First day of school!

As usual the first day of school went of without a hitch.  It also marks the beginning of a very busy school year.  As of right now Natalie and Nichole have an early morning TA class for the office, Natalie is doing cheer after school, Nichole is managing the football team, Tyler is doing after school soccer, and Ella just got done with running club.  That is 4 kids doing extra curricular activities after school at 3 different schools at once.  With Nate also going to school 4 days a week it makes for a very busy after school pick up schedule for me.  I love that the kids get to do after school stuff and most of the time I am happy to pick them up but then again some of the time I just can't stand getting in the car yet again.  

The kids started school on August 19th.  They were all very happy to get back to school and see their friends.  I can't believe that my kids are all getting so  big.  Natalie and Nichole are Juniors this year,  Tyler is in 8th grade, and Ella is in 5th.  Where has the time gone.

Nate took Natalie and Nichole in to school for their first day and I took Tyler and Ella.  Ella wanted to be walked into her classroom.  I am happy that she still wants me to do that.

A trip to Kodiak with the Chugiak High School Football Team

I never thought that I would be going on a high school football trip with one of my girls.  Nichole is the manager of the high school football team (I know she has this thing figured out)  and thee team was going to take a trip to Kodiak, Alaska to play a game.  Just to give you some reference as to how big alaska is from where we live just outside of Anchorage Kodiak is a 5 hour bus ride and a 13 hour ferry ride away.  The 2 girl managers of the team were invited to go IF they could find a woman to go with them.  The booster club asked all of the football moms if they wanted to go and they didn't so they asked me if I could chaperon the trip.  Which by the way didn't cost me a thing with one exception.  On Monday night they asked me and by Thursday I was on a bus on my way to Kodiak.  I met at the High School at 1 and ended up waiting there for several hours before we ended up leaving on the bus.  Finally we loaded up and started out drive to Homer, Alaska.  We stopped about 3 1/2 hours into our trip to get pizza for dinner.  Which we ate on the bus and kept on a going to Homer.

We arrived at the Ferry Terminal around 8:30 and loaded onto the ferry.  The ferry was delayed a little while and we didn't end up leaving on the ferry until almost 11.  When we loaded onto the ferry the girls (Nichole and her friend Myranda) and I hurried around looking for a comfortable place to sleep (I use the term comfortable loosely) We ended up sleeping up in the semi open area of the ship.  Semi open as in if we walked about 5 yards we were out under the night sky.  We slept on a piece of metal under a heater.  I tried to get us a berth to sleep in but they didn't have one available for that night.  The night was very long and pretty uncomfortable but I made it threw.  The following morning I woke up and just laid there not wanting to disrupt the sleeping of any of the kids,  I finally looked around and I was basically the only one still asleep on the boat.  I found Nichole downstairs playing cards with the boys. 

After several stops at different ports we finally made it to Kodiak.  We disembarked and loaded up into a bus.  There was a 12 seater van to take all of the equipment as well.  We got dropped off at the middle school where the boys got settled in for the night.  They got to sleep on the floor of the gym.  After they were able to settle in for a bit the coach loaded up all of the kids and had them head down to the football field for practice,  Nichole, Myranda, and I joined them.  During the middle of the practice I had to take one of the boys to an appointment that he had there in Kodiak. 

After practice the boys all went back to the gym and ended up showering.  Unfortunately for us girls we were kinds stuck seeing the boys in all various levels of dress.  Luckily there was no complete nudity that day.  Lets just say that these boys do not care if there are girls in the room or not.  They are going to strip down and out of their football gear.

After the shower the food arrived (the coach had asked some of the LDS member's there in Kodiak to cook up spaghetti for everyone to eat) and we were able to enjoy our dinner.  After dinner the girls and I went outside to walk around and get out of the stinky gym for a while.  We noticed that some of the boys were loading up into a van to do some sight seeing.  Us girls decided to join it.  We went to the top of a mountain where we could have seen the whole island if there wasn't so much fog.  But what I could see was absolutely beautiful.

Shortly after that we got back to the School the girls and I loaded up into the van and headed to our hotel thanks to the mustang booster club for putting us up.  We didn't need to be back to the school until 11 o'clock so we slept in and took our time getting ready.

By the time that we got back to the school the gym was so quite.  It was weird.  The boys were required to be quite and think about the game and how they were going to win it (or should I say cream Kodiak)

The game started at 2.  We all went down to the field a little early to start warming up.  I was asked to film the plays.  It makes the football game look that much more unique having to watch it threw the eyes of the camera.  The game was played really well and Chugiak creamed Kodiak 50-0.  

After the game we all went back to the school again.  But first Nichole, Myranda, and I had to load up equipment into the van.  By the time we got back to the school the boys had already made it inside and were once again stripped down to their skivvies.  In order to avoid any accidental  eye raping we hurried on out of there and went to get our own dinner (we just couldn't stomach pizza again) We ended up at a subway and took our sweet time eating out sandwich. We also headed over to Safeway to buy some snacks for the trip home.  Everyone hung out at the school or wandered around town until it was time to load up on the bus to go back to the port.  The girls and I spent some time outside with some of the guys.  It was getting way too hot and way way too stinky inside of the gym.  

