What to wear... must do laundry!

We must go back a little... it's March 18th The night before Spring School Pictures! I asked the girls before bed to pick out what they wanted to wear for school the next day. I told them to get all their dirty clothes and put them in the laundry room on the floor. Then fish through the clothes and their drawers and find an outfit for pictures. If it was dirty, I would do laundry! Of coarse what they found needed to be washed. Bill was downstairs (where the laudry room is) watching TV. I started the water in the washer.... put in the soap, oxiclean and started adding the clothes. I always click the water off after a few mintues so I can load up the washer to see how much room I have then I push the knob back in to continue the washing process. So, I washer is full.... water is back on and the DRAMA BEGINS! All of a sudden, WATER IS SPRAYING EVERYWHERE!! What the heck?? It took me a minute to figure out the hose on the wall... BROKE! HOT WATER is everywhere. And just so you know, if you stop the laundry it won't stop the water from flowing! I am screaming for Bill.... HELP! He comes in there.... asks the girls to get us towels. He tells me to shut off the water. I tell him, I don't know how to do that! He leaves, I try to hold up the towel near my face and the washer so the fountain of hot water is not spraying everywhere. I have socks on and I can barely stand in the inches of water. Bill is in the garage turning every single knob on the hot water heater. Finally.... I yell...OK it's off!! He comes back we look at each other dripping wet from heat to tow! Man, I wish I would have took pictures. We were laughing.... standing there thinking, oh crap now who is going to clean up all this water? And how are the kids clothes going to get washed now?

Thank goodness for the drain hole in the laundry room. But most of the clothes from the floor were soaking up all the water. Not to mention all the towels we had were dripping wet. We started cleaning up the water.... putting wet clothes in tubs and garbage bags. I also store blankets and luggage in the laundry room. Those were not wet..

So now after we can walk around in there on a dry floor. What do we do with the clothes in the washer? I put it on SPIN and all the water gets out. I grab what they are wearing the next day for pictures and I rinse out all the soap upstairs in the sink. Then I toss them in the dryer. What else could I do?

The next day, Bill and I go to Lowe's to get a new hose. They now make red and blue ones for hot and cold water and they have an elbow metal bracket so it's impossible for the hose to break from bending! Yah! That afternoon I was back in business doing laundry and LOTS of it!!

Lesson to the story... check your hoses!! Make sure they are in good shape and not worn ready to break! And, where is your water shut off?? If Bill wasn't home in the panic I am not sure if I would have even thought to go to the hot water heater!!

PS Here is a better picture of the stove with the NEW range hood.
PS Hallie, we are having your Spinach Quiche (see it in the oven?)

House is a mess.....

We are trying to be good home owners and get this house in top shape since we have ignored it for so long. We moved in Jan 1997 and the ONLY room we EVER painted was Sydney's room when I was pregnant in 2001. So, needless to say this house needs PAINT. When we bought this house, the previous home owners left their cheapo fridge and nice washer and dryer. It was nice considering we didn't have to go out an buy all that new stuff. After 11 years we needed a new fridge... it was falling apart. The door on the inside the section that holds the condiments kept falling off and duct tape was failing. We thought finally since we are buying paint lets get a fridge now too. Bill and I both don't like the stove/oven hood that is supposed to vent air. So we wanted a new one and Bill thought lets just get a new stove too. That way everything will look good and match. We did replace the dishwasher last year and I like the brand name Fridgidaire so we went all matchy matchy!

We spent $2800 at Lowe's that afternoon..... WOW, but we did get 5 gallons of paint, rollers, primer, pans, spray texture etc. New fridge, new stove, new vent top plus installation. I must say, we went gung ho! And think of all those miles!

Lowe's called to tell us the stove we wanted was in stock according to the computer but they couldn't find it. So if we wanted it before the fridge was installed we needed to purchase a NEW one in Anchorage before SAT. Ugh... so we did.

