I'm Leaving On a Jet Plane, Don't Know When I'll Be Back Again...

We leave Wednesday for New Hampshire. Only 48-hours from now I'll be boarding the plane with the kids heading home. I'm really looking forward to it.

We've spent the last several weeks preparing to move, the past week packing and hauling everything to Andy's sister's house to store in her big shed. I packed up the kitchen today and did some cleaning. Tomorrow will be the bedrooms and our final packing for NH. Final cleaning and miscellaneous will be Wednesday. It's been a lot of work, but I think we'll meet our time schedule and then I'll spend the next 8.5 weeks relaxing and playing with friends while we wait for this baby to be born. I know we'll be spending at least 3 months in New Hampshire, but I really, really hope it is a permanent move.

Alaska has been a wonderful experience. I have come to love and appreciate this wild and rugged state, but my heart is in the gentle hills of New Hampshire. I've enjoyed getting to know Andy's family better and watching the kids interact with them. We have lots of good memories from this past year. I've also learned that I can live anywhere as long as I am with Andy and the kids. They are the reason I get up each morning with a smile (and collapse exhausted into my bed at night - but still smiling!). Above all, I've learned that good friends really are like family and I'm looking forward to spending the summer with our huge NH family.

Hungery for More!

My sister-in-law Suzy is the most well-read person I know. She reads 1-2 books each week of such a diverse mix that I frequently ask her opinion when I'm looking for a good book or something "different."

Suzy is the first person who recommended I read The Hunger Games. I had a big stack of books I was trying to get through at the time so I didn't do much about it. A few months later, my dear friend Amy posted a list of her favorite books on her blog and lo and behold - Hunger Games was on it. Well, if Suzy AND Amy recommend it, it must be good. I put my name on the wait list for it at the library (I was number 32 in line!) and promptly forgot about it.

Last week, just as Andy was getting ready to go out of town for a few days for work, I received an email from the library telling me the book was waiting for me. It sat on my nightstand for a day or two before I picked it up and started reading it. Once I started it, it was seldom on the nightstand again, it was in my hands and I devored it in less than 24 hours. It was FABULOUS!

Premise from Amazon: In the not-too-distant future, the United States of America has collapsed, weakened by drought, fire, famine, and war, to be replaced by Panem, a country divided into the Capitol and 12 districts. Each year, two young representatives (between ages 12 - 18) from each district are selected by lottery to participate in The Hunger Games. (Think gladiator games), the televised games are broadcasted throughout Panem as the 24 participants are forced to kill their competitors with all citizens required to watch. When 16-year-old Katniss's young sister, Prim, is selected as the mining district's female representative, Katniss volunteers to take her place.

It was a roller coaster ride of a book! Well written, great plot, characters you could immediately identify with and totally got under my skin. I emailed my friend Amy when I was done to see if there was a sequal - sure enough, Catching Fire. I went that day to Barnes and Noble and picked it up - paid full price too - I NEVER pay full price for a book, but I have to say it was SO worth it! In 24 hours that book was devored too and I'm still hungering for the 3rd and final book in the series which comes out the end of August.

It's been about a week since I finished the books and I find myself still thinking about the characters. Will Katniss and Peeta ever get together and be happy? How will they overthrow the evil "Capitol" that is manipulating all of their lives? And most importantly - how will the evil President Snow meet his doom?

It's SO good! I haven't been this into a series since Harry Potter. So, if you are looking for a good read for the beach - grab these two books. They are for the "Young Adult" crowd so they're easy reading, easy to fly through - which is good because once you start you won't want to stop!

Good-bye School, Hello Summer!

Last week we wrapped up our home schooling year with a trip to our favorite science museum in Anchorage - the Imaginarium. We went here a few times when we first moved here, but then they closed the Imaginarium and moved it into the Anchorage Museum. It has been closed for the past 8 months, but it re-opened May 22nd. We couldn't wait to go check it out - so on Friday, May 28th we went to go check it out. We LOVED it!

First stop, the swing. You pull yourself up and then let go of the rope and drift down. Very fun, good upper arm workout, they all had to try it.

Katherine, Ms. Adventurer, went first.



Sarah was next and had so much fun she took turns giving Ben and Christian rides.

Katherine had fun filling the soda bottle with water then pumping up the air pressure and seeing how high she could get the soda bottle to shoot in the air.

Christian loved the air pressure that kept the balls in the air. He kept putting them in then hitting them off, putting them in, hitting them off. Kept mommy busy retrieving them before anyone could step on them and slip!

On to the next room - water!

Ben loved playing in the pirate ship!

Andy was even able to get out of work early and come join us - he sacrifices so much for our family! So, with daddy there, it was back to the swing! Ben liked how the swing sank MUCH faster with daddy on it then Sarah!

Family favorite: BUBBLES!!

Andy showed us how it's done! Check out this amazing bubble!

