The White House

Many Blessings

hgwhite@mosquitonet.com (Gayle) — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 20:38:00 +0000

What a beautiful Thanksgiving it was. It was in the +20's so the boys gave the little ones a ride in the sled before they took off themselves.

Very happy kiddos.

Candles are so fascinating for all ages.

I didn't take a bunch of food photos today. We had the basics...ham, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn on the cob, wild rice, stuffing, fruit salad, rolls and pumpkin pie. The kids even had their own bottles of sparkling apple cider. We sat down to eat a few minutes before the boys got home from snowmachining/snowboarding.

Homer and I were so thankful to have each other and our five beautiful children all together on this holiday. Of course, there was a bit of sadness and always in our thoughts were our three children who were not with us. They are never forgotten, always missed and we look forward to a day when they'll come home again. Until then we are thankful for a heart full of memories and thankful for the family we are now.

Even though he fell asleep during the movie he still kept his babies in his arms. Such a great daddy.

Although it was around +20 at our house it was -2 in town where the boys went riding. Elijah didn't wear warm enough gloves and his hands got too cold. Took him awhile to get warmed up.

Nick had the chills, too. Typical Nick...don't cover up with the blanket right next to you, but instead lay under a pile of pillows. Silly kid.

I have no idea why Emily is standing on her head to watch the movie. She's silly, too.

It was a perfect night for a bonfire. We are tearing out the old kitchen and burning those nasty cabinets was so much fun!

The fire died down a little so out came the fire crackers. Then off they went to get the pantry door.

Our friend, Dave, was out drive-by pieing (you know, visiting one friend after another throughout the neighbor having pie). Unfortunately, his snowmachine had other ideas. My dear husband refuses to let any machine get the best of him so he worked on it while I enjoyed the fire.

This is an old kitchen we are tearing out, and by the way it heated up it was obviously not made of real wood. So glad to be getting rid of it. Looking forward to it all being gone and my grow room being built.

Can you see the fire smiling at me?

Such determination.

He did it! There was never really any doubt.

Lucas and Olivia came out to throw snowballs on the fire. Such entertainment. Elijah was still chilled from snowmachining and stayed in the house playing xBox.

The boys had Jordan over to spend the night so they stayed home while we rode the snow-go down to the neighbors with the girls. There were video games, Twister, lots of make-up, board games, television and snow play. Emily and Olivia had such a good time.

Homer and I had a fantastic day with five of our kids and we hope our other three had as much fun, too. The holiday is over and now there is so much to do! I took Emily back to her dad's this morning, the other kids all slept until noon and are moving pretty slow, Hurricane Holiday went through the house so I have major clean-up duty, and it's +30 at my house (can you believe it?) and it's going to be hard to work and not sit by another bonfire all day. After clean-up there is a wall to paint and rearranging to do so we can decorate for Christmas. Oh, and I need to work on my Christmas gifts for the kids. *sigh* So much life to live and so little time. Guess I'd better get to it!

Dogs On Thursday

hgwhite@mosquitonet.com (Gayle) — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 07:00:00 +0000

I'm really beginning to believe this is all they do. (Rusty and his daughter Ruby).

Dogs on Thursday

Watery Wordless Wednesday: Snow Globes

hgwhite@mosquitonet.com (Gayle) — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 19:56:00 +0000

Wordless Wednesday

Watery Wednesday

Ruby Tuesday: The Love Doctor

hgwhite@mosquitonet.com (Gayle) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 18:12:00 +0000

This morning I was sitting at the kitchen table drinking my coffee in silence when I looked over and saw this. Artwork by 10-year old Emily. I'm afraid to look inside the binder. What could she have to say? Just thinking about it was enough to make me giggle.

More Ruby Tuesday!

Salmon Anyone?

hgwhite@mosquitonet.com (Gayle) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 16:58:00 +0000

Apparently, the hat goes with everything...including pajamas. I think maybe it is puppy toenail cutting time. That'll be 16 feet, please.

My dear husband is enjoying a hot meal on the table every night and I love making him happy, but I find it stressful rather than relaxing. Timing all the dishes to be done together isn't easy. It was really easy to time a bowl of cereal.

