Happy Easter from bush Alaska

We woke up this morning to fog and sparkly white snow everywhere.

I had a late night over at Susan & Leah's giggling with the girls, but Josh is sick with the nastiest cold.  So I told him to go back to bed this morning, handed the kids their Easter presents, unwrapped and without fanfare, and we headed downstairs so Josh could get some more sleep.

I got the twins little digger sets and a Crayola Color Explosion marker kits.  For Wyatt I got an alphabet and a shape puzzle. The three of them played all morning with their new toys.

By this afternoon the fog had lifted.  Jack snapped this shot as he stood in the doorway saying hello to Susan.  It was nice to have the sun streaming through our windows this afternoon.  We hit a high of 33 degrees. If that continues tomorrow we're going to have to go out and play!

We've had some really amazing luck at the store lately. Josh found some frozen chinese food (beef & broccoli  yum!), fresh orange juice, sour cream and whip cream.  But by far the most exciting things he found were bananas, lettuce & tomatoes!  We had sliced tomatoes on our pizza Friday night, and I am looking forward to a chicken salad for lunch tomorrow.

The twins will drink the orange juice, but let's be honest-- 

they were MOST excited about the whip cream!

Yesterday the boys and I made banana bread.  It turned out fabulously, which felt lucky. Usually it comes out doughy in the center.  

I may or may not have had three slices today!

The twins really enjoyed helping make the banana bread. I let them really do everything themselves. I am normally a bit more hands-on, but for some reason yesterday, I just let them have at it.  Jack was mashing the bananas within an inch of their lives and Logan was so excited pouring in the sugar he had measured.  I hope as they get older to let them experiment more in the kitchen.

Another special treat we had recently that both twins loved were Cuties. (Jack kept calling them "kitties".)  They both loved that they could peel them all on their own.  Joe brought them back from Mountain Village (they have an AC store) and shared. So nice!

Little one is still adjusting to no binky and the dark in his room.  In the middle of last week Josh put foil in the boys' bedroom window to block the persistent daylight that is lasting longer and longer each day.  Now when we go in there, Wyatt remarks, "So dark. So dark."

Finally today at nap time, I put a nightlight in there in hopes it would ease his concerns with the light in there.  I'm not sure it did the trick, though because he woke up after only forty minutes.  Let's just say it was a long afternoon!

For dinner, Josh, who had also bathed all three boys this afternoon, managed to make ham & homemade macaroni & cheese.  The twins love his mac'n'cheese.  They ask for it all week, and then eat the leftovers for days after he's made it.  It's your traditional homemade macaroni, but instead of breadcrumbs, he puts crumbly goldfish on top.  This makes it a big sell with the kids!

While he was bathing the boys, I was researching Montana. We will be spending some of our summer vacation there so Josh can attend his masters degree program orientation.  It was fun imagining the road we will journey, the sights we will see and adventures we will have.  I also got a few other summer-fun items on the calendar. I think I might just be starting to get excited!

We have been doing lots of creative play with the boys. Trying to make old things new. This is one thing Logan thought to try.  I was terrified for the danger of falling, but they assured me they were being careful, and they played forever!

Friday afternoon I swept the kitchen floor and mopped as well. When I sweep & mop, I move all the kitchen chairs as well as Wyatt's high chair onto the rug in the living room.  You would think it was Christmas morning. The boys come flying out of the playroom, "Are you going to sweep, mommy?!?"  Immediately they climb onto the row of chairs and it becomes a rocket, a school bus, or an airplane. It makes my mommy heart proud as they encourage Wyatt to join in their imaginary play.  And I love that simply moving furniture around creates such excitement.

While I enjoy watching all of them play, lately watching this one play is my favorite. He's coming to that age where he has a clear idea of what he wants to play, and how he wants to play it.  Saturday morning, this was how he was driving his monster truck.  Back and forth, back and forth. Totally focused on what he was doing.

I am looking forward to this week. I did a lot this weekend to prepare for it. I cleaned house Friday, planned school for the boys, and laid out our dinner menu for the week.  State testing begins Tuesday for Josh's students, so I know that's going to be stressful for him. I figured having everything under control at home would be nice for him.  And me.

I hope he feels better in time. And I hope he doesn't lose his voice! That would make implementing the test really challenging. For me, I hope that I find not blogging during the day helps me focus on working with the kids, giving them my attention and having more patience.

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And just because I love it so much- you have to see this Luvs commercial.

Totally.