here we are!

sick season, BIG 4

Sick season isn't quite over at our house. The barfovirus left Kevin and Taia alone, but the kids and I are all still coughing from some other crud. I'm very pleased with myself for somehow not turning this last chest cold into pneumonia #4. I've taken a vacation from inhaling Advair... so maybe since my alveoli weren't crippled by the steroid, they were able to put up a fight.

Remy, our moody little ball of concentrated energy, turned four a couple of weeks ago. He's grown from his tiny, 5-pound, 5 weeks premature little self into a confident, effusive "big boy" who's learning phonics and trying to grow out of Pull-Ups. HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY!!!

...from the Parenting Files

If there is a favorite, comfortable, decent-looking place to sit or relax in your house, it is there that your child will barf.

Children only barf on permeable, expensive things.

If you have more than one child, they will take turns barfing on your comfortable, permeable, expensive place of relaxation, allowing just enough time between barfs to allow the cleaning substance to dry.

Only in myths and legends do children barf on linoleum, in a bucket, outdoors, or anywhere near a bathroom, except in the hall on the way there, on the expensive & permeable carpet.

another month...

This recap-approach is getting old, I know.

Last month, MSC soccer started up - we spend about 3 hours each Saturday at the sports complex watching the girls learn new moves. In ballet, Taia was moved up one level, which is great but it makes for longer Wednesday nights... She started attending an after-school program for gifted 5th graders, called "Enrichment Club". So far there are twelve kids in it and their focus has been on taking apart/reassembling computers, and programming miniature robots called Crickets. Girl Scouts really got going, but I haven't found a troop for Kira yet. The first quarter ended, so both girls had conferences, and they're both just really great students! Kira's teacher is sending home more challenging homework, so now it takes her 10 minutes to finish it instead of 5. Taia's really turning out to be a good clarinet player... So, school's all good.

As for Remy, well, he's just taking in all he can while he's with C, the boy I babysit. Their friendship is complicated, like a soap opera, with joy and betrayal and competition wrapped up in giggles and hostility. So they want to play together and they ask for each other when they're apart - but once they're together, there's sure to be one-upping and tattling before long. I love it when they're just relaxed, humming, eating PB&Js, drawing, or walking the dog with me... C's mom went on vacation in October, so we had a few extra days of babysitting. His sister comes to our house after school for about an hour, so we have a full house/full mamavan - with my kids that means just one thing - it's LOUD.

Remy and I have been making it to story time at Pandemonium Book Store on Wednesday mornings. I like Pandemonium because it doesn't have the Big Brother vibe that the public library has... I don't know why libraries creep me out that way, but I remember the walking-on-eggshells feeling ever since my early days at Nome's library and the one we went to in Fairbanks when I was 6. I remember thinking that even though the dolls on display at the Fairbanks library were called "Ginny" dolls and that that alone should be thrilling to me, it was just a creepy place and the air was heavy with rules and SHHHH. Remy loves story time because he's a commentator. I hate to quash his enthusiasm but I've started to ask him to be quiet please and let the lady read the book.

Our good friends usually go to story time too, with their 18-month-old son. They've been inviting us over to their house for all kinds of delicious homemade food... now my pants are all straining to hold my expanded parts. I'm not complaining at all because I love scratch cake, homemade doughnuts, cinnamon rolls, halibut chowder...

It was the big convention week for AFN two weeks ago. Dad was in town so we got to visit with him :) I got to take the kids to the last day of the convention, when Senator Begich talked to the audience and the AFN President's Awards were presented. Educators, hunters, elders, and culture-bearers were honored alongside parents, healers, business people and others. I'm hoping that one of these years I'll get to bring the kids to the dance performances!

Oh yeah I had a birthday last month too. That week I was burnt out from reading the Twilight series instead of sewing Halloween costumes, and consequently from staying up all night to actually finish the costumes before we had to leave to trick-or-treat. Clearly, getting older doesn't go hand-in-hand with getting wiser.

Almost caught up...

In September our girls had birthdays. Taia's in double digits now. Kira's seven, which is probably a hissy word to say when you have two missing front teeth. Theven on the theventh. I can't really picture her with big front teeth yet. I was too accustomed to the chiclets.

We had a family barbecue in Anchorage with Peg & family, to celebrate the birthdays. We picked up Nanny from her assisted living home and enjoyed the sun while the kids ran around a park off of 36th Avenue. It was a little awkward because Nanny didn't want to get out of the car. Alzheimer's is winning.

Ballet finally started the second week of September, the same week I started babysitting Taia's best (Wasilla) friend's brother two days a week. That weekend we had the birthday parties WOOT WOOT! I always do so much prep and then TWO kids show up. Seriously, handmade invitations, homemade cake & frosting, snacks, decorations, not to mention facility rental. Ugh. Taia's was an ice skating party - she had a good time and she was grateful and sweet. Kira's party was at the big city park followed by an hour in the party room of a local ice cream shop. I missed out on it completely because of another ER visit for pneumonia. The sky was cloudy, the rain was coming down, I was figuring out the logistics of rescheduling her party during the drive to the hospital... but Kevin decided everything should go on as planned. They had so much fun at Scoops!!! I wish I could have been there. Thweet.

