Alyeska Resort

 Awhile ago, my honey and I stayed the night at the Alyeska Resort for a getaway. I'm so blessed to have family in town to watch the wee ones. Girdwood is such a great little getaway, not to far, but far enough. The drive along Turnagain Arm was so beautiful.

  
 The hotel itself is really pretty, lots of cool Alaskan items to look at. The staff was amazing! They had a hard time finding our reservation, but they worked with us and were so polite. There was actually a couple of things went wrong, but they made it all happen without stress. We did not have ANY negative attitude from ANY of the staff there. Which I loved. The staff all had that mountain-laid-back attitude with professionalism.

 The last hotel room I stayed in was at the Bellagio in Vegas, which was newly remodeled so my bar was pretty high. The Aleyska Resort rooms are quaint and older. I don't really think most hotel rooms compare to the Bellagio, but I really enjoyed our room at the Alyeska Resort. It was clean and calm. And hey, I didn't have to clean it so it really was amazing!

 The hubs and I love sushi, so we wanted to try out Sakura & Sushi Bar for dinner. I have to say this was our only disappointment. Um, I would never eat there again. The service was great but the food was not up to par at all, especially for the price! Very bland. I think we will just stick to our favorite sushi spot in Anchorage, Jimmy's Sushi. Try Jimmy's, it's amazing!

 We headed to Chair 5 Restaurant for some yummy dessert. Great local place with cool Alaskan memorabila and facts. Someone gave us tickets to a show at the Sitzmark. After gorging ourselves, we went to the Sitzmark to have a couple of drinks and a good time. Locals, Alyeska staff, and out of towners were dancing to the beat of the band.  It was so nice to be able to stay out and have some fun. Of course, my idea of fun was sitting, drinking some Malibu and coke, and watching the hubs play Foosball.

 We woke up to a room service breakfast, which was very good! Packed up really quick and hit the slopes! I used to snowboard back in the day, but I wanted to try skiing again. Hadn't done it since 6th grade! Okay, so can I just say that I actually learned a lot about myself while skiing! Well, I guess it just reconfirmed what I already know. I am a CONTROL FREAK!!!! I did not want to go to fast, I didn't like people speeding by me, and I did NOT like Jason telling me how to ski. We had to separate a little bit so I could regain my composure. My husband is an amazing snowboarder, but I did not want to hear what he had to say.

 I finally relaxed and just tried to go with the flow. I enjoyed the beautiful scenery. You can see Turnagain Arm in the photo above. It was snowing and raining off and on. I never made it to the top. I just stayed on the greens that were less traveled.

 After awhile I went down to the Sitzmark to sit and relax. Loved watching the kids come down. Fearless. I'm way to fearful, sigh. CONTROL. Jason met up with me for some yummy lunch at the Sitzmark. Something about eating and drinking hot items after skiing/snowboarding is so soothing.

 We did a couple more runs before night skiing started. Of course, I started getting more comfortable with skiing towards the end. Need to start skiing more. Cross country is more my speed though.

  All in all, it was a great one night getaway. I highly recommend going and staying, even if it's just for a night. They have some great Ski and Stay packages that are affordable. Next time I'll have to go for the spa package, sounds so relaxing. Oh, there is a pool there if you can't get a babysitter for the kiddos. We were tempted to take Kaden with us, but figured we needed some one on one time. It was great to spend time with my honey.

IBN Jeans Giveaway (closed)

 Who wants to win a pair of cool jeans for their son? The only thing I ask is that you try out the pants and let me know what you think! IBN Jeans sent several pairs of jeans to give to you to try out! Wasn't that so nice of them? They sent us reflective shirts last time for a giveaway.

  The pants are reflective on the front and back. Perfect for these long, dark winters up here in Alaska. The waist is also adjustable, which I love. I tried these size 8's on Kaden but they were to big. Sorry for not giving you a cute model for the jeans, my floor had to do.

  So who wants to try them out and keep them? I have three pairs of size 8, two pairs of size 10, and a pair of size 12. The only rule is you have to live in Alaska. Please leave a comment as to which size you would like to win. The giveaway will close this Friday night. Good luck! Please be sure to leave an email address to contact you with or you will not be counted.

Alaskan Kids Play with Ice?!

  I love Pinterest, have I said that enough? I might need an intervention. I check it at least once a day. But if I did not check it, where would I get all these cool ideas!!! That's what I keep on telling myself at least. So yes, this idea was not my original idea. Play with ice. Why didn't I think of that? Better yet, what will someone think of next to play with! I did not pin the idea on a board so I can not link it back to the original pinner. Sorry.

