bed super early so it was just daddy and mommy alone with Lance. Daddy and Lance played blocks for the longest time then Lance wanted to cuddle with mommy. I was in love! I just sat cuddling my little man having silly conversations with him. He sat so still for the longest time. I let him stay up later than normal because I didn't want the moment to end. He completely fills up my lap and his long legs go on forever it seems. I couldn't help but think "I wonder how many years of this I have left. Do 6 year old still sit on their mommy's lap and give them tons of kisses?"  And yes, he still calls me mommy and I LOVE it! I was rubbing Lance's chest and said "I love to rub your  skin". He said, "I know, me too, it's so soft! That's because it's covered in fur." I then said "fur?" And he says, "well lots of little hairs" I then started checking him all over for hair and he isn't hairy at all, not even any armpit hair! See, I told you we had some silly conversation. 

We decided pre school isn't necessary. I only have one more year of having him at home with me constantly. I'm not going to share any of it! 

Fall fun

We have been enjoying our fall season so much! The fall is very short here so we are making sure to enjoy every bit of it. 

Last week I got the kids each a small pumpkin to carve. They each did so good with their pumpkin. One thing having two small kids has taught me is that everything doesn't have to be (and most likely won't be) perfect. We let the kids create their very own pumpkin. Besides cutting the tops off so they can play with the "guts" We really didn't help much at all. 

Lance used his safe knife and did so good at cutting out eyes all by himself! 

For some reason I didn't take pictures of the finished products. We will be doing pumpkins again very soon so no worries. This was just practice.

Yesterday the lawn guys dumped a huge pile of leaves rite in our back yard. After staring at the pile all day we just couldn't take it anymore! It was calling our names! 

Happy loved playing in the leaves too. She would jump in the air trying to catch them. 

Daddy got home just in time to get in on the fun.

We all had a blast! 

Our fall will be over soon and it will be time to dig out the winter gear and sleds! 

With the night air cooling off the Northern lights are getting stronger and stronger. The other night they were super strong with flashes of reds and pinks mixed in with the usually blue and green. It was said that they were seen as far south as Wyoming with even reports of people in Missouri seeing them. 

I am in constant awe of God's creation! I love the changing of the seasons, His amazing light show, and all of creation. 

Poor baby

Friday we had an amazing day (well, the first part). We played outside for hours! Around 1, we came back inside. I had some laundry to do and we were all hungry. I gave the kids some lunch and then let them watch Clifford. I ran upstairs to start the laundry when I hear Lexie crying. I started back down the stairs when I met lance holding sissy's hand leading her to me. He sternly looked at me and said "it was your couch! Your couch did it!" (My couch is the recliner). Lexie was crying pretty bad and holding her arm. I held her and she calmed down. I thought my little girl was just wore out and needed a good nap. I sat and rocked her to sleep. She slept for a couple hours until daddy got home. She woke up excited to see daddy and wanting to play. It was then that I noticed she wasn't using her arm at all. When she would try to use she would let out a scream. I told Andrew about it and we both decided a trip to immediate care was in order.

After some X-rays the doctor confirmed it, my little girl had broke her arm. When she walked in and said it my heart sunk and I just stared at the ground for a second. I had to gather myself and not cry. Lexie had done so wonderful at the doctor's office through the examination and X-rays. I couldn't let my little princess see me cry. I am not going to be that mom that cries at every little thing making  scaredy cats of my kids. 

I texted daddy who was sitting in the waiting room with Lance. They quickly came back to the room with us and watched Lexie get her arm all wrapped up. 

After the doctor's visit we made a trip to SAMs club for a few things. Andrew is such a softy. Lexie could have asked for a new car and daddy would have got it for his little princess. She wanted some cookies and daddy quickly ran and found m&m cookies (her favorite). She then asked for ice cream and before I could say "no, you already got cookies!" Daddy and Lance was off to find a box. We walked by the books and she asked for a story, so of course the kids got to pick out a book. Lexie picked out a very appropriate book for the occasion, Ten Little Monkeys Jumping On the Bed. Lance got a book all about sharks. There was a few different toys that she wanted, but I reminded dad that her birthday & Christmas were coming up.

The past few days have been challenging. On Saturday I gave Lexie a bath which was quite a chore. I put her arm in a bag and tied it. I held her arm up out of the water all while washing her hair and scrubbing her body. Normally Lexie loves long baths, but we made this one as short as possible. 

The hardest part has been keeping her calm. She wants so bad to wrestle with her bubby and chase him around. I am so afraid she is going to fall on her arm and hurt it worse. 

We was going to start dance class but that will have to wait. We can't go to play time at the gymnastics place, can't go to the park, no gym time for mom, no swimming, and the list goes on. It could be a long 6 weeks! We will definitely be checking out the library for what calm activities they have. 

We have been doing lots of bike rides. Lance rides his bike while mommy pulls Lexie in her bike trailer. This works great to wear down Lance. 

Yesterday we went back to the doctor to get a hard cast, but after X-rays they decided another splint would work best for now because the bone is still swollen.

Friday morning we go back and should be ready for the hard cast. We need lots of prayers to get through this week. It is so important that Lexie cooperates and doesn't try to use her arm. She has to keep it in her sling which she hates. She says "it's chokin me!!"  My poor little girl! I hate this for her.