I've never enjoyed cooking, but I collect cookbooks. Odd. Homer is originally from Texas (and can still slip into the cutest southern drawl when he's around the right people), but he grew up in Nome, Alaska. I thought it would be fun to use a salmon recipe from a Nome cookbook. Incidentally, this baked dish came from Patty Anderson which happens to be Homer's Aunt's Sister-in-Law. Is that an Aunt-in-Law?

The kids had Lemon Pepper Chicken.

Nick's plate of chicken, buttered noodles, garlic bread and orange slices. Emily also had marinated cucumber slices on her plate.

For Dad it was the salmon, green beans in mushroom soup, salad greens with marinated olives, orange slices and garlic bread. The salmon was a huge hit. By-the-way, it was the salmon that we caught in Valdez this past Fall.

After dinner Elijah was off on his computer, Nick was reading Of Mice and Men for his English Course and Lucas read books and played Legos (with his peanut butter sandwich. He didn't want any part of the chicken).

Homer and the girls watched Another Cinderella Story. A perfect night.

We're Having a Cold Snap

hgwhite@mosquitonet.com (Gayle) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 06:48:00 +0000

This wasn't the temperature at my house this morning. It was actually colder. I woke to -21. Homer said it was -30 in town when he went to work. Brrrr.

The girls had a pretzel picnic while I cleaned the disaster the upstairs has become since we abandoned the kitchen and moved downstairs. Eventually we'll gut it out and build my plant room so I might as well start tossing stuff now. Honestly, I am so over remodelling, but with price of materials we won't be over it for awhile.

We had three boys in hockey for years and a lot of gear was accumulated. They've been out of the sport for a few years now so there is no point in hanging on to this stuff. I've been cleaning it to sell. Can't wait until it is all gone. There must be 40 pairs of skates in the 'area' outside my bedroom (and eight helmets, seven pairs of pants and a freakin' partridge in a pear tree). Not even sure what to call that "area". It was a dining room when we had the kitchen upstairs. Now it is a POS (pile 'o shit). Eventually it will be a sitting room at the top of the stairs that aren't there yet. Eventually.

I love when they play together nicely.

This bum sat on the couch playing video games until he went to basketball practice (for his comp team) at his school. After that the team went to watch the UAF Nanooks men's team play ball. It's 10:00pm and he just got home. Do you think he'll clean his room now? Nope. He brought a friend with him! Yes, he's spoiled. No, he doesn't really do any chores. Yes, his room is a mess. No, it won't matter once he's in his own house so I just have fun with him now! :)

The sun was huge in the sky today.

Saw this sign as I was going through town at 3:15pm.

Then I saw this guy. I can think of a lot of things to do at -24 and jogging would not be one of them.

There really was a lot of pink that faded into blue, but it just isn't as vibrant in the photo.

We made pizzas again tonight like we did for my birthday. Emily was here this time.

First is mine. It had sauce, garlic powder, basil, cheese, onions, artichokes and pepperoni. Homer's had the same plus pepper, pizza/pasta seasoning and asparagus. The other two are just cheese and pepperoni the kids made. Very delicious.

The girls bounce from one activity to another. They are trying out Emily's new Lite Brite she got for her birthday. Nick spent all day working on his online English course. He started the online courses late so he's down to 21 days to bust his butt to finish the course. He is done with the other three so he is able to focus all his time on it. I hope he can get it done. He's off at the indoor skate park now (got to have some kind of break after putting in so many hours), and the little ones are watching a movie. Soon it will be bedtime for all.

Happy Friday

hgwhite@mosquitonet.com (Gayle) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 19:49:00 +0000

I really wanted to post last night, but by midnight I couldn't hold my eyes open any longer. So here's what we did yesterday....

After doing my Skies on Friday post I had to go out and get some more photos of the crispy white branches dipped in golden sunlight.

Lori at the Skoog Farm requested that I post more of our dinners. I thought that might be a little fun since this venture into real cooking is new for me. We watched 'Last Holiday' the other night and I felt like the main character when I was taking these photos!

