Family Time

A sad thing happened Friday before Easter. Brett's last surviving grandparent- Grandpa Milo passed away. It was the same day the kids and I got back from out trip cross-island and Brett's Christmas and Birthday gifts showed up, one of which was a new gun (Kimber). The positive things helped Brett keep from losing himself in the sadness, and he wanted to spend time with us. So we all loaded up and headed to the firing range with Dad!
Shane was suddenly on a hunting rabbits kick. I'm not sure where it came from, but Shane was convinced he needed to shoot rabbits. We knew that wasn't going to happen, so we stopped at the Orions (the outdoor store) and got a target for him to practice on instead. Too bad there were none rabbit-shaped.

Dad only had to arm the gun for Shane, who did pretty good aiming down-range.
Austin needed a little more help, but managed to get the trigger pulled on his own.

And to top off the fun, after Dad and Mom had thier turns shooting the .45s, we all got to hunt around finding all the .45 caliber brass that was lying around. The boys got pretty good at recognizing the .45s among all the rest, even the .40s.

Just A Kiss

Boys WILL be boys, and often that means accidental injuries. Heck, it's a kid thing.
Austin had a fun moment during a game the other day. His forehead met the corner of the gun safe. You heard the thwack but at the same time, knew that the contact hadn't been too intense, just "kissed" it a little. The goose-egg was there before I even reached the poor little guy and pretty well gone by bed time.
Bit of a reminder... over the last couple years there has been NEW first aid rules for kids with "head injuries" like this. When you were a kid, momma would put ice on bad lumps and knocks, to keep the swelling down. But, due to the somewhat-recent deaths, the great THEY looked at the first aid measures again. NOW, the rule is to NOT put ice on heads, especially kids' heads. They've found that the bump will swell regardless of the ice, the ice merely reduces the outer signs- instead the swelling goes inside, putting pressure on the brain (which we all know is bad). So, forget the bag of frozen peas, and stock up on the best first aid tool there is- HUGS and CUDDLES!

Bett's Birthday

Since Brett was off up in Fairbanks for his ACTUAL birthday, we celebrated the old man when he came home. But Dad's not one for big social situations... unless there's kareoke! (A total surprise for everyone, I know.)

Austin IS his father's son!
You can kinda see in the back there- Our buddy Troy who, when told there would be kareoke, swore up-down-back-and sideways that there was NO WAY under heaven we'll be getting him to sing... he he he... YOU might be next!

Makin' Dad's Birthday Cake

Yes, neither was clothed and they were only in it for the beaters.

Like father like sons!

A Tissue Issue or Ode to a Loved One

After 27+ years of life I have made a very interesting discovery about myself this month. I hate tissues. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against blowing my nose, though I wasn't a fan as a kid probably because of those bits of toilet paper and paper tissue that you're supposed to use. I haven't thoroughy thought out the whys and wherefores, but I imagine my hatred for tissues is based in chapped noses, stuffed pockets, and hands full of boogers.
So what to do with stuffed sinuses and gushing noses? Well, as a mom of boys, sleeves and t-shirt hems work in extreme emergencies. A bandana works in a pinch, though even the best most well-used and worn of mine chaps the nose after a while. Actual store-bought hankies are rare, though work fine if a bit on the thin side. But the very best has proven it'self to be a scrap of memory.
A number of years ago, I got a pair of leopard print flannel PJ pants at Wal-mart. They were incredibly soft and warm and 2-3 sizes too big. Eventually they ripped, and I held on to them until a stroke of genius and desperation inspired me to turn them into a Halloween costume for Shaner when he was 2. (Austin wore it last year too!) My kids are the most adorable leopards ever and I'm immensely proud of that little costume. There wasn't much material left over from the pants' reincarnation but enough to make a headscarf for when I was feeling edgy (gotta have leopard print once in a while).
But, life goes on. One day in utter desperation of something to help clear my poor chapped nose that was gushing all over the place, I reached for the nearest unoccupied scrap of material- and my headscarf became my go-to-booger-catcher. It's substantial and soft, no more chapping for me! The only downside is the fact that I have to wash it- and don't have it during that time.

