Auntie Jo Jo's Graduation

*Disclaimer* I did not get a picture of Josephine in her gown.  Whoops.

For Auntie Jo Jo's graduation Christina and the kids went to her house to meet up with family before the ceremony.  Uncle Logan rode with us to Sullivan Arena where Grandma Ada and Grandpa Jerry saved us the best seats in the house right in the front row.  It was a proud moment for everyone to watch Josephine get her diploma.  She is the youngest one of that generation on Christina's side of the family so this was a milestone. 

When we went to Uncle Logan's graduation (which seemed like yesterday) the kids were so much younger and Max was an infant in our laps.  This time all three kids are much older and did a wonderful job listening and watching the entire ceremony.  Afterwards we went to get Blizzards at Dairy Queen.  That was an event because we got there right before closing time, then they forgot about us so we were just sitting in the lobby waiting. By the time we got back to Palmer it was midnight and the kids were ready for bed.

Congratulations Josephine! 

Swimming Lessons

Max and Addison have been taking swim lessons at the Palmer Pool.  I was able to attend their last class where they each got a report card telling them what level they can proceed to.  That very same day Christina signed them up for another set of lessons that will run for a shorter amount of time but should fill in the gap until summer gets here.

After their swim lessons they came home, ate lunch, and tuckered out on the couch. It is awesome how tired they get from the pool.

 

Spring Breakup

After Easter the snow began to melt rapidly.  Soon the streets were dry and the kids traded in their snow gear for rubber boots and chalk.  I wasn't able to get all of the summer toys out yet but I did get a recently purchased bike setup for the girls to start using.  I took the pedals off so that they could sit on it and kick themselves around, but there were no training wheels to help them balance. 

During Easter Sunday Dinner the kids worked out a deal with Nana to have a sleepover at her house one of the next weekends.  When the time came Max had come down with a very bad cold so the girls went over for the night and Max stayed with us.  We took him shopping for more big boy underwear, took him out to dinner, and hung out at home and let him play with his loud toys.

While at dinner (Red Robin) he told the waitress "you're cute when you talk like that."  That boy's charm earned him a coulpe of special treats, including a free strawberry lemonade she gave him for the road. 

By the next morning he was feeling much better so he went to Anchorage with me to pick up the girls.  On the drive home all three kids were silent except for their little learning laptops they just got from Nana and Poppop. I thought it was really cute how all three of them were setup with their own little laptops like a picture of professional men and women sitting in business class. 

Amelia got to do a couple of after school activities in April including an art class and then a hip hop class (You have to pronounce "hhhip hopp" like Hank Hill.)  During the time that she was going to the hhhip hopp classes we found out there was going to be a performance at the end but Amelia didn't want us to go, she didn't want to have to do it in front of us. 

Well, we showed up anyway and got to see her dance, but as soon as she saw us you could tell she was not very happy about it.  Whoops.  Anyway it was fun to see her.

THE GIRLS ARE RIDING TWO WHEELERS!!!

This has got to be one of my favorite milestones so far.  As the snow has melted the neighborhood kids are staying out later and later.  Both Addison and Amelia have been practicing kicking around on that green bike with no pedals.  One night after dinner Amelia was kicking around in the cul-du-sac and I said "Hey Amelia, get going as fast as you can to that yellow line and then lift up your legs and see how far you can go."

She did it and coasted all the way down to our driveway without using her feet to balance.  I was very excited and asked if I can put the pedals on and have her try riding it like a regular bike.  Boom, first try and she has not used training wheels since. I quickly removed the training wheels from her regular bike and now that has turned into her favorite thing to do outside. 

Addison was very proud of her but you could see her more competitive sprit coming out of the not so subtle stares and glares as we were praising Amelia.  I asked her if she was ready to try it and just like her sister FIRST TRY!  Addison has not used training wheels since.

Amelia has been working on her "vampire bat power" which she says makes her pedal her bike faster and longer.  Addison on the other hand keeps asking me to build her a jump.  The other night I walked into the backyard and saw her dragging her bike up the hill and I yelled "Sissy what are you doing!?" 

