John and Nancy's Blog

Jack and Henry are Four Years Old!

2010-03-23T21:23:00.000-07:00

March 14, 2010

2010-03-21T22:58:00.000-07:00

Not abandoning blog

2010-01-18T18:52:00.001-08:00

Ever since I joined Facebook, I have neglected this blog.

Pictures are coming soon. I'm not abandoning the blog!

Newly minted Scrabble Player

2009-06-03T22:35:00.000-07:00

Joe wanted to play scrabble with me a few weeks ago. In the last couple of months, he has been making big strides in learning to read. He loves to spell out simple words and he sounds out everything. In our scrabble "game", he played Hat and Ted and then he spelled "Fathed" and laughed and told me that this was a word that boys use! He likes to try to read to Jack and Henry.

Pooh Bear and Tigger

2009-06-03T22:31:00.000-07:00

AKA Henry (Tigger) and Jack (Pooh).

More March & April

2009-06-03T22:21:00.000-07:00

Joe became obsessed with vocanoes because of Mt. Redoubt erupting in AK. Here's a drawing of a volcano.

Here's Joe's play doh recreation of a volcano (which we erupted with baking soda and vinegar.)

The boys in Target Easter $1 stuff.

John (and friend Matt) lighting Jack and Henry's birthday cupcake tree. Our 3rd birthday party for the twins was very small (just us and our friends the Nedoms) and I only took two pictures and none included the birthday boys . Oops. John thinks he videotaped the Happy Birthday singing and cupcake eating.

Joe and his friend Maria at Jack and Henry's birthday. I hope these two get married in 25 years!

March and April: Busy Boys

2009-06-03T22:10:00.000-07:00

Riding new birthday bikes in the kitchen.

Painting.

Checking out stuff in the heating vents with magnifying glasses.

Playing with trains.

Jack and Henry watching Joe play a computer game.

Big Kids

2009-03-09T14:46:00.000-07:00

Joe, Jack, and Henry all got haircuts this weekend and they are all looking much older. It is hard to believe that Jack and Henry turn THREE in less than two weeks! (Henry is on the left in these photos.) (I bribed them with sweet tart candy if they would pose for pictures and they all eagerly sat down and said Smile and Pizza. I should have made them dress a little better!)

More March

2009-03-09T14:43:00.000-07:00

March pictures

2009-03-09T14:38:00.000-07:00

Joe and Jack

Joe

Henry

Jack (who chose his own hat)

Pioneer Peak

We played outside on Sunday afternoon - it was sunny and about 20 degrees.

Wacky Weather

2009-01-16T14:19:00.000-08:00

Our weather has been wild this week. The Chinook winds came in (the Pineapple express) and the temperature went way up. It was in the mid to high 40's this morning and the kids played outside. It was great even though it was very wet and windy. Now, there are torrential downpours.

Jumping on beds

2009-01-16T14:16:00.001-08:00

More Palmer pictures

2009-01-11T15:57:00.000-08:00

Palmer pictures

2009-01-11T15:50:00.001-08:00

Winter pictures

2009-01-11T15:45:00.001-08:00

I took these photos on Sunday at 10 a.m. The Palmer airport is just down the street from our house. My car's temp. read minus 30.

Christmas

2009-01-09T17:53:00.001-08:00

We took very few photos on Christmas morning because we were very busy opening presents!

Joe is talking to Santa who visited his class following the children's Christmas program a few days before Christmas.

Joe with his good friend, Brayden. (There are Aidans, Bradens, and Cadens, at Children's House.)

Joe during the program. He gets very shy onstage. Every child recited a nursery rhyme.

Cold Spell Redux

2009-01-06T17:11:00.001-08:00

Jan. 6th - My obsession with the cold weather continues. It is 4 p.m. and it is minus 16.1. Yesterday and earlier today, I thought it was above zero, even though it certainly did not feel warmer, because our thermometer's reading was above zero. It actually felt really cold because we had terrible winds. Anyhow, I was talking to a friend on the phone today and she said she couldn't believe it was still minus 15 at her house, which is nearby us. I said, that's weird, it is plus 13 at our house. Then I looked outside and realized that our indoor/outdoor thermometer blew away in the big windstorm the other night and it must have landed in some warmer spot. I couldn't find it, so I put another one outside and it is registering way below zero.

Jan. 7th - 7 a.m. minus 23.3 8 p.m. minus 22.0
Jan. 8th - 8 a.m. minus 22.0
Jan. 9th - 9 a.m. minus 17.3
Jan. 10th - 8 a.m. minus 17.1
Jan. 11th - minus 13 - it's finally warming up; 2:45 p.m. - minus 7.8
Jan. 12th - plus 6.3 - yeah! the end!

Cold Spell

2008-12-29T10:54:00.001-08:00

Dec. 29th - Weather update: It is 10 a.m. and the sun is finally coming up and it is MINUS 12.3 degrees at our house. Yikes.

Now it's 8 p.m. and it is minus 15 degrees. It never got above minus 10 today. Apparently, it will hit minus 51 degrees in Tok tonight. That's cold!

December 30th at 10 p.m. It is now minus 18 degrees. It was below minus 12 all day. I just got back from swimming class. The car thermometer varied from minus 20 to minus 25.

December 31st - 6:20 a.m. - It is minus 20.4 degrees and for some awful reason, the twins were up at 4 a.m. and never went back to sleep.

