Failures

We keep this Santa on the bathroom sink during Christmas. Dean and Jon are washing their hands and I hear Dean say to Jon "Dad, is this Jesus or is this Santa?" Jon turns and says to me "We have failed as parents." :)

Your Blog Address?

I lost some of my blogging motivation when I accidentally deleted all the bloggin' friends URL's. . . that was a sad moment. If you don't see yourself on here will you please send me your URL so I can add you to my list? I love to see when my friends/family update.

Halloween 2010

Here are few pictures taken before and during our church Halloween party. We are lucky to celebrate this holiday with cousins. There were a few unable to make it this year but the kids who were able to make it had a great time.

Last year at our church Halloween party I won a costume award dressed as "Sally from the Nightmare Before Christmas with Dean (age 2 then) dressed as my sidekick Jack Skellington." This year I won another award dressed in a Peacock costume I made. The prize I won was titled "Most Beautiful Costume". I won a creepy finger candle.

Our "Ice Princess" decided to be painted a puppy dog during the Halloween party.

Cleopatra

Batman has never been happier to be with his "best bud"Scooby-Doo

Who let this guy out? Funny story about this costume. There was a police officer parked near our car yesterday while we were waiting for our pizza to be ready. Wells, the Halloween enthusiast, was wearing his "convict" costume a few days early. I told Maren and Wells to check if the pizza was ready. They were stepping out of the car and Maren turns and says "Mom, I'm so worried the police officer is going to think Wells is a bad guy and take him away!"

Fairbanks Daily News-Miner - All voices should be heard AFN delegates missed out on Senate debate

Another article by my Mom, Jeannie Nelson.

Fairbanks Daily News-Miner - All voices should be heard AFN delegates missed out on Senate debate

Sid In The Whales Jaw

I had the opportunity to chaperone Sidney's Outdoor Education fieldtrip. It was 4 days and 3 nights. I couldn't have done it without the amazing support group I have in my friends and family. Outdoor ed was great!

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Crazy Day

Two days ago . . . Jon missed his airplane flight . . . got a speeding ticket in a construction zone . . . Dean cracked his chin open . . . Maren, Dean and I spent time in urgent care . . . Wells caused our bathroom toilet to overflow . . . neighbor was recruited to help turn off water . . . almost every towel in our house was needed to soak up the mess. It was a crazy day.

Fairbanks Daily News-Miner - Enjoying Alaska s fall harvests Hunting is educational and fulfilling

Jeannie Nelson is my Mom. She recently retired from teaching 1st grade and wrote this article found in the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. Check it out to gain perspective on my Alaskan roots.

Click on link to read.
Fairbanks Daily News-Miner - Enjoying Alaska s fall harvests Hunting is educational and fulfilling

What's Wrong With Me?

Saturday Jon (coach to Wells) Sidney, Maren & Wells had their first official soccer games. We had to drive two cars to get them all to and from their various locations on time. After the games we went to Jamba Juice to celebrate. As we were leaving the parking lot I was still parked in my car and facing Jon's car which was idling in front of me, and to my right, while Sid asked him a question. Farther in front of me, a little to my left, was a truck that began to reverse. I thought they saw Jon's car, with him and the twins in it. I saw the truck start to reverse in normal fashion and assumed it would stop just before getting to Jon & the twins . . . . . and then . . . . .it kept going!!!!! I began to scream like a freak, my doors and windows were closed so nobody heard me. I screamed "You are going to hit my family!!!!!" and then they hit them right in front of my eyes. The bumper to our car is pretty banged up, but thankfully, everybody is okay. What I am most concerned about is ME. What is wrong with me that I couldn't think to honk my horn? That would have been so simple. Why is it under pressure I become a WEIRDO? Yeesh. I better work on that.

Another Kindness

We ran out of milk the other day. I decided to drop by 7-11 to buy a gallon of milk and only had a $5.00/bill with me. The attendant told me to save money, I should buy two gallons for $5.50 than buy one gallon for almost $5.00. I didn't have any change. I said, "let me check my car for change." On my way back into the store another customer said "I paid it for you." So nice of him. I gave my .50 to the next customer who needed it. There really are nice people in the world.

Dean's Dental Appointment

Dean was a champ at the dentist.

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Random Act of Kindness

A complete stranger in the car in front of me paid my toll on the bridge.

