Weekend of snow playing

We had lots of family fun last Sunday in the snow. There was general playing around and swinging and sliding. Then we got down to business sledding down the driveway, daddy and the kids, and mommy would follow with the snowmachine and pull them back up on sleds hooked to my snowmachine. Kinda hick and cheating, but we lasted longer that way, it is a long driveway and steep enough to sled well.



Then we decided to ride out to the road and get the newspaper, one mile away.
Gwendolyn is the caboose

Owen and I are in the middle, he is curled up in a ball on my lap at this point because he is cold.

And Matt is driving us

My self portrait sucked so I'm not posting it :)

Pictures promised

The ill fated vacation to Anchorage that wasn't a vacation




My sweet valentines
Owen and I at our breakfast, that I hope to make a tradition out of

Gwendolyn is her pretty dress Grandma made her, she wore it for three days in a row, at various times of the days

Boasty Bunch

I know this is boasting, but I was so proud of myself so that negates some of the boasting.
I decided to get crafty and sew Gwendolyn a skirt. She loves yellow (not sure why, not my favorite at all) and I had some cute yellow flannel with red roses embroidered on it. It was a very basic pattern of three tiers. Turned out cute and she had a matching red long sleeve t-shirt to go with.
My point is, I went to drop her off at school this morning and one of the teachers commented that it was cute and I (bragging inside) pipe up with I made it last night. Both teachers look at me with mouths open, "oh you made it last night, when I want something new for my kids I have to go to Fred Meyer and you just whip something up. Lucky girl." I love that I can do this for her and that she will wear it as I am sure that will change. I am no where near the ability that her Grandma is, but I am enjoying learning.
Although I have been having to throw down with my new Serger and I am not winning. That thing is stupid and complicated. I couldn't get it to do the rolled hem and I seriously spent 3 hours rethreading and trying again. It kept snapping thread, I would change the tension, still snapping. I took it to the store, rolled a perfect hem, kid.you.not!! Won't now though, back to snapping thread. I decide screw it, table the rolling hem thing for a while, now I can't even get it to do overlock hems. I give up for now, but I will be back for another round. My plain Kenmore sewing machine doesn't do this to me, old faithful.

Valentines with my sweeties

It was a wonderful day overall.
Matt left at 7am to drive to Canada for a hockey tournament, so I gave him his valentines present the night before, a new movie for the road trip. We are not consistant on V-day gifts, so I had no expectation of a gift. I just assumed, kinda to not get my hopes up, that I wasn't getting anything since he wouldn't be here. I went to load school Valentine party crap in the Yukon in the morning and there was a beautiful vase full of red roses (how cliche, but I'll take it) and a card there. He said there was a rose for every year he has loved me and 3 for Sassy (G) and 2 for Bubba (O) and 1 from the furry one (Duke the dog). It was so sweet!!! The sentiment was wonderful and I needed it.
After I dropped Gwendolyn at school, Owen took me to breakfast at Dennys and we had a nice time together. We then ran errands and went back to school for Gwendolyns party. Grandma Mary had made her this beautiful valentine dress and she looked so sweet, I really need to download the pictures from my camera.
After work was done in the evening, I went to pick the kids up and the inlaws were already done with dinner but had a plate made up for me. The table was all cute with candles and flowers. It was sweet that they made the effort for each other and they shared it with my kids and then me. It was yummy chicken cordon bleu and potatoes and poached pears with a yummy sauce and whipped cream.
Then Gwendolyn chose last night to sleep in my bed while Daddy is gone. She didn't last long on Daddy's side of the bed, but yet neither does he. It was nice to snuggle her all night.
Matt called to check in from White Horse, they are on to Dawson City today for the weekend of tournaments.

Kids quips at dinner

Owen dropped his fruit cup container on the floor and followed up with "uh-oh daisy"
Such a cute attempt at oopsie daisy.

Gwendolyn didn't want to eat the fajitas that I made because "spicy food makes her ears water" ??? What????
Daddy decided that she was trying to say the it makes your eyes water, but she was pretty sure about her response.

Weekend getaway from hell

Matt and I decided at 11:30 thursday night that it was too freaking cold (-45) and we ought to get away for the weekend to Anchorage. Sounded fabulous. We each called into work on friday for a mental health day and load up into the Yukon. We called first to see if we could stay with the Anchorage crew.
The drive down went great, got warmer the further south we went. Right around the start of Eagle River, half an hour from our destination of Anchorage and all our fun weekend plans, Owen started complaining about his feet and wouldn't eat his goldfish, he kept chewing and spitting them out. Oh NO, the hand, foot, mouth disease they were exposed to on Monday (the one day a week they go to daycare) and I thought they had escaped, was rearing it's ugly head. I call my mom and she calls around to hotels for us. I call Cassie and let her know we will not be staying there, in fact we will be keeping our distance from her four kids. I count my blessings that we discovered HFM disease prior to getting to their house, I would have felt horrible if we exposed them.
So, after we spent 6 hours in the car, in car seats restrained, we will now go lock the kids in a hotel room and convince them that this is our fun trip. Since we are now driving home tomorrow after doing NOTHING FUN!! I do have pictures of the room and the kids on the drive, LOL.
The drive home was less enjoyable for all, there was nothing to look forward to. But all in all, they were champs and the DVD player the came in the Yukon is to be worshipped. They are feeling pretty good and I would have to estimate that they both have very mild versions of the disease. Gwendolyn has a couple sores in her mouth and on her hands and Owen complains about his mouth, but shows no signs.
Such is life with kids....

Things I do right as Mommy

I tell my children everyday that I love them
I give them hugs and kisses everyday
I sneak in their room every night, a few times, and retuck them in bed and make sure they are covered up
I smile at them
I answer thier endless questions
I set boundaries for them
I love thier father
I teach them what a family is
I take them to Church (most weeks)
I foster a relationship with thier grandparents
I make sure they have a roof over thier heads and food in thier bellies, when Owen will comply and eat (stubborn boy)
Again, most importantly, I love them and they know it.

Mary Poppins I'm not

I hate the fact that my kids will grow up with a memory of me yelling at them. I don't think my mother ever raised her voice at us, but she is the best mother ever created so it is hard to compare. I don't like that I resort to yelling or threatening to beat thier butts. I need to work on better control of myself and my PMS emotions and regular emotions.
This is my largest parenting fault and I really need to work on it. They don't need the memory and it doesn't make me feel good and doesn't always provide the desired result. Ugh