spring time in Alaska

I think that the photos explain it all.

New car

OK so after Sean tried sooo hard to fix our van we had to finally get rid of it. The van kept over heating and finally we took it to a mechanic and found out that the head gaskets needed to be replaced. It would only be a $2,100.00 fix that is if the engine wasn't cracked then it would up the bill to $5,100.00 so all in all the van wasn't worth fixing.



So we went car shopping. We looked and looked and really couldn't find anything then we went to the Toyota dealership and found a 2005 Ford Freestyle and took it for a test drive. Then we went to a Park and Sell lot and test drove another Freestyle.



We ended up going with the one at Toyota it had less miles than the other one and were able to get an extended warranty on it. So we are now the proud owners (well when it's paid off) of a Maroon 2005 Ford Freestyle. The picture below is what ours looks like. I haven't taken a picture of ours and can't today because it's covered in snow!!

Update on the kiddos

OK so I know it's been forever since I have updated the blog. there have been many times where I will sit down to work on it and then either something happens that I need to take care of or I get side tracked. So here it goes.

Riley ~ Is doing good in school, we had parent/teacher conferences a couple weeks ago and was told that he is doing well but sometimes likes to socialize a little to much!! He is definitely our social one, he has so many friends that he plays with its hard to keep them all straight!! Beginning in July he will start football. Now mind you, when we went to sign him up for football I figured it would be flag football, man oh man was I wrong. He is signed up for full fledged tackle football!!! Practices start in July and games will start in August. I'm not really sure who is more nervous for him to play, me or Sean.

Aidan ~ So much has happened with him. He was having a lot of problems at school so we went through the whole thing on seeing if he would qualify for some "extra" help. Well during the testing phase of the process, the testing staff thought that they needed to test his IQ and all that. Well about 2 weeks ago we had a meeting to discuss what course of action that we could take with him and also to talk about all of the test scores that he received. We found out that Aidan has a high IQ for someone of his age. He qualified for the Highly Gifted Program!!! We are so proud of him,. What this means is that next year he will be going to Rogers Park Elementary in Anchorage and be in a class of children that are at his same level. They will still do the same curriculum as other students in the school district just at a much higher level. He spent the day at the school last Friday and loved it. He is so excited to go.

Liam ~ Is getting huge!! It's hard to believe that he is almost 2. He is into everything and talking so much more, It is into identifying body parts like nose, eyes, ears, hair, mouth, and hands. We had to move him to a toddler bed, not because he is climbing out of the crib but because he has gotten to big for it!!

Picture Details:

1st picture: Riley and his cousin Callie

2nd picture: Aidan helping Liam up the stairs on the playground

3rd picture: Liam on his bike.

OK I will try to be better at keeping up on this but I can't promise anything!

Brotherly Love

We were playing rock band and I guess that we were being to loud for Aidan and kept him awake. So he got bored and drew a mustache on Riley. All and all it was pretty funny, though Riley didn't think so.

My 1st Wordless Wednesday

My Little Rock Star

So Riley and Aidan got Guitar Hero II for Christmas. Liam loves to play with the guitar but it's to big for him, so I found this little one for him. He loves it!! It's so cute to watch him walk around the house with it!

Who could resist a smile like this?!?!?!

We are still here!!

Ok well I'm sorry that's it been so long since I have posted. We have been busy trying to settle into our new life here in South Central Alaska.

Sean is working at Fred Meyers. He started out as a day porter and next week is moving into the dairy dept. He is very excited. It has been a while since he has been in an area where he is comfortable.

I am still staying at home with the kids. Though that looks to be changing here soon, I will be going and getting a part time job. In a way I am excited, I will have some adult interaction!! On the other hand I won't be home for our nightly routines.

Riley is doing very well in school. He is very anxious for spring sports to start. We had missed the hockey sign ups so he will have to wait until next year.

Aidan, out of all of us is having the most trouble adjusting to everything. He is back on meds for his ADHD and it seems to be helping though we are still working on it. School is going ok for him he had areally rough start but seems to be doing better now.

Liam is growing by leaps and bounds everyday. He is starting to talk a little bit. He can say mama, dada, night night, bye bye (only to my dad), Day Day/ Daisy (my parent's dog), grandpa and grandma. He is trying new words everyday. It won't be long and he'll be talking all of our ears off!!

We are still living with my parents. Looks like we will be here until at least the first of June. We don't know how Aidan would handle moving again and starting a new school. So we have decided to just stay put for a bit.

Stupid Computers!!!

Ok so our laptop crashed about 2 weeks ago! I am soo mad!!!

We lost all of our files, thank god that I had backed all of our pictures up on to disks. We not only lost our files we also lost all of our programs.

Which means I have no photo editing programs available to me at the moment.

I do have one but it's in storage and it's 20 below outside so maybe when it warms up I will go and "hunt" for it. So please bear with me, some of the pictures that I post will be flipped wrong and have red eyes and ect.

