Stori: spring break

Spring break in March in interior Alaska is neither springish nor a break. I have never been able to understand exactly why we have spring break here. Why not just have the kids go straight through and let them out earlier in May or go back later in the fall? School starts around the 2nd week of August which is dumb. August is some of the prettiest weather we have. Not too warm, the temps hover around the 60's, the colors are changing, the weather is just beautiful. I think they need to start school after September, but that's just me.

Paige's break started on Monday, March 9th. We had just got dumped on with about 8 inches of new snow. The temps aren't too bad, the highs are around 20 degrees during the warmest part of the day. We had such a busy first day yesterday! When Marc plowed the yard the last time, he pushed up a huge burm of snow on the edge of the parking yard. Paige and Colt have now claimed this pile. They have dragged slabs of wood over to it, confiscated a older tarp, stolen a piece of OSB plywood from their Dad's shop stash, gathered up several shovels and they got to work! Their construction job is pretty involved. They dug out a huge cave out of the middle of the pile, added tunnels, two doors, and a skylight. They pulled the tarp over the top, propped it up in the middle with a pole and held the ends down with more snow. They used the slabs for retaining walls on the inside and gateway posts for the front door, and the plywood is the front door. It amazes me how creative kids can be when left to their own vices. I left them alone to play, supervising from my kitchen window. With only a couple of tattle tales of "she did, he did" they had completed an impressive snow fort that will last till probably the first week in May.

While they were outside playing, Sunni Sue and I made a batch of my famous Cowboy Cookies. The kids came in from outside to have a handful of cookies and big glass of fresh milk for snack.

Cowboy Cookies
(this recipe was handed down to me from my Grandma who used to make these for the hunters' sack lunches when she and my Grandpa had the guiding business in Colorado)

1 cup shortening (can sub 1/2 cup peanut butter and 1/2 cup shortening)
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups oatmeal
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Cream together shortening, sugar, brown sugar. Add in eggs and vanilla and stir together. In separate bowl sift together flour, salt, b. soda, and b. powder. Add oats into creamed mixture, then add in flour mix. Once combined, can add in chocolate chips and walnuts. Drop by spoonfuls onto cookie sheet, pressing the mounds down with fingers to flatten just a bit. Bake in preheated oven at 380 degrees for 10 minutes. These cookies are wonderful to take camping or packed in a lunch. They last forever and are hard to kill. If they get too hard, they are perfect for dunking in milk or coffee!

Marc and I usually meet at the gym on base 3 times a week. We go in the afternoons when Paige is still in school and my folks watch the 2 little ones. Since Paige was home yesterday and she loves athletics, I took her and Colt with me. Gram and Papa stayed with Sunni Sue. We are very lucky to have access to the gym. It's on an Air Force Base and the AF doesn't skimp on much. It has an indoor pool, two weight rooms, a cardio room, basket ball court, racquetball court, climbing wall, indoor track, and indoor football/soccer field. We all had a complete blast! It was the first time Paige and I had the chance to play basketball together. We ran on the track, which is no easy feat for me, I'm not really made for speed. Marc was goalie in our little game of soccer. Little Colt, who constantly gets told not to run in the house, got to run all he wanted. His little sturdy 3 1/2 year old legs pumped till he was sweaty. At one point the boy that has never run out of energy had to sit down for a rest. It was fantastic.

At the beginning, I was dreading having all 3 kids trapped in the house for a week. I could just imagine all the fights, yelling, teasing, and tattle telling. I love the fact I was pleasantly surprised by the outcome. I need to remember to slow down more and really enjoy my babies. They are such amazing little people, I need to take off my "Mommy's the boss" hat every once and a while and re discover how lucky I really am to be blessed with my little family.