Final stop for the day - back to the water room. This little area had this section kind of like the "old" water-beds. Very squishy, you could hear the water sloshing around under you, kids loved it.

My favorite thing about home schooling this year - watching the kids really learn to PLAY together. We got a lot done - the girls both completed 1.5 grades of math, are 2 grades ahead in their reading, doing great in grammar, spelling, writing, history and science, but the best thing of all is because they spend their days together as a family, the learn to play together. Every day they have recess where the go outside (yes, even when it's freezing out) or play in the basement for an hour - just running around and being kids together. I love it. It's a lot of work, especially for me - cooking and cleaning for all of them all day, preparing lessons, teaching them, and then, I see this and it's all worth it. This is why we home school.

Welcome to "The Lodge"

Welcome to "The Lodge!" This is where we've been living since December. It's a 6,000 square foot house located on 5 acres - it even has a red barn! Sounds cute, huh? And it could be - could be - after a lot of work and a huge investment.

Imagine a home where someone got ambitious and decided to start remodeling the entire house all at once, and then stopped. That is what "the lodge" is like. Walls mostly mudded, but not done. Flooring that is peeling or cracking all over. Electrical outlets that aren't covered. Wall covering that's older then me that they started to pull off, but then stopped.

There is not a single screen on any window in the house - which means this time of year you either leave the windows closed and swelter (air conditioning is extremely rare in Alaska) or you open them and let in all the bees, wasps and mosquitoes. Mosquitoes here are big and plentiful. Andy tells us that one year he kept count of the number of mosquitoes he killed in one season - until he hit over 1,000 and stopped counting. We are constantly opening windows, closing windows, and killing bugs.

So, if you are feeling frustrated with your home or lack of decorating budget, sit back, put your feet up, and let's laugh together as we tour, "the lodge."

We'll start with the family room.



This is a HUGE room that is surrounded by windows and wood paneling. I don't know how big it is, but to give you an idea - it holds two full-size sofa sectionals ("pit groups"), three full size desks, a "book nook" for the kids to read and still has room to run and play. The overall "rustic" look and all the panelling made us dub this house "the lodge."

The flooring here is subflooring - that's the stuff you put flooring on! It has a nice big fireplace and is the room we really do live in. This room sold me on the lodge - I had visions of a roaring fireplace and lots of family togetherness this winter. And it was defiantly "kid friendly" - no worries about the boys ruining anything, there wasn't anything to ruin!



Notice the "fancy" chandeliers? There are three of them in this room. Check out the light bulbs - there are three amber "tea lights" and two flood lights. The other chandeliers are also a mis-mash of light bulbs - or missing light bulbs as well. It makes for an interesting lighting element for the room!

This is the way more than half the outlets are in this house. We thought - hey, no problem, we'll just pick up outlet coverings and cover them ourselves. Oh - but take a closer look. See all that sheet rock? Have you guessed it? Yup, they wired the outlets, put on the sheet rock, and then - oops, it was too think, you can't attach the outlet covers without a really long screw!

Let's move on to the kitchen.

You all probably know that I live in the kitchen. I enjoy cooking, make most things from scratch, and avoid pre-made meals as they taste too "processed" for my liking. Because I'm home, I have the chance to make homemade meals and enjoy doing so. I found this kitchen to be sufficient for my needs with two exceptions.

#1 - there is no dishwasher. OK, technically there is a dishwasher but it is a portable one and when you connect it to the sink water flies everywhere. So basically, I am the dish washer - three meals a day, seven days a week, at least five people at each meal. And, remember, I'm not a fan of pre-made meals - that means pots and pans for every meal. I can't even BEGIN to tell you how much I am sick of washing dishes!!

Which leads to #2 - the kitchen sink.

The sink is small - camper sized - with no disposal. More reasons why we call this "the lodge"!

This is a good example of what most of the walls are like in the house.

Here's the main bathroom. There is one in the basement but it's very scary and only used in time of extreme emergencies! Notice the fancy wall covering on the right - I don't know what this stuff is. It's hard like some sort of a siding but "decorated" like wallpaper. Also notice the lovely mudding job and more non-covered outlets.

The bathtub. It's still only has the cement board covering on it so we have to cover it all up with dry towels when the kids take a bath - just try telling a 2 and 3 year-old not to splash! The jets don't work - but it's big and fairly deep and is the other thing that sold me on the lodge.

The last reason we call this house "the lodge" is because it backs up to woods and then a gorgeous mountain. Yesterday Ben looks out the window and says, "Mom! There's a horse in the backyard." I look and tell him, "That's not a horse, it's a moose!" Just in case you've never seen one, a moose is bigger then a horse. Here's our moose in our backyard.

I should have gone outside to get a better picture - but I admit to being chicken. These guys are big!

So, there you have it. As soon as I get back to my cute little home in New Hampshire I'm going to open all the windows and do a load of dishes while I walk around and admire every covered outlet and finished wall! We'll be home three weeks from today! Can't wait!!