In fact, I'm contemplating making everybody one for Christmas. Share the Love!

Aprons

My friend over in Hidden Falls (hatchery on the other side of Sitka island) is a crafty nut and MADE all Christmas gifts this year. I didn't get a shot of mine or Brett's but these were the boys'. They were pretty thrilled and one day I will actually remember to get them to wear them when helping me cook.

So Sorry

We woke up VERY late this morning, leaving ourselves only 45 minutes to get everything together and packed up for the snow coming down. So as we prepped for the arrival of the school bus this morning, on the list of things to do was to find the camera. I did promise pictures after all. Well, Daddy took the nice camera to Fairbanks with him. Which is good because it can handle the rough stuff it might go through. Finding the back up camera, turn it on, and off it goes with a deader than dead battery. Ok, emergency steps. I run upstairs and grab my cell phone. Flip it open, jab the camera button, snap a quick picture of Shane in his snow gear with his backpack. THEN I thought to glance at the battery bar- just as the evil little thing decided to BEEP at me. Dead battery.
SO, no pictures of Shane's day getting on the bus. BUT that's ok, because the bus adventure was interesting in itself .
Bus time was 11 AM. By 10 'til, Shane was decked and ready, peering out the door's window, begging to let him outside to wait. So I do, checking on him, standing out in the wind and snow a bit at a time, asking him to come inside every few minutes. NO dice, he was waiting for the bus or bust!
By 5 after he was getting worried. I talked him inside to the window by quarter after and I called the preschool. Shane's wonderful teacher called the bus directly. There'd been a mix up. The boss was out of town, the usual office guy wasn't there, and no one had bothered to tell the bus driver that Shane was on the regulars list now. The bus didn't forsake us though, she came BACK on her route to get Shane, arriving at 11:40 (school starts at 11:45) What an angel!

The return trip, Shane fell asleep. We had to wake him up to get him as far as the house. What a GOOF! But he had a good day, and was quite excited for the rest of the day we had planned.

Tomorrow is another BIG day, hopefully those monsters have given in and fallen asleep WITHOUT cuddling me to insanity, and soon I must follow.

Microwave Magic

Yesterday, the boys decided to play wonderfully downstairs, so I was trying to relax up in bed between emergencies. But, by the afternoon, I came down stairs to the beeping of the microwave. Thinking it was just Austin pushing buttons for fun, I didn't worry too much, until I noticed a shadow revolving in the light of the micro waves and heard a pop.
I opened the door to find a completely popped bag of popcorn in there- with the plastic wrapper half melted to the bag. (NOT the microwave thank goodness) Austin was VERY excited and demanded his treat- since he worked so hard to get it.
His independance was so adorable, that there was no question that he was getting popcorn. BUT, the bag he'd worked so hard on was burnt (happens when you cook it for 7 minutes).
So I got Austin back up on his strategically placed chair, and showed him the steps of making popcorn- especially the take the plastic off part. And he enjoyed a brand new bag of yummo scout popcorn.

Fast forward.

Austin just handed me a package of popcorn with the cutest little "plee" to open the plastic for him. How could I say no? Slight problems when he forgot which button to push, but Daddy helped and they succeeded in a bag of popcorn that wasn't much over cooked.

Hooray for independance!
Coming soon: Shane starts to ride the bus as an everyday thing! I'll take pictures this time.

Late Night Surprises

So, late last night I was awakened by the noise every parent dreads. Rush into the boys room and find Shane leaning over a puddle of yak in the middle of the bed. Fun fun.
But as I went through the needed stripping of people and beds, and cleaning up enough amid the crying kids, the main thought that perplexed me was... what did he eat that was pink?

Sharp Things

So, I finally found the site for both the knife that Austin sliced his finger with...

and the dog knives the boys got for Christmas....

www.kuhnrikon.com

Really cool and reasonably priced I thought.

Christmas 2009

Merry Christmas!
Santa stopped at our house a day early this year, because the Coast Guard has the tradition of Brett working on Christmas Day.

