Happy Marmot Day?

We don't get to celebrate Groundhog Day in Alaska. We get Marmot Day. I wasn't even sure what a marmot was until I found some pictures on Wikipedia--where you know you are getting the best possible information. Here's the picture I found:


So, groundhogs are marmots, but since we don't have many groundhogs here, we have decided to encompass all species. Well, aren't we politically correct, Alaska? Unfortunately, he is not expected to make any weather predictions. I guess he doesn't feel the need, as there is no doubt that we will be having 6 (and more) weeks of winter. Perhaps Bill Murray can make a new "Marmot Day" movie, so we don't feel left out.

Nothing big happening up here, but I wanted to share some of the silly things the boys have been doing lately. Will has been pretty funny:

His favorite phrases are, "That's purty neat!" and "That's a awesome!" And anytime he leaves the house with Anthony, Will tells me, "Bye. I going to work."

He thinks a girl is called "a toot." We think maybe he's saying cute, but we have no idea where he got it from.

He told his first "joke" last Thursday. I was getting them down from the table after dinner, and Ethan started heading upstairs to play in his room. I was trying to get Will cleaned off, and I kept saying, "Ethan, stay downstairs!" because I was pretty sure the bathroom door was open, and he loves to play in the toilet. Instead of listening to me, he started laughing and crawling faster, but I couldn't let go of Will. So I just yelled, "Ethan!" again, and Will turned to me and said, "He a punk" and laughed. It made me laugh pretty hard because that's what we call them whenever they're being, well, punks.

He's still very obsessed with the movie Monsters, Inc., and we think he's imitating one part on the special features. There's a character named Roz, and in the "gag reel," she keeps appearing and saying, "Hello!" in unexpected places. Will loves to hide behind doors, walls, anything, and pop out and say, "Hewwo!"






Yesterday he was playing with Ethan in their own version of Peekaboo.





What is Peek-a-bookie?


Ethan is still being mischievous. I found him this evening in the laundry room, where he had learned a new trick.




He has even been practicing using a spoon by himself.




He has also gotten very good at imitating dinosaur sounds.





Those are our crazy boys. Every day is a new adventure. So, happy Marmot Day to all, and I hope your marmots are lucky enough not to see their shadows!

Celebrations

I know, I need to be better at updating the blog. But I'm not going to say it's my New Year's Resolution because I never bother with those. We are getting everything organized around the house, so I'm feeling like I can get more things done in the future, and we'll see if that includes the blog.

Ethan turned 1 two days before Christmas, so he was able to practice his present unwrapping skills. He went right to it.


But Will just couldn't take the suspense anymore.



Doesn't our tree look cool in this shot?


Since neither of the boys had been too interested in the presents beforehand, I wasn't sure how this would go, or if it would start a tidal wave of wanting to open everything. But they were very good and only opened the ones we gave them.

I was having a hard time deciding on Ethan's cake, but a week before his birthday, he was messing with my cookbooks and surprisingly only pulled out two, instead of all of them. One of them was a cake decorating book I'd forgotten about, and I found this cute bear idea. I think Ethan was trying to give me a hint.


And of course he loved eating it.





One of his best presents was a rocking horse from our friends Sheila and Tresanay. Both of the boys love it, although Ethan prefers mostly just to pat the horse for now. Once he's a little taller, I'm sure he'll be more excited about riding it.







For Christmas we started the tradition of everyone getting new pajamas to open and wear on Christmas Eve. On Christmas morning we watched the Church Christmas Devotional, made cinnamon rolls and homemade hot chocolate and finally got around to opening presents around noon.



Ethan was stealing cinnamon rolls off our plates.




We almost had to force the boys to open presents. Every time they would open a new toy, they wanted to play with it (of course). So unwrapping took quite awhile, which is why we didn't take many pictures. It was enough effort just to get them to sit down. We felt very blessed to have such wonderful family and friends who care about us so much. It was a wonderful Christmas.

That night we decided it was time to convert Will's crib into a toddler bed. He seemed to really like it--for the first week. Then he liked it too much because he realized that he could get out whenever he felt like it. After several days of no naps and staying up playing until 3 a.m., we went back to the crib and decided to wait a little longer. And he was okay with that. I think he just wasn't ready for so much freedom. He doesn't try to climb out of the crib at all, so we'll try again when he understands a little better.





