12.31.2007

Seeing Red


Jason and I were going to put my trap in a certain place, by dump. I didn’t’ think we would catch anything for a couple of days, but Jason thought it was just a matter of time. Ethan, Chris (Kevin’s son-n-law), and Dad went to check my trap. Jason came back to the house to tell me that I caught a fox. I reacted so excitedly that I couldn’t barely get dressed. We sped fast to my trap.

A black socked red fox was frightened of the sight of me. I shot it three times with Ethan’s .22 since I did not bring my own. Holy was its name. It had a white butt and a long black, white, and red tail.

It was my first fox. I am going to skin it (with help from Jason the professional), and stretch it. We’ll send it off, I’ll keep it and hang it in my new bedroom when we move.

12.29.2007

Savage .22



WOW, This Christmas present was a huge hit with the kids! Secretly, afterall it seems that part of the prerequisite for parenting is how well one can keep secrets, Jay and I talked with our principal as he asked if it were okay to get the kids .22's for Christmas. Both kids have BB guns and figured the upgrade would be nice, therefore also, we began talking about boundaries to set for the kids. How to handle it and you know, you can fill in the blank with your standard gun safety training. Well, they arrived the 26th with Kevin's son in law. Kevin had cleverly crafted a mini-tresure hunt with clues that led the kids to a closet in His apartment, I enjoyed watching the hunt and anticipation growing with each successful step taken. So, when the kids finally pulled out the guns, I saw a look of utter surprise and one that seemed to say, "Ma, these really ours?"

Jay took the kids out shooting today, he estimates about 100 rounds of shooting each. Romay had read a biography on Annie Oakley and was dreaming of possibilities. I'm glad Jay encouraged her to stick to the basics. On our gun cabinet, since the kids guns are pretty much identical, there is a paper that lists the kids names and serial numbers under each name. Obviously, in it's entire importance, the guns are not to be mixed up and used by the wrong kid. There is something sacred about keeping possessions to one's own likeness.

12.25.2007

Christmas Chain of Events 2007

Christmas Eve 6:00 pm: Jason makes a special bean dip along with wing dings. Although the Beerbower/Harris family in Michigan isn't present in the icy north, we feel close as we experience their traditional recipes. As if this weren't enough, he fries up some bacon fried rice. For dessert, Romay makes a plate of cookies from dough that Gram Slwooko sent. Before this, Romay and Ethan; with the more steady hand and pickiness of Romay, make a Gingerbread house. Berry, the dog we are sitting for Jeni, sneaks and eats some of the gum drops off the house. Never in her life has she seen such distaste for dogs that steal treats from a work of art.

8:00 pm: The family sits with content bellies, with anticipation of receiving their new pajamas to sleep in on Christmas Eve. Every year, new pajamas are presented to begin the festivities of Christmas and it seems to help with the figity fingers that are quivering with anxiousness to open those shiny colored packages. We retire to watching "The Christmas Story."

11:00 pm: Jay and I escape to Jeni's apartment and wrap the remaining gifts for the kids. A magical atmosphere is still present, although we are tired. Somehow, stories of past Christmas enter our conversation and the time seems to stand still, although our hands are busily cutting and wrapping.

12:00 am: It's officially Christmas and the village kid are now riding around town. Slightly annoyed with the engines roaring as they pass by, the peacefulness welcomes our fatigued state. "Merry Christmas," I whisper to Jay, who is barely awake and whispers back the same wish.

CHRISTMAS DAY...more to come later on....

A picture of mom making lattes for the family!

12.15.2007

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...

Ever feel like that? We're not exactly going through a revolution, except in a sense that the cycle of whether or not we really have a lot in Koyuk repeats weekly. Let me back up and explain a few things, afterall, this very event could determine our future; as to where that future may be, Koyuk, or someplace else; here are the details.

October: Jason finds a website called First Day Cottages. We look at the construction details and materials. We receive more information and fall in love with the layout of natural wood, both inside and outside.



