Canning stuff and a funny story...

A week ago, my friend Andrea called and asked if we wanted to go to her family orchard for FHE. She knew that I'm all about doing canning this year. So we basically had free reign to pick whatever fruit was ripe, SO COOL! Then on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, we got together and made apricot jam, cherry pie filling, canned apricots, and canned peaches. We also dried cherries and froze apricots. I think we canned about 80 jars and split them up. On my own, I canned tomatoes and more peaches. And I dried apricots. I also tried to can beets but that resulted in a pressure cooker exploding (YIKES!! My worst fear came true!) and a HUGE mess to clean up. So I just froze the rest of the beets instead. Which is what I will do with veggies from now on!

Then, on Saturday, we went camping at Enterprise Reservoir. They had actually drained the upper reservoir so we camped up there so we weren't chasing our little ones in and out of the water the whole time. We had a great time taking the kids on rides on the Rhino, cooking a yummy dutch oven dinner, complete with chocolate cake for dessert, and being chased by a wild animal.

WAIT! I have to tell you about the wild animal part! So, Andrea, Nicky and I were sitting around the fire, we had just finally gotten our kids to sleep. And now that we have that dang motor home, it goes on every camping trip that we go on. OK back to the wild animal part. So we were chilling by the fire and I decided that I needed to pee and go get a hoodie. Nicky decides that she needs to pee too. So we head over to the motor home and we hear rustling in the bushes. Being the awesome women we are, we run into the motor home but we decide that we are brave and go back out and sit by the camp fire again. So there we are, sitting by the fire when we hear something GROWL and run in our direction!

We scream, run (I totally tripped and almost fell into the fire) and we jump in the back of Andrea's truck. Andrea grabs an ax, Nicky grabs a shovel and I am holding my poor knee's because they really hurt! OK, you might ask where in the world are your husbands? Answer: Out in the Rhino, having the times of their lives! We scream for our friend Kris, who has already gone to bed, to hurry up and go find the guys. She jumps in her jeep and starts honking her horn and she goes out to find the men. We hurry up and get all the kids into the motor home and wait for our heros to come back and save us.

Instead, the men all come back and make fun of us. Things like, oooh was that deer scaring you? Or, are you sure that it was an animal? It was probably just the wind. Our response? When was the last time you heard a deer growl? And, no we were just imagining things and we thought it would be fun to wake up 9 kids and scare the crap out of them! Yeah, good times!

Moral of the story: Never go camping without a motor home, it could save you from a scary animal that wanted to eat you for dinner.

Wordless Wednesday...This is what happens when I clean and don't pay attention to Carson. I guess its time to hide the make-up!

Breaking Dawn Countdown!!

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***EDIT!!*** I just want to clarify my position on the Edward/Bella/Jacob triangle! LOL, I'm a nerd! OK, I might love Jacob just a little more than Edward but I know that Bella and Edward are meant to be together! And I'm totally OK with them living their happily forever after. However, if Jacob doesn't get his own happily ever after (I have friends that think he will be killed off) I'm going to be MAD!

Raingutter Regatta, Summer Games Medal, Our children are fish!

At pack meet this month they held the Raingutter Regatta. I'm happy to report that Caleb made his own boat. OK, he also had help from his awesome Scout leaders, too. (so glad they released me from scouts, it was waaaay out of my element!) The crafty mom in me was screaming for me to take that boat and make it mine! But I let him do his own thing (very, very hard to do, took lots of self control, LOL) and it turned out AWESOME! I just sent all the rub-ons and the boat to scouts and ta da! This is what we had! It was a pirate ship, of course. And our scout leaders are so awesome they handed out trophies that they found at yard sales! How clever is that? Thanks to the Ravenbergs for that great find! In June, our competitive soccer team went to the Utah Summer Games and took second place. The problem? Caleb wasn't there, we had our family vacation that weekend. But his coach is so freakin' awesome he actually GAVE Caleb his medal because his son already had one. I bet you wish that your kids had a coach that is cool like ours! Thank you Coach for that you do! My kids just won't get out of the pool this summer! When we first got our pool done, Caleb couldn't swim , he used a life jacket and Carson was deathly afraid of the water. Boy how times have changed! The neighbor kids just come over with a swim suit and towel because they know that's where the kids are! Here is a little preview of our pool craziness.
Sorry for the yelling, Caleb kept jumping before I hit the record button!

