I get to use PINK!

(Due to the fact that while traveling , I realized that none of the pictures uploaded, I am re-posting these post)
It has been a fun trip around Texas so far and I know when I get back home to Alaska I will fill in my travels. But to day, we are at my brothers house in San Antonio. We are here for a few more days and are cramming in as much fun as we can. The cousins are playing non-stop and throwing in some fights in to the mix too. But most of it has been love and games.

Today was my niece, Eliana's birthday party. Her birthday is at the end of the month, but she wanted to include her cousins in the party so they had it early. Renee planned to order a cake but after 3 called to different places, Barbie cakes were not available. I told her I could make one for her and thus began my fun. I have ALWAYS wanted to make a Barbie cake but due to the fact that I have 2 boys who are into anything BUT pink, my dreams of making a Barbie cake were quite slim! But thankfully I have a niece that was thrilled and a sister-in-law who trusted me. I just hoped I could live up to the expectations! I went to the store and got what ingredients I thought I needed. And baked up the cake. My body then decided that a migraine headache needed to knock me down. I had enough energy to icing it once before bed. I must tell you before I fell asleep I was a bit worried that I might disappoint my sweet niece. And I think Renee was a bit worried to since it looked NOTHING like a barbie cake when we went to bed! It looked more like a bundt cake disaster! I prayed my headache went away so I could get up and make a cake that would not disappoint anybody. I  had dreams of Barbies dancing in my sleep. which for most people, like Keith, might be a bit frightening, but it gave me great ideas for dresses to create on my cake. Even with dancing dolls I had a great sleep my and migraine thankfully went away. I woke up at 5:30 am on a SATURDAY!!! That is 3:30 am Alaskan time! But I got up crept downstairs and tried to be as quiet as possible. Thankfully all the icing was made the night before.  But slowly and surely the cake came together. By the time Eliana came to
help me at 7 the cake was looking good! She helped me put all the pearls on the dress,which was exciting for her to create her own cake! I was excited to be able to use PINK icing. That is one color that I have never had a chance to make in my house. Yay for PINK! ( I really need a girl, to inherit     the 5 trunks FULL of dolls that I have in storage at home!)  I was impressed with the cake and for making do with none of my cake decorating supplies. I think it turned out pretty grand! What do you think? Happy Birthday Eliana! I love you!

 Eliana at the Party. She wanted to have a party at a cool pottery place where all her friends could paint an animal. The kids had a blast! I am so thankful for my sweet niece who is 7! I am so glad we got to be at your party!

(and now that it is after the fact, the cake was a hit, and was gone! Jesse even said it was better then any store bought cake. I take that as a very good compliment!)

Is it morning yet?

If you live in Alaska, there is so much more behind that comment. This morning with sun shining in my eyes from the window, Kaden asked me this question and in my deep slumber, it sounded like silly question which I almost answered with a heavy dose of sarcasm.....till I realized what he was really asking. In Texas, if the sun is shining in your window it means it is day time. If it is not shining, it usually means it is night time. For an Alaskan boy who can't tell time yet, light doesn't always mean daytime and dark doesn't always mean nighttime. We just left Alaska with most of the day is in darkness. We are gaining light everyday, which is great, but it kind of messes with my kids brains. Come to think of it, it messes with my brain, but  I guess I never really think about it till I am in a location that is not like Alaska.  So back to Kaden's question. Most people would say "Yes, the sun is shining, of course it is morning."  Well, not always. So today I had to examine the fact that  it has been a while that waking up in the morning with the sun shining in my eyes actually means "It's morning!".  And what beautiful mornings it was! Now it is dark outside and Kaden asked "is it night time now?" Yes my boy, in Texas dark means night time. So they are in bed, sleeping after a wonderful day of church and playing all afternoon with cousins. Enjoying the sunshine and warm weather.  So since I am adjusting to darkness actually meaning night time, I am headed to bed, hoping in the morning that my boys remember that if the sun is shining that it means it is morning and that they can go play with the toys and let mommy sleep. :) ButI can almost bet that I will be awakened by the same question "is it morning yet?"  And I will still be happy to say "yes my boy, the sun is shining and it is morning!"

