Thar she BLOWS!!

Redoubt started erupting on Sunday. It has had several small eruptions and several large ones with ash clouds going up to 65,000 feet in the air. We lucked out and did not get any of the ash on us Sunday. Now the winds have turned and the Kenai Peninsula is getting ash from this mornings eruptions. Most of it going South of us towards Homer. The girls and I went to the store and got lightly dusted though. Justina and I had a little bit of a sore throat and my eyes started to burn slightly. I felt bad for taking them out but I didnt think it would drop much on us. Its mostly clear now and Im going to go see if I can see the mountain and get a few pics with the sworms of people waiting for it to blow again. The mountain is about 50 miles from us. On a nice day its a gorgeous mountain to look at. In fact if you look at my slide show to the right you will see pics I took of it a while back. They were taken a few miles from our house.

Nancy tagged me with an alphabet tag. You have to list 10 things you love starting with the alphabet letter assigned to you. My letter was "v".

1. Vitamins
2. Virtue
3. Visiting with family and friends
4. Vision (I'm so thankful to see all that is around me)
5. Variety (of everything like food and clothes)
6. Velcro (my kids have never owned shoes w/o it)
7. Various family friendly movies and TV shows
8. Verses from the Bible that encourage me
9. Vanilla bean ice cream
10. Vacation fantasies

Most people I know with a blog have been tagged already but i am going to take my chances and tag Wendy Vonderahe (H). The letter following your name is the letter you have to use.

Growing up...

Remember that post about Mercy snapping her fingers? Well, to Paul that was a "moment". Now let me share with you my moment...

Mercy received a couple shirts for her B-day, one pink and the other white. She loves clothes in fact its what makes her really smile. When we got home with her shirts she immediately went to her room to try them on. It started out with the pink one and then the white. Suddenly my little Mercy had a bright idea!! She put the pink one over the white one then she came out quite proud of herself and her idea and asked me how she looked. It was PERFECTLY layered!! My girl can layer and look totally cool!! Ohhhh, brings tears to my eyes:)

Oh, The Joys of SPRING...

I took these a couple days ago:)

Better late than never...

Heres a few picks of Mercy on her Birthday. The blue Alaska hat is officially her "fishn cap". Shes such a beautiful girl!!!

Filled with the Holy Spirit or possesed???

Neither! Today I was sitting in Sunday school listening to a teaching in Revelation that talked about the horrible locusts that will come out of the pit and torment men for 5 months in the last days. I was getting ready to stand up and make my way to the restroom when I looked down and saw a spider crawling on my pants. I stood up and completely flipped out and started screaming (as mildly as possible). I was filled with a lot of emotions at the time one of them being humiliated that everyone was staring at me and the teaching had to of course stop. Because of this I seemed to just stand there for a minute shaking my hands in the air while this screeching sound seemed to just fall out of my mouth. I finally ran out with a bunch of squealing Im sorry's. From that point I preceded to the restroom where I threw off my coat and chucked the bible and started to cry while brushing off every part of me. I left everyone speechless until someone said it must of been a spider. Apparently everyone has been seeing these spiders crawling on the pews! UHHHHH I offered to buy and place the bombs in the church. I hope I can get this taken care of before next Sunday. If not I may have to play sick at home:)
Please understand that while this seems a little extreme I have a major and I mean MAJOR fear of spiders! My mom actually wanted to have me hypnotized when I was younger thinking it would help with this fear.

Happy Birthday Mercy!!

Today our little baby is half a decade old. The Big 5!! She woke up today so excited with a big grin on her face just waiting for us to say happy Birthday and give her a big hug. Im amazed at what makes her happy. She is totally happy with a homemade chocolate cake and a few small gifts from mom and dad. It does not matter what she gets she always is so excited and thankful:) Pauls parents sent a card and she was so happy she wanted to make sure and put the card where everyone can see it. Mercy asked to be read that little card several times:) I love that about her!!
Just a few memories:
1. As soon as you were born and placed in Daddy's arms you stuck your little tongue out at him.
2. Your first few weeks home all you did all night was grunt and fart. It kept us up all night! At that time we called you Mercy Grace Grunter Barlow.
3. I called you my nursey Mercy.
4. Paul and I fight over who first nicknamed you Mercy Moo.
5. Now Daddy calls you Mooch or Moochy.
6. You traveled across the country with us to Florida when you were 2 months old. You slept almost the whole way there and back!
7. First laugh June 26th 2004
8. You love to say excuse me.
9. Your an independent little stinker. You like to comb and do your own hair and choose your own clothes. Your quick to get up and get dressed:)
10. You made up the name Papa doppa for your papa
11. You are very much a girly girl but you love to fish and whack them on the head.
12. You love seafood! Especially king crab and shrimp.

HAPPY BIRTYHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Priorities Priorities...

