I have a kindergartener!

First day of kindergarten was Wednesday.  Jack has been a whirlwind of stress trying to get everything in order. I don't envy him having to be over elementary, middle school, and high school the first year as a principal, that's a heavy load.  Zax's teacher said he's wonderful to have in class because he's a great listener and participates. The other kids don't have structure in their home so kindergarten can be difficult for them to get used to. The teacher called Zax her model student and that made me laugh. Considering his favorite thing to do at home is tease Ila. 

It wasn't very cold this morning, but the clouds were dark so he was over dressed for a potential rain storm.

And some with his hair done! He reminded me i forgot to do it.

There are 10 students in his class.

Zax and Tizita (black girl) are the first teachers kids this teacher has ever had. Most teachers have small children, none, or their children are adults. Not usual to come with a family like mine. Jack gets a funny look and comments like, you're young to be the principal, because the other ones were near retirement age.

I attended two school events Friday! Lunch was the annual hot dog and beans lunch for the community. It was raining so they had it in the cafeteria instead of the beach. Then at night cross country held a cake walk fundraiser and Zax won us a chocolate cake!

Coach and athlete

 

This Brendan, he's the husband of the language arts teacher.  He is the athletic director and an aid.

The water is on and we are officially moved in! It took 5 trips to get everything from the old apt to the new house in the school truck. I love the leather couches and happy to have a queen size bed again. A full size is too tight with feeding a newborn at night. The kids share the middle bedroom and the other one is their toy room.

House guests! I think there were seven kids playing. They are polite at least and knock on the door saying, can we visit? Jack came home very surprised to see our house full and still not unpacked!

These girls were checking out our shutterfly family books.

This is Jack leaving our apartment and chatting with the teacher that is moving in. This view will be missed greatly!

This guy is building a shop, he carves ivory, next to his house!  It is about 8 houses away from the teacher apartments.  Only natives can hunt seal and then they make jewelry and carvings to sell out of the ivory.  It's expensive, but rare to us since they are the only ones who can do it. 

On a daily walk around the village.

Where the bush workouts are tapped. Very exclusive, lol!

Jack and Ila

This is Sacrament meeting in our home! We listen by phone conference for each meeting and during the lessons you unmute to participate. Some times we get dressed up and other times I'm proud we are all sitting on the couch nicely. 

Primary last week. They do a video for this one so u can see the other kids.  Don't be fooled, it isn't easy.  It's actually very hard to get used to.  If I had the option of doing this or going to church for an extra hour I'd choose the extra hour!  (Us LDS members already attend church for 3 hours as it is).

Crew is 2 1/2 months old!  He really is as adorable as these pictures, we are all enamored by him!

To me he looks like Marcela and Mike's Damien...but there isn't blood relation on that side!

Jack and i had a movie night in our home. We took a computer monitor from his office and hooked it up to some speakers and enjoyed hot chocolate.  We don't have wifi and data doesn't work on our phones at this house so we are forced to watch old DVD, but I happened to see High School Musical got stuck in a case, yes!!

Caller ID doesn't work on anyone's phones out here so you have to leave a message or text me if I don't answer, otherwise it won't show you called me.  I feel like I'm going back in time without having data on my phone, wifi in my house, or even a reliable phone connection sometime.  We simply live too far away from civilization.

I've survived 2 weeks in the bush!

Today felt like Christmas.  All of my Amazon orders arrived at the same time because UPS only comes 2x a week so Prime isn't 2 day shipping here.  It is closer to 2 weeks!  It felt like forever when I was waiting for pull ups for one kid who ended up wearing 2 sizes too small till his arrived and dish soap!  Hand soap was filling in for the time being.  There were over 10 boxes that would make my house feel more livable and the last two items from my Walmart order 3 weeks ago arrived as well! This rainbow describes my joy!

I actually saw this rainbow right after we accepted an offer on our house. I'm hoping it is confirmation everything will go smoothly from here!