Sat morning @ 7am.... Bill and our friend Russell was here empting out the fridge and packing food in the coolers and leaving them on the porch. They hauled out the old stove and fridge and loaded them in Bill's truck.
Hailey was up and wanted to help.... so she help clean the floor. Even though we had an old style fridge we did have an ice maker inside. It was so great. I won't mention that it came with the house too, and that only got installed about a year ago! You can notice that there is copper tubing for the water line. Apparently when Lowe's came to deliver the fridge (Stainless side by side with water and ice dispenser on the door)
they told us they would only plug it in but they won't deal with copper tubing.... it's something they don't want to be responsible for and they don't use it anymore. So, they recomended a stainless steel braided tube. Which we had to go out and buy. Bill and Russell were not here when they installed the fridge and Bill was like screw that... I am just hooking up the copper tubing. It was just fine before. I knew it wasn't a good idea. It's called being lazy. I can relate but hello, this is WATER we are talking about. So after lunch the guys went to hook up the water line and sure as you know what.... not more than 10 mintues and the freaking copper tubing CRACKED and was LEAKING! Here is me saying, "I told you so"! Thank goodness we were right there, listening... we turned the knob off real quick so the mess was taken care of with a paper towel.
The stove was another issue.... Since we have gas and when you buy a new stove you need the hose kit. So we bought that and there is a newer safety value that "should" be installed as well. Since the line in the kitchen is different than the safely value a new peice had to be bought. Some adapter to fit. Well, after getting that... it still did not fit. So, we are currently not using the safety value but have it hooked up just like the old stove was. Since the oven hood is not installed yet and that guy will be here FRI we are going to talk to him and maybe he can take a look at it. The oven is working fabulous... I LOVE IT! I get excited over the lamest stuff. There is a storage drawer at the bottom which is a life saver. I used to store cookie sheets and stoneware in my old oven but NO MORE! Thank goodness. I found a spot for everything! YAH! I do have a picture of the stove but it's not a good one... I'll have to update another one later. (When I get the oven hood and the kitchen is back to being clean)
There is MORE to write about.... but it's almost 1am
And the next story is going to take a while to explain.
So, until then.... Hope you had a fabulous St Patrick's Day!

Get over it!

I think I just need to accept the fact that I am not going to go back and back tract Nov to Jan. I just need to post in the NOW! I think this has been my problem! I thought I was going to post about Christmas, and Hailey's birthday and whatever else happened on the way! But, if I do that I feel too overwhelmed so I figure I just better let it go and post what is going on NOW!
Which I am assuming most of you would appreciate, cause I am sure you are sick of seeing Halloween. How pathetic is that?
I guess I will let everyone in on what has been happening with me the last week or two! I JOINED the Alaska Club. Bill and I did. They had a special at Christmas! A $25 enrollment which is GREAT compared to the $600 they "think" they can suck out of you! I have been so GOOD, I have been attending the clubs yoga class, twice a week. And I attended for 3 weeks straight. I was on it. Just when it started to become a habit.... I GOT SICK! Ugh!!! Thursday the 14th on Valentines Day of coarse I woke up with the worst sore throat. My ear hurt, and my neck was achy and stiff. Bill helped me get the kids off to school and I decided there was no way I was going to yoga. I rested on the coach and slept most of the day until I had to get Sydney at 2pm. At that time it took everything I had to get there. The school parking lot was packed. I also had to bring in drinks for Hailey. She is in an after school spanish club that meets once a week. It was her turn to bring drinks. So I dropped those off in the classroom after getting Sydney and then I had to break it to Hailey that I couldn't attend and help out with her classroom party! She was sad, but understood Mommy was sick. Sydney and I made it back home and once again, I slept MORE... and MORE.... and MORE. and again through the night. It was insane how much I slept. But, my throat hurt so bad it was painful to be awake! Friday came and I was still in pain. Slept again most of the day while the kids were at schoool. I decided that if the sore throat did not go away by SAT I was going to the doctor. Why I thought it would go away on it's own was crazy. I was in denial! I started to think, Mmmm, maybe I have STREP! And sure as shit, I DID! I tested postitive on Sat morning at the doctors office. I was given the option to have a penicillin shot or meds for 10 days. I chose the shot. SO glad I did too! The nurse was great. I have had a shot before and it hurt so bad, this guy ROCKED it! HERE IS THE TRICK!!! Put all your weight on your opposite leg that the shot is going into. Lean into your arms, kind of bent over the table... bend the leg that the shot is going into and rest the tip of your foot on the floor. I never even felt the shot. It was amazing! I will never forget this trick and won't be afraid to speak up and use this tip! After the doctor I hit Fred Meyer in Palmer and bought some soup and bread and came home, had lunch and was asleep again! It was hard work getting out of the house. After sleeping I woke up feeling much better. I could already tell the shot was working. My throat felt so much better. Each day I am feeling better but still a little drained and tired. The kids are off of school again tomorrow (Tuesday) it's parent teacher conferance! So, off to the school I go at 11:00am The plan after that is to head into Eagle River, pick up Grandma and we are making a family run to Costco!!! We are out of so much stuff it's horrible. Since when do we not have chicken in the house? That is tragic.