This Friday I am supposed to showcase my step routine to the club manager and 2 step instructors. Of course Im a little nervous about it but my biggest concern is that this is taking the place of more important priorities in my life right now. Just coming up with one routine has taken me hours and has used up a great amount of physical and mental energy. There is this part of me that says, "I need to do this to prove to people that Im not a complete flake and to prove to myself that I can become something other than a housewife". Why oh why do I seem to continuously go back to thinking that what God has given me isn't enough! Im a homemaker in this job alone I am a wife and a mother who does the job of a full time nanny, housekeeper, cook, accountant and to top it off a teacher. This is what I wanted so why do I seem to chase after other things that really take me away from these responsibilities? I feel so distraught because I dont want to be a quitter or a flake. But the first things need to come first, right?

#1 Spending time with the Lord in His Word and prayer. He is my Creator, Lord and Redeemer. Its through Him that I have life. All that I am should be given over to Him daily.

#2 My Husband. God placed him over me as the head of the home. I want to make a place of rest for him in our home. I want to please him by being a quite sweet submissive wife who loves the Lord and encourages him to stand strong and serve the Lord. This is a work in progress mind you.

To me part of being a good wife is to have a clean home for him to come home to and good meals that keep him strong or meaty I should say:) I do all the shopping, prepare the meals, clean the house, pay the bills, and make sure important things dont go undone such as taxes. This all can be overwhelming as most of you know! Sometimes I want to lay in bed a cry because my mind wont stop thinking of the long list of "things to do". The worst part is, its never done! At the same time I praise God that he has given this to me. Yes I am a little crazy! Im not going to say anything about my husband telling me I don't ever do anything. HA

#3 My children. They are gifts from God! I may not always describe them that way but really its true. Gods Word tells me that I am to teach them His Word all the time. I need to of course care for them in all aspects of life right down to hygiene. I also have chosen to homescool and I by no means am perfect at this. This to me is a huge responsibility and to much on my plate at any time can effect their schooling.

#4 My church along with my brothers and sisters in Christ. This could entail any number of things. Whether its to serve in Sunday School or even to just pray for them. Right now I am participating in a women's bible study on Friday mornings. This is a priority over being a fitness instructor any day. This is an opportunity to spend time in Gods Word together, to study and make yourself more accountable to others. Studying Gods Word is a blessing that cannot be described.

Yeah I could be a step instructor but at what cost. Thats what Im weighing at the moment. Can all these things be covered with enough time left over to choreograph routines every 2 or 3 months. Can my mind handle another thing on my "To do List". Am I making a big deal about nothing? After all my husband thinks I don't do anything:) All I know is Im already tired and worn out (with chin splints) and I really want to make fresh healthy bread. Really my question to myself at this point is, "Am I doing this to bring glory to the Lord, or to me?" The 4 I named above is for the Lord and to his glory.

Just a few funny memories

When Justina was about 2 1/2 she approached me in the bathroom where I had some nice new underwear from Costco sitting on the counter. She said "mommy someday when I have a big butt can have these."

When she was 3 she sat in the back of the car and asked Paul and I something about idiots. We were a little confused as it didnt seem to make sense, finally we realized that she was asking us about Indians. Just so Im clear on this Paul and I have never called Indians idiots.

Mercy when asked what she wanted for dinner said, "hmmmm I want some King crab!". She has very expensive taste and usually orders shrimp when we go out:)

Thats all I can remember right now but whenever I remember those little jewels I will write them down for future reference:)

A wanna be Suzy

When I moved up tp Alaska I thought I would have a lot more time to do new things. In Oregon I was surrounded by places like Target, Wal-mart, Bed Bath and Beyond, 2 big malls and a bunch of little ones. I loved to shop! And eat out! So I move to a place where there is one big store and thats Fredmeyer. So you would assume that I would have a lot of time on my hands considering now I only have returns to take to one store:) I have been here for 2 years and I feel as busy as I ever have. Life is sooo consuming! All I want is to be is a beautiful skinny loving quite submissive wife who showers her children with love and praise, bakes fresh bread from scratch daily, always has wonderful fragrant roasts ready for dinner at 5pm and has a house that could withstand the white glove test. Is that to much to ask? I love the 50's ideals with the woman standing in her kitchen with fabulous hair and perfectly pressed dress with a delicate string of pearls and her hand made apron with a wonderful presentation of roasted chicken and corn on the cob. I could do with out the high heals she always seems to wear!
Anyways Im veering off the subject now. The last couple of days I have decided to try new things. I made morning glory muffins and for the first time tried my hand at making clam chowder. I made the clam chowder with the clams we harvested this summer! If anyone comes up they must go clamming, its a blast. The next day I grinded my own flour and made 4 loaves of bread and a big batch of fresh whole wheat cinnamon rolls (with the fresh ground flour), this was my first time ever grinding my own flour. Did I mention I used freshly ground flour (Im so excited). This was right after I made a wonderful apple pie with a pretty lattice crust. I feel so good:) Next time Im going to wear a dress and paint my lips red!