Frying the bacon on the George Foreman Grill. I love my grill! Draining the spinach.

I realize that the majority of dog owners would be appalled that I let our pups in the kitchen while we cook/eat, but you know what? I don't care. We love our dogs and they are welcome to do all the begging they want! Besides, I'm a really messy cook. Someone has to clean up all the things I drop! The meat is pounded flat and seasoned.

Three stages of preparation; rolled and ready for the broiler.

Isn't this decanter beautiful? It was a wedding gift from my husband's Aunt Bunny and Uncle Lonny.

Dinner is served! Steak and Spinach Pinwheels with a Mock Hollandaise Sauce, Onion Oven Roasted Potatoes and Marinated Asparagus. Homer loved it. Then again, he loves anything I cook for him. None of the kids will eat it. I have children with very limited tastes. Cody would have eaten it, though. He always tried all my dishes when he lived with us.

Elijah had a pizza/movie party after school yesterday, but when he got home last night it was wonderful to have everyone under one roof.

Emily and Ruby.

Lucas' new thing is to not let me take his photo.

My loving husband.

Little Miss Olivia who is always more than happy to smile for the camera.

Nick and Elijah...I swear these boys could live on cereal.

Rusty and Sally snuggled up.

Mama Roxie.

Tiny little Ruby. The girls are all wearing the dog coats I sewed for them the last couple days.

Big man Roscoe.

We watched a movie and then all gathered around the computer to watch music videos on YouTube. You know, Samantha Fox, J Geils, Michael Jackson...it was a lot of fun to spend time with the kids. Seems they are always gone and busy, and this precious time is fading quickly. I wish they'd never grow up.

Skies on Friday

hgwhite@mosquitonet.com (Gayle) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 20:51:00 +0000

Crisp frosty branches

Ice barely touched by the sun

Quiet winter scene

This time of year the sun in very low in the sky. The rays do not make it over the mountain to reach the ground in my yard.

They just reach the tops of the trees before fading away. I miss my sun.

The skies are crisp and clear today. With the bright blues comes the cold temperatures. It is -16 F here in the hills at my house, but in town it is -28F.

Click on the badge to play along.

Simply No Direction

hgwhite@mosquitonet.com (Gayle) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:51:00 +0000

There's no real direction to this post. Just a little bit of this and that.

Mocking me greatly my husband announced, "This must be a bloggable moment". He was referring to the fact that I cooked him dinner. He gets so excited over good food I really should make him meals like this every day, but man, cooking is not my thing. Do you know how hard it is to make something your thing when it really isn't your thing? I'm trying.
I love when I catch moments like this between sisters. They have six years between them, but still manage to find a common ground.

Roxy is quite happy with her new jacket I just sewed her. Roxie, Ruby and Sally wear them all the time. They have no hair on their chests and get chilled easily. They are much happier now.

Rusty has long hair so I think he is fine.

"Take me to your leader". What is up with dogs and glowing eyes? Wish I could figure out how to fix that.

You would not believe how hard these three were laughing. I'm so glad Emily is growing up with these two little ones...I think she is a better person having to share and compromise rather than having it be all about her. She is such a great big sister.

What is this? The alien ship?

No, just Emily's bus. At 8:10am it is still very dark out. And cold. It was -16 at our house this morning. She doesn't stand there at all. We watch from the window and go out when the bus comes. I think her path could use a little shovelling when it warms up.

Thursday Thirteen: Games

hgwhite@mosquitonet.com (Gayle) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 07:02:00 +0000

Click Badge for Link

Thirteen games we play....

1. Yatzee

2. Battleship

3. Memory
4. Uno
5. Monopoly
6. Poker
7. Sorry
8. Connect Four

9. Backgammon
10. Rummikub
11. Go Fish
12. Air Hockey
13. Pool

Dogs on Thursday: Rusty

hgwhite@mosquitonet.com (Gayle) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 07:01:00 +0000

I want to be this dog.

