And So It Goes...

How weird is it that January is almost over?? I can hardly believe it myself. And I've only blogged three times so far this month...

First item of business for this blog, I'd like to wish Davis Filleman, my nephew, a happy 5th birthday!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Davis! We sure love you, buddy, and we can't wait to celebrate your birthday with you when we see you next. Kara and Clay love you bunches and we miss seeing you (and the rest of the cousins) on your birthdays. XOXOXOXO!

Next item of business is to wish my friend Susan Miller a happy birthday as well. HBD, Susan! I met Susan while we were living in Enid. Together, Susan and I figured out what being married to a pilot in the USAF looked like.. we had some good times in Enid, read a lot of books together, shopped the state of OK, philosophized about military leadership, and ate some decent Mexican food on Friday nights together. Cheers to good friends and their birthdays. ((hugs))

I guess that about covers the birthday wishes. If I missed yours, HBD to you :) The kids and I are in full TDY mode around here.. what is that, you ask? Well, I have no idea what TDY actually stands for but it means that Daddy is gone for a while. He's at Red Flag in Las Vegas for 2 weeks then he goes to some training in Florida before he comes back to AK. How does that translate out for the Johnsons?? Well, here's a bullet list of ways life changes for us when it's 3 of us instead of 4.

* We eat a lot of cereal. For breakfast and dinner. Clay eats an unusual amount of peanut butter waffles as well (I think PB on an eggo makes an excellent meal substitute, any time of day for Clay). I basically stop cooking regular meals when we're in TDY mode.. Don't ask me why.. it's mostly laziness, I think. And some rebellion.

* My Mountain Of Clean Laundry grows to biblical proportions. I don't mind doing laundry, I just mind folding it. So what do I do? I do the laundry and throw it into a huge pile at the end of my bed. When Clayton is home, I get a little bit of guilt going on when the hill reaches about arm pit height. However, when Clayton is gone, it doesn't bother me a bit. As I type, I hear my dryer signaling me it's time to make another deposit to the clothes landfill at the end of my bed. Laziness and rebellion again.. uh oh, I'm seeing a theme.

* I find myself watching super stupid shows on TV.. For instance, "Locked Up Abroad" on NatGeo. I mean, how many different ways are there to get caught smuggling drugs overseas? Not many. But I think there are many different levels of prison squalor overseas so that's why the show doesn't get old with me.. I also watch a fair amount of HGTV and Food Network. Why? I'm clearly not cooking or improving my domicile.. but whatever.

* Something good is that the kids and I read a lot more books together and play more games when Clayton is gone.. We just bought Jinga and Clay and I are going to become Jinga masters before you know it. Normally our evenings are centered around Clayton coming home, having dinner and family time. When he's not home, dinner is cereal, family time needs to get interesting fast or we have issues.

* I end up reading through the "Links" section on facebook and I invariably get into facebook arguments with my liberal friends. I DON'T KNOW WHY I DO THAT!!! Today's mini-war was in regards to repealing the "don't ask, don't tell" policy. I couldn't keep my mouth shut, I had to point out that this friend has never served in the military so he doesn't know what he's talking about (the TRUTH!)... fortunately, another friend of mine who went to the AF Academy took over the conversation and made the first friend look like a fool before I made a fool of myself. I should say that I'm not always rescued.. and I'm always reminded of what my mom used to say to me as a kid "Fools names and fools faces always appear in public places". Yet another reason to take down that FB profile....

So, that's about it here. You can see that our ever exciting life in AK marches on whether or not Clayton's around to participate. If you'd like to come visit us while Clayton's on TDY, please be sure that I will actually cook and I'll close my bedroom door so you don't have to look at the Mountain Of Laundry.

Reflections on a McDonald's Lunch

I'm going to blame my lack of blogging on the short, dark days we're having here in AK.. actually, I shouldn't complain because we're getting something like 5 minutes of sunlight every day. This will continue until June 21, at which point I'll be whining about no nighttime. Oh well, it's part of the charm of Alaska.

We had a surprisingly lovely MLK long weekend. We hung out as a family, with friends and we skied twice: once at Hillberg on base and once at Alyeska. Some friends from the squadron were also at Alyeska so Clayton had someone to go down the really scary runs with him and I was able to sit by the fire and drink hot chocolate with friends while the kids were in ski lessons and Clayton was skiing with Doctor. It was a really good day, the end of a great weekend. It was especially nice because Clayton's going to be out of state for a month starting this week.. ugh. So far, however, the volcanoes are not acting up so we're anticipating a firm return, nothing "indefinite"... however, as I type, I realize that while I don't believe in jinxing myself, I might just have done it anyway. Ah, the air force.