They had no idea how my day was going. I was having a stressful morning and when I put my hand out to pay my $5.00 the toll clerk told me that the car in front of me had already paid for me. Surprise. I tried to catch up to the car to give a thankful wave, but they sped up and when the road split they drove to the right and I was headed left. Positive example. I hope I can return the random act of kindness. I will certainly pay for the car behind me the next time I cross the bridge. It brightened my day and I would love to brighten somebody else's day the way mine was. Thank you sweet stranger, you have encouraged me to be a better person.

Berry Pickers

I grew up picking berries in Alaska. We usually picked Blueberries and Raspberries but my favorite and harder to find are Salmonberries. Salmonberries are orange in color and tart yet sweet at the same time. I am pleased I was able to share this experience with my 4 children yesterday. They had the opportunity to pick berries and they each got to taste the flavor of Salmonberries. Yay! One more notch in their belt of life.

Update & Embarassing Moment

We have kept our prior home as a rental house and sadly our renters who we really loved decided to move back home to Ireland. I wish them the best. They are a great family. Our rental house is now back on the market and yesterday Jon, myself, Maren & Dean (Wells is in Alaska with my sister and her family, Sidney flew out yesterday to spend a week with her cousin) painted most of the interior. Dean did a good not touching the paint, brushes or rollers and Maren did a great job painting with the little brushes and the two of them worked so hard that I told her when we were done we would get slurpies. I wore a pair of pants I actually like to wear and when I got the first spot of paint on them I decided to turn them inside out. I also turned Maren't clothing inside out to prevent paint splatter. It was late in the evening when we finished and we were filthy. We drove to 7-11 and Maren and I went in and started making slurpies. The woman who works there asked me "Do you know your pants are on inside out?" OOOOOOOOPS!!!! I forgot I had turned our clothes inside out to prevent paint from ruining them. I had the largest pockets and they looked ridiculous. We had paint in our hair, on our faces, arms and feet. Pretty funny to be caught in public like that.

Talented Toe

I had to take a picture of Dean's new freedom. He realized he could open the window with his big toe. Even more recently, he became talented enough with his big toe to close the window too. I find it to be pretty funny and thought I would share.

School's Out & Comic Strips

School's out and so far. . . . . the kids have been very helpful around the house. They haven't complained about the jobs they've been asked to do (if they did, I blocked it out).

A few days ago, we had a wedding in our backyard. While getting the yard and house ready, we put the squeeze on the kids to work. Wells cleaned all the sinks and counters in the bathrooms, Sidney vacuumed the upstairs, Maren cleaned all the toilets and Dean sucked things up with the Dust Buster. Jon and I pulled up weeds and planted flowers. The wedding was a beautiful affair and we were pleased to be a part of it.

Yesterday the kids cleaned the baseboards in their designated areas and gathered all the garbage and carried the containers to the curb.

Today, after I let them sleep in, they cleaned the plantation shutters in their designated areas. They spent a nice time with a few friends at the local McDonald's play place, then we headed to the library so they could each pick out 2 fiction/2 non-fiction books and now they are at gymnastics while I write this post (thanks to Jannine my gymnastics carpool friend).

During Sidney's "downtime" she has been busy at work creating two comic strips. Jon and I both thought they were pretty good so I thought I would share. Sidney was pleased that I thought they were post worthy. I'm sure she would appreciate a comment or two.

Spring Sing

Maren & Wells are almost finished with Kindergarten. They were cute performers during their Kindergarten Spring Sing. Here are a few pictures of them just after with their friend Cassie.

Car Humor

My husband, Jon, used to often take the BART to get to his job in the city. In January he and his younger brother Greg started their own company which is now located in our town. They have received a few offers to buy their company and recently decided to merge with another company. It has been a whirlwind adventure to say the least.

Yesterday, I was driving with my 4 kids in the car next to a BART train and I hear Wells says "I think I see Dad on there." I said "Wells don't you remember your Dad now works in our town and no longer takes the BART?" Maren says "Yeah, remember his old MASTER was too hard on him so he got a new job?" Too funny. . . . I had to post.

Closet Believer

After receiving the picture of the tooth fairy in his room, I thought Wells was now a believer. I was with my kids before bed last night and I heard Wells say "The Tooth Fairy, Santa and Easter Bunny aren't real." Then he turned to me and whispered "I just said that so they would send me more pictures."