The following week, Kevin left for three weeks on the east coast and Taia started XC running. More power to all you runners out there, I don't understand you but I admire the dedication. The MatSu Family Fun Run was that weekend, with age groups from preschool through 5th grade, and tagalong parents too. I didn't last more than 25 feet following Remy. That was just fine with him - he'd already expressed his desire to run "withOUT you, MAMA!!!". K & T both ran the mile (yay Kira!) and stayed together on the trail. Sweet sister moments, they're rare.

We took our tired selves over to a local you-pick farm later that day for their big Harvest Festival. There were fun kids' games, a hay-ride, an Air Force band, leaves to throw around and lots of good memories. There was a huge turnout too, so I was pretty satisfied with my early self that day...

Aside from all of the fun September stuff, I followed up with my pulmonologist about a week after Pneumonia Number Three. I had an echocardiogram done to check my pulmonary arterial pressure - it's 50mmHg. That's about the best I can get, so the doctor says, so I try to convince myself. I may work up the courage to set up a visit with the PH specialist in Seattle... eventually. I'm in WHO class I, which means I can function just about like a non-PH person can. Class IV is the worst-case scenario, turning blue in the face after taking a few steps. Yep.

The rest of September we spent settling into the No-Dad routine and getting used to babysitting our friend. He's a year older than Remy, so they play great together, with their moments of maturity-disparity flaring up now and then. Altogether it's been a really good thing and I'm just happy to be able to help.

Taia's XC meet was on the 30th. Out of about 70 girls running the 1.6 mile race, she came in 21st I think. We're so proud of her!! I've probably over-scheduled her but she's a trooper and she gives each activity her best.


September. Goodbye summer.

August... !

Oh my, I fell off the blog.

Time to wrap up the summer stuff.

We returned from our Bemidji trip and dug into August... My niece Madeleine's birthday party was on the 1st - roller skating - and it was so much fun. My girls don't roller skate much, so there were some tears at the start but they didn't last long. My favorite part was when they all stood in the middle and did the hokey-pokey with their glow-jewelry in the dark. Happy 9th!!!!

That whole weekend, the Zane Cup soccer tournament was on in Anchorage, so we had a good time cheering on Taia's team. It was their final tourney for the summer and it was bittersweet - they started the season as a powerful, coordinated team but by the end, they'd lost confidence and gone a bit backwards skill-wise. Taia loves being out on the field though, and her coaches told us that she's a solid defensive player they could depend on in every game. This soccer league is spendy, but it's well-run by good, friendly, professional people and we love it so far.

We also checked out parts of Nancy Lakes Recreation Area, the same place we winter-camped in March. The idea was to find a good berry-picking spot, but we ended up stomping around in some boggy areas around a few lakes and finding very few berries. I did get some nice pictures. The rest of that first week we picked berries at Hatcher Pass. It was a soggy undertaking, with a creek to cross (my poor baby girl fell in), mist, rain and fog - but it was irresistible. The berries we picked were on a slope and they were eNORmous! I got to teach my girls how to find and pick aluiaq (sourdock leaves)... It was my favorite green to search for when I was about nine years old, spending summer weeks at Grampa Al's 1901 log cabin in Council.


















We visited the Alaska Zoo in Anchorage for their 40th Anniversary celebration. A No-Dad Day, sadly. We check out the zoo about once a year... Moose, eagles, bears, tigers, snow leopards, seals, there is so much to see. The polar bears, when they're swimming in their tank, are the best part - but all we saw was the butt-end of one bear that had its face-end in a pile of polar bear food.
The kids entered a mask-making contest and rocked it! Taia placed second and Remy placed third, but Kira didn't have enough time to finish hers so she was broken-hearted.



The week before school started, the kids had eye appointments and now only one of these 5 eskimos is glasses-free! Little Dude is farsighted and needs glasses for close-up work. Kira (hopefully) will continue on having perfect eyesight, but Taia's eyes worsened this year. Eh.


The rest of that week we spent in Nome. BIG QUYANA to Crystal again for giving us this gift... we could never have done it without you!!!!!!
Our first day there, we visited my dad at his office, drove down the coast to his/his wife's camp on the beach, caught up with my Aunt Betty Ann and my Papa at the salon, and I brought Remy to Airport Pizza to have lunch and laugh with some '89ers.

It's hard to describe the feeling of showing your kids what your childhood was like, especially when theirs is so different. They don't get to comb beaches for blue glass-rocks or play in the waves or take a day-trip in a little airplane like I did thirty years ago.

We stayed with my bro Willy, Bridie, Orson and Oliver. They're so loving and giving. !!! Mom decided to travel along and she picked berries by both airports no matter what the weather was. We visited Kevin's aunt Maggie, ate Sister's good food and let the kids loose with the Olson sisters... We got to catch up and LAUGH with Marie and Tok. We even stopped at the softball tournament as it was ending and Kevin had a night out.

