Confessions of an Alaskan Mom/Voter

I talked to my children all day about how important today was. I told them that today was a very important day in American History. I told them that it was very important for their father and I to vote, and that one day they will need to vote too.

Then I put my warm coat on, my hat, my gloves, and my snow boots. Next, I had the kids, all four, put on their hats, gloves, and snow boots. After that mission was accomplished, we all departed our warm, cozy home to face the 10degree weather and two-feet of snow, to load up in the truck and drive to the polls. The children all patiently, and some sleepily, waited for me to go inside and cast my vote. When I returned to the truck, I described what it was like and how easy it was. I also told them that I am glad that I did it and I am proud to be one of the many Americans who would help decide who the next President of our nation will be.

After driving home, unloading everyone back into the 10degree weather and two-feet of snow, we returned to our nice, warm home and settled in to watch the election results. The kids enjoyed it almost as much as I, asking every so often, "Who's winning now?" Then something happened that really, really bothered me.

Before the California results were televised, and before the Alaskan polls were closed, the next President of the United States, Barack Obama was announced! Now, I realize that by this point it was no surprise that Obama was going to win the election, and most certainly not California however, isn't that a little like announcing the winner of a football game during the 3rd quarter just because the leading team is ahead by twenty points? Most announcers wouldn't do that because it's rude. After all, it truly is the "Principal of the Thing".

Yes, I know that when the final tally comes in, my vote will be there. But tonight, when history was made, my vote was still sitting in Alaska because the people here weren't even done voting yet. Did my vote really count? Should I tell my kids one day to stay in the lower 48, preferrably the eastern part of the United States because "The time zone thing really puts a downer on elections and New Year's!" Of course, now I'm thinking that returning to Ohio one day is much more important than I ever thought!:)

Well, to all of you Americans that voted today, whether it was in a swing state, eastern, central, mountain, pacific, or Alaskan time, be glad you did. Especially if you got an "I Voted Today" sticker. The little old lady at my election center that was passing them out forgot to give me one:( Maybe I should have taken that as a sign...

WE HAVE NOT BEEN EATEN BY BEARS...

YES...we are still alive and well here in Alaska. After a full and busy summer, we returned home (via airplane, not car) and jumped right into a very hectic school-year. I am now teaching pre-school out of a friend's home, and we are now home-schooling Madison and Cassidy. I'll give you the long version sometime if you'd like to know. On top of that, I still have one toddler and one pre-schooler to manage. Sounds crazy, huh?

I have missed blogging and having the opportunity to share my life with everyone. Not that my life is that interesting, but it's a great outlet for me:) I did find out that my fan base is larger than I thought! Many of my readers came out of the "blog-lurker's closet" when I was in Ohio for the summer. I'm so glad that so many of our friends and family have enjoyed checking in on us. Maybe this year you could leave a "hello" or two, also?;)

I wish I had the time to share with all of you how much fun we had this summer and all of the wonderful things we did, but sadly :( I don't. So I will just end this post by saying, If we saw you while we were in Ohio and West Virginia, we're soooo glad we did, because we've missed you. If we didn't get the chance to see you, then we are still sad and regretful, because we really, really wanted to and just ran out of time :( You all know who you are! Love you XOXO

Here's some pics of Ben, Liz, Christian, Jacob, Chloe, and Robin's visit to Alaska last May. We had a blast!

Here's Robin, Liz, and me standing in front of the Mountains in Seward, Alaska. Beautiful view isn't it?


Here's a pic of Ben and Mike violating Exit Glacier in Seward, AK. Soooo sorry, Mister Park Ranger! Next time they will have adult supervision!


Last, but not least, here's the Bells' seven grandchildren and great-grandchildren having a great time at the Wildlife Conservation Center just outside of Anchorage. We really miss those nephews and that niece of ours! Love you little guys...

the last first birthday...

On March 28th Zachary turned one. Our little surprise, the one we had never imagined, has arrived and grown, and now he is already one year old. For his birthday, we celebrated with friends and tried to make it as much fun for him as we could, though the larger part of the celebration was for us. A bittersweet reminder that we have decided to begin the next chapter of parenthood and stop with the child-bearing.

I couldn't have asked for a better turn out. And thanks to my friends who helped me pull it off without a hitch. Kathi Jurva helped me make "Pupcakes" for all of the kids. They were soooooooo stinkin' cute! Exactly what I had imagined!

