Our Splendid Seneca Nation: 2009

Fargo?

11/17/09

Well. It's official. Winter is here and it hit us HARD. Like a slap in the face, we are trucking right along with below zero temperatures. Yuck. Last night it was -15 at our house! In Anchorage!
Not Fairbanks. Anchorage!
Know what I say to that??
RUDE.

I seriously feel like I'm living in the movie "Fargo".
Excellent movie. Not so excellent snow and cold.

What are we to do with this type of weather?

#1: Stay in-doors if at all possible

#2. Jump up and squeal in excitement for PapaGa's upcoming visit (and maybe clean a toilet or two)

When all else fails, you can always play train with boxes from Costco. Here are the little animals, mid "Choo Choo!".

Although.....nothing beats a good ole leg ride after Daddy gets home. He was only happy to oblige. And that's no small feat when you're hauling these Seneca beefcakes around!

Reason # 4,683 why I married this guy.

Today, we are only 4 DAYS away from PapaGa making their descent! It's all these guys talk about...today Bubs asked, "How many times I gotta sleep and wake up 'fore PapaGa gets heres?". We can't wait. And seeing as how this was how excited their PapaGa were to see THEM last year....

...there's no tellin what will happen! All I know is that all four of us will be at the airport, jumping for joy, smacking our lips and wringing our hands in anticipation!!

So, to settle us down and provide a little focus for us Fargo-ens, we made cards for PapaGa to put in their room.

They listed the top 3 reasons why they were excited to have PapaGa visit, and let's just say....I haven't laughed that hard in awhile. Punks.

At nap time today, Sissy apparently forgot she had a bed? When I asked her later why she was sleeping on the floor she said, "My bubbie (Barbie) has her blankie on the floor". Oh. Proceed.

I think the pressure of being a Mommy to both a naked, rat-haired, chewed up dollie and her "Bubbie" has finally gotten to her. I think she snapped. I can understand the feeling, Sissy.

Or maybe she's just multi-tasking?

P-Dub!

11/15/09

Two words: PIONEER WOMAN. Aaaaaaamazing. I'm slightly obsessed with her. And her new cookbook! My friend Alisa totally pre-ordered a copy for me and I got my greedy little paws on it this past Friday night. Check it out:

She gives step-by-step instructions for all her delicious recipes, I love it!!! I read it cover to cover when I got home that night, thank you Alisa! You're the best. And I think you've taken a page right outta Ree Drummond's book cause the dinner on Friday was delicious! Alisa and Corey had us, the Johnsons and the McIlorys all out to their beautiful new house in Palmer. We had great food, great conversation and of course...great pictures of the kids.

Four of our six punks chowing down. Bubs is not quite sure what he wants to tackle first. He fell asleep on the way out to Palmer so it was a battle to get him to calm down and cheer up! Hmmm....what would make this Grumpy Guts jump for joy??

How about a blue tube to tunnel through? Let me just say this: Bubs does NOT mind kickin it at the Parrents' house.

It only took these animals .2 seconds to start wiggin out. Future hockey stars or crazed pre-schoolers? You be the judge.

Claire sooooo does not have time for those crazy boys. She has important calls to make, hidden behind the couch at her Mama's request.

I think the Daddies had the right idea. Brews, buddies and deer hunting on TV? I had to drag Colin outta there.

Let's end our fun night with a pose, you little punks! I have no idea what's going on here but I love the fact that they're all doing it together. I could bite Claire Bear's knock knees!! When I point to them and ask her where she got them, she says, "From Daddy!".

Saturday afternoon in the backyard! First things first....the Seneca men don't relax until a job (any job) is complete. Yesterday, we started on the big winter project of piling up all the freshly fallen snow into a big ole sledding hill. Fun right in our backyard, all winter long. :)

I think someone's ready for a sled ride.

Smile for snow! And I will have you know...I did pull these punks all over the yard. It got to the point where Bubs said, "Oooohhh, Mommy. You okay?". Time to get my new workout DVD in that player, stat!

Greatest thing about living across the street from an air field? Delicious distractions caught on camera. "Hair-pain! Hair-pain! Mommy! Hair-pain!".

There's that Daddy! They have nowhere to run when this guy's around...snow angels, wrestling, chasing around on all fours....I think they'll keep him around.

Two seconds after she attempted to throw a snowball at her Dad. She got a handful....yelled "Hi-Yah!" and it flew back, directly in her face. Oh man, we haven't laughed that hard in a while.

Bubs wanted to show you all of his beautiful artwork from school. He is especially proud of his two new dinosaurs! We're going to have to build him his own art wing to make room for all these masterpieces.

It's Winter!

10/27/09

It snowed! It started falling one day last week while we were sitting at the kitchen table, having breakfast. Claire, with a mouth full of cereal, took one look outside and growled, "At's a snoooooow monster!!". And I think she's right.

