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Thursday, December 1

Ahhh...Sweet Sixteen

...a phrase that was not coined because someone thought that was a good temperature for it to be outside. Our Fred Meyers automatically puts your gallon jug of milk in a plastic bag so it doesn't freeze to your hand as you put it in your car. Yeah!

Wednesday, November 23

Memory Verse

The children's program at our church just started putting out a monthly newsletter. It has quotes from the kids along with other information. Natasha was asked what were three things for which she was thankful. She answered (unprompted), "Jesus, songs and my birthday."

We are working on the memory verse for this month (say it and you get a prize!). It is Philippians 4:19, "And my God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus." We put it to music and she kind of sings along with me. But the funny thing is now when she counts, she says, "4, 19, 4, 19." (And I think that's the hardest part!)

Friday, November 18

Mommy? Mommy, Mommy, Mommy, MOMMY!!!

Well, I was at the end of my mental note the other day. I was soooooo tired of hearing my name, answering and not getting a response. I told Natasha, "Okay, enough! I'm not "Mommy" anymore. Call me something else."
She was quiet for a few moments before half-whispering, "Hannah?"
So, now when I'm starting to lose it, she starts to call me Hannah. It's a little better.

Thursday, November 17

Bath time


Bath time is a huge hit at the Wehrley house. This picture is from Monday night. I wish I could do a video for you because these two were hilarious. I've never heard Elias laugh so hard (and that's saying something!). Natasha would get a mouthful of water and spit it at him--in his face--and he would just crack up...over and over and over.

Paper Dolls


Natasha and I had a little art/creative time together this morning. She was cutting paper with her special ladybug scissors. I was making snowflakes and paper dolls. I made the little girls holding hands at left. Natasha said it was a mommy and daddy. I said, "No, silly. It's two little girls. It's Natasha and Katie." Natasha continued to cut and look at the little girls. Then she picked up the girls and said to one of them, "STOP holding my hand!!!" She then proceeded to give one a bit of a hair/head cut.
Boy, those pesky dolls just aren't very cooperative, are they?

Sunday, November 13

Kewpie doll or punk rocker?


Going to Oregon

Natasha is really excited to be going to visit our extended family in Oregon over Christmas. About every day she'll say something about it, like who we might see while we're there, "I'll see Baba and Erika?" but mostly she pretends to go there on an airplane. "Abby and me are going on an airplane to see Baba. A big airplane and a little one."
Molly: "Okay, honey. Who's picking you up when you get there?"
Natasha: "Baba is going to pick me up in a car."
Mollly: "Okay. Be good for Baba and don't eat any peanuts on the plane."
Natasha: "Okay, Mama. But I need a kiss and a hug."
*kiss* *hug*
This happens, seriously, everyday. Then the other day we were driving past the Bed and Breakfast that Baba stays at when she comes to visit. Natasha says very excitedly, "We're in Oregon! Mama! We're in OREGON!"
Um, no...remember you have to take an airplane to get to Oregon??
Oh, yeah.

Monday, September 19

Please pray for us...

It's been awhile since my last post because every time I sit down to write something, I feel like all I have to say is negative. No humorous quips or quotes, no funny kid happenings. So here's the reality of life this past summer.

Natasha has been a sick little girl since March. She has had allergy related eczema since she was three weeks old. The first year was okay with no huge worries, just a stubborn rash that never really went away, but didn't seem to bother her a whole lot, except when she was in the sun. Last year things were worse when she was in the sun and she had confirmed allergies to any form of milk, eggs, peanuts and cod. If she was in the sun for even five minutes, we paid for it with a miserable, itchy little baby for the next week. This year has been horrible. I am so exhausted and Adam and I are emotionally burnt up. Since it was first sunny in March, Natasha has been itchy, whiny, impatient, irrational and otherwise completely high-maintenance. I know that this is not just because "she's two", because there have been days when her skin has been better and she is very polite, articulate, understanding and helpful girl--we hear "Mom, may I have some more juice, please?" and "Here you go Elias, here's your toy."....much better than the if-I'm-not-whining-I'm-screaming-and-crying-at-the-drop-of-a-hat girl!!

We, of course, have been to all the doctors--even the chiropractor and audiologist. We just found out the week before last that she is also allergic to: dogs, cats, dust mites and American Elm. We were extremely blessed to spend this past week with our friends Jon and Jenny McElwain while we removed the rest of the carpet and put Kilz primer on the subfloor to kill all the nastiness down there. We are hoping to be able to more back in today.

Then were are leaving on Thursday for Oregon to be with Adam's family--His dear grandma, Alvista Steele just passed away. We will also visit my grandparents while in the area.