2:40 p.m. It has warmed up to minus 19.1. Our low today was close to minus 22.

Jan. 1st - Our temp. range was minus 22.9 to minus 13 for brief time in the afternoon.

Jan. 2nd - 7 a.m. It is minus 23. 3 p.m. It is minus 18.5. I took the kids to tot time at the sports center in Wasilla this morning. The van's thermomenter varied from minus 18 to minus 35, depending where we were in the Valley. 8 p.m. Minus 22.5.

Jan. 3rd - 10 a.m. and it's minus 23.6. 6 p.m. minus 22.

Jan. 4th - 4 a.m. minus 25. 9 a.m. minus 23.6. 2:45 p.m minus 17

9 p.m. The end. Yeah. It is really windy outside and the temperature is rapidly rising. it is now plus 2.5.

"Draw a scary bug!"

2008-12-13T11:17:00.000-08:00

Here are Jack and Henry yesterday sitting in buckets and drawing pictures on their drawing boards. They were having a conversation about what to draw. Henry told Jack, "Draw a scary bug!" and Jack said, "Okay." Then they talked about other things to draw. Thank goodness they are getting along great and playing really well together because Nana left after visiting and helping for over a month, so I'm all on my own this winter with three little boys in the house. Joe has been playing better with the twins, too. Joe bosses them around and Henry bosses Jack around. Jack and Henry sometimes play with different things, but usually, they will tell each other, Let's play this now, and the other one will say, Okay.

Cold Winter Day

2008-12-13T11:09:00.000-08:00

It is 10:15 a.m. and minus 9 degrees. Here are pictures taken a few mintues ago of Pioneer Peak out our back window and of our neighbor Mary's twin log houses. Although you can't see from the picture, Mary's place is a winter wonderland. She strings beautiful colored lights in many of the tree and bushes in her yard and garden and all over her cabins. I'll try to take pictures and post them.

Sunrise and Sunset

2008-12-12T11:12:00.001-08:00

It sure does seem dark these days in Alaska. We are almost at the winter solstice. Today, we have a total of 5 hours and 35 minutes of daylight. Sunrise is at 10:06 a.m. and sunset is at 3:40 p.m.

Happy Birthday, Joe!

2008-12-08T07:15:00.000-08:00

Saturday was Joe's 5th birthday! We had a family party on Friday night. Joe decorated the cupcakes. We had a kids party on Saturday at a new ice cream shoppe in Wasilla. A good time was had by all in the party room upstairs from the shop. Joe is getting to be a big kid. He loved both parties and enjoyed all of his presents immensely.

New Pantry

2008-12-04T17:08:00.000-08:00

Here are pictures of the (almost finished) pantry off the kitchen. John still has to put up the shelves inside it and put the molding around the door and on the baseboards, but it looks good. The upright freezer is inside. We still have a walk through between the kitchen and living room, but to make more room, we will move the double rocker and shelves soon.

Cross Country Skier

2008-10-26T16:23:00.000-07:00

We bought Joe a set of cross country skies yesterday with poles and boots, etc., and he loves them! Yeah! Skiing has kept him busy all weekend. He has been skiing really well after a lot of initial falls. John put some trails in through the woods behind our house, so we have our own cross country ski course. It was 11 degrees this morning, but it is sunny and bright and has warmed up to the low 20's this afternoon.

12 Degrees

2008-10-24T22:13:00.000-07:00

It is 12 degrees outside. It is freezing. It has been very cold all day - in the high teens. Tonight, at 7:30 p.m., I noticed that it had dropped to 11 degrees. It's only October! Winter has hit very hard and very fast. We got snow last week but it melted somewhat, but this week it snowed a lot more and it is very white and wintery outside. We had a fairly cold and rainy summer; I didn't wear shorts all summer, not even once. The fall was nice, but now, suddenly, it seems like January or February already. I put the kids in their snowsuits and hats and mittens and boots this afternoon and insisted we all go outside, but they would hardly play (well, Henry played, but not Jack and Joe) because of the cold and wind. It is going to be a long winter!

October photos

2008-10-20T21:05:00.000-07:00

Top: Henry/Pooh Bear; Jack and Henry showing off their new haircuts, which makes them look a lot older!; Henry (who refused to put on his clothes) and Jack setting up animals; close up of Jack.

Joe was at preschool when I took these photos today. Yeah for preschool! Joe has decided what he wants to be when he grows up: a can-crusher. John is letting him crush up all our old cans in a can-crusher device in the garage and now this is all he talks about. He is just thrilled with himself and even asked John's aunt Elayne for her cans and then he crushed up all her cans.

Henry is clearly the dominant twin (and he has been since day one), as evidenced by a game that Jack and Henry play after they get out of their bath. They run around with their towels as capes and play "Super Henry!" Jack plays "Super Henry!", too. Finally, I pointed out to Jack that maybe he might want to be "Super Jack!" This had not occured to him.

Jack and Henry are talking a lot more now. They talk to each other a lot, now, too. Their conversations are along the lines of, "I like this one"; "I like purple"; "Oh, I like green"; "That's my truck, Henry";"Okay, you have it." After having them be our babies for so long, it is funny to hear them talking back and forth to each other. Even though Henry is sometimes bossy with Jack, he is very easy going. He is the only one of the boys who is almost always agreeable, thus earning the nickname "Happy Henry." If you ask him to sit at the table to eat, or to go brush his teeth, etc., he always says, "Okay, Mommy" and he does it!

