Well Looky There...

Hey hey hey!

I hope you all had an amazing Memorial Day weekend.  Our camping trip was....wet.   I'll post pictures later and tell you all about it. But I wanted to show you what I found yesterday.

Awww!  What a cute face, totally Pooh Bear.  From afar that is, don't try to get close to them...or feed them, that is a big No No.

While this bear is not the bear that has been roaming and pooping in our yard, I safely took these pictures from the sunroof of my car.  We were driving home from Amalga Harbor and spotted him on the side of the road...along with every other tourist bus and taxi :)

While Maddox and I were out at Echo Ranch for his class camp trip, Rusty and the kids watched a bear walk down the dirt road behind our house and backyard.  I'm assuming this is the same bear that is leaving rather large mounds of poo all over the place.   I love where  I live, it is so much fun, bear poo and all.

~Angie~

Look What I Did!

LOOK WHAT I DID!!!

I should have known the minute I said "There isn't anything I wouldn't do for my kids" that it would be tested.  I hate small boats in the ocean. I get panic attacks at the thought that an orca or some other type of whale could easily bump a canoe and send the occupants into the water.  So when this handsome face...

...BEGGED me to take him out in a canoe on our camping trip, I melted and did....despite my fear.   And guess what?  I totally loved it. Seriously, I'm all kinds of ready to get kayaks and go out all the time.  I practiced yoga breathing and envisioning my happy place while I was out there and slowly but surely I started to relax and enjoy it.  I can't tell you how gorgeous a setting it was. The picture does not do the scenery justice.

We are headed out on Friday for our annual camping trip with friends. I can't wait. I hope you all have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend!

~Angie~

A Mama Bears Musings

Hi everyone!

Whew, it's been a wild ride these past two weeks.  Here in Juneau, May means field trips weekly.  With three kids it means I'm running back and forth from field trip to field trip, and then of course three sets of baseball/softball schedules.  We are lucky if we are having dinner before 9.  Mothers day was bitter sweet of course.   My crew was so sweet and wonderful, however it's hard to think about one other child of mine that I couldn't kiss and love on.  We are so close to that big chunk of a first agency payment.  April turned out to be my least amount of income since Oct. of 2011.  But on the plus side it gave me a little bit of time to design the new moose :)  It's all good.

This little boy, oh dear, this little boy has me wrapped around his pinky finger.  Rusty says he plays me like a fiddle all the time. As parents we don't have favorites, we don't love one kid more than the other... this one, this one is my baby. 

Maybe it's because I am fiercely protective, (runs in the family, my Dad says all the ladies in his life are this way, my Mom, me and Breckon) maybe it's because I have a soft spot for the underdog and discounted, maybe it's because of his scrappy personality, whatever it is this kid makes me go Mama Bear on people a lot.

Here are some things you might not know about him.

1. He's had allergies from the get go. We had to wait until he was 6 months before we could start treating it.

2.  He developed asthma from the allergies.

3.  He was crawling hand over knee at the age of 4 months. He was climbing at 6 months and running at 8 months. He was riding his bike with out training wheels at the age of 2. 

4.  He didn't speak but one word (Mama) until well after the age of 2.  The doctors thought he was deaf because he would use sign language, we went through all the hearing tests to find out he can in fact hear.

5.  He is a fighter, never giving up, never crying if he falls down and gets hurt.

6.  He is a natural athlete, playing full on tackle football before he was in Kindergarten.

Maddox bounces from sport to sport, and not because I push him to be involved, quite the opposite really.  I tentatively ask "So who wants to play..." And cringe when all three raise their hands :) So when baseball came around and we found out that Maddox just missed the cutoff time for baseball and would have to play t-ball the 6yr. old meltdowns began.

It was time to put on the Mama Bear suit and confront the group of women in charge.   Let me be very clear, I did not approach them with anything but kindness, I might have left them with a dose of snarky but in my defense they tried to tell me about all the benefits of t-ball and that Maddox would be overwhelmed with a pitching machine.   In my mind, when they started off with that I said "Oh no you didn't"  Of course I did not say this but I sure thought it " Okay you group of women, sitting on those chairs, I was up at 5 AM running a half marathon, what were you doing? I am no new comer to the sports world and how dare you try to tell me what my child will be overwhelmed with."  :)  Thought it, didn't say it.

What I did say was...with a smile "Well, I've got a six year old who will refuse to play t-ball, who I think I know pretty well because he's mine, who is a firecracker of an athlete.  So either I'll just get my money back or you can put him on a team with his buddies."   I smiled...again and turned and walked away.

