Amanita Muscaria...gets scaria and scaria!

Pardon the pun there. Thing One took this photo last summer of this frisbee size mushroom that grew, along with various other sized siblings, in my backyard. I didn't think much of it until one day when I realized, 'hey(!) that thing could be poisonous!' So I googled the darn thing tonight. Apparently we shouldn't have chopped it up and put it in our spaghetti sauce. Mom, I was making a joke just there. We put it in your spaghetti sauce when you came to visit...again kidding. Nah, we actually only eat the brown ones off the sides of the trees. Heh.

This mushroom is one of the "death cap" species, called Amanita Muscaria. Here's the wiki link. We are now on mushroom watch this year. And yes, if you were wondering, the term "death cap" doesn't relate in any way to nutritional goodness...um, yeah.

K.

Sleep is for the weak.

So giving him Melatonin didn't help Scrunt sleep better.

We gave it a good shot though. What actually happened when we gave it to him is like what happens when he gets Tylenol as opposed to Ibuprofen. Wired. Wired is the right word for it. That doesn't make for good sleep.

For those of you just catching up, Scrunt is my two year old. He doesn't sleep. He has never slept. Even as a little baby. Even in my bed. Or his bed. Or on my shoulder. Or anywhere. (I feel like that should be the beginning of some warped Dr. Seuss style story there...but I digress). We've tried a lot of different approaches. The only thing that works? Drugs. The only time this kids sleeps is with the proper dose of Ibuprofen. Then, in the morning...he is a different child. Happy, alert, HAPPY! Otherwise he tends to be quite the tired, cranky, harassing, annoying, inconsolable child. Overall, he's miserable. So once every few weeks we drug our 2 year old...oh yes we do...so he can feel a bit more normal and caught up on some seriously lost sleep.

Sometime soon when he is less anxious we will get him a sleep study. To find out what is wrong with his sleep patterns. Until then, we buy stock in Ibuprofen. And until then, Big and I don't plan on getting any real sleep.

*Side note: Smudgie sleeps like a tin can. It's freaking awesome but completely and utterly unexpected. Maybe I got a real good sleeper to offset you know who. I can't imagine how insanely tired I would be right now if I had two that didn't sleep at all, ever, anywhere. GAH, the thought makes me shudder.

Advice internets?
K.

Why I am the worst mom E-VER.

It has been tough around here lately. Thing One is BORED with all this "beautiful weather" that over-rules most indoor schlumping around which includes playing the Wii or Nintendo DS or watching tv. I am more bored and annoyed by his over the top dramatics and his reactions to consequences of said dramatic behavior.

Today he has decided to move out. He wants to know where the luggage is. He wants to live with another family. He thinks being in this family is just too much "bad" and not enough "getting what I want all the time, every time". He is convinced that I ask too much. He is only 9 after all, surely other families are much more amenable to letting their kids do whatever, whenever and however they want.

So just for you Thing One, I am compiling a list of exactly the things that you say make me the worst mom ever. You know what? Your constant whining about how bad things are for you...makes me FEEL like a bad mother, even though I know I am not (it's all so elementary schoolish) and that I am teaching you valuable life lessons. Thanks though for makings things just that much harder to be a mom.

So without further adieu...I am the worst mother ever because I ask you to...

1. Pick up your clothes off the FLOOR and into the laundry basket.
2. Fold and put away your laundry too.
3. Clear the table...perhaps even to help load the dishwasher.
4. Keep an eye on your little brothers while I (choose one: go to the bathroom, answer the door, put (your copious amounts of) laundry in the washer, make lunch.
5. Go to bed at a decent time.
6. Do your homework.
7. Eat your vegetables.
8. Speak in a respectful manner to EVERYONE.
9. Play outside on beautiful, gorgeous Alaskan summer days.
10. Put away the Nintendo.
11. Turn off the tv.
12. Stop the dramatics.
13. Treat your brothers kindly.
14. Get up for church on Sundays.
15. Have family time on Sundays.
16. Help with the general day to day tidying that everyone in our house is asked to participate in.
17. Read good books.
18. Not eat too much junk food.
19. Save some of your money.
20. QUIT YOUR FREAKING WHINING ABOUT EVERYTHING I ASK YOU TO DO!

Please note, if the preceding list are things that you internets do NOT ask your children to do on a regular basis, or if you think I am a completely unreasonable mother and Thing One is completely correct, I have a 9 year old that would like to apply for membership in your family poste-haste. Please forward all documentation required and the transfer ownership will be quick, easy and painless...until of course he realizes the reality of life.

K.

Tan tan bo ban...with a side of pasty.

Apparently my children needed to move to Alaska to perfect the art of the sun tan. Who knew?!

Thing One (and all my children) has been slightly less than tanned the last three years, due to the nature of the weather patterns we've had. Usually, he easily gets a nice glow when out in the sun (and the snow for that matter) but this year he looks amazingly healthy when it comes to his skin. We liken his tone to my sister's who is commonly mistaken for one of Mediterranean descent. My first born looks down right native once summer is over and this year is no exception but there is something about his tan that radiates. Thing Two is a slightly lighter pasty yogurt color all year round...kind of like his mother. He never really tanned back home, just grew freckles all over his little white face. This wonderful Alaskan summer has bestowed upon him a beautiful brown tan (still freckly)...making him look less anemic and more healthy. Even little Scrunt bears the makings of a little tan. Smudgie is the odd man out and coming a close second and third is mom and dad...maybe next year we'll manage to be outside enough to tan up! Just call us the pasty three.

Alaska is enjoying beautiful weather, which is totally making up for the craptastic summer we had here (4 months of rain, non-stop!) and I am not complaining. Some I suppose would consider 22 - 24 oC quite chilly but not us (the weather widget on my sidebar is in Celcius people...I am Canadian!). This is the perfect weather for just about anything...not too hot or cold...not too sweaty! I do have to laugh though when people from warmer states come up here for holidays...you can easily pick them out on the street and in the stores in their sweat shirts and pants, coats often too! They are "freezing their butts off"...their words not mine.

So I hope you are all enjoying your summer so far internets. It is purely enjoyable here.
K.

Proof.

Some have asked that I blog a few pictures to show how light it is during the summer here. Keeping in mind that summer solstice was a few weeks ago and we are actually losing light now, this is what it looks like from my front patio slightly past midnight. It only gets to about twilight now before the birds wake up at 3am to start their day. By October end, it is twilight by 3pm in the afternoon and pitch by 4pm.

Chugach mountains to the east

More Chugach mountain range

Across the street and up a culdesac from my house, due north.

Cool right?

K.

May the fourth be with you.

Happy Independence Day to all my American friends! This is the first year that we will be here to celebrate properly...and man do you Americans know how to throw a party!

Of course, I have to giggle a bit that this holiday is to celebrate the United States' freedom from the "tyranny" of Great Britain. Of note is that the four northern British colonies didn't seem to feel the same way about the oppressive British and hence we have Canada and the United States living side by side in peace and harmony (*snicker*).




Happy 4th!
K.