Family pictures

It is time for a new family picture. The lighting wasn't bad. The tree colors were awesome! We used the timer on the camera, therefore, Shane or I had to run for it after we pushed the button. There is no perfect picture by my expectations. Some of the pictures weren't bad. We really had to bribe Scott to get him to hold still. Let me know which one you think is best.

I sacrificed myself for this picture. A few minutes before, I slipped on some you know what (my biggest pet peeve of dog owners!) and twisted my left ankle and my left knee landed on a rock. My knee is so sore. I can't go up and down the stairs or sit for long periods of time. Most of all, I can't kneel. This week at work will be really hard! Scott took this picture for us. He pushed the button and I cropped it.

Sarah Skating!

Sarah got invited to to rollerskating with her friends. She has never been skating before except on ice skates. She is normally really well patted with ice skating. She was really frustrated for a while at first. Then she was able to calm down and enjoy herself. Right before we left, she really had a hard time due to being tired. Her friends were faster than her and really didn't want to skate with her. The soundtrack reminded me of skating when I was younger.

For her first time, she did really well!

Sarah used the wall for support. We finally moved her out to the middle of the rink.

She skated better out there!

Sarah's friend was just too fast for her.

Her friend finally slowed down enough to skate with her.

Sarah and her friends. So happy!

No Teeth Lost part 2!

When I stood in line to sign up for children, there was no disclaimer about all of the fighting, cuts, and blood. Tonight, my Sunday nap was cut short! Shane was hollering and the next thing I know, a bloody Scotty was coming through my door. Scott and Sarah were horsing around in Sarah's room. Something happened (we are getting conflicting stories) and Scott hit the side of the toy shelf. It seemed really deep, so off to the Emergency Room. Three hours later...the cut gets glued together. I love our medical system when an adult with a sprained ankle gets treated before a three-year-old with a split open head. Overall, Scotty did really well. Now, we just need to make it through the night. At least, no teeth (and thank goodness no eyes )were lost this time!

Sunday Best

Scotty got new church clothes and looked so cute! This is his first tie! He had his cowboy boots on. All day we tried to get him to not tuck his pants into his boots! When we picked him up from nursery, his pants were tucked into boots. We were so proud of our hillbilly son!

Since I never talk to anyone anymore, I thought I would give a quick update. We are doing well. I spent all day yesterday cleaning out the garage. Shane put up a ceiling fan. Thanks to the ____ people who built this wonderful place, it took all day to put it up. We are busy working and sleeping! I feel like that is all I do. Although, I was truly excited to find out that ASD fought the state and won, now making it so I don't have to videotape myself teaching. This was a newly state requirement for new teachers to change their professional teaching certificate from initial to professional. I am so relieved! It involved a lot of extra work! Shane is just as busy as I am. He is really enjoying our Wii. The kids love to play with him. Sometimes Sarah kicks his but in bowling and boxing. It is amazing how good she is!

Sarah is liking school. My favorite time with her is on the drive before and after school. She asks the best things! Our last conversation involved batteries, both big and small, in everything. She is very observant and insightful. She also created a matching game in her class. Her classmates try to compete against her, but she always wins. They cheer her on! She has a really good teacher!

Scotty is as crazy as ever. He is such a BOY. I could go on for days about the things he does. Oh, what a BOY! He is still very much into everything superhero related. These kids miss their grandparents and wish they would call! We are jealous of both sets and the fun they are having!

Mow today...Rain tomorrow

It finally stopped raining for a few hours that we finally got to mow the lawn. We got a great deal on the mower. This was the first time we mowed the lawn in our marriage and in our new house!I love the smell of fresh cut grass. I also remembered how much I hate the smell of dog poop. Keep in mind that I like dogs, however, I have a real distaste for owners who do not clean up after their animals... Anyway, the smell followed us into the house. I have a no shoes in the house rule, kind of an Alaskan thing. Well, Sarah was having one of those days where she cries over everything, and she proceeded to cry and throw a fit about how much it smelled in the house. So, I changed the garbage. A few minutes later, we discovered that Sarah was the culprit. She was the one who stepped in the freshly mowed dog poop and dragged it all over the house. She doesn't obey the shoe rule on a 'whenever I feel like it' basis. Putting it nicely, mom was not herself for the rest of the night.

Scotty's Room

I thought I would post some of pictures of Scott's room. This room causes me the most amount of grief. When we bought the house, this room was yellow with pink trim. The green covered the yellow. Eight coats of primer and white paint later, you can still see pink in the trim. Anyway, this room is a danger to everyone! Saturday, Scott lost all of his toys! I love having space to take away toys until they have to earn them back. I know that I was just as bad growing up.

No teeth lost!

What started out as a power battle with learning the consequences of our actions, really turned into a painful consequence for her actions. Sarah is learning that her actions result in not so fun activities. She was playing with the collapsible cat carrier without permission. So, she was asked to break it down and put it away. This is a hard task that she had to work at for a while. Though many tears, and a short break away, she was able to break the carrier down. However, it turned into a mess. Dad yelled, I think she lost a tooth...As past experience has shown, I don't do well with that phrase in an emergency type situation. Luckily, all her teeth were intact. But, her lip was torn up pretty badly. As she was breaking the carrier down, she pushed against it and hit her face. Her lip is pretty swollen. Poor Sarah, some lessons are hard to learn!

Yee haw Cowboy...

Thanks Grandpa! I finally earned my boots! They are awesome! I wore them everywhere today! In the words of Woody, "Yee haw cowboy... Hey howdy hey, I am looking good!"

Grandpa...you are my favorite deputy...Love, Scotty

Beluga Whales

We got an early wake up call that the Beluga Whales were starting to migrate. So, we jetted down to Beluga point, hiked to the rocks close to the water and watched. We saw a lot of them!!! It was so exciting. A few were even within 20-30 feet from us. A few of the mothers brought their babies close by. I had no idea that babies are grey and turn white when they grow up. When you looked out into the ocean, you could see the white spots miles away. We were really only a few miles out of town.

New House!!

We finally sold our condo and bought a town house. The official date was July 30,2008. However, we couldn't move in until the 5th of August. It was a big effort supported by the help of my wonderful friends! Thanks guys, I couldn't have done it without you. To finish off the move, Scotty decided I needed more stress in my life and broke the van. He broke the turn signal, and $325 later, we have a new turn signal. Lesson: Children don't listen. Rule #1 of the day was No Playing in the Van! I needed 15 minutes to load the final items and mop the floor. While we were at Schucks trying to figure out the the problem, we had a freak rain storm with thunder and lightning. In Anchorage, thunder and lightning are rare. It really matched my mood!

We are finally in our place. Shane has been emptying our storage units. We have been painting and organizing. Both kids have their own room and a shared bathroom. But, they feel the need to always be in mine. It took forever to get phone, Internet, and TV. It is sad how dependant on technology we are! We are enjoying it so far. I love the bar stools!