Picking out rocks at the river

Kailyn has discovered yet another way to give me a heart attack. She climbs up on her stool to peer out the window and jumps up and down with excitement now that she has a complete view of the side yard. Meanwhile, the stool wobbles all over the place and I try to control my panic. Of course, the stool doesn't stay by the window when I'm not right there, but I want her to see the world, so I let her do it sometimes...

We had another day of sunshine, so we packed up and went for a walk down to the river to collect rocks. Kailyn was a great help - she organized 3/4's of the riverbed for me, one rock at a time. Willie did his part, too, trying to remove the dead trees so we could look under them for the perfect ones. I hope that we got enough - I am hoping to do a craft with the girls on Wednesday and Thursday. I'll have them all day, so any ideas for fun stuff would be greatly appreciated!

Quilt Festival

Peggy came to visit us last weekend for the Semi-Annual Quilt Festival. We had a great time and (kind of) got alot done. We learned from last time and didn't take so many classes; she took one of my all-time favorite patterns, the Wedding Ring, and my main class was on a pattern that I've always liked but have been too scared to try, the Tumbling Block. I also took one on wall-hangings, and chose a pattern that worked with bright colors for my kitchen, which is kind of dark. I still have a lot of work to do on both, but they are coming along!

Kailyn has been growing so much these days. She breezed right through her 6-12 month clothes and now is in 12-18! I can't believe it!! She really should still be in 6-12, I think, but they are so short on her. She also skipped right over walking.... taking approximately 1 1/2 days to perfect the skill, and now she pretty much runs every where! It's great exercise for me, as her favorite game is getting chased around the house screaming and laughing while I yell, "I'm gonna getchu!" She has also discovered the cabinets and has claimed one for her own - all of her toys get shoved in there for quick cleaning each night =). I don't know who's more pleased with the set-up, her or me??

I think that she is going to be into creative stuff. My bag of fabric was downstairs, and she had a blast going through it over and over again, checking out each scrap one by one. We've also started letting her color - of course, she's strapped to her high chair so she doesn't take off with a crayon in her hand - and she's so cute. She really thinks about each color choice, as if studying the piece of art she's creating to see which color is lacking the most. It seems so strange to see my baby picking out colors....

This is her onery face - I can't believe I caught it! She's getting ready to throw the crayon on the floor after much deliberation and thought; brown does not belong in her picture. She gave it a fair chance, but it's got to go.

Blueberry pancakes

Picking Blueberries at the Cabin

We had a great time at the cabin this weekend - it was generally great weather and we were able to get some good family time in. After spending most of the week hand loading and unloading 39,000 pounds of cedar home, Brian and Jared squeezed in time to get most of the trim up and put a second coat of sealer on the little cabin; looks like we are set for winter! I can't believe how fast this summer has flown by! Although we hoped to get the big cabin shelled in this summer, time has simply run out and we are going to have to wait until next year.

Mike & Erin stopped by on Saturday and we all picked some blueberries - Kailyn LOVED it! She couldn't eat them fast enough! Tyler was a great partner for Kailyn, too, since he decided that he didn't care for them after getting a few tart ones.

We let Kailyn try her first Oreo cookie, and there is no doubt about it - she definitely belongs to us! She went nuts and shoved the entire thing into her little mouth. She had a great time hanging out in her Carhart's and playing in the dirt, too, though I am not sure I will ever get the blueberries out of them.... and do I care?

On the way back to Valdez, we took a little break and went hiking around Blueberry Lake. I was hoping to show her the Pass, but there were SO MANY tourists. I guess that other people had my same idea! She is quite the curious little girl, and had a great time studying the different flowers, rocks, and leaves while Willie ran around like a madman and I breathed in the fresh air and relished in the beauty of my daughter and the mountains surrounding her. Aaaahhh... I love this place!

Charge!

Poor Willie - Kailyn's latest "game" is charging him with her cart. It is absolutely hilarious, though I do feel bad for poor Willie, who has learned to listen for the "eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeg, heeeeeee" that means Kailyn is coming. I'm not sure if you can really tell in the picture, but he is getting ready to run hard left to get out of her way, but he has to wait till the last possible second or she turns, too. She thinks this to be sooo funny & squeals her excitement when he darts out of her way. And me, supposedly the mom and protector of all in the family, can do nothing but belly laugh every time she does it. Oh, poor Willie and the torture to come for him!

