Still Alive

I just wanted to let everyone know that I'm still alive. just a LOT has been going on. I will probably have a bigger update tomorrow. it has just been...insane...

What's new with us.

We have been pretty busy lately, not to mention the medication I'm on has made me pretty antisocial the last few weeks. I still do not feel 100% but I'm getting there, cutting down my dose has definitely helped, it has also helped me lose 2 lbs. people may think that just because I was on Facebook chatting with people and leaving statuses that I am 100% myself because THAT is certainly not true. Michael and I have also had been arguing quite a bit, but that seems to have settled down now.

The last time I posted, I was excited because Michael had bought me a new bedroom set. I love it but the novelty and excitement has worn off since I've been getting bruises the size of lemons because I am not used to the bed frame yet:



yes, I know I am pretty much considered Alabaster in color. I am white as a ghost and unfortunately tanning doesn't help, and I live in Alaska which has more overcast days than it does sunny. so... just sympathize about the bruise and ignore my scary white-ness, ok?

we've also been making lots of yummy things for dinner...

Chicken and Broccli Fettuccine Alfredo:


Salmon, Cantaloupe and Roasted Zucchini and Squash:


Pumpkin Pancakes From Wildtree:


The pancakes are actually pretty delicious especially with Real Maple Syrup. I don't particular like Pumpkin but these are not overpowering in taste at all.

Red Velvet Cupcakes with Ermine Frosting:


The Recipe for the cupcakes came out fine. I think next time I'll use a different Cup cake recipe I found. these are good, they just seemed a little off to me, but the post was for a cake and I'm sure that's maybe why. but the frosting is to die for. and don't worry if you don't have a standing mixer, you just have to beat the finished recipe a little longer to let all that it does come together. because of this I beat the mixture on high until I felt it was light and fluffy enough.


We've even had a Snowstorm on 4/22 and now it's been in the 50's and 60's all this week:




Now Cole and I have been out doing some yard work. he's quite the little helper. I even bought him his own gloves while we're out there. I am hoping Michael's friend can come down and help us cut trees down sometime this summer. I would be SUPER excited about that.

The boys have got some kind of virus and I believe I got it and it's turned into bronchitis, I thought I was losing my voice but I've been trying to stay well hydrated and I had difficulty talking yesterday but I'm doing alright today. which is great. I just cough every ten seconds and had to use my inhaler a few times since last night.

I go in for surgery on my eyes on Monday. I have Chalazion on all of my eyelids and my doctor at my eye exam told me it could be because I am blonde and have very pale Skin and so my skin is just extra sensitive, he also told me I could prevent them from coming back by washing my eyes in the morning and at night and making sure that if I do wear makeup to wash it off really well before I go to bed. so that is happening on Monday so I am definitely nervous.

Michael also goes in for his surgery on tuesday. he has Dequervain's Tendonitis. He cannot wait to get it over with. it is causing him a lot of pain. and I probably will be on hiatus next week after his surgery because I am going to have to be taking care of him and the kids and the dog and the house and the cooking...it is going to be a long ride...

anyways.. I should start getting dinner together.... and so I will leave you all with a recent picture of my two babies:

I was going to add this to the pictures post but it was just super duper long and thought a break up might be a little easier to read.

I know I haven't updated in awhile. We've been kind of busy between painting and just spending quality time as a family. we recently took the kids hiking for the first time down in Palmer. they did really well with it and walked the whole way. I was especially surprised at Lincoln, because, he just didn't seem like the type who could walk consecutively for a mile. but he did! Michael has 2 weeks off of Leave coming up so we'll be doing lots of things outside, including hiking, taking the kids to the park, flying kites, and things of that nature. we are really trying to put forth an effort to do things this coming summer and not be parked in doors or in front of the television ( I am guilty of this, too, I like watching certain shows or movies)

We are Painting our Kitchen/Living Room/ Dining Room and Hallway. it is proving harder than I thought it would be because the paint is not covering the walls well at all. Michael and I painted Half of the kitchen and half of the dining room last night. we are hopefully going to finish the entire job while Michael is on Leave and then it's onto the next project of going through and figuring out what we're keeping and what we're ditching in the Yard Sale we plan on having.

