Alaska chat for August - Page 13

[PaulaJoAnne]

Originally Posted by ~Purity♥Lake~

I've got to get myself come tea tree oil. We also can't seem to find baking soda in bulk quantity since we no longer have a costco membership. It seems nowhere else sells it in anything larger than those tiny boxes.

Next time you are in the valley, stop at 3 Bears. Either the one at Pittman, or the one on Trunk, near Palmer.
They have the big bag.

[PaulaJoAnne]

Originally Posted by spruce

This is sort of copied and pasted, sorry. I need ideas!!

Thanks for any ideas, I'm almost frantic with worry that it will be a big flop.
love, penelope

Is a build your own pizza party to much for you?
Might be a good idea if the weather is going to horrible.

One thing that is fun, is having a toilet/tissue paper clothing contest.
One guys outfit, and one girls outfit.
But, do not split into girl, guy teams. Keep it mixed.
Maybe have a theme. Pirates, royal court, etc.
Thats good for at least an hours worth of fun.

[spruce]

Originally Posted by PaulaJoAnne

Is a build your own pizza party to much for you?
Might be a good idea if the weather is going to horrible.

One thing that is fun, is having a toilet/tissue paper clothing contest.
One guys outfit, and one girls outfit.
But, do not split into girl, guy teams. Keep it mixed.
Maybe have a theme. Pirates, royal court, etc.
Thats good for at least an hours worth of fun.

I don't quite understand the bathroom tissue outfit idea...or what I would need for it? Toilet paper, obviously...glue? Sparkles? Tape?

My kids actually *really* want me to do the "make your own pizza" thing, because it's something we do regularly, anyway. I was hoping for an outdoors cookout, so that at least part of the time would not be indoors.

I put a TON of effort into my son's 8th bday this summer (Harry Potter themed), and it was awesome, but a lot of work. And in the end, the biggest hit of a game wasn't the Snitch pinata I made, or the homemade hand-carved wands, or even the pop-rocks in colored juice to make potions...it was a game called "Salute the Captain," that all the kids play at karate.

I think a theme might be a good idea, but the invitations are out, and it wouldn't be fair now to ask anyone to come in costume or anything, so that leaves me to create costumes for them (and of course my daughter would help, but one more thing to do...)...

If it's nasty rainy like it has been, we'll definitely go with the pizza idea. We did that years back for one of the girls' birthdays, and it was awesome what they turned out (all I did was make the dough).

Thanks for the ideas!

love, p

[akwifeandmomma]

Would they be into flag football, tag, hide and seek, capture the flag - retro outdoor kids games? With a good sized fun-loving group like that, they'd probably love it regardless of the weather...

(You could just email or call and remind them to bring extra clothes to change into if it's rainy or muddy!)

Orrrr... pictionary is fun with a big group and two big white boards on easels/hung on the wall.

I love the MYO pizza idea!

I was raised in Fairbanks, with a mid-September birthday. Most years I just had a big sleepover!

[Pinoikoi]

Originally Posted by ~Purity♥Lake~

I've got to get myself come tea tree oil. We also can't seem to find baking soda in bulk quantity since we no longer have a costco membership. It seems nowhere else sells it in anything larger than those tiny boxes.

I got the 4 lb box of baking soda at Fred Meyer midtown. I still need some tea tree oil.

I second flag football and large group pictionary! Also, if you want boardgames, scattergories is LOTS of fun and can be played in pairs (so six pairs per board game).. I picked up a couple of sets of this game at Value Village for $1.99.. it is SO fun.

[roadfamily6now]

thank you for the wonderful Cleaning and disinfecting ideas ladies!

[PaulaJoAnne]

Originally Posted by spruce

I don't quite understand the bathroom tissue outfit idea...or what I would need for it? Toilet paper, obviously...glue? Sparkles? Tape?

Oh, you have each team "build" an outfit on a model, using either toilet paper, or tissue paper.
Tape is the only other article needed.
And by theme, I meant the outfits

[Pinoikoi]

Does anyone here pack thier kids' lunches? Two of my kiddos attend a school where lunch is free to all kids, but one attends a different school, and all of a sudden we no longer qualify for reduced price lunch for him.

So I am looking at packing lunches.. I have a laptop lunchbox, but it is MINE and PINK. I could get him another one, but honestly I think the 2.0 pieces are easier since the sizes are varied and they all have lids.. what do you all do?

