Mountain Climber, part 2

Since I wrote the last post about Nick, he has become even more proficient in climbing. He can now actually get onto the kitchen counter using the stool, out of his crib, and onto the castle without any aid of table/chairs. The one place I have been able to keep him out of trouble is strapped in his high chair. He has now learned that he can move his body around and actually "hop" his way across the entire room while strapped in his chair. Smart kid :) He's driving me crazy though!!!!

Darkness

It is starting to get really dark here. Tomorrow the sun will rise at 10:19 and set at 3:01. That is 4 hrs and 41 minutes of daylight - in other words not enough daylight!!!! By the time we hit December 21st, the sun will rise at 10:58 and set at 2:41. At least it will start getting lighter again after that :)
I left the house this morning at 8 and all of us felt like it was 4 o'clock in the morning. The kids were asking why we were going somewhere in the middle of the night. I just wish that it was working the opposite way and I could convince them to go to bed at 5 p.m. when it's pitch black out :)
Well, we're off to the second show of "Babes in Toyland" today. They performed it this morning for all of the schoolkids in the area. Tonight is opening night. Ellie said that she didn't get stage fright (she doesn't have to speak or anything - just dance and move like a toy lion!) I am so proud of her though. She has already decided that she'd like to do it again - with a bigger part. We'll see if I'm up for this again.....

Pictures from Andy's range

Here are some pictures from the range that Andy's troop did this week. The bottom one is overlooking Ft Wainwright.

Kate's Daisy Girl Scout Investiture

Kate had her Daisy Girl Scout investiture tonight. Andy got to pin her Daisy pin on her uniform. It was kind of like promoting her and pinning on the rank :) Unfortunately, I brought the camera, but left the memory card plugged into the computer at home, so we don't have any pictures. I am hoping that some other parents took some pics that we might be able to get a copy of ...

Violin lessons

Ellie has taken 8 violin lessons and is now learning to use the bow instead of picking at the strings like on a guitar. She'll be missing her violin lesson today though. We have been SO busy this week with "Babes in Toyland" rehearsals that we can hardly get anything done. She has been at rehearsals from 4:30-10:20 p.m. every night this week. The big show starts tomorrow.... I will be sure to post pictures of our little lion.

Today's Sunrise

Deck the Halls!

Mountain Climber

I think that Nick is going to climb McKinley or Everest some day. He won't stop climbing!! I think I'm going to go crazy. He's been able to climb for some time now and has done it on occasion. Recently though, he has become VERY proficient at it and is on top of something everytime I turn around. He climbs on the piano, the table, the stools (and almost to the counter from them). He also can easily get to the top of the play castle in the playroom - which was the one safe place I could set him and get something done. He simply moves a chair, ball, table etc. and climbs.... I am going to have a very hard time getting anything done in the coming weeks. To make matters worse, we're decking the halls tomorrow (since Ellie is in Babes in Toyland 10 times over the next 2 weekends, we thought we'd do it now!). He's going to be all over the tree!! Wish me luck!

New clothes from the Grandparents

The kiddos received some PJs and jeans from Grandma and Grandpa Woods, which is great, as they were getting cold wearing the animal skins we'd resorted to following the last bout of utility payments and the plane crash that destroyed our back yard. That, of course, was the real drain on our finances rebuilding the huge hole that subsequently eradiacted our leach-field costing upwards of 320,000 dollars. Thankfully though, the aliens that visited repaired most of the electrical damage done to the direct-TV satellite( which is much more important than feeding ourselves).

But seriously, thanks and the kids love their new threads. (andy sends)

Snowball fight!!!!

Here is the video of our family snowball fight!! Luckily I didn't record the part where I accidentally hit Nick in the face instead of Andy :(

(Although daddy put up a gallant defense, he was bested by overwhelming flanking attacks)

Heat wave

We've had a heat wave up here - it's been about 40 degrees out for a couple of days in a row now. All of the snow melted off of our deck and off the trees. Since it was so warm out, we decided to take the kids outside to play in the snow. Here are some pictures of the fun we had!!

Gymnastics Class

The girls have been happily taking gymnastics class for the past few months. Kate made a new friend yesterday. They were inseparable. They would hold hands when taking a water break. It was so cute!!

Views from our house

Nick's haircut

I was brave and gave Nick a haircut. I really didn't know what I was doing. Anyway, I decided to style him a mohawk before I cut it.... It was definitely getting too long. The top one is the finished product.

Halloween pics

Here are some pics of the kids at Halloween. We went trick-or-treating to a few houses on post - but it was cold and dark out. Nick was reluctantly a pirate - he really didn't like the hat or the eye patch! (but he slept in the truck as Andy followed us from house to house so it didn't matter anyway). Kate was a princess and Lexie a bee. Somehow I don't have a picture of Ellie. She was at dance class on Halloween night and missed getting her pic taken.

Heartbeat

I had an appointment on Thursday and I got to hear the baby's heartbeat :) Somehow that makes it feel more real now. I am still getting sick in the mornings, but I'm hoping that will start going away soon. Poor Ellie has had to be on diaper duty in the mornings because I just can't take it!!