The Alaskan Lafleurs: January 2011

Thursday, January 20, 2011

The World According to Amelia. Again

Mila has been getting her little self into quite a bit of trouble, as of late. Give her a few minutes of unsupervised time (I realize the problem should end there), and just wonder at the results.

She has discovered sticky tape (scotch tape) and is now wondering around the house fixing things. Problem is, she needs at least a foot of tape per inch of repair. I think she learned that one from Dora the Explorer.

But, alas, here she is again with a camera.

And a boogie, it seems!

Here are more pics of the friendly mutton-chops, in case you didn't seem them well enough!

And probably some boogies, as well!

Another day, and now of her favorite jammies!

I'm actually a little pleased that she can barely see her toes! Of course, it doesn't bother her . . . . . . . . .

And the winner?

I just love this one.

Snapshots of a sexy husband!

It's the time of year when JR starts getting a little antsy. He has been wanting to try a little something new with the facial hair. This was the final result, a friendly mutton-chop. Yes, that is the technical term. Problem is, that once he got all spiffied up he then remembered he had to call in for jury duty. Of course, they wanted him! He thought that the new haircut would make him look untrustworthy of such a duty, but as it turns out - no. He was selected as Juror #1.

This was the final day. He kept it for a week. I really, really like it. His co-workers said they liked it, but then started to offer to compensate him financially if he would add a permed mullet. So, he's not sure if they were on his side. So, the whole thing is gone and now it looks like I'm married to a fifteen-year-old. JR feels that I'm holding a grudge because he didn't 'do what I said'. I'm sad at the lack of facial hair. I just have to wait another week . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Randomoids

I was so excited to get all my pics posted last time. I stayed up later doing it, and went to tuck in my little sweetie with a sense of satisfaction. Then I saw this.

Can you figure out what the problem is?

After a nice, fresh snowfall (of several feet, mind you!) Amelia and I went exploring. I take this pic mainly because this was when the sun was at it's highest. As you can see, the tops of the trees are as far as it makes it. This pic was taken on 1-7, and by now the sun is starting to creep halfway down the trees! This is the best time of year, when we are gaining light by crazy amounts per day. 6 to 7 minutes a day; yup, that's almost an hour a week!

This is yet another example of Daddy 'watching' the kid. While Daddy is watching TV, Amelia is drawing a masterpiece on the bottoms of her feet.

Yeah, Dad!

A seemingly simple meal. A little vichyssoise soup with big crusty bread.

Might as well have been pig slop.

Friday, January 7, 2011

New Years spent sharing drugs!

The celebration of a New Year is not typically a Lafleur forte. Last year was no different. My idea was to spend the evening as a family, watching fireworks (it is the holiday it is dark), and maybe a little dinner. End it all with sparklers! JR choose to go to bed at 7. I tried not be be angry, but the first several days of 2010 were rather silent.

Oh, it was going to be different this year. But it turns out, some person (of whom I do not know who it is, but I have very nasty thoughts!) gave us a bug. Amelia got it first, and I just pegged it to the exhaustion of Christmas. She spent an entire night crying in my arms that her ears hurt. But, also refused to take medicine because "I don't like medicine" (how does she even know?). Not her father's child.

It's okay, it made it's way down the line. JR spent the week sick, and Friday I got 'up', showered, and went back to bed. I felt bad around 9pm, and decided to see if the house was still standing. Barely; lunch and dinner everywhere, and Amelia had peed her bed. The next morning I woke up to dog poop everywhere (I guess to be expected? as it was New Years/fireworks). I cleaned that up, hopped in the shower with the little one, and got out to find cat vomit on the floor. I made some smart ass comment about only needing one more animal to 'share', was rewarded two hours later on my newly shampooed carpet.

Yeah, 2011!

JR is grateful that he had so much time off to recover and didn't have to take any additional time off. It was not spent biking, as he'd hoped. We did not go outside, despite it being 20 to 30 degrees (above zero!) and beautiful. Instead, we sat around on our assigned couches, each with a roll of paper towels, and watched terrible, terrible television (how many times can they play StarWars!?) Our child ran free, and was bored to her gourd. I have never wanted a nanny so badly. Being sick, and having to feed/clothe/make potty runs is the pits! After two weeks, illness takes it's toll, especially when it all of you. One day, my camera was sitting around, and I was showing Amelia pics of her on it (terrible entertainment, I know). For some reason, I showed her how it works. She smiled, and was off.

Here is the World, According to Amelia . . . . . . .

Notice that they are ALL in focus?

I did narrow down the selection, but she was pretty darn fascinated with the animals.

In the end, I couldn't even get a pic of her.

Happy New Year!

May this be the worst part of the year!