Oh well. We had an unbelievable summer so I can't complain. Time to snuggle up with my family, drink lots of apple cider (thanks Brandy) and bake until the cows come home. We all had great "daddy time" when he stayed home for two whole days a couple of weeks ago....he felt awful but we loooooved having him around.

A few weekends ago, we got one last Fall adventure in when we took a little hike. It was fun, we were sore, and the kids went to bed at 6pm that night. Glorious!

When I die and my kids go through all our belongings and all the millions of pictures I've taken over the years (and will take, don't you worry) they will def. NOT have a shortage of pictures like this:

Something about seeing their Daddy take their little baby paws and lead them on an adventure...makes my heart go pitter-patter.

Cute little punks.

Plastic Kara sent the kids their very own Halloween pancake molds and mix for Halloween! Here is my pathetic attempt at a pumpkin:

The best thing about breeding Senecas? These punks don't care what their food looks like, it's getting shoved in there, no matter what! God Bless good eaters. Amen.

The following is probably my latest favorite picture! I love special moments like this. I can't remember what they were laughing about, but it was a special little moment between them. Can't beat it. Just can't.

Lauren and Anthony had the kids and I over for a delicious dinner a few weeks ago while Colin was in Kotzebue. Their apartment is so CUTE! And it waaaaas clean, before the Senecas made their ascent. We had a great time, these guys are ready for kids if I have anything to do about it.....they had an arsenol of "Kung Fu Panda" and a big box of toys! I think I'll leave the punks on their front stoop and speed away.

Claire is turning into Mommy's Little Helper. She loves, no....DEMANDS to help me with housework, dishes, anything. "No, Igonnadoit!".

Anchorage finally started a recycling program in our neighborhood! Two great things about this: 1. no more having to wait behind all the bleeding hearts and their Subarus at the recycling center and 2. I get great shots like this - my beefcake and his obsession with anything involving loud noises and wheels.

Flash forward to cold and darkness.....our best friends for the next 8 months. It can be bearable as long as these little animals are my distractions. :)

He was playing "Puppy Dog Trail". He would crawl around, making a path that Claire and I could follow. He loved being the leader for once! Seriously, these sweet little curls you see? Total ring leader of everything evil they do.

Good thing Mama had some hot chocolate in the cupboards! Time to warm up and get ready for Daddy to come home from work. Ahhh....these are the days. Well, sort of....these are the days when daylight ends at 4:30pm.

Is it legal to have kids this cute?????

Happy Birthday Baby Claire!!

Happy Birthday to my beautiful, hilarious, silly, sweet as pie, precious little Baby Claire Bear!

The cutest little 50's girl you've ever seen! And look! Her Mama matches...

Colin didn't quite get it....he asked me if I was "some Russian chick or something?". Oh my goodness. Back to school for that one.

I like his biker look. At first glance, it really does look like he has a million tattoos....made me kind of nervous. But then I asked for arm flexes and I got over it. :) Bubs INSISTED on being LaQueen pit crew again this year - he must wear this costume at least twice a week. Still obsessed! And still totally adorable.

All ready for the party!

Can't forget the creepy, crawly cupcakes. Very Halloween-y!

Everyone was a sport and dressed in costume! It was pretty hilarious, I'm sure we could have thrown a very successful costume party for the parents, esp. if we spiked the punch.

Look! It's Joe as Ricky Bobby and Anthony as Harry Potter!

And a delicious KFC dinner! Check out Babette's costume....it's a KFC uniform. SOOOO awesome!

Look at Kate, the beautiful cowgirl and Wendy in her fabulous wig. She said she inadvertantly dressed as Dave's stepmother, HA!

The party wouldn't be complete without a biker and his white trash, trailer park employee buddy. :)

Let's get back to some cuteness (yikes) with a precious bumblebee, a 50's girl with spaghetti casserole on her boob, and a real Miss Alaska!

Now to get down to the party business! After dinner, we started off the festivities with the "doughnut on a string" game.....curiously, my parents had this game at all our birthday parties growing up...but with raw hotdogs. What the?!!

Bubs went right for it! Bella's not sure what to think.

Claire and her buddy Landon cheated and hooked each other up. How cute!

Creepy Biker needs a break. And another beer to get through the next game!

Taking a swing at the spider pinata...go, Sissy, go!

Aaaaggghhhh! The aftermath of a delicious candy shower:

"Mommy!! A bubble!". That's what she calls her Barbie.

Thank you Auntie Lauren for my cute little heart tights on my cute little tushie.

This is the awesome dollhouse I got at a garage sale for $7.oo! They really like playing with it, it's perfect.

A girl loves her shoes!

And her tutu.

Cake and ice cream too?? Spoiled rotten.

Prancing off to nigh nigh time in her new ballerina jammies. What a Happy Birthday this little girl had. :)

Claire had a wonderful birthday, thank you to all who thought of her on her special day. Our only regret is that we wished we could have invited ALL of our friends over.....next on the To Do List: bigger house!

Fargo?

P-Dub!

It's Winter!

Happy Birthday Baby Claire!!

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