Happy 5th Birthday, Parker!

Happy Birthday, Parker B.! What a sweet little boy this is. He is getting so big, and growing up so much. He loves dressing up in church clothes, and was thrilled to pick this outfit out (and also begged me to buy the hat).

Parker has such a tender heart. He is so caring and loves to do things for others. He loves to get my shoes laid out for me when we're leaving somewhere, open the door for me, and he is always willing to help Claire with whatever she needs. He is always the first of the kids to tell me I look pretty, and the other day he told me he wanted to go with me to try on clothes at Old Navy because he wanted to see "how beautiful everything looks on you." How could that not make you melt? Parker loves to be praised and just beams and jumps up and down excitedly when I tell him something I love about him, or something sweet I noticed.

 

 Parker loves to draw and craft. He loves to draw pictures for me while I'm at work, and come running up to me to show me one of his masterpieces. Yesterday he drew crabs and scorpions and placed them in all the doorways to keep Claire out. He draws EVERYTHING, from rockets to submarines, to our family, to every kind of animal creature you can imagine. The above masterpieces are a fish in the ocean, and "Bitey" the dinosaur.

 He has grown up so much this year, going to Speech and preschool all on his own. He is getting used to doing things by himself, away from his sisters, and really growing into himself. He has surprised us by becoming very confident at school, and participating in all the singing and sign language.

 Parker has such a sweet and tender relationship with his sisters. His relationship with Kenley is pretty level. They get along, and they love each other. They rarely fight, but they don't hang out as much as they used to, either. His relationship with Claire is closer right now, probably because Kenley is at school, but it is very love-hate. They fight like crazy, but they play together for hours and Parker is always there to cheer her up and hold her hand. He is so, so sweet with her - it just makes me melt.

Parker making a Lego restaurant. Those are drinks with straws.

He still loves to build things, and spends tons of time building Lego creations and poring over a Lego idea book he got for his birthday. He can build anything once he sees a picture of it. He also loves math, and has good reasoning skills. The other day he told me there were seven cars in someone's driveway, and I asked him how he knew that so quickly. He told me, "Well, there's 4 on one side, and 3 on the other. I know that 3 and 3 is 6, so if one more is 4, then it should be 7." He has latched on to spelling and reading little 3-letter words with Kenley, and he is very proud of his "reading."

Parker is one of those kids that doesn't like new things. He always cries when he tries a new sport or activity. The exception (so far) has been soccer. He just started soccer and LOVES it! Finally!

Parker is an absolute joy in my life. He is sweet, caring, mellow, serious, and sincere. He makes me feel adored as a mother and beautiful as a person. I never pictured this personality when I pictured having a boy, and I'm glad God gave me what I never knew I wanted. He is such an important part of our family, and I am so grateful to be his mom.

Fur Rondy!

So we went downtown to enjoy the Fur Rondy festivities this year. When we got there, Claire had fallen dead asleep even though it was like 6pm. While normally she wakes up when we open the van doors, she stayed asleep through this entire experience, which was hilariously funny to me for some reason.

 So first we went to see the snow sculpture competition. Enlarge the pics - they're pretty awesome!

 We tried hard to wake up Claire when we saw a sculpture of her beloved "Meow Meow Kiggy," but no luck.

 Then we went to the carnival. As we were parking, Parker looked over at Claire and said, "Claire looks like she's not in there, but she is." Had to take a pic to go along with the quote. Still asleep.

 I was so entertained by the idea of a carnival plopped right downtown in the middle of winter. I was laughing out loud when I saw a mom pull down her toddler's face mask to feed him some funnel cake. Ahhhhh, wintertime carnival - who doesn't love one? Isn't it pretty though?

 Daddy and Claire, who is STILL asleep despite the noises of all the games and rides. Hilarious.

 Kenley and Parker riding the rides.

 Had to enjoy the cotton candy in the car, though. I only have so much capacity for sub-arctic carnival weather. Oh, and when we got back to the car, Claire finally woke up. She was super confused though, because we had made a big deal out of going downtown for Fur Rondy (she loves downtown). She kept going, "Downtown? Where downtown go?" Uh, you missed it, Claire. You missed it ALL. But we got some pics! :)

Big Girl Bed!