Quart Cabinet Picasso's

Jon gave me this antique quart cabinet for our one year wedding anniversary. We both really liked it at an antique store we saw in Northern California. I was very surprised, a few weeks later, when he gave me an envelope on our anniversary, which we were celebrating in Lake Minchumina, AK (very remote and rustic area), with a picture inside telling me it was mine. That was such a special moment. I loved it!

Fast forward to when we have 4 children . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

My first anniversary gift has now become the kids designated "Art Place". They each have a shelf and they love to look through their art they have done through the years. Their art collections are getting larger and larger and sometimes it is difficult to close the doors to the "Art Place". It annoys me a tad when that happens.

The other day I was talking with Sidney about how I am considering taking pictures of all the art and putting the pictures in binders so they could still remember it but our lives would be a little less cluttered.

Sidney's reply was "Mom, would you rather have a picture of a Picasso or the real thing?" I loved it. I guess I will keep the art place cluttered a little while longer.

She's Real!

Wells had doubts the tooth fairy was real (in addition to other magical characters). I felt a little sad that he was an unbeliever at the age of 6. He "mysteriously" received this picture a few mornings ago by the side of his bed. The girls were disappointed they did not have a picture with the Tooth Fairy. I told them I thought it was because they were already believers and maybe the Tooth Fairy wanted to keep Wells believing.

If you have unbelievers, Steven left me a great comment under my last post. Thanks for the tip!

Toothless Wells

Wells lost his first tooth at the age of 6. He was extremely uncomfortable trying to eat dinner before it came out so Jon took the tooth out with a napkin. Wells is so thrilled because his twin sister Maren has lost quite a few teeth.

Little Miss Muffet

Little Miss Muffet came to visit the other day. We were surprised to see her. She was so charming and we were disappointed when she ran out of time and had to run off to get ready for gymnastics.

My Best Mother's Day

This year was my best Mother's Day.

It started early in the morning by Jon asking me what I would like for breakfast. I said "We can have cereal." He said "No, you can pick whatever you want." So I said "German Pancakes (knowing I'm the only person in our household who makes them - I just wanted to see what he would say)." He said "OK." That was the best. I gave him the recipe and he made us German Pancakes. It was so thoughtful of him. My favorite part was watching him assemble the ingredients and review the recipe.

The kids made me special cards that they had been waiting for a few days to give to me:

My card from Dean (aided by Sidney).

My special ornament and note from Wells.

A card for me, made by Maren.

Sidney made me a 3D card and a few other Mother's Day items.

We attended Church and the children sang some of the same songs I loved to sing to my own mother when I was growing up.

After that, the girls performed in "Lard" by Barrett Lindsay-Steiner. "Lard" is a spin-off of the movie "Grease". All of the actors/actresses play the role of pigs coming back to high school after summer break is over. Barrett is so witty and he comes up with all of his own script, music and lyrics. It is truly enjoyable to watch the kids in Barrett's plays. He had a rose for each Mother in the audience.

Wells proudly held our place in line before they let the crowd in.

Maren, played Kathy, one of the students at the high school. She was a bit worried about her performance and was afraid. She remembered all her lines and her fear was not noticeable.

Sidney is becoming quite the little actress. She was very convincing in her role of "Barbie" one of the popular girls in the school. She seemed to really enjoy her experience.

Me with my girls.

Jon's Mom and Dad came and watched the performance and it was nice to spend time with them.

Then . . . . . .

That's not all! For dinner, Jon prepared a Mother's Day dinner of Mahi Mahi, Steamed Broccoli, Basmati Rice and Chilled Shrimp with Cocktail Sauce. It was delicious. The kids made the cutest efforts to set the table and it was so sweet.

Sidney's special shrimp arrangement.

Needless to say, I loved Mother's Day this year.

Garage Sales

A friend texted me last night and wanted to know if I wanted to hit a few garage sales with her this morning. I will almost always go if somebody compels me to visit a garage sale. I find them so intriguing. It's amazing to see the stuff people keep around, and sometimes it's even more amazing that they think I would want to pay for it. . . and . . . then there are the treasures. . . those one of a kind things you find that nobody else will be able to easily duplicate. I love to try to talk them down. I love it when I feel like I got a good bargain! Neither of us had any luck this morning but it was fun to get out with my friend in search of . . . treasure!

Double Diaramas

The twins did their first diarama's for a kindergarten homework assignment. They had to select a wild animal book, read it, report on it and then create a diarama about it. Maren chose to do hers on the Deer. Wells chose to do his on the Shark. Initially they were not very thrilled but after we started getting the boxes together they got very involved. Here are a few pics for your viewing pleasure.