   I'm homeschooling Kaden for preschool to see if homeschooling will work out for us. So we used the ice for science experiments as part of our schooling. It's been cold enough where we can fill ice trays and put them outside. Kaden kept on checking on the trays to see if they were frozen. Ah, the innocence and excitement of youth. When they were ready, I put one in a bowl by the fire and one in a bowl in the kitchen. He kept on checking on them and noticing which one was melting faster. We talked about the reason behind this. His excitement excited me!

  I put a bowl of water and the bowl of ice on a cookie tray. I doubled up a tablecloth under the tray so I wouldn't freak out and nag about them spilling water. We counted to see how many ice cubes it took to make the water in the bowl overflow. Then, I let the kids at it. I kid you not, they spent an hour playing with the ice! Even Kora got in on the action! I gave them spoons to transfer the ice. They loved putting their hands in and grabbing the ice. I had to make sure I watched Kora though because she was trying to put the ice in her mouth.

 Kaden then added more ice to the bowl next to the fire. I thought it was going to be messier, but they kept the water and ice contained pretty well. It was great for Brooke to work on her motor movements as she transferred the ice cubes with a spoon and then the spoon to her mouth. She likes to pretend she is eating a lot. The kids loved grabbing the ice with their hands. The nice part is that we were in a warm home so when they got cold, they went and sat by the fire. If you are brave, try food coloring in the ice cubes. Not sure if that would stain or not. I'm proud of myself for letting them play with water in the living room. I am going to try colored ice cubes in the bath though! Saw that on Pinterest!

Sunny Vacation

 We spent two glorious, SUNNY weeks in Pasadena, California for Christmas. EVERY day was sunny and warm! It's amazing how good you feel with sunlight! This was the first time Snugglebug actually got to walk outside since she started walking and she loved it. She asked to go for a walk everyday. In our free time, we would walk through the neighborhood and collect pinecones.

We were visiting my husbands family, who lives several blocks from the Rose Bowl. We walked there several times, played at the playground, and flew helicopters. It was so hot one of the days we had to get ice cream! Get this, the children's museum there was doing snow days. I was so confused seeing kids walking around in hats, gloves and snow boots and it being 70 degrees. But then I saw the sign for "snow."

 

 We were in a household of a lot of people. Seven grandkids running around. Lots of sweets that I continued to eat. Something always going on. We visited the LA Zoo which made me really appreciate our non crowded Alaskan zoo. I don't have to worry about losing a kid at the AK zoo. I was constantly counting the kids and making sure they were the right ones! There are way to many people in LA for my liking! We also went to Medival Times for one of the kid's birthdays, lotta fun! Where else do you get to eat with your hands, watch jousting, and cheer/boo knights?!
 

 The adults had their fun as well. We hit up the Ice House Comedy Club and ran into Wee Man. There was a lot of Guesstures and Cranium going on at the house when the kiddos were in bed. Laughing so hard that I was crying and peeing my pants. I learned how to play Guitar Hero, I suck if you were curious. The ladies had lunch at a cute little cafe and what's a vacation without manicures and pedicures?! My sister in law talked me into getting flowers on my hands and toes. They turned out great! I also got to visit the fashion district in LA! I about lost my mind! So much fabric and not enough time!

 

 

  My husband and buddy went to the Rose Bowl game and watched the Ducks beat the Badgers. Buying scalped tickets is the way to go! While they were at the game, I tried my hand in driving LA's crazy traffic to visit two high school friends! I would give myself an ulcer trying to drive that traffic daily. I'm thankful for Anchorage's traffic.

 

 We boarded the plane with our 3 car seats, double stroller, 5 checked bags, and 4 carry ons with sunny and warms skies, then unloaded to snow and cold temperatures. Oh, as we were landing, Brooke starting throwing up, luckily her blanket was able to catch it. That blanket has since been trashed. Husband cleaned her up and as she was standing in the chair, she told her surrounding audience that "I threw up" several times." It was so gross yet so cute. Can that even be in the same sentence? Then Kaden threw up in the car on the way home. Kids got their motion sickness from me, poor guys.

 Had a great time with family. Glad to be home in our beds. Now getting back into the swing of things. Next up on the agenda, registering Peanut for special ed preschool! Oh Boy!

Hand Print Tree Skirt

 Have you ever got an idea in your head and couldn't get it out? One night I had this vision of hand prints all around our tree skirt last Christmas. I was looking for the perfect tree skirt, and my mom actually bought it on clearance after Christmas! She is a great mom and gave it to me when I asked her for it because I knew just what to do with it!