Also, what do you put in them? I am always looking for ideas, and "Oh, I just snatch an orange off of my fruit tree that grows by our front door" doesn't really fit for Alaskan families

I made him heart shaped jigglers, and star shaped pb and j, and lumpia another day.. carrots (he doesn't like celery), grapes, apple slices..

[~PurityLake~]

For lunches, besides the varied fruits, I'd suggest some more protein. The only thing that sounds easy to me are nuts and sandwich meat and string cheese. I used to roll sandwich meat around string cheese without bread so it looked like a tube and ate that along with salad for lunches and it really kept me energized for the day (this was back when I worked at Curves and we didn't get breaks and had to eat quick snacks behind the desk discreetly).

[akwifeandmomma]

Pinoikoi, we have to pack lunch for DS (6) every day.

Usually consists of some kind of sandwich on varying bread - pita, wheat, bagel, tortilla, meat and cheese or nut butter and honey or jelly. Cream cheese and jelly on a bagel. Some kind of carb/protein combo.

I usually pack him either a string cheese or yogurt (I buy the big tubs and portion it out into a little plastic cup) or slices/cubes of cheese.

A fruit - nectarines, clementines, pears, bananas, apples, grapes...

Then usually some kind of snacky thing, like pirate's booty or some other kind of cracker or homemade granola bars/muffin.

Luckily my kiddo is a creature of habit, and he likes the same "boring" (to me!) things day after day!

[liza-s]

Originally Posted by tallanvor

Borax, though, can be dangerous if it gets eaten. It is better than bleach, from what I understand, but there is the possibility of it causing problems.

Borax is not terribly toxic. An adult would have to eat it by the cupful to be "lethal" - it is quite bad for infants if it can get directly into the bloodstream (through the eyes or broken skin, not eating it.)

So I curious though - what is the primary concern with bleach. I assume you are talking about chlorine bleach? Is it the off-gasing of chlorine? Or that drinking it is very dangerous? Or the hazard of mixing it with ammonia (although I imagine that if you don't use bleach you probably don't use ammonia). We still use it in our house - but pretty much just for hardcore decontamination. DH comes home periodically with truly unspeakable stuff on his boots/clothing. There are certain things that vinegar can't touch. (Hydrogen peroxide is good for small stuff, like cutting boards. If I could buy it by the gallons I would - but it doesn't work diluted, unlike bleach - which we use it in a 10% dilution for 10 minutes per CDC/EPA guidelines.)

[roadfamily6now]

Originally Posted by Pinoikoi

Does anyone here pack thier kids' lunches? Two of my kiddos attend a school where lunch is free to all kids, but one attends a different school, and all of a sudden we no longer qualify for reduced price lunch for him.

So I am looking at packing lunches.. I have a laptop lunchbox, but it is MINE and PINK. I could get him another one, but honestly I think the 2.0 pieces are easier since the sizes are varied and they all have lids.. what do you all do?

Also, what do you put in them? I am always looking for ideas, and "Oh, I just snatch an orange off of my fruit tree that grows by our front door" doesn't really fit for Alaskan families

I made him heart shaped jigglers, and star shaped pb and j, and lumpia another day.. carrots (he doesn't like celery), grapes, apple slices..

man, I wish my kids would eat lumpia! Yumm!

So, I pack lunch for 5 people.
I usually make a "sandwich" which is usually a meat/cheese combo on breads, tortilla, or bagel.
Today they just got 2 rice cakes and a couple slices of turkey.
We usually send a cheese stick or yogurt as well but the cheese sticks we got from Costco last time were BAD! (like they started to explode from their packages!) so no cheese sticks this week.
I always send a fruit since they are eaten by all my kids. I have packed carrot sticks and broc, etc with some small cups of Ranch but they always come home unopened.
I always send a 100% Juice drink, frozen juice box to help keep things cold.
I also send a sippy bottle of water.
We have also done peanuts, raisins, homemade muffins, pirate booty, granola bars, etc.................... my son likes Tuna and cheese so he will get a bowl of tuna, some slices of cheese and a baggy of crackers.

I use those GLAD WARE re-usable containers and buy a lot of stuff in bulk like #10 can of pears or applesauce. I also make sugar-free jello and chill it directly in the serving cups for lunches.

my kids go to a charter school that wont allow unhealthy foods so my choices have to be on the "better for ya" side. No fruit snacks, or chips, cookies, etc.

