A New Stove!

Oops! I accidentally published the title and no story! =( Well, we did get a new stove. It is a Jotul (pronounced yo-tul), and it is green with a reburn system.
(Oh, and the o in Jotul has one of these doohickeys in it:\). It replaced the old black Vermont Castings stove we had. I took about 14 videos of us putting the stove in. It has a thermometer, a air control, a side door, a glass front door, and some stuff I already metioned.

Then the family came home and I asked them all what they thought of our new stove. It was all "Awesome!" "Cool!", an a bunch of other stuff. Then Dad tried to stuff a converter into the stack, but it didn't work, so we had to use some tools. Then me and dad had an argument about where to put the elbow, at the top or at the bottom. I won. Then we put the rest of the piping in, only to discover that we needed 3 more inches! Then when it was all ready, me and Emerald went to get some wood. Em ran off, so I chased her and got soaked in the process. we had to break in the stove with a first fire of 1 hour at 200 degrees, using only kindling and paper. so we worked on that. Then I had to go to bed. now the stove is usually doing about 400 degrees on average.

A New Stove!

Alectra lost a tooth!

Finally, Alectra's tooth is out! After much waiting and wiggling she finally has a spot for her new tooth to move into. The tooth fairy forgot to visit the first night but she made up for it by leaving a quarter as well as a dollar last night. Alectra said "It feels gross, not having a tooth in there!"

Today I was reminded again how patient Wenge is. After zooming wildly around the house, she was content to sit in her stroller and watch the girls playing. The girls made a snowgirl today while they were outside. We got a few inches of fresh snow on Sunday. The kids have been wishing we had snow like Grandma and Grandpa. We haven't gotten much this year, but Warren likes not having to plow the driveway.

Tooth Fairy Time

Alexis lost a her first tooth last week. She had another one growing in behind the baby tooth so we talked her into getting serious about wiggling. She was so proud to be the first to loose a tooth but I think hers were the first to come in when the girls were little. Every day Alectra prays that she would lose her loose tooth too, but she isn't as serious about wiggling as Alexis was. I thought I would show everyone how to go sledding when there aren't any hills around. The kids have just about dragged the bottom out the sled, it looks like a grass skirt it is in so many strips. Emerald and Alectra are on the 4-wheeler and Jayce and Alexis are in the sled. We don't have much snow and it rained today!

Jayce is 11!

January 5th was Jayce's birthday and we spent the day in Soldotna. I had a check up and then we went shoe shopping for dress shoes for the kids. It is official! Jayce and I wear the same size shoe. He got a nice pair of leather ones that Warren is planning on snatching as soon as Jayce out grows them. So on Saturday Jayce invited his friends over for a 4-wheeler party. We have three 4-wheelers so they took turns driving. With everyone reving the motors, it sounded like a race track until they got moving.Warren went along as they blazed a trail to the beach from our place and spent hours climbing the bluff and throwing rocks. I had a little trouble with the cake, only ten candles and a # 10 on top but Jayce didn't get insulted thankfully.After cake and ice cream they opened presents and it was plain that he was growing up. An LED flash/lazer light, money and stamps for his stamp collection, a CLUE game and a Flip digital video camera. Thanks! Then they went back out and did brodies on the pond. Brandon had the record for the number of rotations. Jayce said it was the best birthday yet!

Christmas

Christmas was fun! The presents were opened right after the cinnamon rolls were gobbled and the Christmas story, from Luke and Matthew, was read.
My kids had been asking for slippers and Grandma Irene made us all pair. They are so cozy and warm! We wear them every morning during school. It takes a little while for that building to warm up and the floors are always cold. Grandma Brenda sent us her fun Chocolate homemade soap but we wanted to use it right away so we didn't wait until Christmas to open her box. Jayce got a new jump drive from Emerald.And here is Alexis showing off her new gloves and fabric paint from Jayce.The kids went up to the pond in the afternoon with dad and made a fire. They cut trees and cleared out more underbrush. Emerald and Jayce made a smudge and had a blast playing in the smoke.

Christmas Goodies!

My family got to do all the Christmas baking this year. It was fun to see them choose their favorite and get to it. I'll have to let them do more of it each year.Alexis and Alectra made Hug Pretzels. Those are my favorite! They like unwrapping all the hugs and sticking to M & M's on top.Emerald made White Chocolate Chex mix. All the measuring, stirring and licking were right up her alley.Jayce whipped up a batch of Chocolate Chip cookies, his favorite. I think our family likes chocolate.Warren surprised us all by making a batch of Cinnamon Rolls. They were great! The kids were a little disappointed because we took half of them up to the Dr.'s office for my 6 week checkup. The staff of the clinic were very surprised and it was a fun way to say "Thank you so much!" The Dr. cut his bill almost in half! What a blessing!