I'm singing in the rain, just singing in the rain!

 Okay, just little sarcasm in my post title. We've had storm after storm this week and not just the typical rainy season of Cordova. I'm talking about some serious storms! I haven't seen an exact measure of rainfall reported, but we have easily had over 15 inches of rain!!

Normally, my yard looks like this...

 This is my yard after the first storm this past Saturday...

 

 And here's another view...

The storm activity did break Sunday afternoon and gave our little stream a chance to go back down.  When it did, it was interesting to see what was left behind.

Very large rock piles!  

Thankfully, our house is staying nice and dry.  We typically have some flooding in our laundry room during heavy rains and when the snow melts, but my amazing husband found a temporary fix for that! Way to go hubby!!

The husband also had to go out in the heavy rain and wind to cut down this tree. Due to the increase water flow in our stream, the ground this tree was rooted in was being washed away.  The tree was leaning towards the water and rather risk loosing the whole bank, Leif went out and cut the tree down. 

My hero spent at least 30 minutes cutting up the tree and getting it all out of the water! 

 

With such stormy weather, we've kicked in the winter food menu for dinners. 

Soup and biscuits were on the menu this night...  

Leinna LOVES helping cut out the biscuits!

And the Mister Lukkas- well...

He's not much of a fan for this rain.  All though, all this indoor time is giving him many opportunities to crawl. He's been up in the crawling position, rocked back and forth, but that's it.  Whew... a few (really, just a few) more days of limited mobility and then I'm going to have TWO children who can cruise around. 

 

We are headed to Anchorage on Friday for Lukkas' 6 month check-up. I'm curious to see what he weighs these days, because he's been a bottomless pit! 

 

Until next time... love and hugs to all!

Needing A Little Grounding

One may think, how could anyone experience unhappiness and stress when you have these two adorable kiddos to come home to!  They certainly do bring a smile to my face after a challenging day at school. This week has been extremely challenging to the point that I find myself doubting whether I will continue a career in teaching. 

However...

 I'm going to take a lesson from my daughter and remember to help out where I can and do it with a smile on my face. 

I'm going to take a lesson from my son and remember when things are looking down, I'm going to sit down, relax and do something that will really bring a smile to my face.

I'm going to take a lesson from nature and remember that just because my surroundings seem to be withering away with the changing of the seasons, I can choose to stand tall and shine like the daisy fighting for everything I believe in.

I'm going to remember to look up and find my strength there. I have a feeling this school year is going to be a year of many personal growth lessons. I hope to remember these lessons and do my best to remain positive this school year. 

 

A New Found Respect

Papa, the mighty hunter, left Tuesday afternoon in hopes of finding a bull moose in Fairbanks with Grandpa Jacobsen. He won't return until Sunday evening, which means it's just...

Momma and the Kiddos!  

Hence my title, "A New Found Respect"

I have such a new found respect for single parents, parents whom the spouse is military and are deployed, and even in the fishing community as the summers often leave the family in solo parenting mode.  Working full time and then coming home to take care of the munchkins on my own, proved to be a very tiring week but also rewarding.  With one more sleep before Papa returns, I look back at this week and think - wow, I did it with a head cold and all! (now it's Papa's turn - ha, ha, ha...) 

 I wouldn't have made it through the week without: 1) an awesome day care provider whom eases my mind every morning knowing that my kids are going to be well taken care of 2) an amazing friend who came over to watch kiddos one night while I had Back to School night to attend 3) amazing co-workers who prepared a meal for us Friday night and 4) for all those who said prayers and thought positive thoughts my way during the week! 

Update....

His name is Jed!

"J" for John, a dear family friend who gave Daisy (momma cow) to my dad and

 "ed" for my Uncle Ed whose bull is the papa. 

They Make Me Smile

They make me smile....

Whew, what a week. The first full week back to school is always challenging. We'd been practicing our morning routine so that part of the day went smoothly. The challenging part for me was the amount of school work I needed to do in the evening. I refuse to work on school tasks when my children are awake and I also refuse to give up my 'quiet' time which entails taking the dog for a walk in the evening. That meant by the time I picked the kids up, we played, had dinner, played some more, snack, baths, stories and finally bed it was after 9 pm by the time I got going on my school work.  For those who know me, 9:30 is a late night for me.  Well, I think the earliest I went to bed this week was at 11:30pm. =^(    I know things will get better as I get programs up and running at school, but until then - I'm thankful for the laughter and smiles my kiddos bring to keep me going!

