The Great Wall

Sorry it's been a while since I last posted. It's been a rough week. Dealing with a 2 1/2 year old boy can be tiring, doncha know! Also, I am just SO ready for spring, which thankfully is on it's way. So, I don't know if I told you, but I've been hemming and hawing for weeks now about wanting to paint a wall in my dining room. Military housing is always starch white, and no matter how I try to add color to the house, the white walls just seem to swallow it up. It was downright depressing...and I clearly don't need depressing. SO! Today I was in town, I stopped at the hardware store and bought a gallon of green paint. (!) I came home, put Star Wars Episode 4 on for the kids and got straight to work. The results are...well I just can't describe my joy. It looks AWESOME!! I can't believe I ever thought about NOT doing it. It makes such a difference...saying that doesn't even do it justice. I just can't stop looking at it. I love it. Love it, LOVE IT!! The proof is in the pudding...take a look!

Luke, I AM your father...

You know...I'm such a girl. I grew up with a sister. We were all Barbies, Cabbage Patch Kids and Rainbow Brite. So, Joanna's interests come easy to me. Now, Nate on the other hand...well, let's just say it's a good thing Darth Vader IS his father. Hee hee. I've come a long way, baby. In the past 10 years I have gone from being totally clueless (The Force? What?) to a full on appreciation and affinity for all things Star Wars, Spider Man and ninjas. It's priceless to see the look on Jake's face when Nate comes up to him with two lightsabers and says "You play lightsabers, Daddy?" So, here's the epic battle that took place in my living room yesterday. Oh, and I have to give Joanna credit where credit is due. She's totally her Daddy's girl and can tell you where Chewbacca lives and who R2D2's best friend is....C-Creepy-O, of course!

Use the Force, Nate!

Don't let "Arth Gator" win!
A tense moment...it's touch-and-go...
Who will triumph?
My bet's on Nate!

The Weather Reigns Supreme

Okay, I think the weather up here is officially driving me CRAYZAY! Yup. Another Saturday post about a blizzard. Seriously, there has GOT to be something more exciting to post about. Oh, wait! There is! :) After the blizzard stopped us from making it to swim lessons this morning, (Literally, Jake wiped off the window of the van and the snow started immediately accumulating again.) Old Man Weather, or whatever, decided to allow our friend Katriauna's birthday party to proceed as planned. (Well, not quite as planned...he cancelled it last weekend.) Wasn't that kind of him? So, we dug out again and headed over to the pizza parlor and pool for some birthday fun. The electricity went out right as we were gearing up in the locker room, but the lifeguard got permission for us to swim anyway. We all had a blast. Here are some pictures and videos I snapped of the birthday fun and also an imprompteau birthday-teaparty-picnic that Joanna whipped up after swimming lessons were a bust. Oh, and Nate decided to dress himself this morning, too, which ended up being totally hillarious. Oh, and I need to ask Christie if I can put a link to her blog up on mine. (UPDATE: She said I could. Yay! It's up top on the right-hand side.) She posted a gem about this "Premium Lunch" we had on Valentine's Day at the galley. Plus, it's always fun to see what Graham is up to over there at the Smith house.

Joanna swimming

The cream is the best part!

Don't have too much fun, Nate.
Is this Nate or Don Johnson in "Miami Vice"?
Chef Supreme!
Um, time for a trip to the Dentist?
Me.
Like father like son...

Gee, Mom...it looks like The Beaver got a haircut!