So, on the heels of a really fabulous weekend, it was Tradeoff Tuesday. What is that, you ask? Well, it's a day that two friends(Suzanne and Kamdon) and I trade off watching each others kids so that 2 moms have a whole day to do stuff (get hair done, work, grocery shop, eat bonbons whilst sitting on the couch..screeeeaaaaacccchhh!) done with free child care. It was my day to have the kiddies. I started out all motivated to do fun activities with them but my back was really hurting (stupid back, hurt it last year pulling kids on a sled for exercise..) so I thought if I could work out with Bob on The Biggest Loser yoga DVD, it might feel better. I ended up telling the kids if they'd cooperate (i.e., not break anything major or hurt one another, nothing too exceptional), I'd take them to The Place... McDonald's. The kids were agreeable and I actually cranked out the DVD without having to pause once (this does NOT mean that I didn't have company throughout the workout, however). Sooo, conveniently, it was about 11:00, a perfect time to hit the Eagle River Mc Donald's. Poor little Abbie was the only kid who was dressed in her day-clothes so while I was helping Chase get dressed, I sent Clay upstairs to put his clothes on... this is what he chose:

Nice. Obviously we are proponents of "clothes over the jammies", but this was too much. Much to Clay's chagrin, we had to change....then we were on our way!! Hallelujah.

Here's a shot of the mountains we get to see on our way to the ER McD's. BEAUTIFUL!

This is the Tradeoff Tuesday crew (Clay, Chase and Abbie). Abbie affectionately calls the boys "my boys". They mostly do what she tells them, too, which I try to abuse whenever possible.

So, we get food and the kids eat at McDonald's and I'm torn between watching the kids play, people watching, and reading a book... It has long been a dream of mine to be the mom reading a book while her kids play at the McD/museum/park.

Which did I choose?? I went with people watching. Seriously, there is material for a master's thesis or a dissertation in McD playland. Not even just here, but anywhere... It attracts all types. Let me explain:

First, there are the Moms Who Pretend That This Is Their Only McD Visit This Century: There were two of these moms at McD yesterday. I have to laugh because they come in looking around to make sure none of their friends are there.. they'd be embarrassed to say they feed their kids food made by a clown... These moms were having a loud conversation about how they NEVER come to McDs, how they NEVER let their kids have fried foods (guess their mc nuggets were baked.. and the fries, too)... how their kids don't even really like McD (BTW, their kids totally sold them out by running straight to the secret hiding places in the play area in addition to asking for specific McD flavors of dip). Have some pride, people.. It's Alaska in the winter. We have no other indoor playground options in ER.

Next, there is the Overprotective Dad Who Must Tell His Daughter He Loves Her Ever Time She Comes Down The Slide...Loudly. This poor guy. I'm pretty sure he also had some hand sanitizer in his pocket that he made Princess use every 4 minutes. (I'm all for sanitation, but I'm also one for promoting a healthy immune system. So, for me, I think making Clay wear his shoes to the bathroom and washing his hands before eating is sufficient.) He also hand fed his daughter when it was convenient for her. If it wasn't so weird, it would have been sweet to see a Dad-Daughter date in the afternoon. I think Clay and Chase wanted to hit the guy up for a shake, he seemed so nice...

Then there's the Angry Mom Who Doesn't Watch Her Kids Because She's Texting The Entire Time.. but she tries to fake the rest of us out that she's paying attention by randomly screaming at her kids every few minutes "COME EAT YOUR HAMBURGER, TEDDY"... "WE'RE LEAVING IN 15 MINUTES" (which she repeats every 2 minutes for 30 minutes) "WATCH OUT FOR THE LITTLE KIDS".. oh, because I forgot to mention that her kid is 12.. and it's Tuesday at 11:00. Hmmm.