Another thing that I want to post about is the BOOK I AM READING!

For those of you that don't know, I am in a book club and RARELY do I ever finish the book. I try, but I am a very slow reader. And since the point of the club is to read stuff you would not normally read, sometimes it's hard for me to get into the books. Well, this book was recommended by one of the ladies who are in the club and she just read it and loved it. And now I can see why! This book, YES is about the circus. I thought, Mmmm... really? Am I going to like this? Well, HOLY COW I couldn't put it down... it's great! The book is all over the number 1 best seller lists. It starts out with a 93 year old man in a nursing home. Reflecting back on his life. It brings you back to when he was in college and how he comes to join the circus family. It also flashes forward to him in present day. It's a really great book. And it's FUNNY... there are so many parts I found myself laughing out loud and smiling. If any of you are reading this... buy it, borrow it from the library, I highly recommend it. I am still not done with the book but I promise this is one book I will finish and hopefully before the meeting next Monday the 25th!

Halloween 2007

We had a FUN Halloween....
The girls were able to bring a costume to school. Sydney was a witch!
Hailey's class, along with all the 2nd graders they had to choose a book character.
Which is kind of hard when you already have your costume and it was a vampiress!
Later, after the fact... turns out all we needed was some Scooby Doo Vampire book!
Oh well....She chose to be Tinkerbell at school. We already had the costume here for dress up! This year the school offered to Trick or Treat at each classroom door at night!


The PTA help put that on and I volunteered to pass out candy at a door for 1/2 hour.
It was all free, they just asked for candy donations.
The cousins came over before, we had pizza and went to the school together! Their dad came to the school and picked them up! After the school we went home and they begged to trick or treat some more. It was so warm outside and there was NO SNOW so Bill took them around the loop and got more candy. Still now today after Christmas we still have candy left over.



I dressed up for our Halloween Bunco too.... I was Waldo in "Where's Waldo" I made the hat. I was so proud of myself. Apparently, not everyone knew who Waldo was....!!! Some thought I was Cat in the Hat. Whatever! I thought everyone has seen a Where's Waldo book.... Oh well!

Sydney turns 6 years old in October

Once again I appoligize for waiting so long to post!
Here are the last few months in a nutshell!


Hailey and Sydney have wanted American Girl dolls for quite some time now!
I just wasn't willing to spend the $80 for each doll.
YES, you read that right!
So after some thought, I finally caved.
I thought all their birthday money would be added
and we would pay for the rest.
Sydney chose the doll she wanted.
She did a look alike one!



She had her party at the Alaska Club.... her and all her friends had a wonderful time! As you can see the theme she chose was
HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL.
Her favorite movie...
She is always singing and dancing from this movie!

More on the Retreat

MORE yoga.... Mary Kay foot spas..... and a little Tai Chi
Holy Cow, Tai Chi was a lot harder than I thought! Either that or my body was so sore by the end of the weekend! I'd say a little of both!
Thanks Mary and all the instructors. I had an awesome time! Love the group shot and I am counting down to the next one! See above! HA HA!
I have a video of us doing Tai Chi, but after waiting forever for it to download, there was an error! I will try to upload another video a different time!