So here is a brief synopsis of Zach's special day and how the events evolved from one to another:

First, Andrea handed Zach his very own specially made (by Momma of coarse:) cake. He's not sure what to do with it at first, but with a little encouragement, this turned into....



this. A cute little chocolate covered boy! Then this became...



This! Fun in the tub! But what fun is a bath without a buddy? So, the solo tub became the...



Double tub. You just can't keep toddler boys away from the water! It's impossible!


Here's a pic of the playfully perfect pupcakes! We got the idea from the March issue of Family Circle magazine. Look familiar?


And since we have ended another first year of life, a note to "Baby Zach" as he's called 'round these parts...

When we moved to Alaska, we never ever thought that our first year here would be marked by the arrival of such a loving, sweet, and adorable baby boy. It hasn't always been easy taking care of you and your big brother at the same time, but your seemingly abundant patience has made many very long days, a lot more bearable. When you smile at us, your bright blue eyes twinkle, and somehow we know that everything is going to be okay. We thought there was no more room in our world for someone new, but you have proved us all wrong. Now we know our lives are complete because God has sent you to us. This last, first year of life for us, has been a rollercoaster, but you...sweet, sweet baby boy...you have made it one of the best. I wish that you would always stay small and let me kiss your chubby cheeks, while you throw your head back and giggle with delight. Oh, how I wish you could stay small and not grow big like your sisters and brother before you have done. You will never know how much you have captured the heart of every member of this family...

sooooo, sorry....

I have been a bad, bad, blogger! I am sooooo sorry that it has been over a month since my last post. Although, nobody has been commenting, so I wonder "is anybody out there?"

Our lives have been crazy insane. We came back from vacation and immediately jumped into Easter, and then Zachary's first birthday. After that it was April and I had to get going to the gym. I am doing the Golden Nugget triathelon on May 18th in Anchorage and I need all of the help I can get! This will be my first triathelon (not a full, but what is called a sprint. I'm learning as I go...) And I am going to be teaching pre-school in the fall as well as homeschooling Madison, so I had to work really hard to catch up on my Montessori 3-6 course that I am taking. I had work due on the 17th, which I had to extend to the 25th, but "WHEW!" I finally got it all done and now I can b-r-e-a-t-h-e, or at least catch my breath.

Only for a minute, though, because in less than two weeks Ben, Liz, Christian, Jacob, Chloe, and Robin are all coming here to visit! Yippee! Then, we all fly back to Ohio together on the 22nd of May. The kids and I will be there for a couple of months until Mike does the big cross-country road trip to pick us up and then we all do the road trip with our new pop-up back to Alaska for another year of snow and darkness. At least we will have the daylight and warm weather when we return.

I also have a lot of catching up to do on my household chores. I think I lost Zach in the laundry room the other day because the pile of clothes was so deep. I guess I'm not supermom after all. It turns out that when I have to do schoolwork, I really don't get a lot of other things done, except taking care of the boys' needs. Who would have thought? Anyway, it's really late, but this week is a sort of down week for me so I PROMISE to catch you up with some fun photos! If you stop by, please leave a note so that I know you were here. The blog was getting kind of lonely without any comments from my regular remarkers!



See...this is what happens when you get really, really busy!

Vacation Pics

I realize that I promised some vacation photos and had yet to fulfill my promise. So, here they are! There are many more, but I'm going to let Mike tell you about snowmobiling in Seward with the girls.

This first pic is of a bald eagle Madi spotted perched outside of the SeaLife center in Seward. It was the closest we've come to one since our arrival here almost two years ago.


This is a picture taken by Mike of the Seward Harbor, as seen from one of the mountains he went snowmobiling on. It was sunrise when he took this photo. Beautiful isn't it?


This picture was taken by Mike at the SeaLife center. Who's entertaining who?


This last photo is of Madison blowing a huge bubble at the Imaginarium in Anchorage. They had a great time there, but it's nothing like COSI!


We are still doing pottytraining with Ethan and this is "training week". Hopefully by the end of this week, other than having a severe case of cabin fever, Ethan will be completely day trained and we will start with the night training. Wish us luck!

vacation, potty progress, and pretty kitty

If you were wondering what happened to us, we have been very busy. Last Sunday we left with the Jurva family for spring break. We went to Anchorage and then on to Seward. It was a lot of fun and very exhausting, though I'm not sure why...we did a lot of relaxing! Anyway, lots of great pics will be coming soon so stay tuned!