Goodbye, hello!

"Goodbye parkas and wool sock, hello shorts and t-shirts!" This was Kaden's very loud comment upon arriving in Houston.  You could hear a lot of giggling throughout the seats around us. Kaden had already told everyone we were from Galena Alaska and it was very cold there. As we disembarked the flight attendants all told Kaden to have fun and enjoy playing outside.  I am very proud of my boys and their great flight conduct. The flights reminded me of just how opposite my children are. Kaden was occupied with games and movies on the IPod, while Isaiah occupied his time with his cars. It was a great flight and Mt. Rainer was clear and beautiful!

We arrive in Houston and grandma and grandad were waiting for us. So was a bag full of grapes, oranges, bananas and cantaloupe. The grapes didn't make it very far and the bananas are being absorbed by my little monkey.  Both boys are enjoying shorts and t-shirts and playing outside. Kaden and Isaiah went on a pecan hunt with granddad. We have explored my uncle's nursery next door and have enjoyed seeing all the fruit trees. Azaleas, roses, camellias, peach trees and oranges are blooming. . Feels like spring even when it is still February. We are absorbing the sunshine and really REALLY enjoying it! Grandma and grandad are spoiling the boys, and the boys are soaking it up. 


Tomorrow we head to Meema's house in Corpus.  

Traveling traveling.....

Well we have been traveling since Thursday and today is Saturday and we are only in Seattle, and we still have tomorrow to get to Texas. Some times I feel like we live out in the middle of nowhere....wait, I do! But every time we fly out of our wonderful village of Galena there are many things that we find exciting and some that we find let's just say interesting. For instance, lettuce on a hamburger, something most people would find normal, my boys were both so excited to eat because we just don't get it during the winter in Galena. Keith and I forgot how creamy fresh milk is. Wow is was very hard not to gulp it down!  Being in town is always and adventure!

 Flying through different airports always interests me. I love people watching! I would not say I enjoy ease dropping but I do find some conversations interesting. Like today at the Seattle airport "why are there so many gates at an airport?" Or "These eggs are really good. airplane food is always delicious!" Yes this conversation made me want to throw up but I will not tell you the rest of the conversation. I am always amazed at how many people have never flown in their life. I guess that is one thing I have taken for granted all my life. There was a funny conversation on the plane about how small the toilets were! Though I totally agree with the lady with it being small and when flushed it feels like you are going to be sucked in! Going to the toilet on a plane always makes me a wee bit nervous! The other thing in Seattle that I notice and have a blast with is seeing all the different nationalities that live here. I was in Africa zone all day. So many from Ethiopia, Kenya, and many other places. I could just sit and listen to accents all day and be happy.

But no matter where I fly I love the fact that I know people located all over the country, all over the world! Friends that no matter that it has been YEARS since we last saw each other, we still can pickup and talk easily about what is going on in our life.  Today I got to catch up with some of those kinds of friends. Friends that I went to RVA with. One was my roommate Gwen, who had many grand adventures with me including a trip to Zanzibar. Where we came up with "romantic island names" like Breeze and Shell. The other friend that joined me today was my dorm mom Andrea. Even though I was one of the two who changed her to a brunette and even though only a few years separate our ages and our kids are the same age, I still don't feel old enough to call her that and so I still called her Louie. Louie brought her mini van and with four kids, four carseats and 3 adults catching up we headed off to the wonderful adventurous MCDONALD'S! Hey for the kids who played nonstop for about 3 hours it was fantastic! Such a fun day! Glad they had the time to drive a ways just to see you.  Here we are at the end of our day. The kids made new friends and we got to catch up with old ones. I really like days like these!

On to our next adventure tomorrow. Tomorrow is the last leg of our trip to Texas. Ready to see family there and not have to get on any more planes for a month.