Happy Birthday Sarah!

Sarah turned 7 on the 13th and now that the USB cable has been found - we can share pictures!

Birthday breakfast was eggs (mom's choice) and donuts (Sarah's choice).

We won't notice all the eggs left on the plate.

We spent the day reading more about medieval history - especially princesses, knights, and castles - at Sarah's request. The balloons were a big hit too - who knew that $1.56 at Walmart would reap such fun in our home? When the kids got tired of playing with them inside, they took them outside and played some more. Such fun!

On the 21st, Sarah had her tap recital. This is her in her costume.

Unfortunately, I got really sick last week and spent the better part of three days in bed so I missed the recital. Sarah was kind enough to put her costume on again so I could take pictures when I was feeling better.

S-weet
A-dorable
R-esponsible
A-ctive
H-udge help for mommy!

We love Sarah!

Summer Plans!

I have been missing my USB cable for two weeks now - can't find the dang thing which is why I haven't posted. I have some great photos from Sarah's birthday on the 13th just staring up at me from my camera, but I can't get them out! Very frustrating. Need to find the cable.

But until then, let me quick update you on our plans for the summer...

Andy and I have been trying to figure out where we should have this baby that is due in August. We've been unable to get insurance here for the kids and I and have been getting estimates of $8,000-20,000 for a "normal" birth. We've talked about a home birth, but I turn 40 this July and we are a good 30 minutes to the closest hospital, so that makes us a bit nervous in case something should go wrong.

To top it all off, we just got Andy's bill for his gallbladder surgery - $22,000! It was outpatient surgery and he was only there about 5 hours -that's $4,400 per hour! They actually charged him $150 for a warm blanket. Man, I picked the wrong field to go into! Luckily, Andy's insurance will pay 80% of it and we're grateful for that - but it also showed us how quickly medical bills can get out of hand.

SO, after much discussion, number crunching and prayer, we've decided to move back to New Hampshire - at least for the summer.

Andy, the kids and I will all arrive in NH on June 17th. He'll stay through the weekend to help us get settled, then fly back on Monday to get back to work. He's looking for work in NH and northern Mass. and will move out with our "stuff" as soon as he finds a job. We are moving out of the house we've been renting and will store everything at Andy's sister's house where he'll stay too for the summer.

The kids and I, meanwhile, will "camp out" in our house which we still own in NH. We plan to spend our days playing with friends and swimming in NH's fabulous lakes - especially our favorite one, Highland Lake in Andover. We'll be able to get health insurance in NH for not only myself, but all the kids too. We've already made doctor, dentist and eye appointments for the summer; very exciting stuff.

Andy will move down as soon as he finds a job and will be with us for the last two weeks of August for the birth of our baby. After that, we'll see what happens. We want to keep the separation to a minimum, so if he can't find a job, we'll return to Alaska in September and figure out plan b. But hopefully he'll find a job this summer and we can complete our heart-felt desire to move back to New Hampshire.

So, that's our plan for the summer. What's yours?

Good-bye Gallbladder!

Andy's been having some digestive issues for the past several months. After a few trips to the ER with Andy in terrific pain and even more tests, it was discovered that Andy had gall stones and needed to have his gallbladder removed.



Upon hearing this, we all wondered - so what exactly does the gallbladder DO? Here's what we learned:

• The gallbladder it tucked under the liver, snuggled up against the intestine.
• The liver produces bile which helps break down fat. It stores some of this in the gallbladder, the rest is a continual drip in the "common duct."
• When you eat a fatty meal, the gallbladder will squirt out it's store of bile to help digest the fatty food.

Andy had developed gallstones and whenever the gallbladder would "squirt" and a stone was in the opening it would cause tremendous pain that would last for several hours. We put him on a virtually fat-free meal plan and that helped but if he had even 10g of fat (which is NOT much!), he'd have an attack. They started getting more frequent and more painful so it was time to take it out.

Monday Andy went into the hospital for this outpatient procedure. Everything went fine and when I spoke with the surgeon afterwards he said Andy's gallbladder not only had been completely blocked, but was very diseased and hadn't been working well for "quite some time." Essentially, removing it was the best thing to do.

Andy spent Monday night and all day Tuesday in bed on pain medication. The kids and I decided to take the week off from school (our spring break) to do some spring cleaning (my idea) and go on some field trips (their idea). Today we are headed to the library for story time for the boys and pick up some more books and movies. I'll be looking for books on low-fat meals (not a requirement for Andy, but a good idea for all of us) and baby quilts (looking for some ideas on a cute baby quilt and bassinet patterns). We decided not to purchase a crib for the baby but instead plan to make a bassinet and then move him to the toddler bed when he starts sitting up.

Life continues, Andy is healing well (going back to work for a few hours today and conducting a full day of training tomorrow), and this baby is growing - I can feel the "waddle" trying to start but I'm fighting it tooth and nail!