Finally, there's the I Have No Shame Mom. That'd be me. I own the fact that McD food isn't that nutritious.. but it's not that bad (I'm a nutrition professional people, I can and will rationalize pretty much anything related to food so don't even try to go there about the horrible-ness of McD food or I'll take you to task on your juices and fruit snacks). I am not ashamed of taking my kids to McD so I can have an adult conversation with a friend (Kamdon, if I'm going down, I'm taking you with me). I'll spring for a happy meal or a $0.50 vanilla cone simply so my kids can burn some energy running around a filthy dirty playground. I'm over trying to put on airs that I'm a better mom than the one who abuses the McD playground!!

... on second thought, I should have read the book and not bored everyone to tears. Thanks anyway for reading. While I'm on the subject, however.. if anyone feels burdened to open a different restaurant with an indoor play area in the Eagle River area, let me know.. I bet I can get the capital from my mom friends :)

Happy New Year!!! (9 days in)

SO, I had good intentions of blogging often through Christmas but it didn't work out that way... We had a great Christmas here in AK! The weather was lovely, no new snow (both good and bad) but we got out skiing and snowshoeing and tubing while the Grandparents and Karen were here. The first ski trip to Alyeska on the 23rd was the most interesting.. I thought we had skied Griswold-style before but I was wrong. This trip took the cake. To start, it was raining at the ski mountain. Yes, folks, raining. And in case you were under the impression that ski jackets, gloves and pants are waterproof, you were wrong. I definitely thought they were. However, everytime we went inside, we were able to wring puddles of water out of our hats, gloves and pants. Fortunately, it was in the 40s that day so we weren't freezing. However, it didn't make for the most ideal ski conditions. Add to that Clayton's snowboard binding shattering 1/4 way down the mountain (he had to hike back up to the tram in heavy snow.. yes, it was snowing up top, raining at the bottom) and Michael's snowmachine tour cancellation, you can see how tempers might have been running a little thin by the end of the day :) :) :) Nonetheless, it was a really fun day. Christmas Eve found us snowshoeing at home, getting Karen from the airport and enjoying a yummy dinner together before we did the Christmas Eve tradition of the Christmas Story complete with puppet theatre courtesy of Kara and Clay. Christmas morning was really nice, lots of gifts, yummy breakfast. About the time the afternoon rolled in, though, Kara was running a 104+ fever. (insert screeching brake noise) Had to cancel the Sutterfields coming over 3 nights in a row because Kara stayed sick through New Year's Eve (she had a major infection in her mouth while cutting 3 of her 6yr molars. I highly recommend avoiding this illness at all costs). Still, we had a fun New Year's playing the Wii with the Sutterfields and Karen. Good times. We had a great 2009 with far more blessings than we deserve: health, good friends, job(s), safe landings of fast gray airplanes, safe landings of 2-wheel drive Tahoes, and on and on. Blessings on you, dear reader(s) for 2010. I will try to be more blog-entertaining this year...

Making gingerbread houses with Ainsley and Chase...

Clay enjoying his Reeses' tree off the roof... good call! Those are delicious.

Opening gifts from eachother.. coincidentally, they gave each other the exact same gifts. A guaranteed way to avoid arguing!!!!!!

Before skiing in the rain at Alyeska on the 23rd...

Everyone's happy......

Clayton coming in after hiking up and down the mountain.. then walking 1 mile in the rain from the resort to the day lodge. He was soooo happy, in case you can't tell.

Christmas morning.

Bunkbeds for the American Girls made by Granddad Buzz, quilts by Amy.

Karen and April on Christmas morning.. FYI this picture was taken about 10:00AM, yes it was still that dark outside.

Christmas aftermath...

Hooking up the Wii to the downstairs TV.. another cause for happiness from Clayton. Not.

Stirber Christmas Vacay: The First Third

Greetings from Alaska! It's warming right up so the snow is kind of melting, making all kinds of nice slick spots. We like to keep it interesting for our visitors anyway, so what the heck!!! We're having a really great time with the grandparents. We've gone all kinds of places, had all kinds of adventures. Let the photo documentation begin...

Clay had a Christmas performance at his little preschool church on Sunday... here's a short clip

We have also had a lot of snow (that is melting today... UGH! I hate melting snow.. it makes ice and ice makes driving difficult). Clayton made the kids some snow caves, a little talent he picked up last year at Arctic Survival. They loved them!!

Grandma and Grandpa are being very sporting about Alaska in the winter. We went skiing on Sunday. Grandpa had a tough time but Grandma picked it right back up. The kids were LOVING having her on the slopes. As for Grandpa, well, it didn't go so well. He even had a lesson which also didn't go well. Actually, it went poorly. He got fired from the lesson by an old-time ski instructor. Sad. Embarrassing. Not entirely surprising... He was a good sport about it (ultimately) and when Sports Authority refunded 100% of his ski rental fee for the week, he got over it.

