Wai Paul passed

This morning my Aunt Lucida called to tell me that Wai Paul passed away in her sleep. Known as a Shanghai beauty, Mabel Chow won many awards for her art. She painted and sculpted. My mother's mother has had dementia for several years and hardly recognized me the last time I saw her in 2008. Nonetheless, I wish she had hung on a few more days as I had planned to see her on Christmas Day.

I told both my kids that I lost my last living grandparent today. Ethan asked me if I needed a bandaid. Kyra asked me to show her a photo of her great grandmother so she could remember her.

First time Kyra met her Great Grandmother, 2005.First time Ethan met his great grandmother, 2008.

Nov posts at KTD!

This month, I started a new blog with Kids These Days! called Love + eMotion. At first, I was worried that I'd run out of things to write about since I have to post something every Monday. So far, my kids are giving me plenty of material. But if you have any ideas, please help! Also, I need you to login to Kids These Days! and post comments on my blog posts so that I'm not out there alone. Finally, fan Kids These Days! on facebook.

Signe asked me if I was abandoning the "What's that?" blog...the answer is NO. This blog is for family and close friends, so you guys get the uncensored version of things and the photos/videos that Thomas would never allow the public to see.

So, here are the pics that go along with Nov posts on Love + eMotion:

Screen Time Fight Play-by-Play

November 29, 2010

Kit Kat Kick
November 22, 2010
Kids, Craters, and Cliffs-part II
November 15, 2010 (Rest of photos from this hike are in earlier post)

Kids, Craters, and Cliffs-part I
November 8, 2010

Parenting with Avatars
November 1, 2010

Kyra's First Concert

On this snowy Thanksgiving day, we'd like to cheer you up with Kyra's recent concert: The Muppet Show. She was so excited! She sang her song, Counting is Wonderful, all week long and got mad everytime Mommee tried to sing along. If you Skype or call us, she'd be happy to sing it for you. During the last song, Kyra danced all by herself in front of the entire school. The girl has no shame. Then, during the applause, she threw her arms up and yelled, "I did it!"

Here's a video of mom and dad's perspective on the final song at Kyra's school concert. So embarassing!!

New Blog

Check out my new job as a guest blogger for Kids These Days! The radio producer loved Laurie Register's snappy title idea for the blog, "Love and eMotion." Check out the first blog post entitled "Parenting with Avatars."

On the Air

So I guess I have to grow up sometime and admit that yes, I am a mother. Today, an essay I wrote about raising Kyra and Ethan in a high-tech world will be aired on Kids These Days! Check out their web site for both a printed and recorded version of the essay.

Pioneer Ridge

Winter is slow in coming this year, so we're taking full advantage by getting out as much as we can on the weekend. This Saturday, the whole family made it up Pioneer Ridge just shy of the first of four picnic tables that offer panoramic views of Marcus Baker (13, 176 feet ) and Denali (20,000 feet plus) and Knik Glacier and Mount Goode (10,610 feet). Ethan completely freaked out when we were only a half mile away from our goal. The first picnic table is about 2,000 feet in elevation and 2.2 miles straight up Pioneer Mtn.
Couple weekends ago, I hiked to this point with my friend, Erica, and her dog, Boo. In the background, you can see Knik Glacier (26 miles long and 4 miles wide) and Mount Goode and Knik River. Moments like these make you really appreciate living in Alaska. This trail is only a fifteen minute drive away from our home.

I was so proud of my trooper, Kyra. She insisted on being our trail leader and everytime Thomas or I got ahead of her, she would get mad. This is her highest elevation and longest completed solo hike. She fell every few steps, but she told me that climbing this mountain was better than school!
My poor city boy, on the otherhand, was miserable.

He hiked the first few minutes of the trail solo, but if you listened closely, he was yelling, "Help me!"

Ethan turns 2

Ethan is finally understanding how birthdays work....well, sort of. He thinks he banked huge with his sister's because she picked out Thomas the Train and Lightning McQueen toys. And then for his birthday, he got more Thomas the Train stuff (which Kyra had a ball picking out for herself, but he doesn't know that). She even selected a construction truck ice cream cake for him, because it came with two vehicles (one for her and one for him). But again, he didn't mind at all. You see, this boy loves to share, for the most part. Plus, his favorite word is "truck" and if it were up to him he would be driving dad's already. I call him my "little man" because he thinks that he can do anything that Daddy can and more. Nothing frustrates him more than when we tell him "no." His eyebrows furrow. He gives you the staredown. Then he starts to spit in frustration or chew you out, nothing that we can entirely understand, but you'll know if he's mad at you because he'll point his index finger in your face and yell "JieJie" (sister) or "MaMa" or "Daddy" this or that.

He's also our affectionate kid. Mommy thinks he's gonna be one hell of a romantic guy. His favorite trademark move, rubbing your ear...so beware.

And if you want to win his heart quickly, then offer him meat or cheese.

We're happy to see that he's learning how to tease his sister back. Do you remember, when he was only a few days old, Kyra loved to run cars up and down his head and back? Well, here's what we caught him doing after Kyra had collapsed from her bday sugar high.

Dipnetting

Ivonne and Jed, this post is for you. Remember, how we tried dipnetting in 2006 and thought it sucked. No fish. Rain the whole time. Stood in the ocean for hours. Well, this summer, Scott Banks and family took us dipnetting and clearly, in the first few minutes we arrived at Beluga RV Park in Kenai, we knew that we had no idea what we were doing back in 2006. Check this out:The entire weekend we were there, the mouth of the Kenai was packed with people, combat dipnetting and camped out on the beach. In a few hours, we scooped out 13 salmon with this huge net about 5 feet in diameter. Thomas got drenched through immediately with the waves, so he decided to do most of the fishing. Plus, it rained the whole time and the kids got soaked, so after I fished for my one salmon, I took the kids back to our tent. The beach is really nasty. Fish guts everywhere. Seagulls feasting on the raw flesh. Fish blood soaking the sand and these old iron boards, that everyone appears to use for cutting fish.