Okay, I'm going to admit it. Taking our crib down was a BIG milestone for me. As you all know, our kids are close in age, so we have had that crib up since Kenley was born six and a half years ago. Oh, the number of times I have put my babies into that crib. But all good things must come to an end, I guess, and it was that time for us. On the day James was going to take the crib down, I tried to get a pic with all three kids by it, but Parker had been puking all night and was not in the mood for a pic. :(

When Miss Bossypants announced that she was going to start sleeping in a toddler bed, so we decided to seize the moment. We also, on a whim, told her that she couldn't have a paci anymore when she switched over. The last night in her crib, I was snuggling her and warning her that tonight would be the last night with the paci because she was a big girl now, and she just pops it out of her mouth, and nonchalantly hands it to me: "Here you go." And I put it in my pocket, and that was that. Nothing like this experience, one of the worst of my parenting career, and the primary reason I had put it off yet again. But anyway, that was easy.

So here she is on the first night.

So far, so good! It's been about a week and she's stayed in bed every night! I'm not sure she understands that she could get out if she wanted to, so shhhhhhhh, don't tell her!

Everyday Cuteness

Just some recent cuteness around here...

Parker and Claire playing "firefighters." These two are so cute together. They are sweet little buddies.

 Kenley getting ready for a day running errands with me. Isn't she so precious?

 Claire in one of her new Christmas outfits. She's really into this closed-eye smile lately.

 Claire always wants Kenley to read her a book before bed, and Kenley is always so happy to do it.

 Parker set up all his stuffed animals and is reading them a book. He's holding that blue one having him pretend to come up and read. I love it when my kids don't know I'm watching them!

Grandma's in town!

Just two days after my dad and Joanie left, my mom came to visit. We didn't tell the kids she was coming - she just came up to the house before school one morning. Surprise!

We also went ice skating again down at the lagoon. Alaska is sooo different from California in terms of the expectations people have for their kids. Your two year old? Should definitely be ice skating. Skiing, swimming, and camping like a champ too, preferably.  Claire's doing her best to fit in!

Dance party and "Lighting Up Show" at Troxells.

And lots of fun cuddling time!

 

Springtime Blues

So I had this dream last night, and it was awesome. My mom was here (Imaginary Awesome #1) and she and my aunts were standing on the nice green grass in my backyard yelling for me at the back windows. I went to look and they were all in their swimming suits with towels wrapped around them, ready to lay out (Imaginary Awesome #2). "It's SO warm!" they were telling me, and I hurried down, magically in a swimming suit immediately, since this was a dream. I was intoxicated by the feel of the sun on my skin. "It IS warm!" I yelled happily. And we laid on the grass and soaked up the sunshine on our skin.

And then I woke up.

And remembered that it's March. And we still have 4 feet of snow on the ground. Not. Kidding.

I hated March last year, with a passion, and I don't expect any better this year. I thought I would really struggle with Alaskan winters, and I don't. The cold doesn't bother me, the darkness doesn't bother me. Honestly. But Alaskan springtime? It kicks my butt. It makes me sad. And it makes me homesick.

It's still so snowy, and it's still so LONG until the snow melts. So long. Spring break is just around the corner, but should just be called Winter Break, Part II. They shouldn't be allowed to call it spring break if you still have to wear full snow gear when you go outside. And scrape ice off your windows. Or, have your husband scrape the ice off your windows. Or ice skate on a fully frozen lake. That, my Alaskan friends, is NOT spring. You need some other name for this time of year. Calling it spring is false advertising. (Note: I keep typing falsa instead of false, like I think my fingers are used to typing salsa?)

In California, especially where we lived, spring is the best time of the year. Not too hot yet, but just right. You start BBQing for every meal since it seems like an actual, religious sin to be inside. You go out for a walk after dinner in bare feet, and curl your toes against the sidewalk, still warm from the day's earlier sunshine. It stays light late enough for everyone to take a little bike ride after dinner and before bed, and the whole time the temperature is perfect and the air just smells delicious. Like summer is right around the corner. You spend all the time in the world outside, letting your kids get their energy out as you soak up sunshine and read a magazine while trying not to be lulled to sleep by the comforting warmth. Well, more attentive parents probably don't do the falling asleep part. Or the reading the magazine part. But I definitely did, so that's what I miss.

Anyway, no real point here other than a pity party. We do love the experience we're having here, but it's just a different life, not a perfect one. There are still things that suck, and things I hate. And spring is one of them. I'm a girl who needs my sunshine, and I am not in the mood to wait three more months to get it. But I guess I have to. Good thing we have plane tickets already booked to come to California and Utah this summer. :)

Ice Skating!

While Dad and Joanie were here, we went ice skating at the lagoon. Ice skating outside is one of my FAVORITE Alaskan adventures!