It's in the 40s this week, so our meager amount of snow is melting away. Even though our winter will still last 6 months as usual, it will end up being much mellower than the Midwest. It's really put a dent in our sledding, though it's been an excellent ice skating year. We've had enough bitter cold to make plenty of ice, we've just had little snow to cover it up.

Preschool had a mustache day for reasons I still do not understand. I do know that everyone seemed to love it, which is more than enough justification for me. I'm behind any plan that makes the kids this happy.





I spend a great deal of time these days sitting on the floor either building Lego trucks or wooden trains, and Piper is never more happy than when she's right in the middle of whatever is going on. The picture below captures our usual setup. If I can keep the Legos out of her reach while snapping them together, we can sit like this for hours. She even dozes off at times.





Even Henry is hungry for more snow!

Our winter continues be less than brutal, and our daylight happily increases every day.  We'll make it to summer before we know it. We've been to a few Alaska Aces games this January and the ice at Cheney Lake has been calling Henry's name a fair amount. Becky and I never stop enjoying  having a well maintained frozen lake 2 blocks from our home.

Henry gets a little better on his skates each time, but most importantly his confidence keeps increasing. After 30 minutes of skating he'll usually put his boots back on and climb around in the snow while I skate a bit longer near him. Once one of the hockey nets is available we inevitably descend into our hockey game.

Henry holds his small stick, stares down the puck as it is lined up flush with the blade, and then pushes it towards the goalie (Daddy), where it slides into the goal as I stand unmoving. I will announce that I blocked his shot if he shoots directly at my stationary foot. That is rare though. He usually lines it up just fine for the five hole.

 "You scored, Henry."

"You have to fall down, Daddy. The goalie always has to fall down."

At this point I move my phone and keys to the top of the goal and slide down to the ice for each goal he shoots my way.

He is all smiles as I flop from the right to the left."We are playing for the championship cup!"

In all fairness, Henry is happy to flop around when I slide pucks his way as well. He loves taking his turn in the net.






Thanks to Encyclopedia Brown and Scooby-Doo books, everything we find outside is a clue. I don't know what the mystery is, but the sticks, leaves, and old pucks are all keys to it.




We've had the opportunity to see the northern lights here in Anchorage lately, which is a treat. It's also a treat to be able to do so with the temps above zero. Standing outside at 2am at -10 is not too fun.




Piper is completely fascinated by her big brother. She smiles endlessly as he runs around, tells her stories, shares toys, and leans in for hugs. He's a very loving brother to her, and it's clear she feels it. Life is pretty good for us.