Our Anniversary

Joe and I celebrated our seventh anniversary on the 6th. We went up to McCall with some friends of ours and stayed in a condo for a couple of days. We had so much fun. We played games, soaked in the hot tub, watched movies, walked around the town, and ate lots of yummy food. The condo was amazing and had two master bedrooms with master baths and jacuzzi jetted tubs. My sister watched the kids for us while we were gone.
I am so glad to have Joe for a husband. He does an awesome job and is such a hard worker. He always knows how to make me laugh. I am so glad we have been married seven years and I am excited for the years to come. I love you Joe!

Decorating the Christmas tree

Two days after Thanksgiving we set up the Christmas Tree. I think that is the earliest we have ever set it up. I usually am a procrastinator. It has been a lot of fun having it up and the kids really love seeing the beautiful lights. JJ wouldn't stay away from it to begin with, but I think he is used to it now because he hardly takes anything off anymore. It was fun watching the kids put the ornaments on the tree because they would put three red ornaments right next to each other and get so excited because they all match. :) I moved some of them around so they weren't to close together, and to keep them out of JJ's reach.

Christmas Chains

I have been awful about updating lately so here are some posts that should have been posted a long time ago. We made Christmas chains the beginning of this month. Emily and Maddie loved it and caught on really quick on how to make them. They are really loving pulling a chain off every day and it has been nice because Emily is able to look at the chain and see how close Christmas is instead of asking me all the time. We also have advent calendars we bought from the store that have chocolate in them. The kids are really loving taking a chocolate out every day.

Laundry

Apparently I don't keep up with laundry enough. The other day after I had folded laundry, Emily gave me a huge hug and said, "Thank you, thank you, for folding my clothes"

Oreo Turkeys

Wednesday night we made Oreo Turkeys as a family with Rachel and Tim. It was so much fun. We all helped the kids make theirs and after we were done we ate them all. We kind of improvised with some items because we didn't have everything I have seen them made with before. It was fun to watch each of the kids decorate them. Madison was so worried about doing something wrong until we just left her alone and then she didn't care anymore. Rachel and Emily were even playing with the turkeys when they were done making them.

Here are Emily's turkeys

Here are Madison's Turkeys

Car Seat Blanket

I made this blanket for my friend that just had a baby girl. My friend, Julee, made one for me when Madison was born and it has been one of my favorite things. It keeps the baby so warm when they are in their car seat and doesn't have to come out every time you get the baby out.

Hand Turkeys

We made hand turkeys Tuesday night with our kids. Joe helped Emily and I helped Madison and JJ. We had a lot of fun and it was really cute to hear what our kids said they were thankful for. We wrote something on each hand and did 5 hands each.

JJ only did one hand because he didn't want to sit still long enough to do more. He can't talk yet so we didn't ask him what he was thankful for.

This is Madison's turkey. She said she was thankful for her Body every time I asked. I had to pry a little bit to get anything else. The rest of her list is: hands, Mommy and Daddy, clothes, and toys.

Emily was flowing with things she was thankful for. Joe couldn't keep up, but he did his best. Her list is: Loving others and pancakes, Helping Mommy, Mommy and Daddy, Holidays, and Pencils and Grandma.

I am so glad we did this activity because it was fun listening to what things they were thankful for.

JJ on the phone

A couple of weeks ago my Mom had called and we had each of the kids talk to her on the phone. Even JJ wanted to talk. I have never heard him talk so much. Of course we didn't understand any of it, but he was sure getting excited and animated. We tried to take some pictures, but none of them show how cute he really was. When she told him she loved him he even turned and kissed the phone.

Another Cake

I actually did this cake a couple of weeks ago. It was a lot of fun. It was my first time working with fondant. I also thought it tasted so yummy. I did lemon cake with lemon buttercream frosting. The fondant was rolled so thin that it absorbed some of the moisture and flavoring from the frosting so it tasted lemony too. My kids loved eating the flowers on the sticks.

