Ash fall

Mt. Redoubt has been rumbling for a while. Then it finally blew. Ash was not headed our direction so we became complacent in checking to see wind trajectories each time this volcano "burped." Saturday when we were driving to Paul and Devon's house for dinner, my phone rang; it was Allison (Kira's friend that we car-pool with.) Her mom and I previously discussed volcanic happenings and decided to keep each other informed (since we don't watch TV regularly or listen to local radio). Allison's call surprised me. She said that ash was blowing our way, that it tasted bad and was stinky. Since we were passing their street and we didn't see any ash, I asked where she was at physically. At a park on a few blocks from where we were, Allison was tasting ash, but we couldn't see it. We decided to continue on to Paul and Devon's since we had food that still needed to be cooked. I decided that I would go home and shut off the computer and get our dust masks, contact solution/glasses, and panty hose. While I was driving home, it became darker and I could see the ash falling on my windshield. With tiny bits of volcanic rock falling on my windshield, I couldn't run the wipers without scratching the windshield (so I didn't). The ash did not fall very long and we had minimal disruption to our night. We took the precautions necessary for protecting our eyes, lungs, car engine and computer. The pictures you see show the ash in various places. Later we will probably be able to post the pictures of our family in dust masks.

Halloween-ish

This is when the kids had their annual visit with Aunt Raychel for pumpkin carving and Halloween preparations with Grandma Laurie and Grandpa Bob. Phoenix still hates the idea of touching the pumpkin insides, but Kira digs in with both hands. In 2008 they also created a Haunted ginger bread house. Kira was wearing the Super Girl costume for Red Ribbon week super hero day.

Kira receives an award

Kira received a certificate of excellence for being a conscientious learner who is thoughtful and helpful to her classmates. Four students from her class are selected each quarter to receive an "English" award. Kira told me a few months ago that if she ever won an award she would wear this outfit... and she did. We are proud of her progress throughout this year!

Phoenix's Christmas Party

Phoenix had a Christmas party at his preschool. The 3 year old classes all joined together to sing a few songs, have snacks and a visit from Santa.

Kira's School pictures

Here are Kira's fall pictures from school. The first one (red background) she was sad that her "flip" had fallen out of her hair so we had retakes (blue background). In the retakes, you can't see that really beautiful "Kira spark", but she liked her hair better... so we have both pictures now and spring pictures on the way shortly.

Phoenix is Skating

April 29, Phoenix started a "learn to skate" program geared toward proficiency in hockey. Again, the program is intended for ages 4 and up, but I called and left a message about enrolling Phoenix. He had the desire to skate this winter, I just didn't know what to teach him. He figured out how to stand up on his own this winter and I figured that is was a good start for this program. They had skating twice a week for eight weeks for a duration of one hour.

The first lesson was hard because, Phoenix wanted me on the ice with him... hehehe... that would have been funny more than anything. With 3 adult coaches and a smattering of other volunteers (mostly high school hockey players), a large number of kids learn to skate, fall, and manipulate hockey equipment. This was Phoenix's 3rd lesson and he is practicing pushing a chair to get his balance figured out. During the 5th week he figured out his balance, and we bought him hockey "shorts" (padding) and a stick to provide further motivation. He wouldn't put on hockey gloves at the store so we kept him in regular gloves, which he would take off about half way into class time. Eventually we borrowed a pair from friends that were already somewhat broken in glove and Phoenix kept those on during class for the last two weeks. Unfortunately, I did not remember to take pictures later in lessons, but he learned to "skate" with no chair, stand up wearing the hockey shorts, and hit the hockey puck. It was a good program to prepare him for this winter to have fun on the ice.

Alaska Zoo Fun Run

May 3, 2008, Phoenix ran in the Alaska Zoo Fun run. The youngest age group is 3-4 year old kids. I enrolled Phoenix anyway, and they said it was OK. I was a little apprehensive about Phoenix's willingness to run the trail without me, but in the end Robby volunteered to run with Phoenix and Ben. I was hoping to catch finish-line pictures, but did not succeed. With a sea of children wearing red shirts, I thought it would be easier to look for Robby. Come to find out, as soon as the race started, Phoenix took off running with determination to keep up with the big kids while Ben had no desire to be running at that time, and Robby was in between trying to convince them that they wanted to stick closer together. Phoenix crossed the finish line shortly after the older kids and Lori helped him to find me (she ran with Quinn who stayed near the front of the big kid -- 4 year old pack). Pictures 1&2 are of Phoenix getting geared up for the run. Picture 3: Ben, Phoenix, Quinn, & Mitchell before the race. As you can see, Phoenix is the two year old, running with his big boy friends (ages 4, 4, and 6).

Mother's Day

This Mother's Day is different, special, new in so many ways. My first reaction is to be sad. I don't get to call my mom and wish her happy Mother's Day. This is the first time for that. I can think about all of the opportunities that I missed. Things that I wished I had told my Mom or chose to do with her or for her. Yes, I will take personal inventory of why I miss my mom and what I think of myself and our relationship, but not on here. I will cry quietly on Sunday as I miss her during worship services, but I will also listen to my children and tend to their needs as my mother taught me. I will choose to allow her to live on in my head. When I hear myself saying something that she said to me a thousand times (and I finally got it on the 1,001th time), I will know that my memories of her will be shared with my children. I will choose to look forward and plan for being the Mother that I am and who I would like to be for my children. I will bring with me the happy memories of my childhood and pray for the safety and joy that my children will experience. I accept that I will not be a perfect mother and I am going to pray for God to guide them in the places where I fail.



Now for the special and new. My sister's and I are all Mothers on this Mother's Day. (Last year Christa was pregnant, but Michaela came out at the end of May, so her Mother's Day this year will be different.) We will have more Mother's Day joy as this connection between us grows. I look forward to being Mother to our children, and I will accept the love that they give me everyday.

Mischief

One day, Kira called me upstairs to show me what Phoenix had gotten into. I rush up the stairs to find Phoenix in the shower with nothing on but a diaper. He loves taking showers, or at least being in the tub while the water is on. He kept rubbing his hair; and then I smelled it: the shampoo. Phoenix had about one quarter of the bottle of shampoo in his hair. Fortunately, it was Kira's 2 in 1 shampoo for kids (no tear kind). So, rinsing out Phoenix's hair was only as traumatic as him being upset as water in his face from the shower head.

P.S. Notice how in the second picture, Phoenix has that shrugged look as if saying "what? what did I do?"

Welcoming Daddy Home

Most, if not all, of you know that Patrick returned from Afghanistan on March 14th (the final day of spring break). Here is the art work that Kira and her friend, Grant, created to welcome Patrick home. The kids taped up these two major pieces of art in the house as well as several other smaller papers.

Final outcome

This was the final outcome of Phoenix's hair altercation with scissors left on the counter. I decided to buzz it all the way off... well at least down to #3 with the clippers. This is how his hair looked 2 months ago. (Yes he has a banana cauliflower muffin in his mouth, courtesy of friends who made them.)

Life is life

So yes, life has been happening to us and all around us. I am looking at the calendar to try to pick the truly mentionable events. First, Patrick came home March 14th. Second, Patrick and Kira left Friday night for NJ to his brother's wedding. Tuesday Phoenix starts hockey/skating lessons (yes he is two, but he already "gets" the idea of being on skates). I am looking forward to the pictures from the wedding and skating. I will be updating the blog again sometime soon with pictures (you know the fun part of the blog) from various times in the past few months.