Christmas Eve

 This morning Dashy had a goodbye note for the boys.  They are going to miss him so much!  Tonight when Santa comes he will go home with him.

 I spent the day baking.

Pumpkin muffins, sugar cookies and my Grandma Beverly's homemade caramel rolls (cinnamon rolls).

We always have them for Christmas breakfast, and they are going to be so awesome!

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I also enjoyed my sweet boys.

Little Wyatt

Handsome Jack

& Silly Logan

I recently gave them all haircuts, and they look so fresh!

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After our Christmas Eve tradition of homemade pizza & Home Alone in the living room on the rug, we decorated our sugar cookies for Santa.

Then it was time for bed.

We read the story of Jesus' birth,

our Elf on the Shelf book,

and Careful, Santa.

The boys gathered around and took turns holding Dashy.

It was so wonderful, my boys in their matching jammies, tucking their excited bodies into bed.  

We all can't wait for tomorrow.

Once story time was over each of the boys gave Dashy a big hug & told him goodbye.

And Logan whispered to Dashy, 

"Tonight at the window, listen for the bells. Then you'll know Santa is coming."

Christmas Joy

In honor of Christmas Eve, 

I thought I would share some of the 

boys' recent funnies and things that have made me smile.

Here are a few random quotes heard recently about the house that made me snicker:

"Here's your hooker back."

"I'm going to shoot a moose."

"I want cheese, actually."

"Who is whispering in this house?"

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Last night at bedtime, it was less about giggles and more about gratitude.

Logan's Prayer
"Dear God,
Thank you for God. Thank you for Jesus. Thank you for mommy and daddy and Jack and Wyatt. Thank you for Wyatt snuggling me in my bed. Thank you for Ferris & Milo.  Thank you for Dashy.
In Jesus Name,
Amen."

Jack's Prayer
"Dear God,
Thank you for mommy, daddy, Wyatt, and Logan. Thank you for Christmas. Christmas presents are fun, but the real present is my family.  I love them.  Thank you for Jesus' birthday.
In Jesus Name,
Amen."

And then, when the twins were asleep and I was tucking Wyatt into his crib, laying his sweet head on his pillow, I said, "I love you" and he responded, "I love you, mom.  You're the best mommy ever. You're the best mommy in the whole world."

Heart melting.

Love those boys.

Feeling so grateful for them on this Christmas Eve as I bake & prepare for our big Christmas Day.

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Health update: I went to the clinic yesterday, and while my pneumonia is gone, I have developed bronchitis. So I am still on my inhaler (darn it!) and they also gave me prednisone for the next few days. I really hope this clears up all my illness and I start the new year healthy!!!

Nanny Love

Today is my mom's birthday.

This year, perhaps more than ever, I am grateful God chose her to be my mom.

It's been a rough couple of months, and I don't think I would have gotten through them without her.

I am not the only one who loves my mom.

My boys love their Nanny as well!

She is so much fun, how could they not love her!?!

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I hope you have a fabulous day, mom.

We love you so much & are so grateful for you!!!

Nanny & Papa :: August Flashback

The night we got back to Washington from Montana in August, my parents were set to come over & watch Milo so Roxanne and Blake could take Ferris to the fair.  (We were staying at Roxanne's house until our departure.)

So we spent the evening hanging out

reading bedtime stories.

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Once we put the twins to bed, we let Wyatt stay up with Milo.

They were so adorable together.

Snuggling up on the couch

to watch a little TV.

I love those sweet boys so much and hope they are friends forever!!!

Rural Alaska Questions

I was reading through old posts recently and realized there were a lot of unanswered questions in my comments section. So here are the answers to some of those questions!

Someone asked about recess outside.  And actually, the students just play in the gym.  They love basketball, so it works out.  Josh's class only has recess after lunch, which is monitored by a staff assistant.  Then every afternoon he teaches PE for a half hour. There is no PE teacher, no music class, no art.  They do have Yupik class, where they learn their native language & traditional ways.

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Someone also asked if there were wolves in Marshall.  Wolves often wander into town, especially the outskirts and along the river.  Two weeks ago it was announced on the VHF (the radio everyone has) that a pack was in town on the main road.  Whenever there are sightings of wolves or bears, I am reminded of just how remote we are.

This article about an Alaska teacher who was killed by wolves broke my heart when I read it earlier this year.  We really do live in the wild.

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Someone commented on the twins wearing "summer clothes" and I had to laugh. It's true. The boys often wear shorts. Let me assure you (if you're worried) that our house is kept very warm.  They just love wearing shorts, and it's not worth the battle, unless we're going outside, to make them wear cozies everyday!