Costume Party

2008-10-20T20:39:00.000-07:00

We got out our box of Halloween stuff the other day. Henry loves Joe's old Pooh Bear costume; Jack claimed the Dragon; and Joe insisted on wearing an old too-small Chicken costume. They wanted to wear them outside and John said why not.

Before we got out this old stuff, I had taken the kids to the store and they picked out new costumes, but I didn't get pictures of them in those ones yet. Jack and Henry are firefighters (although Henry keeps getting mixed up and referring to himself as a fire truck) and Joe is an Army Commando Guy.

They keep wearing all their various costumes all the time.

Only 14 hours until bedtime

2008-09-16T21:00:00.000-07:00

"Only 14 hours until Bedtime" is the name of a book (if I am remembering correctly) that was published a few years ago by a mother about her life. The title made me laugh and now it makes me laugh and cry. I am busy all day long like never before because nobody naps anymore. Joe will be five years old in three months! Jack and Henry will be 2 1/2 next week. The years are flying by, but the days are very, very long. Jack and Henry only nap in the car if we are out doing errands and so I am on duty from approximately 6 - 6:30 a.m. until 8:30 p.m. every day when Joe goes to bed (Jack and Henry go to bed at 7 or 7:30 p.m.). It's really exhausting and it is hard to find enough things to keep the kids busy all day.

Fortunately, Joe attends his preschool three days a week. He loves it. He was going in the mornings, but there were so many kids in the class, they split it up, and Joe was assigned the afternoon section. I was thrilled with this because John still drops him off in the morning and now I don't have to pick him up until 2:45 p.m. Yeah!!! It's a wonderful Montessori daycare/preschool that the same teacher/owner has run for 40 years. Mrs. Euwer is 81 years old and a dynamo. She's also very old fashioned but very patient. There are no t.v.s or video games. She makes sure the children have proper manners, etc. etc. I wish she could move in with us. My friends whose kids also attend the school have said the same thing.

Jack and Henry's newest thing (of the past few months) is taking off all their clothes. Yesterday, I was outside with Jack and Henry and I was trying to talk on the phone to my bank about an issue with my account; I had waited on hold a while and I didn't want to end the call, so when Jack and Henry took off their sneakers and socks, and then their overalls, and ran around the yard, and began to take off their shirts and pull-ups, there was not a lot I could do. We have to have them wear one piece pajamas and pin the zippers shut or else when we get them up in the morning, they are running around their room naked. (They are now in regular beds.) I have to pin their overalls on, too, but sometimes they can Houdini out of the p.j. and the overalls.

I spent a long time making supper last night and all three boys dumped their plates over. It was Indonesian Honey Ginger Chicken. I loved it. Tonight I gave up on good food and gave them hotdogs and mac and cheese and they ate everything up nicely.

I try to take the kids out every day just to get out of the house and break up the day, but a lot of times, after I've gone everywhere I can think of and done all the errands I can do, and gone to a playground, etc, and it seems like we've been out for hours, I come home and it's only 3 p.m. and there are still 3 - 4 hours until John gets home.

In these pictures, I'm not sure why Henry is crying, but Jack gave him a hug! All day long, the boys alternate between playing nicely and fighting.

More Summer pictures

2008-08-06T23:00:00.000-07:00

Summertime

2008-08-06T22:55:00.000-07:00

Summer fun

2008-08-06T22:48:00.000-07:00

Here are photos of Nana and Joe at the Reindeer farm (we went with Joe and Krishan while Claire babysat the twins), Joe riding a tractor the same day at another farm (the U Pick Veggie farm, where there were no veggies to pick yet because of a poor growing season), Nana with all of her grandsons, Claire with Jack and Henry, and Krishan playing with Henry.

Summer Photos taken by Nana

2008-08-06T22:37:00.000-07:00

Thank goodness Nana took lots of photos when she was here. Look - Henry and Jack have reddish hair in all these photos! The red is always much more obvious in photos and in the sunlight than otherwise. I remember when my friend Vanessa took formal photos of them when they were 9 months old and I saw the proofs and I said, Gosh, why does their hair look red in the photos? I didn't really think of them as redheads at that point. But I love red hair and was hoping for red heads. John and his Mom both had red hair - John more a strawberry blonde. John was called Red as a child and he was not hoping for red heads. Anyhow, Jack and Henry's hair definitely gets more strawberry blonde in the summer and more blonde/light brown in the winter. Henry seems to have more red and Jack seems to have more blonde hair. When we were naming the babies, we gave Jack the name John Sullivan because in the hospital, his mostly bald head seemed like he might be a red head - more so than Henry David, so we gave Jack the more Irish name, but now Henry has the Irish red hair.

More Rainy Day Pictures

2008-08-06T21:28:00.000-07:00

Here are some close-ups of Henry and Jack - Top is Jack, middle two photos are Henry, and bottom photo is Jack, crying.

They are now 2 years and 4 months old. 2 1/3. They are getting so big and they have stopped napping consistently. Ahhh! When they do nap, they stay up way too late, so it's probably just as well to end the naps, but it makes for very long days. Next up is potty training and regular beds.

This summer, we had two months of company - John's parents visit for4 weeks, then Claire and Krishan for 3 weeks, and Nana for 3 weeks, overlapping with C & K for 10 days. (They all stayed at John's aunt's house and/or our neighbor's empty apt., which was great.) Jack and Henry really started talking a lot more with all of the visitors.

