My Own Handy-Man...

Last night, after spending all day helping Andy extend his deck, Clint decided to finally make the shelves I have been asking for (we actually just got some amazing wood from Andy!)....Here is the beauty showcasing our amazing art from Gambell!

A beauty isn't it ??

An open letter to our baby Shultz

Up until the last post, we have told only family and close friends about you. You're the size of a lentil bean and are giving your daddy and I a feeling that nothing can even come close to. We already love you and are talking about how we are going to raise you.

The whole idea of us being on the other side of this whole parental thing is a little crazy. We have some ideas on how we are going to raise a brilliant, well-rounded, polite, happy child. Here is what we know:

1) I am going to let you eat dirt sometimes. And you'll probably get licked in the mouth by your doggy siblings from time to time...

2) We love adventures. Adventures of any kind. We hope you like them too. We don't sit around the house very much so be prepared to be bundled up and carried along for the ride. I hope you like the pristine waters from a kayak and the vast mountain tops from a carrier.

3) You're daddy will teach you everything he knows about the wilderness and outdoor sports. Be prepared to love them as much as he does.

4) Most of all. We are going to teach you respect. Respect for the world and people around you. Respect will get you far in life and will perhaps be the number one virtue that will make your life a fulfilling journey.

I'm sure I'll add to this list later, but this is what I have so far. So lets recap- you may occasionally have a dirt mustache, and Sierra licking your face while we head out on our latest adventure, where your daddy will be teaching you how to build a fire with nothing but a flint stick, and your mama reminds  you to say "please" and "thank-you".

Love,

your mom

A Lil' Bun in the Oven!!

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Since our families, close friends, and employer know...I am willing to shout from the mountains and let the world know we are pregnant! I am still stunned by the "P" word and the fact that it comes out of my mouth like silk. So new, yet so familiar...


On May 14, 2010 I decided that I have been feeling weird for too many days. So I decided that I would take a pregnancy test. I have read that the anticipation of waiting to read the results is somewhat grueling to some hopeful women. For me? I followed the instructions on the packaging, no fumbling, no shaking of the hands, no nerves getting uncontrollable. Before I even set the stick down it was there. The test line showing first, the control line second. I didn't occupy myself aimlessly with chores to do while I wait. I just stared. Stared at the lines that were going to change our lives forever. Before I knew it the five minute mark was up and the line was still there. I simply smiled. No jumping up and down, no yelling for Clint, just a simple smile. You're here little one! Is all I was thinking. I came out of the bathroom and to my surprise Clint was doing the dishes! I told him the test was positive and he also had a simple smile. He came over and gave me a kiss and said, "good!".  We hesitated about telling people right away because we figured it would only be 4 weeks into the pregnancy. We have been waiting for this moment for so long that we couldn't hold it in. Right away he called his parents while I pace back and forth until I called mine.


4 pregnancy tests, and 4 days later the line was showing up faster and darker than the previous ones.  I'm pregnant.  It was getting a little nerve wrecking with each passing test in fear of a negative line. I soon pulled out Mayo Clinic Guide to a Healthy Pregnancy book and proceeded to read the weekly happenings of my body and our lil' bean.

I don't know why but hearing of our pregnancy wasn't any surprise, but a simple relief that we are finally going to make our family.


**As I'm typing this blog post, I currently have my shirt over my nose. See, Clint is cooking beans in the slow cooker and my stomach can't take the smell....This is the first time that I have had a food aversion. Wish me luck! 

Jack Attack!!!

Last night when we were going to bed, we heard Jack barking in the corner. We were unsure what he was barking at, so I turned on the lights and grabbed my camera because I knew this would probably be funny as heck!!

Please watch this video. You will laugh...

My Own Fireman!!

Last week the City of White Mountain and the Volunteer Fire Department got together and maintained a controlled fire while burning down the old school building. It was another community event as everyone came out to watch. For some, it was exciting to see a huge fire, but for others, it was a dramatic time as it was a piece of our history being destroyed (words from a respected Elder of the community. Although it was being destroyed the building was becoming overly dangerous.

