Today we received our RFO (request for orders) from Human Resources Command and we are going back to Fort Wainwright, AK. What a whirlwind this is going to be. A few days ago, we got a heads-up that this was going to happen and today it became official. Back to the artic desert, we go. I am excited to be going to a place where there isn't too many unknowns, but as I put mittens, hats, and boots on all of the kids today... I thought a bit more about it. When we lived there before I had two kids to suit-up for the cold. This time, I am going to need an assembly line for the four of them to go outside. We are all excited and looking forward to a almost 9,000 mile move. Moose, mosquitos, and snow... oh my!
We will leave Germany in early February and plan to arrive in Fairbanks on March 1st. This will be our 9th PCS move in 9 years so as experienced as we are, everything should go as smooth as possible.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Monday, December 21, 2009
You know you live in Alaska when....
I thought this was funny way to post about all things Alaskan!!! Some I forgot about and some are a great reminder of what we are going back to. ENJOY!
You see a car running in the parking lot at the store with no one in it no matter what time of the year.
It takes only a 15-minute drive to "get away from it all".
The town you live in is "away from it all".
Anything above freezing is T-shirt weather.
You've ever had to put on long johns, sorrels, snow pants, T-shirt, button-up flannel, light jacket, heavy coat, scarf, face mask, thick hat, and thick gloves just to walk a few blocks to the store.
It has been -20°F for two weeks, warms up to 0°F and you call it a warm spell.
You design your kid's Halloween costume to fit over a snowsuit.
If you know all 4 seasons as: almost winter, winter, still winter and construction.
You think $4 for a loaf of bread is cheap.
Your bedroom windows are covered in aluminum foil or black blankets.
You see people wearing Carharts at social events.
Your idea of a traffic jam is 10 cars waiting to pass a motor home on the highway.
You go to school, work, or both in the dark and come out in the dark.
When you go to the lower 48 you wonder where everybody's block heater cable.
The municipality buys a zamboni before a bus.
Shoveling the driveway constitutes great upper body workout.
Everyone has hundreds of recipes for moose meat.
You see a car running in the parking lot at the store with no one in it no matter what time of the year.
It takes only a 15-minute drive to "get away from it all".
The town you live in is "away from it all".
Anything above freezing is T-shirt weather.
You've ever had to put on long johns, sorrels, snow pants, T-shirt, button-up flannel, light jacket, heavy coat, scarf, face mask, thick hat, and thick gloves just to walk a few blocks to the store.
It has been -20°F for two weeks, warms up to 0°F and you call it a warm spell.
You design your kid's Halloween costume to fit over a snowsuit.
If you know all 4 seasons as: almost winter, winter, still winter and construction.
You think $4 for a loaf of bread is cheap.
Your bedroom windows are covered in aluminum foil or black blankets.
You see people wearing Carharts at social events.
Your idea of a traffic jam is 10 cars waiting to pass a motor home on the highway.
You go to school, work, or both in the dark and come out in the dark.
When you go to the lower 48 you wonder where everybody's block heater cable.
The municipality buys a zamboni before a bus.
Shoveling the driveway constitutes great upper body workout.
Everyone has hundreds of recipes for moose meat.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
'TIS the SEASON
December is here and the first week has flown by. St. Nikolaus visited and brought the kids some treats. I am busy planning 2 Christmas parties (YIKES!!) for Charlie's work. One is this Friday and the other is next Saturday. I know it's a bit crazy, but he has spent the last 17 months in command of two Army detachments with two seperate sets of people, so we are having two parties. Stressful to plan? Yes. Fun to spend time with everyone? Yes. Preparing our house for them? No. Don't get me wrong, I love decorating for Christmas and such, but having to clean every corner of the house before a party that will only be left a mess when it is all over, makes me a bit crazy.
Homeschooling in December has proven to be a challenge. We are staying on schedule because I know when our move comes that life is going to be too crazy to even try. Next year, I will take a good 3 weeks off around the holidays so that I can spend more time focusing on baking and crafts with the kids. We have managed a couple of fun activities though. Before St. Nik came, we decoupaged the wooden clogs for the kids to leave out for him. The two in the picture are of Brady's and Beckett's. His is plain and unfinished because the arts and crafts center on post said that you have to be three to use their facility to decorate one. So, I bought him an unfinished one with the good intentions of doing it myself before St. Nik came and it never happened. I will have to take more pictures of Jordan and Ava's (I thought I already had some).