Rainy Day

2008-08-06T21:23:00.000-07:00

Here are Jack and Henry playing outside on a rainy day earlier this summer.

Super Joe

2008-08-06T21:20:00.000-07:00

Joe made a very cool space ship earlier this summer, complete with a space alien guy. Here he is last month on our swing.

Krishan and Claire's Visit

2008-07-20T21:18:00.000-07:00

Joe, Jack, and Henry had a wonderful time with Aunt Claire and Cousin Krishan during their summer visit with us. Claire and Krishan played with the boys constantly and it was great! They just left on Friday. (Nana has more pictures and I'll post some as soon as we get them.) Jack and Henry have asked about Claire and Krishan constantly since they left!

Reading Material

2008-05-31T14:38:00.000-07:00

Here are pictures of books John and I happen to be reading this week....hmmm...which books are John's versus which books are mine???

Alaska Views

2008-05-16T09:25:00.001-07:00

John and Joe took these photos of the Matanuska River from an overlook off the Glenn Highway, not too far from our house, but they said that the wind was storm was really strong and they got pelted with glacial dust and sand from the riverbed. It is always extremely windy in Palmer in the spring.

Swingers and a goofball

2008-05-16T09:20:00.000-07:00

We have discovered that rather than having Jack and Henry take turns in the swing (the non-swinger stands too close, crying My Turn, My Turn!), it is easier to smush them in the seat together to swing. Joe wouldn't pose for a nice photo.

HamBug

2008-05-16T09:05:00.000-07:00

John got his ham radio license a few months ago. On the first try, he passed the initial test plus a couple of higher level tests. Now his license plate on his diesel VW bug is "HamBug." Here's a photo of his hamshack - or, our storage room - which seems to be a complicated mess of electronic stuff to me. We have antennaes (sp?) on our roof and in our yard strung from trees. He has ham radios in his car and the house and garage. If you want to reach him, his call sign is AL3F. He has talked to people far and wide, but mostly, he has talked to the same few guys who are on their radios all the time.

Playing together

2008-05-01T14:22:00.000-07:00

I love when Jack and Henry play nicely together. Yesterday, they served each other "food" at their table and took turns "eating" and it was very cute. They also like to play "night-night" and take turns lying on the couch and putting blankets on each other and saying "night-night" and "shhh!".

Messy Meals

2008-05-01T11:01:00.000-07:00

The boys make a huge mess at almost every meal, except when we have things they love like fishsticks and french fries. I try to get them to eat nicely (Joe does most of the time), but Jack and Henry get the majority of the food on the floor, in their hair, and all over their clothes and the table. If Jack doesn't like something, he throws his entire plate overboard after one bite. Most of the plates, cups, and utensils end up on the floor by the end of a meal. It is very frustrating!

April 25th SNOW!

2008-04-25T20:55:00.001-07:00

It has been snowing all day and it is supposed to continue snowing all night. This is ridiculous! It is almost May! I just put away all of our mittens, hats, boots, and snowsuits earlier this week when we were having wonderful, warm, spring weather, and now this.

Blogosphere

2008-04-17T14:09:00.001-07:00

Blogs are great! I have been reading blogs for years now - starting way back when blogs were a new concept. Blogging is a now phenomenon. There are so many great blogs out there. I love reading about interesting folks and learning about new things and places and looking at great pictures, etc.

Anyhow, here are some blog recommendations:

PioneerWoman.com - Ree, a mother of four young children, lives on a huge, remote cattle ranch in Oklahoma. By coincidence, I knew her husband's cousin when we were both interns in Wash, D.C. years ago.

Scribbit.blogspot.com - a blog about motherhood (and lots of other things) in Anchorage.

CountryDoctorsWife.blogspot.com - a funny blog by a little bit nutty woman in a small town in Kansas. She is also a folk singer and she and her husband and four sons built a farmhouse last year.

MessyThrillingLife.blogspot.com - a home and garden sort of blog by a youngish woman somewhere in the south.

simmertilldone.com - a home and cooking blog by a talented chef in Lawrence, Kansas, who also just built a new old house.

Journey on the Wild Coast (site = groundtruthtrekking.org) - a blog by a young couple who are travelling from Puget Sound to the Bering Sea - 4,000 miles along the edge of the Pacific - by foot, raft, and skis. They are almost at their destination.

SailboatPelagic.com - a blog by a young Alaskan couple who are travelling with their one year old son on a sailboat from Kodiak, AK, to Australia. Wow! Last I checked, they were somewhere out in the ocean headed from La Paz, Bolivia, to the Marquesas.

LiveLightlyTour.com - another young couple with a baby travelling by RV (using only biodiesel) across the country. They are very into saving the environment. They follow a raw food diet, too.

EnchantedGypsy.blogspot.com - yet another young couple with a baby who are living the life of neo-hippies or nomads. Check out their cool converted bus!

NecessaryJourneys.com - another couple with children who have trekked all over Canada and more on long journeys.

Weather

2008-04-12T09:27:00.000-07:00

It was 9 degrees this morning. It will warm way up by this afternoon, but our early Spring has disappeared. It snowed a little bit last weekend and a little more this week. Hopefully, it will all melt in the next few days.

The good news is that it is light out in the evening until 10 p.m. now!

Playing in the Sandbox

2008-04-08T14:34:00.000-07:00

Kids Table

2008-04-08T14:30:00.001-07:00

The boys love their new table, a birthday gift from Nana.