Valentine's Day Project

Ok so I made 30 of these little mini milk cartons for my brother Kyle and his men who are serving our country in Afghanistan. I filled them with conversation hearts. They are so cute!!

My stamping space!!

Ok here are some pictures of my stamping space. My dad gave up his office so that I could use it for my stamping. Notice how clean it is?? It's not always like that!!

Some pictures.....

We are moving AGAIN!!!

OK I am going to try to make this a short post (yeah right!!)

For those of you that don't know, Sean lost his job on Halloween. He isn't sure why he lost it and it's still a shock for him.

What this means for us is that we have to move yet again. There are no jobs here on the island that we could get and make it financially. We have made the decision to go to an area where jobs can be found. We will be moving to Anchorage.

My parents have graciously opened their house to us until we get back up on our feet. We will be moving the weekend of Nov 10Th. A short 8 days!! We will be shipping all of our stuff on the barge. Sean will be driving the car up to Anchorage, he will have to take a ferry from Ketchikan to Haines and then drive to Anchorage. The boys and I will be flying from Ketchikan to Anchorage.

Please pray for us during this time. We know that God will provide but it's still a scary situation to be in.

All right I am off to bed I will keep everyone posted!!

Love the Murphy Family

Halloween

So this wasn't the best Halloween for us as you can imagine but before we got the bad news we were having fun.

Little Liam was a dragon, he wouldn't stand still long enough for me to get a picture of him facing me so you get his back side :) He came with Mommy and helped in Aidan's class room for the party.

Aidan who is on the left was Optimus Prime from Transformers. Riley was a clone trooper from Star Wars, I think.

We didn't go trick or treating but we took them to one of the churches here that had a Harvest/Halloween Carnival and all of the kids had fun.

Basketball!!

Riley and Aidan are both playing basketball this year. So far they have had 1 game. It was so funny to watch the little guys play, I have never laughed so hard!!



Aidan was number 35. He did really well. He gets frustrated easily because he hasn't mastered dribbling yet.

Riley was number 24 he is the one in the middle with the black shorts on. He is the tallest one on his team, (go figure!!). He is doing really well he likes to steal the ball and loves to pass it. I don't think that I have ever seen a kid pass so much!!

Sorry that the pictures aren't that good. Our camera isn't the best and the lighting wasn't good either.

Christmas Card

OK so the other night I was making cards. It started out to be making cards to send to my brother Kyle who is in Afghanistan, but I got off track and figured out what our Christmas cards will be this year!! I love the Merry and Bright set that Stampin' Up sells, the little snowman is so cute!!

Sorry Kyle!! I will try to make some here in the next few days to send to you guys!!

Stampin' Up

I have recently signed up to be a Stampin' Up demonstrator. Stamping is something that I found when we lived in Barrow and have been doing it ever since. So I thought that I would also use this to post some of my work :) Some of it is my original work and some of it's cased from other fellow stampers. So here are a couple of cards that I made a few days ago.

Update on the Alaskan Murphy's

It's been awhile since I have updated this. It has been a busy summer to say the least.

The boys had a blast being able to play outside. They would go out at 10 am and play until bedtime. They have also started school and are enjoying it so far.

Liam is now walking and starting to run all over the place. He tries to keep up with his brothers. It is so much fun to watch him express himself. He has funny faces and noises that he makes that make us laugh. He is our little entertainer.

Sean is still plugging away at work. His sales are up so he is happy.

I have been working a lot at ProMech. Which is one of the float plane airlines here on the island. I love it. Unfortunately, in a way, I am no longer working there. That was one of my most favorite jobs that I have ever had. I had to stop working because we no longer have a sitter for the kids. Which in a way is goo because now I am a stay at home mommy once again!!

So now that I am a stay at home mommy I will be able to keep this updated!! That means more of me bragging about my kids and of course more pictures!!!

Cross Country

Starting a new school year here in Craig has been great for Riley and Aidan. They both love their teachers. They both started cross country as well. Aidan decided after about 2 practices that it wasn't for him. Riley on the other hand loves it.

Here are a couple of pictures from his first meet.

Here they are stretching. Riley is #30 with his back to the camera

Lining up at the starting line.

Coming up to the finish line.

He placed 2nd!!! He was so proud of himself. So are we!!

Liam's Rain Gear

Living in South East Alaska we have gotten used to the rain. Here are a couple of pictures of Liam in his rain gear!! (really it Aidan's rain gear)

Deadliest Catch ~ Nothwestern

If you have seen the Deadliest Catch on Discovery Channel then odds are you will recognize this boat!! They were here for commercial fishing it was weird to see "celebrities" here in lil' ol Craig Alaska!

Riley and Aidan thought that it was super cool to meet Edgar Hansen. He was very nice to sign autographs and take pictures with all of the kids that showed up.