Guess What!? And other random things...

In September we're going on a cruise! YAY! I'm so excited I could scream, but I won't. We are just doing a short, cheapie cruise but hey, a cruise is a cruise. We've never been on a cruise before so we decided to take a short one just to see how it goes. Our itinerary is: leave from LA, go to San Diego, Catalina Island, and Ensenada and then back to LA. Our friends Nate and Andrea are going with us for sure and a few other couples might come too. Want to come too? Just give me a call and I'll give you all the details!

As for other news, there might be an offer on our house already! It has been on the market less than a week! I'm freaking out! I thought it would take at least a year to sell. I'm not ready to let go yet. I really love this house and now that its reality, I'm ready to just stay here! I know, I can't have it both ways but it makes me sad just to think about it.

And completely off the topic, I have apparently taught Carson some swear words. He walked up to Caleb and told him that he was going to kick his a$$. And he got in trouble the other day and asked me if I was going to kick his a$$. He also says holy sh**. Whoops! My bad. And I'm not going to quit swearing but I don't think my 3 year old should be! I try not to make a big deal out of it because I think if I get after him, he will just do it more. And it probably doesn't help that I laugh most of the time that he does it, either. I really try hard not to laugh but its so hard! But Caleb swore too and now he is the swearing police so Carson will probably catch on that its not OK to swear, right?

I'm still hating my decluttered house. I can't find ANYTHING!! It all got a place and now I don't know where any of my stuff is. I can't find Caleb's scout manual and its driving me nuts! I know now that I will never be an organized person. Clean, yes. Organized, no way. Never in a million years.

I'm also not sleeping too well. I will go days without a good nights rest. It is making me crazy! I'm thinking it has to do with summer and all the crazy hours we are keeping around here. During the school year we have a pretty set schedule. However, I hate schedules. But apparently, schedules help me to sleep.

Is anyone else so excited about the upcoming release of Breaking Dawn? I went to brunch (I said brunch to my hubby and he called me a snob, LOL) with my friends the other day and it was all we could talk about. Plus, my friend Emma had the opportunity to go to Forks, Washington and she was telling us all about it. Seriously, what is it about these books that suck you in? I love them! Are you Team Edward or Team Jacob? I am Switzerland, I love them both! But I think I love Jacob just a little bit more than Edward. I prefer warm and fuzzy to cold hard granite. Just my opinion, though!

I'm getting very excited for the start of school, even though its still a month away. I have already done most of my school shopping except for a few small things. Caleb will be in the 3rd grade and a few weeks after, Carson will start preschool. Holy crap! How did my kids get so big so fast?

Wordless Wednesday... My Fearless 3 Year Old

I've been tagged...6 Random things about me...

I've been tagged by Nat

Okay here are the rules:
You link back to the person who tagged you. Post these rules on your blog. Share six unimportant things about yourself Tag six random people at the end of your entry Let the tagged people know by leaving a comment on their blogs Enjoy the results!

1. I hide candy and snacky things from my family and I don't share with them EVER. If I didn't do this, they would eat it all in one day. Even Allan doesn't know about the hidden goodies unless he finds them. It just makes me happy to break out the licorice or whatever when the kids are in bed. I know, I have major psychological issues.

2. I don't like a clean house. OK maybe I like a clean house (like clean toilets and stuff) but I like clutter all around me. Having to de-clutter my house is killing me. I miss it.

3. I love candles. I have a cupboard full of scented candles and I burn them according to season. I have tried candle warmers and I don't like them. I like to see the flickering light. Candles make me feel warm and fuzzy.

