This & that

Andrew had a four day weekend! It was so nice to have him home with us! Friday we enjoyed a fun evening at the home show. It really was tons of fun. We all got bags at the door to put all the free stuff we were given in. For the kids this was like trick or treating. Each booth had something for us adults and the kids. The kids got things like candy, chalk, coloring books, balloons, stickers, hats, frisbees and stickers. Andrew & I got tons of ideas for the house, information, and samples. 

Lexie is at the stage where she points out everything about people whether it's size, color or gender. She will ask questions like "what color is that man?" To which I reply "he is brown. God made everyone all different beautiful colors". While at the home show she pointed out a lady who was wearing a silly stick on mustache "Mom, what's wrong with her!" 

We have been making lots of trips to Home Depot and Lowe's lately. We are finding out who has the best prices and getting ideas for flooring. I think we have it figured out what we want. 

We should be closing on our house on Friday! I'm praying for no more hiccups! 

My parents' flights are booked to come visit for two weeks! We plan to get allot done with the house, but also have lots of fun. We booked a fishing charter for the guys in Valdez while us girls do some other fun stuff. 

Puppies are now 4 weeks old and growing so fast! They are so stinking cute, but 11 little puppies can be kind of overwhelming. I am sooooo glad that I make my own cleaner as I am using tons of it! I don't want the house to start stinking. 

To add to our animal population we added 6 baby chicks. We know once we get in the house we want chickens, but come the middle of summer chicks won't be for sale. Andrew decided we should go check out what they have which turned into buying them now. I think it will work out. For now they are in the house where we can watch them. After a week or so they will be moving to the garage. 

Lance is getting so good at all his letters. Here is a picture of him teaching Lexie by writing the letters on the chalkboards. 

We have lots planned for this summer! I am super excited. We will be flying to Pennsylvania in July to stay at some cabins with all the Conway family. I have been researching things to do in the area that will be fun for the family. After visiting with the Conways for a few days Andrew will be flying home to Alaska while the kids and I take a small road trip to Missouri. We will be stopping at a few places along the way. One stop on my list is the Newport Aquarium in Cincinnati then we will head to Louisville Kentucky to stay with some friends for a day or two. 

The days are getting longer here! It is now bright out till around 9 pm. Each week the temperatures have risen and the snow is melting crazy fast.

We can't wait to start work on the house, do lots of fishing, hunting and camping trips!!! 

God is so good to our family. I am so thankful for all the wonderful blessings he has given to us and especially our health!!

Some funnies from the kids:

I asked the kids if they wanted to eat out tonight with daddy. Lexie says "you mean eat dinner outside!!"

During our bed time prayers Lance says "God, please let us go to Missouri soon!"

Lances said to me "you know what flowers are for?" "To make the world look beautiful!"

Driving in the car when Lance says "boys are smarter than girls!" I say "why do you think that? Mom is pretty smart!" Lance says "I just know because I'm a boy and Boys are smarter!"

Saturday morning we were earing breakfast and we had ham and eggs. Lance asked what part of the pig ham came from. Andrew told him it came from the butt. Lance then puts his piece of ham back and says "why do I have to eat the butt!" Andrew hands him a different piece of ham and told him it was the leg. Lance was okay with that.

After church I was asking the kids what songs they sang in church. Lance says "you know that one song about God" I asked "sing it for me. I want to hear it" he then sings "you are, you are the Messiah. The Son of the lily pad!" I think it's supposed to say Son of the Living God

Lexie was super upset because I had gotten on to her. While crying she comes up to me and says, "mom are you mad at me?" I said "no, you just have to be a nice girl!" She then says "are you jealous at me?" 

House update

We were supposed to be closing on the house tomorrow, but some issues came up with the sellers since the husband who passed away is on the deed. We are praying everything works out and nothing changes. We should know something next week. I'm trusting God & know He has a plan. At first I was really upset but now I'm just grateful that this bump happened before signing papers and not afterwards. 

Since Andrew is taking a 3 day weekend we thought we would go somewhere for the weekend. That idea quickly got shut down when I looked over and was reminded we have 11 little puppies! 

World Ice Art Championships

Lately, I feel like we live for the weekends. We can't wait to actually have some time with daddy. He has been working quite a bit through the week (up at 4 am to head to work and home around 6:30 then to bed around 8) and wore out. We let daddy take a good long nap on Saturday so he would be well rested and ready to play.
The weather here has been amazing and reaching into the 40's!!! We have been able to get outside and play tons now that everyone is feeling better.
One thing we made sure to visit was the World Ice Art Championships here in Fairbanks. it really is so amazing to see the talent and work that went into all of these awesome sculptures.

