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!