The Itch to Pick: Or What "bad-rooms" are made of.

When we moved in, the Master bedroom was high in the loft.

This was not going to work. This Mamma wakes to often in the middle of the night, and the stairs are too steep in the dark, so we had to relocate the Master bedroom. We only had two choices: one of the two rooms in the basement. The boys called dibs on the room with the cool under the stairs closet. The other room was the only other choice. It is large (larger than the loft), located next to a bathroom - much needed for this mother - and yet it has one BIG - HUGE problem.

A bat lives in there.

A big HUGE WALL SIZED BAT!

Yuck.

Good thing it is just paint and can easily be remedied - with a little money and time.

We have a plan.

It will hopefull happen later this winter...when the days are dark and we aren't so strapped for

time and money.

Yet, one day while sitting on the floor and talking about the important stuff, (maybe it was my obsession to pick at things the stress of heavy the heavy discussion) I picked at the paint. Then some more, and before we knew it, we had stopped talking and were picking and peeling away paint.

But, hey, who paints crappy paint on walpaper that easily comes off...well at least we don't have to worry about it later...and one small clean wall looks better than those AWFUL colors.

Too bad the bat wasn't painted on easily peeled of wallpaper.

That things haunts my dreams.

Every time I close my eyes, I can still see it.

Post Edit:
It took more time than I planned or wanted, but this ghastly ugly room has been transformed into this:

 We used this bright green, as this is a basement room, and with the many dark grey days, this green feels light and joyful.

 

And a peek after the bed was in (I am still in need of getting some matching linen.

 

Fall Foliage Frisking

Every year we go on a
hunt
in the
Autumn.

A hunt for
COLORS
hand-painted by
God.

The key elements of this hunt are:

*We eat delicious pastries and drink hot chocolate.

*We play a special music play list for the season.

*We make a day (or two or three...) of it.

*We take a bazillions pictures...

most of which are never as good as what our eyes can see.

*We don't care about the weather...though it usually is nippy.

*We usually find new jaunts

and revisit ones we have loved from years past.

We have done it for years.

Years ago, we dreamed of times when we would hunt with our kids.

Now

We actually do it with our child.

It's tradition!

This year we had to find a path

and

new types of pastries

having moved across country.

The pastries we settled on Pumpkin-licious donuts and muffins from the local

"The Moose is Loose."

The path was Skilak Loop up to Cooper Landing and back home.

The weather was grey and rainy.

The sun only peeked out about the time we got home.

Our favorite playlist (including Johnny Mathis, John Denver, Karen Carpenter, Tony Bennett, etc) is still waiting to be brought up from the lower 48...

so we had to settle on substitutes or 2nd favorites.

But we still had a blast!

And so it began:

 

Dancing and singing while waiting
for Pabbi to get some bear spray (a must for Alaskan Adventures).
Lil' Monster had his rain-boots and coats
and some warm chocolate milk
to go with our delicious pumpkin treats!

Lil' Monster showing his "afraid of bears" face
while holding the bear spray!

 Alaska's famous Fireweed

 The tree colors are mostly yellow which turns to brown.

 Skilak Lake

 Lil' Monster has to pick up sticks and leaves to throw in the water.

 Pabbi is mostly worried about bears.
Gotta protect his own cub.

 Mr Elskan always knows how to make me weak in the knees.
I could photograph him all day long.

A great thing about rain boots:
you can play in the water and not worry about wet feet afterwards

 Mrs. Elskan peeking through the leaves.

 Mamma tempted everyone to get their feet wet - just for the fun of it.

 Another favorite shot.

Lil' Monster leading Pabbi into the cold waters.

Running on water is only possible when a strong father lends support.

 Our journey not only lent itself to beautiful plants
but also to wildlife:
(Bears not included)

Bald Eagle takes flight.

Red Salmon take a swim


What Fall Traditions do you have?

Making Movie Night Memories

Growing up and moving around a lot, reinforced the belief that

Family Traditions

are a must to keep a secure, safe, cohesive and connected feeling.

My home was often new and temporary so I rarely developed a connection with my surroundings.

So, my parents focused on acts and events to create traditions and a connected feeling.

Some were annual, some seasonal, some monthly, weekly and/or daily.

A common and loved tradition during my teens was

Movie Night.

Many people might think:
movie theater,
popcorn,
candy,
and soda.

In my family it was:
 ordering pizza
(such a treat!)
and
watching a TV movie or borrowing/renting a movie.

Sometimes there was soda.
Sometimes treats.

Mostly it was pizza.

Eating Pizza -
granted it was the super cheap kind, as we were a LARGE lower-income family -

was a little taste of heaven for us!