Kailyn recently decided that she doesn't like broccoli. After Dad took too long to take each piece from her, she made a little pile on the side to be sure that it didn't accidentally touch the yummy chicken fettucine. I am kind of wondering if it's a color thing now, though. Tonight, she kept all of her peas (I was so scared she would decide she didn't like those either, and I'd never get to make them since Brian doesn't like them either) until last, and ate all the yellow corn first, then the orange carrots, then all the peas.... does she not care for green?

The big girls helping out in the yard picking up Willie poo - I made them a deal - $1 a pile (thinking I might have $15 piles, so $7 or $8 a piece, that was worth it to me. Well, 5 minutes later, Tori came in with the totals: Mikayla 30 piles, Katie 26 piles. I almost fainted. $56!!!! So.... we renegotiated - $5 each and an ice cream cone - they were happy, and of course, so was I. I haven't been taking Kailyn out in the rain when Willie goes, figuring I'd get it on the next sunny day.... who knew a little guy like Willie could make so much poo!

Of course, you know Brian thinks this is great - Kailyn slams her milk, and then throws the cup down when she's done with an "aaaaaahhh." Some of the guys want to teach her to crush the milk cup on her head, but I've drawn the line. Mean Mom is no fun!

Sometimes I like to sleep like my cousin Kate - check out her website at

http://web.mac.com/gravitino/iWeb/Larsons@mac.com/Home.html

Party Central

A little different than our college days - now most of our invitees are under the age of 10! Funny enough, these times are more fun than those (Brian might argue the point, but he's lying!).


Today was a great day - Kailyn and Willie are in HEAVEN! I started watching Katie, Tori, & Mikayla yesterday, and can tell it's going to be a fun year for all of us. Today wasn't quite sunny, but it wasn't raining, so we went for a walk and then over to the park. Each girl took turns pushing Kailyn or walking Willie while I kicked back and did pretty much nothing! It is so funny to think that Kailyn will be like this one day. They remind me of the slumber parties that I would have and all of us girls would giggle and talk a mile a minute until mom, and finally dad, would tell us to "GO TO BED!!" I can hardly keep up with their conversations!


In case Kailyn didn't have enough fun partying with the big girls, we had a little get-together for Brayden's first birthday. He is such a stud - we put on some eighties rap, and these two were throwing their hands in the air breaking it down to LL Cool J! After dinner and dancing, we let the kids have some cake - Brayden really liked it, even if he had to wear a pink bib!

Congrats to Alisa - who has her third interview for Deal or No Deal tomorrow! I'll keep you posted if (when) she is going to be on!

A Day of Sunshine (finally....)

Well, I had just about given up on this blog thing... I have checked every day to see if my pictures would post, and everyday have been deeeeenied. I had several pictures to post with the last entry, but none would show up, making me so frustrated. Now that it has allowed me to bring some up, watch out! There are quite a few to make up for the lapse in time; maybe I can start posting regularly again. It's not nearly as fun with no pictures!

I'm not sure what I want to write about first, but I guess I'll start with my shorts. Mom saved these from when I was a baby, and it was really neat to put them on my daughter knowing that my hiney was the last one in them! I can't believe they actually fit her - they have always looked so big to me! Mom says they were my favorite pair, and I believe it! They are pretty well worn (loved), and they look SO CUTE on Kailyn!

What is most exciting about fact that she wore my shorts is that SHE WORE SHORTS! It was hot enough to wear shorts! While the rest of the States have enjoyed a hotter than normal summer, we have not enjoyed a wetter than normal one. It's been tough on us - Kailyn and I are both suffering from cabin fever. One of the greatest things about living in Valdez is the great scenery and all of the stuff to do outside, but we have been robbed of that most of the summer. I did get Kailyn a raincoat, so that helps when it's just drizzling, but when it's really raining and a little chilly, I don't want to go outside, let alone bring my 1-year-old out. So when the sun peeked out from the clouds yesterday, we JUMPED on the opportunity to get outside. I told my friend Katey that it reminded me of the Rapture, where one second we are all here going about our business, then the next , we are whisked away to meet our Maker. Well, most of us =) are taken to Him. I was right in the middle of taking the laundry out when I heard Kailyn's squeak, indicating she was up from her nap. Even I didn't know that I could run up the stairs, get her changed, coat & helmet on, and in the bicycle that fast. We were off!

Our first stop was the boring post office, but then we went over to Ruth Pond and fed the ducks. Kailyn loved watching them swim and chase each other, racing to the bread I would throw. When it was her turn to throw, she would hold the bread high as if she were going to zing it over to the ducks, then stuff it in her face as fast as she could and laugh. I love these little games, when she tries to "trick" me, and thinks she's hilarious (she is). After the pond, we rode over to the docks and watched Pat Olsen gut some fish. Gross, you would think. My daughter thought it was great. So did I, really, since hopefully this means she'll be taking on that job when we go fishing!

