Bye Bye Braces!

Luke's braces are now officially off.   

Luke would go into his orthodontist, sign in, have his appointment and return with his next scheduled appointment.... always cool as a cucumber... handling it all by himself.  I guess that why I didn't realize two years had passed so fast and now his braces would be removed.  

Of course I wish I would have hounded him better about brushing, not eating sticky candy or popcorn... but it seems our orthodontic crisis was averted and we came through it with beautiful straight teeth.  

He is enjoying having this braces off but will slightly miss the opportunity to spurt water ever ridiculously far by the space in his front teeth.  

Found it very thoughtful that his orthodontist office gave him balloons that said "I got my braces off today!" and a bag of all the yummy stuff he was suppose to not be eating when he had braces.   

The Flow of Life

What can I say but that life flows continuously and quickly much like the steams from the melting snow around here.  We are in the midst of a beautiful spring and it reminds me it is a time of renewal....the opportunity to begin blogging again.  I love the memories that are secretly stored here.

We've gotta reader on our hands

Caleb loves to read.  I don't know how it happened or the exact date but this kid loves to read!  In both third and fourth grade he was crowned Accelerated Read King of his class.  Now in the dog days of summer he can be found curled up with a book.  His favorite book right now is Lost in the Barrens by Farley Mowart.  He has recently gotten hooked on the Hardy Boys who he compares to McGyver.  I hope he enjoys all the adventures reading has in store for him.

Mr. ToreEar

"MOM, Mom.... his ear is tore...." Great, as usual when there are loud noises followed by screaming at our house I assume one of the three boys is semi-injured. But a tore ear would take things to a new height.  :) But never fear they were talking about their favorite moose visitor....
Mr. ToreEar.





This guy has been hanging around our house for quite a while.  He has a few distinct features that make him stand out.  His right ear is tore and hangs limply and his left antler is growing straight down.  These challenges seem to not bother him as he meanders through our area, stealing all the fireweed and ignoring the yells of name calling little boys!

Our First Bloom

"Hey mom, I've never seen this flower before."

This is our first bloom from this plant my friend Autumn gave us three years ago!  Needless to say we are pretty proud of it!  This plant had endured a lot: being hacked down by the weed-eater, piles of snow plowed on top of it all winter and last but not least... Lily the dog..  I guess she is a little prejudice.

Swimming with Friends

The boys and I went to our great friends house who live on this little non motorized lake.  The kids were so excited to swim because it was a sweltering 80 degrees!  Boys swimming skills are coming a long ways.  Eli, Luke and Caleb all swam out to the dock. 

It is a well known fact that boys are really good at catching minnows, but a new skill was added today.  I have to say I am not fond of it either!  It was ROASTING minnows.  It's wrong and they really shouldn't do it.... but these are wild crazy boys and I had to smirk a little at their creativity!

What I love about my friend is when I said do you want to swim she was totally up for it!  I love that!  We had a great time, laughing and playing with the kids!  Great reminder that mama's need to have fun, too!

Eli coming in from the dock, to roast hot dogs.

Caleb enjoying a float on the tube!

Lazy Fridays!

The boys were hungry after going to the libray

 I love summertime  Fridays.... we head down to Friday Fling/Farmers Market, go the library, walk around downtown.  The boys always want to stop and look at the booth with  handmade wood toys... as we hear every week they are made from Alaska's finest birch or spruce.

I am totally impressed by Luke's knowledge of the Colonist.  He spouts our facts as we walk around town.... Did you know that is the bell from the ship that brought the colonist? or Hey mom  you know this library and parking lot didn't even exist back then.

Much to hot for this little Alaskan grown boy.... seeking shade at 80 degrees

Dentist... Need I say more?

Just hanging at the dentist office.

Girdwood Hike, Pistachios, and Prayers

We had the pleasure of going on a hike hosted by a family at church.  We drove to Girdwood with our buddy Autumn then hiked in 2.5 miles.....

 We crossed a cool gorge with this log bridge...

Then we made it to our goal.. the hand propelled cart.. BUT the cart hadn't been put in yet  SO we will have to return to this destination and give a try another time!

As we hiked in the 2.5 mile the last bit Eli indicated the his tummy was upset, then he began to break out in itch hives.  Just before leaving the parking lot we had a few snacks and Eli tried a pistachio... NOT good.  As we were hustling back to get benadryl... Eli stopped me and said, "I know what will make my tummy feel better, I need to pray to God. " So he sat on the rock and said a prayer while my heart melted.    What an awesome kiddo.  What a great lesson, thanks Eli! Eli's prayer was answered he felt better and the benadryl did the the trick!