Mountain Snow

There was a change in the air yesterday. Definately cooler, but a different cool. Can't explain it. Ya just have to be here. It had been getting up into the mid to high 50's, and yesterday we didn't even hit 50. This morning started with 34 on the way to school, and got up to a big whopping 40 by late afternoon. Whooooohooooo bring on winter!! We are all waiting for the snow. Although, I'm going to have to go shopping for some Alaska winter clothes..... vs. my Texas winter clothes. Tuesday, when the clouds cleared, we saw the snow on the mountains. This is our view when we start out of our housing area.

That is Thomas in the middle of the road on his roller blades.

Got Milk?

We do!
I was doing a short commissary run and milk was on the list. Grabbed my normal gallon of skim, dropped it in the cart, then spotted a red sticker as I was moving down the milk aisle. Red sticker can only mean ONE thing in the shopping world....REDUCED or CLEARANCE. *insert screaching halt* Upon inspection, 1 gallon whole milk was marked down to $1.82, because it expired in 2 days and they had quite an abundance. $1.82?!?!?! I was in disbelief...no way. Second look. Oh yeah baby. I swear my heart started racing. Must be the Melba Miller in me. Not sure, but with 2 chest freezers at home, I started re-arranging the cart to fit the milk. (I would say that confirms it's the Melba in me.) Um, so yeah, we now have 10 gallons of milk in the garage freezer. We normally drink skim, but for that price, I don't think the extra fat will hurt us.

UPDATE: Ok, so some people think it's silly to have that much milk in the freezer. Here is my rationale...... milk is normally around $3.26 at the commissary. A little more depending on the time of the month, and I have found it on sale off base for $2.99. We go through a gallon about every 3 days. So, to find it for $1.82???? I'm stocking up! It freezes very well. I poured a little off the top for expansion then let it sit on the counter to thaw. Shake every once in a while, and it's perfect. Bonus- I forgot how yummy whole milk is until now. I hope I can go back.

Emma asked me if I would babysit while she went to work. Always the doting grandmother, of course I said yes. "I'm doing dishes, so set her on the couch to watch tv." (I don't claim to have won childcare provider of the year.) A few minutes later she informs me they are ready. They? I turn to look and see that her baby has grown into a litter. "These are my children" as she proceeds to state the age of each. In case you didn't know, the one in the corner is four; she is the big sister. Well then, I hope they can behave and not fight with each other while you are at work. "Oh, they are very good children." And they were. Kinda scary looking, (a couple have that *Chuckie* loook) but they didn't make a peep the entire time I was doing dishes babysitting. I swear a few of them were adopted out before we left TX. Not sure how they made their way back to the family.

Quote of the Day

"Only if it's night-night time all duh time will I get enough seep." ~Matthew

I had told him that I thought he was sleepy and needed more sleep.

Quote of the Day

"Mama, I will tell you, but you won't understand." ~Emma

That was in response to me telling them that there will be no bike ride after supper, if the toys aren't picked up. She went on to explain to me, but she was right. I did not understand anything she was saying. Nothing made sense until the end. She was rambling along, and finished with,
"Well, actually (insert lip smack) we just like to play, not clean."

Spawning Salmon

We took a ride out to Beluga Point on Turnagain Arm hoping to catch sight of some beluga whales during high tide. It was windy windy windy. Major white caps. No clue if any beluga's were in the Arm. If they were, we couldn't distinguish between them and the white caps. Soooo, a little disappointed, we meandered our way through the tourists back to the truck. We stopped at Potter's Marsh on the way back into town. Whew, no tourists. I hadn't been there before, but knew it was a good place to at least see ducks. Matthew and Emma like ducks. What I didn't know, was the abundance of bird species and other animals who frequented the Marsh. There was a sign posted listing everything spotted within the past 24 hours. Bull moose, eagles, trumpet swans, dozens of species of birds, and spawning salmon. Salmon? I didn't know that a nearby creek ran into the marsh, and being that it is located on the edge of Turnagain Arm....duh, what else would you expect? I wasn't thinking. So we are watching this little patch of water with deep ripples going back and forth. It was obvious something big was swimming in the water. I thought it was a beaver, and dang, he sure could stay under for a long time! We sat watching and waiting for him to pop his head up. Gave up and moved on. Then Cal says, "Hey, there's fish." Huh? Where? "That dark spot. It's a school of salmon." So much for the beaver theory. Oh wait, beaver was not on the list of spottings. Call me a nerd, but I could've sat and watched this dark shadow all day. I don't know exactly what the lure is. Maybe because it was so peacful out there....once you filtered Emma and Matthew's chatter. You could see, hear, and touch nature to the point that you felt a part of it. Not that I want to be a part of spawning fish. But, it was just plain cool to watch them. They don't show up as well here as full screen on the computer, but you can still see they are fish....and not beavers.
I was zoomed in on them and all of a sudden they scattered. Thomas said a bird swooped down on them. Wish I had gotten the bird.

Skate Park

I think I can.....I think I can......gonna make it this time.