So to all you ladies who thought my boy would be afraid of a pitching machine, I'd love for you to show up to one of his games :)  But since you probably won't here are some pictures I took for you.

 He hits and gracefully sets the bat down when he takes off for first

 He hit this one way out in left field

 That's a pretty sweet hit

Maddox(left) and Alex(right) in the ready position

And this last picture is Maddox's little happy dance on first base...pretty sure he fits in well on this baseball team.  

I will go to bat any day for all of my kids.  And occasionally I will go Mama Bear on someone's butt if they try to tell me they know my child more than I know my child...any good mom would :) 

~Angie~

What We've Been Up To

Hi everyone,

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend filled with plenty of Cinco De Mayo festivities.  Our weekends have consisted of long runs and baseball/softball.  This weekend was not much different. However on Saturday our games finished in the early afternoon and we headed downtown to enjoy Juneau Appreciation Day.   Many of the shops were handing out balloons to the kids and the museums were free for the day, thanks to Ms. Erin Carriker for letting us know:)  

Breckon and I had a fun little DIY day last Monday, I had been meaning to post pictures of it but time slipped away.   We took broken branches and carved them into little hair sticks, sanded them down so they were nice and smooth. We then took nail polish and painted them with fun designs and patterns and sealed them with a matte acrylic coating.

We left the bark on the ends of some of the sticks just for fun.  All in all they turned out really well and work like a charm.  No more pencils, paintbrushes or pens holding up our hair anymore :)

~Angie~

Moose Necklace

Hi everyone!

So I've seen a ton of faux taxidermy around lately, and I started thinking, why not scale it WAY down into a wearable size?  I present to you my latest piece...and currently "my precious" because let me be honest, that stinker took a lot of time and effort.

I hand cut each tiny little piece out with my jeweler's saw, then there is the time consuming part of making sure each joint is perfectly flush, perfectly level, and then you flux the heck out of it and solder:)

 I added a  nice oxidized finish to his antlers for a more rustic look.  I'm thinking I'll experiment with patinas and make one a nice green/blue color.   Also I'm in the process of sketching out more plans for different animals.  But those won't be done until later this summer, I only have so much time in a day.

Have a great weekend everyone, and I hope your Cinco De Mayo is filled with great food and margaritas:)  Mine will be after our 15 mile run. Wish me luck!

~Angie~

This Moment...Right Now

Hi everyone!

Well, I'm completely outnumbered this weekend.  I'm surrounded by boys:)  Breckon flew down to Seattle yesterday to meet Grandma for a girls weekend.  They are living it up at the American Girl Cafe and store, getting mani/pedis,  going to high tea, dining out, movies and shopping.  She's having a blast.

Maddox and Breckon have an extremely tight bond so he's having a tough time without her.  Bless his little heart it's not even that he thinks he's missing out on any fun, he was worried sick about her going on the plane, first question he asked when he got out of school was "How is Breckon, did she get to Seattle okay?"  It's funny, those two are inseparable on the weekends, don't get me wrong, they do get into their own little spats but they are not very often, and when they happen they are not very long lived.  I truly hope that tight bond continues into their adult years.

The weather here this past week has been interesting to say the least. One minute it's pouring, the next the sun is shining. So last night we took advantage of that sunshine and headed out the road to fish.  We didn't get to our normal spot because they were blasting and we would have to wait a while for the pilot car to show up...so we turned around and went to plan b. 

Last night, surrounded by my boys, each one in a Carhartt, each one casting a line out in the water...it was pure heaven.  In that moment, right then, life couldn't get any better.  I love those moments.  It reminds me of that saying "It's not about having what you want, it's about wanting what you have."

I love what I have. 

On our way home last night we came across one very large mama bear and three roly poly babies.  It was almost dusk, and my camera battery had already died, and my cell phone died too :(  Oh well, it was awesome to see none the less.  One of the babies stood on it's hind legs to examine us a bit better, I had no idea they would already be that big!  We also had a sea otter swimming by our fishing lines, stealing our fish before they even bit our lines I'm sure...because we didn't get one bite last night:)

  I hope you all have a great weekend! 

~Angie~

*Lawlar Family Trail Cam Update*

Oh my gosh, I'm doing a little happy dance!  We pulled the trail cam down and guess what we have...!!

A BIG FAT BEAR BUTT!!!

Isn't it just the cutest bear butt you ever did see?  

I just replaced the camera on that tree that is leaning.  I placed it up higher so it will be capturing pictures of anything that walks below it.  We also had some deer back pictures.  I think the camera was a little too high on the tree before so hopefully this new position will give us more to look at:)