Thai Lotus

 

The Peless Family has a tradition of eating Chinese food on Christmas Eve. We called around to all the local places to find our options knowing that many may be closed for the holidays. Last year we had some really good Chinese food at a local restaurant here and were looking forward to this night to order from them once again. Well, they were our first call and their answering machine said, "We are closed until further notice." BUMMER!! So, we tossed around a few ideas....going and getting the fixings and doing it ourselves, looking in the frozen aisle to see what we could just warm up in the oven or calling more restaurants. We and already been working on projects all day and didn't want to have to make food for ourselves so we called around some more. We ended up going with Thai instead because they were the only restaurant in town open and we didn't want to risk driving far away and then having grumpy children when we got there. As you can see from the pictures we were the ONLY ones in the restaurant. We felt kind of like on the movie "The Christmas Story" and realized that this tradition wasn't shared by too many people here in Alaska. In Michigan the Chinese place we went to there was PACKED on Christmas Eve. The food was fine----quite spicy---and we enjoyed that we were able to leave the mess there. The kids were GREAT, we actually might take them out in public again sometime. After our bellys were full to our satisfaction we drove around town looking at the Christmas lights and then went home to open one present and read the story of the Savior's birth from the Bible.

Such a pretty pony---Micali's best friend

Micali has recently developed a new love for her pretty pony she got for Christmas last year. She rocked on it all the time when she first got it and even had to kiss little Denali goodnight before bed. Then we moved houses and Denali found a home in the play room downstairs. She would ride him and listen to him sing occasionally but now.....her relationship with Denali is at an all time high. There is no where she goes around the house that Denali isn't right at her side. Denali even has a special blanket and pillow and sleeps right at the foot of Micali's bed. The other day I was upstairs feeding Eli and Micali was playing downstairs. Next thing I know she has Denali cradled in her arms and was bringing him upstairs with her. It is fun to see her little imagination run wild. She used to hold a little stuffed animal and rock it while I was singing to Eli before naps and bed. Now she picks up this pony and rocks him back and forth--it doesn't really bother her that it is almost hersize. Well, as you can see from the pictures of her on Denali last year she has grown quite a bit. Especially that crazy blond hair she has. I should also point out in her recent pictures she has also started dressing herself. Mommy can't help(this is only allowed when we aren't going anywhere). This morning after showering she put her pajamas back on all by herself. Both of them inside out and backwards.

 

pink eye 11 months

 

My poor little boy has had a rough week. Monday he woke up with Pink eye and he has also been try to cut a few teeth. He is on the mend now and we are hoping for two healthy weeks while daddy is home with us for TWO WEEKS of Christmas break. Have I mentioned I LOVE being married to a school teacher? Back to Eli--I am thinking he is going to be on the move anyday now. He is trying the backward inchworm and started a little army crawl today. We seriously need to get the rest of the flooring done so we can get all the tools out of this little boys reach. Watch out world ELI is coming!

Kindergarten art class

 

I feel like a little kid in art class every time I get out my sculpey clay to make ornaments. I am only able to make these by looking at a picture. Actually the ornaments that have step by step picture directions are even more helpful. I first learned how to make these at a craft day at church about 2 years ago. My first experience wasn't that great but, I did ask for more for Christmas that year in hopes that someday I would be able to make a masterpiece. I had a lot of fun making these ornaments this year and compared to my first ones these look pretty good. I made a chubby baby under a blanket for Eli, a ladybug for Micali, and a Penguin family sledding on a candy cane for all of us! We will have to wait and see if anything else gets made this year.

10 am SUNRISE!

 

I remember my mom coming in and waking us up in the morning SUPER early and telling us it was time to get busy we were burning daylight. I think if I were raised in Alaska it would have been sweet to be woke up at 10 o'clock in the morning because we were finally burning daylight. Only two more days until the shortest day of the year and we will again be gaining hours that the sun will grant us with its presence!!

A new toy for my boy!

 

I found these cute stacking vehicles at Fred Meyer last weekend. I was looking to see if there was anything I could find that Eli might like. I was so excited when I found these and just knew he would love them. So, I thought why make the poor kid wait three weeks to play with them. I opened them up as soon as we got home and he has LOVED playing with them. I did save the box so I can get a picture of him unwrapping it at Christmas!

Grandma's Chocolate Chip Cookies.

 

Micali enjoyed helping me make these cookies. She loves helping me make anything but this is the first time I have got her to try the dough. I loved the looks I captured as she tried it.
I also learned a lesson while making these cookies --- Don't mess with the best! I have enjoyed this recipe since Luke and I have been married. This recipe is the one his mom uses and, she is famous for them. Well, this time I tried to make them a little more healthy-whole grainish. I substituted some wheat flour and added in some oatmeal and peanut butter. They did turn out okay and, I felt better about Micali eating lots of them. However, when you are wanting the real deal this just didn't cut it. It was worth the try though. Next time I want a nice whole-grain cookie I will go for Oatmeal-Raisin.

Paint and flooring!

I have been holding off on posting these because our house is still a mess and stuff is everywhere so it is hard to get a picture. The carpet is gone now from the living room, hallway, and Eli's room. We have finished the wood flooring in Eli's room and the living room. I got a couple pictures of Eli on the new flooring so you can see what it looks like.
We painted our Entry way red. The ceilings are all white. The rest of the living room is antique white except for the back wall which we painted the color the ceiling used to be. We were surprised how much brighter it makes the house. We are still working on touching up and recoating some spots but here are some pictures of the work in progress!!
You can click on the collages to make them bigger!

 

 

Growing like a WEED!!!

 

When Micali wore this dress yesterday I remembered getting a few pictures of her in it when she first got it from Aunt Lois. I thought it was fun to see how much she has grown!

Instead of taking a nap......

I decided instead of taking my normal Sunday afternoon nap I would download my newest pictures to share. I took these of Micali and Eli today as soon as we got home from church. Micali wanted nothing to do with it so I was surprised that a couple of them actually turned out. As shown below Eli was his calm self and just smiled away!

 

Micali is talking so much now. The other night Luke and I went to some friends house to play games, so we got a babysitter. Micali just loves Sasha. She calls her on her play cell phone everyday to see how she is doing. She of course doesn't really talk to her, but she always tells me Sasha is good. Well, the other night I was getting ready, so Luke went to pick her up. Micali came in and said, Where is daddy? And I said, Sasha is coming to play with you. She looked at me and said, "Daddy is going to get my friend Sasha?" I told her he was and she went to wait for her with anticipation. Later I was telling Luke about it and we wondered what Micali would think if she knew Sasha was being paid to be her friend. We really do love having Sasha come over. It is nice to have someone that Micali loves so much!

Eli is still rolling all over the place. We thought with the hardwood floor he would have to learn not to do it but it doesn't seem to bother him. However he is working on a new move right now too. It is the backward inch worm. He holds himself up on his hands and then his little bum comes up and he scoots backwards. It was HILARIOUS to watch!