November: We begin negotiating with a gentleman in town that "owns" (I'll explain the quotation marks later) a lot that is on bedrock, in the trees, and overlooks the bay...a spectacular location to put a house! Later on, we come to an agreement on a price and present this to the city for them to approve. We asked the city to approve the transfer of ownership from this particular gentleman to us. We begin to see Koyuk as a permanant home and become excited over building! Also at this point, we have talked with First Day Cottages quite a bit and even started discussing floor plans. We become known to the sales reps as "those people from Bush Alaska," which is a good thing, because the office workers all knew about the Harris' in Koyuk who want their product.

December: City Council meets and we learn how difficult the land game really is. It turns out that the city is unsure as to who the real owner of the lot really is. According to the recorders office, the city owns the lot...according to others, a particular gentleman owns the lot. Now, a gravel pad was laid down, which shows ownership (a rule states that laying a gravel pad is considered an improvement...current rule states that a building must go up within two years of sale in order to maintain ownership)....SO...the question in mind is....Who really does own the lot? I am leaving out a few other details, but this is it in a nutshell. We are waiting until the next city meeting, next month to find out if it's possible for us to acquire this land.

Jason signs his contract in February for a renewal as far as teaching in Koyuk...so, it'll come close to coming down the wire as far as major decisions. Our apartment is small for 2 adults, 2 growing children and an active Lab. Please keep us in prayer as we find out what the city decides next month. We are open to the idea of moving, possibly to a new district, if we do not get the land.

Anyways, we're just enjoying today...Jay and I escaped 23 miles out of town to look for caribou and got skunked. It was just nice to get out. Ethan and Romay went skiing 4 miles out of town. Okay, bye for now!

12.13.2007

Science



An interesting hands on lesson about seeds captivated the kids this morning. The steps were simple, cut open a squash to see how many seeds are inside. Ethan and Romay have been learning about seed dispersal and all of the possible ways this is done: human, wind, animal, and even water dispersal. Ethan was reading "The Secret Garden" and read about one of the plants he's been studying. Just in case you're curious, the way the plant operates is fascinating. The plant's name is Gorse. It builds up pressure inside the pod where the seed is held (making it an angiosperm) and when enough is built up, the pod literally bursts making a popping noise. Thus, the seeds are scattered. Of course, the kids liked the idea of pods blowing up, Botany is cool!

12.12.2007

Today's Quotes

Ethan (with a serious look): "I ain't going to get a latte tomorrow."
Myra (just trying to help): "You mean you aren't going to get a latte tomorrow."
Ethan: "I know, I'm just trying to make you think I'm dumb." (LOL! smiles afterwards)

Romay (to Ethan): "You're a chicken."
Ethan (to Romay): "I'm not a fowl."
Romay: "Okay, then you're chicken feathers."

I know I haven't posted in a few weeks, but we'll update you with the saga we've experienced with the land game here in Koyuk. We're doing fine and nobody's pregnant. (this rumor cycles around every month)

11.28.2007

Ethan's Drawings













Hi !My name is Ethan Shayen. I am 11 years old. My most favorite thing to do is drawing. I draw on a sketch book which I got from Matt. Why do I draw? I draw because it is enjoyable! Most things I draw are snowmachines, because I like the way they look. These are some of my drawings...

11.10.2007

Ethan ended up placing 2nd for the 78 lb. class at the tournament in Unalakleet. Romay decided to decorate the door at home with a poster and crepe paper with black and gold colors. In addition to our celebration homecoming, Romay baked a cake without my help. The BSSD plane arrived about 12:15, we came home and congratulated him and ate cake, then he napped for about 3 hours after that. Today (Saturday!) we're working on Math, History, Science and Language. I'm in Anchorage next week for some ACC meetings, so here we are, plugging away on a nice snow filled morning, INSIDE....




11.07.2007

1st Wrestling Matches...









I admire girls that get on that wrestling mat, they know they'll face boys all or most of the time! Well, this particular girl was Ethan's first ever opponent in wrestling. The Elementary/Jr. High Wrestling Tournament will run through thursday in Unalakleet. There will be more pictures to follow!

