Foto Friday

This week I didn't take any pictures in preparation for today.  I jaunted over to my Shutterfly account and grabbed some older pictures of Caden.  He has always been the adorable, gonna-make-you-smile boy!  Enjoy!

My Dart Boy

Playing at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

My Dryer Boy (a favorite hide-out of his when we lived in our 50 yr old cabin).

My Garden Boy

This was take when we lived in the cabin.  My grandparents always had a huge garden out back.  When we moved in, we gave it a try as well.  To this day, Caden is a huge help in the garden.  His favorite thing?  Digging potatoes and pulling carrots.

My Phillies Boy

This picture was in 2004 I think.  

We headed back east and caught a very rainy Phillies game. Caden was a trooper - he slept through most of the game and rain.  He was such a go-with-the-flow baby.

So I was up at 5 today to make Jason some tasty Pizzelle treats before he heads out a comp hockey trip to Anchorage.  He has 3 or 4 games this weekend.  He hasn't been feeling well, but he wanted to go anyway.  He is usually at school right now, but its weird how I miss him anyway.  I guess it's just knowing he is on a bus in the middle of Alaska and going to be gone until Sunday night.  Knowing he will be playing hockey games and I won't be able to see them.  Who knows.  Maybe its knowing that there are team mates who are less than desirable in character (that's a whole other post).

Tonight, I plan on doing Carly's finger nails.  That is my goal. I hope she has enough free time for it.  Probably not.

I think we may be cutting wood also to get ready for winter - maybe.  The big boys were going to help do that (so I'll have to get gas for the chainsaws) - but I know there is an Ice Dogs hockey game tonight and John has plans to run video for them.  I don't know what that means.  I hope they pay him though.

And - we got our PFD's from the State of Alaska.  Such a controversial subject.  How do you spend a free $1000.00?  I bought a car with mine.  The kids will get a tad bit of theirs to do as they please - otherwise, the cabinets of groceries will have to appease them.  And the checks I write to their hockey.  And the shoes I have to buy because their feet are endlessly growing.  Jason's feet grew 4 sizes in a year.  1/2 of a size in the last 2 months.  Carly is just growing into mine - easy there.  Caden doesn't complain.  He loves his shoes and he never wants to upgrade.  To him, they just get more comfortable.  Sometimes he will have grown almost 2 sizes before it is a problem for him.

Jay, once again, is dedicating his money to our family bills.  Money will go towards the CC that we paid for our plane tickets to Mexico with (we are going in May with the kids!!!)  We also need to get the kiddies their passports.  MORE MONEY. 

Boy do I need a job.  

Normally, I do some Christmas shopping with our money.  This year we are practicing minimalism.  :)  We won't be good at it.

Someday, I will have a job with my own money to do something wonderful for my husband and children,

Foto Friday

Had a great time taking pics the last couple days for today's post.  Nothing special, just things to share with a story or two.

The Antique Books Shelf on my wall.  I've seen them all over the Internet and really wanted one for my books.
1) 365 Bedtime Stories - given to my mom in 1950
2) Home School of Elocution -given to my Great Grandmother in 1899
3) The Practical Outline of Elementary School Subjects for Home Study -from 1942, back when sentences were labeled  "loose, balanced, or periodic"
4) Practical House Painter purchased by my Grandfather in 1924 in Tillamook, Oregon.  This book includes fonts for sign painting!

Carly and Jase keeping warm under my birthday gift in the drizzle while they wait for the bus. 

The following are pictures taken during a rare moment when my younger two were getting along!  They were yucking it up for 1/2 hour, trying to get out of going to bed.  I played along because these moments are fewer and far between.  It was a great time and a great memory.  Something to remember, they are only 20 months apart in age.

What did you make for lunch today?  Carly took the following with her, including my Vera Bradly lunch bag that my sis gave me years ago.  I'll take it back when I start working - but for now I'll share!

Her alternate lunch box.  An old belt threaded threw the juice box  holes
 and the end of the box held clothes with some ric-rac.
She really does use this! Her friends have even asked for some.

I also sent Jason off this morning on a hockey trip.  He is going to Anchorage with his Bantam Tier I hockey team for a series of games.  I regret not getting a picture before he left.  He had on this red team polo, khaki pants, and black leather loafers.  It was tough to get him shoes without him being with me, so I kept sending him pictures at school.  Eventually, I bought the ones I liked and the ones my husband liked - we figured Jason could decided from there (he left the house in the ones I picked out hehehe).