We have also figured out a slow but sure way to eliminate some of the bills we have so that we can start to save up to make the fixes around this house and to make the yard what we dream it will be (I have been making rough plans of what I would LIKE our yard to be.. but it will be $$$$ to fix it all. (yes, Mom, That includes a fence around the entire yard, privacy style) the guy who built this house (calling him a builder would give him too much credit), left one heck of a mess of a yard for us to take care of. we have already replaced two lights in our bedroom and bathroom, our next plan of action is replacing the light over the sink in our bathroom and putting up a gutter along the back of the house. and from there, I don't know. It is inevitable that we will be in this house for quite awhile. so we might as well make this house up to our liking so that when the next person who buys this house is happy with it and is not as disappointed as we are with it.

I joined a weight loss challenge at the local scrapbook store. I've been cutting down big time on what I'm eating and exercises every day. the challenge runs from 4/2 to 6/2. I am hoping I can drop some of these extra lbs. I am just tired of being tired all of the time, and chubby to boot.

Michael is awaiting on news on whether or not he was selected for the Tech Sgt Stripe where he works or another job he put in for down in Anchorage.. I hope he gets the job in Anchorage. it would be SOOO nice to have him home every night. Thankfully, our relationship has been pretty amazing lately. lot less arguing and more loving and spending time together which suits me fine!

We have definitely decided to wait on the baby front. ( No, Mom, the Antibiotics did not make me pregnant, just saying) a lot was up in the air might I think it would be in the best interest of the boys to wait. they have such a good relationship together.

anyway, it's late and I should really be getting to bed.

Easter and other things...

Here are some pictures from our Weekend. I hope you Enjoy Them. I had video, but they didn't come out well at all -Lesslie

Daddy and Cole going ahead of Mommy and Lincoln


Zuri hiking up at the Crevasse Moraine on 4/3. she loved it and did really well on her leash!


The boys are adorable♥


so the Easter bunny visited Later than usual, it was particularly hard to get Cole to bed the night before because we went hiking and they fell asleep in the car on the way home and it threw them all off. Thanks to my Grandmother and my Parents for the kids Gifts.. I really loved the stuff they got, as did the kids :)

Checking out the Loot:



Cole looking at his movie from Grandma and Papa:

Card Games from Nana!:

Going through their baskets:



Lincoln Stuffing a Peep in his mouth as fast as he can!:

Cole testing out a Peep:

My Honey:

Cole hiding behind his new cars:

Lincoln sitting on Daddy's lap saying "No Pictures, Mommy!":

Cole watching 101 Dalmatians:






hanging out with mommy while I was watching the Sox Game:




Cole watching Planet 51:


Lincoln playing with his new cars from the Easter bunny:

what's going on in my world.

Today has been pretty eventful. I took down this UGLY cupboard in my Laundry closet and put up shelves. the space is utilized SO MUCH BETTER. now I can use it as a laundry closet AND a Linen Closet. I can put my towels somewhere now and extra sheets and stuff like that. So here is the Finished Product! :D



Cole has started saying "Bad Cheese" in reference to anything that smells bad. it's actually pretty funny. I will have to try to catch him saying it on video.

Lincoln will be 2 next week. it's not right and it's not fair. it feels like just yesterday I was holding his tiny little body in my arms and thinking how much of a giant Cole was compared to him.

speaking of babies. we've been talking about when we're going to have another baby. it is probably not going to be this year. with me finishing schooling and Michael getting his Bachelors Degree it would just be too much to try to add a baby in that mix.

Zuri is doing pretty well. she is finally GETTING that whole House-training thing. Hopefully we'll be able to leave her out of her Kennel unattended (like when I'm doing stuff) and we won't have any accidents. I might have to find some inexpensive gates first and leave her just in the kitchen or the living room. or both.