[tallanvor]

Originally Posted by spruce

This is sort of copied and pasted, sorry. I need ideas!!
Thanks for any ideas, I'm almost frantic with worry that it will be a big flop.



love, penelope

Depending on the furniture you have, could you do backwards food and eating? As in, start with dessert and work your way to the main dish and eat it on the floor under the table instead of in chairs at the table? Obviously it depends on the size of the group and whatnot. Would your place be large enough for a game of Sardines? For one of my parties it was backwards themed -- we did outdoor games inside, ate under the table, etc. Maybe a karaoke contest, but where you have to make up your own songs? Make it a worst song contest instead of a best song contest. I've always liked trivia games, so maybe make your own trivia.

[spruce]

tallanvor, those are great ideas to run with! Thank you for taking the time to write that!

I can so see these kids doing karaoke...and to do the "worst" karaoke...that would be a blast!

love, p

[Pinoikoi]

Originally Posted by roadfamily6now

man, I wish my kids would eat lumpia! Yumm!

So, I pack lunch for 5 people.
I usually make a "sandwich" which is usually a meat/cheese combo on breads, tortilla, or bagel.
Today they just got 2 rice cakes and a couple slices of turkey.
We usually send a cheese stick or yogurt as well but the cheese sticks we got from Costco last time were BAD! (like they started to explode from their packages!) so no cheese sticks this week.
I always send a fruit since they are eaten by all my kids. I have packed carrot sticks and broc, etc with some small cups of Ranch but they always come home unopened.
I always send a 100% Juice drink, frozen juice box to help keep things cold.
I also send a sippy bottle of water.
We have also done peanuts, raisins, homemade muffins, pirate booty, granola bars, etc.................... my son likes Tuna and cheese so he will get a bowl of tuna, some slices of cheese and a baggy of crackers.

I use those GLAD WARE re-usable containers and buy a lot of stuff in bulk like #10 can of pears or applesauce. I also make sugar-free jello and chill it directly in the serving cups for lunches.

my kids go to a charter school that wont allow unhealthy foods so my choices have to be on the "better for ya" side. No fruit snacks, or chips, cookies, etc.

My kiddo eats the veggies I pack (except celery) as long as they are still pretty firm by the time he opens them. I packed an asian dressing as a dip once that kind of spilled on the carrots and turned them a bit off color and he wouldn't touch them.. I also do jello right into the containers (although I am going to try a different brand in the future to avoid the dye) I bought these little glass boxes at the Korean store on Fireweed with snap on lids (like lock n locks) for $1.99 that are the perfect size for jello.

What IS pirate booty? Is that a brand name?

I am also asking this question for me as well.. we are ttc, and that may mean I have to limit my lunchmeat and tuna in the future, so...

Ha! Nutella for me!

[BusyMommy]

ha funny--one of my kids would eat Nutella/PB sandwiches everyday if he could.

We do a couple days/week of leftovers. I found some good Nissan stainless thermoses with wide mouths that work great. So, hot food a couple x/week and ham/cheese or NPBs the other days.

We do the organic choc milk from CostCo.

Sliced fruit in a reusable container.

Odwalla bar for morning snack.

And they have talked me into a junk food/day. I repkg a tiny bag of Doritos. This makes them so very happy. Oh well!

[roadfamily6now]

Pirate booty is alike a white cheese rice puff. Like Cheetos only better. THey also come in a Veggie flavor I like but the kids don't

[1stimestar]

Ugh, finally getting out of town. Got me a little place out on McGrath. I am going to be so happy out of town and am happy that it is pretty close though too lol.

[roadfamily6now]

Originally Posted by 1stimestar

Ugh, finally getting out of town. Got me a little place out on McGrath. I am going to be so happy out of town and am happy that it is pretty close though too lol.

Have a great time!

[dislocator3972]

Can anyone please remind me WHY IN THE WORLD I thought it would be a good idea to move to Alaska right before having my first child?

I know lots of people are native Alaskans, but for those of you that aren't:
How do you handle being so far away from family, friends, etc?

Obviously, there are people to be friends with in Alaska, and so far everyone I've met has just been amazing, you guys are awesome, but I just feel so isolated. Maybe that's a PP thing?