Jay's choice top left, my choice bottom right.
I Payless special shopped for my growing son.  He'll use them for HS hockey too until he
grows out of them (in two months).

Welcome to Hockey Hell . . . ALREADY?

BUT FIRST . . . 
My sister posted a fantastic picture for Wordless Wednesday on her blog.  Check it out.  She takes great pictures and tried her hand at photo editing for this shot.  It is so great.
My Sister's Wordless Wednesday



I'm too wordy for Wordless Wednesday.  I'm thinking all of the time - most always positive and happy.  Last night I kind of ranted and raved though.  Jason's hockey team had their first scrimmage.

Yes, I'm going to talk comp hockey.  Get used to it.  Hockey is an 8 month sport at least!

So, he practiced with his line this weekend and week.  He was so happy, they were doing well.  It consisted of three kids known in the past for their ability to hustle down the ice and battle.  3/4 through the scrimmage, one of his line mates was traded.  Jason moved from center to wing - but he and the new line mate kept bumpin' into each other, as they play the same position normally.  It was a disaster and he was instantly down on himself and disappointed that he was no longer able to be the guy putting on the pressure.  He ended up spending a lot of time covering the defense that just couldn't remember to cover the net.

This all came out in a conversation on the way home - it isn't my perception.

Its just the beginning of the season, and I know that each day holds something knew for these kids and each game will provide new opportunities.   He's just got to hold on and keep pushing himself.

So, then they handed out new jerseys.  I didn't order Jason one because it is basically a two month season and then time off for high school hockey season, then they pick back up in February.  I didn't feel like spending a couple hundred dollars on new jerseys that I would have to replace next season.  Jason grew 4-5 inches this since May.  The next couple months are going to be much the same.  Why on Earth would I spend that money on a new set of jerseys when he'll only be able to wear it a year?

Not only that, but the team requires a warm-up suit, special order and embroidered.  We had to by dry-land clothes, special order and embroidered.  We had to buy a polo, again, special order and embroidered.  On top of that, dress pants and shoes.  Seriously?  They're 14 and not professional.  They may be Tier 1, but good Lord.  I know hockey is expensive, but adding all of that ridiculous clothing is just stupid.  So, I was really pissed before I got home.

Besides that and having to listen to Jason whine, parents were already talking about next season.  Next season is the year it gets really serious in our town.  You don't want to be the kid left behind on the tier II.  So far, these kids have had 4 different coaches in 4 years.  Next year, the ones that don't make tier I may end up with another coach.  The last thing these kids need to worry about 4 days before their first trip is making next year's team.

So, I'm frustrated for my child and THAT is my downfall.  I get very passionate about their dilemmas.  To write about Carly would take me another 45 minutes.

Oh yeah, Fantasy Football Draft Weekend.

I'm so, totally, excited for today's FFdraft (no I'm not).
I woke up at 7:30 am because the draft is on the East Coast (and I'm so not even close to that time zone).
Got some (cold) coffee and turned on some ESPN (ABC Family) to inspire me.

I've got my list ready (and pink sharpie) and am raring (*UGH*GASP*SOUNDS OF DREAD*) to go.  Now, I just wait (watch the Lying Game and make some Carmel flavored coffee).

*****break*****coffee pot calling my name****

Alright, I've received my instructions.  Vick or Adrian (so its a dog fighting champ or a guy with a girl's name).
Here we go (waste my Saturday sleep-in morning on a silly game of pretend with a bunch of Jersey Shore speaking guys 4000 miles away).  Shaweeeeeet (shit)!

10 minutes later and having a ball (disaster) with FF (The Lying Game).

6 picks in and it is going AWESOME (super sucky).  Phone is ringing, txts popping up, IM's . . . it's like, I'm super popular in high school!

Okay, break time.  So now I get to jump in the shower then try to dry my hair before the excitement (madness) begins again.  I am off to Sam's Club shop after that so I can stock up for our 19 & 21 yr old house guests (our hockey player is coming back- that's right - hockey, not football) moving in on Monday.  Time to fill the pantry with more snacks and goodies that can be grabbed in a rush.  Especially since our microwave is still non-existent.