JJ cuteness

JJ took an early nap today so he has been awake and playing while the girls are sleeping. He actually came to me with a poopy diaper to have it changed. I wasn't sure that was what he wanted, but he stunk so I grabbed the diaper bag. He got so excited I knew that must have been it. After I changed him he held his hands out so he could carry it to the garbage (I hold him and he throws it in the garbage) Later, he got tired of crawling around playing by himself and went to their bedroom door and started knocking on it calling for Emily. (he kind of says E-y, but we know it is his ways of saying Emily) He is such a cutie.

Alphabet

My parent's gave Emily a leap frog alphabet fridge toy because they saw it at Dean and Amanda's house and thought it was great. Lately Madison has been playing with it a lot. The other day she had the letter U in the toy and kept pushing it over and over.
Toy, "U says, U says, U says, U says" (Normally it would continue singing a song, but Maddie wouldn't let it get that far)
Maddie, "ME!"
She thought the toy was talking to her :)

Names

I actually didn't hear Emily say this, but my sister did and I wanted to write it down so I don't forget it. A week ago we had everyone over to our house for Sunday dinner. Emily and Madison were playing memory with their great-grandpa Mefford. Emily said to him. "I know what your middle name is" "What's that" "Grandpa, because your first name is Great" I love it!

Halloween

We had a fun Halloween. We started our fun on Thursday when Emily had her class party for preschool. Her teacher read a cute story about witches brew, Emily and her classmates sang to us, and they enjoyed treats. It was a lot of fun. Then on Friday we went to a party at my friend Julee's house. We enjoyed yummy treats and fun conversation. The kids got to watch a halloween movie with the Chipmunks. Saturday, we went to a safety fair in Caldwell. They had trick-or-treating at each station and lots of fun crafts to make. The kids had a great time. That evening we went to Ben and Sara's ward Trunk-or-treating. Then we came home, ate some chili and cornbread, and then went trick-or-treating in our neighborhood. The kids loved it. I don't think JJ really cared, but Emily and Madison thought it was great. Emily kept asking if it was time to go home. I asked her if she was ready and she said no, she wanted to go to lots more houses. Maddie was really good at saying trick-or-treat by the end of the night. They especially loved it when we went to someone's house that we knew. After trick-or-treating, Ben, Sara, and Rachel all came back to our house and we watched a football game for a little bit, and then everyone was so pooped they went home. Someone must have told Emily on Halloween that the next holiday was Thanksgiving because the next morning she came in and asked if it was Thanksgiving. I told her we have a little while before it will be Thanksgiving.
Here are our cute little trick-or-treaters. Emily is a ballerina fairy, Maddie is a pumpkin, and JJ was a bee.

Cake #3

Here is Cake #3. I learned lots of fun things this week in my class. My favorite was the swirls. They are so easy. I also enjoyed making the little buttercup flowers, and the rope border. There were a couple of other things I learned, but I couldn't fit them all on one cake. Next week we are going to do some fondant.

Here is a close up to see the swirls better.

Life's a musical

My sister-in-law Sara doesn't like musicals at all, mostly because we don't go through life singing all the time like they do in musicals. So, I couldn't help but laugh yesterday when I overheard Emily singing instructions to her sister. She was singing, "Maddie get down from the train table" and various other things. She continued to sing for about 5 minutes and everything came out in song, but had to do with what she was doing right then. When she sings made up songs they are always to tunes of other songs she already knows, but she will mix several tunes together. She might start with "I am a child of God" then switch to "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" and then "Row, Row, Row your boat" Only switching the words to whatever she wants.
Maybe for her life is a musical.

Pumpkins

Saturday we went to Linder Farms pumpkin patch to get pumpkins. Of course I forgot the camera like always. We had a lot of fun. We rode on the tractor out to the pumpkin patch and each of us picked a pumpkin. We just told the kids they had to be able to carry it themselves. They actually did really good. After the pumpkin patch they rode on these little swings they had that are kind of like the fair swings on a much smaller scale. Then we went to the petting zoo part. Emily and Madison loved it. They were able to get in a corral with the goats and sheep and pet them all they wanted. Maddie didn't want to leave. Last of all we got some doughnuts and ate them. They were super yummy. Then we left because it was getting really cold.