When we got to the ferry terminal we unloaded everything and I headed into the ferry terminal and waited for the purser to get there so that I could get a key to my cabin I was sharing with the girls (which just so happens to be the only thing I really had to pay for on the trip with the exception of 2 meals).  We waited no lie almost 2 hours for the purser to get my keys from.  But when we finally did get them sometime after 11 we went straight to the cabin and settled in for the night.  By the time we woke up in the morning we only had about 30 minutes before we hit the Homer port.  The girls and I hurried around and got ourselves ready and went out to the main area to unload.  After we disembarked it took about 40 minutes to unload stuff from the bottom of the ferry and then reload it onto the trailer.  The girls and I handed out the breakfast to the boys as they loaded into the bus.  We stopped at the same place as we previously stopped on the way to homer this time for lunch instead of dinner.  We also made a stop at a potty.  I thought that Nichole was going to explode she had to pee so bad.  She hurried off that bus as fast as she could and straight into the bathroom.  Unfortunately for the girls and a very few of the boys we had to wait in line for the bathroom.  Most of the boys just piled into the woods to pee.  The coach told them to at least go somewhere that he couldn't see them.  What he neglected to tell them was to go somewhere where I couldn't see them.  Another fine example of boys having no issues with modesty or self confidence for that matter.

We loaded back on the bus and ended up back to the high school around 2:30 that afternoon.  Regardless of what the coach thinks I did have a very good time on the trip.  For the most part I am up for everything.  It is a good thing that I had to answer right away and not have to think about whether I was going to go or not for too long or I may have changed my mind.  In which case I would have regretted it.  

That's not creepy at all Nichole.

This is half of the pizza that was ordered for us.  They ordered 1/2 a pizza for each person on the bus.  At first there was a ton of left overs but over time it all got eaten.  The boy carrying it is named Mike.  He is actually in my ward.  He now stops by the library to see me at church and says hi to me on Sundays.  One time I didn't say hi to him in a timely matter so he asked my why I didn't say hi.  Now I say Hi to him every time I see him even if it is just a matter of minutes from the last time that I saw him.

This little swing set was right outside of the school.  Nichole thought that it would be fun to take a picture of herself on the swing set and make it look like she was playing on an abandoned playground all alone.  

This is a picture of us on the top of a mountain.  It was beautiful!

This guy was awesome.  He was made out of a tree stump that was just on the side of the road as a decoration.  Its arms were hinged and there was a plant growing out of the top of his head.

This is another one with a few of the boys on the top of the mountain.  It was so windy up here.

Nichole laying down in the ferry cabin.  It was so comfortable.

On the way home Trey and Eric cuddling (haha)

Some of the highlights of the trip

*giving one of the boys a lame nickname  (JoMaMa)

* spending the time on a free trip to Kodiak with my daughter

* having the kids tell Nichole how cool I am

*realizing that some of the high school boys are genuinely  nice kids

*having the crew of the ferry think that Myranda spilled a soda on the floor when it was really me

phone picture post of randomness

Natalie and Nichole had heard about this really good sale that was going on at JCPenny's.  They had all of their formal dresses on sale for 20 dollars.  They both were able to find one that they liked.  I don't have a picture of Nichole in her dress but I was able to snag one of Natalie off of her instagram account.

While Natalie was at the high school doing her office job for the summer she reported to me that the state trophy for track had finally made an appearance. She called to tell me this information and wanted me to come and look at it but, refused to show her face in the picture,  Ella was happy to oblige. 

Who can resist these eyes!

I took Tyler school clothes shopping.  Afterwards we went to Bear's Tooth for lunch.  I love my one on ones with my kids.

During our lunch I caught him licking his whipped cream on the top of his chocolate shake.  He then turns to me and says "I just want to eat my whipped cream in peace".  Funny kid,

Ella had to go in and have some testing done over the summer.  They released her to me for a 1 hour lunch break.  I let her choose where she wanted to go.  Her choice of course was McDonalds.  Her happy meal came with these fun little glasses that you can hook to your straw.  She asked me to only poke out one eye because she wanted to be a pirate.

Nate, Tyler, Ella and I went to go and see a movie in 3D.  Tyler brought home his glasses from the movie and pushed out the lenses then turns to me and says, "I am completely blind without my glasses."  Tyler and I then went on to  have a "Who wore it best" contest.  I think I won and he thinks he did.

Nate has several days a month that he is on call.  During those days we don't seem to get much done.  As you can see from the photo evidence I managed to take a selfie that day and Nate managed to pass several levels on his computer game.  We are such "Noobs"

Just an early morning waiting at the bus stop.  Ella loves to climb this rock and then tell me that she is taller then me.  Its okay with me that she says that because I know she will never be as tall as me.

