And so it begins...

So you all told me to read the book, so I did, borrowed it from a friend and lets just say I called her less than 24 hours later to see if she had the next book (I think it is cruel and unusual punishment to put the first chapter of the next book at the end of the old book.. just rude!) after a couple more phone calls I found the second book and I finished it this morning. I usually don't read much any more, specifically for this reason, I tend to shut out the world until I am sufficiently satisfied I know what is going to happen in the book, this is bad for my children who still need assistance in everything that they do. Have to stop reading long enough to feed and change children (gasp!) is the pits, so I usually stick with books I know by heart (harry potter) so that we all can be happy. I can't remember the last time I started a new book, and now I remember why. I actually haven't gone over to get book number three so that I can do my dishes and spend time with my kids... I seriously am the best mom in the world!...lol (or the worst, depending on how you look at it!)

Ok so I did it...

I actually watched Twilight the other day... I haven't read any of the books, hadn't seen the movie and not even the trailer for the movie.. yep I had kept it out of my life. Well me and Ty sat down and watched the movie the other night and all I have to say is "what the crap?" Please tell me the book is better and has something the movie doesn't, that I fell asleep and missed the whole thing or something... I don't understand... Girl meets vampire, he wants to stay away and can't, they quickly and yes I mean quickly come together, and his family is willing to fight for her?.. huh?.. hospital scene.. the end.. wow.. I still can' figure it out... I might have to read the book just to figure out what I missed.... Did I miss something?.. does someone else have the code to understand this?.. help!

Coolest thing since sliced bread!

ok so I was checking out and old friends blog the other day and came across her favorite new website, and it is now one of my favorites!

readthescriptures.com

This website is not for people who read their scriptures daily.. it is or those of us who would love to but just aren't very good at it... you go online and sign up for free! and they will send your daily reading right to your email (I know you all check your email daily) You can use one of their schedules or make up one of your own, for example I told them I wanted to read the Book of Mormon by the end of the year, so now it sends me what I need to read everyday to get it done. I can read it strait out of the email or I can go on to the webside add notes in the margins, write in my journal or highlight text!.. very cool! Then I went and signed up for the Joseph Smith lesson we are supposedto be on, so it sends it to me every week too!..Its wonderful!..

Check it out and then let me know what you think!

Garden pics...

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Here is the little green house, where it all started, this was about 5 days after we planted the seeds...I had already had to transplant the pumpkins and the lettuce at this point. ( green house= $6 at Wal-mart= 72 starts)


Here it is about a week ago, I had transplanted all those plants out of the the green house and started more in the green house (bottom right corner of the picture) you can see the tall green beans, then the pumpkins, over on the left tray are the tomatoes and the lima beans, and watermelon. My strawberry plants already have strawberries! (nope they aren't in the picture)

Here is Cameron next to our apple tree.
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Here is Kevin next to the apple tree.

It's garden time!

For those of you who don't know.. I completely enjoy gardening and food storage. Spring and Summer is spent gardening, the fall is spent canning and winter is full of getting dry goods and planning for the next spring.. yes I learn a little more each year and enjoy every minute of it. (I kill less plants every year too!) My first canning experience was in 2007 when I canned peaches and pears, the pears are now all gone and I love to stair at my peaches, they are the perfect color, and when you pop them open, ohh, the smell is amazing. My first experience was a good one. Then in 2008 I tried out my hand at apples and apple pie filling. I canned them and they really aren't that pretty but they taste fine. This year I am going to try to can tomatoes.. yep that is right my sister-in-law has talked about her homemade tomato soup so much I figured it would be a good thing to do, that and we go through a lot of spaghetti sauce so it will be worth it. Now you have to understand that while I learn not only to can something every year I also learn how to use the canned stuff every year. If I won't use it, I won't can it... Ok so on to the point of my rambling...

I am in, the garden groove. I have plants coming out of my ears, (I can't wait to plant them in the actual garden) and I noticed something, I have three years of old seeds, thats right half empty packets that fine, while woudn't all germinate and grow, some wood and they definitely would have had a better chance had they been used the first year (the year they were supposed to be used) So my brilliant (ok good) idea was we would have a seed/seedling swap in our ward, as the cannery specialist, I come up with random ideas all the time and see if they will fly, so here we go. What ever seeds I am not gonna use this year, and a few of my seedlings that I am not gonna use this year are all up for grabs, first come first serve. Others have already contributed there left over seeds and if you need something let us know. If you are willing to contribute, let us know... Now we are not talking, giving you 6 of the same plant, I am talking about 2 or 3 seeds of a kind or one or two seedlings, I figured, more seeds would get used, more people would have larger variety in their gardens, and may even learn to grow and eat different foods. So what do ya think are you willing to try something new?

Here are the seedlings up for grabs:
Iceberg lettuce
Roma Tomato (good canning tomatoes)
Big boy tomato (good slicers)
Cantaloupe
Cucumber

Here are the seeds up for grabs:
Cherry tomotoes (super sweet 100 or Sun gold)
Eight ball zucinni
Delicata Squash
Beets
Bush champion cucumbers
Roma tomatoes
Big boy tomatoes
Lima beans
Green beans (bush burpless)
Pumpkins
Green peppers
Onions
Radishs
Carrots

Remember it is first come first searve thing, so if they are gone they are gone. I have a few people who are going to let me know what extras they will have this weekend.

Things people are looking for:
Bananna squash
Herbs

If you have something that is being looked for let us know either where you got it, or how many seeds (or seedlings) you would like to donate to the cause. Remember we all need to step out of our comfort zones once in a while and try something new!