Now, as for Michael. For those of you who don't know, he had been growing his hair out since his retirement from the Guard. He didn't cut it but once in over a year. It was getting a little out of hand... in fact, his kids were sort of giving him a hard time about it (just a little). SO, Michael and I had a little trip to the salon. He ended up getting a really professional looking hair cut but retained some of the length in the front. It looks better.. but I think he's going to forget to get it cut in a few weeks.

Before.

During.

After. So dapper, so professional!

So, needless to say, we're having a great time with the Stirbers. Today has been a baking day. Tomorrow we're headed to Girdwood for a day of skiing (all of us but you-know-who). Will take the camera and post pictures later :) Oh, and Miss Karen is coming for Christmas (did I already say that??) and comes tomorrow night. Good times at the Johnson compound!

CrAzY MoMmY!!!!

I thought I'd drop in and do a quick post before life gets even more crazy around here. We had a really busy week last week.. a really snowy week so far this week. And tonight, Grandma and Grandpa come for the next 12 days!! I am not quite ready but I have until 7:00 tonight :) I do better under pressure (at least that's what I keep telling myself). Yesterday, if you will allow me to vent (but it's my blog, I can vent if I want to!), was one of those days. We've probably had a good 2 feet of snow over the last 48 hours in Eagle River. If you're like me (prior to living here), you think "Get a grip, April. It's Alaska! What do you expect?" Well, actually, it's Alaska, you are correct on that point. However, we generally don't get dumped on like that so the city and the snowplowers can't keep up with the snow when it comes in buckets. That means driving conditions, even for here, are poor at best. I got stuck yesterday taking Clay to school. I knew enough to know that I wasn't going to get myself out so Clay and I ended up walking the last .5 mile (uphill, in the dark, while snowing) to his school. We were both a mess when we got there. Fortunately, the pastor and another dad took it upon themselves to extricate the Tahoe without calling the tow truck (my idea). I was thankful God provided them. It saved me some $$ for sure. But my pride took a nice beating in the process :) Once I finally got home, I stayed home! Oh, and before you ask, NO! OUR TAHOE IS NOT 4WD! We bought it in Texas before AK was even a blip on the radar. And, NO! We're not buying another car right now. We are enjoying not having car payments.. I now have a tow strap and chains in the car so I'm pretty much ready for the next time. And YES! I know how to put the chains on. OH! One more thing, AT&T cell customers (of which I am one) had no cell service in the state of AK yesterday, to answer any lingering questions you might have had :)

I actually feel better after the rant. If I learned one thing, it's that God is indeed faithful in the small details and that he provides in His own way (my idea was for him to pick my car up and plop it at the top of the hill in a miraculous fashion..) and it met and exceeded my needs for yesterday, like always. BUT, if you are feeling sorry for me, remember it when you see a mom out by herself who needs an extra hand.. at the airport, the grocery store (shoveling snow for the 6th time in 48 hours..)! Even if her husband is in the state, if he's not there and she needs help, give it! I have had so much help from people the last few days with this weather and Clayton being away.

I digress... We are really looking forward to Anne and Mike being here this Christmas. My good friend Karen from Denver will also be with us on Christmas and we're happy to provide a White Christmas for the visitors. My kids have been counting down days since December 1. They are excited for an audience while skiing and sledding. I'm excited for some extra hands as I have done very little wrapping of gifts and no baking :) This is not my Christmas letter post so I'll shut up for now.

Here's a photo journal of what we've been up to the last week or so :)

Us before the first of 2 Christmas parties..

Kara and I going to a tea at church on Saturday morning. Clay was clearly going to enjoy his lounging morning at home with Dad (they went skiing later).

Clay and Kara watching Christmas movies. A rare moment of close-quartered seating without hitting, kicking, whining and tattling.

Our backyard after big snow #1.

Our back deck 8 hours later, the next morning.

