Quiet = Somethings UP!

So I have been doing some temp work downtown and that means that Aaron has been watching Alex for a few hours a day. They play have have some good quality time together. Alex probably watches more movies than he should but that's OK. Anyway, while Aaron plays on the computer in the mornings, Alex watches his favorite shows (Little Einsteins, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Spongebob & Diego) occasionally he will curl up on the floor with his favorite Red Sox blanket and is just quiet and content. I guess today that wasn't the case. I about freaked out! I come home and Alex was still asleep taking his nap but all Aaron would say is that he was a "Silly boy" and "lets just say, when it's quiet you know something is bad is going on". I didn't know what to think. I thought he may have got in my scrapbook stuff and made a mess or something. Not so much. He was on his way downstairs with Alex when the days events were made tremendously abundant. Alex had got a hold of a dark blue marker. Thank goodness it was a washable crayola one and not a sharpie! He had colored ALL over himself! His feet were the cutest! It looked like he had ate it cause it was all around his mouth and hands. All he had on was a onsie, so his belly was spared but the rest was fair game. Aaron said he took pictures but there are none to be found so sorry :( What a silly boy we have! I know this is just the tip of the iceberg!!!

Snow! Snow! Snow!

So the snow has fallen in good ol Fairbanks, or Eielson, or whatever :) It snowed for the first time this year on September 27th. The pic was taken on the 29th of Sept. It isn't really sticking but had to get out and take a picture atleast! We went and bought Alex some winter boots today so hopefully he'll get out in it a bit more this year!

Alex's 2nd Birthday

Well... the big 2 has come and gone and we're working towards the 3rd birthday now. It's gone by so fast. It doesn't seem like 2 years has gone by but in a few it won't seem like 5 has gone by either. His actual birthday was pretty quiet. We didn't do much, stayed at home and worked on the birthday cake. Alex helped... or tried to :) We baked the cake and let it cool. Aaron and I didn't give him any presents, we figured we'd save them for the birthday party on Saturday. We did get a package from Grandpa & Ann in the mail though. Alex had to open it immediatly. It was a cute outfit from Macy's. Alex usually doesn't care much but this time he had to immediatly get down off of his stool and strip so that he could wear his new clothes! He was so funny and loved them a lot. Aaron was asleep cause he's now working a mid shift so he missed out on some of the fun. Later that evening, I was trying to cook some dinner (halibut! YUM!) and the doorbell rang. It was the UPS man delivering a package from BB & TT. Alex's eyes lit up and I knew right then he wasn't going to eat any dinner, he had more important things to do now. It was a cute little Diego bike. I made the mistake of telling him that "Daddy had to help him" put it together. He then RAN upstairs and woke up Aaron. Boomer had woke him up when the doorbell rang so it wasn't too shocking but he still didn't want to get up. He did though and did the "good dad" thing and put the bike together. However, it's a motorcycle to Alex :) We let him ride it around in the basement and he had a ball all night. He can't quite reach the pedals when they are all the way down but he tries.... Friday we finished the cake and made a last minute run to town, but that's about it.... Saturday the fun began. We didn't have the party till late in the afternoon, 4pm, so there was lots of time to get things done and for all the kiddos to get hier naps in. Somehow, we invited the same amount of people as we did last year and it didn't seem as crazy. I was really worried there was going to be too many people, flashbacks from last year had me super scared, but it was all ok. The bigger kids went downstairs and ran around like crazy people, and the adults stayed upstairs and ate. There was plenty of food and everyone got full. The cake was a big hit! I was proud of it. Alex scored, to say the least. I think he got more for his birthday than he did at Christmas! It was bad, took FOREVER to open presents, I think people were tired of watching. But by the time that was over, and people started to leave, it was time for bed. I dont think we could have timed it any better. He was pooped and went to bed without any problems. Now we look forward to next year! FUN! ;) Thank you to all that came and to all of the wonderful presents! Everything was great!

Note to self.... Blue Ring Pops are not good! :)

So today Alex went over to the neighbors house. Alison gave Alex a ring pop. He LOVED it, of course! But blue may not have been the best color! He loved it though! Thanks for the cute pictures!!!

