This video (which I hope works) shows the school and the river, which is fully flowing, with ice chunks making their way to the Bering Sea 100 miles from here.
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I have been in a very introspective mood lately. I'm not sure if this is because my depression is receding and my anxiety has ebbed, or if it is because we are rapidly approaching the boys' birthdays, (The twins will turn six June 6th and Wyatt will turn three June 15th) but I have found myself thinking about the past, about what I want the future to look like, and my role as a wife & mother.
This may also be due to my Happiness Project, which spent April focused on Energy and has spent May focused on Parenting.
Last week our family was invited to be on a TV show for the History channel. Unfortunately we had to decline as it runs July through October, and Josh has to be back for work here in Marshall mid-August. But it sounded like a really fun venture. Living off-the-grid in Southern Alaska while farming and working in a community of other families like ours.
If your family is interested in something like this,
let me know and I can get you in touch with their contact.
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We go home in ten days, which has me very excited! Yesterday I painted my toenails pink in preparation of sandal weather! In the picture above I tried to take a picture of my freckles (which have arrived in droves from our afternoons spent playing out), but they just don't show up in pictures like they do in the mirror!
I feel like I am falling in love all over with my husband again. He is one class (next Tuesday!) away from completing his masters (not counting the week he will spend on campus in Montana to wrap things up in June) and every time I think of all he has accomplished in the last year, I am in awe. He somehow managed this year to be Lead Teacher (who steps in for the principal when he's gone), complete an insane schedule for his Masters in Educational Leadership (Classes + Homework + Internship Hours), work as a full time teacher of a class of 3rd/4th/5th graders, create and print the schools' 120 yearbooks and survive his wife having pneumonia & bronchitis back to back, as well as (temporarily) losing her mind. The man is amazing.
The weather here has been AMAZING the last few weeks. Sunny and in the fifties at least. One day I even wore capri's and a t-shirt! So we have been spending every afternoon playing out. We walk and ride bikes and play and run and laugh and get dirty. It's awesome.
As is this guy with his hands in his pockets.
How cute is that?
The boys love going on walks because we always see a ton of four wheelers, which excites them to no end. They also love to see construction vehicles.
I have been loving getting out of the house, letting the boys run off steam, and feeling the warmth of the sun on my face. It's been far too long!
But that sun comes at a price. This is a picture I took out my bedroom window at 11:00pm the other night. Today the sunrise was at 5:57am and the sunset is at 11:33pm. The daylight has been making it very challenging to want to go to bed at night. My daily cup of coffee has become my best friend!
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The twins are so big that when we're out, they ride up ahead, watch out for vehicles and circle back to Wyatt and I (who walk at a snails pace together).
They have made so many friends this year. It makes my heart happy. Yesterday Logan told me he doesn't want to move away from here because he doesn't know how to make friends. He likes all the friends he has here. It was so sweet. I assured him we aren't leaving any time soon (well, except for summer vacation) but that when we do leave, he will make friends just fine!
I love how when we're riding or walking or playing at the park, it seems like children come out of the woodwork to play. I love how they all know each other, I love the made up games they play, and I love how happy they are to see each other.
This one usually sticks with his mama.
And that's just fine by me!
The big boys rode bikes for probably two hours straight yesterday!
All three of them were asleep at bedtime within minutes!
#parentingwin
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Jack Sawyer
Someone asked me recently if Jack, our "middle" child has "middle child syndrome". I laughed because we always teased my sister about being the middle child (even though I am technically a middle child as well... For some reason it didn't feel like it applied to me). As I thought about it, and have watched for it the last few weeks, I have come to the conclusion that both twins display firstborn personality tendencies. Logan is always counting heads, keeping track of where everyone is. Jack is always willing to lend a hand, helping Wyatt go potty or fetching something for me when I need it.
I will continue watching for birth order behavior as they age because it fascinates me.
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Yesterday at bath time I told Wyatt he could play for one more minute. Wyatt asked what one minute means, and Jack told Wyatt, "One minute is like two minutes, only less."
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There are some phrases or sayings in Marshall that my boys have picked up that I don't want to forget. One thing kids here say is, "Even me." They say this instead of "Me, too." For instance if I told the kids I had a soda with lunch, they would respond, "Even me."
So the other day Jack said to another kid, "Even Logan does that." It was so cute!
The kids also say, "Holy!" as a phrase of surprise. We were looking out the window one morning and Logan said, "Holy fog!"
People also say everything is "So something"... Like, "So big earrings you have," or "So cool bike you have." So the other day when Jack saw a picture of Josh holding a coworkers baby he said, "So cute baby, dad."
Yesterday I told him about Roxanne jumping on the bed and cracking her head open when she was little and he said,"Good thing she wasn't in Alaska. She'd have had to go on a pokes airplane." (We call the Medivac the "pokes airplane" in an effort to scare the children into obedience when it comes to bed jumping, playing on the stairs and general crazy boy behavior. Some days it works, others, not so much.)
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Jack is my cheerleader. If his brothers are doing something well, Jack's the first to point it out. He does the same for me. Yesterday he said to me, "Good job not yelling mom," when Logan spilled his water all over the table. He knows not yelling is something I am working on, so when I kept my composure he praised me. It was so sweet!
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At bedtime he was talking about time, and how it's different for different people. In one breath he said, "Nine months is a short time for grown ups, but a long time for little kids." And in the next he said, "Summer is a long time to grown ups, but a little bit of time for little kids."
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And I will close with a cute story about the little brother.
We often have flies in our house. They are rampant in Marshall. Luckily when it's cold, they are slow movers and therefore easy to catch. Wyatt has taken to trying to catch them himself. He will get a Kleenex, climb into the window and call, "Here, ciivak. Come here. Come here," his voice syrupy sweet like he's talking to a baby. It cracks me up. And I love that he calls them ciivaks (the Yupik word for fly, pronounced "jee-vuk") instead of flies.
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It's happy to me that I feel like my old self again. And even happier that Marshall is so feeling like home to us. It makes me look forward to coming back next year.
PS- The children are dying to get outside, so I am posting this without proof reading.
;)
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