Yesterday, I bought Cole his first set of underwear and Pull ups. hopefully we can start getting him underway now that we've resolved the constipation issue for now. we'll see how it goes. he is so boy.

anyways. my dog is asking to go out and I have clothes to fold.

Cole being funny

Cole was telling me who had pictures hung up on the wall. I was given pictures of my Sister and Mother and my mom gave me a picture of my Dad. this was cole being hilariously silly last night :)

Whew!!!!!

Tis' That Time of Season and here I am running around like a crazy person. The boys and I went out today to Walmart, the Post office, the Bank, and to a guy store that will remain nameless because I don't know if my husband reads my blog and I don't want to ruin it....but lets just say, I picked up a present for him and I from my parents tonight. that S.O.B is HEAVY and it SUCKED to wrap. it's almost as tall as me and is definitely like twice my weight seriously. he better love it or I will Ninja Kick him on Christmas Morning and put it on youtube, so everyone can laugh at him for being a Scrooge.

Recently, I was put on Topamax to try to help my headaches but it isn't doing anything other than making me grumpy, lazy and hungry. I forgot to take my pill last night and this is the most energy I've had in two weeks. so I will be calling the doctor in the morning and having SOMETHING changed.. I have been up since 5:30AM and it is now 9 PM and I am NOT tired...what does that say? obviously those pills are Satan, and I need to stop taking them.

anyways. here are a few pictures because it's been awhile. I need to get my kids in bed in a little bit and then pick up a little bit myself. :)

Zuri, 6 months.


The Kids Decorating the Tree. I only got two pictures before I got agitated and told them they were done decorating. they kept removing the ornaments and putting them in different spots and wouldn't get new ornaments.




WahLAH! ( Rach ;])


waiting to get Lincoln dressed to go Sledding. (please refrain from making pacifier comments. I obviously know he still has it. and I know he is three years old. I get it.. really.)

Lots to Blog about.

It has been such a long time! lol. how many times have I posted that in other blog posts when my absence has been lengthy.. about 108430156897 times. :)

well as everyone knows. my family was here for awhile in July. and we had tons of things to do so I obviously have a million pictures as promised but I am only going to share a few that I really like and I don't think it's going to be in this post either. maybe tonight after my kids have gone to bed.

Michael will be home in 19 days, which is awesome! I can't wait. I really miss him. this has been a pretty difficult trial for myself as my kids have been less than stellar most days. but I'm alive, and so are they! thankfully.

Right now, our water tank is leaking and it is such a pain. I have to wait 11 hours on the phone with the Home warranty company because there is "high call volume", if I hear a company tell me they are having high call volumes on the phone one more time, I am going to vomit. Also, our dishwasher is leaking from the bottom... sometimes, I hate Appliances and I most definitely hate my house right now, and the dude who built it.

Our plan is five years for this house right now. that is what we're hoping for. I wrote out a list of what I hope we can accomplish with this house in five years. some are pretty big things and some are not. Obviously fixing the water tank and dishwasher are top priorities, that hopefully my Warranty Covers, if not, looks like I'll be calling the insurance company.

I guess we're doing a mini vacation when Michael comes home. so that will be nice. I think we're going to Seward and maybe Homer :) yay.

anyways. it's time for the vultures to eat. nothing like a clear sign that they are hungry when they start pulling stuff out of the fridge.

Updates and Pictures, Oh My!

So it's been awhile, yet again. Things have been hectic here. we're winding down until the time Michael has to leave and my parents are coming to see Alaska. My Sister and Dad will be seeing Alaska for the first time. I'm sure I will have tons of pictures since we have tons of adventures planned for while they are here. so I will not be posting much from 7/30 to 8/8, as they will be here, and we are going to enjoy the different attractions that Alaska has to offer! :D

We are in the process of re-financing our house. we will be able to skip 2 house payments , Which will give me a lot of leeway while my parents are here and we're also rolling a few of our higher interest credit cards into the mortgage so we're going to do it. to be able to get away from the strain of those bills will be nice. and we'll be able to start saving to do the work around the yard/house like we wanted to. it's obviously not going to get done this year because my husband leaves for Missouri in 12 days, but next year as soon as the breakup happens we should have enough stashed away to do some yard work! YAY.

