Good Morning Moose!

This morning I was headed upstairs to make Missy breakfast when I saw we had a young moose bedded down in the front yard! So, I turned right around and went downstairs and told hubby and the kids about it and grabbed my camera! I was hoping to get a chance to stretch the legs of my new lens today, but had no idea that I was going to get such a perfect opportunity! Taken with my new 55-300 mm lens with a UV filter.

Buddy, was funny when he saw it - he said, "Let's shoot it and put it up on the wall!" and was really excited about this idea, and Missy's response from the top of the stairs was, "Oh, that's so sweet".
Needless to say, they were pretty excited about it.

Don't worry... I didn't forget about Missy, she got her breakfast AFTER I took the pictures of the moose laying down and BEFORE he stood up and started munching :)

I've been seeing the moose tracks through the snow for awhile and we've all seen a moose or two around the neighborhood, but this was the first time that it actually was close enough (which my new lens helped with) and still enough to capture in a picture.

Update on Bubba

So, as all of you know - hopefully - "Bubba" is not the name of my new baby, but since hubby is anti, and so am I for some part, of identifying factors on the internet, "Bubba" for all intensive purposes is his blog name. So, in case any of you are trying to keep track, my three kids on my blog or facebook will lovingly be referred to as Buddy, Missy, and Bubba. Those, for the most part, are my nicknames for them, their Dad has others, but those are the ones I like.

Here are some pretty up to date pictures of Bubba, these were taken at 3 months of age and he'll be 4 months on November 2nd. But, this is what I got right now and will hopefully fill any cravings for pictures that his Great-Grandmothers have :)

 a little blurry, but still a cute pic - every time he sticks out his tongue, his sister tattles on him because she gets in trouble for sticking out her tongue, at least she does now because she got a little too comfortable doing it and thinks it's funny - she even tattles on me when I stick my tongue out a little when I'm chewing gum and go to blow a bubble!

see what I mean with sticking the tongue out!? :)

 she loves to pose for pics, especially when I'm trying to take pics of Bubba and he's getting ALL the attention

 Bud attached a soft rattle to Bubba's arm, one that is meant to velcro around the arm on the baby carrier.

Hopefully this shirt will help influence Bubba as to what university to attend :)

What we've been up to...

So, my significant other and I were talking the other day about how it seems like we've been in Alaska FOREVER already and not just the mere 3 months that it's actually been. So, he asked me if I'd put up any of the pictures of things that we've done here and that gave me an idea of several things I could blog about.

Not in any particular order...

Missy's 3rd Birthday...

We've since started on the road to potty training her and let's just say that  she has her good days and her bad. :)

 Buddy's first day of kindergarten! He was very excited even though I was on the verge of tears. He rides the big bus with all the other elementary school kids - which scares me, but the 5th graders at his bus stop keep an eye out for him.

 We went to the Alaska State Fair, which was lots of fun and a new experience for the kids - they loved the little petting zoo and riding on a couple rides.

Buddy and his Great-Grandma on the Ferris Wheel, which she was terrified of, so of course his Daddy got him to rock their seat which just made him laugh and her even more terrified.

Bud's 5th Birthday!

 Carly watching her Great-Grandma cross stitch - which she did often while Grandma was here visiting, little Miss would sit for 20-30 minutes and just watch - it was very sweet to capture.

 One of Bud's birthday presents - a Transformer's backpack!

Oh, you can see the excitement on his face for his dinosaur birthday presents!

Gone Fishing in Hope, AK

It was a cold, wet, rainy day but everyone had fun!

 Skipping rocks our last day in Fairbanks, when we went to see North Pole

 North Pole, AK- Santa was very nice and reminded us all to be good!!!

 On our way up to Fairbanks we stopped to eat lunch and this gazebo was built out of what are called "knotty trees" that have these HUGE knots in them, as you can see by what little Miss is sitting on. There was even a cool little shop called "The Knotty Shop" that was full of Alaska decor and animal statues made out of branches like these.

 This is the great Alaskan Pipeline!

 Captured this up at the pipeline, but couldn't resist, the light just seemed too perfect to pass up.

 More pictures from fishing in Hope. We were afraid of the kids throwing the fishing poles in the river so they mostly manned the fishing net. The nice thing about it being so rainy and wet was that it was incredibly muddy so once the kids stopped walking they were stuck and their little rubber boots were just suctioned into the mud. So, we didn't worry about them wandering off, just about them slipping into the river!

 Bud and his Grandpa

 Me and Bud

I caught a fish!

