Tuesday thoughts

The weather has been amazing lately!!!! I mean, just look at this!!! 

The kids and I have enjoyed getting out of the house, sledding & taking walks. 

I finally got my hair cut!!! Besides a bang trim here or there, I hadn't had it cut since July 2012. My hair looks allot healthier now!

Lance has his first soccer practice on Friday night then his first game on Saturday! We are all looking forward to it!!

From the moment daddy walks in the door the kids are all over him! It was super cute the other day Lexie said "I'm so happy your home, daddy! I love you SOOOO much! Go hide!" They love playing hide and seek with daddy or monsters. Daddy is always a monster or dragon that they have to hide from. 

Everything daddy does they are right there with him. 

Life is good! Is seriously doesn't get much better than this! 

I'll leave you with Some thoughts From Lance

Lance was holding up a nickel and he says "look mom! This one has a museum on it!" 

Lance was looking at a flower magazine that came and he goes "mom, I was thinking we should plant some roses for you! I know how much you love red!" He's so thoughtful! 

O the possibilities!

I am beyond excited! It looks like we will be finally buying a house!!! We found a nice little house on 50 acres for a steal of a deal!! 

The house was built in 1999. It is 3 bedrooms and 1 bath. We would like to add on an extra bedroom and bathroom later on. The people haven't lived in the house for a few years so the yard and driveway is grown up. Andrew has already talked to his work and will be able to rent a machine pretty cheap to clean things up. 

Inside the house there are a few small things that will need done. The house froze up so some pipes will need to be replaced. Luckily the bathroom and kitchen are on the same side of the house so it will be easy and inexpensive to have done. There is no flooring in the house which is kind of a good thing. We will be able to choose our own and not worry about tearing out old nasty carpet. 

My dad & mom will be flying up to help with work on the house. My dad has years of experience with home improvement so he will be a huge help. 

I can't wait to decorate our home! I am addicted to Pinterest lately. It is so much fun to look at ideas. O the possibilities!!!! 

We are all super excited about having 50 acres!! Andrew already refers to the place as "the farm". We can't wait to have a huge garden, chickens and more dogs! Yesterday we received a seed catalog in the mail. Lance was super excited to look through it and pick out all the things that he wants to grow. 

I am super excited to grow our own vegetables and start canning! Yes, people still do that! 

"The farm" is seriously exactly what Andrew and I have always wanted. It is even located pretty close to a small school. The school is amazing! Because of the small size the kids get allot of one on one time with the teacher and the school also gets to do some really neat field trips like camping at Denali!  Also, Lexie and I will be able to go eat lunch and play at recess with Lance a couple days a week! 

God just continues to bless us!!! Andrew just happened to stumble upon this place and it seems like everything is meant to be!

Life in Alaska

Life in Alaska is not at all what people think. It seems TV is crazy about Alaska right now. It kind of makes some people feel like they have been here and know all about Alaskan life. 

I must admit that when we were moving here I had no idea what it would be like. While the kids and I were making our descent into Anchorage for the very first time, I was looking out the window looking for ice bergs even though it was August. 

I know I don't know all about Alaska life but I will tell you what we have experienced. 

In Alaska it does get cold. That means when you go to the grocery store you don't turn your car off. You leave the heat blasting and your car on. You can go to any store and find a parking lot full of running cars that are most likely unlocked. Most businesses even have plug ins for people to plug in their vehicle. This is not for electric cars. This is for engine block heaters and oil pan heater. At -40 your engine could lock up and your oil turn to sludge. 

Yes, we do get temperatures around -40 when we have cold snaps but they don't seem to last too long. This is our weather for this week. 

Anything above zero is warming up! Here in Fairbanks we don't get crazy wind and our cold is a dry cold so anything above 0 is a nice day.

Lately we have experienced sun dogs. I know you are thinking what the heck in a sun dog. I looked it up and this is what Wikipedia had to say about it. A sun dog is an atmospheric phenomenon that creates bright spots of light in the sky, often on a luminous ring or halo on either side of the sun. This is what it looked like on Saturday.

Pretty amazing! 

Another misconception about life in Alaska is that we spend all winter in pitch darkness. This is not true at all. December is our darkest month with daylight from about 10-3. We have a long dawn and dusk. With all the snow what little light there is, is reflected so it is not that dark at all. Also, we have the northern lights to brighten things up. 