11.02.2007

Romay's Perception on Kemper...

these are the rules for kemper: do not kiss him to much,dont forse him to get up on the bed,do not let him out to much. Kemper loves getting on the beds,and lerning a lot!! he loves belly rubs. he is also so crasy he jumps in COAL CREEK in DECEMBER!!

10.26.2007

Frybread Power

This afternoon I had no one to entertain, but myself. What if I had a frybread making and eating philosophy, I thought. We all have ways of doing things afterall, how to do this...how to do that. I have wonderful memories of Grandma Slwooko standing by the stove for 2-3 hours, apron and bandana on. As the bread was frying, I'd sit at the table while she handed them to me, slightly burning my fingers. We'd talk and laugh and although we didn't say so, we were content just to have company, grease and bread. :) So, my first idea is to share what you have. Jason and Corinne are working at the school, so down I went with papertowel and the tasty treat. Now, I'd love to say how I've got points 2, 3, 4, and so on. BUT, the hour for selling coffee (Coal Creek Coffee business!) is quickly approaching. More goodies. Gotta go. Just thought that I'd give you an idea of what I did today.




I enjoy my bread dipped in syrup. Lena Ivanoff used to make fry bread for breakfast and that's how we'd enjoy it. Now I'm hooked!




"Eat frybread made with soy milk to get those isoflavones, loaded with Omega 3 Fatty Acids (fish chunks in the bread), made with Organic Olive Oil!"...yeah, maybe someday...kids watching Evan Almighty with Kemper watching the kids eat

9.26.2007

Thanks Kids

"Myra, hey, this is fun...can we paint our clothes?" Shortly after this comment, I was doing the work. :)


We saw a window of opportunity today to get some stain on the 'ol shop. Constant rain has been plaguing our area for weeks. Secretly, I was planning on just getting it all done myself today. Once the kids saw me getting on Jason's old clothes, I admitted my plans and they were then holding the brushes. I wanted to share in losing the brain cells, so I took over after 20 minutes. Somehow I finished the whole building, even through bouts of rain showers and my ever present doubts of the weather really cooperating. Jason must appreciate the 109th of 120th step being done on this building project. Oh how I wish we had a Home Depot, heck an SBS, down the road.

9.19.2007

Romay is showing her Savonga Husky spirit while she takes her Latin test.



Ethan often makes us laugh during class, it's often when he's not trying to be silly.



Latin test! Both the kids remembered their words (they learn about 10 a week). They're also learning how to conjugate the verbs.

9.16.2007

Desi

So, here's our niece. We are pretty sure that she is part fish... just not sure which part. She should be starting her fall/winter season pretty soon. Swimming never really has an off season.
We're pretty proud of her and were happy to be able to spend some quality time with her this summer. You can see her here with her favorite Alaskan Auntie. Can't say that I blame her there. Myra and her have always seemed to have a special relationship. Two of my favorite girls.

Two of my favorite girls


Chlorine cures everything

9.09.2007

Romay and I got to spend some bonding time in a little bit of a father/daughter day. Of course Kemper had to come along. Much to Kemper and my complete enjoyment, Romay is not like a lot of the steroetypical daughters out there. Most dads and dogs when they spend father/daughter days are sentenced to walking the hall in the mall and perusing sales tables... in the case of Kemper he would still enjoy this as he would find things to eat on the sales counters.
I had promised Romay ealier that I would definitely take her duck hunting this weekend, and even with what appeared to be Hurricane Katrina beating on the beach out in front of Koyuk, we ventured out. Our usual pond that we hunt over looked more like one of the Great Lakes than a small inland pond. Getting there was impossible and after testing impossibility for what seemed like hours of driving over full sized willows and small spruce, we headed for plan b... we ran out of letters by the end of the day and some time after plan dd, we came home very wet and with a depressed dog... he had wanted to kill something all week and was now not getting the opportunity.
Well, it is getting late and Myra has fallen asleep while I have been writing this. Hope you enjoy the pictures of what we consider to be the world's perfect dog... Kemper.