In other news, I guess this would be my first animal sibling?  My mom and dad are re-establishing the farm my dad grew up on.  They have a cow (Daisy) and two steers (Bo and Luke).  Well, Daisy is now a proud momma to a little boy. They haven't named the new addition yet - but I think General Lee would be fitting or maybe Eddie since it was my Uncle Ed's bull that is the papa.  I can't wait for next summer when we are planning to spend the majority of the summer in Wisconsin with my parents. (That's all provided we won't be in the middle of moving- will have to see what the school year brings.)

Even though it was a busy week with long days and short nights, I love how I'm reminded of the beauty and wonder of nature.  Beautiful sunsets like this as I was walking the dog was just the recharging I needed to tackle the work I had waiting for me.  I hope this week will go better, especially since Leif is headed to Fairbanks to go moose hunting.   Until the next time I have a chance to write - may you find something in your day to bring a smile to your face!

First week of school filled with firsts!

August 23rd we welcomed a the start of new school year with the students.

So thankful we spent the past two weeks getting into a routine and working out the kinks so that our mornings run pretty smoothly.  Granted I know every morning won't be easy, but it was still nice to have a relaxing morning for the first day of school.

The Mister celebrated 21 weeks of life and it was time to start introducing solids other than cereal. 

 

Leinna LOVED green beans, so let's see if that's what Lukkas is going to like...

Are you sure about this momma?

Hmmm...

Okay - I'll try some more...

The verdict - was NO!   

Ha, ha, ha....  We did try bananas and he really liked those.  Tonight I tried the green beans again mixed with his rice cereal and he did great.  I can already tell this little mister is going to be eating me out of the house!

Mister also decided to show off his new talent of sitting by himself. He is so proud of himself when he can push his hands off the floor and sit so tall! Too bad it only lasts about 5 seconds before he either flops forward or on his side.  When he does get upright- Leinna just giggles looking at him. It warms my heart. 

I have a very challenging school year ahead and I'm so blessed to have such a wonderful family to come home to each night. 

 

The Last Days of Summer

  The cooler night air and the smell of new school supplies (yep, I'm a school nerd!) reminds me that we are in the last days of summer.  We've been blessed in our remote little town with some beautiful sunny days to end our summer season.  It hasn't been much of a summer, but these last few days of sunshine remind us all why we live where we do.

With school starting officially on Monday, I've been busy getting my classroom ready. It promises to be a challenging year, but my mottoes are: One day at a time!  and The only person you have any control over is yourself!   I think as the year gets going I may also take Lukkas's advice and...

when I'm feeling overwhelmed or exhausted, just curl up on the bean bag in my school closet and take a nap! 

While Papa has been back to work for almost a month already, I've been in and out of the classroom until this past week.  Both Leinna and Lukkas returned to full time day care. Trust me, I'm a much better Momma for going to my classroom a week early than I would be keeping my kids home and stressing about all that I need to get done.  I'm so thankful for our Ms. Sarah and the wonderful job she does.  Mister Lukkas as transitioned very well to day care and Leinna seems to enjoy having her brother there.   The best part about my kiddos being at day care, is there smiling happy faces when we get home!

With these sunny last days of summer, we've been enjoying every evening moment we can. Even though being tired for working all day, we eat dinner and then outdoors we go!

Leinna's been learning the fine art of berry picking!  She's a regular pro now :-) 

Lukkas has been patiently watching his sister have fun at the park, in hopes that one day he will figure out how to enjoy the play equipment too!

Now for those of you with a fear of blood or spiders, you may want to stop reading.

We've also had a "Not so Itsy Bitsy Spider" catching flies at the house...

And a minor injury to Momma's thumb...

Yep- was slicing a bun open for dinner, told myself 'be careful so you don't cut yourself' and sure enough - slip and sliced my thumb.  It was pretty tender for a few days. I never realized how much I use my left hand thumb until this.  As I was nursing my injury I kept telling myself, imagine what my students go through everyday with their disabilities and how there isn't a "cure" for them. They must learn how to advocate and adapt to the world around them.  I'm so blessed to work with such a unique population of students and I hope to remember this all as we end our summer days and begin the new school year.

Oh... can't forget to show off Mister Lukkas another week older...

20 weeks!

An update on the kiddos

Mr. Lukkas at 19 weeks sporting one of his many smiles. He sure is a happy baby.

He's recently started to enjoy the game of Peek-A-Boo - and I just love watching Leinna play with him. It's so adorable. 

We are also hitting the stage of drool and everything goes into the mouth! 

Getting to be such a big boy, when the bottle is close to the end, he likes to hold it all by himself.

 Leinna's new favorite game is to climb up the back of Papa and then...

Ugh... jumping onto his back. We've only had one injury so far, when she slipped and busted her lip open. After a few tears, she was right back to climbing on Papa.  Such a tough girl.

Yes, this bucket is full of water - after less than 36 hour rain storm- it was over flowing! 

Gotta love living in a coastal rain forest!