More Birthday Pictures

2008-04-08T14:10:00.000-07:00

Joe decorated their cake with cupcake toppers (I ran out of time to make cupcakes that day) and he helped blow out the candles. Look how much Jack and Henry have grown. Here's a picture from two years ago when they were newborn.

Belated Birthday Photos

2008-04-08T14:06:00.000-07:00

We had just a little party with a little cake on Jack and Henry's second birthday.

Two times Two

2008-03-21T11:13:00.000-07:00

Happy Second Birthday, John Sullivan and Henry David Stroup - otherwise known as Jack and Henry. (Henry is on the left, picking his nose :( ; I wish they would sit still for a nice picture! I'll post better pictures later today.)

Wow! Two years old. They are acting more and more like little boys these days. I'm trying to stop referring to them as "the babies." We plan on having a little party tonight after dinner.

And happy first day of Spring.

New Pictures

2008-03-10T23:18:00.000-07:00

Jack is in the top photo and on the right in the lower photos. Henry is in the blue fleece and the mustard overalls. The boys are getting so big but they can't really pedal their bikes yet. I was tryingn to get them to pose for a picture but they wouldn't because they were busy fighting over our old camera and saying things like "Smile!" "Cheese!"

Bikers and a Policeman

2008-03-10T22:06:00.000-07:00

Henry is in blue; Jack is in orange and Joe, who is in charge, is in yellow.

Early Spring

2008-03-10T21:52:00.000-07:00

We have been having great weather. In late February/early March, the thaw began. Usually, it gets cold again, but this year, the temps have stayed above freezing for a few weeks now and all the snow and ice has melted. This past weekend, the boys played in the yard a lot. John and Joe went to the store and bought lots of inexpensive beach balls so we have been playing "soccer." It is so nice to be able to let the kids outside to play with just sneakers and fleece jackets and not have to spend lots of time bundling them up. Alaska deserves this early spring after last year's endless winter. (This time last year, we had so much snow in the yard that we had a homemade sledding hill!)

More Arts and Crafts

2008-03-10T21:31:00.000-07:00

The boys have all been coloring, too, which they love once they get past chewing up the crayons. Henry is in the mustard overalls and he is sitting next to Joe. Here's a close-up picture of Joe where you can see his injury from last weekend. We went to the local children's park and he fell and hit his face on the ice. It was terrible and we rushed him to the E.R. where he was patched up with liquid adhesive. It's healing nicely and we hope it does not leave any type of scar on our handsome boy.

Arts & Crafts

2008-03-10T21:22:00.000-07:00

Jack and Henry have started playing Play Doh with Joe. They really like it and don't eat too much of it. (Jack is sitting next to Joe.)

I have been very neglectful of this blog! I hope to post a lot of pictures this week. Jack and Henry will be two years old in a couple of weeks!

Abominable Snowmen

2007-12-13T14:02:00.001-08:00

Here are Jack and Henry in their snazzzy new REI insulated one piece snowsuits. These snowsuits are great and make it somewhat easier to get the boys ready to go outside (no separate coats and sweaters and snowpants) but I wish the suits had built-in boots, mittens and hats, too. Sometimes, they pull off their mittens and/or boots and then they tell me, "Cold, cold!"

Winter

2007-12-13T10:47:00.001-08:00

One of Jack and Henry's favorite activities: sitting on the couch, having a snack, and watching Sesame Street, their favorite show (really, their only show; they always tell me to put it on - "Melmo! Melmo!). Here are pictures taken outside yesterday. Winter has finally arrived. We had a very snowy and cold October/early November, but then we had a few thaws and most of November and early December was very mild with no snow. It is 8 degrees this morning. (I bet we have less snow than New England which is supposed to be getting a Nor'easter today. )

Joe-isms:

"Sants Claus never dies." Joe said this after some contemplation. All we talk about lately is Santa Claus and Christmas.

A few weeks ago, after Great Uncle George died, but before his memorial service, which I had been telling Joe that we were going to attend and why, I noticed Joe sitting down with some stuffed animals and a lot of books surrounding him and he told me: "I'm having a memorial service for Herbie, my husband (Herbie is Joe's beloved stuffed dog, who is missing somewhere in the house), who died. He's in heaven now and we having a memorial and we are reading stories."

The other day, Joe was stacking up toy, cardboard stackable boxes and then knocking them down. The twins watched him do this over and over again, but they never pushed over his boxes or touched them. They are obviously a little bit afraid of Joe and knew what his reaction would be. They also were wary of touching Joe's matchbox cars that he had out until Joe left the vicinity.

Joe has changed his mind about being firefighter when he grows up. Lately, he tells me he doesn't want to be anything; he just wants to continue living here with us and "helping Daddy in the garage."

Party Pictures

2007-12-13T10:40:00.000-08:00

Joe's kids' birthday party was on Saturday. We had a combined party with his friend, Sophia, who turned five. We rented out an indoor playground place - Bouncin Bears - and invited lots of families. There were tons of kids jumping on all the stuff - there were slides and bouncing things, etc. We did one big combined cupcake tree. A great time was had by all. (Luckily, Sophia's Dad is a professional photographer, so he took a lot of photos! I'll try to get more to post of all the kids playing.)

Happy 4th Birthday, Joe!