Last weekend we were able to go downtown to the Ice Carving Competition. The Town Square is one big ice skating rink, and the ice carving was happening all around it. There's an even bigger one held in Fairbanks, but I liked that the drive was only 5 minutes instead of 9 hours. Maybe someday. It was neat to see what people could create out of a block of ice. Just one more cool thing to see in Anchorage that doesn't happen just anywhere.














For quite awhile, Will's favorite book has been "No, David" by David Shannon. A few days ago, I heard him "reading" it to himself, so I just had to get him to do it again for the camera. Either he has an excellent memory, or we read the book way too often. Either way, it was pretty amazing.




Everything else is great here. We're up to 6 and a half hours of daylight, but we're also wondering if the real cold is about to begin. So far we've been very lucky! Not a whole lot of snow (just a couple feet), and the weather's been bearable.

Anthony received "Airman of the Quarter" yesterday for his flight. We're going to have to set aside a whole room for all of his awards and accomplishments at this rate! He works hard at everything he does, and it truly shows. That reminds me that I also never did post the picture of him when he met Secretary of Defense Robert Gates. So, here it is.




At home, Ethan and Will are teaming up on me and getting into all kinds of mischief. Whether it's playing in the fish tank, coloring on the walls, playing in the fridge, putting lotion on our new TV, pouring all the black pepper into a pot, drinking salt out of the canister, throwing up that salt back into the canister, or climbing onto the counter to get the candy out of the cabinet, I know that I can't turn around for even a second without something happening behind my back. I think the next few years are going to be big trouble. Whenever I see a rerun of "Malcolm in the Middle," it makes me cringe a little more each time. Boys. But no complaints. Life is good!

Santa is scary (and sometimes drunk)

We've had two visits with Santa, and neither has been what we would consider a success. The first was at our Ward Christmas party, where Will watched as one of his friends from Nursery sat on Santa's lap and started shrieking. Since Will was next in line, he didn't do any better. Then we tried Ethan, who screamed as well. The only picture I got of either was Anthony taking Ethan away from horrible Santa:


Our second try was at Anthony's work party. That was a whole different experience. The boys got to learn firsthand why we do not drink. We're pretty sure some of the Airmen had started the party a couple hours before on their own because I don't think it's possible to get that drunk that fast. One guy from Anthony's shop was trying to talk to the boys, and they weren't having any of it. Will just kept staring at him, and Ethan put his head on my shoulder and stared off into space as if the guy didn't exist. Then Santa arrived, and we found out he'd been hitting the sauce as well. He drove up in his sleigh and chucked a candy cane at a kid, and when Will's turn came to sit on his lap, Anthony told me Santa smelled like a brewery. Will wasn't thrilled with this Santa either, and once again started crying.






The only way we could get him to sit was if Anthony sat with him. And even then he wasn't too happy and spent the rest of the night saying, "No Santa!"




Ethan felt the same way.


Will also heard Anthony refer to Santa as Jeff, so now he says it's Santa Jeff. Santa Jeff did a pretty good job (we'll turn a blind eye to the candy cane incident), and I was glad to at least get some kind of picture with Santa. A photographer also took pictures of the kids with Santa then printed them off for us so we could put them inside glass ornaments to take home. The rest of the party was pretty great. Will LOVED the bouncy house. Every time we turned away from him, he was off and running to get back in. Even when we left at 11 p.m., he was still begging to, "Jump, jump, jump?"









Anthony's favorite part was the Sumo suit.



My favorite part was letting him struggle to get up in the Sumo suit.


We won a couple raffle prizes, including dinner at a local steakhouse. Anthony stayed to listen for our ticket numbers because the final prize was a 32" Sharp Aquos t.v. He wasn't really paying attention to what prizes were left, but he heard our number and jumped up to claim our prize. He started to hand the ticket to the announcer, who said, "Don't worry about it. It's the only prize left on the table." Anthony took this to mean the t.v. He started to get really excited, until the announcer pointed out what the last prize on the table really was.


And to think we almost got stuck with a t.v.

So we got some free stuff, learned a new drinking game (Eggnog Flip Cup), spent time with friends, and took home some really good leftovers. All in all, not a bad party.

The boys are getting excited for Christmas (and mostly I mean Anthony), and they've been very good about not messing with the tree or presents too much. Ethan likes to rip the name tags off the presents, so I guess it will be a free for all on Christmas Day. And Will's pretty good at guess what each present is. They were playing with one and somebody found a button that turned on the siren, and Will knew it was the fire truck we had picked out a couple weeks ago. I'm going to have to be more tricky when they're older.