Please pray that we find some answers for Natasha's health! Also that God will continue to give us the strength, patience and grace to help her each day without letting her rule the roost. Pray that this trip will not be stressful for her--her skin always gets worse when there is any kind of stress in her life.

Thanks,
Molly

Thursday, July 28

Visitors

My parents are arriving in two days. Dad will stay for a week and Mom for a month. YEAH! Our first official houseguests...and they're missing part of the sub-floor in the room they are to sleep in. (Adam's working on that right now)

Wednesday, July 27

Kid Quotes

...from a local source (that is, Natasha.)
We have (outside our house) a healthy population of spider mites (the little red dots that zig-zag around and bite you) and the largest Daddy-longlegs anywhere. The Daddy longlegs really kind of freak me out. Natasha immediately wants you to kill a bug when she sees one and the outside bugs are no exception. We (against my natural inclinations) have decided not to kill the Daddy longlegs because we know they will eat the more vicious spider mites. Anway, on to the quote...

Natasha looking at a Daddy longlegs: "Kill the spider, Mom."
Molly: "Honey, we don't kill Daddy longlegs spiders."
Natasha looks up with her eyebrows raised and asks in a sad, litte voice: "You kill the baby ones?"

Wednesday, July 20

If you only knew...

...what we've been going through. I really can't bring myself to go into detail on the internet, but it has to do with our 2 1/2 year old and a little phrase called "anal retentive." Literally. I've never been more happ to see poop. Okay that's enough.

So, yeah. We're all moved in to our new house, though not all unpacked. Not even remotely. We decided to tear out our carpet sooner rather than later once Elias started a runny nose and coughing at night upon arrival into the new house. We know the previous owners had an indoor dog and possibly a cat as well. So pretty much everything that belongs in the kids's room and the office is stacked up in our living room until we finish patching the walls, repainting ceiling to floor and put down new flooring. It's all fun and Adam and I both enjoy doing it...but projects take a lot longer when life has the gall to continue on and needing us to do the same.

Wednesday, June 29

We're having a party!

A Moving party, that is. I can hardly fathom that we are actually going to be in our own house, with our own teeny-tiny yard. That is, we will be there after we move all our stuff (why do we have so much STUFF???? oh yeah, we have kids--goodNESS!), fix a vehicle (or two) and clean our apartment--all before the first (MY BIRTHDAY!)

I am just in awe over how God has provided for us with this house. The housing market in Juneau is so tight and we are poor (well, at least in Juneau-where-the-median-income-is-87K-per-annum-and-we-are-trying-to-be-fully-supported-missionaries meaning of the word poor.) We had our offer accepted without haggling, the seller paid almost all of closing costs, we received a mighty chunk of down payment assistance, and the seller paid to fix a ton of stuff that needed done for the house. Amazing.

Friday, June 24

The deer

This photo was taken the same day as the previous post. These are two yearling does whose mommy hung out around our house a lot last summer. These two are not skiddish around people as you can see. I was not using any kind of zoom, just my little digital camera. This particular doe just kept walking toward me--until I got a little spooked and moved. She was within 10 or 12 feet from me.

Tuesday, June 21

Only in Alaska...

...are the full-grown deer smaller than the skunk cabbage!

Tuesday, June 14

Redneck Swimming

That's how Adam referred to it. It was hot, okay? (You know, like 70.)

You'd think...

...that from the silence that we'd have been moving, setting up our computer in the new house and waiting for our internet service to get set up. And you'd be wrong. Hmmm. Still waiting to move with half of our house packed....but our house is looking good. They just finished residing the exterior.

Wednesday, June 1

One week to go...Part 2

Hurry up and wait. That seems to be the motto of home buying. Hurry and get your offer in before someone else bids higher--we gotta get it off the market! Wait for a response...Hurry and get an engineer's report or it'll be "As Is" for you! Hurry and get bids for the 12 (count 'em TWELVE) things that need repaired. Wait while everyone mulls over the whole deal, find bids for the work, see what their second cousin once removed, who built a birdhouse once so he must know a thing or two about carpentry, thinks about Contractor #2 and see if they still want to go with our offer or not.......Wait, wait wait (here my eyes start to glaze over and my tone becomes low and drawn out as if I'm being played back in slow motion) for the repairs to be done...wait some more....HURRY and get all the papers from point A to points B and C, sign a paper from Point C, take copies to points B and D, return original copy to B, rush over to C and sign 3 more papers in triplicate, but you make changes the next day and they have to be resigned...all with two kids who always need naps.......and Mommy does too.

Okay, all that to say that we aren't moving today...maybe not this week. Next week perhaps???