2007-12-07T10:11:00.000-08:00

Joe turned 4 years old yesterday! Wow! We made a ginger bread house (well, it turned into a cabin) and had a little family party last night. Joe was very excited about his birthday and thrilled with all of his presents from us and his grandparents. Joe's kids' party is this Saturday at an indoor playground place.

P.S. The other night, John painted part of our kitchen but we both don't like the color at all so we plan to repaint it soon.

Fall Pictures

2007-12-07T10:02:00.000-08:00

These are pictures from earlier this fall - probably October! I haven't posted on the blog for a while. Fall doesn't last long in Alaska - just a few weeks. The boys really enjoyed playing in the leaves.

Joe + Maria

2007-10-07T20:41:00.000-07:00

We ventured into Anchorage today and met up with our friends, Matt and Marina, and their two little girls. Joe and Maria seem to like each other a lot! She just turned 3 years old. She is really adorable and she has a new little sister, Sophia, who Jack and Henry may have to fight over.

More Pictures Outside

2007-09-26T15:03:00.000-07:00

Here are pictures of(from top to bottom): Jack, Henry, Jack, Henry, Henry & Jack, and Henry & Jack. Joe refused to participate in the picture taking. Henry is very proud of himself because he is able to climb up the slide and go down by himself!

Riding Bikes Outside

2007-09-26T14:57:00.000-07:00

Hanging Out

2007-09-09T16:11:00.000-07:00

Jack is on the left on the double rocking chair; Henry is on the right. Jack is in the blue shirt; Henry is in the red shirt.

It's been a very rainy weekend, so we are mostly hanging around the house.

Jack is walking all the time now. Henry is walking a lot of the time, but not as much as Jack, who loves to just walk around and around and pick stuff up and put it down. Henry loves to climb up on furniture and get into things.

The boys are talking a lot more, too. (Well, Joe hasn't stopped talking since he was a baby!) Jack says things like, "Mama, Waffle!" when he wants a waffle and his pronunciation is pretty good. They both can say "Joe Joe" really well, now. They can both point out and say "eyes" "ears" "nose" "chin" etc. etc. They know animals like dog, cat, elephant, and lion.

Joe keep talking about his teacher "Mrs. Williams". I finally asked at the preschool and found out that there is no Mrs. Williams, just Ms. Lindsay and Ms. Anika. Then I figured out that Mrs. Williams is the teacher on Caillou, Joe's favorite PBS Kids show.

Bucket Heads

2007-08-31T10:03:00.000-07:00

One of Jack and Henry's favorite activities is riding their "bikes" while wearing "helmets" (plastic toy buckets). They have been doing this for months now and it keep them entertained for long periods of time. It is very odd!

Kisses

2007-08-30T16:16:00.000-07:00

I'm trying to encourage kissing instead of fighting between Jack and Henry!

Swinging

2007-08-29T09:55:00.000-07:00

We all went to my friend Kelly and her family's "Cowboy Campout" party on Saturday night. Jack and Henry enjoyed swinging on her new swingset. (Henry is on the left; Jack's on the right and Joe is in the background.)

Jack and Henry are walking more and more now, but they still prefer to crawl. Jack is walking more than Henry, but for both of them, walking instead of crawling happens mostly when big brother Joe is not around to "accidently" knock them over. My guess is that this week, they will start walking most of the time rather than crawling.

Joe loves his new preschool. He started last week. It is a very small and old fashioned preschool that has been in Palmer for 40 plus years. It does not allow tv or videogames, which is great. They still play records for music when the kids dance or exercise. The teachers are wonderful and very hands on with the kids.

We are going to the State Fair today. The weather has been amazing for weeks now - 70 degrees and sunny.

Standing Tall

2007-08-01T14:09:00.000-07:00

Jack and Henry made great strides this week towards walking! Yesterday evening, within minutes of each other, they each got up to a standing position (from sitting) on their own, which is a big step towards walking. They did it over and over and they were thrilled with themselves. Today, they each did it again many times. For months and months, we have thought they were very close to walking, but they just haven't walked on their own yet. They walk really well if they are holding our hands and/or cruising on furniture or pushing their push car toys, but they wouldn't let go. Hopefully, they will be walking now withing days. P.S. John is in Phoenix and missed this!

Three Year Olds: Big Questions and the Tinkle Tree

2007-07-26T17:42:00.000-07:00

If anyone has talked to Joe lately, you will notice that he asks "Why?" constantly. It's cute but tiresome. Over the last few weeks, he has asked a lot of questions about the origins of his little brothers, Jack and Henry. He knows that they were born at the hospital and we brought them home. However, he keeps asking where they were "before they were at the hospital" and before they were in my tummy and many other related questions such as "what were their names before we named them Jack and Henry?" He keeps coming back to this topic and thinking deeply about it. "But where WERE they?"

Today, Joe was outside playing and I asked him if he needed to use the bathroom and he told me, No, because he had already gone outside on the "Tinkle Tree."

Sandbox

2007-07-18T21:03:00.001-07:00

Joe is completely thrilled about his new sandbox, which Daddy built and assembled in our yard over the weekend. John had been working on it for a while in the garage. A few weeks ago, they went to the gravel place and loaded up on sand which is in a big pile out back. It's a good thing that we have a lot of extra sand because Joe doesn't understand the concept of keeping the sand in the sandbox. I keep finding little piles of it all over the yard and on our walkway, etc.