The In-Betweenies

JR's 'latest passion' is winter biking. So far he has been quite a trooper about it, as it has been -40 degrees. He has discovered some minor setback, including cold induced asthma. It seems as though it gets difficult to breath heavily when there is no air, and that air is frozen. Who knew? A side effect is that we are having weekly biking 'parties', which translates into having multiple people at our house fine tuning their bikes for the extremes.

Here is a pic of JR after one of his test runs. By the by, his hat is not white.

Amelia saw everybody working on their sweet rides, so she decided to fine tune hers!

Grandma Lulu and Grandpa Stever sent another Christmas package that didn't quite make it. Which worked out quite well, cause there were more presents to open on Monday!

Even after trying to convince her that almost none of it was hers, she choose not to listen. And of course dressed herself right on up! The arm sleeves are actually hers, and from Grandma Lulu who is has a new line of clothing accessories from My Vintage Lily. I would have super loved them if they didn't have those freakin' jingle bells!

Amelia is getting clever. Whilst I have a morning shower, Amelia is free to roam. Being my perfect child, I believe that she is sitting quietly watching Dora. However, she is not my perfect child and is, in fact, JR's child. And she knows who to use a step-stool. Yesterday it was a whole pack of gum. I thought she'd be farting bubbles all day . . . . . . .

Lemme explain; She's nakie, right before bed. She was waiting for me, when the heater kicked on. I had to turn off the heat in order for her go to bed!

I need some advice. My worst (superficial) fears are coming true. My child looks like a hill-billy! One of her front teeth are turning brown, and quickly. I noticed right after Christmas, and now it is a deep shade of nasty. I have called several, several dentists to get one to see her. However, she is still really too young, and will only be seen to have her teeth cleaned. So, I finally found one that 'might' help (a pedio-dentist). I explained the situation, and they asked me if they were spots (i.e., cavities). Nope, it's the whole tooth. Well then, there isn't much to worry about and our first appointment is in late April. Seriously! She had a doctor's appointment later that day (thanks to her bright red, bloodshot eyes with pustules on them, which she'd had for many days). That (dimwit) doctor looked at the tooth, and he did not seem real concerned either.

How is this not a problem!!!!!!!!!!!! ??????????????????

It is getting progressively worse. And it is noticeable. And before you comment that it most likely comes from trauma, I know! JR and I have always made the joke that she will be lucky to have front teeth in adulthood. If she is gonna hurt herself, she's gonna smack her lip.

I thought this was great! I went into tuck Amelia, and found that she had been playing doctor. She was seriously wrapped up in them!

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Feliz Navidad!

I tried, and tried to procrastinate the Christmas pics. In truth, I feel really bad 'cause they really all suck. For some reason JR and I both took more video. Me - because I really wanted to capture her excitement, and JR - because he wants to prove to me that his iPhone is really better than my camera. Which is actually his camera. Which I think is his way of trying to get a new camera.

I still have no idea how to load video. So, if anybody has some constructive step-by-step help, I'd sure love it!

Basically, we all watched Amelia. She would grab a present, rip the bow off and toss it over her head, and then seemed to know how the whole game was played.

Booda really enjoyed the day, as well. Among his main ambitions in life are crinkly paper, so he was good to go!

Amelia was the official passer-outer of gifts. It was a rather easy job, as most made their way to her lap. 2nd was Gramma, who took off with some serious loot!

Somewhere along the way, Amelia scored a tutu from Grandma Mini. Here she is about discover that Grandma also wants a more diverse selection on the menu when we Skype and Amelia cooks lunch for her. It looks like Grandma will be getting more fruit!

Like catching a deer in the headlights. The day is getting quite overwhelming, and it's only 9:30 am!

Booda waiting - oh so patiently - for Gramma to be done and throw him something!

I know, it seems like such an innocent pose (complete with super cool new checkered eye protection). Grandpa, Daddy and Amelia all received nerf guns.

The checkered eye protection came in quite handy during the 'learning curve'. Mila caught on quite quickly (she's good like that!) but her aim is a bit poor. Well, it might be quite good . . . . . . . . .

At the end of the day, two gifts emerged as clear winners. Mind you, neither of these were the gifts that Mom and Dad spent hours, hours, and hours of thought over. But, on the up side, nor were they the boxes that the gifts came in. The tutu from Grandma Mini, and the scooter from Grandpa Stever.

Actually, it is a couple of weeks later and these are still probably the two favorites.

Thank you to all of you who made her Christmas so special. She was really excited for this Christmas, opening all of the presents, the food, the candy, the tree, and the stocking. There were a lot more things she was grateful for (and Mommy and Daddy too!!), but we'll just round up.