Bachan Needs to Bring Her A Game

 Oy vey! Bachan needs to bring her A game when she comes to play at CoRielle's. ::snort:: I love that we ALWAYS begins with drinks and then our exercise - which is really "chase games" on YouTube. 

Little Buddy, Danny & Benny

It's darling that they haven't figured out you ALWAYS win these races...tricky videos, coach! I love Tuesday's workout. 

Today was a bit of a challenge as both Danny and Little Buddy were checking out all the boundaries. 

"Walk away Danny." 

"Walk away Little Buddy." 

"Make a better choice Little Buddy." 

In the end I pulled out all my Mommy tricks to ensure we could continue to have fun, but I could keep the 2 2 year Olds in check.... I collected a variety stuff and moved it all to the top of the fridge. Bowl of remotes anyone? 

And then there was the discussion with Benny. "Bachan - what does your schedule look like?" 

Oh, oh. I knew I was falling down on the job. I always take the grands out for a date...we eat, we shop, we wrap gifts and I take them back home. I even bought crafts to do at our house this after shopping.  I knew BreZaak's kids wouldn't be able to this year...and then we lost the three weeks in December....so I plan to take Liv and Benny and the boys out in January. Benny is politely honest. 

"Why, Benny?" 

"Do you have time for a shopping date with me?" 

"Can we do it after Christmas?" 

"I think before Christmas." 

Bachan needs to bring her A game. LOL We have a plan. The girls are going out with Arielle on Friday morning, Cory will be home with the twos, and I am going to take Benny out - before Christmas. 

This afternoon was co-op. I picked up two new things to try from the extra table.... limequats and rambutan. Limequats taste like little lemons. Good stuff.  Rambutans? 

These are interesting little fruit.  First discovery - one does NOT eat the skin. Second discovery - it takes like a big, peeled grape. 

My final discovery of the day? I need to be more mindful when buying bulk herbs.  A pound of bay leaves is a lot of bay leaves! And I think my vacuum sealer will crush them. 

Bay leaves anyone? 

First, Dig out the Car...

 A day of calm before the crazy pace takes over. I had hoped to get a couple of things done today, but in the end, Stacia left with Michael and Allie and by the time they returned the day was gone and it was dinner time. Ah well. 

Michael and Allie had an appointment this morning at DMV. Since everyone was sick immediately after buying Allie's new car, the title hadn't been changed over. And would you believe you cannot get a vanity license plate in Alaska anymore? They discontinued it during COVID.  ANYWAY - before the DMV Allie had a task...dig the car out and start it up to make sure the battery etc was fine. 

She got it dug out. It started right up. It was stuck and Stacia and Alex helped push it out of the deep snow. Stacia went along to get more winter driving practice. Allie picked up a co-worker and headed to work. Stacia drove Michael to Wasilla, and all around our town. He said she did great with both the highway driving and the winter driving. She's got a driving test coming up and we were sorry all this snow got dumped right before her big day. LOL  She's asked us if we think she should wait for spring to learn to drive her manual car...not sure. 

They were gone ALL afternoon.  I could have done the projects alone, but I wanted to do them with the girls...or at least one of the girls.  There are still days left....right? I finished a book I need to return to the library tomorrow. LOL 

We had a lazy night here at home. There were only 5 of us for dinner.  GG went to bed fairly early. We sat in a quiet living room where Michael and I read beside the light of the Christmas tree and Stacia worked on a gift for the upcoming youth Christmas party. 

Stacia has hatched a plan to double up school after her Christmas break and finish her senior year a few months early. I think she's ready to really hit the college classes. LOL 

Christmas Sunday

 For the first time in several weeks, I was able to go to church.  It seems I was home because GG was sick. Then the girls were sick. Maybe it's only been 2 weeks - feels like longer. LOL Christmas Sunday is a great Sunday to show up at church. We came home laden with wonderful tokens of friendship and community...cards, photos, soup cozies (not sure what they're called), candy, fuzzy socks, sourdough bread...AND it was good to worship in community again. 