A funny thing about the sandbox is that it is at the edge of our property. Joe has already spent hours there and it gives him a close-up view of our new neighbor, Dan. Dan appears to be a very nice, older, semi-retired man and he has been out in his yard quite a bit doing yardwork, putting in a new lawn and planting trees. Joe, being his chatty self, has talked to Dan A LOT this week. I look out from the window and I can see Joe just talking away to Dan. It is similar to Joe's behavior on our recent plane flights. On three of the four flights, Joe was a chatterbox to the people seated next to him. He truly felt like he had made new friends by the end of the flights. On the last flight, Seattle to Anchorage, John got wise and put Joe in the aisle seat and therefore, he couldn't talk to anyone and he finally took a nap.

Vacation Photos

2007-07-18T20:40:00.000-07:00

We have very few vacation photos! It was hard to remember to take the camera and take photos because we were so busy and usually hauling lots of other stuff, too. The top two photos are from Block Island and the rest of the photos are from Cape Cod.

The Beach Boys

2007-07-14T19:48:00.000-07:00

We returned to Alaska last night following our 3 1/2 week vacation. We had a great time - well, it was fun to see everyone and spend time in New England and attend Michael and Jocelyn's wedding, but it was hard travelling with three little kids.

We didn't take many pictures with our camera, but I'm hoping my mother and/or other folks will e-mail us photos and I'll post them on this blog.

Our cottage in Wellfleet was walking distance to the beach. Our cottage was across the street from the cottage rented by my sisters, et al. We were right near all the National Seashore beaches, which are amazing. The town of Wellfleet is like old Cape Cod; it is not congested or commercialized. There are lots of shingled houses and little stores and restaurants. Mike and Jocleyn's wedding was on the bay side in front of the Pamet Yacht Club in Truro. It was a beautiful wedding with a blue and white nautical theme.

The next day, we drove to Rhode Island and took the ferry to Block Island, where we rented another house for a week - a large, old farmhouse with a huge yard - with my mother and sister and nephew. My other sister and friends had another house nearby. Block Island is a wonderful place; it looks like it is the same as it was in 1907. We went to the beach some more and looked all around the island. Block Island has a year round population of 900. The town of New Shoreham (the BI town) is the smallest town in the smallest state.

Then we spent a few days back in my hometown of Medway, MA. We went to Sturbridge Village, a historical park which recreates New England in the late 1700's/early 1800's, with my father. It was very, very hot and humid in Massachusetts last week! We spent a lot of time in the air conditioned cafeteria rather than looking at all the things in the park because we were wilting. We are glad to be back home where it is a perfect 70 degrees and no humidity.

Legos

2007-06-18T17:13:00.001-07:00

Our household gets more chaotic every day and the mess is never completely picked up anymore. We leave on our big vacation this week. We'll be in Massachusetts for my brother Michael and Jocelyn's wedding. We rented a cottage on Cape Cod for a week - right on the beach - close to where the wedding is taking place. Then we will be on Block Island, R.I. for a week followed by another week in my hometown at my mother's house.

Happy Father's Day

2007-06-17T11:18:00.000-07:00

Happy Father's Day to John and to my Dad in Massachusetts!

June 9 2007

2007-06-09T21:23:00.000-07:00

Here are pictures outside today. Jack and Henry are in their new matching shorts and hats - gifts from Nana. It finally warmed up late in the day. Joe and I drove Nana to the airport today, which was sad for all of us because she was such a big help. (Joe cried on the way home and said over and over "I miss Nana!") Joe won't pose for pictures anymore. Here's one of John trying to help Jack walk.

Alaska Grown

2007-06-09T21:17:00.001-07:00

May 30 2007

2007-06-09T21:15:00.000-07:00

Here are the twins looking out the window in their striped jail bird suits - gifts from Grandma and Grandpa. Henry is in red and Jack is in blue.

Sheila's sweater

2007-06-01T00:13:00.001-07:00

AUNT Sheila made the twins a wonderful hand knitted sweater for their birthday. She says she is still working on the second matching sweater and she threatened to hold the second sweater hostage until I posted a picture of the little guys in the first sweater. (She wanted to know if it fits - it's a little big, but it will be great next winter.) Jack is in the top two photos and Henry is in the bottom two photos. Thank you Sheila! I think Sheila is a great knitter just like Mary and Alice.

May photos

2007-05-24T10:20:00.000-07:00

The top photo is Joe being a human "potato head." He also stamped himself all over (everywhere - face, arms, legs, stomach) with a red stamper so he looks like he has measles. He was in his room and I didn't realize what he was doing until he emerged - very proud of himself and his new look. Jack and Henry are not quite walking but they are really, really active and climbing on everything. They continue to fight over toys and bite each other, but they also play together well. Joe is enjoying the twins because they can play a little bit more with him now. Nana is visiting now.

Grandma and Grandpa and Aunt Jonelle

2007-05-24T10:08:00.000-07:00

John's parents, Mike (or Mickey) and Mary Lu, visited us from Las Vegas for about a month - from mid April to mid May. John's sister, Jonelle, came up from Portland, Oregon, for a few days while her parents were here. (They all stayed at our neighbor's cabin apartment). The kids really enjoyed seeing Grandma and Grandpa and Aunt Jonelle.