So long football (not) fans.  When I get back I'll be a clean and perfumed goddess (mom, as in "Oh my Goddess!) ready to finish up my (my husband's) FF team, the Alaskan Goddess' (team The Don).

Happy Birthday to the Greatest Man

A Huge Happy 39th Birthday wish to my husband, Jay.

He is a remarkable man who never does a thing directly for himself.

He works long hours to provide for his family.

He spends his evenings either watching one of our children play hockey, helping with homework, or coaching baseball.

He is currently the outfield coach for our local high school, North Pole Patriots.

He is also committed to coach travel baseball for the umpteenth year in a row.

In the winters, he goes straight to the hockey rink most days after work to watch and/or pick up one of the kids that is playing.

In the seasons without snow, he has baseball all evening.

We could never ask for a better family man than him. We are lucky to be his priority.

While he is at work, he delivers mail to businesses across town as well as senior apartments and assisted living homes for those adults with special needs.

He is constantly checking on someone and making sure they are okay.

Not only are we the luckiest family in the world to have him, our community is very lucky that he is watching over them.

Happy Birthday Jay!

Busy? Or just Lazy? The Jason update - more to come on Carly and Caden.

Oh, I'd like to say that I have just been way to busy to regularly update, but that wouldn't be exactly true. Then again, I'm not sure if I've been lazy either.

Hockey was a very time consuming sport this winter. There is a good chance that I won't be the manager next year; I think I'm okay with that. Let someone else deal with the hours and hours of emails. That is the worst part of it all. The constant flow of incoming and outgoing emails. There are updates for everything and the association is always sending out a forward. Some of our poor families get the same forward several different times from several different managers from several different teams, past and present.

Having two kids play this year doubled my incoming email. So many were the same. Funny though, the emails ALWAYS got to me sooner through my son's association. Sometimes I knew things days before my daughter's team announced it. For that, I am grateful to Arctic Lions.

Jason had a good season and a fun school year. He didn't have a lot of points during regular season play, but he was one of the top scorers in each tournament. That boy just turns it up when a trophy is involved.

He's grown quite a bit this year too. He is officially taller than me. Not that that is hard as short as I am, but for him it was a good day. School went well socially. Grades? Uh yeah, he is failing two classes as he winds up his 8th grade year. He is simply super lazy. He is unorganized and doesn't see fit to turn in the work he completes because he "can't find it," or "my binder broke," or "I left in in the wrong class and the teacher didn't tell me."
Seriously guy, you should know not to turn your science homework into the English teacher. Think I believed that excuse?
I'm not going to bail him out of this one. He's on lock down starting about 4 o'clock this afternoon. I insisted he do extra credit to bring his grades up or he can't hang out with friends. Doubt it will happen. There will be some excuse like, "I couldn't find a newspaper." Or, "she was out of forms."
Whaaaatevvveeeer!

We'll see. He has been going to hockey several nights a week and when he isn't there he is playing baseball at the high school with them. He's not old enough to be on the team, but the practice is good. Maybe we put too much emphasis on sports, but if he's going to be blowing off the academics, I'd rather it be for physical activity than gaming.

I am subbing right now in a school with no cell service. He's been trying to get permission to go to a friends after school. I said if he did extra credit today he could for a little while. We'll see where he is after school and how much trouble he's going to be in. I'm sure he'll have some excuse he knows isn't good enough but will be to lazy to come up with something good and too worried to just tell the truth.

Boy Oh Boy

Gosh have I missed a lot of blogging. Let's see if I can sum it up.

1. I have a new niece, Killian Patricia Harvey. Born almost 2 weeks late to my brother and sister-in-law. She has red hair and is completely adorable. She was taken c-section because mom and baby were getting exhausted.

2. Thanksgiving was delicious and calm. We went Phil and Haanah's, snacked on veggies and cheese/meat trays until dinner was served. Food was all fabulous as were deserts. I made my first pumpkin pie. That was great too. WooHoo

3. Kids are getting OK grades - Carly's are great but it is a struggle for her to maintain it. She is determined to do so though.

4. Jason went to a hockey tournament over Thanksgiving. We missed him, but he did well. He played hard and strong and scored some goals. Jay went down to hang out with him after he'd been there semi-on his own for 2 days.