9.05.2007

Humble Beginnings


Most mornings the alarm goes off at 6 am. This morning my purpose in waking up was of a different nature, to start selling lattes! Well, you can tell that there are a few "minor" details missing on the building: hmmm, paint, the rest of the tin roof, insulation, and shelving to name a few. Once the generator was humming (I have a 2000 watt Honda) and while holding my breath, I checked to see if the appliances were actually working (afterall, I announced to the staff that I'd be selling at 7:30). To my delight, I could mark off "generator powers appliances" off my list. The next few minutes I really can't remember since I was literally running around and doing various preparations. Alas, Molly, Bev, and Allen (our cooks and maintenance man) show up and from there the morning smoothly breezed by, one latte at a time. 8:30 came around and I shut down to get ready for home schooling at 9. Overall, I am one happy caffeinated business lady! Today is Jeni's birthday too, so it'll be easier to remember when I opened. I've noticed my mind operated like this today...."Take out your math books" (latte latte latte) "and turn to page 16" (latte latte latte)..."Ethan, what did you get for question #1?' (latte latte latte) hee hee.

9.01.2007

Kotzebue Invitational



8 students and I aboarded the BSSD plane to Kotzebue for our first trial run of meets! Doug gave us a tour of the Seward Peninsula from 500-700 feet off the ground AND people pay big bucks to do that kind of thing! The students did well for their first meet. For me, I love meeting up with people and meeting new folks. I learned (from the 1/2 marathon) that encouragement goes a long way when you feel like you've just about hit your VO2 max and those legs are screaming for you to stop. :)

8.30.2007

Hi World



We all look Native, even Jay.

8.20.2007

1/2 Marathon, Fully Happy!

1/2 Marathon, Fully Happy!
Sunday, August 19, 2007 was the day I strapped on my shoes along with the electronic running chip. So did about a thousand other people. Here I was, in Anchorage, ready to run the 13.1 mile Humpy’s Half-Marathon and not really knowing what to expect. When it comes to athletics, I believe routine is quite necessary. Every morning, I drink coffee and read through my Bible (trying to read the whole book by March). In order to preserve that habit, I found myself at Wal-Mart, drinking McDonalds coffee and thereafter, went to the book section and found a Bible reading a couple of chapters in the aisle. Determined to keep my usual daily activities somehow helped me believe that the run would go well that day. At the starting line, I was fully pleased to meet fellow people from the Bering Straits region: Roy Agloinga (wow did he kick tail!), Katie (formerly Morris) Peterson, and Marta Thrasher. “GO!” I heard and the crowd of people began inching forward and like rain, the sound of feet pattering the pavement sounded like soft rain. Normally, I run alone, with the exception of Kemper or Jason. The crowd, along with the excitement, allowed my pace quicker than normal. By mile 4, I had to slow to a more comfortable cruising speed. As people passed, I enjoyed the different tastes in running clothes and forms, including the senior citizens that breezed by me! By mile 9, my focus was to keep a lady with a purple tang top within view, she seemed to have a steady pace. As I was reaching for a cup of Gatorade, the volunteer turned and our coordination mismatched. Grudgingly, but with a smile, I stopped and turned to get the cup, bottoms up and off I was to find that even pace again. Whoops, lost the lady with the purple tang top. By mile 11, my right Achilles tendon began to ache. Mile 12, wow, one more mile, after all, running is just one foot in front of the other! At mile 13, I despised the fact that the 1/2 marathon was 13.1 miles. At this point, the thoughts that normally motivated me weren’t working. Alas, the final turn and I could see the finish line. Surprisingly, a couple of people recognized me and cheered me on. Once I crossed, all I remember is eating fruit provided and believing that was the best tasting food I have ever put into my mouth. Today, as I ride on the jet back to Nome and stretch my legs, a friendly sore reminder in my quads helps me remember the great achievement I felt yesterday. Another thought, what 1/2 marathon is next?? (time was 2.09.36)

8.15.2007

Need to get my camera fixed!







