Holiday Party on Saturday

Saturday, early evening, Mike, Cece and I went to a holiday party and enjoyed good company, good food and lots of holiday cheer at Jim and Libby Eufemio's. Pics include Cece and Nora riding together, Nora-Natalie-Cece listening and dancing to the music of the Balililika players, visiting with the goats before heading up to the party, and Cece and I eating some fruit salad and a magic cookie bar that we brought (yes, I do look like a deer-caught-in-the-headlights. A bit too tired.) Many thanks to Jim, Libby and all their family for opening up their home and sharing the holidays with all of us. -R

Morning Drive

This morning we went to watch the sunrise at Mission Beach, and then drove around various neighborhoods looking at the damage from falling trees, trees that fell during a windstorm last Friday. Notice the uprooted trees, and the tree leaning against the house. If you look closely, you can see a cable tied around the tree to keep it from causing further damage to the house. -Mike

Merry Christmas

As Christmas 2008 draws to an end, I tiredly blog a few pics of the good times in the Pfeffer-White household today. Cece was blessed to be given many wonderful gifts-babies-books-babies. And she opened 99% of all wrapped packages in the house...what a blast! Additional blogs on our Christmas will come but for now...fini. Hope everyone had a Joyeux Noel! -R

Sunny Sunday and blizzard coming our way

Kodiak enjoyed some much needed sunlight Sunday and Cece decided to take advantage of it and took our dogs (Emma and Kenzie) for a walk. Here are some of her pics from that walk- Cece and Kenzie, the dogs trying to keep up, one of the eagles seen on Anton Larson road, and some fishing boats tied up. But I have to say that while I enjoy a sunny day, I also enjoy days with 'blustery weather'. Blizzard forecasted for tomorrow afternoon. Batten down the hatches. -Roxann

Sunday morn, Hou update and Santa for women

Morning! Sunday, easy lazy day ahead. I have lots of projects I want to tackle but it won't be rushed or hurried. Just a day to enjoy a slower pace and getting ready for the upcoming holidays. Mike had planned on finally finishing the wood flooring in the last room of the house but both floor nailers at the local rental agency were out yesterday. Sigh, but probably a good thing as Mike is down with the flu. It'll do him good to rest up and get better.

Cece's been up and busy since 5...she was up earlier but I didn't want to get her out of bed too early for fear of setting a very bad precedent. Today, she is 22 months old! And so busy...pics from this morning are of Cece and Hou (Cece is saying "Houuuu"), Hou (his wound is fully healed), Cece trying to climb up and get the 5 dollar bills sent to her by her great-Grandma McGowan, great Aunt Patty, and her Grandma White. And check out the Santa at a mall in LA. While I can 'appreciate' this Santa, aren't our kids exposed to 'sex/ sexiness' too often and too early? Just another reason never to move to LA. -R

Taking care of baby

Cece is quite the little Mommy. This is from Wednesday night as she put one of her babies to sleep. Just too cute...do you see the night lite that she put by her baby?

While this is so cute and normal, is it normal to give birth to 18 children? Michelle Duggar gave birth to her 18th child yesterday by C-section (her third). Congrats to her and her family...though I question her sanity. The baby's name is Jordyn-Grace...to join the ranks of all her siblings with a "J" name. And speaking of sanity, how about the woman who is engaged to Drew Peterson? Well maybe 'third time's the charm'? But for who? TGIF, -R

Getting into the holiday spirit

This Sunday Mike, Cece and I got into the holiday spirit. We went and cut down a tree in the morning, trimmed it this evening and hung up a few lights outside. Cece was most excited when Mike brought the tree in the house..."Wow, wowww" and then rummaging in the holiday bin. So many new adventures for Cece today and so much fun sharing these traditions with her. Getting the tree, stringing the lights, hanging the ornaments, Cece taking the ornaments off the tree. May everyone enjoy new adventures and see familiar ones through new eyes. -Roxann

Blue moon...

"Blue moon, you saw me standing alone..." There was a beuu-tiv-full moon tonight. Mike, Cece and I went for a drive to see the moon and Christmas lights tonight. I could almost hear Frank Sinatra crooning to the moon as we looked at it shining down upon us...

Another busy week for all of us. Enough said. Today, we finally got the report on our home's energy rating. We met with the assessor this morning and got a thorough report with great advice on improving our home's efficiency. At a 2-star rating, we have plenty of work to do.