The day started bright an early with the volunteers and workers meeting at the burn site at 9:00 in the morning. We headed across town in our Bombardier 4-wheeler in the cold. It was very nice out, but very cold! As Clint went ahead and put his gear on, I started playing with our SLR digital camera!

Early duties in the morning:

My very own fireman:

So cute...I mean...Manly! hehe...

Clint and another volunteer getting the hoses ready for action:

I just can't get enough of my very own fireman!:

And I have to say, I love having my zoom lens :)

This is the elementary school. Throughout it's years it has been a children's home for White Mountain and the surrounding villages, a teacher's housing complex, and a school. It has had many lives...

The start of the fire:

Clint controlling the fire:

The school up in blazes:

The entire process took about 3 hrs. Afterward we came home and crashed, well more Clint crashed while I tended to his tiredness...Making him coffee, making him dinner, getting him ice cream, water, and other necessities... But, what can I do when he does so much for the community? 

My New Favorite!

There has been a new favorite in the house lately! The best parents in the world surprised me with this gift either for a graduation present, or my birthday present, or both!:

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Seriously! Just to show you some proof, here it is again on our dining room table :)

Clint got it from the post office one day and told me while I was at work. Gosh, this must have been about three weeks ago! Let me tell you, just because I haven't blogged about this baby doesn't mean I haven't been using it. It has been used almost every single day!

For You

Fun Run!

Yesterday's run was busy, long, and fun! We started out by stretching our legs on our porch when I realized the ice was moving! This is nothing short of an amazing experience with the community going down to watch with their lounge chairs, sunglasses, and snacks! We started our run off fast and quickly stopped down at a friends house to watch the ice. It moves really, really fast!

 

The ice break-up is creating an overflow of about 25 ft! This was what we saw on our way up the hills.


After running up the Airport Hill (which is a lengthy, all up hill) we were on our way back down when we heard someone yelling, "He Clint!" We turned around and Clint was able to see his friend, Lee Ryan and I of course was introduced :). He seemed like a really nice guy and it was nice to meet some friends of Clint from High School.

After our airport run we ran through town to another hill to do some hill skipping. Yes, you do exactly what the title says, you skip up a hill! We did 10. 10 hill skips. It was a doozy.

Because my internet is really slow, I am going to direct you here to watch a video of Clint hill skipping for your enjoyment. I on the other hand, am happy that I was behind the camera and not in front of it ;)

After our Ice-Break-Friend-Seeing-Trail-Running event, I created....wait for it.....PESTO! This deliciousness was made with Beach Asparagus (that my mom and I gathered while on a trip to Prince of Whales last summer).  It was UH-Mazing! 

Beachy Green Pesto!


Beach Asparagus
Mozzarella Cheese
Parmesan Cheese
A lil' bit of Extra Virgin Olive Oil

p.s. don't add salt! The Beach Asparagus has enough natural salt in it.

Going Green!

So, to keep on with the blogland theme I have been wanting to try Green Monsters (which are smoothies that contain spinach!) Before you cringe, please check out the link to find out what all the buzz is about.

Well, we still don't have a blender, and when we received our full circle farm in with all the goodness I would need to make a Green Monster, I knew I had to do something!

I packed what I needed last night in order to bring the ingredients to work.

There are all sorts of veggies, fruits, flax, oats and such that you can put into your green smoothie, but I decided to stay with the virgin idea of the smoothie (just use the basic ingredients).

Here is what I made:

Peanut Butter Banana Goodness Green Monster (yes, it's a long name, but it's definitely the right one!)

3 large handfuls of spinach
1 medium banana
1 heaping Tbs. Peanut Butter
1/4 c. whole rolled oats
2 Tbs. flax seed
3/4 c. milk/or water if your milk didn't come in the mail :S
4 ice cubes
Sprinkle of granola

Do you like my 'play' stove at work?! 

Directions:

Put all the goodness in your blender ( I recommend the water/milk go in first, then the spinach so the blade can really cut into the greens).....

