Last post about Fairbanks

Just for the sake of not being a quitter let's have a final post about our trip to Fairbanks.

It was cold. 

The End. 

Okay, before "The End", Scott thought it would be cool to drive out to see the Alaskan Pipeline. 

I thought it would not be cool. 

So he went by himself at 6 AM, while the rest of us slept. 

Aren't I the BEST wife?

Probably not, but I'm glad he got a picture. 

Our drive back to Anchorage was eventful and complete eye candy. 

We happened upon this lovely (and wild) herd of caribou just outside of Denali National Park:

It was just a gorgeous day filled with breathtaking views:

And to top it all off the majesty herself made an appearance. 

Denali:

(or Mt. Mckinley as all of you "none" Alaskans would say)

No where I ever live will be as beautiful as this place. 

I feel so grateful to be here now. At this moment. In my home. With my fighting children. 

Because let's face it, no matter where we are they will always be fighting so it may as well be beautiful outside. 

A binki, a boy, and hotel room decor.

There was more than just having fun for us when we went to Fairbanks/North Pole/Santa's house. 

I love staying in hotels.

Love it. 

So do my kids. 

However, Henry only likes them until he realizes he's so confined inside the room. 

But seriously, just look at this picture: 

Oh, my body is aching to climb inside that bed with my 3 charmers and watch a great Disney movie!

Don't you want to too?

I know. 

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh......

*okay, I slapped myself back into reality*

So, in said hotel room was this cool vase:

I promise I'm going somewhere with this. 

Contrary to this picture's visual, there is a shelf that extends over the opening of this vase. 

(about a 3 inch gap)

The vase is cemented into the cabinet. 

Now, I understand that this picture looks like an inanimate object at the bottom of someones uvula,
 but that is, in fact, Henry's precious binki at the bottom of said vase. 

(picture taken with my phone slid over the opening of the vase)

Like any other good mom out there I only brought 1 binki. 

For about 20 good minutes Scott and I debated about whether one of us should run to the nearest market to buy a new one. 

The fact that it was -20 outside, that it was so cold that we had to plug and unplug our car every time we turned it off, and that we were lazy brought us to the conclusion that we should roll with it and cut Henry off of this thing cold turkey. 

It worked!!

I'm proud to say that we have now been binki free for 4 weeks!

So glad we didn't have to rely on therapy for this one. 

Happy Music

I am not much in the mood for blogging. 

I know. 

What has happened to you Chablis??

Still, I feel a deep need to connect to you, my dears. 

But I don't want to tell you a story. 

So, I'll just share with you my favorite music of the moment:

I am in love with this album! 

It's happy. 

And heaven knows I need all the external lifts I can get these days. 

You can check Miss Jess Penner out HERE.

Or go download on itunes. I promise you won't be disappointed!

Repaired.

Whoa.

 I hate computer problems. 

Love my computer. 

Hate when it gets all uptight. 

Love family who can help us fix our computer over the phone even more! 

(Thanks Randall!!)

So, let's do some catch up of our New Years weekend. 

The girls enjoyed a slumber party in their girly camo tent until they wouldn't go to sleep and we made them get  in their own beds. (we're so mean)

Henry discovered his secret hut the next morning and thought he could get away with this:

Then we headed to Downtown Anchorage to play in Town Square. 

An ice maze. Scott and I were majorly disappointed to find the maze so small. 

Why can't they make "corn maize" sized ice mazes?

We admired the ice sculptures.

And we went to our awesome friends house to eat, play and watch fireworks!

(Bobbi, Robyn, and babies)

(Heather and Caiden)

Now, I'm so grateful for cool friends who spend practically Scott's entire months salary on amazing fireworks and share the show with us. 

Seriously, this was Stadium of Fire worthy!

As the temperatures warmed up through the weekend the snow became perfect snowman snow!

Scott and the kids made a snowman portrait of our family. 

Henry:

Gracie and Lydia

(holding hands)

The Mr. and the Mrs. 

(he has his arm around me. *smile*)

And if you can spot little Zeus, then you win the game. 

Thanks for visiting the Adams family!

Come back soon!

If we become millionaires...

There was a short article in January issue of the magazine "Runner's World" on the 

North Pole Marathon. 

We loved the town North Pole so much *please note sarcasm* that Scott decided to look into it. 

This marathon, mind you, is at the REAL North Pole. 

Looks fun right?