Now 10 things about Justina...

I have explained below my reason for doing this already. Its just fun:)

1. Wakes every "school" morning complaining that she doesnt feel good! She seems to be fine on the weekends though:)

2. Been boy crazy since she was 5 years old! She started by trying to make another little lad give her a kiss! We are keepin a close eye on her!

3. Sings while she brushes her teeth:)

4. Extremely thoughtful. She will make a get well card for almost anything.

5. Home schooled for 5 years. Tested very well for her first state testing last year. shwwww i though I was going to be in trouble:)

6. She does not have a sweet tooth. Weird I know!

7. Loves pink EVERYTHING.

8. Flew on a plane by herself in First class. I have never myself flown first calss, but thats all that was available. It cost me an extra 10,000 points so I told her she better eat every stinkn bite of whatever they feed her!

9. She does NOT like PB&J sandwiches. Its just not right.

10. Loves to do anything that involves hanging around lots of people (especially boys). Shes very social.

10 Things about Mercy...

I loved the whole 25 things off facebook so I decided to do at least 10 on each my girls for fun from my perspective of course. So I will start with Mercy.

1. Hungry Hungry Hippos and Sequence our her favorite games.

2. Favorite color is pink but purple will do in times of crisis, green tends to make an appearance as well as it is the neighbor girls fave color.

3. Extremely picky about clothes! Usually it needs to be a stained shirt and a pair of mismatched capris.

4. Loves chocolate!! The other day she ate all the hot fudge out of my sundae (I had EXTRA fudge put on it to) by the spoonful. She called it a fudge volcanoe.

5. Throws a tempertantrum about EVERYTHING!!!

6. Wiiling to kill a cute little duck if it trys to peck at her fish.

7. Loves to fish rain or shine:)

8. Wants to marry her daddy.

9. Makes huge messes and trys to play the Im to little to clean this up card.

10. Loves to give out kisses and hugs!

Pauls Perspective...

This is the name of Pauls new blog!! He doesnt always agree with everything I post, so he protested and started his own. Actually if you want the truth, he tried to make me post corny stuff:) I wouldnt have it! There you go a new blog is born.

http://psbarlow.blogspot.com/

Enjoy!

BREAKING NEWS: U.S. House Passes Obama’s Stimulus Package

http://www.worthynews.com/4230-breaking-news-us-house-passes-obamas-stimulus-package

Quote from article... " I remember the Great Depression very well. I don't remember any of the many government programs affecting the course of the Depression."With unemployment at its highest level in a quarter-century, he recalled that "Government programs didn't work then, I don't know why we think they would work now." Bartlett stressed that, "our obsessive borrowing has fully mortgaged my kids and my grandkids. Now we're working on mortgaging my two great-grandkids. Mr. President, I think it's more than a little bit selfish to try to solve our economic problems which we created by burdening future generations yet to be born."

Tried and True 1

I get a lot of recipes off All Recipes and try them, if I like them i put them in my Tried and True notebook. This is absolutely the best banana bread I have ever had!

Banana Sour Cream Bread

PREP TIME
10 Min
COOK TIME
1 Hr
READY IN
1 Hr 10 Min
Original recipe yield 4 - 7x3 inch loaves

INGREDIENTS

1/4 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 cup butter
3 cups white sugar
3 eggs
6 very ripe bananas, mashed
1 (16 ounce) container sour cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons baking soda
4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C). Grease four 7x3 inch loaf pans. In a small bowl, stir together 1/4 cup white sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon. Dust pans lightly with cinnamon and sugar mixture.
In a large bowl, cream butter and 3 cups sugar. Mix in eggs, mashed bananas, sour cream, vanilla and cinnamon. Mix in salt, baking soda and flour. Stir in nuts. Divide into prepared pans.
Bake for 1 hour, until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

I cant sleep...

