Canning Day

My good friend Kristina and I started a tradition last year that I hope lasts us a lifetime. Our yearly strawberry jam canning day. It's the one day out of the whole year that we devote entirely to canning. I seriously had so much fun last year and have been counting the days until we could get together again. 

Paul took over kid patrol for the day and I arrived at Kristina's house at 9:30 am. I open the door to my car to get the supplies out and....CRASH....an entire box of freshly cleaned jars smashes all over the driveway. Oops. Totally not a good start. Then Kristina looks in my car and says, oh no, that's not enough strawberries. Strike two! ahh....I couldn't believe it. Luckily her wonderful husband came to our rescue and drove out the 126 to get double what I had bought. 

Ok, so once we got that mess cleaned up and the right amount of strawberries, we got everything in the house and then didn't waste any more time. All day long we are washing, cutting, smashing, measuring, boiling, organizing and steaming (thanks to Brooke's LIFE SAVER steam canner. I totally owe you Brooke. We LOVED using that thing. Seriously! It was awesome.). We had a definite system down and we didn't waste a moment. In total I think we canned around 100 jars of jam. 

We chatted, laughed, ate, chatted, laughed and ate some more. The strawberries were heavenly they were so good. 

Paul came over with the kids around 3 pm. They ran around and played while we finished up. Then we got pizza for the kids and yummy Pico Rico Mexican food for the adults. I think I pretty much inhaled my burrito it was SO good. 

Thanks for the wonderful day girl! And a special thanks to the amazing husbands/dads we have. Without your help there is no way we would have been able to accomplish what we did! We are definitely lucky gals.

We knew it was time to call it a day though when someone ended up hurt. Sorry for the shot of blood dripped on the back patio, but it makes for a good story. Brandon fell and hit his nose pretty bad while playing swords with the Daddy's and Nicolas. It was quite bloody. After that, we got our stuff all gathered up, said our goodbyes and headed home!

Whew! I'm exhausted. (I think Paul is too).

These photos are all courtesy of Kristina, because I of course forgot my camera....again!

Documenting

I'm documenting my summer activities with my kids so that next summer when Ashlyn tries to tell me we don't do much (like she did recently), I will have PROOF!

We went out to the Fish Hatchery again today. It's really a very simple place to go and some people might think it's pretty boring, but my kids always have fun. And seriously, it's good entertainment for a handful of dimes. Afterward, we stopped at a fruit stand to pick up strawberries for my yearly canning day with my good friend Kristina. I'm SO excited, but I will post more about that later.

And since it was after 1pm and I didn't pack lunches, we had to stop on the way home for a bite to eat. I didn't give the kids any options today. I just stopped at Boston Market because I didn't want a burger and fries. It's really a yummy place to eat. And great for kids too! Plus it's not usually too crowded, which helps me keep a better handle on my kids. 

Oh my! Is this not THE single most adorable face you have EVER seen! I love it. This boy is really learning everyday. Today he started going from laying on his tummy to sitting up. ALL BY HIMSELF! I'm so proud. 

Plus he cut his SIXTH tooth and is working on his seventh. Yes, I'm not joking. Seven months old and has 6, almost 7 teeth. It's not good for the grouch factor, but once it comes through he's back to his happy self!

I'm really trying hard not to freak out about this stuff. It has got to be the single most awful combination of products I have ever seen. Moon dough= finely, finely shredded paper mixed with what feels like chalk. And the worst part is....IT NEVER DRIES OUT!

No, I did not buy this for them. I would never buy this for them. No matter how much they have begged me to get it, I have never given in. Their Dad did. But is he home to clean it up? I think not! 

(haha...love you honey!)

And in the background, the kids are singing and dancing to Christmas Music. Jingle Bells to be exact. Now we are on to Silent Night! Crazy kids. At least they are having fun and not watching a ton of TV. I'm sure that will come once the weather gets too hot to play outside, and they have exhausted all of their ideas. Until then, I will try to not freak out about my house being in utter chaos!

Until next week when we go see my friend Beth work her music magic at Ladybug Music (I'm so excited to go) and then it's off to the zoo for us. 