Monday we decided to paint the pumpkins we picked. Joe was still at work because he worked overtime. His pumpkin is still bare.

Here is Emily's pumpkin. Didn't she do a great job? She was very upset though after she saw mine and wanted me to paint hers too.
Here is Maddie painting hers. By the end it was completely covered in black, red, and purple paint. She had so much fun though and took the longest to paint. She was really mad when I told her it was time for bed, but Emily and JJ were already dressed and in bed.
Here is my pumpkin and JJ's pumpkin. I tried to have him paint some on his, but he was too tired and just wanted to go to bed. So I painted a little face on it for him. We had a lot of fun and this is one of my favorite traditions we have started as a family.

Haircut

We cut JJ's hair on Sunday. He looks so big now. He doesn't look like my little baby anymore. I can't believe he is 14 months now.

Here is beforeand after

Another Cake

Last week in my cake decorating class we worked on the Wilton Rose. After I was done making several of them I put them on a cake. Here is the cake I made. I also did little pearls on it and did a shell border. It was a lot of fun. I only used one 9" round though because Joe and I decided we didn't need to eat a cake every week.

Signing

JJ has been able to sign for a little while now. He knows "I want it" "eat" "drink" and "more" The only problem is he refuses to use them when he is eating. If we are playing with a ball or toys he will usually comply happily and sign for us. As soon as he is sitting down at the table though, he refuses and throws a fit instead. Even though he doesn't get what he is wanting by throwing his fit, and if he signs for it he gets it right away, he still refuses and will usually just go without. Here he is signing "I want it" when we were playing with a ball outside.

In these pictures he is throwing his fit at the dinner table. He doesn't just scream he moves his body from side to side too. It is kind of funny.

What???

Today Emily was watching Pocahontas for the first time. During the movie Pocahontas's grandma is a tree. The first time we see her I hear, "What? her grandma is a tree?" With such emphasis on the What that I couldn't help but laugh. I love listening to her as she is figuring things out.

Cleaning up the Garden

Today we took down our garden. While we were doing this we were even able to pick some more watermelons, cucumbers and strawberries. Our strawberries are still blooming. It is like they don't want to stop. It was kind of sad cleaning everything up because I kept thinking about how we won't be able to use this square foot garden next year at my parent's house. They have a lot of garden space so that won't be a problem. I just think about how much work we put into putting our square foot garden together. I am so grateful for all the produce we were able to get from our garden this year. What a blessing it was.

Moving

We will be moving in January. My parents are moving to Pennsylvania for my Mom's new job. We are sad to see them go. When they move we are going to be moving into their house. There will be more space and it is closer to Joe's work. I was telling Emily about all this and explaining that in order to visit Grandma and Grandpa we would have to ride on an airplane like when we would visit Grandma Carol. Emily said, "We will need to go on an airplane every Sunday to eat dinner with Grandma and Grandpa." I explained this wasn't possible because it would cost too much money. She said, "We just need to get more money so we can go do it then." I said that we just wouldn't have enough. She said, "We just need to get our own airplane then. Then we can go to Pennsylvania every Sunday."
She is going to miss her grandparents so much.

Piano

Today, our neighbor, Lauren put JJ up to the big piano for the first time. He loved it. He immediately went to town banging on the keys. Emily and Madison have always been gentle with the piano so I thought it was hilarious when he started banging away. After playing for awhile he started to be more gentle and just play one key at a time.

Cakes

I have started a cake decorating class. Here is the first cake I decorated. We were doing clowns. It was a lot of fun. I ran out of frosting though so that is why it isn't completely finished and some of the colors are wacky. I will be taking a class every week.

Bathtime

JJ loves to take baths. Whenever I lay him down in the water he immediately starts kicking his legs and laughing. It is adorable. I tried to get a good picture of him, but he kept blinking with the flash and wouldn't smile the way he usually does as soon as the camera came out.

