We Broke The Rules

Since I was little, the rule has been that the Christmas tree doesn't go up until after Thanksgiving. We'd start begging for my dad to bring in the decorations from the shed as soon as dinner was done. Well, being in Alaska puts you in the Christmas mood early. There's already snow on ground, and the sun is setting by 4:30. Plus I bought all the presents really early this year in anticipation of the baby, and it just feels like it's time for Christmas. So on Veteran's Day, we gave in and put up the tree. And we couldn't be happier that we broke the rule.

 Will decided the top of the tree was all we needed.

The Finished Product

Will remembered what stockings were for from last year--candy! Every morning he checks, and the other day when he went in to wake up Ethan, the first thing I heard was, "No candy in our stockings, Ethan." I guess there's no way I can put the presents under the tree. They wouldn't be able to stand it. I'm sure they'd be ripped open while I was taking a shower anyway.

The boys are still being their normal crazy selves. They've taken to "washing dishes" when I leave the room. I left a couple pans soaking one morning, and later found Ethan had dumped about 5 gallons of water all over the kitchen and laundry room floor. You never realize how much area a little water can cover until you see it first hand. Once I got it cleaned up, I went to get the mail and came back to find a dozen eggs had been smashed in front of the refrigerator. That boy. He had a look on his face like he knew he'd done something very bad, but he just couldn't help it.

Will saw me putting on eyeshadow last Sunday, and he was amazed at what he was seeing. "What are you doing, Mommy? Are you painting yourself?" All I could think of was the term "painted ladies" and I didn't like the connotation.

Anthony just finished his first semester of school, and he's starting up his second semester at Wayland Baptist University. They're very flexible on their scheduling, plus they have multiple, shorter semesters each year, so he's hoping to get a lot of schooling done even with his limited time each week. So far he's had wonderful teachers, but he had an interesting first math class that started out with two hours of a brimstone and damnation lecture. Probably a good thing the professor doesn't know yet that he's LDS. :) When they talked about math, he was a great teacher--he's in his 49th year of teaching this course!

I think that's about all the excitement we had this week. No baby news once again, but I'm sure there will be something to post in the next few weeks! Hope everyone is well!

Extra time?

I decided that with my extra hour from Daylight Savings Time, I'd update the blog! Of course, that involves backtracking, as always.

September

Will got to attend his first concert when Gary Sinise visited our base with his group, the Lieutenant Dan Band. 

Will wasn't too happy with how loud the music was, but he was very excited to have his picture taken with a fire truck.

Anthony, along with several other Airmen, was able to have breakfast that morning with Gary Sinise and a Medal of Honor recipient. My favorite story from the breakfast was when the MOH recipient was in the middle of imparting his wisdom, and he looked up at a television screen to see Lady Gaga sporting a dress made of meat. "What the h*** is that?" he asked the Airmen. They tried to explain who Lady Gaga was and what she did. He replied, "See, that is why we work so hard. So people have the freedom to wear a dress of meat." In the end, it's true. All of the things that we are able to do, no matter how wonderful or ridiculous they may be, are because men like him put their lives on the line to fight for our freedoms. What a great lesson.

That month we also celebrated both Will's and my birthday. For Will's, we took the boys to play miniature golf. Ethan was more interested in running around with everyone else's golf balls and saying hi to the alligator statue.

Will was very helpful throughout the game. Each time we would hit it, he'd grab the ball and put it in the hole. Amazingly we all had a hole in one every time!

Then we had our ice cream cake that I made in the shape of a cheeseburger. Maybe that's an odd choice, but Will loves cheeseburgers, so I couldn't help it when I found the recipe. Not only was it classy, it was delicious too.

Will and Ethan have discovered the joys of dressing up after receiving some super hero costumes from Aunt Katie (Biehl).

Batman/Superman is having an identity crisis.

 

 

For my birthday, Anthony surprised us with a sunset trip to Arctic Valley, a beautiful area that overlooks part of Anchorage.

On another occasion, Will told us one evening that he was Daddy and he was going to work. Both boys like to dress up in Anthony's uniform, so this was no surprise. Will put on the boots and the hat, but then we heard the front door open, and he was heading down the front steps. He got to the car, then turned around and asked Anthony to open the car door so he could drive to work. Good thing he can't reach the car keys, or he might really be off one day.

And this was Anthony and Will being silly.

October

We spent most of the month getting ready for Halloween and doing a few fall activities. Since we can't put our pumpkins outside except on Halloween--apparently moose love to eat pumpkins!--we had to wait until late in the month to carve ours. But we made it a fun night with homemade doughnuts as well.

 

So good!

How many of you used power tools on your pumpkin?

And after all our hard work, we forgot to take a picture of the pumpkin, which was destroyed in about two days by a combination of the boys and mold. Pumpkins don't last long here!

Since Halloween was on Sunday, we did our celebrating on Saturday with a trip to the downtown trick or treating and then an evening at the Church festival. Last year we had to almost force Will to wear his costume, but this year he was all for it. Ethan didn't argue at all.

Ethan got to be the zebra this year, although he says zebra with a British accent because that's how Carla the Zebra says it on Mama Mirabelle's Home Movies. Will was Corduroy the Bear, from the Corduroy books.

Both of them were very cute and way into the trick or treating. I learned that we need to work on waiting our turn, instead of shoving to the front of the line and grabbing a handful of candy, although they always said thank you.

November

The big event this month so far has been our first snow fall. We were all surprised we made it this long, and even now, there isn't a lot of accumulation. But winter is definitely here.

 

Why Will still insists on saying snow cows instead of snow plows, I don't understand. Must be his stubborn streak.

Ethan has also graduated this week from a crib to a toddler bed. It seems much too soon, since Will only made the switch a few months ago, but it became necessary when Ethan started climbing out of the crib. So far he's doing well, except for nap time, and it makes me laugh every morning when he runs into our room with a cheerful, "Hi Mommy. Out bed!" He's very excited to be so grown up.

We also had a funny experience while going to vote earlier this week. Anthony explained to Will where we were going, and then as we were getting ready, Will told Ethan, "We're going to vote! It's very important!" Such a smart boy. The way they express themselves is always so funny. A few days before, Will was trying hard to do something (I forget what), and Anthony told him to use his brain to figure it out. Will told him, "No, I'm just going to use my hands." You've got to love him.