So, Christie and I took the boys to get haircuts today. I was really nervous because Nate is notorious for throwing complete conniption fits whenever his hair needs a trim. I'm not kidding, he usually yells at the top of his lungs for all to hear: "NO MOMMY DON'T CUT ME!!! DON'T CUT ME!!" No amount of candy (I threw an entire JAR of candy in front of him last time), songs, or desperate pleas from his mother will calm him down. I'm surprised I haven't had to explain to the police that there is not a murder going down in Apt. A. Just a little boy getting his hair cut. So, I let it grow. And grow. It was really long, but I just couldn't bear the thought of torturing him, myself and my neighborhood by cutting it again. (Scroll down a bit and you'll see the before pictures.) Anyway, Christie mentioned that Graham needed a haircut and that she wondered (she is aware of our struggle) if we took the boys together to a professional, that Nate might go for it. I was totally doubtful, but I thought, what the heck. The worst thing that could happen is we would just have to leave (like 8 months ago when I took him to a salon in Sequim). Well, miracle of all miracles, he watched Graham have his hair cut (which I wish you guys could have seen, it was SO CUTE!) and then HE SAT and let the lady cut his hair!! He wouldn't let her use the clippers, but he did let her use scissors, so she just went with that. He didn't enjoy it, really, but at least he let her cut it without screaming! Here's the final result:

Nate, you did it!!

Clownin' around. (I think Joanna's next up for a trip to the salon.)

I cannot tell you how excited I am about this!! Oh, and to add another twist to my day, I went to leave the house this morning to meet Christie and I COULD NOT find my keys. They were lost. So, luckily Christie hadn't left yet and came to get us. We were standing outside waiting for her, and it was cold. I told Joanna that we could go inside and wait if she was too cold standing outside. She goes (as she takes this deep breath of air) "No. I think I want to stand here and enjoy this blue sky...". It was a really clear, blue day. That just goes to show you how much indoor living we do around here in the winter. Anyway, so we go and Christie bring us home. Jake came home shortly after and said "Look what I found!" and he holds up TWO sets of keys!! He took both sets to work with him! I was so relieved! I thought I had lost my mind earlier! Oh, and we got our new camera in the mail today, too. I am SO going to take a picture of this tree in town by the fish processing plants that sometimes has around 10 eagles sitting in it. So, watch for that fab little ditty soon! :) Okay, I'm off to watch American Idol....it's Hollywood Week, yo!

Snow Day!

Sheesh, are you guys tired of me talking about all the stupid snow days we have yet?? Well, I am! Yes, we had another one today. Blizzard warning, blowing snow, white-out conditions...blah, blah, blah. The base closed due to the weather, so that meant no swimming lessons for Joanna and no pizza/pool birthday party for our little friend Katriauna, poor thing. Alaska is just not kind to kids born in the winter months. Jake has duty too, which makes it extra cabin fever inducing...BUT I will and have prevailed!! We did not let this poopy weather get us down, no sir! We stayed in our pj's all day! We blasted the Beach Boys and drank hot chocolate! We did other things, too...all of which I was kind enough to take pictures of for you all to see.

Our window...isn't it nice that the view is blocked by snow and ice??

scroungy me

Rainbow Doodle

Hot chocolate with sprinkles!
YUM!
Wanna play Candyland?
Good game (Mom won.)

Swimming Lessons and Family Portraits

So, Joanna had her swimming lesson today. She went off the diving board again (with a little help from her instructor)! It's weird to see your kid in the deep-end of a pool. Especially considering how terrified I was of it when I was in swimming lessons. I remember when I refused to continue on into the "Bass" level because I wouldn't go off the high-dive. At least I can claim a small success for not passing my issues onto my daughter. :) Right?? Here are some pictures I took:

Warming up

Here I go! (Mom, uncover your eyes so you can take the picture!)
Whee!
What fab form!
The other thing I wanted to share today is the "Family Portrait" Nate drew last night. It just made me smile so much...it's SO CUTE!!! I can't believe the things these guys can do now. One's jumping off the diving board and the other's making family portraits? What next??

Nate's Family Portrait.

So, other than that...not too much going on. I want to do some cleaning this weekend and we might be going to a Super Bowl party tomorrow. It's snowing a little...I heard the groundhog saw 6 more weeks of winter...NOOOOOOOOO!!!!! (I'm done with Winter and READY for SPRING!!)