Hot Coco and Temper-Tantrums!

I'm blessed each day after school to see such a beautiful setting sun.  The amazing displays of colors gives me a sense of peace and renewed energy to head home and be mom for the evening. 

We had freezing rain and then snow Friday afternoon.  Thankful we made it home safely and snuggled in for the night.  Saturday morning - no more storm so we headed out side to play!  It was a bit chilly so what better way to warm up - hot coco!

First cup of the winter season! Leinna was beyond excited and kept calling it chocolate hot milk! 

While Leinna enjoys her treats, Lukkas can be found having a temper-tantrum over something. 

Yesterday he was too funny - he'd throw his fit...

and then peak to see if anyone was watching him or going to give him what he wanted. Leif and I couldn't help but laugh at him - and oh - did this make him even more mad.  

So hard to be 1 1/2 years old!

 Thankful for a visit from Mrs. DillyDally this past week and looking forward to our friend Shannon visiting this weekend! Then we are headed up to Fairbanks for Thanksgiving.    

May you have a week full of thanksgivings and blessings!

Winter is here to stay

 Winter has finally arrived in our part of the world and it looks like it's here to stay.

I love the setting sun in the winter time! I love the way the colorful sky reflects off the snow. I had Leif snap this photo as we were driving home from school.  The picture doesn't come close to how beautiful the sky was.

Have I ever written about how much the kids like to be outside? 

Needless to say, Leinna especially is delighted to have snow to play in.   Her love of the outdoors makes me smile.  It reminds me so much of my dad (her grandpa).  

Lukkas had fun too...

I think the shovel is twice the size of him, but he had fun helping shovel the driveway. 

With our first true snowfall, many of the neighbors have turned on their Christmas Lights.  

Leinna asks when we can have our lights up and we told her when it turns to December.  She's got a count down going and informs me every day that it's just a couple weeks until we can turn our lights on.  She's at such a fun stage where holidays are starting to mean something to her. 

 With winter's arrival it is also season of static!

I think we'll be buying a humidifier soon!

A new month begins...

Sunset in Eagle River

As we turn the calendar to November and set our clocks back, I'm finding myself in a new place.  The transition to city life and new school system was extremely challenging and continues to be a challenge.  However, I find myself in this new place - missing what use to be, but adjusting to what is now.  As we continue to adjust, I'm reminded daily through my quiet morning time, to keep my eyes focused on what really matters.  I'm learning to let go of the challenging school day in the 15 minute drive home, so I can be a good mom to my kids.  I'm learning to find the blessings in each day - even the small ones, such as the student who is always tardy, actually made it to class on time today.  I'm learning that life isn't going to slow down, so I'd better take care of myself so that I may enjoy each and every moment of it!

A view from Leif's classroom

  I'm learning to embrace the buildings all around me and look beyond to see the beautiful place we live.  I sure do miss the sunsets on Ocra Bay - but learning to appreciate the same setting sun in a new location.

Leinna helping Papa make sour-dough pancakes for breakfast.

Seems with the first week of November behind us, the kids are ever changing...

Miss Leinna (aka - Leinna-Bug, Leinners, and Sister) I believe has grown another 2 inches.  She's a bottomless pit these days - even asked to have a bowl of cereal for her bedtime snack because she was so hungry.  She ate really well for dinner, so we let her eat a bowl of cereal too!

She's quiet the musician these days!  She's been listening to This Old Man in the car on our way to daycare.  Here she is banging out the rhythm for This Old Man and singing every word accurately.  Man, I wish I had 1/4th of the memory skills she has!

She also impressed us with this -

 writing letters all by herself!  She's very proud that she can write the letter "A".  

What's Lukkas (aka Mister, Brother) been up to?

Who me?

Yes, you! 

He's busy doing what 19 month old boys do! 

As we go through the month of November, I hope you will take time to learn more about yourself and be thankful for the many blessings in your life!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!

Our normal tradition for Halloween has been to have dinner and hand out candy with our dear friends, the Popelka's.  Well, since we moved and they moved also, this Halloween was about making new tradition.  The weather was suppose to be rainy/slushy and cold, but it turned out to be a pretty nice evening.  We were trying to decide if we'd actually take Leinna trick-or-treating this year, but decided to just hand out candy.  She was able to dress up and did a great job of handing out the candy.   Being in the big city, I wasn't sure how many trick-or-treaters to expect - we had about 50.  I have some candy left over, which Papa is not complaining about.  He has such a sweet tooth and was very happy to see the candy we have left!  Hope everyone had a safe and Happy Halloween!