Nate and Nichole had a leg war.  I wish I could post the hilarious video that I have of the two of them doing this leg war but I was told most sternly that I was not allowed to do so.  It is so great to watch Nate bond with the kids.  Even if he is forcing them to touch his feet.

Tyler turns 14

I can't believe this fine young man turned 14 years old.  I can't even express my gratitude to Heavenly Father for sending him to my family.  I would describe Tyler as easy going, a hard worker, and full of life.  He sometimes is hesitant to try new things but after you talk him into doing it he usually loves it,  Tyler likes to go bowling, fishing, and be outdoors.  His favorite foods are poptarts and pizza (he has a very sophisticated palette).  He loves playing any kind of video game.  He is good at card games and chess too. I am one lucky mama to have him around.  I love you Tyler.

Home Decorating and Crafts

I was so excited to move into a house with a fireplace mantel. I love being able to decorate it  according to the season.  Since I didn't get home until right before the 4th of July I decided that it was too late to put that mantel up and I still had my springtime one up.  Something needed to change.  I also didn't want to skip clear to fall because fall was too far off.  My solution was going straight to back to school.  It was the end of July before I put it up and it still seemed a little too early to be celebrating  back to school but I figured it was my best option.  Nichole and I went to several antique stores which is where I found the vintage miners lunchbox, the old books, and the red pail.  I love how this turned out and can't wait to switch over to my fall/Halloween mantel.

The other fun thing I was excited to do was switch out my bedspread.  I bought one that I loved about 5 years ago.  But, Nate thought that it was uncomfortable like "I am sleeping with a cardboard box on top of me" as a matter of fact.  I knew that I wanted a gray bedspread so I set off looking around for one.  I knew that I had to buy one that I could touch and make sure that it didn't feel like a "cardboard box" I found the perfect one at Target.  I had to do a trial run to make sure that Nate liked it too.  Luckily he did.  I have since bought 2 orange pillows to replace the 2 big yellow ones and a mustard yellow throw pillow.

I was so lucky to do a photo shoot of the most adorable newborn boy.  His family is all into superheros.  When I found this out several months before the shoot I went online a bought a superhero costume to put this adorable little guy in.  Between the time I received the costume in the mail and the time I had to do the shoot it got replaced.  The day before the shoot I ran to the fabric store and bought the stuff to make it myself.  I figured I could make the replacement outfit myself.  After making my own pattern and having to learn new sewing techniques I was able to pull this little outfit together.  I think I did a rather fine job myself.

The aftermath of it turned out really well too!

Bear Paw

My favorite time of year is upon us in Alaska.  Its the time of year that is very short and fleeting here in Alaska.  Most people loving refer to it as Summer but I like to think of it as warmer spring.  Every year at the beginning of July Eagle River has the Bear Paw Festival.  It is a week long event that has fun things for everyone to participate in.  For example there is the teddy bear picnic, a stinky shoe contest, a slippery salmon toss. and the 100 yard dash because more then 100 yards is just no fun.  Ella, Nichole, and I went to the parade.  Of course Nichole is getting to big to sit with me and totally baled on me to sit with her friends.  Natalie had to work during the parade and Tyler just didn't want to go.  It is a perfect parade.  It is just short of an hour and Ella always gets tons of candy.  

Fishing on the Lake

Right before the 4th of July Tyler, Ella, and I (Natalie and Nichole stayed in Utah an extra week) came back to Alaska.  Lucky for us the flight home to Alaska was uneventful.  Ella did get motion sick and tried to throw up.  I got her up to go to the bathroom but the pilot was getting ready to come out to use the bathroom so they wouldn't let us go.  They told us to go to the back of the plane.  The bathrooms were occupied back there and I didn't think that Ella was going to make it.  They did ask the pilot if he could wait and he said yes and they allowed Ella to use the unoccupied front bathroom. She didn't end up throwing up after all.  I was still very thankful that the pilot was kind enough to live with his discomfort a little bit longer to accommodate Ella.

Right after we got home Ella was invited to spend the weekend with her friend and celebrate the 4th of July with them camping at a lake.  Nate took advantage of that time for some one on one time with Tyler and took him (and me) fishing.  I only stayed a little bit because I got a headache, Nate took me back to shore and I drove home.  We are lucky enough to have access to several lakes within a half hour drive from our house.  The one we went to was only about 5 minutes away.

Tyler caught several fish before I left and tons more after.  They caught almost 25 (they do catch and release with the exception of 3 so he could teach Tyler how to clean a fish and so that Tyler could try trout). At first Tyler was hesitant about touching the fish but before I left he had successfully took the hook out of the fish and was able to release it back into the water.  

The following weekend Nate ended up taking Ella out to the lake.  They fished for a while and caught over 20 fish on that excursion too.  Nate has really found the good fishing spots on that lake that's for sure.  Ella loved fishing and had no problems with touching the fish.