The kids had a blast! I love how they are able to climb and slide on everything and not just have to look at it. Lance's Favorite was the giant slides. We brought along their bike helmets for the big slide. We didn't want any head injuries.

 This Stegosaurus was definitely a favorite of all of ours!!!

Since the temperatures were above freezing the ice was melting a little. Some of the abstract sculptures had started to melt and break so it was a little tough telling what some things were supposed to be.

Allot fo the sculptures were off dragons. This one was built by a team from Mongolia.

I love the dancers!

The kids were wore out from all the fun so we drove down to check on the farm while they napped. We checked the game cam to find out that we had more visitors in the past week.

 I love the picture of this Grey jay!

God blessed us with a beautiful day with amazing weather and a fun weekend together as a family! Andrew is taking off Friday and I can't wait for our 3 day weekend! We have some exciting things going to happen!!!

What's up, doc

Last week the kids started out with what I thought was a cold. It never got really bad and when I would start to think that I needed to take them to the doctor they would seem better. That is, until this weekend when the coughing turned into a deep chest cough and wouldn't stop! 

It was pretty rough. They were so wore out from coughing, but couldn't sleep. 

First thing Monday morning I took the kids to see the doctor. She told me that whooping cough was going around and it sounded like what the kids had. She only needed to test one of the kids to be sure. To test for whooping cough they have to swab up the nose. The nurse tried unsuccessfully the first time and the swab got kicked to the ground the second time. Lexie was not having it and Lance was getting pretty mad. The nurse left to get another nurse to help. When she tried to come back in Lance was pushing on the door and was determined not to let them in to hurt his sister. We all decided it would be best for me and Lance to step out then come in and "save" her after the swab was done. 

We have had a pretty uneventful week just staying home. Each day the kids have gotten better and better though. I've made sure to keep them busy doing calmer things so they don't start coughing. We have played with play dough, painted,games, lots of coloring, Disney movies, loving on all the adorable puppies and momma has done lots of cleaning to keep germs away! 

This week did have a couple highlights though. Sunday we needed out of the house so we took a ride to the farm to check on the game cam. We were super excited to find pictures of 3 different moose visiting! 

Speaking of the farm, I dropped papers off at the title company on Monday. They are getting all the paperwork together and we should be signing papers by the end of the month!!! 

Another exciting thing happened this week. My parents got iPhones and FaceTimed with the kids and me. They were pretty excited to see Lance & Lexie. The kids were also excited to see Papa & maw maw. 

MawMaw and Papa will be visiting the end of May for a couple weeks. Dad is going to help get things done with the house. We also have some fun trips planned like a train ride down to Denali and a fishing trip in Valdez for the guys while us girls take a wildlife tour. 

Summer is coming! Our days are getting longer and the temperatures getting warmer! 

Funny thoughts from the kids:

Lance said "humans only have 1,2 or 3 babies." So I said "do you know what it is called when you have 3? Triplets!" He says, "that means you have to sell one!"

While on the potty Lexie says to me "my butt is the poops home!" She's nuts!

Lance was helping me cook dinner and i was telling him to stir the food slowly so he wouldn't slosh food everywhere. He says to me "is that a rule in the Pampered Chef lady rule book?"

The kids had a cold this week and were a little congested. Lexie was picking her nose and said "I have sprinkles in my nose!" Wouldn't you know a princess has sprinkles not boogers.

Disney Land is on our vacation list for next summer. Momma is working very hard to earn an all expense trip for the 4 of us. Lance is definitely keeping me accountable. He wants to see the "princess castle" (mainly for sissy) and anything that has to do with cars. A little friend went there and didn't see Snow White. She told Lance that Snow White doesn't live there. It's pretty funny to listen to the conversations of little kids. They will be at the perfect age to remember the trip and enjoy every second. It will be ALL of our's first trip to Disney!! 

Going natural

My kids have sensitive skin & so do I. I have tried lots of laundry detergent and so far gain is the only one that makes us itch the least. After researching laundry detergents I have decided to just make my own! I was so excited when I found out it was so easy and CHEAP!!!! 

I know you may be thinking "ain't nobody got time for that!" But the truth is you do!!! I went to Walmart and bought a container to store my laundry soap in and the ingredients. All of which came to a total of about $15, the price of one container of liquid gain. I also should add that the container was almost $8 which is a one time cost. So really all the ingredients were around $7!!!! 

This is everything I purchased for my laundry detergent 

This is the recipe I used:

Homemade powder laundry detergent: 

2 bars Fels Naptha ($1) (grate with a cheese grater) OR 1 box of pregrated ZOTE soap flakes 

3 cups Arm & Hammer washing soda

3 cups borax powder 

ALL ingredients can be found in the laundry isle at WALMART. 