Quote of the Day

Actually, it's a quote from yesterday. Matthew met Cal at the door when he got home from work. As soon as the door opened, Matthew said, "Daddy, Daddy, I had soooo much fun at kool (school) today." Cal, "Cool. What did you do?" Matthew with a shrug, "I don't know." hahaha It wasn't so much what he said, but how he said it. There was an abundance of excitement in his voice when telling that he had fun, but then a very nocholant "don't know."

Thomas' Turn

Here he is......it's been a while posting on Thomas, because he doesn't do much besides go to school, eat, and play....usually as far from the house as allowed. I followed him to the park yesterday, with camera of course, so I could see what goes on over there.

He started 7th grade this year. Cal says, "He doesn't get it." Meaning, he hasn't realized yet that he has entered the beginning of having to be a responsible, independent learner. Cal is probably right....to hear Thomas talk anyway. "Well, the teacher didn't tell us that. The teacher didn't give us that." Teacher this, teacher that......everything is what the teacher did or didn't do. I'm sure he'll "get it" soon enough. Especially after the first progress report, if it is reflective of him "not getting it." :-)

He did tell us at supper last night that he has a hard time paying attention. In his words, "It used to be easy. I could draw or look around, not really paying a lot of attention to what the teacher was saying and still knew what they were talking about. Now my mind wonders and I start thinking about other stuff, but then when the teacher is finished, I don't know what they said." Cal told him to think of school as a competition or game that he has to win by getting a better grade than someone else. (Cal WOULD think of it that way.) Thomas' reply, "I can't do that. If I think of it as a game, then I will start thinking about game shows, then different hosts of game shows, then what people could win on a game show, and it would never end. I still wouldn't know what the teacher had said."

Wow.... classic ADHD example or what? Soooooooo, maybe, just a little maybe, because I'm not ready or wanting to go there, we might need to think about the ADHD thing and medication again??? Uhhgggggg... My views on medication have changed a little over the last couple of years and I was glad he was doing so well without it. He started not wanting to take it when 5th grade started. He thought there was a stigma attached, even though he was the only one who knew. (He didn't have to take it at school.) He did great. Straight A's all the way through 6th grade. Now, though, it appears junior high might mean more focus than he can handle on his own? We are going to talk about alternatives to meds with him, and take it from there. He was always on the lowest dose, so he might be able to swing it. We will see. We don't want to put him at a disadvantage if medication will help, but at the same time...he was on that stuff for a long time and I'm not so comfortable with it anymore. When hockey starts, maybe the extra physical activity will help.

Which One?

We took what I thought was a GREAT picture. As soon as the camera clicked, she says, "Wait, wait....do it again. I wasn't ready." Uh? What do you mean? Look, it's a wonderful picture. "No, I wasn't ready." OK, I'll do it again. Ready this time? "Yes, I'm ready."

And she does this.

What was that? I thought you were ready. "I was. Let me see." (show her) "Yep, that's it." This is the picture you wanted? "Yep, that's it. Thank you."

Okaaaayyyyyyyyy.................she is a Saunders.

First Day of School?

Unofficially, today was Emma's second second day of school and Matthew's first second day of school. (They are in the same class.) Officially, it was neither one of them's any something day of school. Got that? Not sure I do either. They started part-day preschool at the child development center (fancy name for daycare center) on base Tuesday. Tuesdays and Thursdays for 2.5 hours in the morning. I was watching all these parents, (that would be 2 parents per child- yes, other parent took off work to escort first parent and child to *school*) Tuesday morning with their cameras and oooo and ahhh's. Hugging the kids over and over, saying bye 50 times, and hanging around to watch. The poor kids didn't have a chance. My kids just ran off to check out the water table and observe the gerbils. Oh yeah, "Bye mom," as they wave and run off. I was left wondering what the big deal was, and where the heck was my escort??

Came to the conclusion that I don't perceive it as "real" school. School doesn't "really" start until Kindergarten, right??? I guess....?? My perception of this *school* is it's something fun & somewhat educational for them to do while I go grocery shopping, do laundry, clean out a closet, have brunch/coffee with a friend, sit and do nothing, etc. Kinda like Mom's Day Out, except I don't get a whole day. No big deal. I could see if it were all day, or even half a day, but it's ONLY 2.5 hours! What am I missing??? Why wasn't I freaking out about them being there? I hope I don't have some deeply buried unkown desire to not want to be with them! They can drive me crazy sometimes, but I don't wish them away.

It was a little quiet around here this morning (Thomas was home sick Tuesday, so it doesn't count.) Maybe not a good quiet, but it didn't last long. Only 2.5 hours!

So, the guilt kicked in and I took my camera to *school* this morning. Was thinking it was weird for me to not have been thinking pictures/scrapbook page, so I better get something for the scrapbook. Still didn't have an escort, but I figured that wasn't my guilt to claim. And, I still don't believe they are officially in school.

All said, the teacher told me that Matthew got a little teary-eyed and said he missed his mommy. It was only for a few seconds and he was fine after she gave him a hug, but, Oh my poor little babyyyyy!!! I scooped him up into a great big bear hug. Aawwwww and he had pictures for me. (Maybe he wouldn't have time to think about missing me if they would let the kids hold the gerbils. Now we're gonna have to get a gerbil.)

P.S. I think Emma looks like Cynthia in this picture.