 This is the first year that starts this tradition. I traced each kid's hand on felt and cut it out. I then hot glued it to the skirt. When I come back from vacation, Ill probably sew around the hands to make it look a little nicer. Trying to think of how I can write the kid's name on each hand without it looking tacky. Any ideas? I'm also going to have my aunt embroider our last name on it as well. Thinking I might do mine and my husbands hand print just this once. Then each year we will fill it with the kids and see how big they get!

 Not sure if I'm going to keep with green or some other Christmas colors. Your thoughts?  Another idea is to do painted hand prints. I think that's a little harder, because it has to be just perfect or you will have smears on it. Especially with babies hands. I always had a hard time doing those hand plasters, it would turn out like blobs.

 I'm just really excited to see my vision FINALLY come true! I look forward to pulling the tree skirt out every year and seeing my kid's hand prints on it. Years from now, my grandkids will get to put their hands on their parents hand prints. I love starting family traditions!

Salt Dough Ornaments

 Salt dough ornaments. They are all over blog land, but it's good. This is actually a new tradition for us. I remember painting plaster ornaments with my cousins when I was younger. As a mother, I look back on that memory and think, genius! I was a high schooler and my cousins were aged 1-7 years. My aunts just got a free babysitter for a couple of hours because I enjoyed painting!

 Salt dough is way cheaper then the plaster ornaments at the store. In fact, I bet you have the ingredients in your pantry right now. All you need is 1/2 cup of salt, 1 cup of flour and 1/2 cup of water. Mix it all together, roll out and cut! Don't forget to put holes through them before you bake them, to hang them up. Bake at 200 degrees for 2 hours.

 Then you can paint them! I've seen bloggers grab glue and sequins. Grab whatever you have in the house. We used Crayola Kids Paint and watercolors. I like the watercolors the best. The Crayola paint cracked when it dried. I liked the watercolor for Kora to use, lot less messy. She enjoyed painting, as you can see her concentrating with that tongue out. Then she tried to eat it.

 It's kind of an all day process. The kids helped out a lot and enjoyed every bit. The cutting out worked on motor development. It was actually hard for Brooke to push down on the cookie cutters due to the weakness in her muscles. It was nice to see Kaden cutting out the dough and transferring the cookies to the sheet. He really is growing up. (sigh)

Brooke sure did love the painting part of it. I love how she has it on her forehead. I actually didn't really get to paint. Making sure 3 kids have something in front of them to do is a juggling act. I guess my expectations were kind of high, I know better. I can barely sit down for lunch, just to get back up because someone wants more or is all done.

 I think they turned out great! We put ribbon through them and hung them on the tree. Kaden was really excited to hang up his ornaments. He wanted to hang them all up! We didn't have enough room on the tree. I would also like to see SOME of the ornaments we've collected through the years. The rest of the ornaments are sitting in a bowl, waiting for me to figure out what to do with them. I'm thinking of using them as gift tags?

 Our pink Christmas pterodactyl. He is my favorite. Holiday tradition, check.

 Here are some sites to visit for salt dough ideas. I think I'm going to do hand prints next, when things slow down.
-Hand prints
-Lots of DIY ornaments
-Gluten free salt dough ornaments!

Christmas Cards

  I really like being artsy farsty. You know crafty. I used to love making my own Christmas cards to send out. Taking the time to think about what I wanted and putting all the love into it. Then I had kids and all the love went to them. I just wasn't able to make Christmas cards a priority and it made me really sad, until this year!

 Kaden is at an age where he can help out, a lot. As you can see from this photo, he made our Christmas cards. Not only are we having fun, because he loves arts and crafts as well, BUT I get my cards done! Wahoo!! That's one of the reasons why we have kids, right? Help around the house? The older he gets, the more he is able to help around the house! I'm sure my husband will be thankful when Kaden will is old enough to start taking out the trash! They have to earn their keep, right?

 Now family and friends get to have a little bit of Kaden in their lives. Great handprint to hang on the fridge. It was pretty easy. Used kids craft paint, painted it on his hands and stamped! I'm sure I could of been a little more creative, but I'm just glad I have cards to send out this year. Now if only he could address and stamp them all.

 I really wanted to get Kora and Brooke in on the action. Then I reconsidered and knew I would be more stressed out trying to get a baby's perfect hand print. Besides, this was a great time to spend some one on one time with the boy while the girls were taking a nap.

 Making Christmas cards is a lot of work! So after he was done, I caught him playing with his super heroes in the Christmas tree. Man I love that boy.