~First Day of School

Noah was very excited for the first day of school. He is in 1st grade and his teacher is Ms. Krenzer.

Simon's first day of preschool.

He is attending 3 days a week at New Hope.

End of Summer Catch-up

One morning I realized that it was very quiet. So I went in search of Jett. This is what I found! He had gotten into my mascara. I laughed so hard. Later on I was grateful he hadn't poked his eye out. Still makes me smile.

Soccer was fun this summer. Noah did a great job.

His team name was the "Ninjas."

Uncle Shaner stayed with us for a few weeks. We LOVED having him here!

And...we really miss him.

This is how Simon felt about soccer for most of his season.
Not much soccer playing, but lots of silliness!
On one of the very few nice days we had, my friend Cheryl and I took the kids to Pioneer Park (Simon calls it "Chinese" Park). It has lots of fun things for the kids to do...train rides, carousel, miniature golf, playground equipment and places to eat.






Simon on the train


Noah, Katherine, Simon, Benjamin, Kristin and Jett

Creamer's Field Migratory Bird Refuge

Jett

Simon found this little shelter and wanted to stand inside. The bugs were attacking his head.
Noah, Simon and Jett

They all picked out their own clothes. They have great fashion sense, especially Simon!!

Summer went by so fast. The boys also took swimming lessons and we visited the lake a few times. It rained almost every day and it never got above 80 degrees. Now it's time to think about winter. Just a few more weeks until the snow comes.

Salmon Fishing Chitna Alaska

Most of the salmon Adam caught were Reds. He did pull in a few Kings though.

King Salmon
Kind of gross, but somebody's got to do the work. Thanks Marty!

Adam and his two buddies caught their limit, 30 salmon per person.

Chitna

~We had to come to Alaska to open a coconut

Survivor is one of our favorite shows this year. Yesterday when we were at the store the boys saw coconuts and really wanted to get one to drink the coconut milk...like the guys on Survivor. Sounded kinda interesting. I've never cracked a coconut so it would be a new experience for me too! So we got a few. Notice the use of a hammer and screwdriver :)

The meat, which was not very tasteful. Jett tried his hand at cracking the coconut too. He's very pleased with himself.

Simon was being camera-shy, but Noah was actually singing while working on his project. He did great! He shaved some coconut to take to his class for show-and-tell.

Adam had never cracked a coconut either. A first for everyone in the Connolly family!

~Moosie and Ice Fishing

I have a love/hate relationship with these animals. These big creatures are so much fun to watch, but when they start coming out in the open it means danger. They have nasty tempers. When they get mad, they snort and charge. Don't threaten a mama and her baby! Plus, they make the roads very dangerous. Just the other night the car in front of us, hit one. The next morning, another one was hit in almost the same spot. Very scary.

This little moose hung out in our yard for several hours, digging through the snow, eating.

It warmed up a bit so we went ice fishing a few weekends ago. We didn't catch anything, but it was a fun for a minute. Maybe we'll have better luck next time!
Noah didn't last too long, but Simon was extremely patient.
He sat on the bucket for quite a while. It was cute.

~Ice Ice Baby

For the past week it's been pretty cold. In some parts of town it dropped to -45, but here at my house we only got down to -37. When it stays that way for several days...this is what happens to some of our windows... on the inside of our house. (Someday we'll get better windows).

While the ice doesn't help with keeping the place warm, it's quite convenient if you need to chill a beverage. Just grab the pick and start chipping away! No licking though. Your tongue will stick and instant pain will ensue.

Other things we deal with during winter -

• It takes about 30-45 minutes for my car to warm up. That's after it's been plugged in all night. An hour warming-up is even better. Then the seats aren't frozen stiff.
• Noah's school recess is canceled at -20. It's quite a sight to see all these little kindergartners running around in their winter gear at 19 below. Just their little eyeballs sticking out.
• A few weeks ago we had to get our septic thawed. A steamer truck came out and charged $130 an hour to warm up the poo that was frozen inside our pipes. Luckily it only took an hour and a half to thaw. The smell lasted a lot longer though. They had to come inside the house to finish their business (haha!). It was nasty!
• Cold Weather Church Policy is, if it's -30 or colder there are no activities or meetings. Last Sunday we only had Sacrament Meeting. If it's -40 or colder on Sundays, then only the Sacrament is administered, while we leave our cars running in the parking lot.
• Coats, hats, scarfs, gloves and boots are an essential part of our wardrobe, October-May. Don't leave home without them!

This list is very small. I could go on forever about the joys of surviving an Alaskan winter, but this is all I will write for today.

~Christmas Break

Well, my boys kind of look orphanish with their dirty shirts but, this picture of Noah and Jett was so funny. They look like brothers to me!

I had to take a picture of Noah and his socks. Reminded me of the good old days.

Over the break we went to the UAF Museum.

Noah didn't want the butterfly to touch his skin so he put on his coat and very patiently waited for a butterfly. When it finally happened he was very excited!

And because the weather warmed up the boys did a little sledding!

Christmas was good. The boys all had colds, but we didn't let that stop us from making some great memories. Christmas Eve we visited Santa and went to the ice park. We ate pizza and watched Christmas movies. Christmas day was filled with opening presents and spending time with some good friends.

~Alaska Weather Today

I haven't done a post on weather this winter so here it is...

Today is Wednesday, December 8, 2010

It is -26 (below zero) at 10:13 a.m.

Lows for today are forcasted at -30 to -40

Highs -10 to -25

The sun is coming up at 10:25 a.m.

and

is setting at 2:47 p.m.

~2010 Pictures

I wasn't going to do pictures this year but Sam's Club had a deal. Anyway, I'm not crazy about the hats, but the boys sure are cute.

~Where did October go?

So October just flew by, not really sure where it went. Before I knew it, it was Halloween. I didn't get any pictures of the boys in their costumes, but Adam carved the ugliest pumpkin ever and I got a picture of that! The boys thought it was pretty cool.

At the end of October Adam did some work in the attic and he found about 30 wasps nests. He cut down the ones he could reach, which was about 15, but he said there were just as many on the other side of the house. No wonder we had such a problem this summer. Noah was the only one that had contact with the pests. He was attacked, but with all the screaming and running around he only got stung twice (one down the shirt on his chest and the other on his forearm).

This nest has some insulation on it, but it is amazing how thin the walls are. The nests ranged from large softball size to quarter size. Some of the honeycombs had eggs in them and some were empty. Very interesting.

EXTREME CLOSE-UP

Noah has lost two teeth in the last month. Very exciting at our house! I pulled one and he pulled the other. Thanks to the cartoon, Little Bear on PBS, Noah thinks the tooth fairy brings a toy as well as money. I only got a quarter! And yes, his lips are very dry...tis the season.

I just had to post this picture of Jett. So funny. Jett is recovering from his first ear infection. By 10 months of age the other two boys already had tubes. In comparison, Jett's doing fairly well. Even though he looks happy in this picture, he can cry really loud. Jett also got his first molar this week. 9 teeth total.