5. We finally got snow and really cold temperatures. We also had freezing rain. That was NOT fun, but school was cancelled the week of Thanksgiving so the kids had a LONG vacation. I however had one week less on my paycheck though.

6. Super behind on Christmas shopping. We have dubbed this a "Charlie Brown" Christmas. Our tree is small and artificial. The ornaments are bright and colorful as always though. That part I Love. Carly says it is like an I Spy tree. So, we play I Spy. For example, I Spy 12 Santa Clause's on my tree. I have barely bought Caden's Birthday gifts either - and we didn't get what we've been promising him for an entire year, an iPod touch. We just don't have the extra cash and we aren't using credit cards. He will be horribly disappointed, but we do have an extra iphone laying around that we will let him have for his applications. I hope it suffices until we can get him what he wants. I will also remind him that he has enough money on his own to buy it himself if he can't wait. Knowing Caden though, he won't want to spend all of that money on just one thing. I have made coupons on the computer for many gifts. It is easier than sending something someone may not want. I will do the same for the kids. Instead of itunes gift cards, I will make my own coupons that say "This coupon is good for 1 song download" or "This coupon is good for 1 $2.99 application". The money comes out of my bank account anyway and this makes it more personal. And I am hoping that this ends the kids constant pleading to download or buy something. Now I can say, "do you have a coupon for it?"

Other things we did for little cost are making gifts. I have made many heating pads and trivets from fabric that my mom had "hoarded" when she was alive. I use feed corn that is like 50lbs for $25.00. I also have flack seed ones. Those do not and should not get as hot though. They are more for trivets and sinus/headache pads. You can stuff a lot of heating pads in a one-rate shipping box. Its awesome! And, we created a cookbook for everyone for Christmas. Haanah and I gathered recipes and I designed a book, printed, and semi-bound it. It has some great treats in there along with some practical recipes.

I don't have really any idea of what to get my older children this year. I want it to be special, but can't afford to go all out and expensive. It is torture on my soul.

Jase's Summer Wrap-Up

Gosh, summer is about over here in Alaska. The leaves on the trees are yellowing (they don't turn red or orange here). There are some bushes turning red now - I was just told they do that because of frost. I really thought it was just the natural progression of a leaf's life, I didn't think it had anything to do with Jack Frost.

Our summer was a whirl-wind. I spent a lot of time with my Dad and the kids spent a lot of time together. Jason was the main babysitter this summer. His reward was getting two kid free days a week to be with friends. He also gave up his cell phone for the summer. His reward - getting a new phone when school began. He is back into hockey season and insisting he doesn't need new skates or pads or a stick, even though he's grown and his feet are at least 1 size bigger than they were last year and he's skating on "back-up" skates as it is . . . totally not fitted to him or in good shape at all. He is certainly no saint though. He's difficult to deal with and he spends way too much time on his stupid XBox and talking to his buddies at all hours of the night over those dorky head phones that plug into the game system. SO FRUSTRATING! But, he's not sneaking over to girls houses, he's not dippin' into the liquor cabinet, not sneaking beer from the tap, and there are no body modification talk going on. No vandalism, sneaking out, or stealing. He is on the Hoodlum Avoidance Program brought to us by youth sports. Thank you athletics!
However, we will not partake in another summer of soccer. He had the most wonderful coach to teach him the game and then he was moved down to his own age bracket. What a painful mistake. How disorganized and what mayhem. And this was a "comp" team. The only competition going on was who could race to the ball first. It was like watching Ice-Puppy Hockey or Tee-Ball! He only played with them a couple weeks then went to state with them. What a HUGE waste of money. Next year we welcome baseball back into our lives.
Now it is back to school. 7th grade. He was separated from his buddies and is on the "Mid-Knight Sun" team. He is having to make new friends and it is really testing his tolerance. He isn't fond of all of his teachers . . . but that is a good lesson for him. He never has homework other than a bit of math here and there. He does have a leaf identification project to do - but it seems as dumb as it does interesting. Sure, as an adult I'd like to know what a tree is, but I did the same project when I went to North Pole Middle School and all I know is Spruce trees have needles and Birch are pretty with leaves. So do I see a point to this project? Nope! And who wants to go out in this chilly rain and collect leaf samples?!