Sunrise over the Chugach Mountain Range

One of the best things about winter in Wasilla and the lack of daylight, is the return of the sunrise. You see, I am NOT a morning person even in the slightest. So most places I've lived in the lower 48, I rarely if ever saw a sunrise. In Wasilla, I get to watch them from October-March, from my bay windows in my kitchen. I also have the most amazing view of the Chugach mountain range. Because Wasilla is so very close to the ocean we get the most amazing skies that blow in off the waters. Icy blues, pinks, purples, and reds. Some mornings I wake up thinking I'm in a Machetanz or Maxfield Parrish painting. There are no words to describe the glory of God's creation in Alaska. Photos only begin to capture it a little. I am blessed to wake up to it every morning, fall, winter and early spring. For now I will enjoy the sunrises AND sunsets while I can. A season is coming when I will no longer be able to enjoy either.



Fred Machetanz



Maxfield Parrish

Crafty

Been feeling crafty again, here's a few of my latest faves....

ETSY SHOP

Check out my mini :)

GIVEAWAYS and REVIEWS!

I've got 2 reviews and giveaways going on this week.

First one is a review of my beach wrap by littlebgcg and his Mama review it.
To enter to win just follow the links above and enter to win your own beach wrap, Gauze wrap or 25.00 Gift Certificate to MoRockin Creations!

Christa has many other giveaways going on her blog as well. Check em out! Here is a pic of Christa in her beach wrap she reviewed.





I was contacted a couple of weeks ago by Brandy . Brandy is reviewing one of my Owl always love you Owls. I sent her and her son Orlando. She loves him of course ;). Check out her blog about Orlando and enter to win your own Owl from my shop!
Here are some owls:

10 Confessions from Maggie

10 Confessions

1. I collect things. Random things, I think I might be able to recycle into something cool. Right now I have: three 25lb rice sacks, 2 dog food sacks, 100's of capri sun envelopes, boxes of fabric, Old maid cards, bed sheets (vintage fabric), drapery samples (still attached to the book), vintage clothing, wool sweaters and Wasilla T-shirts and various other Wasilla items.

2. I've actually recycled some of the above into some pretty cool creations......and wish I had the time to finish all the projects I start or have ideas to start.

(like this purse)


(one of the cool vintage read aloud items in my shop )

3. I have a secret (not anymore) fear that other people think I'm nuts. (See above for reason).



4. I love to act and dance but I think I am way too shy, self conscious and old to ever actually pursue those things.



5. I cannot find my homeschooling table. It is so full of papers and books and science projects that the kids have to do their school work at the kitchen table or on TV trays in the living room. They don't seem to mind but I do.



6. I secretly hope that everyone I love will move to Alaska so that I never have to leave for any reason whatsoever. I am still recovering from last summer when we took the Youth Group to Mexico. Even though I knew I got to see family and I love Texas and Mexico, a sense of dread and panic overcame me every time I thought about traveling outside of Alaska. I was extremely glad to be home when we got back.




7. I love the beach, water, mud in my toes, dirt under my fingernails and the smell of fresh cut grass.



8. We do school work all year. It is my philosophy that education of some kind takes place every day in every situation. We do not do public school at home. Homeschooling in our family looks different every day, week and year.


9. I'm pretty sure my kids are the brightest, funniest, most talented and interesting kids you will ever meet. Seriously...







(see what I mean? Aren't they wonderful!)




10. Every time I make a baby sling or wrap that comes from the depths of my creativity, and I love the creation with my whole heart.... I long for another child, just so I can wear a baby in it and never have to part with my wrap. It's hard to sell those ones. This usually happens on a almost weekly basis.......

Yoda

Yoda is so awesome, he gets his own post!
Did you know:

The voice of Yoda was provided by Frank Oz. Who also voiced The Muppets, Miss Piggy and Sesame Streets Grover and Cookie Monster.

Early in production on Episode II, it became clear that the lightsaber battle between Yoda and Dooku could only be carried out with a computer-generated Yoda. The ILM animators took great efforts to reproduce Frank Oz's puppeteering skills. Imperfections, like the constant wiggling of Yoda's rubber ears- which happened when Franks' arm was tired of holding up the puppet wwere such a part of the character that they were added to the computer generated form.

And my favorite factoid is: A picture of Einstein was on the wall behind the Yoda sculptures during development and the wrinkles around Einstein's eyes got worked into the Yoda Design.


EJ and Z with Yoda.

Yoda!