Michael LOVES a specific restaurant in our town. They have recently been closed on Sundays and Mondays due to manning. They were open this week and so there was no discussion needed about Sunday lunch options. We headed over for calzones. It was just the 5 of us today. Stacia ended up sitting with the sun in her face. She amused us by discovering all the floaties in the air around us. She was truly disgusted to think that it's always there, but unseen.  That'll preach. 

We had timed things to be able to pick up a grocery order for BreZaak and drop it off before drove back out to our place. Unfortunately, Freddies was running way behind. Everyone went home. I decided I'd take the hour to do some Christmas stocking shopping for the girls.  The order was delayed another hour. I ended up not getting home until after 4:30 p.m. I did get most everything I wanted for the girl's Christmas Stockings. We don't do our household exchange until January 6th, and our family gift exchange is on NYE...so the focus is simply on filling those stockings, prepping for our Christmas Adam Tea, and a rousing Jesus Birthday Party. 

Please do pray for BreZaak's family. As of yesterday, Bre is the only one left standing. Even little Trudy has the flu. Izaak is on the mend so the upward journey to health has begun. Little Trudy is a month old, there is nothing sadder than a sick baby. 

Look at the fun going on in Eagle River today. I LOVE that Noah is expected in January - just what one needs to break up winter blahs around here. It's getting REAL when the furniture gets set up. It's a darling room - I love the comforter.  Thanks to Larissa for sending the photos. 

📷by Larissa

📷by Larissa

See the glider? I was moved to tears when I considered all the hours of cuddling and bonding which will happen in that sweet spot.  The baby years are HARD, but those years are amazing as well. We're all excited for our little miracle, Noah's, arrival. 

📷by Larissa

You know...the fact that Christmas is a week away has jumped out at me. I spent a week with BreZaak's family after Trudy arrived, everyone was sick for a week, and I lost another week and a half due to the snowstorm. This IS one way to make winter go by fast! 

A Great Saturday

📷by Larissa 

The most exciting event today may well be Larissa and Jared attending childbirth classes. January is so near! I am still bummed we had to postpone the family shower we had planned for JaRissa and Noah due to illness. Larissa is so near giving birth we will do all we can to keep germs far from her....maybe we'll have to give them the gifts before the shower. LOL 

All those younger siblings paid off for Jared today as his mad child-tending skills came back. LOL 

📷by Larissa 

📷by Larissa 

The girls and I went thrifting today. It was a very profitable day. Stacia found a great coat for me. Mine was a thrift store find 5 years ago and the zipper broke. I have been looking at retail stores but refuse to pay the exorbitant price for a coat. I've also been checking thrift stores and haven't found anything. She found one that is warm, zips AND snaps (a backup plan for future use), has big pockets and I like it - $15.  Every year I have a little gift I give the girls at our Christmas Adam Tea.  This year I'm trying very hard to stay in a budget and pare back spending....and so I did not want to spend the $350 I spent last year on the gifts....I found all I needed at thrift stores. I found the same thing in two DIFFERENT thrift stores. LOL I spent $15. I also bought a verity of containers I need for another gift I plan to work on.... Allie found a sweater, jeans and a jacket. Stacia found a jacket she's been looking for for months. 

Look at all the snow in town. If WE have a hard time figuring out where to put it all - the task is nearly impossible in a city neighborhood.  You can see the girl's (and their families) homes are about snowed under. LOL 

Happy Anniversary to CoRielle

This is a SPLIT level house and look how far up the steps and door frame the snow has gotten. 

Michael took Stacia out for some winter driving education. They brought pizza home for dinner. I harvested a batch of kombucha and started the next batch fermenting. The last batch I made was simply the starter tea, peach syrup and home canned apple juice. Everyone liked it, Michael mentioned missing the red juices. The rest of us really liked this...so I made another batch and added pomegranate juice to the mix this time. We are making a gallon at a time rather than 2 gal at a time and that is working well. 

We settled in to watch A Charlie Brown Christmas and DryBar comedy skits. 