Dogs on Thursday

Tell Me Thursday: Sewing Notions

hgwhite@mosquitonet.com (Gayle) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 07:00:00 +0000

The other day I decided to finish up some sewing projects that have been laying around way too long. One of the things I had to do first was clean up my sewing area and notions box. Inside I found some items that were from my grandmother Dorothy's sewing box from over thirty years ago. You'll notice the price differences...thread for 15 cents, snaps originally for 30 cents, but on sale for 27 cents and 25 cent seam binding. My grandmother used to sew me dresses when I was little and these were her electric scissors from Sears. She passes away when I was seven and I never will forget her big pink bag of scraps I used to play with. I wish I would have had the chance to sew with her.

Each week you tell about your Wordless Wednesday here.

This Way Thursway!

hgwhite@mosquitonet.com (Gayle) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 07:00:00 +0000

Interesting signs in your area? Share at This Way Thurs-way hosted by Tink.

I am quite sure someone somewhere will find this offensive, but I'm telling you, I laughed hard enough to get out of my own truck into the dark, cold night to take a photo. This fat chick likes to laugh.

Alaska isn't necessarily Redneck country, but there's a few jacked up 4-wheel drives around town. I think this particular joe is havin' fun with his truck. (He actually was a real gentleman...he's the one who put the studded tires on my truck last week). Laughter is good.

Wordless Wednesday

hgwhite@mosquitonet.com (Gayle) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:55:00 +0000

For more Wordless Wednesday go here!

My Engine is Frozen

hgwhite@mosquitonet.com (Gayle) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:37:00 +0000

It's cold. Really cold. Not the I-think-we're-gonna-freeze-to-death cold, but cold enough. It's been around -10 at my house for a few days now. It's around -20 in town. I have a seriously hard time getting myself to do anything when it is cold out. Maybe I need an oil change. My oil is too thick and my engine is froze up. I'm going to try really hard to do something productive today. Or not.

So when you don't do anything it's a stretch to find blogging material. Today, I'll show off sweet Olivia's spelling abilities. She's such a cutie. (It was actually a lot longer, but after trying to upload for thirty minutes I realized the file was way too big so I cut it down. I shouldn't do this on so little coffee).

Last night I started to clean Elijah's room, but lost my drive almost immediately. I ended up finding some games and sat down to play with Lucas and Olivia. They were a little too hard for them, but we made up our own rules and had fun anyhow.

That is the smile of victory!

Ruby Tuesday

hgwhite@mosquitonet.com (Gayle) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 07:00:00 +0000

Elijah and his teammates placed 2nd this past weekend losing by four to the Anchorage Stars.

Seeing Red? Share it with Mary The Teach at Work of the Poet.

Veteran's Day Tournament

hgwhite@mosquitonet.com (Gayle) — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 17:31:00 +0000

He shoots and scores.

He'll dive for the ball.

He takes on the big guys.

Who is your favorite basketball player? This is mine.

Five teams in the 8th Grade Boys division. Two from Fairbanks, two from Anchorage and one from Barrow. Six games in three days. Come back tomorrow to see how his team placed.

Mellow Yellow Monday

hgwhite@mosquitonet.com (Gayle) — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 16:54:00 +0000

Drowsey Monkey hosts Mellow Yellow Monday if you want to play along.

A few nights ago Dad played Uno with Olivia and Lucas. Lucas was sporting a shirt with several shades of yellow. He was also dealt quite a few yellow cards.

He laid them out there, worked on learning his colors and numbers, and then beat them both!

The List Will Have to Wait

hgwhite@mosquitonet.com (Gayle) — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 08:44:00 +0000

We've had a stormy couple of days that has required a lot of shoveling. What follows the storm? Crisp, clear skies. Our temperatures are supposed to take a dive and it is currently ELEVEN DEGREES BELOW ZERO. That's right, -11F. I am so not ready for the bitter cold. I mean, being cold is one thing, but that bitter cold that takes your breath away. Not ready for it. What will I do when it is -40F? I shudder to think of it.
This is the view from the deck we never use. You have to be quick to catch a sunset as they happen pretty fast. Notice the snow on the railing...that's what we've gotten so far.

Here's the deck we never use. My husband calculates that I have about 316 cubic feet of snow to move (the deck is 60' X 8'). He figures my shovel holds about one cubic foot. All the snow has to go off that far end. I have a lot of work to do!