Romay entertained me with her cavewoman personality one rainy day. You can't see this, but she took a pair of (I thought they were old, but they were new) socks and cut holes for her toes and painted them black. of course, ethan was outside somewhere, he only comes in to eat meals and do his daily reading. i told him that i miss him around and he says, "i miss you too momsis, BYE!" :) sympathy, anyone??

Ah, Kemper and I snuggling in the morning with a cup of coffee. Where's Jason? He's off in Unalakleet at the teacher inservice, working, sweating, thinking...I'll get there....later. :) Actually, I was saying to myself how I need to get our camera fixed SOON. My motivation is the fact that I'm tired of using my computer to take these photos, rather than the basic fact that it needs to be fixed. Heck, we live in bush Alaska and everyday I see something or experience something worthwhile that everyone should see. Jay does come home today, the unspoken tradition is to meet him up at the airport WITH Kemper. I'd bring the kids too, it's just that Kemper goes just about everywhere with mom.

8.13.2007

I Outta Stop Procastinating...



"If you get to a fork in the road, take it." --Yogi Berra

That is my problem today, I haven't really made any decisions, more like sitting around and playing Nintendo with the kids. YES, the first one that was issued in the 80's! We have a good excuse to stay indoors since it's pretty nasty out. Plus, Jason went to Unalakleet for the district inservice, although it was a little strange to watch everyone go, I had to remind myself of the decision I made to home school the kids. I'll start school with them next tuesday, along with the public school. SO, today we're in the house, doing laundry, cleaning, playing Nintendo, and staying dry. Oh yeah, I did run 8 miles earlier and plan to run another 5 to get my 13 miles in for the day. The 1/2 marathon is quickly approaching, sunday!

8.09.2007

Fixin' for Coffee...



Our legs are a little tight and sore from lifting and moving, I know it all looks humble to begin with, but you're looking at the beginnings of Coal Creek Coffee! I dreamed of starting a small business, ever since I did pretty well with selling espresso at the school for some small fundraisers last year. The building is only 8'X6'X8', perfect for me and my little machines. I'm heading into Anchorage next week to hopefully find a good deal on a generator. I've done quite a bit of shopping around and just wanted to look there to finalize that decision. Since I bought the business license, we've built the place, made plans for buying a generator to power it, and ordered the supplies like syrups and various misc. things! Now, the idea is to allow the building some mobility, afterall, I can tow it to where the people are. So, we've put the shop on some runners that are on PVC pipes and I'll bet it'll pull nicely behind the Ski-Doo. We've had a helper named Marvin. You have to understand Marvin's personality to appreciate him. He just moved to 1st grade (graduated from Jeni's class!) and looks like a mini Buddha, belly and smile and all! He comes around the place wearing a Bob Marley shirt and topped off with his smile and wanted to help by handing us the screws and lifting the ladder to numerous places other than where we really needed it. Marvin is also an avid spitter, so I had to remind him to keep his spitting habit outside and not in the shop. Well, after a couple of hours of hanging out with the kid, he decided it was time to go to the bathroom. Without any shame, he goes about 15 feet from the building, picks a nice view of the mountains, and relieves himself. I just about died, that screw I was putting it probably missed the stud that time. Anyways, he was a good worker and I promised him a snack today. Jay and I are a little slow starting the day, laying around and drinking yummy COFFEE!! I'd better lace my running shoes, the 1/2 marathon is on the 19th and I've slacked the past few days because of this little construction project. SO MANY THINGS we're enjoying, at least me! :) The kids have new bikes too, so Ethan (as Jay says) has pretty much joined a biker gang and Romay has her new friend to entertain, the principal's daughter. Okay, I'd better get going for real!