Yoga Retreat in September

Another successful yoga retreat... I was grateful to be able to attend. Bill was out of town, but grandma saved the day. I was at the B&B at noon, unloaded my car and Scottie and I chatted. We were the first ones there! This was the 4th retreat and we have been lucky enough to attend all 4. It's a fun packed weekend from Friday until Sunday! Filled with LOTS of yoga, relaxation, friends and positive energy! These retreats are every 6 months and I always count down the days and months until the next one! This time we enjoyed the first class of the weekend outdoors. The sun was so wonderful and not to mention the view!


The weekend was WONDERFUL.... here is group shot! I wish it wasn't blurry!
I will post MORE on the retreat, but there will soon be an outage in 5 min so I need to post before I loose everything!

Rainbows.....

How amazing are these pictures?
Living in Palmer, I don't see too many rainbows.
But, Eagle River..... they sure get some pretty ones!
Even DOUBLE RAINBOWS

The Alaska State Fair.... AUG & SEPT

I guess you could say, I have some catching up to do!
We don't have too exciting of a life, but I at least like to post pictures.
That is the best part about Blogging! Or so I at least think so!
We went to the fair twice this year. Once as a family, the 4 of us...and again after Bill went back to work. This time we drug Jennifer there! I had to go back, I didn't get to EAT everything I wanted to eat there! That is WHY I go to the fair. To get all the yummy food. Pathetic, I know!

The Pretzel place is always our first stop! They are the BEST. Homemade and fresh, hot and messy. YUM! We got 2. One for the girls to share and one for me. The girls wanted the traditional with salt and cheese, I got the cinnamon sugar one! Bill bought mini donuts right across from the pretzel booth. There went $10

We went on a Monday after school. Actually Sydney's first day of school. We chose to go that day because of the rides. It's zip strip day! And for those of you who don't know what that means.... it's one special ticket per ride. You pay a flat fee for so many rides. It's a better deal. We did realize that the kids are getting to big for the kiddy rides. So next year, we are moving over to the bigger stuff. Roller coasters and swings. They did get to ride the roller coaster but last year it was part of the kiddy rides, this year they bumped it up to the other section so I had to buy more tickets, cause all they talked about before the fair, was riding the dragon roller coaster! Here is a dragon ride, on the kiddy side.... I thought Sydney was going to loose it... she looked so scared for the first few minutes!

Sorry this picture is a little dark.
I couldn't wait to hold down the button long enough
I had to get this shot....
way up high.....
It's a no wonder Sydney was scared.
I don't think she rode this one last year.

This shot, I LOVE it.....Look at their hair!
You might have to click the picture to see it larger!
This ride stays in the kiddy section so I am not sure what we will do
next year about buying tickets. We may not be able to do the zip strip.
We may just have to go on a regular day and pay tickets per ride.
It just kills me, how expensive it is. $1 a ticket and each ride is 2-3 tickets.
Times that by 2 kids.... UGH! Onto Bigger and Better rides.....

The Orient Express the famous dragon roller coaster! I rode this thing last year, holy cow it goes fast. I didn't think the kids would like it, and they did. Hailey rode it a second time by herself. I on the other hand was NOT able to do it again. I felt sick. I just can't do rides like I used too!

Hailey and Sydney are in the back, it's a cute picture. I was kind of bummed they put another girl in there with them, but I guess they needed that extra body so they weren't sliding all over the place. I am telling you, this thing goes fast. They wanted to ride again... but we said no. All the tickets were gone!

We did learn about a NEW booth this year.... hair extensions!
The 3 of us girls all got one. It was tough deciding on 3 colors. They last for a few months so it was hard to choose! The blue is a little too blue for me, so next time I won't go blue. Hailey and I are still wearing ours... but Sydney's pulled out this last weekend.

It's fake hair that they put in.... and they use some kind of glue to attach it to your hair, right near your scalp. I did not expect it to last this long. I am impressed for $10 We even had to experiment when I colored my hair. We (Jennifer) wrapped it in tin foil. Worked....!!!! I enjoy the fair every year. It's so rewarding as a parent to see your kids get so excited! From rides, to animals, food, shows, exhibits! Man, I love the fair!!! It is an expensive little venture but so much fun. Lot of exercise too! We do so much walking! Well, basically I have too..... all that eating! Whew!

