4th Birthday

My three year old turned four on July 27th, 2010. He wanted a spider man/spider cake this year with licorice legs. I wanted his cake to be red, but after almost a full bottle of red food coloring, I ended up with more of a pink cake than a red one. I decided it was okay because it had a spider web on it, and it was not a "girly" cake even though it was pink. Next time, I think I will have to go to a craft store or a specialty bake shop to find real red food coloring.
Despite my concern for the color, my son LOVED his cake. All the cousins enjoyed the licorice legs. Overall, I think he had a happy birthday! He loved his cake, got some fun gifts, and had fun playing with all his little cousins.
He's one year older and hopefully a little wiser too. ;)

Morning conversations

My three year old got up this morning, went to the bathroom, then came in the kitchen for breakfast. This was our conversation:

Mom: "I am so proud of you for remembering to flush the toilet after you went potty! Did you wash your hands? (I knew he didn't there was no sink action after the flushing)."

Son: "Mom, I am so tired of washing my hands!!"

Mom: "Sweetheart, you just woke up. You have not washed your hands at all today."

Son: "Dang it! (as he turns and heads back to the bathroom.)

When he was done playing with the soap in the sink he came running back into the kitchen;

"Mom, wanna smell my hands?!? (I smell them). They smell good, huh?"

I love the way he was trying to get out of washing his hands, then the way he expressed himself after I caught him and sent him back. I have smiled every time I have heard the interjection "Dang it!" today.

Hope everyone has had a wonderful weekend.

Boys in the morning

After my boys and I got up the other day I quickly went to the bathroom. Then I came in the kitchen to find this:I thought it was so cute! Brycen got in the fridge and grabbed himself and his little bro. an apple, then they sat down to eat them together. I am proud of Brycen. He is such a good older brother. He really looks out for his little brother, and he is very excited to have a little sister.

I am hoping to finish my peach days challenge quilt in the next week or so. Wish me luck!

Weeding the garden

This is what my garden is looking like right now. I have about fifteen tomato plants, six pepper plants, and some carrots in the back. I took this picture about two weeks ago after I spent about 15-20 minutes weeding. My garden always looks so nice after it has been weeded. :)
My kids on the other hand, DON'T. This is what my one year old looked like after 15-20 minutes of me weeding the garden. Here is the front view.
This is the back view.
I am sure his big brother had fun playing with him. I just realized you cannot see his eyes in either picture. They had some mud in them too. We played with the hose before he came in. He screamed a little. I am so grateful that my neighbors don't call the abuse hot line or something when they hear my children screaming in the backyard.
Overall, weeding the garden is a great weekly adventure at our house. I enjoy weeding, and the kids enjoy. . . playing.

I do have one question, does this happen to anyone else?!? Or are my boys the only ones who fall/play in any small amount of mud that they can find anywhere? I have decided if there is a puddle anywhere in the vicinity, my boys will find it, fall in it, then play in it, and become covered.

Bottling Tomatoes

I harvested these from my garden! This is more tomatoes than I have ever picked in a whole season from any plant I have ever grown. (yes, I am very excited!) My dear sweet neighbor gave me a bunch of tomatoes too, so I decided to try and bottle some of the beautiful tomatoes. It was not very hard. You basically clean them and cut any bad parts off. Then, you slip the skins, cut them to the desired size, cook them or pack them straight in the bottle, and then process them. This many tomatoes makes almost 5 quarts.
I decided to do diced/crushed tomatoes. I cooked them for a little while, then added 1/2 tsp. of Citric Acid to each quart. Then I boiling water bathed them for 55 minutes.
Oops! I forgot to take a picture of the finished product. I must have forgotten while processing them. Anyway, they turned out great! Hooray, another bottling experience under my belt. :)

Girls Camp

Where did June go? Between Youth Conference, Girls Camp, birthdays, and beginning the summer--June flew by for me! This year I was the Assistant Camp Director for girls camp. It was so much FUN! The picture below is from the pre-camp we had in May. We worked on making our T-shirts for girls camp, then we ate, sang some songs, and hung out around a campfire. (I love having a fire pit in my backyard!)
I am sorry I have been neglecting my blog. I will try and start catching up on the events in my life. I have no idea where my actual "girls camp" pictures went. They disappeared from my (husband's) camera. :) Sorry, that is the only picture I have to share.

Oh! I found a Youth Conference picture! The leaders took the youth on a mini-trek (through the honeymoon trail). I went to help a little, but mainly to be another female leader for them. I only got to stay with them from Thursday to Friday. Friday we hiked about 6 miles in the beating sun pulling handcarts. The youth pulled the handcarts the whole time. I helped for a little while, but I didn't last very long (I am so weak when I am pregnant!). Anyway, here is a picture. I am the one with a straw hat and a wet triangular bandage under my hat on.
The young men helped build the handcarts too. Neat, huh?!