I'd like to say I did a lot around the house today, but I didn't. I shovelled about an hour. I did three loads of laundry. I drove Nick to meet his buddies to go snowboarding. Picked Elijah up from school. I took Elijah to get a pair of shorts. I picked up Grandma Debbi and then Emily. We watched this boy play this game.

Then I watched this girl play this game. (My great-niece). Then we drove Tyler and Elijah to Tyler's, Debbi and Olivia to Debbi's, Emily and Jadyn to her dad's and then I went home.

A busy day, I suppose, but it still doesn't feel like I did much. Tomorrow Elijah has games at 11:00, 1:00 and 8:00pm so we'll be down to the gym at 10:00am to start our day. I don't think much will be happening around the farm. Maybe Sunday?

How About That List?

hgwhite@mosquitonet.com (Gayle) — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 20:10:00 +0000

Out of complete randomness I share this...one my biggest peeves....people who drive down the road with mounds of snow on their car because they are too lazy to sweep it off.

Wednesday my Excursion went to the shop to get the studded tires put on. I had to drive the van. I became one of those people. Yep, I was too lazy to clean it off.

The snowing and blowing started Wednesday with the real heavy stuff on Thursday.

Another randomness...I made funnel cakes for the first time and they were great.

I made a Thursday Thirteen list of things I wanted to accomplish yesterday. This was not on the list, but I had to do it anyhow. How do two little people make such a mess? This was not all of it.

I decided to tackle shovelling first and headed out while it was still dark.

I shovelled all the snow away from the front of the house and dragged this shelter across the yard all by myself. Let me just say it was damn heavy and not the brightest thing I've done lately, but I get tired of asking for help that never comes.

My idea is to pile the snow out in the drive and then my husband will get the plow truck running and push it away. Or not.

The snow just didn't let up and that concrete (and all the rest of it) was buried a few hours later so I get to start all over today. (Nick just shovelled the stairs and sidewalk as a trade off to go snowboarding. Yes!)

Roscoe helped me. I really had to pay attention because when he comes bounding full force if you aren't ready you'll end up on the ground.

A lot of my photos were like this: dogless. He's pretty spastic.

I did four loads of laundry from my list. That wasn't all of it, but it was a start.

Olivia and I went back out into the night to do a little more shovelling. See how it is all covered again? Such pretty white.

It really was clear down to concrete, but by the time I could get my camera out of my pocket it was white again! After 3.5 hours of working outside I gave up for another day.

Another item on my to-do list was to bathe four dogs. And we did.

This is Olivia with Sally.

Rusty...

Ruby....

Roxie.

All so silky soft and smelling so good.

One of the other items on the list was to work on hockey Cd's. And I did. I burned 24 Cd's and printed 48 labels. Now I need to make the highlight DVDs (just random shots from the season put to music) and burn those. I think I'll get this done before Thanksgiving! Ya!

So what didn't I do?
2. Bake cookies. The kids did break open the mint chips and ate some so that's kind of like having cookies.
4. Clean out my truck. Nick had it most of the day so that wasn't really possible, but he just cleaned it out while I typed this so it got done!
5. Take the bed out of Lucas' room. Didn't bother. Homer didn't get home from work until after 8:00pm so it wasn't like we were going to work on the room anyhow. He works too much.
6. and 7. Quilting and sewing didn't even enter my mind. I really wonder if I ever have time for that.
8. Call about school photos. I did call at 4:02pm to be precise. They closed at 4:00pm. That's my luck.
11., 12, and 13. I totally failed. No ripping up of cabinets, the wild birds were left on their own and by the time the evening ended I was too tired to soak my feet. I just went to bed.

Elijah starts a basketball tournament tonight so I'll be watching him and my niece play. I just ran Nick to town to hook up with Adam, Trey and James to go snowboarding at Birch. I've go 1/2 an hour and it's back to get Elijah and shop for shorts for tonight's game. I seriously doubt I'll get anything done past more shovelling. I'll let you know if I do.