Sydney's Turn....

My baby is in KINDERGARTEN... WOW!
It's so hard to believe, the weird part is, she is almost 6.
It's having that "late" birthday. She is older than most of her friends, but they are all starting Kindergarten the same year! I am ok with it! I am sure in HS she will be too, when she will be driving before all of her friends! Uh, I can't think that far away, what was I thinking?
Sydney was so excited for school, it was finally her turn to go! She did the preschool thing, but this was different. Now she could ride the bus like her big sister. She also wanted to ride the bus on her first day! So, I told her I would meet her there, like I did for Hailey. Hailey said she would take her to class! It was the sweetest thing.... when they both walked in the double doors, I was waiting with camera, and they were HOLDING HANDS!
I am pretty sure, even now, a month into school, Hailey still drops her off everyday!
I love it when they get along! They are both so protective of each other! Makes me smile! Once inside the classroom, they were able to choose any table to sit at! Of course Sydney chose the table with the girls and the Playdoh! I stayed long enough to do the Pledge of Allegiance! Then I thought it was time to go, I didn't want to linger too long! I picked her up after school, poor thing.... she was so tired! It's hard work to learn! Overall, she loves school! Then there is me, I am already, tired of packing cold lunch for two! Oh well, it's the price to pay for FREEDOM! I'll take it!

First Day of School - Fall 2007

WOW, is all I can say! I can't believe Hailey is already in 2nd grade! And the work that she is bringing home. It's like I am going to school all over again! Hopefully, I can keep up and help her with the homework! Poor Sydney, she couldn't go to school yet! Kindergarten didn't start for another week. She went back in the house, with Daddy while I drove to school and met Hailey in her classroom! I asked her, and she wanted to take the bus, on the first day.... so I just followed in my car. If you click on the picture, you can see, the bus is WAY EMPTY! Most parents took their kids to school that day! We are almost the last stop too!
Hailey was very excited to be in her class. She saw lots of her friends. I was doing my normal mom thing, by taking pictures, and she was NOT wanting to pose, saying, "Mooooom" in that voice that means, STOP taking pictures, you are embarrassing me! I was hear broken. I told her just a few more, and I would leave her alone! What is 3rd going to be like? Will she still want me to come to school? Oh dear, I can't even think about that right now! I left class just a few minutes before 9am and drove to Eagle River.... it was time for YOGA!

Summer at the AK Zoo

The Alaska Zoo, it's one of our favorite places to go in the summer here in AK! I must admit, it's not the fanciest zoo, but the kids love it and it's great exercise to walk around! We buy an unlimited zoo pass, so to us it's worth the money! We had to see Maggie again, the elephant! It's the TOP animal we love to see! Soon, before winter, Maggie is being moved, possibly CA! She fell, and health wise they thought it would best to move her. Honestly though, once she is moved, I don't think she will the same again! Most animals don't do well during travel! The one good thing that may help her is, if she goes to CA, she will be in a place where there will be other elephants (4 and all African like her)! Maggie will always hold a special place in our heart.... we have lots of pictures of her!
Every year near Maggie are flowers.... they are so pretty! This year, I actually took some close ups! The sun was shining on them so beautiful!

Cancun, Mexico

Hi Everyone,
Click on the link to the right...
Shelley's MySpace
I have added LOTS of pictures from the trip that Scottie and I took to Cancun!
It was a wonderful trip, I would totally go back!
So much to see and do!
6 days was not enough time!

Enjoy... and let me know what you think!

Chopsticks

If you know me.... or have been around me lately, you will know I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Japanese Food. Aka, SUSHI! My favorite place is SHINES in Eagle River and they now have one in Wasilla. A few weeks ago, it took a long time for the waitress to bring me my "fork" and since I was starving I could not wait any longer so I had to "try" and use chopsticks. To my surprise and Jennifer's.... I could actually use those things, with a lesson of coarse!
So we snapped a picture to prove it! Now, it only lasted through the salad and some sushi, the main coarse was noodles and rice and there was no way I was going to have patience for that!!!