Another thing about Fairbanks that people (who don't live here) have told me is how high things are. I was told milk was like $6 a gallon and so was gas. This is far from the truth. Just this weekend we paid $2.28 for our milk at SAMs club. The normal milk price seems to be $3.39 at Walmart. Gas prices are currently $3.46 a gallon. Our produce is what tends to be a little higher. If you buy what's in season and what is grown local then you tend to not spend as much. And yes, there is stuff grown in Alaska like carrots and potatoes.

Alaska has some of the most fertile ground. Combine that with almost 24 hours of sunlight in the summer and you are looking at some of the best growing conditions! 

And yes, we do get lots of sunshine come summer. All the sunshine melts the snow super quick and the summer gets started right away. 

Last but not least, we do not have 9 months of winter. It's more like 5 months of winter, 1 month of spring, 4 months of summer and 2 months of Fall. This does vary depending on where you live in Alaska, but this is how it is where we live. After all, Alaska is 1/3 the size of the whole Unites States. Summers in Fairbanks can reach 90 degrees. 

We love our Alaska life! It's a pretty amazing place to live. 

We must be doing something right

Parenting can be pretty hard at times. I must admit that there are times I feel like the worst parent ever. 

Today Lance tried to help do laundry and stuffed the washed! I mean it was crammed. I was pretty upset as I pulled out towel after towel and I don't know how many blankets. I said "lance, you could have broke the washer and washers are expensive!" He then said "how expensive?" I said "$600". I threw the wet towels and blankets in the bathtub and when I turned around there was Lance holding out his hands full of his change and dollars that he has been saving. He says "mom, it's ok! I got tons of money!" 

talk about MELT MY HEART!!!! 

Tonight I was laying on the couch with a belly ache when Lexie comes up to me with a cup of water. She says "you need a drink mommy! That will you make you better!" She had gotten the stepping stool and gotten a cup of water all by herself just for me! 

I love these two sooo much!!! It's moments like these when I think "we must be doing something right!"

My Little Ballerina

Lexie's first dance class was a HUGE success!!! She wasn't shy at all as she joined the other girls to go over the class rules. All the other little girls had taken a semester of classes before and knew the rules. The teacher said "what do we do if we have gum in our mouths?" all the little girls said together "throw it in the trash" then I hear Lexie say "you eat it!".

Lexie seriously was the cutest thing to watch. She was so determined to learn exactly what to do. She would take a second to watch everyone else then give it a try. I was so impressed, as was her teacher, with how good she listened and followed directions. The teacher was shocked to learn that Lexie had just turned 3. She said normally the 3 year olds cry or act really shy at first.

Wearing the Tap shoes (or as Lexie calls them "tap tap shoes') was Lexie's favorite. That and watching herself in front of the mirrors.

 

Lexie was so bummed when class was over. She didn't want to leave. First thing this morning she was asking if she had dance class today. We all can't wait for her next dance class. Lance even enjoyed it too. He got to play in a back room with some other brothers.

I never would have imagined that Andrew and I would have a little girl in dance class! her first recital is going to be adorable!

 

More Silliness

The kids definitely keep us on our toes. Every action and word is constantly being watched. It's pretty funny (or sometimes not so funny) when our adult actions come out in our children. I'm constantly praying for God to help us! I definitely want the things my kids do and say to be a reflection of Godly parents. 

One of Lexie's favorite members of the house to copy cat is Happy. She still pretends to be Ruff Ruff. Lance has her do tricks and follow him around the house. Sometimes she even growls, but for the most part she is a very good puppy.

Daddy bought Lance a soccer ball and he is loving it! We all can't wait for soccer to start later this month. 

Lexie starts dance class today!! This should be pretty interesting. I really think she will love it. She will be learning a mix of ballet and tap. 

We have lots of fun stuff happening at the Conway household; dance, soccer, Momma will be traveling to Seattle at the end of the month to speak at a Pampered Chef conference, the huge possibility of buying a house in the spring, puppies, and visitors!!!! 

Some more silliness from the kids. 

Lance told me "if you don't exercise your belly will turn to FAT!"

Lexie was sitting at the table eating her chili and she just had a couple of bites left when she said "I'm done". I told her to clean up her plate and she could get up. While pooching out her belly, She then replied "but I'm full. My belly is getting big, see!" 