4. I had a 'blankie' until I was 12 years old. I couldn't sleep without it. When we moved, it mysteriously disappeared. When I asked my mom about it, she told me it must have gotten lost in the move. I spent months not being able to sleep well. A few years ago, I finally got my mom to admit that she threw it away when we moved. I'm still mad at her. (Just kidding mom, however you will never live this one down!)

5. I'm completely oblivious to things like gossip or what is being said about me. Mostly because I don't care but also because I'm usually too busy to notice what is being said about me. But you don't want to get on my bad side either because I can hold a grudge for years. I also say what I think in the most tactful way that I can say it. People usually know where they stand with me.

6. I love cheesy romance novels with happy endings. The more unrealistic, the better. I read 5 or 6 a month. It is my escape from the real world. I am a loser.

OK, I'm going to tag: Heidi, Tina, Bridget, Mindy, Emma, and Cindy.

Why would I do this to myself?! The Photo Tag....

Rules of the tag? NO CLEANING BEFORE TAKING YOUR PICTURES!

However,I was feeling pretty good when I decided to do this tag because I had been cleaning all week long. Then I looked at the pictures and CRAP!! It's not looking so clean...LOL!


1. Dream Vacation...

I have a confession. I love everything Disney. Cheesy I know, but don't you just love the feeling in the air when you are at Disneyland? Everyone is happy to be there. My kids are completely thrilled the whole time. Disney Rocks!! We try to go at least once a year. Caleb has actually been more than 10 times. We went there for our honeymoon. And I must confess that Disneyland is more fun without the kids! But what I really, really, really want to do is go on a Disney Cruise! We are just waiting for the kids to get older...

I know, I'm a loser.



2.Self Portrait-

YIKES! OK, I know that I'm not a very photogenic person. Almost every picture taken of me is very scary. Sorry you had to see me like this...



3. What are the kids doing right now?

So its noon and the kids are still in their pj's. Why, you may ask? Because mom has been on the computer all morning trying to make a stupid CD so that she could be inspired to clean the playroom. This process took way too much time and I inevitably ended up reading blogs between my frustrating CD process. Oh and have you heard the new lead singer for Journey? He's awesome. I visited you tube this morning too because my brother told me that I had to go and check him out. Seriously, I need to go on an Internet diet. But on the upside, the playroom is clean, for today anyway!



4.Closet

This is my closet. I just cleaned it this week. Except for the shoes, I forgot to organize them. Whoops! My bad.




5.Favorite room-

This is my office, craft room, scrapbook room all rolled into one! It is my happy place. I had just mopped the floors so everything was on the tables, counter tops, well, basically where it would fit and not be on the floor! I have been decluttering my office and boy do I have alot of crafty stuff! But, I can't throw away too much because I might need it! Plus, if you saw my blog about my wreath, you would understand why I can't throw anything away! Issues, I have issues.




6.Favorite shoes

I totally love all my flip flops, that is pretty much all I wear all spring, summer and fall. But I really, really love these shoes. They are comfy, I can wear them out to dinner or to church. Besides, who doesn't love an awesome wedge? I'm sure that they are probably not one of the latest trends but I'm not gonna give them up until they fall apart!



7. Laundry room-

Also known at my house as laundry land. I live in laundry land when I'm not in Crazyville.



8.Bathroom

Technically, this is the half bath. But it is the most used bathroom in the house. It is also the one that gets cleaned the most. I have 2 boys, three when count the hubby and I often wonder if they actually miss on purpose because it is fun to watch me clean it up. Boys are gross.



9.Sink

I actually had washed the dishes this morning before my computer addiction moments. However, I probably should have ran the garbage disposal. It would have made the picture so much prettier.



1. Fridge

Well, not too many interesting things here. I have to go grocery shopping though. No milk is almost a crime at my house. But as long as we have Diet Pepsi, Diet Pepsi Jazz and Diet Dr. Pepper, the world will keep spinning.