I would love to be able to add the curb appeal to this house. it really needs it. and also doing it next year will give me enough time to read from flower/gardening books that have flowers that are best suited for Alaska. I also want to start pricing everything. I'm pretty sure we'll be replacing the lighting and a few interior things this winter which will not cost a lot (hopefully)

Now. onto the pictures! I'm not going to lie. some of the pictures have incorrect lighting. I made Fathers Day Gifts for my Dad/husband and I can't post those pictures either until the end of the month as I don't want to ruin it for my dad, who has not had the pleasure of seeing it yet as he had to leave before my package got to him. but anyone who frequents me on here, can also look at Those on Myspace.









These are all from my friends house. we had fun that night. my favorite is the picture of cole in mid air on the trampoline! :)

Holy Moly!

I can't believe it's been like 2 weeks since I posted last. What is Wrong With Me?

for the record. we HAVE been kind of busy. I've been taking the kids places to wear them out in order to try to get them onto a better nightly Schedule. I brought them to my friend Monica's Today and Then brought them to the Bouncin' Bears (I DO have pictures. I just need to Upload and Edit them to my computer). How is it possible that we've ran all day and they have played so hard yet, I am MORE tired than they are. Whatever. :(

I've found a guy who is going to take and use all of the wood that is just sitting there rotting in our yard. He is also going to take the Eleventy Billion Rocks in our backyard too. I am going to set some aside for us so we can make a Homemade Fire Pit, which is the exact thing he plans on doing.

I've been going out here and there and ripping out Weeds and Junk and trying to map out how I'm going to put pavers down and then Pavers and that Weed Ex Tarp and start planting flower beds. Eventually our yard will be where we want it. but I'm trying to make do right now. I've decided that I am buying a giant Sandbox from my Friend for the boys and we're buying those tiki torches, to keep the State Bird Away. we found this really good bug spray and the mosquitos left my kids alone. YAY!. I had to rip out the burning bush that was planted out front because it was Fried from not getting efficient Sun or being watered and probably because it can't stand the subzero temperatures. I also have a small pine type tree that it burnt that needs to be ripped out and either put elsewhere or thrown away.

I hope next summer to be able to put a fence, add on to the deck and add walls onto our Car port. I know doing the Floors are in our very Near Future. but we need money to do some of those.

Anyways. I am yawning up a storm. my kids are eating a snack and then it's early to bed for us.

Picture Sunday..... *Loaded*

So Before I over load you with TONS of pictures from the last few months. I think a good update is in order as I still have TWO more Posts in Mind before I call it a night....

My kids have gotten HUGE. and I mean SERIOUSLY. Lincoln has moved from 12 M stuff to 18 M-24 Stuff and Cole has now Moved from 3T to 4T. The kicker about that one? I just BARELY not more than three weeks ago. went through EVERY stinking piece of clothing they owned and weeded out the stuff that didn't fit anymore or that they were too big for now. Stop Growing. I Demand it!

so what does this mean? I have to spend more money on Clothes now because My Mini Husband is getting too big for his stuff. I mean I HAVE 4T and 5T stuff but honestly. I wonder if I should just Skip right over 4T and go right to 4's. I mean TCP's 4T and 4's are not THAT much different.

We are slowly but surely working on our yard. which I am going to make a post about next. we took the first step and got Gravel, it WOULD have waited, but our driveway was in dire need of something else, and I mean ANYTHING else. Usually you would think Gravel would be the last thing....no?