Oh and we have a few people who have said they hand out different kinds of squash at harvest time to anyone who wants it, so let us know if you are interested!

Also, for those plants that can not be planted before the last frost, it is a good time to start your garden indoors, it will lenthen the growing season for you!

Oh and we just planted an apple tree in our back yard!... we just need to find it a companion for pollination purposes! Yeah! (seriously excited!)

I would totally post pictures of my (indoor) garden but i can't find the cord right now.. so pics will have to come later)

Answer to the request....

Strawberry freezer jam recipe...

Go to Wal-Mart and buy a box of fruit pectin (found on the canning isle this time of year or on the jello isle normally) Read box.. follow directions.
No, I am just kidding it really is that easy if you have done it before, but for those of us who are a little behind the times (this is my first time) here is some extra info: There are a couple of different brands, I use the "Ball" brand, but I know a lot of other people who use the "sure jel" brand. I have tried the "no sugar added fruit pectin" box and followed the freezer jam directions, you can use the same box to cook jam, or cook jelly, but I am a freezer jam girl myself. Then there is the actual "no cook freezer jam" packet. Each box/packet will tell you how many pounds or cups of smashed fruit you will need. somewhere between 3 or 4 cups is the norm. I personally am too lazy to crush them with a potato smasher as the directions say so I get out my trusty blender and blend them up.. just enough to make they "crushed" or if you don't actually like strawberry chunks in your jam go ahead and puree, it doesn't matter, then you mix with the pectin (in the no cook version) or in the cook version you cook the pectin with some juice and add the fruit. I have to say it was a blast! I made a batch yesterday and one today. One was the no cook method and one was the cook, The both taste great. The cook method had less sugar because it had juice to sweetin it naturally.. then you put it in your freezer containers and freeze! Easy pezy!
My sister in law says she makes one batch and then she purees the rest of her fruit and puts it in a freezer bag so that it takes up less room until she gets low and then all she has to do it take out one bag and a box of pectin, instead of having all these jars of already made jam taking up extra room in her freezer. Anyways I may have made it sound a lot harder than it is... but really it was easy and fun!

Wal-mart finds, frezzer jam, and an apple tree

So I got a call yesterday, Wal-mart has strawberries on sale for 50 cents a tub.. So I went down, bought a bunch, found the gamma lids I've been wanting to buy for my 5 gallon buckets and got some pectin. Then came home and made some yummy frezzer jam! Of course my kids ate a whole pond of strawberries between them and I need to make some more jam but I love getting a great deal!...
Then the other day we went to costco for diapers, then we walked out with two blueberry plants and an apple tree!.. What?! We were looking for bluebery plants because Ty got a blueberry a couple of weeks ago (and they pollinate better with two) so we were looking for a second one, well costco only sells them in twos... so now we have three blue berry bushs! Oh and the apple tree, that was us being crazy! our kids eat apples like crazy so we figured it would pay off... even with the spraying every year, it is a semi-dwarf tree so it won't get too big, problem is, you really need a second one to get it pollinated, so now we are one a hunt for another apple tree, preferably green, (the one we got is red) semi-dwarf or dwarf... Other than that our seedlings aren't really seedlings anymore, and it doesn't look like we wilL be able to plant them any time soon, it snowed last nght, and is still snowing! like 2.5 inches!... I sure hope the plants can hold up inside for a while, I heard that some peopLe wait until June to plant outside... yikes!
Oh and I got a calling on Sunday, I am the cannery specialist! :)

Cameron's teeth

Cameron got three teeth in before we left Washington (march 20th) (I know I am a little behind..) and just last week got the 4 one in.. the ones just outside of the 4 front teeth on top and bottom... so know he has a mouth full! I think that make sit 16 teeth total.

The garden is growing!

ok.. so really our little seedlings are doing great inside the house.. but whatever... i actually had to transplant all of the pumpkins, and some of the cucumbers and lettuce into their own containers because they were to tall for our little green house! The strawberries are doing good, and all of the seeds have sprouted minus a couple of the watermelon which i am sure will happen in the next few days! I just planted some peppers (wal-mart finally got some seeds in) so we will see how those do in the next few weeks! I am soooo excited. This year I will do much better "hardening off" the plants before we actually transplant them into the garden. Usually I get too impatient and just put em out there and hope they live.. it doesn't work so well...lol. I am really good at killing plants.. but this year I will do better! my next assignement is to go out and clear the left 1/3 of the garden so we can plant our onions, radishs and carrots, which supposedly can already be planted outside right now... we are still trying to figure out what we are going to do for a trealis for the beans, but i am sure we can figure something out with some string...

More for "Kevins book"

Kevin stated as we drove from Washington to Idaho "oh no, the cars are all passing us, where never gonna get there"... ha ha.. Tyler's response was.. honey I'm sorry Mommy has to drive...

While in Washington we were trying to get Kevin to go poop on the potty... Grandma had promised him this really cool dinosaur bone toy if he went, so there he was sitting pushing as hard as he could and it wasn't working, he couldn't go, I explained to him that sometimes you just don't have to go and that he could try later, he then looks at grandma with the saddest eyes and asked "Grandma can you poop for me?".. when she told him it didn't really work that way.. he said "Cameron can do it, he will poop for me"... he realllllly wanted those dinosour bones!

Cameron's 18 month pictures

Sooo cute!

If only my hand wasn't in the picture

We even got a good one of the boys together!

My favorite.. yes they centered it at the store

Yeah this is him..lol