 See the oats in the bottom? It didn't work out too well.

After, blend, blend, blend.....blend, and blend some more! Pour in a cute lil' cup and sprinkle with granola. 

And chug your Green Monster back and taste all the banana and peanut butter deliciousness! I swear, you don't taste the spinach at all, believe you me! 

Obviously this isn't a 'cute lil' glass' but a mason jar. That's all I had :)

The Easiest, Tasiest Thing in the World!

...With only 4 ingredients. Yup, 4! 

Remember I was looking through blogland last night while Clint was at Karate?  He came home around 9:20 and asked me what I accomplished while he was gone. His sarcasm didn't phase me at all, because I actually did something quite wonderful! While looking through my various craft, health, food, recipe blogs I found a recipe for a No-Bake Almond Peanut Buttery Balls sounds delish right?! Oh man. It was!

I made a small batch and instantly regretted not making more! Oh yeah, it's so easy kids can make this for an afternoon snack too :D !   

Here's how you do it:

No-Bake Almond Peanut Buttery Balls


Combine in a small bowl (or large bowl depending on the amount you want to make):

1/3 cup dry oats
1/3 cup granola
2 Tbs. agave nectar (or honey or another sweet, sticky substitute)
2 heaping Tbs. almond butter (or any nut butter or peanut butter of your choice)

Mix the goodness together

Roll into small bit size pieces (again, you can make larger balls if desired)

Put in fridge for and hour or so until ready to eat (If you can't wait that long...Put them in the freezer for 30 min)!

These may freeze well, but only if you can wait that long for them to become at room temperature!

Monday Funday!

Nah, just kidding ;) .  Monday's are usually full of 'gearing up' for the week to come. As far as pre-school goes, I had a relaxing day with three students. It was full of water-tables, painting, building, counting, and singing! Oh how I love singing...But not when you have 5 Little Monkey's song stuck in your head four hours later!

Clint and I went on a lovely run, it was hot, full of blue sky and most of the snow was melted! I sure was kicking myself for not taking my camera on the run but sometimes, you just need to run and not worry about taking photos!

I was looking through blogland while Clint was at Karate ( I know I should have been doing a workout, but my body is s.o.r.e.!) and found this:

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I'm not sure what it really is about this...Actually, it's a combination of the inspiring words and the rainbow effect! I utterly and completely love rainbows!!

**Update:
        ~New pictures on our babies page!!
        ~More quotes for inspiration are on the quotes page!

Until next time!

Fast Forward!

Life has certainly been on the fast track train the past couple of months! I was downloading more pictures (I am slowly learning to take pictures of everyday things, well, everyday :) and I was going through iPhoto when I found a whole bunch of pictures I haven't shared :S. So, this post is a Fast Forward post to show all the stuff that has been going on in our lives!

Starting with:

Yoga of course!

I printed these amazing yoga cards:

Now, I can take my yoga practice anywhere!

I have also been reading this page by page:

This is my first Yoga book and I hopefully will be broadening my collection here soon.

Remember when Clint painted a tree of life in our dining room? You can read that post here if you missed it. Clint decided that it needed to be repainted. So, he took out his paints and his brushes and went to work. With my help of course ;) :

Here are the before and after pictures:

I love that the new one has fuller branches and trunk. It definitely brightens up our Waffle Sunday!

Oh yeah, he also made a sun burst!:

Beautiful right?!

Another exciting thing that has happened around the house is that Clint made a gate! Yup, it's not just a board in place by bungees :)!

Here is what we had before:

After a few hours on a warm, beautiful Sunday Clint made a beautiful gate to match the deck. Of course, with my help!

 Cutting all the boards

 Clint making sure the gate fit.

 It's done! It's B.E.A.utiful!

We have a wonderful gate now, but we still need to use the bungee cords and 550-cord to keep it in place, but in August when we come back we will have put on hinges and a lock for the gate :) 

There you go! That's the gist of what has been happening around here.  I'll hopefully have time to update everyday or every other day with our life musings when my last day with kids is on Tuesday! Can you believe it?!