We've also been making all kinds of candy and cookies. Some have turned out pretty well, like the Snickerdoodles, Butter Toffee, and Turkish Taffy (although we may have pulled it too much because it started to fall apart the next day, but it tasted good!). The fudge, on the other hand, was a disaster. No Theresa, it didn't back up into a fan. I followed every step exactly, but what a mess.


Anthony said if we ever needed to make chocolate bricks, this was the perfect recipe. So, anyone planning on building a palace in India, let me know. "I will not eat my palace! I intend to live in it!" Ah, I do so love Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Just to back up a little, we did have a wonderful Thanksgiving too. We spent the day playing the Wii and eating too much.






Will did his impression of Randy from "The Christmas Story" eating like a pig. Really. We watched the movie a few days before, and he was pretty interested in that scene.



And Ethan was grabbing turkey by the handful and shoving it in as if we never feed him.


We missed being around family, but it was nice to have a relaxing day to be together and remember all of the things for which we are grateful.

Will is learning so many things every day. While I was putting on his shoes for church a few weeks ago, I told him which was his right foot and which was his left. I only showed him twice, but he can still tell you which is which. He can tell you his hands, arms, ears and eyes as well. He's also learned to count to 4, and Anthony taught him to read "Mommy" and "Daddy." He saw one of those commercials for Your Baby Can Read, so he tried it out, and it worked. Who needs an expensive program?

Ethan's becoming very mischievous. His sole purpose in life is to pull out every plug in the house. His favorite is the wireless router, so multiple times a day we think the Internet is being very slow until we realize Ethan has struck again. Most of the time, he waits until you're paying attention, and then he laughs hysterically as he tries to get the plug out before you can cross the room to get him. Will likes to get involved by following Ethan so he can be told to stop too. Ethan's most amazing feat is that he's started walking. He's not incredibly steady, but he's getting better every day.




Here are just a few more pictures we've accumulated:

This is how much snow we got earlier in the week
and why Anthony had several snow days.



Since the snow doesn't melt until next Spring,
they have to cart it away in big trucks.



While my parents were here in September, my dad and I
visited Test Cell and got to sit next to an F-22 engine
while they ran it. It was loud, cold, windy, and very cool.
Yes, that is the actual flame coming out of the engine.





Ethan sporting his Cheerio's.



Will putting in his contacts.




Will throwing his moose down the stairs

Anthony & The President

A couple weeks ago, President Obama visited Elmendorf AFB. He spoke to some of the servicemen and women, and Anthony was chosen as one of 200 to sit behind the podium. Anthony said that as they were getting going, the announcer started with, "Ladies and gentlemen," and everyone's cameras went into the air to try and get a picture of President Obama entering. He continued, "Introducing Chaplain...," and the audience groaned. The Chaplain joked, "Sorry to disappoint you with just a prayer." When he finished, the announcer again said, "Ladies and gentlemen," and again, all the cameras went up. "Introducing General...". Groans again.

Here is the video of the President's speech when he finally appeared. He spoke about the sacrifices military members make, the lives that have been lost recently, and plans for the Defense budget. It's about 15 minutes long, and if you want to see Anthony, at 2 minutes 30 seconds President Obama asks everyone to applaud the terrific looking Airmen and Soldiers, and Anthony is in the top right corner. You can also see him at 6:47 when they pan across the military members again. Enjoy!

"Facts" About Alaska

Now that we've been here 7 months, I've been compiling a few things that I've learned about Alaska. I looked back at the post I wrote last December when we first found out this would be our base, and I had to laugh at some of the things I had "learned" then. What I've learned since then is that you truly have to live here to understand.

1. IT IS COLD. It's so cold...How cold is it? It's so cold that my pinky finger froze to the shopping cart that I grabbed outside the Commissary. I got about 30 feet into the building before I started wondering why my finger felt like it was on fire. It's a very dry cold (we've had a humidifier running constantly all week), and thank goodness it hasn't been windy. When the high temperature is 9, and the low is -6, you don't need to add wind. Is it sad that I'm looking forward to more snow because it gets slightly warmer? I don't want to hear anyone who is enjoying 50 degree weather back home complain that it is getting colder.

2. You get used to the darkness. We're losing about 4 minutes of light every day, but that's only going to go on for another month. By this time in January, we'll be back to the amount of sunlight we have now, which is almost 7 hours, so it's not too big of a deal.

3. You also get used to the wildlife. One day we were driving out of the gate, and I looked over and saw two eagles take off out of the trees. At first I simply thought, "Oh, there are some eagles," as if this was just a ho-hum daily occurrence. Then I snapped out of it and pointed them out to Anthony. How cool is it to see something like that when you're driving to Target?