8.01.2007

More of Michigan





Looking Back to Michigan

Seems like Dennis (yeah YOU dad!) was ALWAYS giving me a hard time, those of you that know him, know what I mean :) I have the best in-laws! One day Dennis says, "Eskimo's to the back of the van" as we were driving somewhere...you can bet I had my 2 cents in return. There's something nice about being comfortable enough to say things like this with your father in law. Nancy is an super busy body! She always seems to make time to listen and give GREAT insight when you chit chat with her. One of the things I miss listening to is Dennis and Nancy interacting, it's priceless! THANK YOU MOM AND DAD for your warm home and ways you blessed Jay and I.


Jason and I felt priviledged to take a couple of weeks away from home and the main reason is, we were without the kids! Although this may sound a bit harsh towards the kids, all you parents out there completely understand. In fact, getting away helps you in becoming a better parent (we believe).

How did Jason get so tall? Where did those genes come from? Wonder if we'll have tall kids someday?

7.31.2007

IT'S ALIVE!!!

No photos at this time, but My and I actually got that old Bravo fired up tonight. She ran for a good full minute, idled down, died and wouldn't start up again. It's getting there though. Tomorrow we'll see if it'll run for good. I may have to tear down the carb again. I am open for suggestions, hypothesi (how do you spell the plural of hypothesis), good guesses, etc. We have spark, the fuel is getting to the carb... my only guess is I might have some crud in the bowl.

7.30.2007

Cooling Off at Nani

The adults wanted to cool off from the 70 degree heat, while the kids would've swam regardless of temperatures. Ethan and Romay aren't fitted with wetsuits, but I can tell you that at least Ethan needs an extra layer to keep his teeth from cracking as he chatters. What a gift to have his metabolism! Romay might've stayed warmer from her hand me down water polo cap. ?? Anyways, my teeth look whiter since I got a tan that day....



7.13.2007

Fish in a jar

Through the mouth, up the river, nothing but net...

Time does not really exist while out at fish camp and I can't really remember how many days we were there. We left on Wednesday and got back... some day after Wednesday.

A friend was nice enough to allow us the use of her 16 foot Lund. So, Myra, Romay, Ethan, Joe, Will, Kemper, and I with all of our camping and fishing stuff, loaded in the boat... for those of you who are math majors out there and are paying attention to the details and picturing how low a small Lund would ride in the water loaded that way, we took two trips to get out to Igluteluk so as not to need the assistance of the Coast Guard (Junie and one of his boys in a slightly larger boat).

Of course, knowing me and how I travel, we did not get out into the bay on time. The boat motor we had fixed the day before began to act up again. Some time and creative language later, Joe had it going and we loaded up for the first trip on a slightly lower tide than originally intended. My and I had always camped either up river or at Ungaluk and so I did not know how lovely the mouth of Igluteluk was. The bay was calm and we made good time coming across until we had to get into the river itself. The Lund turned into a heavy ping pong ball that bounced from shallow mud flat to shallow mud flat and left me, the only sucker with waders, pushing a heavily loaded hull in two feet of water for what seemed like miles.

Finally, into the mouth, we followed the cut bank up a couple of bends to a friend's fish camp where I dropped Joe and Will along with a ton of camping gear to go and pick up My, the kids, and the dog. Two hours of playing on the mud flats by myself and going back to the camp at the mouth for directions from Leo Sr. (just to prove that as a man I am not afraid to ask for directions), and I was out in the bay again headed for Koyuk in a light porposing Lund. Thankfully, I had found myself high and dry on the Koyuk Mudflats four years prior and I knew how to find that channel and in I zoomed to pick up my family who had expected me sometime in the next 45 minutes for the last three hours.

We rode in what had become decent rollers across the bay and thankfully the tide had come in enough to allow for a more forgiving mudflats and we only had to dig a slight trench on our way in. That night involved getting fire wood, casting without any success, and resting my burned out calves and thighs (Suzanne Summer should try out a pair of waders in two feet of water and she could throw out her thigh master).

