The Week So Far

It was a quiet Sunday in the nursery. Michael, Stacia and I were happy to play with the sweeties at a ratio of 1:1. LOL 

Michael has been working on the logistics of creating a float for Colony Christmas. Krista has been working on manning the float....a bit of candy is coming in, people have been volunteered, and after church costumes were selected. 

Backs purposefully chosen....as I didn't get permission to use the photo of minors

 Josiah stopped by to pick up a costume after which we headed for lunch and home. Jamin took advantage of the cute puppies to attempt cute footage for his business channel.

Puppies aren't supposed to be upstairs, but Benny has taught them to climb the stairs....who can resist a cute puppy?

A good gal friend and I were able to fit in one more "coffee date" before Christmas. Michael drove me and took my van to get the tire repaired. Her husband brought her and ran errands....the bottom line being we even snatched time for all 4 of us to visit. Win win.  OH! Two screws found in my tire. I have no idea where they came from.

Two things of note have happened to change this week's plans. We had another windstorm - which brought with it warmer temps. Our snow is gone again....with the exception of this little start of the sled hill. It's beginning to look like a BROWN CHRISTMAS. We are set to have the warmest winter on record....evidently the 51* in Anchorage is the warmest day EVER on record for this time of the year. Odd year.

The other thing of note is some silly bug in the basement....Benny woke with a fever on Monday and Arielle came down with it Tuesday. My theory is it hasn't gotten cold enough to KILL THE GERMS.

When Arielle is sick, Stacia gets to go be a nanny in her place. The spot is 30 min from my home....that takes 2 hours out of the day to drive her there and pick her up. It IS a beautiful drive. She enjoys the time and $.

Look who made it up the stairs again? 

Michael and I decided to leave the table as it was at the tea. We don't usually need 8 seats at the table, and it may be easier to put the tables up for extended family with the table oriented this way. We'll live with it a bit and see what we think.

Michael entertained us with Advent wreath tricks after dinner. From Facebook comments I discovered this is a common Advent trick for Dads everywhere. LOL  Unfortunately, Blogger doesn't like the length of the video....which may be another vote for actually starting the YouTube channel again.....in my spare time. 

Tuesday dawned bright, warm, and windless. Carl and Michael took the panel outside to spray paint it....

Earlier, I drove Stacia up beyond Norman St.....Arielle sent a text as I drove, "Be careful. Miranda's area is extremely icy." 

Hmmm....it wasn't too bad - or so I believed. I pulled up behind that little car and slid back down...twice.

 
The roads were pretty good except for the 1 1/2 miles of gravel road ....off  Norman....sheer ice.... I made it to drop Stacia off.....and then I had to go BACK to the main road - UP a sheer icy incline. I learned the van has all sorts of bells and whistles to let one know they are sliding. I pondered WHY car manufacturers would believe one needs the DISTRACTION of those bells and whistles whilst sliding.  I made it. By the time I got to the "main road" - which is really two or three streets from the Glenn Hwy - which is THE MAIN ROAD -  I was all prayed up and had discovered myself to be quite demonstrative in prayer when  properly motivated.

Michael drove out to pick Stacia up and I took these photos. He agreed it was bad...but pointed out they had put a gravel strip all the way down the shoulder and even if I did start to slide off the road, it would have stopped the van. Or so he believes.....I didn't notice it.

Bre had invited the girls and I to a White Christmas tea. We would watch the movie and enjoy some refreshment....Arielle was sick - we skipped the movie, I grabbed Dad, and we met at Bre's for tea and goodies.

I made some sugar free cookies - which were good. I tried some peanut butter/cream cheese truffles that I'm not so sure about. I'll dip them in the sugar free chocolate before making a final decision. I suspect they are keto fat bombs as they are very fatty and not so sweet. LOL  Anyway - I had a couple of sugar options for Dad and I. He does not avail himself of the sugar free options - though other family members DO like the cookies so all is not lost.

Sugar coma? No, Gideon does this at every meal. 

I got home and found the trailer inside the garage (a feat in itself) and Michael assembling pieces....the wind put us a day behind schedule so no lights yet....

We were all VERY tired after dinner and went right to bed. LOL  Early this a.m. we heard that Miranda's little one is throwing up....so Stacia doesn't have to work today. She is happy. I am happy. We're all happy!  Just a normal Wednesday.....

I had planned to have some moms with preschool kids over to decorate sugar cookies, but this close to Christmas with this bug running through the house, caused a change in plans. 

I suddenly realized it's the 11th of December - so I guess I'll pay bills instead. LOL I don't know why a new month always sneaks up on me. 

MAG 2019 Christmas Tea

The family  (including Dad) is eating ice cream. I will hide in the nook and blog and pray I don't give in - because I really don't want to start metFormin.

I will focus instead on yesterday's  fun Tea. Jennifer did a great job with planning and pulling off this year's tea. Originally,  we had thought it would be at her new Lakeside home....but her home isn't finished. We moved locations to our home.

Carl stopped by while we were setting up and starting. He and Michael have all the words done on the float....the message is on both sides so it can be seen equally from either side of the parade.

Some women I have come to love deeply in the past couple of years.

Yasinta and Bonnie

Nora and Nani

Stacey  - she's stocking tiered tray - not eating a plate
of raspberries by herself.