Yes, I KNOW she's on the wrong side - I 
wanted it for the photo. 

Friday!

I played around with a recipe and created these. They are a hit. They are NOT sugar free.  They are going to our Bahai neighbor who acts more Christ-like than many Christians. Oops - did I say THAT???? I need to get them delivered BEFORE many more are eaten.  I need to buy more candy and make some variations for our Christmas Adam Tea and our Christmas Day Jesus party.  I think I could use Snickers or Thin Mints as well as Reeses.... 

Six Sisters No Bake Reese Fudge Bar - sorta 

Since some will wonder if I only deliver to those who are friendly. NO. BUT...we've taken things around since we moved here to our neighbors (we don't live on a typical city block). I had noted some oddities in response. Michael mentioned last time he thought there was a bit of hostility...so we will not take goodies around to neighbors who seem to read it as a hostile takeover attempt. We will deliver to those two or three who seem comfortable with the idea of neighbors being neighborly... We'll think of new ways to be friendly to those who seem not to want one on their property. LOL In what I think may be a GOD THING...the one hostile got a new dog and their dog loves to run away to our yard...so we get to smile, retrieve the dog and exchange a bit of good cheer when the dog breaks away. Who knows? 

Michael and I, the girls, Alex and GG all went to Anchorage to watch the new Avatar movie. It was an end of the year appreciation Jamin hosted for all his realty clients. Our thought was a free movie, dinner and drive through lights at ACF in Eagle River.  It was fun to see Jamin and CoRielle and boys at the movie. That is a LONG movie. We were getting out at 7:40 p.m. and since Alex had to be up at 0400....we opted to skip dinner and lights. We came home and Alex went downstairs. GG had some dinner. The girls and I had hot drinks and visited a bit, and we called it a night. 

The drive was beautiful. We only saw on wreck. Maybe folks are getting their winter driving skills honed. 

Thanks, again Jamin, for the night at the movies. We loved it. 

An Unexpected Visit

We did NOT get another 2 feet of snow overnight. We DID get at least another foot of snow. That makes at least 4 feet of snow (I think more like 4 1/2) in the last 10 days. That's a whole lotta pretty.  I looked out the window and thought, "Oh, we didn't get new snow." I opened the door and realized we did. The wind has also been blowing it around. These photos were taken about 8:45 a.m. 

Do I really need out? 

Our weather station on the back deck

We knew the deck had to be a priority today. We've been trying to keep the driveway and walkways clear...but the deck is getting heavy enough we need to deal with it.

I had just gotten Dad settled with his breakfast and was in the process of frying my eggs when the doorbell rang. I thought it was UPS and they'd be gone when I got to the door, so I didn't rush. THERE WERE PEOPLE at the door! Angels come to help dig us out! Michael and Alex spent 3 hours shoveling down to the foundation in the driveway last night....  Michael's back does not like the shoveling. I nearly cried when I saw these angels. Arielle brought the boys in to get their snow gear on, Cory started shoveling. 

Danny, Arielle, Little Buddy, Benny in the background

I scarfed down my eggs and joined them. Our first endeavor was to find GG's newspaper. Benny and I set out...it wasn't delivered today...but we knew we'd better check. 

Benny searches for GG's paper

 Our next stop was the compost heap and then on to water and feed the Rabbit and the Chickens. The compost bin is now FULL of snow. I think I'll need to stop composting until we get some of the snow removed. 

Everyone helped! Cory dug out the garbage can so I could put a bag in. Who are we kidding? He did the bulk of our driveway, around cars...he's a champ. 

Arielle shoveled off GG's ramp so we can get him out and then she helped with the driveway. 

Benny told me he was going to shovel out Stacia's car "So she can go places."

He was satisfied when he could see the "Vibe."  LOL 

Danny and Little Buddy pretty much wandered around and messed with snow. 

Stacia and Benny tackled the back deck. 

Danny remembers the best part of shoveling snow....

My plans changed from helping to shovel, to entertaining the two year olds. I love this job. It worked well. 