Santa is done shopping but hasn't even thought about wrapping. Christmas cards? I am ashamed to say that this is our 3rd year of not sending them out. The first 2 years of the 3, we were moving or had just moved and it was not at the top of my priority list. This year... still not at the top of my priority list and I would have had to mail them out my now. Maybe next year folks. This year, I am saving a tree by not sending them out to the 200 people that fill our address book. I promise to take a bazillion goofy pictures of our kids until I can get ONE where they are all looking forwards ( I can't guarantee that they will actually be looking at the camera) and post it on here before Christmas.
'TIS the SEASON!!!!
The shoes, filled with the goodies. And this picture makes me want to share a tradition with everyone... we put all of the Christmas related books we own under the tree until Christmas Eve and that way I am sure that we have read each one before Christmas and none are left out.
Brady decorating the tree.
Ava wore her Santa hat to bed every night for the first week. She cried one night at 3 am because it fell off her head and she couldn't find it. Mom to the rescue... it was under the covers.
Rudolph puppets they made yesterday.
Homeschooling in December has proven to be a challenge. We are staying on schedule because I know when our move comes that life is going to be too crazy to even try. Next year, I will take a good 3 weeks off around the holidays so that I can spend more time focusing on baking and crafts with the kids. We have managed a couple of fun activities though. Before St. Nik came, we decoupaged the wooden clogs for the kids to leave out for him. The two in the picture are of Brady's and Beckett's. His is plain and unfinished because the arts and crafts center on post said that you have to be three to use their facility to decorate one. So, I bought him an unfinished one with the good intentions of doing it myself before St. Nik came and it never happened. I will have to take more pictures of Jordan and Ava's (I thought I already had some).
Santa is done shopping but hasn't even thought about wrapping. Christmas cards? I am ashamed to say that this is our 3rd year of not sending them out. The first 2 years of the 3, we were moving or had just moved and it was not at the top of my priority list. This year... still not at the top of my priority list and I would have had to mail them out my now. Maybe next year folks. This year, I am saving a tree by not sending them out to the 200 people that fill our address book. I promise to take a bazillion goofy pictures of our kids until I can get ONE where they are all looking forwards ( I can't guarantee that they will actually be looking at the camera) and post it on here before Christmas.
'TIS the SEASON!!!!
The shoes, filled with the goodies. And this picture makes me want to share a tradition with everyone... we put all of the Christmas related books we own under the tree until Christmas Eve and that way I am sure that we have read each one before Christmas and none are left out.
Brady decorating the tree.
Ava wore her Santa hat to bed every night for the first week. She cried one night at 3 am because it fell off her head and she couldn't find it. Mom to the rescue... it was under the covers.
Rudolph puppets they made yesterday.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Brady's accomplishments
I am so proud of Brady. When we returned from Normandy we made him stop wearing pull-ups to bed. When he potty trained at 2 and 1/2 we didn't force him into bedtime potty-training like we did with Jordan and Ava. So he continued to wear pull-ups to bed. Probably not the best of excuses, but I let it slide until he turned 4 because so much other stuff was going on (Beckett's salmonella, Beckett's ears, moving, etc.). When he turned 4, I said we were D-O-N-E. Partially because he is just too big for wearing them and partially because I know that the older he gets the harder it is going to be to train his sleeping brain to get out of bed and go to the bathroom. Did I mention that I am tired of buying them?
So after a few weeks of us waking him up in the middle of the night to go potty, his brain has finally realized that peeing in his pants is not a proper sensation while he is sleeping. All of the sheet changing the first few nights and lack of sleep for us has really paid off. A proud sibling moment, too... Jordan was waking him up first thing in the morning and helping him make it to the bathroom. It took us a few mornings to figure out that his big brother was helping out!