Cece has been busy baking. This week she made mini cheddar cornbread muffins. Pretty good...but Cece prefers to eat the cheddar instead.

This afternoon I was invited to Zoya' Holiday Girls Gathering. So much fun. I attempted a new recipe- 'Dark chocolate, gluten-free brownie bites'. They were about 2 minutes from being wonderful. Sighhhh. But had a good time anyway... Here are a few snatches of conversations from the party (approximately as I remember them): "Norwegian freestyle cruising", "I'm glad I'm not teaching New Year's day (as I'm hoping to get smashed on the Eve)", "don't tell anyone it's canned salmon", "I got to sleep in this morning...(for) a half hour", " I was an hour late to my wedding", and "I just want to see his penis again". It was quite a party. -R

Weekend projects

Can hardly believe it's Monday already but have so much to tell you. First of all, Mike got the bamboo flooring finished in our hallway and in Cece's bedroom this weekend. Quite a feat since this was done around Cece's schedule. And it looks beautiful- there would have been pics posted today but I'm having technical difficulties this morning. The trim and one last bedroom will get done on another weekend.

Cece got to go see 'Santa' at the Baranof museum on Saturday. She was less than thrilled and would only approach them sitting on Mama's lap. Pics above includes Mike and Cece standing in front of the Museum (see the birds on the roof) and the pic with Santa and Mrs. Claus.

On Sunday I made a great ham and bean soup. Yummmm. I soaked the beans overnight then put everything (ham, beans, chopped onion and water) in the crockpot on Sunday. So easy and it turned out great. Gotta love the crockpot!!

And finally this past weekend, Cece and I worked on getting ready for the winter holidays. Worked on cards, pulled out our holiday tote, etc. Cece loves the lights outside...we drove around Saturday night looking at lights and Cece picked out a light-up Santa at Sutliff's for inside our home. But Cece clearly did not want her picture taken with it this morning. Sigh

Happy Monday friends and family! Love, Cece and R

TGIF...at last

This has to be one of the longest work week's. Sigh. So it's a good time to reflect upon the things that I'm thankful for:

1. My husband and daughter...who always remind me what's REALLY important in life,

2. My family...my Mom, step-Mom, mother-in-law, brothers and sister, in-law family, nephews, nieces...they all give me roots, stability, love, and acceptance...all of which I want Cece to know

3. Friends...who are positive-thinking, allow me to 'vent' my feelings and inspire me to be my best

4. My profession...after 11 years I still love what I do (despite work place frustrations)

5. The roof over our heads, the floor under our feet and the food we're able to buy to fill our bellies

5. Blueberries

6. Reality TV

7. People who update their blogs on a fairly regular basis

TGIF. Pics are of Cece eating a chicken wing & then some blueberry muffins I'd made for breakfast. -R

So sleepy

As winter is fully upon us and fewer and fewer daylight hours, I think our entire little family is needing more and more sleep. Cece is usually ready for bed @ 8:30...at least for the past 6+ months. But more and more frequently, she just makes it till 8pm...and then Mike and I go to bed around 8:30! Pics are from last night...a few minutes apart. Smile -R

Energy rating and stairs

At last, today we got the energy rating assessment on our home. Alaska has a state-funded program partially reimbursing homeowners in making their homes more energy efficient. As a result of this program, the three assessors on Kodiak have been blasted with requests for home assessments. I got us on an assessors list in May. So when we were suddenly called this morning for an afternoon assessment, we jumped on it. See pic of Cece checking out the assessor's fan.

In addition to Thanksgiving, Black Friday shopping (I was up at 3:30 to get ready!), and Christmas preparations, Mike decided to tackle the stairs into the living area. We bought bamboo flooring (got a great price at Costco) 2 years ago. We've completed the floor in the living area but still had the stairs, hallway and the two bedrooms to do. So this weekend, Mike got the stairs completed! Yeah, Mike! Now we just have to finish the hallway and the 2 bedrooms...maybe next year. See completed stair behind Mike and Cece in second pic. -R

Thanksgiving Recap

On Thanksgiving, Mike, Cecelia and I all enjoyed good company and good food at the Saltonstall home. We had a great time with Patrick, Zoya, Nora, Stuey, Mary Jane, Matt & Katie, Sawyer and Natalie. Mike cooked the prime rib while Patrick cooked the turkey- both were SO good. I made sweet potato casserole with pecans and ice cream pretzel pie. There was also two green bean casseroles, stuffing, gravy, edamame, pecan chocolate pie and amazing mashed potatoes. Yummmmm! I only got a few pics...too busy playing and eating, etc. Pics include Cece and Nora playing, Stuey- looking very 'collegian', Mike and Patrick busy in the kitchen (the way its supposed to be), and Mary Jane and Katie with Sawyer, Nora and Cece. -R