3. Driving in the snow is interesting. I guess that would be the word. In Indiana, as soon as there is snow and ice in the forecast, the salt trucks are out covering the roads. In Alaska, salt can't be used because for several reasons. Once again, it's just too blasted cold to do anything, since salt lowers the melting point, but not enough to do anything up here. Also, it would probably attract a lot of wildlife since the roads would be one giant salt lick for them. Instead the trucks drop gravel, which helps a little. This does not help in finding lanes that are now covered in snow and ice. And there are no reflectors, so mostly it's up to you to decide if it's one, two, or three lanes.

4. For some reason, the radio stations seem to be stuck in the early 90's. I know it's hard to ship things up here, but I didn't think new music was included in that. In one hour I heard "Fly" by Sugar Ray, "Semi-Charmed Life" by Third Eye Blind, "Get the Party Started" by Pink, and "Push" by Matchbox Twenty. Most parents and children have a generation gap in music, but it's nice to know that the boys and I will be able to share a love of the music from my high school years.

5. Commercials can, and are, often made in home basements. Our favorite is the one below from The Mattress Ranch. This is also the most professional one. Many of the other commercials are for restaurants we don't have here. If I have to see Sonic advertising Cherry Limeades (yum!) one more time, I'm going to have a meltdown. Enjoy this jingle. It always gets stuck in my head!

Candy Overload!

Once again, a busy month. A few weeks ago, we had our very first Chuck E Cheese experience. Well, I've been there, but Anthony swears they were never allowed to go as kids, so they thought it was some kind of wicked place that respectable people don't visit. That may still be true. It sure has changed since my last visit. Does anyone else remember when it used to be called Showbiz, or does that just show my age? Now it's all lights and noise and craziness, but we had a fun time. The birthday party was for an Air Force family in our ward, the Jacksons, who have three boys. We're sad that they're moving to the Azores (Portugal) in a few weeks, and totally jealous that they're leaving winter in Alaska for a tropical island. It was nice to get the chance to celebrate with them before they go.

Will, of course, was terrified of Chuck E, but Ethan was more than willing to pose.

They both had lots of fun with the games and rides.

Will put his arm around Ethan all by himself to help keep Ethan in the car.
He's such a good big brother.

Will's favorite was probably the Whack A Mole game.




The week before Halloween, we carved our pumpkin for Family Home Evening. Unfortunately, the pumpkin had to come from the grocery store since there aren't any pumpkin patches or apple orchards here. Or none that I can find. I miss fall in Indiana! But we had a great time working on the pumpkin. Will was a little more helpful this year, but we still spent a lot of time keeping Ethan from eating the gunk.

Our pumpkin, Homestar Runner

This is the only time we were able to light the pumpkin. I put it on our porch the next afternoon, and two hours later, an animal ate the face. Usually we have to worry about punk kids, not wild animals.

We were able to go trick or treating twice on Halloween. The community center has an indoor event in the afternoon, which was nice because it was freezing that evening. Ethan was a dalmatian, and Will wore his zebra costume from last year. To say that Will was not excited about putting on his costume would be an understatement. He was sobbing and telling me, "No zebra!" I finally was able to get him into the pants, but we thought that would be as far as we would get until I convinced him that the top was just a jacket. For some reason he was okay with that.




And once he caught on that zebra=candy, he was all for it. He ate quite a bit of that candy before we left the community center.






When we went out that night, our first stop was at our neighbor, Dan's, door. Dan gets really into Halloween, so his house was all decorated, and he was dressed up as the Grim Reaper. He tried not to scare Will, but Dan's a pretty big guy, and it was just too much. Will started crying, and for the rest of the block, at every house he said, "No Dan! No Dan!"


















I had to include this video of Ethan attacking Will for his candy. This is how he growls whenever he wants food.




This is Will's version of "Trick or Treat."



It is definitely getting colder, but we're still waiting for the snow. They predict it every couple of days, but so far, we've only had about 10 minutes of it, and it melted right away. The main thing we're having to adjust to is a lot less daylight. Right now, the sun rises at about 8:30 and sets at 4:30, so we never are quite sure what time it is without looking at a clock. The one good thing is that it makes me start dinner a lot earlier than I normally do because I just assume that it's 6 o'clock. Which means in December, we'll probably be eating dinner at 3 in the afternoon and in bed by 5. Perhaps we'll move into a Senior Community. It's always an adventure in Alaska!