Vinyl Giveaway

My cousin, Amy, is doing a giveaway for free vinyl on her blog Words & Wisdom. Head on over and check it out. She has a lot of great ideas for vinyl and does a really great job.

Scriptures

Emily was "reading" her scriptures this morning and was cracking me up. She had an elaborate story she was telling complete with "for behold" and such. I loved listening to her. At least we know that she is paying attention somewhat when we are reading scriptures at night.

JJ is signing.

We have been trying to teach JJ sign for quite a while. He is really stubborn though. I think that he has known a few signs, like he used to say drink on occasion, he just doesn't want to. Emily and Madison learned using food. I tried doing that with him too, and he just gets mad. Yesterday, when his Occupational Therapist, Erika, was here, she finally got him to say "I want it" using sign language. It is the cutest thing. He sticks his hands out in front of him and opens and closes his fingers. He would only do it for a while though and then he got frustrated that she kept asking him to do it so he stopped. We have had him do it a few times since then playing with a ball. Today we decided to make him do that for his drink at dinner instead of please since he won't ever sign it. At first he got so mad and started yelling at me and sticking his hands straight down like he does when we ask him to say "please". He flat out refuses. Today, I just ignored him and waited for him to do it. I finally went back to eating my dinner because he refused, and he went back to eating his. About 5 minutes later he finally was desperate enough and looked at me and did the sign for " I want it" I almost laughed because it was like he was rolling his eyes and saying "whatever, Mom I'll do it if you insist"

JJ is crawling!

Yes, JJ is finally crawling, and I mean full blown up on his knees crawling. He has been doing the army crawl forever. Only his involved his head much more than anyone I've ever seen. Today he finally decided that it was okay to stay up on all fours and crawl around. He is 13 months, so most kids his age are starting to walk, but I think that he has a ways to go before he gets to that point. That is okay though because I love that he still can't reach to get into a lot of things because he isn't even pulling up on things or cruising along furniture.

Grandpa

I love how Madison says grandpa, "Pampa" She can't say g's or c's at all so she has a hard time saying it. She loves to talk about her grandpa and will talk about him all day. Anytime we see a truck that is big she thinks it is grandpa and will start yelling out "pampa, pampa". She only gets to see my dad on a regular basis because Joe's dad lives in Arizona and his stepdad lives in Ohio. That is going to change soon and I know she will be really sad. She also loves her Great-grandpa and loves to talk about him a lot as well. At least he will still be close by, so she will get to see one "pampa"

Awesome Giveaway

One of my favorite hair blogs is giving away some curlformers. They make awesome ringlet curls. Go on over to Babes in Hairland and check it out.

Emily's confusion

Emily just woke up from her nap and informed me her penis hurts. "What did you say" I asked her and again she repeated her penis hurts. I had to explain to her that she doesn't have a penis and then tell her a little about her anatomy. Still don't know why it hurts though.

Awesome Help

Joe wasn't feeling very good this morning so he decided to stay home from church. I play the organ at church and was a little worried about what to do with my kids while I was up at the organ. I left them on the bench and told Emily to make sure JJ didn't fall off. Then went to play prelude. I looked down at the beginning of the meeting and a friend of ours was sitting with the kids. It helped so much. Another friend that was sitting behind us was holding JJ. After the Sacrament hymn I went and sat with the kids again and our friend went back to her seat. We had an intermediate hymn and during that another friend moved over and sat with my kids and then took her seat again when I was done. For the closing hymn yet another friend sat with the kids. I was so greatful and amazed at how quickly they got up and helped out. I really appreciate it. Thank you so much!

Pictures

Today, Sara came with me to Lake Lowell and she took some pictures of the kids. I was wanting pictures of Emily and JJ for their birthdays. I usually get the free one from Kiddie Kandids, but they have changed their policy, and you now have to buy a sheet in order to get the 8x10 free. I decided I didn't want to pay $20 to get an 8x10 because that is all I get for birthdays and then at Christmas we usually buy more pictures. Sara did an awesome job. Here are some of my favorites.I wasn't going to take any pictures of Madison, but Sara caught her with JJ before I had Emily set up. I liked this one with them sitting next to each other.I think this is the picture I am going to use for JJ because you can see his face the best.