But what was even more fun was "watching" AND "eating" at the same time. Most of my friends ate every meal in front of the TV - however, in my family, dinner was ALWAYS a family dinner around a table with no outside distractions. But watching a movie AND eating pizza - now that was an event!!

So we started that tradition with our son. It is a new development and we are still trying to make it something fun for him to work towards all week long. He does his part for the week and we will actually eat and watch at the same time (so far - a great motivator). It is fun because this boy doesn't ever watch TV and doesn't even have a basis for most of what his peers know. What is "Cars"? Or "Toy Story," let alone classics like "Mary Poppins" or "Dumbo." So we are exploring these genres of film and eating pizza .

Here we are watching an episode of the old TV classic

"Dennis the Menace."

 Lil' Monster reacts to embarrassment the same way his dear

old Pabbi does: he has to hide his eyes!

These two sit on the edge waiting for a catastrophe of some sort, as Dennis gets into more trouble!

 Despite embarrassing moments Lil' Monster is still laughing and having fun!

I think this tradition is a keeper.
My favorite part is watching them watch the show.

What is a tradition from your youth that you enjoy sharing with your family?

Superhero Sting

Mamma's Wee Little Superhero was attacked today by a real stinger.

Not sure if it was wasp or bee,

but something stung the little guy when he stepped out to wait for his Mamma to get ready.

The following is a brief look at the event of our fallen hero:

There was an appointment.

There was the sun.

There was a porch.

There was a child ready before his mother.

There was desire to soak in some sun while waiting.

There was a leaf on the porch.

There was a swooping of a superhero picking up a leaf.

There was a stinger who swooped in and stung the superhero right behind the ear lobe.

There were TEARS.

LOTS and LOTS of TEARS.

Mingled with screams...

and confusion.

There were phone calls made to cancel appointments so Mamma could take care of the fallen hero.

There was baking soda paste to ease the sting.

There were frozen chocolate chips in a bag used to numb the pain (as there were NO ice cubes).

There was a red cup of water to calm the superhero.

There were TEARS

and then smiles.

There was playing with the baking soda paste and pasting it all over the superhero's face, and fingers, and Mamma's face.

There was lots of cuddling and kisses.

There was close monitoring as was this the first time our Superhero was stung in his life.

There were more hugs and kisses and cuddles when the hero's father came home from work.

There was a superhero who then had a ticket to sleep in his parents bed due to the day's tragedy.

Hopefully tomorrow there will be smiles and laughter and forgotten memories of the tragedy that had taken place the previous day.

The End

...

of this particular superhero's chapter.

Great Pumpkin

Great Pumpkin,

For enticing the eye with your beautiful orange glow and for delighting the tongue with your rich flavor. Your delicious delectable divinity can make almost any food a heavenly party that dances around in the mouth.

This morning, you helped a handsome and thoughtful husband delight his wife upon her waking; as he surprised her with your yummi-ness melded into these delightful treats. Who knew muffins and doughnuts could be made worthy of consumption all because you were willing to add your spice into these rather mundane food items. Who knew crumble top, cream cheese, glaze, and chocolate could taste so inspiring.
Thank you for delighting a mamma to such an extent that even fits and tears later in the day could not destroy her happy high!

Sincerely Satisfied,

Mamma Sass

 P.S. Thank you dear sweet husband for going out of your way on such a busy work-day to bring a little joy into your wife's daily routine. These thoughtful acts of love and consideration only make her fall even more madly-in-love with you. If you continue to persist with such behavior, you will only cause a heart to beat with such depth of love that there could be no way of releasing you from such a connection!

"The Moose Is Loose" Fall Pumpkin Treats

What Do You Get...

when you take this

 +

 +

=

???

This Mamma is going to attempt something she has never tried before.

I am trying to develop the domestic and frugal self.

Santa in September

This Labor Day we drove north to spend some time with Uncle M and Auntie B.

Lil' Monster has been ecstatic for a week knowing we were going to spend time with his hero.

He couldn't wait to see him; it's been a few months.

He was so surprised to discover that instead of celebrating Labor Day they would be celebrating Christmas.

Uncle M is deploying very soon to Afghanistan and

wanted to celebrate Christmas with us.

Lil' Monster could not have been happier with this.

His dream came true: A true blue Monster Truck.

He also, received dart guns;
but Pabbi and Mamma had the most fun with those.

Pabbi trying to hide from Mamma on the couch.

Mamma outwitting Pabbi, who thinks she is still sitting on the couch.

And she got him too!!!

Thanks Uncle M and Auntie B for a wonderful Christmas Surprise.