Fishing on the Kenai

So... we've been back for almost a week and thought it was time that I finally wrote about the wonderful (kinda) trip that Alex and I took down to Anchorage and Soldatna. Alex, Me & Mom were in one truck and Dad, Cail & Max were in the other truck and off we went Saturday morning. It was pretty uneventful except for the heavy rain in Wasilla. Alex didn't get sick! I was pretty thankful for that. I hydroplaned once and scared mom, It was fun :) We stayed the night there with my Aunt Terry and Shari. We woke up on Sunday and drove the other 2 1/2-3 hours into Soldatna. Aunt Karen & her boyfriend Ron, were already there and saved us a camp site next to them. The whole family followed. Right off we started to set up camp and had the usual family drama that follows that, it wasn't so bad though. Right off we noticed our camp site didn't have a picnic table so what do we do?? Steal it from the people across the way, of course! They had a camp set up but there was no car there, so it was fair game! HA! A few hours later they came back and the look on thier face was awesome! We went fishing without any luck and came back to camp to do our lazy camp thing. We had fun visiting with everyone before they had to leave. Monday, Karen & Ron packed up and left, along with Don & Cammie and Rebecca, Lee & Kaylee. After Karen & Ron left the 2 guys from the campsite across the way came over and "stole thier table back" or so they thought :) They then made small talk with us and we kinda became friends! They left us soda and water by the end of the week. Terry & Shari had to head back to Anchorage on Tuesday to get Shari's sister, Cyndi, to the airport (she was visiting from Oregon). So then it was just us! Me, Alex, Mom, Dad & Cail. It was nice and quiet. Every day we went fishing and every day, NO FISH! It was pretty frustrating. Everyone around us was catching but us! How does that work?? I don't understand. It was always to the right of us and as one JERK pointed out, that just means they had to swim by us to get to them! We were using the same poles, flys, techniques, EVERYTHING! It was just not working. We finally gave up and found the number of a fish processor down the way in Soldatna. So mom & dad went and bought some fish from them so we didn't go home empty handed. The salmon just weren't our friends! So we headed back to Anchorage a day early, Friday, and had a nice quiet night. Dad & Cail headed home on Saturday after we all went to the Saturday Market in Anchorage. It was so cool! Why we don't have something bigger like that in Fairbanks, I'll never know! It was awesome! Not just crafts, but TONS of food, local farms, entertainment, stuff for the kids, lots of stuff. Later on Alex and I went to suprise Amber for her going away party. She didn't know I was comming over so it was a nice supprise. Allison was suprised to see me too. I hadn't seen her since high school! We sat around and chatted and had some good food! It was then time for the girls to have some fun! So the crazy Aunts and Gram got to watch Alex for a while and I went out on the town with the girls. Haven't done that in FOREVER! It was so much fun and I definetly paid the price the next day! So So fun!

We're Not Going Anywhere!

Hey all!
We just found out today that we aren't leaving!! Not yet anyway. Aaron's extention actually got APPROVED! We get to stay another 3 years which makes us not leaving Alaska till September of 2012! WAHHOO!! We are very excited. We really didn't think it was going to go! All of the other Tech Sgts in his shop got denied so we are very greatful that we got approved. We don't know about any of the Staff Sgts yet, there were a few that had put in to stay as well. The only way we can have this denied is if Aaron doesn't reinlist in the next 30 days but that shouldn't be a problem! No more bonus :( but oh well! We can count the dividend as a bonus right? :) Hope everyone can come up and visit us! This gives you a little more time! hee hee!

The Big 4th of July Weekend

Wednesday - Aaron had gone to the store the night before and
bought himself a chain saw so that we could go and cut some fire wood for our camping trip to the lake. Alex thought it was so cool. He kept saying "Daddy, Chainsaw, Trees, Cut" over and over agian. We went for a drive, just Aaron, Alex and I. That never happens. We don't go out like that very often, but it was a nice little family thing. We went far off base and Alex brought his chainsaw also and he had such a good time out in the woods. He was trying to cut with his little "Craftsman" but it wasn't quite doing the job :)

Thursday - We packed up our stuff early and headed to the lake. We, along with 2 other couples/families, got cabins at Birch lake. We only had it for Thursday night and they had thier cabins for Thurs, Fri & Sat. We werne't sure how Alex was going to do so we were just going with the flow. We put the jet ski in and sat on the beach. It was a SUPER nice day and everyone got a little sun that day. Alex didn't want anything to do with the jet ski though. He loved to sit on it in the garage and he loves to sit on the snowmachine. He loves rides on the "Wheeler" with Daddy, Gram & Papa, but he did not want a THING to do with that jet ski once it was in the water. He just wanted to play in the water with the sand toys. We had so much fun! We decided to stay till Friday night because we had bunches of things to get done on Saturday and 2 days there was enough for us. It was draining! We were exhausted!

Saturday - To my surpise, my good friend Amber and her mom Barb came out to see us. I'm not suprised that they were here, just that they came to see us. No one ever comes to see us ;) It was so nice to visit her before her big move to California. I'm sad to see her move but understand her need to go also. We then we to go play poker at a friends house. It's only the 100th time we've been over there to play and FINALLY Aaron won it! $180!! WHOOHOO! I didn't do much but play RockBand all night. Kicked the boys's butts! It was a LONG night. We didn't get home till 4:30! We haven't been out like that in a LONG time. It was fun and exhausting. Alex did good, he loves playing with the older kid's cool toys! So needless to say we didnt' do a DARN thing on Sunday. Recouperated and relaxed. Aaron went for a bike ride but that was about the extent of it. What a long weekend!