Bachan, Danny & Little Buddy 📷by Arielle 

"Bachan! I'm slipping."

As we closed in on the 2nd hour of outside work, the boys wanted a break. We came inside to have hot chocolate and snacks. Benny left the deck to join us when he saw what was shaping up. He wanted a real teacup. And the 2 year olds were NOT about to have a SIPPY cup when Benny had a real teacup.  I was glad I had the melamine teacups to give each boy their own REAL teacup.  I originally bought these to give away to granddaughters at our Christmas Adam tea parties... They were hard to find so I bought extra when I ordered Annie's to have for future granddaughters.  I'm thinking I need to keep some HERE for tea parties. I'll have to try to find them again. 

Hot Chocolate Party 

Stacia had some frozen cookie dough in the freezer which I pulled out to bake a dozen quick cookies. It was great fun. Danny was happy to share with Cory when he came inside. 

It was a blessing to Michael to be able to ice his back and not worry about the snowfall from last night. The forecast shows a break from snow for a week and a return to COLD temps. We have had over 4 feet of snow fall in the last 10 days. 

We clear this after each big storm and couldn't imagine needing more than 15 inches. Michael says he's going to remark it. LOL The black mark you see about a 1/3 of the way up is the 15-inch mark. 

I was asked if I could meet at 3 Bears with a couple more dozen eggs. Stacia and I were happy for the outing. I was happy Cory had dug out the van this a.m.  Look at the snow drifts at the side of the car - it was cleared on Tuesday. LOL 

I drove these winter roads like a BOSS! I'm not in the Philippines now! LOL 

I like to get photos of this truck in a field near us. One can barely make out the truck for all the snow today. LOL 

We had a good laugh at Alex's truck...it almost looks like a truck of snow on top of his truck. LOL 

It's been a lot of mess, and I know kids need to get back to school, but it's been kind of fun too...record breaking snow. I'm glad we are here. 

The Season of Lights

The girls both celebrate significant milestones today. Allie has submitted her last assignment for her first semester in college! As important as showing herself she can manage the class load, she's also learned to balance work, serving at church and personal down time. Great job. 

Stacia took her final test in the last Genki Book (Japanese language series) and she scored 100%! She'll begin a new curriculum in January. Her classes in Japanese language, culture, comparative religions take on new significance as she does the next thing on her journey to being a career missionary in Japan. Take the next small step...a life lesson we all do well to remember. Way to go, Stacia! 

And I have no picture to commemorate the day - should have saved one from yesterday. LOL They spent the afternoon watching Sherlock Holmes. 

We've had a steady, gentle, beautiful snow fall all day. Michael and Alex spent another 3 hours shoveling off the snow which accumulated in the past 24 hours. 

The dark, winter days are upon us...but seriously, check out all the white!!! When the storms pass, we'll have stars, moon and northern lights reflecting on all the snow... We were losing 5 min of sunlight a day. Suddenly, I realized this week that the sun was NOT rising at 8:30 a.m.  I was finding it HARD to get up at 0500 and slept in until 7 on several mornings. I checked. Today, the sun will come up at 10:41 a.m. and go down at 2:33 p.m. We are marching towards the darkest day of the year - December 21st and then it will slowly begin adding light each day. I love the seasons....

Rather than think of this as the "dark season," I choose to make it the season of LIGHTS in our home. These lights will stay up until spring, and sufficient sunshine arrives. 

Entry - with the tree around he corner

Lights on our house (inside and outside) will shine until spring and candles can now glow nicely in the windows. I miss the candles in the summer. They shine much brighter now.  I'll need to get a better photo of the house lit up. 

Mom Mary's canning jars on my kitchen window ledge are filled with lights and shine so nicely on these mornings. 

We're learning to embrace each season for what it is...the joys and the challenges. We do have family members who LIKE the winters up here much more than the summers! 

And, I do take copious amounts of Vitamin D during the winter....

All these photos were taken between 8:30 - 8:40 a.m.