My knight

On Halloween night, Kyra trick-o-treated with a bunch of fairies and princesses. She was my "knight in shining armor."

It was Mommy's way of making sure she was nice and warm, tromping from house-to-house in the snow. Daddy, as you know, scared the other kids with his Hulk hands and mask.

And poor little Ethan donned Kyra's ol' bumblebee costume.

Hulk Smash

So this is what happens when I'm teaching and Thomas' is "watching" the kids:

Ethan: "You wouldn't like me when I'm angry."

Thomas: "Sorry Ethan, it could be worse. you should see what
Daddy's parents made him wear in the 70's."
Leslie: "Hee.hee. It's true...there's this photo of
Thomas in a pink suit with his hair curled."


Kyra: "No, Scare me, Bear!"

Kyra: "Cool."
Leslie: "Kyra must've learned this word at school this week.
She ends almost every conversation with this word.
It scares me how quickly she's growing up."

Unfortunately, I missed the action. Thomas was posting these photos on facebook by the time I came home. I'll have to agree with Al, "Un. Be. Lievable." And Mike, "IN CRED I BLE."

When you hit things, the hands actually growl, burb words, emit smashing sounds, and say stuff like "Roarrrr," "You are making me angry. You won't like me when I'm angry," and "Hulk Smash!" (Okay, fine, when the husband is away, I'll admit that I testdrive his toys). My husband warned me that there's more parts to his Halloween costume coming. I can't wait to see the ensemble.

In the meantime, check out this video.

Slipping off the road

This morning, Kyra and I checked out this car flipped on the side of the road near our house. We live just at the top of the hill in this photo. The river crosses beneath the road where it dips. Based on the tire tracks, the car must've come down this slope too fast, and ended up doing a 360. This almost happened to me earlier this week, except in the opposite direction. I had just left our house and was crossing the river when the Explorer spun first to the right, then the left, wiggled dangerously to either side as if it wanted to flip, before coming to a stop. So many people slip off the side of this road that I was definitely freaked out that I would join this fate, especially with Ethan in the car. Normally, the chances of this happening are rare... if you have your winter tires on. But since the first snowfall, I, like most people in town, wait for the crowds to thin out from the local tire changing operations. Costco, being the cheapest option, is becoming an Olympic test for patience. Yesterday, I tried my turn at arriving an hour before they openned and quickly discovered that now with an infant in my care 24-7, things like this are just not worth saving money. First, I didn't actually manage to get there until the openning hour, which was 10am. I stood in the drizzling rain for an hour before learning that I wouldn't even have had a slim chance if I got there an hour early. Apparently, the first guy in line was there at 5:40am! I also saw another poor mother standing in line further behind me with two toddlers. Everybody kept staring at her, even though both kids were suitably dressed in their winter coats. She gave up after the third person said, "Are you guys warm enough?" Later that afternoon, I went to the second cheapest place in town and got the tires changed promptly without having to stand in a line. Ethan and I did have to wait about an hour in their slightly smoky waiting area where this wierd customer almost had a schizo break down. Thomas doesn't understand why I subject myself to these situations, because I guess he wouldn't even have gone to that place due to its location in a shady area of Anchorage and he certainly would never waste his time at Costco.

Anyway, after we checked out the car, Kyra wanted to throw rocks in the river. This very serious (no-smile) process involved picking up several rocks as big as her head, hiking through the brush which took her a couple minutes, crawling down slippery boulders on the riverbank, an unceremonious plopping of all the rocks at once without any hesistation or reflection (I figured if it takes you so long to get to the river, you'd at least want to savor the moment) into the water, then begging mommy to help her back up the boulders so she could repeat the whole affair again, for hours...

First Snow

Today, we had our first snowfall. There's a quiet peace that settles into the trees. The mountains disappear into a white foggy sky. And its blistering hot indoors. Kyra's running to every window of the house pointing out each snowflake that falls and naming it, "Snow!" She keeps telling me that she needs her coat and jacket and boots. Kyra's ready for winter and so am I. Some people think I'm crazy for loving the winters out here, but along with the bears, this is another reason why I love living in Alaska. Where our cabin is located, we actually get snow a month earlier than Anchorage. Thomas must plow the driveway with a snowblower because a shovel would take too long. We have to purchase very expensive snow tires for our cars so we don't slip and slide on Hiland Rd. And even then, sometimes the car refuses to make it up the driveway and we must hike our way to the house. (So far, the Michelin Ice-X tires are the bomb! I'm all about the gear, guys...and these tires with no studs can plow through anything. One time, we came home to find our driveway blocked by a wall of snow packed in by the street plows. Somehow, the tires muscled its way up through this wall which was as high as the hood of the car.) But it's all worth it, when behind a dense curtain of bejeweled falling snow, you are snuggled up on the couch in front of the wood burning stove and you feel all safe and cozy.

Thomas returned from Galvaston (earlier than scheduled) after he heard my terrifying voicemail the night Kyra locked herself in the bedroom. At daycare, when Thomas was gone, Kyra's teacher asked her why she was sad. Kyra answered, "Daddy left." Both kids seem calmer and happier with daddy home.

12.5 lbs!

Ethan's 12 and a half pounds today. Can you believe that's almost half of what Kyra weighs right now? He's figured out how to grab things with his toes. How to smile...

And laugh...