On other Brady notes... we have started to enroll Brady in speech therapy. The screening process is long, but he does qualify for free help from the school districts. Once we finish all of the paperwork he will start his therapy. He has had to meet with multiple individuals because they test for all cognitive disabilities, although they don't feel he needs anything more than speech thereapy. He can't blend consonants and some he just puts his tongue right in front of his teeth and can't get the sound out. When we slow him down, he can make out the sounds but he gets frustrated with Mom and Dad so therapy seems like the right answer.
We are very proud of him for taking all of his "tests" and when we finally move, he will probably go to preschool so that they can work on it in another setting that is outside of our home.
So after a few weeks of us waking him up in the middle of the night to go potty, his brain has finally realized that peeing in his pants is not a proper sensation while he is sleeping. All of the sheet changing the first few nights and lack of sleep for us has really paid off. A proud sibling moment, too... Jordan was waking him up first thing in the morning and helping him make it to the bathroom. It took us a few mornings to figure out that his big brother was helping out!
On other Brady notes... we have started to enroll Brady in speech therapy. The screening process is long, but he does qualify for free help from the school districts. Once we finish all of the paperwork he will start his therapy. He has had to meet with multiple individuals because they test for all cognitive disabilities, although they don't feel he needs anything more than speech thereapy. He can't blend consonants and some he just puts his tongue right in front of his teeth and can't get the sound out. When we slow him down, he can make out the sounds but he gets frustrated with Mom and Dad so therapy seems like the right answer.
We are very proud of him for taking all of his "tests" and when we finally move, he will probably go to preschool so that they can work on it in another setting that is outside of our home.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
ARE YOU READY?
for S-A-N-T-A?????
... because I know seven little angels that are!!!!!!!!
their jammies read, "Dear Santa, I can Explain"
... because I know seven little angels that are!!!!!!!!
their jammies read, "Dear Santa, I can Explain"
Quick Turkey Day Re-cap
We fried this 22 lb turkey.... the skin was delicious, the meat was moist, and it did not taste FRIED.
The guys worked their magic on the porch. Actually, John had things under control and Charlie watched from the sidelines (taking notes for next year). I think Mike knew how to fry a turkey already. The best part about a fried turkey is that the oven is open and available for other yummy things. I've have lots of recipes to steal from my friend, Jen. Her Nan has some fantastic recipes that we made and everything was delicious.
And our new table served it's first holiday meal and all fourteen of us fit at one table.
The guys worked their magic on the porch. Actually, John had things under control and Charlie watched from the sidelines (taking notes for next year). I think Mike knew how to fry a turkey already. The best part about a fried turkey is that the oven is open and available for other yummy things. I've have lots of recipes to steal from my friend, Jen. Her Nan has some fantastic recipes that we made and everything was delicious.
And our new table served it's first holiday meal and all fourteen of us fit at one table.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Chateau Monfreville
Our Normandy cottage was fantastic. So fantastic that I think I want to move to France. By far the best and most relaxing vacation that we have ever had. Our hosts at the Chateau, the McKinley's were amazing. Their children kept our kids company, the farm animals kept them entertained, and life was relaxing for one whole week. We took in all of the D-Day sights and visited Mont St. Michel. I will blog about that in a future post.
This is the Chateau that the owners live in. They will cook for you as well. We ate dinner with them one evening after we fed all of our kids and their kids. I loved this picture with the fall leaves on the apple trees lining the driveway.
The side of the Chateau. The pond is a naturally filtered swimming pool. Brady is the only one that tested it out. He accidently stepped into the reeds without realizing that it was not grass and very DEEP.
Bert the donkey was a highlight for the kids. Every morning we could hear Bert calling for his breakfast. Our kids spoiled him.
This is where we actually stayed. 20 years ago it was a rickety old barn. Now it is two cottages. Ours was huge and cozy.
This is the Chateau that the owners live in. They will cook for you as well. We ate dinner with them one evening after we fed all of our kids and their kids. I loved this picture with the fall leaves on the apple trees lining the driveway.
The side of the Chateau. The pond is a naturally filtered swimming pool. Brady is the only one that tested it out. He accidently stepped into the reeds without realizing that it was not grass and very DEEP.
Bert the donkey was a highlight for the kids. Every morning we could hear Bert calling for his breakfast. Our kids spoiled him.
This is where we actually stayed. 20 years ago it was a rickety old barn. Now it is two cottages. Ours was huge and cozy.
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