Advent workshop

November 29, 2009
Guest blogger: Renee

Our church was having their annual Advent workshop for the kids. Tables of crafts set-up in the gym. Zach had such a wondeful time last year that he and I hated to miss it this year, so the two of us headed on over when we got back from Nancy Lake.

Zach made ornaments, decorated cookies, made a card and a decorated ceramic tile.

He wasn't too sure about the suet that was rolled in the bird seed! The suet is greasy feeling and hard to wash off your hands!

He was quite proud of the bird feeder he made from a plastic bottle. He seemed to understand that he will have to give it to someone as a gift as we can't have bird feeders in our neighborhood as the seeds attract bears. We had a fun time, a nice end to a fun weekend.

Nancy Lake with Friends

November 27, 2009
Guest blogger: Renee

When we list what we are thankful for at Thanksgiving, high on the list is the great friends we have. Kirsten invited us for the weekend to her parent's home at Nancy Lake, north of Anchorage. We had been there many years ago when there was a small cabin on the property. When her parents retired, they moved the cabin further from the lake and built their dream house. They were in Florida for Thanksgiving and we were all invited to use the house for the weekend.

A dream house it is, the view is spectacular. So peaceful to watch the sun rise and set and the snow blow from the comfort of a family room with floor to ceiling huge windows.

We arrived Friday night and unloaded the car. Karl, Laurie, Nora and Lake arrived not long after we did and the festivities started! Kevin, a commercial fisherman, made halibut and cod he caught which we had with salad and all the fixings! The kids ate in the kitchen dining nook while us adults ate at the dining room table.

Saturday morning.....yep, we ate some more! Pancakes, bacon and eggs that Laurie got from her chickens. We were well fueled and ready to play outside!

This group does not lack in the "boy toys" department. When Dustin, Cecile, Ian & Lucas arrived the toy collection was complete. Karl had just purchased an eight wheel Argo, had picked it up on the way to Nancy Lake and was ready to try it out. Doug and Kevin joined in on 4 wheelers and Dustin on his Rhino.

The snow was just deep enough that riding on the road and down to the public boat launch was about all the equipment could do with a pile of kids. The lake was still a little slushy and not quite ice thick enough to hold the weight of the equipment. It didn't matter, a good time was had going up and down the road!

Karl's Argo did exceptionally well on its test run. It looks like a little tank! Very fun.

Nora got in the mix with her 1971 Kitty Kat snowmobile that Karl retrieved from his sister's house and got running. The seat is covered in a tiger print fabric - so appropriate for a little girl.

Zach was not to be out done. He was zipping up and down the road on his little 4 wheeler. As it is only 2 wheel drive, we did spend quite a bit of time pulling him out of random snow piles when he thought he could drive over or through them.

Zach especially liked being pulled on a sled behind Doug's 4 wheeler.

And mom enjoyed being pulled by Zach!!

Go mom!

Kirsten had a craft ready when everyone needed to warm up. The snowmen made from a plate and construction paper turned out really well.

Us 4 girls (Kirsten, Laurie, Cecile and I) went on a quiet and relaxing walk and returned to find this! Wow, the noise level! The kids were having fun, the adult kids and the kid kids.

It is amazing that we all had kids about the same time. Doug and I remember calling Alaska to tell our friends that Zach was on the way. Ian had been born 7 months before Zach, Nora and Kiana came less than a year later. A few years later the second round came - Lucas, Kaelan, Sam and Lake. Eight children, 6 years or less! A lot of energy, a lot of fun. They played great together. If there is to be a round three, Doug and I will not be participating!

We had a great lunch and dinner of turkey soup and left overs from Kirsten's Thanksgiving feast. After the kids got put down to bed we booted up the computer and reviewed a CD of pictures from 1999-2002. It is fun to see how we have changed! Dustin and Cecile's first house, all the dogs (our first children) as puppies, Halloween and New Year's parties. And best of all, the pictures from Dustin and Cecile's wedding in Cyprus. Doug and I traveled with Karl and Laurie and then met up with Kirsten in Cyprus. The stories....the pictures made it feel like we were just there yesterday. We all made a plan, we all hope to go back together to Cyprus in 5 years. I am going to start our "Cyprus" fund!

Kevin set a few fishing poles in hope that ice fishing would be successful this year. It was for the fish, they ate his bait. Nothing on the hook!

On day 2 Sam got attached to a doll in the kids playroom. He was so cute walking around saying "baby". He is going to be a good parent some day.

What are the chances of getting all 8 kids to smile at one time? Not a chance, not a chance!! This time it was Sam who was mad about something. A couple kids looking at the camera, a couple looking at the sky, one screaming - not bad, not bad at all. About as good as it gets!

We all posed for a group photo before leaving on Sunday. What a wonderful way to celebrate Thanksgiving. Kirsten is already talking about making this an annual event. We will put it on our calendar for next year. I like this tradition, even more than going to Golden Corral for a turkey dinner!

Fun in the snow

November 26, 2009
Guest blogger: Renee

Thanksgiving day was a bright and beautiful one with all the new snow that had fallen. We all got our snow gear on and headed out to play!

Doug broke out the snow blower and made quick work of the 7 or so inches that had fallen overnight. It was a fluffy snow and moved pretty easy.