Parking Lot & Cranky Me

Today I went to Target with Dean (who still uses a car seat) and a few of my kids. I recall taking a little time to park my vehicle in the parking spot so that my car was in the middle of the white lines. When I returned to my car I was surprised that somebody had parked to the left of my car with the tail end of their car going over the white lines into my parking spot. Needless to say, it was very difficult to get Dean into his car seat with my car being so close to the car on the left. I started to feel a bit cranky. I thought, obviously the person who parked to my left doesn't have children and doesn't realize how hard it can be to get them into their car seat if there isn't enough space. I tried to be careful not to damage the car with my door, even though my mind was thinking it would serve them right if they got a ding. So. . . . . with my limited arm mobility, I squeeze Dean and my arms and shoulders into the space and blindly hope he lands in the right spot. Then I begin to remember the shapes of the car seat buckles as my eyes can't see if I am securely fastening him. I am in this precarious position when I notice the young mother who shows up to her car on my left. Shockingly, she has a child in her cart. I thought she was going to say something along the lines of "Oh! I'm so sorry, I didn't realize my car was so poorly positioned in my haste to get into Target!" . . . . . .but she said absolutely nothing. She sat there with her cart and child for a moment and then got into her car. She didn't even acknowledge my existence! At least she didn't try to drive away while I was still trying to blindly get Dean's seatbelt to click. I squeezed my way through to the front door of my car and got in, grateful I wasn't wearing clothing that would show I had rubbed up against two cars. She then drives away. I was feeling pretty cranky at that point. I'm over it now, but still amazed at the inconsiderate people we sometimes run into. Yeesh.

Maren & Emma

Emma is one of three pet turtles we have living in our pond. Yesterday, unbeknownst to me, Maren decided to take the one named Emma with us to a birthday party being held in the park across town. Thankfully Sidney notified me before we left her in our hot car for the duration of the party. We took her to the party and created a temporary habitat for "Emma" in a large planter box which had many old leaves in it. The kids at the park were very intrigued by Emma and at one point I wondered if she would need a bodyguard. After the birthday party was over, I drove the kids directly to gymnastics and I told Maren to leave the turtle in the car so I could take her home with me. I searched the car for that turtle and could not find it. I thought maybe it fell out of the car when the kids had opened the door. I walked around the outside area of gymnastics and didn't see her. I called gymnastics and they asked Maren about the turtle. She told them "It's in the place where you keep food." Yuck. Eeeewww. I didn't realize we had a place like that. I went to the very back of the car and opened the side compartment. There was the turtle, sleeping in it's shell. I'm so grateful we got that little turtle back into the pond where it belongs. I can only begin to imagine the stench my car would have had in a few days.

A Lonely Thank You

Lonely? How is it that we can be surrounded by people all day (and sometimes night) long and feel lonely? I am referring to the plight of the "stay at home mom".

I would like to say thank you to my blogging friends for taking the time to pop-in and make comments on my blog. I have really come to love your comments and I have to say it makes me feel closer to you. I know many of us are living parallel lives and it's nice to know we are all going through similar motions at the same time. Thanks to you I know I am not alone and I appreciate your friendship.

Diet Soda vs. Guitar

I amaze myself. I still haven't had a diet soda. It's been 3 weeks now. I felt mighty tired this morning but just drank a little water and moved on with my day. It was my own fault because I stayed up until 1a.m. researching guitars. Did I mention I decided to take the money that I was using on diet soda's and put it towards guitar lessons? Does anybody have an acoustic guitar they are no longer using? You could really help me out because I realize learning guitar is probably costing me a little more $ than my diet soda addiction. Learning to play the guitar is certainly better for me and my family than drinking diet soda's to my hearts content. Right?

Trip to Humboldt County

Spur of the moment trip to a beach in Humboldt County. Here's Wells getting ready to experience the waves.

Dean was absolutely terrified of the waves. I'm not sure if it was the sound or the movement of the waves that scared him more. He ran away as quickly as he could from them and never ventured back. I got a moment to make my baby feel safe.

Sidney and Maren helping me remember what it is like to be a kid in the water. Eventually Maren got knocked over by a wave and hopefully learned to respect the power of the ocean.

Brief as it was, we all had a great time. We could have driven right by and avoided the beach which would create a sand mess in the car, etc. I'm grateful we stopped and made a small memory and hopefully we will be inspired to act on impulse again.

