True sign of the holidays

I really know it is the holiday season when Starbucks releases their holiday drinks. I know it may be crazy but I get SO EXCITED when this day rolls around!! I would say I get as excited for this a I do an actual holiday! I took Chloe there to help me celebrate this year. She had hot (warm) chocolate and I had a white chocolate peppermint latte.

Oh how I love my Starbuck holidays! Chloe did not drink much of the hot chocolate, but it is the thought that counts! She kept saying "hot" and blowing on the cup before drinking even though it was just warm. I didn't even think that she would connect the name "hot chocolate" with the word "hot". Too cute.

Winter Water Play

We have been doing a lot of swimming lately at our gym here in Alaska. Chloe LOVES the water, and we got the membership pretty much just for her. (Although I should say Andrew has been using it all the time too---I am the only one who has yet to work out. no comments please)

It is just so cute to see a tiny girl in a ruffled swim suit squeal and splash in the salt water pool! Well she not only made us smile during this trip but made us bust up laughing, and lucky for you we caught it on film! I have attached the youtube post where you can check out the video in all it's glory. You can choose the quality to watch, just change to a higher quality (at the bottom just to the left of the you tube logo.) Sometimes you have to press play first to adjust the quality settings.

I have noticed that when I uploaded video here in the past, it didn't turn out so great so hopefully this will work better. Our camera is waterproof and even films under water so look for more fun videos soon!

Happy Halloween?

Okay so some of you may remember that I was working on a Halloween decoration project BEFORE Halloween. Well, I got sick then had travel then got wrapped up in being a MOM....long story short, I didn't even come close to finishing it on time. Well the way I look at it, I finished it super early for next year! Here is the project:

cut circles (step 75 in the process)
I started out with a yard of each color of felt. It was too thin and floppy so I used spray adhesive on the back of each sheet and folded them in half for double thickness. I was left with nice thick and firm felt sheets. I then cut the felt into strips and then into squares of varying sizes. I then cut the squares into circles. (oh my gosh my fingers had blisters and I am pretty sure I sprained my wrist in this two week marathon cutting project). But I had a lot of felt circles to show for the pain and suffering of crafting.

Next I used invisible thread and sewed the circles into a long streamer. Really really really long streamers. I think it could wrap around the house :) I went a little overboard. Here is a mountain of sewn streamers.
Here is what they look like hung.
Hung by the fireplace with care...stockings may be more appropriate this time of year.
Anyway this project turned out great, and I would like to do it for other holidays but think I am going to give my fingers a rest this season and start again when I am sure I have enough time and wrist dexterity to finish the job on schedule. (Thanks for the idea Amber!!! Although I am not sure how you "whipped them up" in mere hours. I am definitely not ready to join your craft big leagues. I will stick to the t-ball league)

More snow!

I am back from Washington, and again (as expected) Chloe did fabulous with Andrew! She just adores him! Since I have been back I have been the third wheel in the family :) We have not been taking a ton of photos lately because we have been so busy- sorry Mom! It is still super snowy out, and a little icy, but the holiday spirit is in the air!

Here are a few things we have been up to:

eating snow
eating snow

Chloe sleeping in the chariot while we ski. Andrew's sister Elena joined us for this outing! It was her first time on XC skis. Nice work Elena!

The temps are getting much colder now, down to the low 20's and teens. Brrrr. Luckily the chariot stays nice and toasty so we can still get outside! We hope to make it out for our annual Thanksgiving ski this year. It always feels so great to be out in the middle of the day celebrating the holiday as our own little family before the yummy holiday feast with the entire family. We really earn our calories too--- not a bad bonus!

let it snow!

Winter is now here!!! I just got back from my great trip to Texas, and came home to snow! For those of you wondering Chloe did awesome with her Dad while I was gone, and is now sleeping through the night for the most part. I leave for a few days and Andrew fixes everything???!! Amazing parenting is all I can think of as the reason! That or luck.

There is so much snow I had to shovel the driveway......seriously! We of course jumped at the opportunity to get out the toys and start enjoying the world of winter sports! We took Chloe out in the chariot and did some great cross country skiing. It was socked in that day, but the snow was amazing!! Just minutes from our house, but a world away!
Andrew, a sleeping Chloe (in the Chariot) and our friend Scott posing for a picture about 45 min out on power line pass.
Me posing with a massive moose who was lounging by the side of the trail. He is much closer than he looks. We saw 9 moose that day in just 2 hours! It was awesome!!

Here is a close up of my new moose friend. Chillin' in the snow.

Andrew all harnessed up to the chariot, which has attachable cross country skis of it's own! Finally I can keep up with him!

The happy family all skied out and ready for some hot cocoa!
Chloe got her first taste of snow that day.

Mmm DELICIOUS! She would have stayed out there all day just eating snow if we had let her. Actually it is about the only thing she wants to do when she gets out there. At home she even wants me to go outside and bring her back bowls of snow to eat. Free entertainment---I like it!

The snow is just amazing up here! The trails were fast, and the snow is deep (relatively for this time of year...maybe 2 feet or so?). It is plenty deep for skiing, which is what I care about! I can't wait to get back out there. With Chloe's self enforced early bedtime of 6:30 pm, it makes it a bit tough to get out there after work, but I think we can make it work at least once during the work week and as much as possible on the weekends. I am READY for winter!

Also if anyone in the Anchorage area is interested in taking a knitting class with me, please let me know! I want to learn to knit Christmas stockings. Since I haven't started yet I may be looking at Christmas stockings for next year (like the Halloween garland I am still working on) but I still want to give it a try. I think it would be so awesome to have ones that I made myself. Sewing is cheating- I want them to be knit!

Happy winter everyone!!

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween from Elmo and her family!!



Chloe loved her costume. She wanted to wear it all the time! It was toasty warm and very adorable. Although Chloe did not really understand the trick or treating concept she did love the sucker she found in her bag, chewed through the wrapper and enjoyed. We also let her have part of a peanut butter cup! Holy cow she was HYPER after that! We have never given her candy before that so had no idea what to expect. Shocker she loved it! We will stick to healthier alternatives for the most part but she was pretty adorable running around as crazy hyper elmo! It was a fun Halloween, and I think years to come will only get better!