bonding with bapak 'n bunnies

I know the title sounds cute and then cruel! But, it was a memorable afternoon with Bapak... full of adventure and gorgeous scenic pix to bring home to show off to Nana and mom!

Parker's perfect snow angel...

This li'l guy tromped through snow for 4 miles and was still grinnin' from ear 2 ear... like father like son (def... not mother!!!)

AMAZING!

This one above will always be one of my fav... the dad, the sparklin' snow, the gun and one of his fav boys!

I don't know how they even spot these perfectly camouflaged BUNNIES, the boys call them "rabbits" but the woman in me... still feels sorry for these "BUNNIES".

merry CHRISTmas!

Our FIRST Christmas in Alaska with Bapak & Nana! AND... we are all having a blast with them! The boys have been JAZZED for 24hrs. straight... ever since their arrival! Even though, Noah was just diagnosed with a double ear infection and pink~eye, this afternoon, he still managed to find the energy to play outside in the snow ALL DAY and help Bapak and Parker build our igloo on the back deck! More pix to come of their finished product ;)

Our first day started with sugar... frosting the cookies (even though most were tossed as we were unaware that Noah and Savannah have...had pink~eye!) ;) AND ended with our first~ever attempt at homemade donuts! mm mmmmmmm This combination of sugar~hype made for an interesting time at our advent devotional, tonight! Looking forward to more "sugar~y" memorable times tomorrow as we eat Jesus' birthday cake and celebrate His birth with family! Thank you Bap 'n Nan for making the trek up here!

AND Merry Christmas to all of YOU!

Here I sit... it's 4 am, I have a whole list of to~dos before my parents come on Wednesday (woohoo!), I have a head cold and body aches (boohoo!), I can't sleep to get rid of my cold AND I can't start crossing off my to~do list b/c all the babes and hubby are fast asleep! hmmm, what to do!?! So, I read today's Proverbs 31 Ministries email and again I was humbled and inspired by today's message:

So, in the midst of this busy week, will you stop? Put down the tinsel; discontinue the decorating; forgo the mending on the pageant costume and cease stirring the cookie batter.

Turn down the yuletide carols and get completely alone and silent.

Can you hear the angels' magnificent melody? Deep within their chorus God is calling out to us; humble, common you and me. He longs to interrupt our daily routine to introduce us to Someone extraordinary; the Christ-child who has a perfect place planned for us in His-story.

Will you pause, ponder, and then, like the shepherds, go tell others about this remarkable Babe? You'll be helping to restate the timeless message: "I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord" Luke 2:10b-11

Thank you, Lord for your priceless gift... may I remember to make YOU the focus of this Christmas week. AND remember that a "fully checked off to~do list" is not nearly as important as... memorable precious times with family and with YOU!

say "Christmas TREE!"

snow~ snow and some more snow!

GiNgErBrEaD choo~choo

Tonight we opened up our 4th advent book, The Gingerbread Baby, and decorated our gingerbread TRAIN.

This train was much easier than assembling a house and the boys loved having a train! I was just thankful that we got everything put together and cleaned up without last year's Gingerbread Fiasco! ;) The best part was the kit only cost $1 last year... I thought I'd try buying it at Target's 90% off sale and everything lasted, even the frosting! So, I guess I'll be doing that again this year!

going RETRO!

Either I'm getting easier to please (not likely! ;) ) OR our AKan~wilderness~custom~picked~Christmas~trees are "growing" on me because each year they get less Charlie Brownish and I actually think our tree is pretty! Or it could be that I limited the amount of ornaments this year to just the kiddos' collection + my new RETRO ornaments from Target's after Christmas sales.

Parker wears one of our Santa hats all day long~ gotta be in costume!!! Yesterday, he came upstairs with his maroon long johns, red shirt and the Santa hat... he was our clashing Santa!

The kiddos all ready to watch "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" cartoon. The boys love to decorate the tree but I think their fav part of the Friday after Thanksgiving... is knowing that they get to watch this movie, open new PJs and sleep by the lit tree!

"My friend"

Noah had 2 birthday cakes this year because we wanted to celebrate with his birthday buddy, Thomas! Noah is very possessive of his li'l buddy and he makes sure that ALL of us know that Thomas is "my friend". Our second born is realizing that he has to speak up and claim things or big bro takes over! Usually, we don't use the word "my" or "mine" but I think it's pretty stinkin~cute when Noah is referring to Thomas.