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Sophia asked about why we moved to Alaska-- We moved to Alaska solely so my husband could find a job and I could be a stay-at-home mom.  He had had multiple interviews in our hometown, but teachers with years of experience were getting laid off, and he was never hired. He applied for jobs in Washington & Oregon, close to home, as far east as North Dakota and as far south as Texas, along the Mexican border.  But we never heard back. We estimate that he applied for thirty to fifty jobs.

He always had Alaska in the back of my mind, but it took a year of unemployment on his part and a surprise pregnancy on my part to convince me that it was the place to be!

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My sister was telling me how much she loves her new flannel sheets.  I have to say, we do not have flannel sheets.  But my boys do.  I don't like feeling "stuck" like velcro, so I have high thread count cotton instead.  But I do have a heating blanket (courtesy of my mom) and I don't know what I'd do without that thing!

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My mom mentioned that if I ever want to go to Twinsburg for the Twin Days Festival, she would love to join me.  I think going to the twin convention would be so much fun!  I don't know how much the boys would love it, but just imagining all the great people watching makes me smile. Plus I love talking to other moms of multiples.

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S-J asked for my chocolate cake recipe, which is so sweet. But I will let you in a little secret-- it's from a box! Ha! It's just yellow cake mix with canned chocolate frosting. I credit my mother with it looking so good because she taught me how to spread frosting (nice & thick!) to make a cake look good enough to eat!

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I want to take this opportunity, after answering your questions, to thank you. Thank you for being involved and invested in my life. Thank you for reading the blog, for cheering me on, for being here.  Your comments, support & well wishes the last few months as I have struggled with anxiety and panic have buoyed me up and made me feel less alone.

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I miss you, too

Let's just start by saying it's been a CRAZY couple of weeks. 

I have had quite a few people ask how we are and tell me they miss my daily blog posts. I miss blogging, too!  But I feel like I've been sick & out of it for so long, I don't know where to start! So this will just be a mishmash of kid cuteness and pictures I have on my camera.

It is mid December, and there is still hardly any snow on the ground.  We got a little more last night, but there's not enough to play in or snow machine on.  In these pictures (from the 6th) it warmed up enough to rain, and we had to get the boys mud boots back out of their closet upstairs!

The boys are all officially "and a half".

The twins are five "and a half",

and Wyatt is two "and a half." 

I'm not sure why this bothers me to the extent that it does... but Wyatt being two and a half is like watching him wave goodbye to his toddler days.  {wiping tears}  Luckily, he is pretty fun right now, so I'm enjoying him even though he has the audacity to keep growing up before my eyes!

 With my anxiety, it sometimes helps to watch TV. It distracts me from my thoughts.  The other morning I was watching Cutthroat Kitchen and afterwards when the boys were going to make pudding, they said they wanted it to be a competition.

 So they poured in their milk together on the count of three, Jack stirring chocolate,

 and Logan making vanilla.

Then we did a taste test, and it ended in a tie.  

 They apparently get a lot of inspiration from the TV... Their most recent hijinks was this spiders web with swinging baby soap dispenser when you opened the door, courtesy of Home Alone, of course. 

 They love to try making "traps" as they call them. 

Aside from having really fun ideas, they are also becoming really great helpers.  They clear the table, vacuum the rug and organize their toys when I ask.  It's so lovely to have their help.  Especially during weeks like this when Josh is gone so much after work.

 They really love helping with Wyatt.  

Here Jack was helping Wyatt take off his gear for Saturday Social.

All three boys LOVE Saturday Social.  They love to play basketball in the gym with Josh, run with their friends and eat the popcorn & slushies provided.

The weather lately has been really grey and cold (plus we've been sick) so that makes us even more grateful for the opportunities we had at Saturday Social to play!  I wish the blue skies would come back.  I really miss seeing the sunshine, and today especially I wish the clouds would depart so our dear friends who are traveling home for the holidays could leave as planned.

Over the course of my being diagnosed with pneumonia and falling back into anxiety & panic (plus the kids all being sick) I decided along with my doctor to increase my medication dose.  I am anxious to see if this rectifies the situation and am hopeful that I will soon be back to my old self after so many months suffering.

I have also found a counselor who will counsel me over the phone, which is a great blessing to me, and I think that, too, will help with my emotional state.

 Meanwhile, I am doing the best I can to distract myself (with TV and music and addressing what felt like hundreds of Christmas cards) and trying to focus on the holidays that are rapidly approaching.

Elf on the shelf is one of those ways.  The boys are loving it!  One night I forgot to place him somewhere, so we told the boys they had been so good that he didn't have to report to Santa that night.  Hehehe!

 And this guy... He puts a smile on my face, too.

I mean, how could he not???

Happy Friday night all! 

Hopefully I am back for good!