The best parts of the trip were going to Golovin and then to Bustercreek. My Gramma Nuz lives in Golovin, 70 miles east of Nome. Mom grew up there and in White Mountain just north of there. So my sibs and I have lots of childhood memories of Golovin and its fish camp, Kichauvik. Dad let us borrow his airplane, and even though we had to put the trip off, the day we finally got to go was just beautiful.







All three kids got to sit on their dad's lap and fly the plane. I remember doing the same thing with my dad - but I was always so nervous about it! My kids were totally fearless... Gramma met us at the runway on her 4-wheeler and gave the kids a ride to her house. She's had a hard year after breaking her hip last winter, and she doesn't do as much as she used to, but she walked down the hill with me to the beach, past her old house and to the playground where the girls were shooting hoops. To hear Gramma's voice and just be with her was home. She fed us and let Remy pig out on blueberries, then gave me some bags of berries she had stored in the freezer. We got to take some pictures of relatives' headstones, since Kevin and I have been piecing together our family trees. It was such a good feeling to be there... I just love my gramma and I wish we could have visited longer! Tears :(







After Golovin, we finally made it to Crystal's house. I got to cuddle with her baby son, eat some more good food and just relax and TALK. There is peace in old friendships.








Bustercreek is the gold mine my dad and my Papa worked for years. It's in the hills north of Nome along a creek; you get there by crossing the Nome River and driving on a crazy trail through the willows. Kevin wasn't with us but we got to bring Papa, who hadn't been there all summer. It used to be his summer retreat, sort of an escape-from-the-wife place, but Nanny's in an assisted-living place in Anchorage now, and Papa also had hip problems last year so he doesn't get out to Buster much. It was hilarious to see my carseat-conditioned kids, in awe at driving through a river, bumping and thumping around in the truck (Remy's Nome highlight). Better than a carnival ride. We had lunch, the kids splashed around in the creek, I took pictures of stuff and Dad and Papa sat at the table talking. Papa decided to inspect his shop buildings while the rest of us drove up the trail to find berry patches. More screaming laughter with every bump and heave on the trail... and we hit the jackpot with berries. It was perfect.


We had to return to our real world Saturday of that week, to have all day Sunday to prep for the first day of school. Kevin's dad made his yearly trip from Minnesota to Nome the following week, so Kevin headed back up for a few days. We all got to hang out with Jerry on his way back through Anchorage.
I think somewhere during that part of August, I got sick with pneumonia AGAIN. Vulnerable. I was well enough by the end of the month to take the kids to the State Fair in Palmer by myself... and I think we wrapped up the whole of August with a league banquet to celebrate the 2009 soccer season.

August. Quyana tunni to all of our Nome family and friends who helped us make the trip - the kids still want to move up there! Belated birthday and anniversary wishes to everybody! Love to you from me & mine.

kickers, boaters, travelers

...bet you got tired of looking at the bugs.

My apologies, this was another one of those times when I had so much to write that I didn't write anything at all.
Blogger's block.

Well, summer's about over! The kids started school 9 days ago, the fireweed blossoms have turned into seed-fluffs, and it is DARK at night. We've been busy...


Kira finished up her WYSA soccer season, but missed the final game. She's lots of fun to watch out on the field because she really goes for it. I'm just happy she enjoys it and thankful that my kids are more athletic than I ever was.



On July 19th, our friends Darren and Gabe took us out for an overnight trip on Big Lake, aboard their friend's boat. We're so lucky to have friends who love the outdoors! The kids loved every minute of it, especially when they got to sit out front. I had to admire this fine example of a Valley truck- it's just... very Alaskan. Very American. Whole hog.













Our first big summer adventure was a trip to see Grandma Rose, Grandpa Jerry, Auntie Missy #1, Kelly, Al, Isaac, Abe and Ben in Bemidji. It was our first visit back there since Remy was a newborn, so we had a lot of catching up to do. Putt-n-Go was a huge hit! So was the rental car, because it wasn't "stinky like our van, Mama!" and it didn't "whine like our van, Mama!". Grandma Rose got out the vintage Fisher Price toys which Remy loved... and she also cooked some big meals which we all loved. Kevin and I sat down with Rose and Jerry and went over lots of genealogy information and put together more of the family tree. The highlight of it all for the kids, I think, was just being able to cross the street and play with Isaac, Abe, and Ben. Ahh, cousins!


We were able to take a day trip over to Grand Forks to visit Grant & Kristy and family. What a relaxing place... I think I could've lounged and knitted and yakked in the backyard for weeks. Deb & Kober, Tammy and Howie showed up too for the Ming sighting. Good times.


A big THANK YOU ALL and giant HUGS for our family and friends in Bemidji and GF.




That takes care of July... I'll have to put August in another post. I promise, no more bugs.

bugs