Hot Springs Weekend

Back in January some of our "Alaskan Family" decided to visit to continue celebrating my BIG 40th birthday, yes I pretty much enjoyed presents, phone calls, and well wishes ALL month long....so maybe getting older really isn't THAT bad.


The Hums decided to take me to Chena Hot Springs for an overnight stay for JUST THE ADULTS!!! David managed to get a babysitter for the kiddos, so off we headed, with a stop in town to check out The Stash a store I knew they would appreciate 'cause everything is handmade. We decided to make another stop for some yummy Thai food at Pad Thai. When we got to Chena we decided to play like "tourists" & visit the Aurora Ice Museum to have an "appletini" in an ice glass while checking out all of the ice sculptures. My favorite was the knights on horseback!

You can even rent the place out for weddings, or spend your honeymoon evening on one of their ice beds....not sure if those would be a very "comfortable" way to consummate a marriage, but I am sure it's more about the adventure!

(Preach on brother Dave)

(How did they do that??)

(Looking to the left you can see the bar & stools)

Tubing at Fort Wainwright on Birch Hill

We were all pretty excited to show our friend Pippin the tubing hill. It is great fun for the whole family. If you get to Fairbanks you should really try it out!

(Jake, Pippin, & Ben enjoy a ride together)

(Ben spinning down lane #1)

(David at the end of a good run.
He hit the yellow poll a few weeks ago
and almost went over the top!)

One a day for 7 days....Yukon Quest!!

Why have I been an absent blogger you ask? Well there are a variety of answers. I was sad for a while, not really sure why, maybe a seasonal thing 'cause of the long dark winters, a food deficiency, a female thing or a I'm not really taking care of myself issue, a shortness of proper rest....maybe I was just due for some sadness, because most of the time I'm a happy-go-lucky person. Even in the midst of my " blue period" I was incredibly busy....so whatever the issue, it seems to have passed and I have SO much to blog about. My goal is to make a post everyday for a week! Seems like the right think to do in order to catch everyone up on the VERY EXCITING events that have occurred in the past....month....has it really been THAT long...yes, just two days shy.

Today we watched our friend Charlie Allison win the Jr. Yukon Quest!!! CONGRATULATIONS CHARLIE!!!(Charlie headed for the finish line)

(Race officials make sure he's carrying the proper supplies)

(Charlie stops for a picture with mom)

A Lemonade Award for my blog...Oh My!!!

My blog was nominated for the Lemonade Award by Tiffany over at The Holt Clan. The award is for blogs that have attitude & gratitude, I don't know if my writing has either, but I have been working on turning lemons (my previous posts) into lemonade (my more recent posts) the best way I know how, by diligently posting as much as possible. I am just happy to have people reading & leaving comments, 'cause that encourages me to blog more!

All of these blogs make me ponder life, cry, laugh out loud, appreciate others crafty abilities, & question what is happening in our world. I think each blog has it's own unique FLAVOR & ZEST which QUENCHS my THIRST while blogstocking!

1. Afternoon Moon
2. A Handmade Life
3. Global Homestead
4. A Friend to Knit With
5. My Fairbanks Life
6. Suburban Bliss
7. Honeyflake
8. Kigluait Educational Adventures (links to their blog)
9. Knitting Box
10. My Art is My Outlet

Here are the rules:

1. Put the logo on your blog or post.
2. Nominate at least 10 blogs which show GREAT ATTITUDE and/or GRATITUDE!
3. Be sure to link to your nominees within your post.
4. Let them know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog.
5. Share the love and link to this post and to the person from whom you received your award.

Wordless Birthday Wednesday

We celebrated the BIG 40 for me last night, just the family(I was even honored with getting to pick the game..Labyrinth), some yummy Thai food, a delicious fruit tart, and some pretty nice gifts for mama. Including an iphone...yes I guess we are finally breaking down to join the cell phone revolution.

Favorite Things

I just wanted to share 10 things I am loving right now:

1. Our wood stove (since it's still 40 below or colder with HEAVY ice fog)

2. The rocking chair

3. Pear Butter on my whole wheat english muffin in the AM

4. Sleeping late (well, I was over the break)

5. Artful Blogging magazine

6. These knitting rubber stamps

7. This cashmere sweater from
Garnet Hill (I am thinking I deserve it)

8. These blooms on my Christmas Cactus


9. This VERY racy, but just in time for Valentine's Day book,
The Erotic Treasury

10. The fact that although my kids got
many wonderful & exciting toys for Christmas,
their favorite items to play with over
the break have been three large swatches
of animal print material.

A New Year

It's official, I can now wish you a happy 2009....I realize that I'm a day late but the toilet wasn't clean. Yesterday, I was busy casting on my Monkey Socks and cursing our fearless Knit-A-Long leader Monica, 'cause I kept dropping stitches and having to frog the whole thing to begin again, not that it was her fault, but you gotta have someone to blame!! I know what you're thinking: what is she talking about....what does having a clean toilet and wishing people a Happy New Year have anything to do with each other. She is L-o-s-i-n-g her mind. She's actually blogging about the john?

Yes, yes, I have plenty of other things I COULD write about like David deciding that now at 40 below it's a good time to tear out the border in my washroom and make a mess everywhere, or the fact that the kids, all on their own, made a Natural History Museum/Zoo/Circus today complete with a bird cage, reptile exhibit, & juggling show. I could also post cool pictures of the frost growing around the edges of the doors and covering the windows with great patterns, but no today you get toilet talk.

I don't know about you, but I usually like to ring in the new year with a little cleaning. Just organize things a bit, tidy up the clutter in the hopes that the following year will be orderly. So I began with a box of blankets that needed to be added to the linen shelf, toys that needed to be donated, and the toilets needed a good scrub. Now it is BEYOND me how so much funk can build up around a toilet. I have three boys, yes I am counting my husband because although he has had 30+ years at aiming into a roughly 12" oval there are times when I am sure he misses, he's just old enough to know that he must WIPE THE RIM. This must be something that comes with age, like appreciating a good glass of wine, 'cause no matter how much I rant about pee on the toilet my other two boys just haven't gotten it yet. I mean how hard can it be to make it down the hole... it's BIG, bend at the knees to get closer if you need to, hell sit down on the damn thing, but GET ALL THE PEE IN THERE. I mean I don't even care if you flush! I feel the worst for my daughter Zoe who shares a bathroom with her two brothers. Poor girl, there will be years of yelling about everything related to the bathroom when they become teenagers, but for now the issue is pee everywhere put IN the toilet. As I was cleaning I was thinking, what in the world are they thinking about when they pee that causes them not to be able to concentrate long enough to shoot a straight stream for what..... 20 seconds....40 at the max. I mean for heavens sake they can listen to me reading for hours, play games(recent RISK games have lasted 7 hours) or watch a video, but NOT long enough to relieve themselves? Are they so excited about their play & they are trying to hurry? Are they daydreaming? There isn't even a picture above the toilet that they could gaze at and oops I missed.... NOTING, nota, just peeing.....I just don't get it. I have even resorted to making THEM clean the bathroom & it doesn't work. So please tell me, promise me they'll grow out of it...... preferably before they learn to enjoy wine....& I would be OH SO HAPPY if it happened THIS YEAR!!! Just tell me.... even if you have to lie, that 2009 will be the year that the PEE gets IN THE TOILET!

Ok, so now I can wish you a Happy New Year, 'cause my universe....the toilet, is shiny clean....for now anyway.