No story to tell about this picture - just thought that it was funny. I actually thought that Kailyn was starting to like Cheerios - she normally gives them to Willie. I guess her new trick is sticking them in her high chair when I'm not looking since we are working on not throwing food on the ground. She is such a little stinker! When I first saw her tights, I thought to myself, "how cute! I didn't even realize those were polka-dotted." Then, it seemed the polka-dots were 3-dimensional, and I laughed! What a goofball!

Boat Rides & Anchorage

So much has happened since our last post. As we were packing to head to town on Thursday, the 28th, Katey Connell called to ask if we'd like to go out on the boat. It was one of those gorgeous days that make all of the yucky, rainy days in Valdez worthwhile - perfect blue sky, bright, white clouds, birds singing.... it seemed like paradise. On days like those, you can hear the waterfalls in the mountains and it always makes me feel oddly insignificant. These things have been here for people to enjoy so long before I was born, and my children and their children will have them to enjoy long after I am gone. I have no part in them, only get to be amazed by them for a few years until my time here is over. Hmmm.... Anyways! Kailyn LOVED the boat! It was a little chilly that day, but she wanted to stay up top with Bill and watch everything - the boats, the water, daddy's work. I grew up on boats all the time, and I am so happy to see that she enjoys being on the water like I do... maybe one day we'll be able to buy a boat and spend lots of time out on the ocean together. We only went out for a short trip to pull up shrimp pots, and it was really cool to see the Connell clan work together as a family - each member had an important and specific job to do to make everything run smoothly. Once we got close to the harbor, Kailyn had a chance to check out the shrimp and crabs that came up. We had to throw the crabs back since they still haven't recovered from the oil spill in '88, but the shrimp were HUGE and jumping around like popcorn. I let Kailyn touch each of the creatures, so scared that I was going to be cleaning crab guts off of us when she squeezed them to death, but, thankfully, she was very gentle. I love to watch her little brain processing everything - so intently absorbing the smoothness of their little backs and the ridges on the little (BIG) shrimps. I hope that we get other opportunities to join them; we had a lot of fun!

Once back on shore, we had to rush home, finish packing, and hit the road to Eureka to see Daddy, who absolutely walks on water in this house. Jared and Brian are standing walls already, trying to get as much of my Dad's cabin built before the snow flies. It's looking really good, but going a little slower than we all hoped with our lousy weather this year. After spending a night with Brian, we went the rest of the way to Anchorage to start looking for a dining table, office furniture, and a guest bed, and amazingly, found all three in one trip. We couldn't believe it! It was a quick trip, but quite productive. My favorite purchase was definitely my new dishwasher!! I am so happy - it's great!!! The top shelf drops down so you can put plates on the top when you have a lot of pots.... I am so pleased! We really like our table, and it's nice to be able to sit together like a family. I think Brian feels like the king sitting in his armchair at the head of the table - makes us feel like a real live family, with us as the grown-ups.

While in Anchorage, Mike and Erin (Brian's brother and his wife) celebrated their anniversary and let Tyler spend the night with Tom & Peggy. The kids took a bath together and had so much fun splashing and sharing their toys. Both of them are so funny - Peg and I couldn't stop laughing at how they interact together; Tyler wondering what the heck those things are coming out of her head, Kailyn amazed at how cool her big cousin is, already going to college and all!

A Triple Date at Ernestos!

Brayden and Alisa came over this afternoon and we ended up making an evening out of it - we all had a great time out to dinner at Ernestos. Brayden is sooo cute! He's standing and crawling around super fast, and Kailyn loved sharing her food and toys with him. In a few weeks, she'll also be sharing pre-school stories with her big cousin, Tyler, who had his first day of school today.

Flip flops & convertibles!

She's 1/4 Florida girl! Never even tried to take off her first pair of flips! She has a few sandals, but these actually go between the toes like big-girl flip flops, so how was I to resist? Impossible, I tell you!

As usual, when I splurge I buy something like $3.99 flip flops. And Brian's splurge... a new car! Jeez Louise! He calls me an impulse shopper! It is so cool - it has a little trunk with tools in it, and the engine has spark plugs and can all be taken apart. They already had it jacked up working on it tonight, dad & Kailyn. She sure loves spending time with him!

So, today was a big day! She also took a bath in the tub today. She LOVED it! I figured she was ready a while ago, just have been too busy with other things to clean her tub out. She soaked the entire room, splashing and kicking. It was great! I'm not sure if you can see the water in this action shot, but at least you can see her wave pool.