Star Wars

So I've always assumed that every person on the planet must absolutely LOVE Star Wars. Alas, I was wrong. I married a man who is NOT into Star Wars, if you can believe it. However, he LOVES his wife and kids so he took us to the traveling science of Star Wars exhibit at the Anchorage Museum a few weeks ago. I was like a kid in a candy shop, especially with the live action Storm Troopers and a "real" Jawa (much to my youngest sons dismay).

Here are few pics of our time at the Star Wars exhibit. A must see for all lovers of The Force, or geeky homeschool Mom's. The hubby even enjoyed himself despite his lack of adoration.


(Z building his very own R2)

(B talking to a real droid. He played peek a boo and eventually, said to her. "the force is strong with you" and "Luke, I am your Father"...which cracked us all up)

(EJ and General Grievous. Who knew he was so tiny! Much less intimidating in person.)

(The Death Star)

(Luke's Hand, Which totally creeped EJ out.

(The scariest Star Wars monster EVER! Maybe it was my age when the Empire Strikes Back came out, but man o man was I afraid of this guy!)

(A little sign teaching Alaskan's that the world is cold...tee hee)

(A riding on air, fun stuff!)

(C riding on air)

(The hubby enjoying himself!)

Owls!

I came up with the idea for these owls just before Valentine's Day. As a Mommy to 5 kids it's is always a challenge to figure out original homemade gift ideas for special days like Valentines and Easter. I try to save money whenever I can on these days. This year I recycled some wool I had been saving for winter hats and turned them into these adorable owls. I didn't get any made in time to sell at Valentines on Etsy but I made 8. 5 for my kids and 3 to donate to our youth group Valentine's Day Banquet auction. The kids loved them, and all 3 sold at the auction. I really, really enjoy making these. Each one is unique and I find that a lot of fun! I've tried to make sure that each owl has his/her own name that starts with an O...this has proved a little challenging. I recently had a blogger ask to review one for me! I am super excited to read her review and will let you know when it is up. I've given her one to give away too!
Click here to check them out in my shop.

This is Octavius

and Oswald (who went to live in Kauai)

and Odette (for sale in my shop)

and Oliver (my first etsy owl sale)

Dare I say it....I think spring has arrived.

The trees are budding out, the mosquitoes are out and the long winter seems to be at its end. I am thankful for the longer days as we head into summer.




The sun is so addicting, it's as if every fiber of my being is crying out for it. We now have some sort of light from 4:15 am till 11:30. It definitely makes it hard to go to bed early and easy to wake up early.

49th Find

My new etsy shop. I LOVE anything vintage or antique. I'm a history junkie, I really enjoy the stories from history and OLD stuff just really strikes my fancy. I'm also constantly in the local thrift shops (I've got to clothe 7 people on a ministers budget). So I came up with an idea that I could turn my love of hunting for ancient gems into a way to provide a little extra cash-ola. Hey, somebody's got to support this shopping habbit of mine...tee hee.

Here is my new shop and some of my first finds. More to come!

Wowsers! Time Flies.....

Holy Smokes (as Grandpa used to say), I can hardly believe 3 months has gone by since I last blogged. Ok closer to 4 months but who is really counting but me? Here's what I've been up to (in a nut shell of course).

Fall:

We made applesauce out of Alaska's tiny and super tart apples. Because the apples are so small it is best if you cook the whole apple and then press it through a sieve to strain out all of the skins, stems and seeds. Because of the bright color of the apple skin our applesauce was the most amazing pink lemonade like color. We added plenty of sugar so it was nice and sweet too! We processed three 5 gallon buckets of apples and have actually eaten it all already! My tatse buds are eagerly awaiting next years crop.


God's creation is amazing:


When the leaves dropped from the trees around our new house we were in awe of the view that was revealed and the sunrises over the Chugach mountain range were incredible. When you live somewhere with no sunrise or sunset for months on end, you are overwhelmed and in awe of it when it returns. Its my very favorite thing about "heading into the darkness" or the darker season we have here.

We had some fun:You're never too old for dress up! My girls are growing up way too fast for my liking but they still love to dress up and twirl. Thank you Jane Austen!


I made some fun stuff:
To give away: an upcycled Super Lucky Elephant bag for my daughters friend.

To Sell: This super cute corduroy lined sling and many more of course....it WAS the craft bazaar season after all.




To Keep: Upcycled vintage fabric and button cross for my cross collection. I've made a couple more to sell but have not listed them yet.


And ..............


JUST FOR FUN: My crazy pets in funny positions..