But had to throw it back because I barely missed hooking it in the mouth, but the rule is that if you hook it anywhere other than in the mouth you have to throw it back. Because they run so heavy you can just cast in and if you jerk hard enough you could catch lots, so hooking in the mouth is a lot more difficult.

Getting used to things...

So, we have made our move to the Great North and began our stay with 30 straight days of rain. That was a new record for the locals, but for me it felt as if I hadn't left Washington and seemed an appropriate welcome.

I'm sorry that I've neglected my blog, it was not done to hurt anyone, it just happened as it became low on my priority list with being pregnant and getting ready to move. Hopefully I can turn over a new leaf and be better. :)

For anyone that hasn't heard, our third, and final, child was born on July 2nd. Our little "Bubba" weighed in at 8 lbs. 13 oz. and was 20 inches long. He looks just like his Daddy and is very adorable, but then again, I am biased. :)

These were taken about a 6 weeks after he was born. Buddy and Missy are very excited and very helpful.
Here is a good side of him... ha, ha...

Car Toys = store full of toy cars (a 4-year old's logic)

So, on Friday we had several errands to do and one of them was to go to Car Toys to see if the correct remote for our DVD player was in - when they installed it over a year ago they gave us the wrong remote and we didn't notice till now. Anyway, back to the story. My 4-year old, Mr. J, asked where we were going, so I rattled off the list: Home Depot, Car Toys, and Cost... "Car Toys!!!" he interjects, "get a car?"

"No, sweetie, there aren't toys there." I reply.

"Mom, car toys, go get car?"

"No, Buddy, this is not a store with toy cars, it is a store with toys for your car."
Which produced a very confused look from my little man.

Needless to say, this conversation went around and around a few times while we walked in the store, found out the remote wasn't in yet, and walked back to the truck. About at the same point I get the kids back in their carseats hubby returns from Home Depot and inquires as to the status of the remote. I told him it wasn't in yet and that they don't know when it will be in (to which he wasn't very happy about because somebody had told him it'd be in on Wednesday.) So, Daddy goes marching off to "talk" to someone at the store, to which J notices and exclaims, "Daddy go in car toys?!"

"Yes, he is."

"Get a toy car?!!!"

And it all started all over again.

Miss C and "her" slippers

So, this past Sunday our little two year old was playing after church and came in wearing her brother's Spider Man slippers. I said to her, "Oh, are you wearing your brother's slippers?"

To which she wittingly responded, "No, wearing MY slippers!"

It was amusing how matter of fact she was, so I just kindly reminded her that they are her brother's but that she can borrow them because he isn't using them. She was fine with that and looked at me like it didn't matter what I said because she had the slippers on and wasn't going to take them off.

Just thought I'd share with everyone.

P.S. If you've tried to view my blog in the past couple months and weren't able to, I apologize. I made it private because it was hacked and I had an ad from India show up as a comment and wasn't sure what to do about it, so I just made it private thinking I'd get around to inviting everyone to view it, and, well, that obviously never happened. So, we'll see how things go being public again.

WOW! It's been awhile...

So, it's been awhile since I've posted anything on my blog. A lot has happened since last January and I can't believe that September is almost over! So, in an effort to keep this from being a novel, I'll just try to catch you up.

June, went to the park and took pictures... only in WA would you still need a jacket at the park in June!

July, Mr. J marched in the town's 4th of July Parade with his preschool class...

...and celebrated his 4th Birthday!

August, went to the zoo with all the cousins (at least on my side of the family)...


...and celebrated Miss C's 2nd Birthday!

We ate spaghetti for dinner, so she is missing her dress, and hence looks a little funny in her undershirt and bloomers.

September marked back to school for J, another year of pre-school (and speech therapy) to improve his speech delay...we still don't know if we'll have him start Kindergarten next year or wait.

We also went to Seattle for a day with visiting family...

the kids loved the BOATS and the water...

and we learned that the smaller crane in this picture is the same as one in CA that inspired George Lucas when he was making "The Empire Strikes Back". At least that is what I think the tour guide said, all of my "Star Wars" friends will correct me, I'm sure.

September also marked my 30th Birthday, which was a blast! Little J took a great picture of his mom and dad before we went out, but Big J is completely against having his picture on the web, so sorry, I can't share it with you.

Well, that's about where we're at, everyone is doing well! Oh, and over the summer I have become COMPLETELY obsessed with the Twilight Saga by Stephanie Meyer and am counting down the days until New Moon is released in theaters...57 days left!