In one motion she had flipped her bike around, jumped on the seat and yelled "riding down the hill!"  She knew she better do it before I thought too hard about it.  She rolled over some large bumps and rocks and made an abrupt stop when she reached the fence, then she yells "THAT WAS FUN, THAT HURT MY PRIVATES!"  I was laughing so hard.  Since then she has learned to put her weight on her pedals when traversing bumpy terrain. 

For Grandma Nettie's birthday we had her and Grandpa Don over for a birthday brunch. Christina made a sausage and cheese quiche, vanilla scones (glazed,) fruit salad, tea, and mimosas.  The girls were excited to show off their two wheeler riding skills.  Oh and Christina waxed Grandpa Don's nose hairs. :)

Max is Potty Trained!

This happened during Easter Sunday dinner but I wanted it as its own post.  While we were eating dinner on Easter Sunday Max said he had to go to the bathroom. As anyone who has potty trained a child knows this sort of thing can happen for a while before the kid actually uses the bathroom.  Well Christina took Max into the bathroom and voila!  Max has been potty trained ever since!

When congratulating him (and thanking him) for finally using the potty Max said "I wanted to show Poppop, I did it."  So, we guess he was just waiting for a visit from Poppop to finally make up his mind about the whole thing.

Up until this proud moment we had been offering him things to help persuade him to use the potty.  He was keen on that idea and started holding out for bigger and better things.  What started as "you'll get candy if you use the potty today" progressed into "we'll drive you to the store, buy you a book, a toy car, ice cream, chips, whatever the heck you want, just sit on the potty!"

Maxy boy knew what he was doing.  As soon as he got off of the potty he came out to the dining room and told Poppop, Nana, and Michael-Michael "You need to go home now, we're going to the store."  He waved at them out the window as they drove off and then to the store he went where he got everything on his list. 

That night we put a diaper on him just incase, but we left a training potty in his room.  That was the last diaper he ever wore.  He has been using a normal toilet ever since, not even needing a stool or potty chair.

6.833 consecutive years of changing diapers has come to an end.  A proud day in the White family.

Easter 2012

Easter Weekend started on Friday afternoon.  Jenny came out and visited with Christina and the kids.  The kids got to dye their easter eggs and enjoy cupcakes that Jenny brought.  The kids really got into the spirit of celebrating spring.

On the Saturday of Easter weekend Grandma Nettie came over for the afternoon.  She had just returned from her Hawaii vacation and she brought Hawaii/Easter treats for the kids.  They all had a great time catching up with her, showing off their latest talents, discoveries, etc.

As it goes in Alaska, the celebration of spring starts with a fresh layer of snow.  The Easter bunny got up very early Easter morning to hide eggs.  Sometimes the eggs will be hidden outside, but this year they were all hidden inside. 

Eventually I think it was Christina that was the most excited and woke everyone else up.  The kids dug into their baskets right away and found their mountains of candy. Then the egg hunt started.  The girls have had a few years to hone their skills so they were picking them out left and right.  I was proud of them for being so patient with their little brother and helping him find his own. 

Did I mention the fresh snow?  As the sun started coming over Matanuska Peak we were looking outside and we realized that there were convenient little easter bunny tracks going up our driveway.  Then we noticed they were going up all of the other driveways that we could see from our front window.  This was so cool!  And the kids were very excited. 

The rest of the morning we sat in the sunny living room drinking coffee, eating easter candy, and playing with the new goodies.  Then it came time to get ready for Easter dinner.

Christina spent the morning and afternoon prepping for our Easter Sunday meal.  Nana and Poppop White, and Uncle Michael (a.k.a. Michael-Michael) came out.  The kids got easter bags of goodies and toys and spent the afternoon playing and visiting with family.  The big turkey dinner was great, Christina made a turkey, potatoes, deviled (bacon) eggs, and asparagus.  Michael-Michael made vanilla bean ice cream which went great with the (raspberry?) jelly filled cake that Nana made. Just typing this makes me hungry.

A day or so after Easter we had a surprise visit from our neighbor Mary.  Once again she brought a beautifully arranged spring/easter basket filled with goodies for everyone including banana muffins still warm out of the oven!

