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...

..
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

Long weekend

yep, it was a very long weekend. Cameron got sick (vomit, diarrhea) Friday night, Tyler and Kevin got it Saturday night and I was lucky enough to get is Sunday morning.. oh what a fun weekend. Tyler was nice enough to stay home and help us all begin to feel better on Monday.. plus I don't think he wanted to give it to his students, this wonderful little "flu bug" that we had. So we went through a lot of laundry and since have gone through a lot of lysol wipes, disinfecting is a must after that!...

But really I think we are all better now. ready to move on, go for our family walks again, play outside and get our garden growing. We all planted our seeds for family home evening, at least the ones you can plant inside. The ones that we can plant outside have to wait until we get the giant tumble weeds out of the garden. Turns out you can't leave a garden full of plants when you leave for 7 months and think that anything but weeds are going to be there when you get back..:). But we have big plans for our garden this year. Lots more plants, including Tylers very own blueberry plant anad we are going to try grapes again this year!.. Lots of work ahead of us getting all those dead weeds out and we are watching the weather close for some warm days.. we did get one 60 degree day in last week... it was wonderful!

oh and also on that 60 degree day we were the lucky recipients of a bike.. a neighbor (that i had never met before) rode by with his two kids and their brand new bikes from the school auction, he said that they were giving away a trike and a bike and wondered if we could use one, which was so funny becuase just a few days before I had thought about how Kevins legs were just a little too long (ok... a lot long) for his trike but that he would have to wait for his birthday in September. When he told me about it, he said that one of the training wheels was missing and I thought... training whells are cheap compared to buying a bike.. no big deal!.. but when they brought it over they had found the missing training wheel. The back wheel needs pumped up and it isn't new but Kevin doesn't care.. how cool is that! The funniest part was how Cameron ran over to Kevins ol trike the second Kevin got on the bike... he had been eye ballin it all along...I thank that mystery neigbor for the kind act that he did.. I wonder if he has any clue how much that ment to me (and Kevin, and Cameron)

I sure wish there were more 60 degree days to get out and pull some weeds, and let the kids run around the back yard, they sure do sleep alot better after playing outside. :)

Cool conference stuff and Cameron stats

So a good friend of mine (thank you thank you thank you!) sent these in an email and I thought I would pass them on... they are websites to conference packets to help your primary age children listen and get more out of conference coming up!

http://www.scribd.com/doc/13298891/2009-April-Conference-Packet

http://www.sugardoodle.net/mambo/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4195&Itemid=5


Check them out!

Also Cameron had his 18 month well baby apt today, his stats are:

29 lbs 6 oz
33 inches tall
19 1/4 in head circumference

Yep, we are back.

In Jerome that is. Tyler moved here a month (or a little more) ago, and me an the boys moved in last week. Tyler and his Mom were nice enough to go get all our stuff from Oklahoma and have the house set up when we got here.... I don't think I could possibly say thank you enough. Tyler and a few neighbors (thanks guys) even painted the boys room, and the living room, dining room, and front room.. its like anew house! So I am enjoying the organization part of moving at a leisurely pace becuase all the hard work has been done.

So tonight, we gave Cameron his first hair cut, he has started to get "mullet" comment so we figured it was time. His hair is so blond and thin it never looked like there was enough there to cut! But tomorrow he will be 18 months! He has his well baby check tomorrow and I have an appointment for his pictures later next week (he has a cold and I didn't want a bright red nose in pictures!)

But that seems to be all going on here! Pictures of Camerons hair cut coming soon!

Cameron Tyler

yes he fell alseep while 4 wheeling on vacation last summer!

Name & Meaning: Cameron Tyler. Cameron means crocked stream, Tyler means tile maker.. lol.. I don't remember those being the meanings when we named him that..lol He was almost named Noah but we changed our minds while at the hospital. and we had to go with family name for the middle name. with both boys I wanted Grant Allan but Tyler wouldn't go for it (he wants Allan Grant)...maybe with our next kid.. (that is if it isn't used already.. I did give permission for Grant to be used)

Age: 17 months or one year 5 months

Nicknames: the little one, Cam bam, your son, my son (depending on if he is being good or bad:) Cam-er-rom (said as if it was from the book of mormon), baby

Favorite Activities: going outside... playing with is brother, cuddling, being tickeled.

Favorite Foods: fruit- could be pears, strawberries, grapes, doesn't matter, Cheese- cheese sticks or medium cheedar, pasta, chicken nuggets, chocolate milk,

Least Favorite Foods: I haven't found anything he won't eat

Favorite Music: any music gets him dancing around and around and around in circles.. if he can't move ( like in his car seat, he doesn't want music on...)

Favorite Toy: his brother... he loves to play with his brother!.. blue mcqueens are his favorite (kevin takes the red ones from him so he sticks to the blue ones) and he loves to throw things, so balls are a must!

Favorite Book: McQueen books, anything with McQueen in it, or books that play music to him like the VTech ones, or the ones with animals, he makes all the sounds- ok so really he likes ANY books!...

Favorite Item of Clothing: Shoes!!!