Preschool Presentation

Tuesday evening Leah "graduated" from Preschool. I put it in quotes, because while I am VERY VERY proud of her, I think a "graduation" is kind of silly for Preschool. But whatever. Her presentation is what I went for and she did a GREAT job. She was most excited about the dance she did. She practiced and practiced at home so that she was sure she had all the moves down JUST right. They sang some really cute songs. And even though the sun was beating down on us pretty hard out in that parking lot, my kids did pretty well being patient and watching their sister perform.

Leah with her teacher Miss Danielle. Since we only went here for part of the year, I can't say I ever totally fell in love with her teacher. We miss "Grandma K" from "Youngstars Preschool" for sure. I'm glad Brandon is going to get to be with Grandma K this Fall.

Here are a couple of clips of her song and dance. I think the last part was her favorite. You can see her in anticipation of that final move. It was pretty cute! Congratulations my little Leah. I am so very proud to  be your mom. You have grown and developed so much this past year. I know you will do so well in Kindergarten!

A little bit of this and that

Spring Spectacular this year. The girls seriously were SO excited for it. Ashlyn ranked it in her top five most exciting things about the year. Games, prizes, food, sno cones, face painting, pony rides. All for a dollar a ticket.

Proof that Daddy got to come this year. Although he had to stand in line FOREVER for a stinking hamburger. 

But hey, it was the only shot I got of him before my camera battery died.

Brandon got sick. REALLY sick. Like Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease sick. It was sad. Had to pull Paul down from the stand at church during sacrament and everything so I could tell him I had to get out of there...FAST! Lasted for a good week or so, although the first 2-3 days were the worst. I swear it's like chicken pox, but not really as bad. At least the blisters didn't itch. He was a trooper.

 Outside waiting for Ashlyn one afternoon. Seriously gonna miss my carpool days with Brooke. Not only for the convenience but because we often chat for a few minutes and even make plans for later get togethers. I guess I'll just have to text her more. Brooke, tell Jason to up your texting plan.

This girl knows how to work the camera. That's for sure! She's a natural.

It was quite a windy day. 

The last day of 2nd Grade for Ashlyn.  Here she is with part of her class (a lot of students were absent the last day). 

Ashlyn and Mrs. Catterson. Ashlyn had a great teacher this year and really excelled and learned a lot. She also did really well at coming out of her shell a bit more. I was so grateful for a compassionate teacher who understood Ashlyn and didn't push her past her capacity. Really meant a lot to me. Mrs. Catterson's last words to me before we left for the day, "I love this girl". Then she hugged her. We all love Ashlyn. She is SUCH a sweetie! On to 3rd grade. Here's hoping for another good teacher.

And because I have no recent photos of Carter, you get lucky and get another video of him. He's growing and learning like CRAZY! I'm not sure I'm too happy about it. Today he started scooting and attempting to crawl. I put him in the middle of the rug of the playroom, only to find him a few minutes later over by the fireplace, which is a good 6 feet from where he was. Not only that, but he had started to open the door to the fireplace. Luckily I caught him before he pinched his fingers. Or worse, got inside of it. Yuck!

Carter's exercise routine

Outfitted in proper camo gear, Carter is ready for his daily exercise routine. 

First up- The wiggle dance

Followed by- a roll

And the finale- pushups

Beans

The gardeners came today. When they left I noticed some weeds in my mulch. I wondered why they didn't pull them out, so I went out to pull them up. Upon closer inspection, I realized they weren't weeds, but bean sprouts! Then I realized they were the beans the kids planted. You see, I have a little terra cota pot with beans in it that holds "flower pens" that Ashlyn made for me in Girl Scouts last year. It sits next to my phone. Well, the kids wanted something to plant so they thought it would be fun to start planting the beans from that pot. They've planted dozens in the mulch in our backyard. I never dreamed they would actually sprout, but sure enough they are. My gardeners probably think I'm crazy for planting  things so randomly around the backyard. But hey, kudos to them for knowing the difference between weeds and bean sprouts. Haha....

I think I should start giving my kids real seeds to plant and point them in one location. I've never had much luck with seeds. Apparently my kids are better at it than I am.