We set the net, built a fish rack extension for the camp we were borrowing, the kids swam, we pulled a few fish from the net and then got ready to go up river to rod and reel and maybe do a seine. Miles of grass infested channel later, hours of casting, and we had a single white fish landed. There were tons of fish, but no volunteers to bite. Out came the net and a crazy attempt by our small party to get fish into it. I drove and Myra controlled the net in the boat, Joe controlled the beach end, Will and Romay tried scaring fish into the net by throwing rocks into the river. Ethan had more than his hands full with holding Kemper, whose only purpose in life while at camp is to be in the boat while I am, and was doing okay with it until one of the kids threw a stick in the river instead of a rock... I swear Ethan flew eight feet in the air off of the high bank and then skipped ten feet across the beach before letting go of a stick, boat crazed dog who then swam out and crawled in. We made it to shore and Myra exploded into the shallows to close the trap prior to the exodus of the fish, lost her sandle in three feet of muck... and we still ended up with no fish in the net.

Discouraged and hungry we headed for camp with our one white fish. The buoys were starting to go down on the set net and we made plans to check it after breakfast the next day. Tide came in along with all of the chum salmon in the bay and the next morning left us with more buoys down than floating. Joe and will set to emptying the net while Myra and began cutting... an eternity later (remember time does not exist at fish camp) and we had 120 fish, mostly chums hanging. Needless to say, we pulled the net. We ate, the kids swam, and the adults colapsed. Who knows how long we were out there after that? The fish were being smoked and we were resting for the ride home.

God blessed us with a ton of fish, and somehow helped me shoot through the mudflats three times that day as I ferried people, equipment and fish home. Two days of canning and you can see some of the results in the picture above. We won't be setting another net for at least a year and I have no need to see another canning jar for at least that long. All our fishing for the rest of the summer will be with rod and will result in filets (God willing) action packed and in the freezer.

6.13.2007

...Your husband should at least find you handy



Perhaps you can recognize the quote with my modifications, the picture serves as evidence of my labor yesterday. (Wait, Romay gets credit too for drawing straight lines with the T-square, as well as holding the wood in place as I sawed with the skill saw.) We had two options for placing bookshelves in our already book infested room, do it the "easy" way with target.com OR just make 'em youself. Option 2 seemed like more fun and much more hands on, while option 1 seemed too much like the easy way out. Afterall, I hadn't taken the carpentry class in 2001 for nothing (I was much more book smart in the class, compared to the hands on part of the class--go figure). So, we ordered some Pine from SBS in Nome, did some cutting and pounding in the shop, and placed brackets around the shelf so the kids wouldn't knock it over. Our poor kids get blamed for that kind of thing now, Jay is the next clumsy one to blame if there's an accident. All in all, there's tons of work to do in KKA, just come on over and we'll start you on a project....on the other hand, that is also a reason to avoid coming over. I'll update you with Jay's greenhouse project for a friend of ours. Gratefully, the kids also haven't grown weary of holding things in place, or fetching tools, good little helpers, no wonder they sleep in a little now a days.

6.09.2007

Where's Romay??


Leona. First, it seems like we're sitting down to eat and miraculously, there's a knock on the door. The kids start yelling, "door's open!", Kemper starts barking and sprinting full speed, even if he knocks Jay over on the way, and the parents are trying to scramble to beat the dog to the door before the guest does so. If we're really lucky, the phone would have been ringing as this fiasco is going on.
"Oh Hi Leona," Romay greets in a light hearted voice.
Without hesitation, "Where's Romay?" Leona distantly responds. "Wait a minute, I think, does she always say this as she is looking right at Romay?" This routine has become somewhat normal now, when we know Leona is making her way over, often the kids and I will hide our smiles as we know the steps Leona will take....knock knock (woof woof goes Kemper), COME IN, hi Leona someone says, WHERE'S ROMAY? I think we'll get T-shirts with Leona's face on the front and the back will say, "where's Romay?"
I just wanted to share this story with "you" since a character like Leona makes our day. It's no surprise when she has us all laughing about her singing, or MILLIONS of questions too obvious for common sense, or her squeezing in between people on the couch to better see the TV. Here's a picture of us three girls, Leona let Romay squeeze in the middle.