The hole-digger-worker-man told me they were finishing the sewer line today and the water would be done next week so at least there is an end in sight for moving into the house!  It's a duplex we share with a newly wed couple who both are teachers.

One of my favorite deliveries was the bathroom set!  I've never had such a coordinated room in my life. 

And lastly my box of fruit and vegetables arrived this evening.  I signed up for "Full Circle," where they deliver fresh fruits and vegetables weekly or as often as you schedule the delivery from local farms. Because of the inconvenient place I live this box was over $60!  My jaw dropped when I opened the box.  Even though I knew what was coming, it was still a shocker to realize....Toto, we aren't in Utah anymore.

Speaking of ridiculous prices. Walmart is offering free shipping to me! I know you all have been stressing on how to get me a house warming gift with shipping being so expensive to Alaska so here you go!  My address is 4 Ninja Turtle Way, Elim AK 99739.  I'd show you my drivers license to confirm my address, but then you'd know how much I weigh...or at least what I claim!

These first two weeks in our new village have been long with Jack flying out three separate times to three training in the district village, Unalakleet.  He was here 4 out of 14 days!  No big deal for many spouses who travel for work, but Jack is a principal! The kids are testing my patience as we make new rules for playing and a schedule.  Life is very different here, kids run around unsupervised all day and for hours into the late hours of the night.  I hear kids playing past 11pm every night because it isn't dark yet still!

It was pretty cold this day, but we needed to get out!  We met two girls who will be in Zax's kindergarten class.  There should be 10 students!

10:30pm from my back porch!  It really is an amazing view.  When we move to the new house we won't have this view so I'm enjoying it as much as I can now.

I love going to the beach when it isn't windy!

Jack took a break and met us on our way back from exploring. He has a lot to do by Wednesday. Since we live next to the school he is there now (10pm) finishing up important things. Principals here have very different responsibilities, but have a much smaller staff and less student. 

This is the clinic. All the teachers I've talked to say they wouldn't go here. With my insurance i can fly to Nome 2 times a year for medical appointments/emergencies. So i went in to check it out. They don't have a PA, but their technician do well baby checks.  Now i have a dilemma because i want Crew to be immunized.  Jack thinks it's no big deal to take him just for a shot and I'm a little too trusting that people know how to do their job so i might take him next month and find out for myself.

My ode to Crew turning 2 months

Crew will grow up thinking he was born in Alaska probably! I've never been much of a kid or baby person until i had my own. With Zax it was all so new and a blur while trying to adjust to the new life with a child. I'm sure i thought it was hard being sleep deprived. Then came Ila. Now that was hard. She was a wonderful baby, but having them two years apart was too close with having to still do everything for Zax and take care of a baby. I was overwhelmed.

And then came Crew! Now this is true sleep deprivation. The two demanding older siblings wake up early and they want breakfast no matter how much sleep i got or early it is. If it wasn't for my mom taking Zax and Ila to her house after Crew was born, i worry what may have happened to all of us! Lol!  

Now Ila and Zax are great helpers fetching me things i ask for and "mommy Ila" adores being a great helper.

Zax has surprised me and has firmly claimed Crew as his own. One day Zax was really bugging me by getting in the way while i was taking care of Crew so i said, "just go he's my baby!" I found Zax a couple minutes later crying and he said, "he's my baby too mom!" My sensitive little man.

These three!

Even though we've been in Elim for a week we are still living out of our suitcases till the water line is dug and finished at our new house. I'd been delaying trimming his nails till i found the baby clippers. I waited too long because the other day he took two chunks out of his forehead!

He has a wonderful temperament and cries when he's hungry, tired, or needs to be changed. Pretty easy to fix! Since i have virtually no responsibilities or life outside of my family i am really enjoying slowing down and spending more time with him than i did with my other two. 

Since i don't have a car, stores to shop at, friends, a job, or anywhere to go I'm forced to enjoy the small things whether i want to or not!