Kyra didn't mind the guts at all. In fact, she stood an inch away from our cutting board and at her eye level the fish was being filleted right in front of her nose. She told me that her favorite part of the dipnetting experience was cutting fish and she asked me if I could teach her.

Ethan, on the otherhand, freaked out when he touched my fish with his little index finger. Hilarious how different our kids are.

Kyra turns 5

Some things haven't changed much about our little girl, she is still in love with Lightning McQueen (yes, that's a Lightning McQueen watch on her wrist, Mommy thinks it is ugly as hell) and Thomas the Train. She still wants to be a race car driver when she grows up. She hates dresses and anything pink or princessy. She is as bossy and fiesty as ever, except now she has lots and lots of words.

When Mommy is on her cell and isn't giving Kyra her full attention, Kyra folds up her rail thin arms, sticks out her lower lip and says, "Mommy, you broke my heart."
When Daddy is up late playing his Playstation 3, Kyra gets out of bed and points her little index finger in his face and says, "Daddy, you need to go to bed!"

And when we shower her with kisses or hugs, she pushes us away and says, "Okay, that's enough."

She is a wiz at technology. She knows how to operate Daddy's Playstation 3 and work all the remotes of his big screen T.V. and sound system. She reorganizes all of Mommy's iphone apps and labels them Kyra this or that.

Her favorite pasttime is picking flowers or getting a glass of water for you.

On our Southwest adventure recently, she made Mommy and Daddy very proud, racing up and down mountains and cliffs and ladders with her new hiking boots, letting Daddy place her in crevices six feet above the ground, becoming junior ranger at Canyonlands and Arches National Park, and dancing in the streets of Aspen.And sometimes, for a brief moment, her girly side (inherited not from Mommy, but probably from all the godmother Ivonne kisses she received as a baby) will surface.

Halibut & Eagles

Here's a typical week in an Alaskan summer. On Monday, this moose hung out in our yard showing off his scratching skills.

Tuesday, after a full day of work and swim lessons with the kids, we rush to Walmart and purchase fishing licenses (about $48), then scarf down dinner, put the kids to bed and fix up the guestroom and clean the house for the sitter. We crash at 11pm.

Wednesday, babysitter arrives at our house at 1am and we drive to Anchor Point, about 5 hours away (3.5 hours if Thomas drives). We try to get coffee on the way, but nothing's openned. 6am we hop into Thomas' colleague's boat and get launched by a tractor into the ocean. About several miles away from shore, rain falls and the waters are so choppy we can hardly stand on board without getting thrown from side-to-side. These conditions are dangerous for halibut fishing because each setup requires two hooks about the size of your hand and a two-pound weight. Thomas' colleague decides to cancel fishing. This is typical too (we've even paid for charters, about $100-200 a piece, and had them cancel on us or offer to take us out the next day which is problematic if you've got a sitter arranged for the kids).

So, we all droop until someone comes up with the bright idea to fish in Kachemak Bay. Yeah, that means the 10 hour roundtrip drive and the $150 boat launch and gas fees and $150 babysitting fee isn't a waste! The Bay turns out perfectly calm and Thomas ends up landing his biggest halibut yet. 60 pounder! I get the most nibbles and land the most fish for the day (but we only keep one of mine, a 30 pounder.)

That means 60 lbs of halibut (we shared 30 lbs with a friend who came with us and didn't catch anything) cost us $300 (on a good day, you have a boat of eight people and everybody catches their limit which is two halibuts and the captain donates his limit to the pool)...but I guess you can't really look at things that way. After all, it is also typical that you pay for a charter and fish all day and end up coming home with nothing. This did happen to us last year (sorry, Signe)...so in short, worse case scenario approximately $300 plus for a nice ride on a boat.

Wednesday, noon, I fell in love with Alaska all over again. Breathtaking views of three volcanoes from the calm green waters of Kachemak Bay. The melodic soothe of ocean waters and eagles calling instead of kids asking for "juice" or "milk." And later, when we dumped fish guts out on the shores of Anchor Point, we hung out with about 15 eagles. Only in Alaska, can you walk with eagles at arms distance.

Thursday, 6pm, I whip up a dinner of fresh halibut tacos and halibut stew (for sick Kyra). Thomas can barely keep his eyes open through dinner and ends up crashing on the couch. Remember, he only slept 2 hours the night before and maybe about an hour or two on the return trip when I drove.

Thursday, 10pm, we look at each other and sigh, "Guess, we have to vacuum pack that fish."

"Can we do it tomorrow?"
"Not really. It's stinking up the fridge. Plus it won't be fresh."
"Darn."

We've both had an exhausting day. Did you know that 4 year olds apparently completely go crazy when they vomit? I was on the phone around noon when Kyra ran up to me and threw up in my lap then proceeded to freak out and run around the house while continuing to throw up...by the time I had calmed her down and myself (as you know I don't function well with poop and vomit and basically anything stinky and goopy), she had managed to vomit not only on me, but my heirloom carpet in my writing room, our couch, the living room, dining room, and hallway floor. Yuck! Now, I won't complain when an infant vomits on me because at least they aren't mobile.

Thursday, it's 11pm and I'm writing this post as Ethan sleeps in my arms. Kyra is thankfully passed out in her bed. Thomas is probably on facebook upstairs. And outside my window, the trees are lushious green and the mountains are laced with lingering ice. It's a beautiful Alaskan summer night where there is just enough light to make me feel like the day is just beginning for me, and only me.

And yes, we still need to pack that fish.