March: Winter Walk

About this time each year for the past couple of years we have taken quick walks around Reflection Lake on the Palmer Hay Flats.  The first time we did it the kids' little legs tired quickly, the next year I think I brought a sled to pull them whenever they got tired.  This year it was all I could do to keep up with them.  It is a very short walk, but there are good views and lots of stuff for the kids to look at.  We checked out foot trails that venutred out towards the inlet, we were looking for moose and rabbit.  At one point I stepped off the small trail to get around the kids and sunk up to my waist in the snow.  We had no idea it was that deep off the trail! We goofed around and took our time. The kids had a nice time petting dogs that people were walking.

Blast from the Past: Amelia finds a sharpie!

An oldie but a goodie.  I cannot believe she is almost 7 years old!

Spring Break 2012

The first weekend of spring break set the pace.  We enjoyed sunny blue skies.  We played around the house and attempted to go sledding at Hatcher Pass but the kids just wanted to run around and dig in the snow.  We were the only people up there so it was nice to enjoy the views and the dead silence.

During the week the kids got to do something different every day.  Monday they went to Bouncin Bears, Tuesday they got together with friends, Wednesday I started my time off (for the rest of the week) and we went to a new bouncy house called Happy Hoppers.  Then Thursday we went bowling!  It was a blast!  Christina is a pro, but it was Max and Amelia that won the games.  Max was most impressed with the deep fried snacks and his fancy bowling shoes. 

Friday Jenny and Ben (sometimes referred to as Jen and Benny) went to Hatcher Pass with us.  We could really feel the heat from the sun on that day and the skies were clear blue.  Christina brought snacks (puppy chow) and Max made a new best friend (Ben.)

Saturday we relaxed at home during the morning and then Christina and the kids had a play date at their friends' house (withholding names because I forgot to ask for permission to post.)  I twiddled my thumbs waiting for everyone to get back home so we could hang out.

Sunday was another warm and sunny day.  We hit Hatcher Pass again.  This time the girls spent most of their energy practicing the snowboard.  I made a video (shown below) but I never managed to get it out and hit record in time when they were doing their longest fastest runs.  The spring snow is fast and slick.  They did great!

Now it is Tuesday and life is back to normal.  Amelia is back in school and I am back to work.  Luckily I worked from home today but it was hard not being able to play outside.  Here are a couple of pics of Christina, Max, and Addison from the window next to my desk. 

Here is the video from all of the sledding.  The kids LOVE watching themselves:

End of February, Beginning of March

February came to a close and it really wasn't too bad considering other years February was the coldest month.  Early on a Saturday morning we drove in to watch Grandma Ada complete a 5K downtown.  We are all very proud of her.  I didn't realize it until she was running to the finish line but Uncle Chuck and Jenny were in the race too.  Afterwards we met everyone for breakfast.  It was nice to see so many people in one morning.  The rest of the month and the first couple weeks of March were pretty low key.  Lots of play time in the snow and hanging out.

Early 2012

January and February have been full of SNOW SNOW SNOW!  We have enjoyed a whole lot of snowfall which has been great for snowmen, sledding in the backyard, and finally enjoying a normal winter (sans wind storms.)

In January we went to Anchorage to celebrate Grandpa Jerry's birthday.

The sun started to make an appearance in early February.  It is amazing how that makes everyone feel.  Now when the kids are out playing their friends actually come outside too and take advantage of the good snow we have built up.

On Valentines day I happened to work from home, it was practically Christmas for the kids.  Christina made them cute bags to hold their goodies.  As the day went on Max and Addison started walking around the house "trick-or-treating" with their new bags.  (Not to mention taking inventory of their v-day candy.)  Christina made a fancy Valentine's day dinner of Spaghetti Carbonara and then a really good strawberry cheese cake from scratch.  It was nice to get to be home that day even though I was still working and Amelia was in school for part of the day.

Also - and this is one of my favorite things to do on days that I work from home - I got to spend my lunch break playing with Christina and the kids outside.  We had cloudless skies and lots of fresh snow from the night before.

On one of the February Fridays I took the day off from work so that I'd be able to go to Amelia's first grade concert that her school was putting on (part of her music class.)  Before the concert I got to go to Gymnastics open gym with Christina, Max, and Addison.  It was awesome watching them run around and jump on everything.  I've never seen Max sweat before, they definately expended some cabin fever energy!

Then we went to Amelia's school for the concert.  It was awesome getting to see her up there singing with her friends.  Also, the school did a great job of keeping it short and sweet.  There were three groups of first graders and each group sang two songs.