Outside Pictures

2007-04-15T21:31:00.000-07:00

We took these photos today in the yard. Actually, it was around 6 p.m. It is light outside until close to 10 p.m. now. It was fairly warm today - in the 40's and maybe low 50's. The twins are getting so big (and so is their mommy :( !) They are not walking yet, but they are getting there. Jack and Henry's hair is looking strawberry blonde now, especially in the sunlight. Yeah! John had red hair as a child and so did his mother. They are not as happy about red hair as me; I love red and strawberry blonde hair.

First Nice Spring Day

2007-04-11T20:56:00.000-07:00

The snow has finally melted - mostly. It was beautiful outside today and we all played in the yard. Joe even ate his lunch outside. We bought a new double jog stroller for Jack and Henry, which I really love. The last picture was taken yesterday - look how much snow melted in just one day. John's parents arrive tonight.

Double Bubble

2007-04-07T20:50:00.000-07:00

Double Trouble

2007-03-30T20:45:00.000-07:00

Ah, Spring!

2007-03-27T21:01:00.000-07:00

It was zero degrees again this morning. Ahhh! This truly is the never ending winter. Fortunately, we've had beautiful sunny days and it warmed up to the 30's this afternoon. Joe played outside and told me that he was planting a tree.

David + Elizabeth + Jack + Henry

2007-03-27T20:57:00.000-07:00

David and Elizabeth are great with kids! They look very cute holding Jack and Henry who really enjoyed playing with their Uncle and Aunt. We miss David and Liz who went back to Boston on Sunday. (Liz will probably post more photos on their website.)

First Birthday Party

2007-03-24T21:10:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Jack and Henry. We didn't really have much of a party, but David and Elizabeth were here and the boys enjoyed their new toys. They also got wonderful new outfits from the grandparents. Joe enjoyed the cupcakes.

David and Elizabeth

2007-03-24T20:51:00.000-07:00

David and Elizabeth are Joe's best friends forever. (Unlce David and Aunt Elizabeth are visiting for the week from Massachusetts.) Joe is completely in like with Dave and Liz. Here are photos of David pulling Joe around the yard on the tobaggon, Elizabeth drawing pictures on the board per Joe's commands (draw Dora now, now draw a truck, now draw a sled!), David playing the Thomas the Tank Engine computer game with Joe (that he downloaded and set up for him) and the three of them in front of Matanuska Peak. Joe told us that his favorite color is blue "because it is Elizabeth's favorite color." David and Elizabeth babysat for Joe all afternoon on Friday and they played with him endlessly - play doh, finger paints, puzzzles, bubbles, the computer game and books - making Joe a very happy camper.

Flying Saucer

2007-03-24T20:44:00.000-07:00

Daddy/John and Uncle David kept Joe busy late this afternoon sledding on a mademade hill in our driveway with his flying saucer.

Birthday Boys

2007-03-20T20:30:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to Jack and Henry!!! Tomorrow, the boys turn one year old. Amazing.

All Jack

2007-03-15T17:16:00.000-07:00

All Henry

2007-03-15T17:06:00.000-07:00

March Madness

2007-03-15T07:33:00.000-07:00

It is MINUS 13.2 degrees this morning. It has also been extremely windy. Last night, I couldn't find my car at the Wal Mart parking lot and I thought I was going to get frostbite. It is so cold! This is riduculous. It is almost Spring.

Now, it is almost 9 a.m. and the sun is up, but it got colder - minus 14.3. I saw a news article yesterday that it is very likely that an all-time weather record will be set for March - being the all-time coldest on record - for the Anchorage area.

Daily Views

2007-03-13T20:59:00.000-07:00

Pioneer Peak (as seen outside our dining room window) always looks amazing in March and April during the long sunsets. This is our kitchen counter. John put the camera on a sepia setting and I haven't figure out how to change it back to the regular setting.

Wagon Ho!

2007-03-04T17:00:00.000-08:00

March photos

2007-03-04T08:41:00.000-08:00

Here are some recent photos. I asked Joe if he could write his name on the board and without any help from me, he wrote some letters. I think it looks like J-O-E. Here's a photo of Jack in his exersaucer and one of Jack and Henry playing with the kitchen.

John Deere Wagon

2007-03-04T08:35:00.000-08:00

Nana got the boys a wonderful John Deere wagon for Christmas. It recently arrived and Daddy and Joe assembled it in the garage. Joe loves it! It is a very sturdy wagon. We all took a walk in our yard yesterday.

Wind Chill

2007-03-01T09:00:00.000-08:00

It is so windy out. Palmer is a very windy place during certain times of the year. It is 3 degrees out and the weather forecast says that we are getting winds of 46 mph right now with gusts from 60 to 85 mph. The wind chill is 30 below this morning. I can't believe it is March 1st and we are still having terrible weather!

Another Cold Morning

2007-02-28T08:26:00.000-08:00

It is 7:25 a.m. on the last day of February - and it is MINUS 14.3 degrees outside on our digital thermometer. Ahhh! It has been way below zero all week at night and it warms up to the single digits or the teens by the afternoon.

My friend, Vanessa, took more photos of the twins at her studio about a month ago. She just posted them at VanessaMcDonaldPhotography.com.

Long, Cold Winter

2007-02-24T08:26:00.000-08:00

It is 7:25 a..m. on Saturday, February 23rd and it is MINUS 15.9 degrees outside! This has been a very long, very snowy, very cold winter. We have only had one thaw cycle - about a month ago - where it got into the 40's and a big huge sheet of ice crashed off our roof and hit our deck, which broke most of the deck.

Oops, today is actually the 24th. And it got colder - minus 16.2.