I'm sure most of y'all heard how we had to wake the boys up at 11 to get the fun started. Then milk and cuddles superceded stockings until everyone was fully awake.

The most exciting thing in those socks was kid-proof knives! They are vauguely dog shaped, with an eye printed in the right spot. The boys were VERY excited to help cut the necks of their Christmas bananas, and they love to get slices of cheese to mangle to pieces or to cut thier sandwiches into tiny bits. With absolutely NO chance to cut themselves (I've tried!)

Shane got a funky little speller board like the one he works with at Speech class.

And SOMEone (not us) got Shane a remote control Tundra (just like Daddy's) who of course had to demonstrate. :D

Then Shane finally got his turn.
The LAST present of the year was a big ol' train set!
That immediately had to be set up in one of the perscribed configurations- according to the "map" provided.
Some of you will remember me teasing Brett about how long it took for him to set it up that first day- I eat my words!
There are 4 track plans provided, all equally complex in design. But the one that was chosen for Christmas construction (and that Shane has decided is his favorite) is thoroughly designed WRONG. I found this out as the main track builder since Christmas, and have apologized to Brett. It was a design flaw, not a builder flaw.
Austin got another cool knife-related gift that he adores.
Naked Chef!

The peices of fruit are held together with velcro that you 'cut' apart with the little wooden knife.

And that was our Christmas...

Wishing all the very best of the Christmas season and a Happy New Year!

Christmas Nativity

We went to a friends' house for dinner and The Reading on Christmas Eve.

We attempted a little nativity, with the kids playing the main parts.

Shane refused to play 'Joseph', so Austin volunteered.

Turns out he was only in it to get to ride the 'donkey' which we needed 2 of.

One for 'Joseph' and one for 'Mary'- both donkeys named 'Daddy'.

'Mary' and 'Joseph' by the 'manger'.

Shane was persuaded to briefly be a very stubborn 'angel'.

Later we sang Christmas carols- the kids used my hairbands for Jingle Bells, and Austin got to be the 'Little Drummer Boy'.

Happy Christmas!

Stolen

No, I wasn't there, but Shan had these up on Facebook, so I stole them. They gave us all alot of enjoyment looking at them.

Grandma surveying her kingdom from her throne-

insane crowded chaos of a kingdome, but still.

Uncle Richard trying to figure out something that does NOT require a camera lens.

Doesn't he just LOOK like the struggling film-maker?

Still waiting to see the pictures of the shearing of this sheep.

Aunt Shannon. No, I don't know what's on her head, but Shane thought it was hilarious.

Uncle Spencer (we need to come up with a nickname for you man- there's a 'Spencer in Shane's Thomas the Tank Engine world, and he's not a nice train. BUT, he can pronounce your name now... :) )

Cousin Trevor and his wife Emi- it was lots of fun to see your silly side!

That's a pretty nice tie too by the way.

Uncle Ben with a sleepy Nicole and Christian.

We love you guys!

I hear rumors and whispers of this occurance, Super cool man!

Shane was fascinated with it, but couldn't say 'violin'.

So I told him it was a 'fiddle' and he thought that was even cooler-

and WAY funner to say.

Uncle Abe's facial contortions got LOADS of giggles too,

though at first they thought he was pretty scary..

Here he's checking out the gift the boys picked out for him.

The boys were HIGHLY impressed with this feat.

Both tried it, but with no luck thank heavens.

Thanks for the idea Abe. :P

Quiner tradition of playing games all day Christmas.
I need to find someone to play with me...

The Banks' tradition of doing a puzzle is fun too, but leads to loads of arguments.

Group pictures!!!
BR: Ben, Christian, Joseph, Nicole, Richard and nutty Abe

2nd: Bekah, Patricia, Lexie, Micheal, Mom/Grandma

FR: Spencer, Emi, Trevor, Shannon

Same group being silly- big surprise there, I know.

This one I took over Skype webcam.

Fuzzy and cramped, but thank you all for being good sports.

Merry Christmas!!!