As you can see, both boys are pretty impressed with the train cake made by Thomas' very talented momma! I love all the detail Pam and the girls put into the 3 year old's cake!

Here's to many more parties for these birthday buddies!

catching AIR

Noah flying down Mo~mo and Popeye's hill on his new b~day sled!

2 peas in a pod! They used to scream and flail at the site of a sled and a hill, but now they laugh all the way down! Yippee!

Popeye loves playing with "his boys" on Turkey Day~ always a fun time with him around!

3 cheers 4 Noah!!!

Noah Hatcher is our BIG 3~year~old, well almost! He turns 3 on November 24th but we had an early family party last night with his friend party on his actual bday. This li'l guy is so easy to please... give him a car and he is good for hours. This pack of Hot Wheels was a real thrill for him and I'm sure we've lost him to the "car world" for the next few days!

GUM~ who knew it could be so exciting!?! Parker wanted to buy him a gift with his plow earnings. He was all set to buy him one racecar until we stepped foot in the checkout aisle and he spotted this "green" gum! And, boy was it a hit! All the car gifts suddenly took second string as Noah was enamored with his own package of "BIG gum", not the little tiny white pieces that I regularly give him!

Lightening McQueen was the choice birthday cake. The cake sort~of resembles McQueen... I need to take some cake decorating classes for the upcoming choice bday cakes.

Noah was "beyond" thrilled with his racecar and we are super THRILLED with our 3~year~old son. God made this li'l guy with overflowing personality (and voice) and he continues to keep us entertained on a daily basis!;) We LOVE you, nOaH!

plow GUY 'n shovel BOYS

I am convinced that when it snows our household has different views on the falling snowflakes. I see beautiful specks of white... flocking our trees. While all my boys see DoLlAr SiGnS! ;)

Kep has a mini plow route and the boys love going along to make extra money for new toys. Parker and Noah sit in their carseats jamming to Grits or Veggie Tales while Kep plows. Then, they hop out and start shoveling the extra piles left by garage doors and porches. I love how they get this quality time with dad and learn how to WORK for money. Each time, they get so excited to come home and put their $ in their new "fire station banks" which they made at Home Depot this Fall. They're really cool as they have a slot for "Spend", "Save" and "Share". So it will help them learn how to tithe and save before spending! We'll see what they choose to spend their shovel money on this season!

Meanwhile, Savannah and I love staying in the warmth of our home... reading girley books and getting manicures and pedicures!

1st snow

It's November 9th and it finally snowed in Alaska! I love the first snowfall and the excitement it brings to our home! We got 4 inches of fluffy snow so it was perfect for sledding. AND, I could not believe how brave our boys were~ they went down the steepest part of our hill without any prompting/begging from me! :o)

The best part about the first snowfall, is it's clean and it tastes YUMMY!

These next few photos show more of Noah's countless expressions! Hot cocoa is another fav of ours for wintery days.

Can your eyes get this BIG!?!

This is cute of Noah but I wish I could photoshop away the slobber and snot! ;)

Savannah has some work to do... improving her attitude towards cold days and snow that keeps her from walking!

But, I did manage to get one picture of her smiling! Woohoo for snowy days~ right now the sun is shining bright and the fluffy snow is shimmering! Gorgeous!

TrIcK or tReAt TrIo

Parker as Zorro! We kept checking our mailbox for this year's costumes b/c Uncle Teag special ordered Spiderman costumes for both our boys. But the mailman did not come through so on Friday we went with our back-up plan. Parker was pumped to be wearing a black cape and mask! And, we spent part of Saturday morning educating our boy on UTube about the fox of the night. I'm pretty sure this is all Parker will be wearing for the next week. That is until those Spiderman costumes arrive!

Cutest Captain Jack Sparrow ever! This little guy NEVER likes to wear costumes (unlike BIG bro!) but when we mentioned he could be a pirate... he was thrilled. And, we could not get a clear picture of Noah b/c he kept bopping around with all his excitement for the night!

Pretty li'l Princess, whoever thought of fabric crowns was ingenious- she never once took it off!

Each year, we trick OR treat at 4 homes but this year we got to add a fifth, since Cousin Brit and "Uncle" Keat bought a home near ours. This is just the right amount of homes since our kiddos get to eat one treat at every stop!