I do have to admit I'm glad I put "the list" out there. I know for a fact puppy baths would have been skipped last night if I hadn't listed it. I was tired and wanted to sit, but I was driven by "the public list". I think I may do this more often.

Thursday Thirteen

hgwhite@mosquitonet.com (Gayle) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 07:39:00 +0000

Have a list of 13 things you want to share? Go here!

Thirteen things I should really do tomorrow:

1. Shovel the sidewalk and stairs. We are supposed to get 2-6 inches of new snow depending on where you are. I think I've already got 3 or so.

2. Bake cookies. I picked up peanut butter chips, peppermint chips and creme de mint chips tonight at the store. Lots of cookies!

3. Catch up the laundry. Not sure what the deal is, but I'm several loads behind.

4. Clean out my truck. So many shoes/coats/boats/toys/clothes are making it hard to find a seat. And there are nine!

5. Take the bed frame out of Lucas' room. Then it will be empty, we can pull up the carpet, finish up the trim, re-carpet and it will be all done and ready to decorate. Yea!

6. Being preparation for the quilt I'm making someone for Christmas. Time will run out before I know it.

7. Pull out my flannel and find the pajama pattern. We were going to buy some pajamas for the girls tonight. They wanted $36 for a shirt and pants. I don't think so!

8. Call about ordering school photos for Nick. He neglected to bring home the form and now I need to see if I can still order them.

9. Work on hockey cd's. I finished burning 36 cd's with 2523 photos for the basketball parents and handed them out at the banquet. Now I've edited 2007 photos from a past hockey team and will give those photos to the parents. I should have done this two years ago, and the guilt rides on my shoulders all the time. I will finish them this week!

10. Bathe four of the dogs. They don't smell so great.

11. Start ripping apart the old kitchen. Looking forward to having a big bonfire with the cabinets. They are so not worth saving.

12. Fill the wild bird feeder. I bet they ran out of seed awhile ago.

13. Take time to soak my feet. My feet are so dry, cracked, calloused and nasty. I've got to start taking some time for myself.

Check back tomorrow and I'll let you know if I actually did anything on this list! :)

Dogs on Thursday: New Bed

hgwhite@mosquitonet.com (Gayle) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 07:00:00 +0000

Share your pup on Thursdays!

Roxie and Rusty love that I put the big dog bed in the chair next to my computer. They want to be as close to me as possible.

After 423 photos (not really, but it felt like it) this is the best I could get of all four together. How do you get your dogs to pose for photos? Mine just aren't trained well enough to sit still especially Ruby (green collar) and Sally (pink collar). They will be two December 27. Will they ever calm down?

This is how Roxie likes it best...the bed all to herself. Rusty would rather give it to her than lay next to her. Ornery little dogs.

This Way Thursway!

hgwhite@mosquitonet.com (Gayle) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 07:00:00 +0000

Come on....share a sign!

First time I've seen this version of a dog sign.

Tell Me Thursday: Pitch Black Dark

hgwhite@mosquitonet.com (Gayle) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 06:00:00 +0000

Do you Wordless Wednesday? Tell Me about it on Thursday!

Wednesday I shared the view from my truck while Elijah gets on the bus. Every morning at 6:32am we drive 1.2 miles up Isberg and .3 miles down Chena Ridge to sit in his father's driveway and wait for bus #36. At exactly 6:42am every.single.day the bus pulls up. This is a photo of the bus coming up the Ridge. It's dark. Very dark. No yard lights. No streets lights. No moon or stars. Just pitch black dark. I feel bad for the kids who have to walk down dark driveways to stand on this dark road in the bitter cold. (The bus will keep running at -40 or -50 or whatever insane temperatures we get). My son sits in a nice warm truck.

This is my drive home back down Isberg road. Pitch black dark. There are only three driveways off of this road and only one house is actually next to the road giving light. My house is the closest to this road, but my actual driveway is off of Bluegrass. I'm sure you can Google that if you are interested.

I'll be glad when my moose lights are actually on my truck so I can light up the world!

Wordless Wednesday

hgwhite@mosquitonet.com (Gayle) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 15:58:00 +0000

You can participate in Wordless Wednesday by going here!