The Johnsons (Griswolds) Go Skiing

So we went skiing for the first time this season yesterday afternoon. We love, and by we, I mean Clayton, to go skiing at Hillberg (on Emlendorf AFB) after 4:00pm because it's half price. Seemed like a good call for our first go of the season.. our kids did really well last season but I was kind of expecting some backsliding this year so if it was half-price (even though it's pitch black outside at 4:00pm), we could get over it if it was a complete FAIL. I should have known things weren't going to go smoothly simply based on the fact that it took me an hour to get the kids' season rental skis at Sports Authority. That should take about 20 minutes..and no one else was in line. Hmmm. BUT, I didn't let that daunt me. NO WAY! I'm an Alaska MOM! We're going skiing! Second road block: Kara left her snow pants at home. The ONE thing she was responsible for. OK, I'm cool (well, if a raging lunatic is cool, I'm cool). I run into the BX to buy another snow suit (multiples are a good thing). Guess what?? The stupid BX is OUT of snow suits and pants. Figures. What to do?? By now, it's darn near 4:00, dark and cold. Clayton is working (on Sunday, yes) and meeting us at the hill at 4:00. He NEVER answers his cell phone.. What to do? Go to Target, off base, and buy said snowsuit. So, Alaska Mom that I am, I drive off base, go to Target and find a snow suit in record time . Yay me! I drive BACK ON the base and trek out to Elmendorf. By now, It's about 4:30.. Not only are we meeting Clayton, we're meeting our neighbors. We're late. OH, and did I mention?? Driving on base while talking on cell phones is frowned upon mightily. I did not make or receive any calls while driving (Why? Because not only am I an Alaska Mom, I follow rules like any good firstborn!). FINALLY, we get to Hillberg and on the lift by 4:40. Kids do well getting on the lift and, not only that, they make it down the hill without any trouble. JOY! BLISS! All the drama was worth it!! (insert screeching brake noise HERE) Not so fast... after a few runs, our friends leave to go home so we decide it is a good time for a potty break. And maybe a snack because I, naturally, forgot to bring any snacks with me (still Alaska Mom). I order some food, the Claytons get a table but where is Kara?? Clayton goes looking for her and he hears her in the bathroom. She's screaming. Hysterically. Saying "APRIL! APRIL JOHNSON!". What does Clayton do? Well, he does what Dads do.. he got me. I go into the bathroom and find poor Kara has had an "accident". She didn't quite make it to the potty, poor sugar. And she is a disaster! Granted, everything from her snowsuit to her ski boots are soaking wet.. we did the best we could but, suffice it to say, her skiing was over for the day. That's when I started to get the hint that maybe skiing wasn't the best plan for Kara.. I had the "signs" but I chose to ignore them. Oh well, not the first and certainly not the last time that will happen (well, at least we hope it's the last time Kara has that kind of accident).

Nonetheless, we had a grand time skiing (except for the obvious). The kids did AWESOME! Clay was "yee-haw'ing" all the way down the hill.. in between his famous "Winner, winner, chicken dinner" calls :) I got to try out my brand new skis and they were awesome, too. I have learned to love the snow and I love that our kids are growing up skiing. You would love it, too, if you came to visit :)

That little blob in the middle of the photo is Clay coming down his last run of the day.

Here he is a little closer.

Thanksgiving Recap

We had a lovely Thanksgiving here in Eagle River, Alaska. There were 19 at our house for the meal! No one no-showed and no one straggled in. Success!! There was too much food and lots of fun. If I may say, this was my best turkey EVER! Same darn recipe since 2000 and I finally mastered it (of course, will have to change completely next year because simply saying this, I have jinxed myself). Turkey is the one thing we came close to running out of. The kids LOVED having big kids around to play hide-n-seek and other games.

Amy stayed until late last night. I managed to get most of my Christmas shopping done, but only sent a few things back to AZ with her.. that means I get to brave the post office multiple times yet again this year..JOY!!!! We got some tubing in on Saturday night as well. It has been snowing a lot..until last night when the rain came. Rain + Snow = SUCKAGE! The roads are like ice skating rinks now.. and the snow is no good for skiing. BOO!!!

Oh well, it means that I must begin decorating for Christmas, I guess. Here's hoping everyone had a great Thanksgiving. We have much to be thankful for despite any errant circumstances. Our pastor at church on Sunday mentioned 2 Corinthians 4:17 where Paul writes about our light and momentary troubles.. It challenged me to look at all my "issues" in a different way, that's for sure. SO, I will resume my chorus of "this is the day that the Lord has made.. I will rejoice and be glad in it!"... (even if occasionally with gritted teeth)