Britney & Donna 

Sandy & Jennifer

 We had 3 tables in my living room, 2 in the dining room and the big table we normally use - it was impossible to get a photo of everyone all at once. LOL

F - Britney & me
Rose, Nora, Nani
Yasinta, Bonnie, Stacie, Ameilee

We had a wonderful selection of savory and sweet food.  Jennifer and Donna picked the recipes and various ones of us prepared them to share. We have about 4 women doing the Keto diet, and 3 - 4  of us avoiding sugar due to diabetes....there was one or two full sugar treats, several low carb and several keto treats. I had no trouble at all filling up without eating sugar or tyramine (allergy).  I appreciated the care Jennifer gave to making sure there was something for everyone....for the most part the recipe make-overs are easy ones which are part several of our ladies lifestyles. For instance, I made low carb chicken salad....basically switched out cashews for pecans, skipped the grapes and put in Romaine leaves instead of croissants, and I used Best Food vegan as I was making it and I still watch my cholesterol very carefully with my hyper-cholesterol whatever they call it syndrome. Wala - still tasted good and no one busted their eating plan. ::snort::  I was skeptical of skipping the cashews and grapes - but after making this with non fat Greek yogurt and no nuts - this tasted like a treat. LOL 

All the tea cups were from Mom's collection or ones I had purchased. We will have MANY MORE when I actually unpack the part of Mom's collection which she didn't sneak into the trailer when we moved up here. ::snort::  I hope I have a few of her crystal platters. I discovered all mine must have been given away when we downsized to move to Japan. LOL 

Donna made these lovely 3-tiered serving trays. I plan to buy the pieces and make some for myself. Donna graciously suggested I keep a few trays to use for the two tea parties I will be hosting before Christmas. I had vague thoughts of getting one made this week - but I think Donna's plan is much saner. 

Sandy spoke to us about peace - and it was a word for the moment. 

At some point during the day Michael needed to leave. He and Nolan went to pick up Alex, grab lunch, and go watch Midway....this meant he and Nolan grabbed keys and played a giant game of tetras on our icy lot. LOL 

Photo via Krista

I didn't sleep well Friday night. I got home around 10:45 or so....it takes a bit of time to unwind....Alex needed to be up early and I was driving him to work....honestly, I mostly was up thinking about Mom and missing her. 

I was very tired this evening. Stacia and I settled down to watch a Christmas Movie with Dad. Dad spotted Home Alone and it seems he and Mom watched this one alot. He could quote the lines to us. We were a bit shocked at the dysfunction in the family....but enjoyed zoning out....the boys came home and finally accomplished our annual viewing of The Muppets Christmas Carol. Benny snuggled in to watch...

Sharing traditions with a new generation - Priceless. 

Serious Playing Going On....

Working in the garage...its coming together. Carl is great and Michael is a good assistant.

I realized I've not had photos on the blog for quite some time of Bella and Gideon. I watch them weekly, during the prep and services of Alive Alaska. I'm always focused on them and forget to grab photos...but tonight I made a point of taking photos. LOL

The high point of today is watching Bella and Gideon. 

I scored scored serious Grandma points when I showed up with Mickey.

We have  6 1/2 hours to play... so we got busy.

Be still my heart! That smile is captivating. 

Sweet eyes! She liked the "candy popcorn." 

We colored, and played super heroes...

We cut out cookies, baked them, cooked and ate dinner, and decorated cookies.

Bella is the QUEEN of the Sprinkles. 

Next up was drawing...Bella told me this is the lights. We agreed  it's the Northern Lights. 

It's 10:20pm and Bre texted they are on their way home.....we've had a full night. 

14 Winter Lessons from an Alaskan Transplant

This Alaskan transplant - raised in the tropics - is learning a few things about winter.

1.  Nose hairs freeze at 3 degrees.
2.  Michael's truck is fun to drive in 4wd.
3.  When opening the library door at 6* one SHOULD WEAR GLOVES.
4.  Chicken latches freeze - chickens don't like not being able to get out.
5.  HOWEVER, once you get the latch open, chickens don't want to come OUT         when it's 6*!

6.  Eggs freeze!
7.  Chickens should be taught to lay eggs in cartons to make it easier for all.

 

8.  Our chickens have decided it's fun to lay eggs ALL OVER in order to get             more time with US as we search for their eggs. Nesting boxes are blase'.

Michael found all these eggs OUTSIDE the nesting boxes

9.  When stopping in the road to take a photo, one may get stuck in the                        snow....see #2. 

THIS is not where I got stuck - but it was the better photo LOL 

10. Life is much easier if one wears gloves in single digit weather...see #3 and 4.     
11. There are a lot of pieces to remember when getting properly attired for 3*            weather.  Some Alaskans dispense with such wisdom. 

Some Alaskans are CRAZY
Alex insists he is wearing shorts until there 1' of snow

12. Some adults NEED gloves on a string threaded through their coat                          sleeves...see #11.

13. Christmas yard signs don't work well in Alaska. The ground is frozen. I                suppose I'll need to put them up in October next year and leave them up until        spring. 

14. Grandblessings work wonders to stave off winter doldrums. 

Papa ordered a gyroscope - cuz he knew it would entertain the grands

Other news of the day - Kim Sensei likes the new computer for the kids' Japanese classes. She reports the video is much better and the kids say the speed is nicer.

Life Group met after our Thanksgiving break. It seemed like we had been "off" forever. LOL I find that a weekly commitment to host a group of people in our home greatly improves the cleanliness of our home. LOL  We are watching and discussing some video clips from "A City on the Hill" at RightNow media.

Alaska is DROP DOWN DEAD GORGEOUS in the winter! Our little corner of Alaska shines this time of year.

See? There IS sun in Alaska in the winter....11:30 a.m. I love to watch the sun hit the mountains....used to be at 10:00 p.m.  I DO love SEASONS and we certainly do have changes in seasons in Alaska. 

It is TIME to get a winter survival kit in the cars - just in case one runs out of gas, has a flat tire or accident - all things I've done in previous years. Just today Michael's truck said to "check the tire, pressure is low." I got out of the truck, slid around to the other side and noted that, "Yep! That's a tire. Check." 

What do you put in an automobile's winter survival kit? At this point my van's consists of a bag of gravel.