In all honesty, I log into blogger on an almost-daily basis. I read everyone else's blogs often (especially in keeping up with what everyone in my massive family is doing!). I knew that I hadn't posted in a while, but I glanced at MY blog stuff...and realized it hadn't been in almost a year! So...plenty has happened. Nothing TOO exciting. There will be no pictures with this post, because I'm substitute teaching at the moment. Don't judge....the teacher left them book work, they're honors history classes, and there isn't much for me to do besides attendance and "refereeing", if you will. Here's what I say will be a "quick", but will probably end up being long winded update of the past year or so:
Last summer was filled with lots of Alaskan "touristy" stuff. We drove out to Talkeetna for the day, climbed Flattop, went gold panning, visited the Wildlife Preserve and Portage Glacier (or rather lake, since the glacier has receeded so much!), went on a halibut charter, took the kiddos "fishing" in a "lake" (ie: ridiculous looking pond), and spent more than a few weekends at the cabin in Sutton. Pictures to come later....probably more like Sunday or Monday.
Fall brought Koda home from Kodiak, and school started for both him and I. He started 2nd grade at the neighborhood school, Abbott Loop Elementary (just a block from our home), and it was rough! He went from a private school in which virtually every child was well behaved, the parents were very active, and class sizes were small (capped at 15, but there was 12 in his 1st grade). He arrived at Abbott Loop, into a class which even the teachers (he has 2...1 for the morning, 1 for the afternoon) would describe as "horrible". There were LOTS of "problem" students...ie: parents could care less and weren't involved at all! He started picking up bad habits and didn't make friends nearly as easily as he once did. After the 1st quarter, I seriously considered homeschooling him. But....it slowly got better. A few of the problem students moved/changed classes/schools/etc. And Koda eventually made a few friends and started to fit in a bit better. His grades have improved considerably, from lots of N's to lots of S and S+. While he's AT LEAST a grade level ahead in both math and reading, he somehow didn't test into the Ignite program (a once a week pull out program for accelerated students), which really bummed us out. In fact, when sub teaching in a 3rd grade class across the hall from him a few days ago, I was going over a math lesson with the kids. We were going over splitting $ evenly between __ number of people. I asked the class, "So if each person has $15, there's 3 people, how much $ has been distributed?" After a long pause, a couple times of me asking in different ways, Koda pops his head into the room and answers for them! He had been listening the whole time....on the way to the bathroom...little spy!
In the fall, I took Organic Chemistry I, Physics I, and Biology II. In the end, Organic Chemistry KILLED me, and I ended up auditing the class. I also learned that I hate physics, and still love biology. Because the university really messed up Organic Chem and Physics schedules for THIS fall, I get to take Physics II this summer, in the valley! So 2 hours of driving and 6 hours of class per day, 3 days per week, thankfully only 6 weeks this summer. And then I'll never have to take physics again! This fall will only be Organic Chem II (I'm in OChem I right now...for the second time), which will be nice, since the lab is ridiculously time consuming, and I'll be in class or lab 5x/week for one class! In December, I will officially be DONE with all prerequisites for medical school, which will free up some time next spring to study for the MCAT in April, and Medical School applications starting in June! I can't wait!
Last September, Koda turned 7 and we had his birthday at H2Oasis (indoor water park) with a few friends (and cousins, of course!). George and I made an insanely elaborate, tiered, Mario cake. It turned out amazing! I was even recognized at a local bakery/specialty cake shop as the "maker" of the mario cake (they had seen it on Facebook!). November brought Kylee's 1st birthday, and in staying up with tradition again, I made an adorable pink, purple, and white pearlized tiered "princess" cake, complete with hanging crystals from the top tier! I'll post pictures of each cake later.
Christmas didn't disappoint, with Santa bringing a play kitchen for Kylee and Brady, and a hot wheels Mustang for all three kids (one car....not three!). There were plenty of other smaller gifts, and the kiddos had a blast! We did Christmas a week early, before we went to Chena Hot Springs, and before Koda had to leave for Kodiak. My parents, Scott, Heather, the twins, and our family all went up to Santa's House at the North Pole and Chena Hot Springs for a night. Since George's brother, Alan and his family moved up to Fairbanks last fall, they were able to come with as well! The kids had a blast, even though Santa wasn't there. It was apparently his day off......5 days before Christmas?! What kind of Santa takes a day off the Saturday before Christmas?! Anyways, they had fun at the ice park next to Santa's as well, we ate at Pagoda (seriously, the best food in North Pole/ONLY good food in NP), and then went drove to Chena. The kids had a blast...except Koda who ended up being sick! While all the kids played in the pool and hot tub outside, Koda slept on a lounge chair. A few days later, in Kodiak, he ended up testing positive for Strep....poor guy!
February brought wrestling season for Koda, and he's as scrappy as ever! He really loves to wrestle, and is bummed when it's NOT a practice or tournament day. He really has improved his skills, and he's placed in the past 3 tournaments! Two 3rd places, and a 2nd place! He's sooooo excited about winning medals, and lines them up to show them off whenever he can. Tomorrow the Battle Cats are hosting their own tournament (he's part of the Alaska Battle Cats team), which is a LOT of work, but also a lot of fun! 2 more weeks until State Championships, and he's really hoping he can place this year at State! We've video'd almost all his matches, and once I figure out how to upload them to the computer and into blogger, I may post a couple :) In similar news, it's now a really, REALLY big pain for Brady and Kylee to accompany either George or I to Koda's practices or tournaments. Kylee's fully mobile, running around everywhere and doesn't understand she can't do that there. Brady, on the other hand, wants to wrestle SO BAD that it's impossible to keep him off the mats without a complete meltdown! Next year, he'll be old enough to practice, and possibly compete, so that'll be interesting!
In March, we went to Arizona again for Spring Break. This time, we were able to stay at my parent's house they bought last year! Dan came with, and my parents also flew down a few days after us. We did a bit of shopping, took the boys to a spring training baseball game, visited with George's parents and brother and sis-in-law (Alvin and Eleanor), as well as friends Morgan and Jared (who we stayed with last Spring Break!). Also, Koda was able to go with us this time (instead of going to Kodiak)!!! He had a blast, and we soaked up as much sun as possible without getting burned to a crisp!
The school year is coming to a close-both mine and Koda's-and I have mixed feelings about it. Koda has to spend summers down in Kodiak, and I'm not so crazy about that. I finish up with OChem I (YAY!), but then have to start Physics II in the valley a couple weeks later (UGH!). But, as the temperature rises, the snow melts, and we're able to spend more time outdoors...and THAT, I'm loving! I decided that since I'm not pregnant (yet), I have no excuse not to run in at least a couple races this summer. So, I need to uphold my title against George in the Twilight 12k.....after that, we'll have to see if I want to try for a half marathon. In reality, it'll probably depend on how much training I can get in between classes and such!
That's it for now.....pictures/videos will come later (hopefully)!