I love how the picture below shows Sidney's obvious delight of the waves.

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Diet Coke is like a little God to you.

Diet Soda Anonymous? I love Diet Soda. I don't discriminate. I will drink it the next day even if it's been sitting in my cars cup holder all night long. McDonald's Diet Coke is my particular favorite but I will drink any diet soda if it's around. Why drink your calories? So. . . . . . two very long weeks have gone by and I still have not had a DIET SODA, it's crazy! If anybody knows me, or anybody on my Dad's side of the family, they will know I come from a long line of soda drinking people. Dean my 2 year old boy loves my drinks almost as much as I do. I feel guilty when I see a chair that has been moved from the table over to where my drink was on the counter and know that he has helped himself to a sip. It is a problem. Two weeks ago, Sidney says to me "Mom, Diet Coke is like a little God to you." Yeesh. Then and there I stopped drinking carbonation. A week went by and I was using my big gulp container to drink my water. Maren comes up and says "Mom, what are you drinking?" I tell her I'm drinking water and she gives me a big infectious smile. She says "Diet Soda is not good for your body." Those girls of mine, they are going to keep me on my no carbonation plan. I still think about Diet Soda and imagine myself going to get a drink at the drive through but so far I haven't had one. I'm waiting to see amazing results from my lack of soda intake, but so far, nothing yet.

I Wanna Lickey

My Head Injury

On September 1st (my 23rd birthday), 1997, I suffered a depressed skull fracture which happened during a car accident. We were leaving my grandparents house in Idaho and heading to Salt Lake City, Utah to drop my brother Ethan off at the airport so he could catch his flight back to Fairbanks, Alaska.

We made the local paper which was a bit inaccurate. It was Ethan Nelson (my brother), not Randy Nelson (my dad), who was also in the car. They also didn't mention that the grain truck driver did not use his left turn signal when he decided to turn left onto the farm road.

Here is Jon's car. I was the front passenger and my brother Ethan was sitting behind me. We were all wearing our seatbelts and listening to my soundtrack from Evita when the accident happened. Thankfully, I was the only one seriously injured.

Our accident happened in Newdale, ID. Initially they didn't know how serious my injury was and took me in an ambulance to Rexburg, ID. Once there, they realized the severity of my injury and put me on a life flight that took me from Rexburg, ID to Idaho Falls, ID.

Here is a picture of the staples still in my head before they were removed. I had a depressed skull fracture and they had to remove the pieces of my skull that had been in my brain. I had complete hearing loss in my left ear which slowly came back after a few weeks to 95%. My parents and sister were told they needed to come from Alaska as it was a 50/50 chance if I lived or died. I have complete memory loss of the first week in the hospital and I remember bits and pieces of the second week. I remember asking "What happened to me?" quite often. I referred to my Mom as 239. I referred to my Dad, Ethan and Jon as Count. It's amazing how the neurons in my brain slowly began to reroute themselves enabling me so finally refer to things the right way.

Here is a picture of me and Jon, who was my boyfriend at the time, during my recovery at the hospital. I had to do physical, occupational and speech therapy during my hospital time. I did occcupational and speech therapy during my home recovery.

Initially they shaved one side of my head. Thankfully, my aunt Vicky cut my hair to make me look a little more symmetrical. Here I am at one of my first outings, which was to Tatuphaus Park Zoo, in Idaho Falls, ID, I remember not being able to read any of the signs describing the animals. The words looked so foreign, yet I knew I had been able to read a few days prior.

Everybody was so supportive, I received many visitors, flowers, cards and gifts. Those things really brightened my days. Here I am saying farewell to my Idaho friends and family. My immediate family then flew back to Alaska for further recovery.

After my accident, there was concern that I would suffer from seizures and I had to have constant supervision. Luckily, I have never had a seizure. My parents are both school teachers and had to go back to work. Jon, a recent college graduate, came to Alaska and helped care for me during my recovery. His parents then offered to let me stay with them in California for some of my recovery. When my accident happened, I had one class left in college (my senior thesis) before I could graduate. I got my degree in Sociocultural Anthropology and had done all of the participant observation, but still had to complete my senior thesis. It was a 50 page paper. That was very daunting considering I couldn't read anymore. My college professor was great and gave me time to complete it. My mother in-law was great too. She asked me every day how things were coming along on my paper and I always felt like I had to have an answer. I attribute some of my college success to my mother in-law. She's great.