First day, faux hawks, and popsicle purple

School started again today.

Sonny Boy is excited. Can you tell? It may not look like it but really he is. He has been waiting and waiting to go back to school. And so have I. It has been rainy most of the summer and the poor kid is bored. He wants to see his friends. He wants to go play on the playground outside. I think he forgot he has actual work to do in school. And homework. Yuck. I hate homework even more than he does, I think.

I made him pose for the usual first day of school pics. He just had to pose in front of the truck. I think he loves it almost as much as I do.

And, yes, my boy has a faux hawk. It's the latest trend among second graders. I wouldn't let him get a real mohawk. And since I'm the one who cuts his hair, I figure I get the last word. 

I have a weird phobia/thing about mohawks. I don't know why. I think it is because it can go wrong so quickly. Cute, short, spiky faux hawk? Good. Skunk stripe mohawk that goes all the way down the back of the head? Well... not so much. Especially if it is long and scraggly. That is just a hop, skip, and a jump away from the rat tail, and no one wants to return to the days of the rat tail. Or the mullet.

Then I made him move to the front porch for the more traditional first day of school pose. Yes, my door is purple. Purple like a grape Popsicle. I was going for eggplant, but this was our best result. DH kept putting more and more coats of paint on for me hoping that it would turn darker. It didn't. I think if we put more paint on the door wouldn't be able to close anymore. The purple is growing on me now. I've embraced the Popsicle purple. It's either that or go without a front door.

Rain, Rain, go away

It has rained for 31 days straight. Give me 9 more days like this and I will build me an ark and you can call me Noah. Needless to say, some records have been broken. The previous record was for 27 straight days of precipitation. I think that one is about to blown out of the water.

It does not rain all day every day, but some amount has fallen every. single. day. for a month. Yuck.

I was bragging this winter about how the darkness and weather weren't really getting to me. I can take that back now. We have had lots of comapny this summer and that has been wonderful. It has made me not really notice how gray and dreary it is here. But now all of our company is gone, and nothing distracts me from the gray skies anymore. My kids are sick of it too.

They go outside but the rain has put a damper on a lot of normal outdoor summer activities. That means they are stuck in the house a lot. With me. We are all ready for school to start. 

To pass the time my children have taken up bickering with each other. Even more than usual. They have also taken up fort building. I came downstairs to find this the other day.

This is a fort. It's a little hard to tell what it is at first. At first it just looks like they tore apart my living room.

Then I saw their heads poking out.

But that's not all. Look at what has happened in my garage.

This is also a fort. They built this one last week. The bikes are not much use to us in the rain, so they make the perfect support for a tarp fort. The entrance is under the bikes.

Who knew that a dirt bike, two mountain bikes, a pressure washer, a lawn mower, and a tarp could become a fort? Oh yeah, throw in some old towels and a few folding chairs.

Either school needs to start or it needs to stop raining. My husband wants his garage back. I don't blame him. It's a little hard to walk through there.

Hay flats...again

We made another trip back to the hay flats when my in-laws were here. Are you sick of the hay flats yet? I keep showing you pictures of it. Sorry, but I just love it there. When we were there once this summer I saw a photographer hauling an antique chair. They set it out in the grass, sat some children on it and started taking pictures. It was also one of the few sunny days that we have had this summer and it was absolutely gorgeous. I am now scouring craigslist and garage sales for a neat old chair. I'll borrow my sister's camera and take the kids out there once again and pray for a spot of sun to grace us with it's presence. That's my plan, but I think it is a long shot on the sun showing up.

This is Cottonwood Creek. We went there last week as well for my nephews baptism. I'll have to steal some of the pictures from my sister because it was awesome. He wore the hundred year old gown that originally belonged to my namesake.

This is the bridge over Cottonwood Creek. I love this rusty old bridge.

Boys will be boys no matter how old. DH had to go check out what was under the bridge.

Sonny Boy had to follow him.

We followed the trail for a ways.

The kids played in puddles.

There were lots of puddles.

And soon our trail turned into this.

'Twas deep. I suppose that's to be expected on the hay flats after it has rained all summer. Tis the nature of the beast. We decided to turn around.

And find a drier place to explore.

I took pictures of the kids. I really need to learn how to hold the camera straight. I LOVE this picture of Princess Blondie, but it is really, really, crooked.

I tried to straighten it while editing, but then in just cuts the top of her head off. Not really what I was going for.

I try to get some shots of Sonny Boy, but it is so much harder with him.

Boys just don't hold still for very long.

And he makes weird faces when he runs.

It could be because his daddy was chasing him. I think he gets the weird faces from DH.

This is when I had to duck for cover. Boys....

And then we went home. And I saw some moose prints and I took some pictures. There are always tons of prints out there, but I have yet to actually see a moose.

And so this will be my last post from they hay flats for a while. I'll try to mix it up a bit. But I'm not going to promise that I won't make it back out there sometime soon. Especially if it happens to be sunny.