Zach made a few snow angels and threw some snow around. It felt good to be outside after our big Thanksgiving dinner.

I dug the lights out of the crawl space and decorated a few trees in the front yard. Doug then put up a few strands of lights that look like pine cones on the gutters. They are LED and are super bright, we really like them. This house, like our first Anchorage house, has an internal light switch that controls the outside plugs. In addition, the house has a couple of plugs in the porch ceiling for holiday lights. Well designed. We plugged everything in and can turn them on and off with never having to leave the warm comfort of inside!

Golden Thanksgiving

November 26, 2009
Guest blogger: Renee

Thanksgiving dinner!! Everyone at work thought I was joking when I said I was taking the family to the Golden Corral! I wasn't and it was great. We did this in Houston and it is a tradition we will continue. There was no shopping, no preparing, no cooking, no clean-up, no angry "mom" mad by the time the meal was ready as 15 minutes of eating took place on a meal that took hours to prepare.

Instead we fell out of bed about 9:30 am, got dressed and headed to the Golden Corral where a fleet of people had been working all morning to make a buffet fit for royalty! The place was packed, there are a lot of other people who have our same idea in mind!

Interesting combination for Thanksgiving - pizza, french fries and jello. We did say that he could have anything he wanted. For plate 2 he had more of a traditional Thanksgiving meal.

Sam doesn't care where we eat, just as long as there is food. He can eat just about as much as an adult. He is a growing boy!

Ah, the desserts and sweets. We all sampled a few, they were good. The best part of the meal - after it was done, we left a tip and dirty plates on the table and left. No clean-up! Home to take a nap and pack for our upcoming weekend adventure.

Bathroom Remodel

Guest blogger: Renee
Too many days in late November

The downstairs small bathroom was just boring. We never liked the gold colored fixtures.

Especially the large gold colored mirror that came with the house, but never really went with the lights and other decor in the house. The faded peach color paint, while neutral enough, was not quite our taste.

We are hosting Doug's work holiday party at our house on December 11th, so a perfect excuse to update/remodel the bathroom. After a couple of trips to Lowe's and Home Depot we were ready for transformation. New light, mirror, shelf, faucet and towel and toilet paper holder. Add a new color paint and should be a quick and painless transformation.

Doug is quite handy, but I think the old sink faucet about challenged his patience. On the new faucet box it said "the hardest thing about installing this.....is getting your old faucet off." That is an understatement! The old faucet was corroded in place and not moving. Doug figured he would either get it off, call a plumber, or end up breaking the porcelain sink trying to get it off which would then require a new sink. Many words not appropriate for a blog and a Dremel tool later (and a couple of days) and the old faucet was off and the new on!

1/3 of the way there! The brushed nickel is so much better!

Some light gray paint and WA-LA!! A great looking bathroom. Doug does a fantastic job of painting, he has much more patience for these types of projects than I do!

When we were at the Kennedy Space Center in October, there were signed and framed pictures of astronauts on the moon. They were $900-$1,100. Doug mentioned that he had a signed picture that his Grandma had gotten for him years earlier when an astronaut came to her church in Florida. We located the picture in a tub in the upstairs closet and were pleased to see that it had not been folded or bent and was in great condition. Turned out to be from Jim Irwin who died in 1991 at age 61, he was the 8th person to walk on the moon as part of the Apollo 15 mission. Doug ordered an Apollo 15 patch and had the picture/patch framed. It looks great! We really liked it in the bathroom, which lead to painting the room a color to match the moon in the picture and of course, the rest of the remodel. As a side note, as Jim Irwin is deceased, he isn't signing any more pictures. Louise found one just like Doug's on-line for $1,200.

Very nice update.

The troublesome faucet was worth the effort, the new one is SO much better.

Curvy light that matches the light we have in the kitchen and family room.

Church and H20

Guest blogger: Renee
November 18, 2009

Our church, on Wednesday's, has an evening meal prior to Bible study, choir practice, or for people like us who just want a break from cooking for a night. A reasonable price for a good home cooked meal.

We got to the church right about 5:30 pm and found quite a few people streaming in. We found the food, some nice people to sit with (who were originally from Rockford, IL) and a high chair. What Doug and I failed to realize is that our children associate the church gym with "after church running and having a great time." They knew exactly where the stash of balls and toys were in the far room. Keeping them at the table and eating was going to be a challenge!

When we got to the church, Doug said "the kids eat with us?" I gave him a "what?" type of look. At the Sunday service the week prior Doug had heard the notice for babysitting by the high school kids for the morning after Thanksgiving from 6 - 11 am and for an upcoming Friday evening. He had hoped it was tonight and that we would sit and enjoy a quiet dinner together.

When we got everyone a plate and seated we had won 1/2 the battle. The food was great!

Enchiladas, salad, refried beans, green beans, chips/salsa, ice cream and a cake made by our new youth pastor's wife.

Our church is 1/4 mile or less from H2Oasis. It was great to have dinner and then go over for some play time on the pirate ship!

With coming after dinner, we were able to ride the water slides that are open from 6:30 - 8 pm. Zach couldn't wait to go on the Master Blaster as well as the orange water slide!