Mix all ingredients together and use 1/4 cup in laundry load. Add to water while the washer fills up to allow to completely dissolve. I wash my clothes in warm water that is more cool than warm and it all dissolved completely. The soap doesn't sud up like other detergents but don't worry, it is still working!

I bought sun with Oxi for extra dirty loads (my husband is a heavy equipment mechanic).

I also bought a Fels Naptha bar AND the ZOTE flakes. I just wanted to see the difference. 

The results:

The detergent just has a nice fresh clean smell. 

My clothes all came out super clean and even so soft out of the dryer!

This should last my family 36 large loads! 

I love using this instead of chemical filled soap that leaves my family itchy. After all, out skin is our largest organ, I want to be sure my family isn't absorbing harmful dyes, scents, etc.... 

Just some silliness

I never stop being amazed at the things my kids come up with. Seriously, they keep be laughing and on my toes.  

Here are just a few I remembered to write down

Lance came up to me holding an empty ziplock bag. He says "mom, look what I caught!" I said "what is it?" He then said "it's germs!" I said "O wow! How did you catch them?" He says "I coughed in the bag and then hurried and closed it!" He then tells me how he is going to take a bath and put water in the bag to kill the germs. 

I was helping Lexie fix her jacket and she says "but you're not a fixer, you're a pampered cheffer!" 

Lance took the training wheels off of his bike all by himself with his adjustable wrench. He gets on it and says "mom, come here. I seen this on tv. You're supposed to hold me and run along side me. Then when I'm not looking you let go!" 

Lexie is in love with all the puppies (like all of us). She wants to keep them all. She was holding one and says "mom this one is dangerous!" I ask her why she thought that, she then says "because it scratches!" I guess that means we have to keep it lol.

The kids have had a little cough this week. I am sure to remind them to cover their mouth & wash their hands often so they don't spread germs. Lexie coughed and said "mom, I got little girl germs in my mouth." 

Since the kids were coughing yesterday morning we decided not to go to church. We found an animal program on tv. The people were at San Diego's wildlife park. Lexie kept asking daddy if we could go there. He said some day we could. Then after breakfast we was putting on coats and boots to take a little drive. Lexie got so excited because she just knew we was going to see the wild animals. It broke daddy's heart to tell her that we weren't going there today. 

Andrew's Uncle Dave sent him some magazine subscriptions for Christmas. He got magazines like Field & Stream and Outdoor Life. Lance loves reading the magazines with daddy. He can't wait to go fishing and hunting this summer. He talks about it ALL the time!! He told me "you have to shoot the moose in the side so it goes through its heart and lungs."

The other day Lance was going through the car and found my tanning goggles that I haven't used in over a year. He didn't know what they were and it was hard to explain to them what they were. It was so funny to look back later and see him fast asleep with them on. 

My little Princess

Lexie is such a little princess. A sweeter little girl you will not find. She is so tender hearted! I don't even have to raise my voice at her and she will look at me with the saddest eyes "I'm sorry, mommy!" 

Lexie is such a mommy's girl! She loves hanging out with mommy and snuggling.  

She loves her daddy too and has him wrapped around her finger, but she prefers mommy most of the time. 

Lexie is in no hurry to grow up and I LOVE that. She likes it when mommy sleeps with her. She loves to be carried everywhere. Sometimes I will say, "Lexie, your getting too big for me to carry". Now when I pick her up she says "I'm not heavy anymore!" 

Lexie still loces clips and bows in her hair.

Lexie is such a sweet blessing. 

She loves to just wear panties and socks while at home. 

Sometimes she gets in trouble at dance class. She gets distracted easy! 

Lexie is always sure to say "Hi, my name is Lexie. This is mommy. Her name is Mommy!" to everyone we meet. 

Lexie LOVES all fruit! Sometimes when I tell her she has had enough, I will find her hiding behind the couch eating more grapes! 

Lexie loves her little puppy. She hasn't settled on a name yet. One day it was Angel, the next day Brownie then today it was kisses. 

Lexie loves her big brother! I have no clue what Lexie is going to do come August when Lance goes to school. I am looking forward to one on one time with my little girl. 

Lexie is a smart little girl. She memorizes stuff super easy. She can spell her name, count to at least 20, say all her ABC's, recognize all her upper case letters.

Lexie could sit at the table for hours coloring or painting. She LOVES books. "One more, please mommy!" Is a phrase I hear everyday from her. Sometimes she even "reads" to me. She describes what's on the page or reads to me what she has memorized. 

I love my little princess so much. She has brought out such a girly side of mommy that I never knew I had. 

I'm so thankful God picked me to be your mommy. Alexis Anne, I love you so much!!!