Things fall apart

Sometimes it seems like the world is just falling down around us. 

Everyone here is fine, just so I don't alarm anyone to start off with. It just seems like there is so much bad news around me lately.

My sister's sister in-law is patiently waiting for their 18 month old daughter to die. At this point death would be sweet relief for her. It is so tragic and sad, but their faith is so strong.

A woman in Anchorage lost her husband two weeks ago when the  C17 that her husband was in crashed while practicing for the air show. A few days ago her father died in a plane crash on his way to a fishing trip. My heart just aches for her.

Back in my home town in Michigan, a young mother is struggling with inoperable cancer. I used to watch her in awe at horse shows when I was a kid. She is a magnificent equestrian.

A blogger that I follow just lost his father-in-law suddenly. They were supposed to be going on vacation together. 

I normally don't use this blog as a platform for my faith, but I found comfort in these verses today, especially considering that they were both written by David, someone who saw extreme highs and lows in his life.

"Oh Lord, do not forsake me; be not far from me, O my God. Come quickly to help, O Lord My Savior." Psalm 38:21-22

"The Lord is close the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit." Psalm 34:18

Posers: Part Deux

My family likes to pose on rocks. I don't really know why. It's just what we do. Plus there is an abundance of rocks in Alaska, so it works out well for us. Grandma and Grandpa C (my in-laws) recently came to visit us and we did a bit of traveling and exploring  because it was their first trip to AK. There were trails to be hiked, mountains to be climbed, wildlife to take pictures of, glaciers to be seen, and rocks to be posed on. 

The rock in a river pose.

Waiting patiently on a rock pose.

We took a break from the rock posing to pose with this huge flower. Admittedly, this was staged. I asked Grandma to stand next to the flower so that you can get an idea of how huge it is. I have no idea what it is called (help anyone?), but it looks exactly like yarrow or Queen Anne's Lace, except on steroids. A LOT of steroids. This puppy was about 7 or 8 feet tall.

Back to rock posing. Please pay no mind to Sonny Boy's holey pants. I've given up on him ever having pants with knees that are still intact. It's a futile effort on my part, but I still try to patch them.

Princess Blondie going solo on the rock posing.

DH got in on the rock posing fun.

Ah, the family rock pose (minus me, of course. Someone has to take the pictures). Don't mind the fact that they are nearly blowing away in this photo. It was a bit gusty up on the little ridge they climbed. No family members were harmed in the taking of this picture.

Princess Blondie going solo again. She was really into the rock posing on this trip. She couldn't get enough of it. Every rock had to be sat upon followed by a plea to take her picture. I obliged.

I interrupt this rock posing session to take a picture of the sun. Because we hadn't seen it in weeks, and no I'm not kidding. The sight of the sun shining down on us was a momentous enough occasion that it warranted a photograph. To say that this summer has been cold, rainy, and dreary, would be an understatement.We soaked up as much vitamin D as we could during its fleeting appearance.

DH posing on top of the rock/ridge/mountain thing that he and grandpa climbed. I already did that last time and didn't feel the need to do it again. Once is good for me.

DH is that tiny little speck on top. It was really high. That may also be part of the reason that I decided to stay behind on this climb.

Yet another rock pose from Princess Blondie. I like the way she is staring of into the distance. It reminds me of the old portrait trend in the 80's. Everyone seemed to being staring off into space then. 

Sonny Boy had to have his turn at a solo shot. And look, he DOES own a pair of pants without holes. Who knew?

This I cannot take credit for because I was not there. DH, the kids, and the grandparents went to see a glacier. I stayed home and did nothing. It was wonderful.

As I said before, I cannot take credit for this and I have no idea what is going on here. All that rock posing must have finally killed them. Except they came home, so I guess not. 

You're guess is as good as mine.

It's a Christmas miracle

Behold, I show you something amazing, something so rare it only happens a handful of times each year.

Princess Blondie is wearing a shoe and a sock simultaneously. This really is miraculous. It is almost on par with walking on water and the virgin birth. Really. 

My girl hates socks. She hates the seams on them. She hates them if they are too tight or too loose. She has to have them lined up just so on her foot. Once upon a time I would buy her socks with no seams, but that didn't really do the trick for very long. 

I finally found a way to get her to wear socks with her shoes. Bribery. And some totally awesome pink glittery Converse sneakers. 

My girls loves her sparkles so when I saw these on sale I picked them up. I gave them to her on the condition that she wear socks with them, and to my amazement she obliged. This may be my greatest accomplishment as a parent thus far.

I hate to toot my own horn, but uh... Toot, toot!

The beginning of the end

This is fireweed.

It is the upside down hourglass of Alaska's summer.

The flowers start blooming at the bottom of the stalk and work their way up.

Supposedly, the last flowers blooming at the top of the stalk mark the end of summer. 

Unfortunately, this picture was taken a week or two ago. The blooms keep inching their way upward. 

Say it ain't so. I'm not ready yet.