Snow day

Saturday, Cece enjoyed the lite powder snow in the front year. Pics include Cece happy to be in her snowsuit, hat, boots and gloves, walking in the snow, taking rides in her new sled... -R

Weekend sink drama

As our faucet has been dripping for weeks, Mike decided to change the fixture Saturday morning. What should have been a quick 30 minute job turned into 2 days of problems and frustration for Mike. As the sink and fixtures were original to the house, a few bolts refused to budge, etc. Then while Mike was trying to take off the old faucet, a friend was selling a white ceramic sink on the local 'hotline' show (a daily radio show for local announcements and in which items can be advertised for sell/ trade). So we bought the sink and as it was deeper than our original sink, all the pipes underneath had to be modified. Sigh...Mike was not a 'happy camper' this weekend. But now we have a beautiful new sink and faucet. Yeah, Mike! Pics are before and after. -R

No way!

Oh I just had to share this from the net:

1. "In Japan, it's Victor’s SecretNov. 21: Bras for men have now become a big hit on the Japanese Web site “Wishroom.” The bras come in black and pink and are marketed to cross-dressers and gentlemen afflicted with man boobs. "

2. "Police think they've nabbed 'butt bandit'. Man arrested after allegedly leaving greasy imprints on windows" ...this 'bandit' would grease up his front or behind with petroleum jelly or lotion then go around Valentine, NE leaving his 'imprint' on windows. During one escapade, this bandit left imprints on nearly all the windows of a local hotel. He usually stops during the Fall and Winter...I guess due to occupational hazards! Ha!!!!! If only I could have found a pic of this 'vandalism'...-R

Early morning ramblings

I've been up a few hours...ugggg...just too many things on my mind. And as its just 3am, Cece is stirring. She stirs and plays almost everyday at 3...which is when I would often wake up when I was pregnant with her. She will play and rumble around in her crib for awhile then she'll usually fall back asleep till we get her up at 6am.

Well I've surfed the web and watched a good home renovation show on HGTV (Dream House- see pic above), now I'm feeling more and more restless. I could make a major change in my life but an terrified of moving forward. Loyalties and compassion have me holding back but ohhhh I'd love to really fully embrace what I love to do and not set limits on myself. Will have to pray about it.

So I've been craving a gluten-free noodle stir-fry for a few days and decided to try to make some. I mixed up my stir-fry sauce and then started the noodles. Rice noodles are quite a bit different than traditional wheat noodles. So I found some different noodles from Walmart and decided to fry some up per the package directions. And what fun!!! After the oil got hot enough, the noodles quickly blew up in beautiful curly shapes. See pic above. But then I got stuck...the noodles, though beautiful, were not at all what I expected...basically fried oil with rice starch. So right now we're using them as table art. Back to the cooking books. Signing off for now. Hou's keeping me company this morning- pic above (he's healing well). -R

Strong winds and poor visibility have left Mike stuck in Anchorage overnight. He went up for the day- work-related. Cece and I enjoyed a quick dinner, read many books and then she fell asleep while I held her. She seems to be coming down with a cold- Sigh- but hopefully will feel better tomorrow. After putting her to bed, I was able to work on this short video of Cece from yesterday morning (And I only caught a few of her laps on tape!). :) -R

Weekend recap

Mike, Cece and I were all fairly busy this past weekend. Friday night we joined my co-workers for dinner to say farewell to our traveler PT, Scott. He's a very good PT and will be missed. See pic above- only got a chance for 1 pic as Cece was quite vocal about leaving...immediately. Scott is the 3rd person on the left and that's the top of Joe's head back right in the pic. (Sorry Joe)Saturday I drove Scott to the airport then Cece and I went for our weekly Saturday play date with Sahale and Tina. Then Mike co-hosted a sports talk show on the radio while Cece and I went to the library. Sunday, Mike and 3 others attempted to go hunting but... I'll let Mike tell you more about this. Cece then enjoyed an afternoon play date at our house with Stuey and Nora. So much fun...books, the bean container, and snacks. Check out the pic of Cece and Mike napping after the play date. Final pic is of Cece and Emma. -R