While getting ready for church Lexie looks up at me and says "Wow, Mommy! You look so pretty! Just like me!"

I asked Lance if he was excited about starting soccer and he said "yeah! I'm gonna score a home run!"

Lexie grabbed my face and turned her head and planted the biggest kiss on my lips. She said "I saw mommies and daddies do that!"

The latest Happening part 2

Here are a few pictures from our drive out to Chena Hot Springs. The hot springs flow into the Chena River which keeps it from freezing.

Along the way we seen moose and even a dog musher. 

We all loved seeing the dog sled team fly by. The kids want to make Happy a sled dog. They're silly! Speaking of Happy, she should be having puppies late February/early March!!! 

We worked up quite an appetite from swimming so when we got back to town we decided to go out for dinner. Andrew suggested Shogun's Hibachi Japanese Steakhouse and it turned out to be the perfect the spot. The kids loved watching the cook right in front of us. He interacted so much with the kids. Lexie kept saying "woah! This is awesome!" The chef flicked a piece of broccoli in the air for Lance to catch. It was pretty funny because it just hit him in the forehead. He didn't quite get what he was supposed to do, so daddy showed him how. They loved watching daddy catch the food in his mouth. Everyone's favorite part was the flaming volcanoes made out of onions. We will definitely be visiting Shogun's again soon!

Some pictures from sledding.

We had the most amazing view of the sunset.

Look at my little my man helping dad shovel off the driveway.

We really enjoyed this weekend. Andrew has been working tons of hours so we needed some family time. He even had to work New Year's Day for like 16 hours. 

This is Andrew working on a D11 that he programmed to be remote controlled. He is holding the controller in his hands. 

We always have something to look forward to. There is ALWAYS something to be thankful to God to. I am so thankful for our wonderful little family, a break in the cold snap and the chance to enjoy a weekend together for some much needed family time. 

The latest happenings

We had a very cold cold snap with temperatures around -50. When it's that cold we just like to stay home. I am so glad we got lots of games, puzzles and craft supplies for Christmas! 

The left over wrapping paper made for some fun play!! The kids traced each other and spent hours drawing on it before tearing it up and throwing it around. They did help clean up too!

Late last week the cold snap was over and temperatures rose into the teens and even low 20's. It has been Amazing!!! 

Friday, I took the kids sledding. Would you believe it was the first time we had went all winter!!! With Lexie being in a cast for 11 weeks followed by a couple weeks of being sick, then extreme temperatures we just hadn't been able to  go. 

The sledding hill we went to was by the college and was pretty big. Lance immediately went right to the very top. My stomach sank. I had seen so many kids go flying down so fast. He was definitely the smallest one up there. He was all ready to get on his sled when his sled went sliding away from him. I felt so bad for my little guy. He had worked so hard to get to the top of the hill to have his sled slide away without him on it. I took off running to grab his sled and met him half way up the hill. I figured half way was a good starting point for my little ones. 

They both LOVED it!!!! We had the funnest time sledding! This was the only picture I was able to take before my phone died. 

Saturday we drove 50 miles East of Fairbanks to Chena Hot Springs. It was the perfect day for being in the hot springs. They have a huge pool inside for families and a nice rock pool outside that is pretty hot for adults. Andrew & I took turns staying with the kids while the other went outside to enjoy the hot springs. 

Lance swam everywhere! He didn't care how deep it was. As long as he has his goggles on he is the best swimmer. Lexie likes to stay where her toes can touch the bottom. Since it is mineral water you float so easy. The kids both love the water!!! 

I got brave (or maybe stupid) and decided to take my phone outside to take some pictures. After all, there wasn't any kids out there splashing and it wasn't slick so chances are I wouldn't drop my phone. 

I love how the trees look! The steam comes up off of the hot springs and freezes to them. 

I never once got cold. The water felt so good, but at times you would get too hot so you would raise up out of the water to cool off in the 15 degree air. Sounds crazy but it was truly amazing!!! 

Sunday after church we went sledding again and this time daddy got to go!!!! We had such a wonderful time!!! This time we was able to get lots of pictures which will be added later since they are on daddy's phone. 

If you can't tell, We Love Alaska!!!! We don't care about the cold or snow or the dark! It is just simply amazing!!! The winter is just as impressive as the summer. I think we will stay here! Even after being here for over a year we still nudge each other and say "hey! We are in Alaska!!"