*more sarcasm*

I just love the idea of having a polar bear eat me while I'm running the worlds coldest and most painful marathon! *sarcasm*sarcasm*sarcasm*

I am not being sarcastic when I tell you that my husband would be VERY serious about running this race if it weren't for the outrageous cost of 15 thousand big ones. 

I mean, come on! This guy looks totally refreshed! 

*if you can't note my sarcasm by now, I just don't know what to tell you*

I am not being sarcastic when I tell you that as my other half walked out the door this evening to walk the dog he said, "That is on my list to do when we become millionaires."

Project: Christmas

Successful. 

What? You think I took pictures on Christmas?

Don't you know me any better than that?

I believe...

We just arrived home from an

 *Amazing 

*Alaskan 

*Adventure. 

If any of you have doubts about the validity of Mr. Kris Kringle, let me put them to rest. 

I have met the REAL 

Santa Claus. 

And I have the pictures to prove it. 

It all began with a 6 hour drive north, to: 

Santa Claus house:

Here we are with the ol' man himself:

The kids were simply awe struck. 

I was so pleased to see that right next to Santa was this GORGEOUS display:

The kids took a minute to soak it up before we did a little shopping,

then headed outside. 

This is a big deal because it was -20 degrees. 

Santa's reindeer are protected by a double layer fence, which makes it hard to take good pictures. 

Scott got some awesome pictures of the fence:

(I have to rub this in because I like to feel good knowing that I'm not THE worst photographer in the world, there will always be Scott to take that place)

This was the only reindeer that felt friendly, and we didn't bother to try to hard because our faces were burning and turning black. (okay, not really turning black, but it felt like it)

But don't worry, we actually saw wild caribou on our drive home, which was...

totally awesome! 

*I'll show you those pictures in another post.*

What can I say?

I can't believe it's been SO long since I blogged. 

Usually my life is surrounded by thoughts like,

"What can I do today that would be fun to blog about?"

Lately though, my brain has been overwhelmed with memorizing exercise routines and getting a small and totally awesome boutique off the ground. 

(aside from my usual taking care of the family, paying bills, etc. gig)

The business has definitely taken it's toll on my home, my family, and my body. 

I'm growing purple bags under my eyes.

I have a split on the side of my lip which I always get when I'm stressed. 

My body feels tired and achy. 

I have this totally POSH and terrifical friend (you know I'm talking about you miss HR) who always has these awesome self portraits on her blog. 

I thought, "Gee, why don't I ever do that?"

Then I remembered.

 "Oh! It's because I always look like this":

And feel like this:

But while I'm at it I might as well throw in the usual "kissy face":

Okay, don't worry. I won't be posting self portraits any time soon again. 

But on a lighter note, my dear Henry always seems to brighten my day in some way or another. 

Today it was this small incident: 

He got himself stuck in Gracie's bed. 

**SMILE**

My halls are decked

At my sister's request, I am posting some pictures of my Christmas decor. 

It's nothing to rave about, but it feels homey and pretty. 

(please ignore my fallen pictures stashed behind the piano. I can't get them to stay on my wall)

Just imagine: white blinds...someday.

I should have lit the fireplace. It would have looked much more comforting. 

Don't the tissue poms look gorgeous? My super model business partner, Marianne made those to go with our Twigs & Twirl display. I thought I'd just leave them up instead of storing them in a box. :)

The twigs are also part of our display, they are naked now, but look stunning draped in our sparkly necklaces!

A weekend to remember

We had a fantastic Thanksgiving. 

My sweet friend, Robyn, opened her BRAND, spankin', NEW home to us and a few of our crazy friends. 

(I say a few because the other half of our friends ditched us and went to Hawaii for the holiday. P'shaw!)

Here I am.

I practiced this face for hours and I think Brooke got the image just right. 

Great food, great friends, and a blizzard outside. You can't get more happy than this. 

Oh, but dinner was not where our holiday ended. 

My girls and I went Black Friday shopping. 

The entire day before we spent at a table mapping out our route and making our lists.

I'm not lying when I tell you my heart was racing as we prepared for these moments!

Here we are waiting in line to storm Target. We were 15 minutes late and still had to wait in line!

Merm and I were in love with Target's Black Friday commercials so we decided to do a little of our own "shopping fitness training". 

I had my heart completely set on getting an awesome T.V. deal at Best Buy. 

My awesome friend, Robyn sat next to the t.v. I wanted to make sure no one took the last one while I waited in line. 

Isn't she the BEST!?

I felt like we spent half our lifetime waiting in those lines. 

Sheesh!

Our shopping extravaganza was a huge success!