What Makes Him Happy: playing outside, eating, reading, cuddling

What Makes Him Sad: when he can't find he brother, if you are holding him and try to put him down,

Funny Words or Phrases:"brother?" with his hands out looking for Kevin, juice and cheese are both said in his throat, so they both sound really funny..."darts" and "throw" and both said with a throwing movement, "tank you" is cute, "oes" and "ocks" are cute when he wants his shoes and socks on to go "bye bye" and his "on" "off" and "battery" all make us smile too! and "na nigh" when he is going to nap or to bed for the night, or when kevinis covering himself up with a blanket. oh and "pa yeee" for potty... he has tried to go potty in the potty a few times..lol

Kevin William

I saw this on a friends blog and couldn't help but copy it (thanks Whitney!). Today I'll tell all about Kevin, in a few days I'll do Cameron, Hope you enjoy!

Name & Meaning: Kevin William. Kevin means handsome, beautiful and William means strong willed warrior- both fit him perfectly :) he was almost Kevin Alexander, we all like the sound of it best but we decided to go with the family name- William is Tylers middle name.

Age: 3 years, 6 months

Nicknames: the big one, that one, your son, my son (depending on if he is being good or bad:) kevin kevin came from heaven)

Favorite Activities: moving, if it has something to do with moving he enjoys it, if it is outside, or up high, even better. Playing with his dinosaurs, or playing with lightning mcqueen. (we have plenty of both)

Favorite Foods: PIZZA- pepperoni pizza to be exact, chicken nuggets, cheerios, chocolate milk, fruit- could be pears, strawberries, grapes, doesn't matter, he would rather have it than chocolate,water

Least Favorite Foods: the only thing we can't get him to eat is eggs...

Favorite Music: the music on his night time thing.. he picked it out when he was a baby and has used it to get to sleep ever since. that and music from the movie CARS, he calls it mcqueen music (he even picked it out when one of the couples danced to it on dancing with the stars) He sings the ABC and his numbers regularly, then he also sings the sunbeam song at random times.

Favorite Toy: either his newest mcqueen car or his 'terry" dinosour (big red T-rex)

Favorite Book: he has two they are both about dinosours, and way over his reading level: Encyclopedia of Dinosours: Fascinating facts about the world of dinosours and The usborne world atlas of dinosours... at any givin moment you will find him sitting there looking at the pictures in the books.. with comentary..

Favorite Item of Clothing: probly shoes becuase it means he will be going outside!

What Makes Him Happy: playing outside, eating, reading, his dinosours

What Makes Him Sad: loosing his dinosours, having an accident in his pants (potty training totally sucks by the way) having to stop playing outside

Funny Words or Phrases: "I want to listen to you" (usually when he is in time out for NOT listening to me) "I want to be nice"(get the picture) "I just want...fill in the moments whim here" "hey guys!... listen to me"

I am a genius and an idiot all rolled into one!

So I am a professional diaper changer.. and I am proud of it!.. Today while changing Cameron's diaper I came up with the perfect solution to a diaper changing problem. Cameron like most little boys I know tries to grab himself every time the diaper comes off... When he is poopy this is even grossier and more annoying than normal, so my wonderful solution.. "Kevin can you come over hear and hold babies hands"..... they laughed and giggled the whole time I was getting that kid clean!.. it was wonderful.. hence the genius part.. the idiot part is that I think this is so genius (only a stay at home mom stuck with two kids would find it genius)

"A genius is an individual who successfully applies a previously unknown technique in the production of a work of art, science or calculation, or who masters and personalizes a known technique. "

yes i think it fits quiet nicely....lol :)

Very true...

So I found this on my friend Whitney's blog and thought I would pass it on. Click on it so it is big enough to read and I know you will enjoy it!


Cracks me up!

Another cute story...

So a few nights ago, everyone was in bed (except me- I was on the computer) the house was quiet, all was calm, and then all of a sudden there is a huge THUD.. and then silence. Ya wanna know how many bad things a THUD could be, just ask my brain what it thought in the 1.2 seconds it took to get to Kevins bedroom door. The light was on, it was supposed to be off, So I open the door just as my parents come sprinting out of their bedroom door to see what the sound was and I open Kevins door, he is sitting on the floor at the bottom of his bed holding his wrist.. ( i think he was trying to be quiet) when i said what happened he started to fuss... I asked where it hurt and he said his wrist and showed it to me... (nothing wrong, nothing broken ) Then I asked him what happend and he points to the desk and says he climbed up there to get something (have I ever mentioned that I gave birth to two monkeys- not children- they climb on everything!) and then I tried to get back here (he points to the bed) so you jumped off of the desk to get to the bed and didn't quiet make it? "yeah" he says.... I just start laughing... why? becuase my heart was beating out of my chest that something had gone really wrong, that he had broken a bone, or cracked his skull, or something but no, he just was trying to get back to the bed and I have found out that boys do things differntly then girls, I would have gotton down and walked to the bed but no, he was going to be more efficent and skip the walking part, beside jumping is sooo much more fun!... :).. I love my boys!

Kevin is so cute..

So Kevin took his favorite book to Grandma today and she said she couldn't' read it to him because she couldn't see without her glasses, which of course she can never find. So he said "I'm gonna go find the one that gives you a big head" and runs off, we of course have no idea what he is talking about but a few miutes later he comes back with the little plasic magnifing glass (that i got when i was like 8 in a kids meal) and hands it to grandma... "I found it!".. this magnifying glass gives her a big head (atleast when you look threw it the right way..lol. And Grandma read him his book..lol (maybe you had to be there).. he is a cute kid.