After an incident the other day while I was in the shower and my husband was chatting away on the phone to WHOEVER. My oldest son got shoes on his brother and himself and let them him and his brother outside. my husband did not HEAR the door open and therefore noticed our children were not in the house and that they were indeed PLAYING out in the FREAKING driveway. Thank GOD we have a long driveway. I had a heartattack after the fact and he got upset that I got mad. Sorry but When you have NIGHTMARES about your kids getting hit by a car, it makes you a little Anxious. Hence,Why I Have Anxiety. this has been confirmed by my doctor and it causes Migraines. I can't and don't really like taking one of the medicines for it because it offsets my birth control, which I might have to change, if I have another bad mood spell like last time before Aunt Flo Arrived ( I was Wretched Horrid!) and the Naproxen well that can eat a hole in your stomach lining and it can cause Kidney Damage. anyways err, back on point, I decided to purchase These. So that NEXT time my husband hears our children go outside or you know, Prevents them from going outside while I'm sleeping or something and an added bonus that they are Shrilly Loud enough to scare burgulars away.... hopefully.

So as I stated previously that my husband is going to be gone for two months in July to September so I get to be by myself for Months. oh fun. so what does this mean. I'm in charge of basically everything....including the bills....oh crap, I am getting a headache thinking about this.

and finally before I Load you to death with pictures. My parents are coming out the end of july for 8 days. and I am SO EXCITED. I half wish sometimes that it was already july, but then I would be wishing away two months and who wants to do that really and besides by that point it will almost be winter again...so maybe I'll just stick to waiting it out.anyways Here We Go! :


Blurry. But Hilarious. I am excited to keep this and prove that he used to wear my shoes :D





He Loves This toy. It's a bummer that He and Cole are both getting too big for it. I really like the toy itself and it's not overly annoying like some OTHER toys that they've received.



My Boys Waiting to go get Ice Cream. They Look Thrilled Don't They?





Here is My Monster Sporting his Hawaiian Shirt From My Friend Monica and his Shorter Hairstyle that he's had since he was 18 Months old. He is such a handsome little boy.



Here is Lincoln Sporting a New Shirt From my Friend Monica and a Wing Looking Hairstyle... Sadly, I am going to be forced to cut it soon and I don't want to...maybe I can hold off with just trimming it until he's 2. Is this like a "he's my baby and I don't want him to grow up" thing? I mean after-all it's JUST Hair, What is My Problem?




My Bratty Ham saying "down" and giving me a cute look for the camera....

And Ambushing him while he's waking up from a full nights rest...poor nator.

and here is my son. climbing on the back of the couch, Which he is NOT allowed to do and the monster rarely lets me takes pictures of him, so whatev. I got a picture of him and YES that is my finger. =D



I know I have about ninety eleven pictures of the mountains around town and Anchorage and I mean really, how many ways can you take pictures of it? I'm not sure. But I took pictures anyways.

This is in Downtown Wasilla. Pretty, I know. I see it everyday!! :)

This is the Mountain on the way home from Anchorage. I just don't know what it's called. I know I am a bad Alaskan resident.



Ahh a Picture of my Kids Sharing....what every mother dreams of...


This Picture is Blurry but SO DARN cute.. My Hubby is in the background taking a picture of our dorks playing with the balloons :)


Cole was so excited over the balloons at a couple's (that we hang out with a bit) Baby Shower . you can see all the string. I told him that if he kept collecting them, he'd be able to fly away...




I Made This Totally Awesome No Sew Blanket for my Friend's New Bundle of Joy(picture from above are from the same event). It took me about Two Hours. if Fleece wasn't so EXPENSIVE, it would be a GREAT business idea as they are SIMPLY adorable! (Yet, it seems people ALWAYS get a Crap-ton of blankets for their baby showers!)



This is My Wonderful Scentsy Warmer, With Grape Fruit Pomegranate Scentsy Bar, Thanks to my Friend Rachel. I now have a new Scent/Warmer Obsession. My husband will be so Thrilled.... :)


And Now My Son is Sitting on the couch Saying "Momma, Couch!" and patting the couch cushion. I'm guessing he wants me to go sit with him and tickle his back so I am going to oblige. I might wait until morning for the other two posts as I just let out a ridiculously huge yawn and my 15 month old is passed out on the Dog Bed Kid Sofa!!