Tuesday, May 31

Come cool off...

If the weather is too hot where you are, Natasha shows how you can come cool off by eating part of the glacier!! That's right, for millions of years **eyes rolling** this snow and ice has been ever so slowly forming, moving and calving just for you to enjoy on a warm summer's day! Come on over, it's free!!

Thursday, May 26

I'll help you pack, Mom

So, Natasha's excited to be moving to the new house. I guess she thought she'd speed the process along by packing up her toys....right on top of her brother!

He didn't seem to mind, though!

Tuesday, May 24

YES??!!

Natasha has a new, misguided way of saying "yes." If you ask her if she wants something that, to her, is particularly appealing--say, a ride on the city bus, or anything orange, or to play with our neighbor upstairs--she will answer with three words: "Yes. Sure! (and this last word is said very excitedly as if to cinch the deal) MAYBE!!"

Monday, May 23

One week to go...


We are scheduled to close on our new house in one week. This is only an event that God can finish. There are so many things that have to happen before we can sign papers that it just seems impossible. But then, the whole thing has seemed impossible so far and God has made everything happen up to this point, so I just trust that He will continue to work things out. Meanwhile, I still have to pack! That's not going to happen without some effort on my part!

Friday, May 20

Brotherly (and sisterly) love



Natasha and Elias really just enjoy each other immensely!

Those pearly whites


I realized that many of you might not have officially met our son, Elias. Here he is in all his toothy wonder. Adam says that for Elias, happiness is not an emotion, it's an attribute. I'd have to agree.

Wednesday, May 18

Elias, the paraplegic Marine

Elias is definitely crawling, well...um, make that scooting...no it's more like slithering except it's not side to side. Okay, think inchworm meets Marine. Got that? No legs involved except for the occasional bear crawl manuever when he seems to be inspecting every fiber of the carpet for those sneaky, yet oh-so-yummy pieces of gravel (helps with the digestive tract, you know.)

Monday, May 16

Intelligent Design and acid rain...

I've been reading Dr. Dixy Lee Ray's book Trashing the Planet. I realize that acid rain isn't the hot topic that it once was, but this book has got me thinking a lot about what an awesome God we have. It's amazing to me how interdependent and resilient this world is that He created. Living in Alaska as I do, I often think things like "what in the world do we need mosquitoes for? They are of no use at all!" Well, this book hasn't answered that question, but it has made me realize that all of creation was created for a purpose that is good and needed. Dr. Ray (who happens to be Adam's great aunt) wrote how the desert and barren places in the world help to neutralize acid rain because they are alkaline and the dust gets into the atmosphere and mixes with all the acids (many or most of which are naturally occurring), effectively neutralizing what could be acidic and potentially harmful. Places that I would look at and think of as useless are intelligently designed for a purpose.

Sunday, May 15

Picture of the Day


Natasha and her friend picked dandelions today. I had to take a photo of her in my favorite spot in the yard before we move in a couple of weeks.

Friday, May 13

Elias's latest

Yesterday he was clapping. Today he's made actual bonafide forward crawling movements....then he was sitting up in his crib after naptime. Natasha started walking at ten months. He seems to be on his way too.

Playing with Pictures



I'm just trying to figure out how to do photos from a Mac. Anyway, if you know Adam, you'll understand how hilarious this photo is. This was taken a couple of Thanksgivings ago (before kids). I can't remember who in their right mind let Adam touch their guitar.

Thursday, May 12

Stuck in a well with a goat and a slinky...

I was filling out my profile and my random question was” “You're trapped in a well with a goat and a slinky. Describe how you will escape.” It was too interesting and practical of a question to give a short pat answer to.

Let's just assume it is one of the old fashion metal slinkys, because if it is one of the new platsic ones, I'd be toast.
Plan A
So I take the end of the slinky, sharpen it against the rock walls of the well, and use my new knife to euthanise the goat, skin it and cut the hide into long strands which I weave into a rope, While this is going on I eat the goat, I have plenty to drink, but water quality is going to be a problem soon. Fortunately I'd be using my urine to cure the leather. If the goat had horns, I would bind them together to form a grappling hook and pull myself out. There are only a few problems with this plan: I am not strong enough to pull myself out of a well using a thin leather rope, I can't weave rope or make leather.

Plan B:
Scream like a scared little girl until my wife finds me and helps me out. This is really the best plan, because I excel at screaming like a little girl. The goat and the slinky are really inconsequential at this point.

Wednesday, May 11

Up and running

Ok. A Blog. A family blog. When I think about it, it really doesn't sound extremely exciting except for those immediately affected (like, say our families) and they might not be into the blog format. So...we'll see how this goes.