UPDATES:
Ethan has been doing such a good job with this potty training! I am very proud of him. It seems like every time I work with him, he progresses even more. Love It!


"Can I get that to go?"

We recently adopted a stray cat. She was found outside of our house a couple of weeks ago, and the girls refused to come inside until I agreed to take her in and find her a home. Madison called her Frostbite. Little did I know that the home she would be going to would be ours. No one else could take her, so after a clean bill of health from the vet, Mike and I agreed that she could stay. She has been tolerating Raven and visa versa. The kids just love her. We let the girls name her, and after much deliberation and a lot of disagreements, they finally agreed on the name Mimzy. Welcome to the family Mims!

Mommy Mondays Buddy Post: Potty Training

Okay, so here it goes. My friend Erin Cobb has started a Mommy Mondays post and the current topic is potty training. Since we are smack-dab in the middle of training Ethan right now, I thought it would be good for me to share my ups and downs with all of you. Please check out the Cobb's blog under our "Favorite Family Blogs" in the right hand column.

I am no genius when it comes to potty training kids. I am training my third child now and I still feel like I'm doing it for the first time. I have learned that all children potty train differently and in their own time. That said, I also believe there is a short window of time in which potty training your child will be the easiest. If you start too soon or begin too late you will only make it more difficult for you and your child.

When is the right time? I don't have an exact answer only to say to trust your instincts and follow your child's readiness cues. If they aren't even talking about the potty and still don't understand what to do in it, then it's too soon. If they are asking for new diapers so they can mess in them, they are probably ready. If they are getting ready to go to Kindergarten and they are wearing pull-ups off and on, you've probably waited too long (unless there's a medical reason) and you need to push a little harder.

I think motivation is key. It really doesn't bother a child who has been wearing diapers throughout their short little life to continue wearing them, so what's in it for them? You really have to think like this and try to put yourself in your child's shoes. What motivates one child won't motivate another. Some kids love sweet treats, others love presents. Some love stickers, others love videos. What is your child's favorite special activity? If you can't decide, then maybe you need to incorporate them all, changing the "Potty Surprise" every time they use the potty. Reward jars are great for the kids who will respect the jar and not try to sneak things out of it. That would never work for my son, Ethan.

My oldest daughter hated to be wet. After doing the sometimes pottying sometimes not thing for a while, I finally committed to big girl undies and started it out for a few hours each day. Every day I added more time in the big girl undies, less time in the pull-ups. After a few wet accidents, she decided that she was always going to use the potty. She night trained at the same time, only because she slept all night in big girl underwear (oops! Thought we put a pull-up on her!) and stayed dry. After that, it was a breeze. Big lesson from her was, always, always, bring a change of clothes with you when you go out. Had a couple of #1 accidents in Wal-Mart that first year. It started to look like she was just trying to get new clothes out of me!

My second daughter was much, much different. She could care less if she wet her underwear. I tried everything I could think of to make it fun for her, but she was still having a lot of accidents. Finally, I bought a new kind of cookie and brought them home. I declared, "Everyone who pee-pees in the potty today gets a cookie!" Madi said, "I want a cookie!" I told she had to go in the potty and she told me "NO!" About an hour later, after Daddy, Cassy, and Mommy had all had their cookies she ran to the bathroom, sat on the potty, did her business and said, "Can I have a cookie now?" After that we didn't have anymore problems. It took a little longer to night-train her, but once we cut back the drinks in the evenings, she was soon out of pull-ups all together.

With Ethan my most difficult task was getting him over the hump of actually using the potty for the first time. He would sit on it, but not go. He finally did (check out my 02/28/08 post) and now we are at that place where he really just needs continual motivation to keep it going. It's hard when you're involved in other things, but I'm doing my best. I will keep you all posted! I have to say, though, things with Ethan started a lot like Sarah Cobb's experience, I introduced it early on and he refused. Then the other day I just had this feeling that we could do it this time, so I asked him if he wanted to try and much to my surprise he said "YES!" He finally went and now we are on our way. Still a long way to go, but we finally left "START":)