Like I said before we had an earthquake on Saturday that shook me up a bit. (I didnt try to say it that way it just came out:0) I find myself scared while taking a shower, thinking ones going to hit and I wont be dressed. Weird I know! I also feel anxious being separated from the kids during the day. I know I cant let the fear of an earthquake control my life. So anyways now Ive got something to take my mind off of it for a little while. The volcano across from us might blow. It went from yellow to orange (24 hour watch) on Sunday. Tonight I could smell a slight tinge of sulfur in the air. Theres been quite a bit of seismic activity surrounding it and it seems to be preparing itself to blast off. They say it could happen within the next several days. Everyone is stalking up on breathing masks, batteries (for radios and flashlights), and of course water. We made our trip over to Home Depot earlier this evening and then decided to eat dinner at Carls Jr. In the middle of eating an employee starts telling people that it blew and they were recommending people not be in their cars. She went on to say that this "source" was saying that they may evacuate the peninsula. I like to think of myself as calm and collected but Im not, I panicked. We rushed out and drove home, I was shaking, thinking we were breathing in ash. There was so much freezing fog I could barely see, I thought the fog was possibly ash or maybe a mix of fog and ash. When we got home I hurried the kids into the house and checked the info that we had heard, well none of it was true, although the volcano observatory did receive numerous calls within the hour asking if redoubt blew probably because of the fog and slight sulfur smell. I was quite relieved to find out that I had panicked for no reason. I do hope if it blows, it will happen in the day so maybe I can get a pic before closing ourselves up in the house. Then I got to thinking, what if we have a big earthquake before it blows. Ughhh I cant sleep!

5.7

Today we had the biggest earthquake since we have been here. At first they were saying 6.1, but when all was confirmed it was 5.7. Fortunately it happened out in the water about 90 miles away from us. I was sitting at the computer chatn with a friend when my chair started to shake as well as my desk. It was a very strange feeling! The kids panicked a little, their immediate response was to run down the stairs to me. We then stood under the door frame waiting for any after shocks. I explained to them to crawl underneath the dining table the next time, and I would come to them. Paul was at men's bible study, as he was talking he started to wonder if anyone else was feeling the movement as it was making him dizzy. All in all it was quite "moving".

A little family update...

The girls are both doing gymnastics. Mercy is a Nazi gymnasts and in my opinion the best in her class. You can tell Justina is a ballerina though, everything she does she points her toes perfectly and has graceful fingers:) Not really suited for back hand springs but shes getting there. I may take her out as things are really starting to scare me. She went on the uneven bars for the first time the other day, yikes! They also go off a diving board doing flips in the air into a pit of soft blocks. Stillll... Its a little much for me:) Justina is doing well in school. I have not really started with Mercy yet. Its hard knowing that I have 12 years of school to do, why start early?
Paul is doing the same old thing "working". We have had very extreme driving conditions for the last week. It makes me very nervous when he has to go far. Today he is driving a couple hours away on wet ice. There has been many accidents here. Just yesterday near our road somebody went off the road and flipped their explorer. Not sure if they were ok, an ambulance had just arrived on the scene when we passed by. I have been trying to stay off the roads as much as possible! I wont say much more as he hates if I write anything about him without his approval:)
As for me, Im always trying to do something crazy. My new thing is training to do step aerobic instructing. The club was looking for instructors and I somehow stuck my name on the list, before I knew it one of the managers was telling all the other instructors that I was going to do a class. What she didnt know was that I was actually going to cross my name off of the list, but now if I dont do it I will look like a huge flake!!!! I actually dont do well at stepping, counting backwards and talking at the same time. But I will make a go at it I suppose! Paul is very supportive, so much so that he made me do it!
Just another thing to add to my list. Take care of the kids, do school, fix breakfast, lunch and dinner, dishes, laundry, scrub toilets, grocery shopping, pay bills, exercise, post on the blog etc... You know we really do EVERYTHING! Its a hard job being a homemaker! But very worth it:)

I have to write this down before I forget! Paul the other day was making Mercy a quick lunch. Mercy had her choice of mini corndogs or the little whale chicken nuggets (she calls the killer whales "flipper" and she made me buy them the other day). She went back and forth with it and then finally came to the conclusion, "I want to save the whales". Paul said his Aunt Linda would be proud!

Its been a while...

Well once agian I have been inspired by Pauls sister to post an update since it has been about a month. Of course we havent went on any exciting trips like disneyland and we dont have the wii Hannah Montana game, but last i night I did play the Hannah Montana DS game I got for Justina, but only for about 3 hours:)

We had a good Christmas, I think, actually Im not sure what I did just yesterday but nonetheless I dont remeber anything "not good".

Its hard durring the Holidays to not have at least some family around, uuhummm, like AUNTS, parents or fun cousins to play with. But we make it work. Paul and I battle it out on the Risk board, so far Ive won like 13 games and hes won about 8. Yes I just had to say it!

We had tons of snow on Christmas which was nice and the day after we went sledding together. We had a hill all to ourselves, it was a lot of fun.

We are going through a cold snap now and temps have been -20 to -35 (-35 this morning). I really need to go out and spit to see how long it takes to freeze:) If you walk out with your mouth open it takes your breath away for a split second. It really hurts to touch anything outside for more than a second or two. Our truck failed us last week and needed to be taken in by ambulance (tow truck) to the hospital where it recieved a battery transplant and a few other minor things. Im parking it in the garage now, right next to my laundry.

Well I think Im done rambling for now.