I really like this one of him too.

This is the picture I am going to use for Emily. It captured her natural smile the best.

I think this one of her is so silly. She didn't understand what we were asking her to do and rolled her eyes. Sara took the picture at just the right time.

We tried to get a picture with them together, but they were done by this point. JJ wouldn't stop crying and Emily and Madison had ants in their pants. We'll just have to try it again another time.

Shoes

Madison loves shoes. Any shoes. She is often found wearing Emily's shoes. (Emily doesn't like this at all) One day I found her wearing my shoes. She thought she was so cool wearing Mommy's shoes.

JJ's Toy

This is JJ's favorite toy. He loves to put the balls in the giraffe's mouth and listen to the music it plays as they go around the slide to the bottom. He thinks it is hilarious when the ball doesn't come out one of the front holes and goes to the back. He also loves to take the balls and just hit them together.

Fort

A few weeks ago we made a fort with the kids. They thought it was so fun. At first they didn't know what to do. Joe and I pretended alligators were going to get us, and from there they started making their own story. At one point they decided they needed to go to the store to get food and left Joe and I in the fort. Eventually they came back and decided we needed to wake up. We fell asleep waiting for them. They weren't very happy when it was time to clean it up. We will have to make another one again soon.

Affectionate Madison

Every day at least 100 times we hear, "Mommie, I uh you" (I love you) If I don't immediately respond, "I love you too, Maddie" It is repeated until I do say so. She also does this to Joe, Emily, and JJ (She doesn't wait for JJ to respond). We love it. The other day I was listening over the baby monitor to Madison and Emily having an argument about Madison yelling and waking Emily up. Shortly into their argument, Maddie stopped and said "E-i-y, I Uh You" Emily just ignored her, so it was repeated several times. Finally, Emily said "Well, I don't love you" Madison wouldn't hear it and continued to repeat it until Emily said "I love you too." I couldn't help but laugh at how persistant she was.

Happy Birthday to Me!...Yesterday

Yesterday was my birthday. It was a wonderful day. Joe stayed home and we kind of slept in until 8 am. We woke up to hearing Madison sing Happy Birthday over the baby monitor. It was so cute. I couldn't believe that she actually remembered that it was my birthday. All day long Emily and Madison were very concerned that we did everything right. They wanted to make sure that we had Birthday cake and ice cream and open presents. They had a hard time understanding that the presents are coming later. We went to the park yesterday morning and let the kids play. Then we came home ate lunch and relaxed while the kids were taking naps. After naps Joe took me shopping to use the birthday money I received from his grandparents and dad. Thank you very much! I was able to buy 2 shirts and I am still looking for a skirt or another shirt that I like. After shopping we dropped the kids off at Ben and Sara's house. Thank you you guys! Joe and I went to dinner at Red Robin. It was delicious and I left stuffed. After dinner we picked up the kids and rented Confessions of a Shopaholic and watched it before bed. It was a cute movie. Really different from the book though. Overall it was a wonderful day and I am so thankful for my husband who planned fun things for us to do.

Preschool

Right now Emily is in two different preschools. She is in one that a friend in our ward is running. She goes to that one on Tuesday and Thursday and loves it. So far they have been doing a lot with shapes. She gets to take a shape each day to share with everyone else. While she is at preschool I watch my friend's son so he doesn't get into everything while she is teaching.
Today, she started a co-op preschool with some friends from our ward. We tried to include everyone that wanted to participate that would be attending Kindergarten next year. As a result there are 9 children. Emily likes it though because she knows all of them from church. Today they learned the letter A and worked on the color Red. She had a fun time there too. There are only two girls that are participating. She doesn't mind though because she gets along with the boys just as well.

Camping

We went camping again this last weekend. We had a great time. We went with some friends from our ward up to tripod meadows. We left Saturday morning and got back on Sunday afternoon. Emily and Madison always love camping and they didn't want to come home. We mostly just relaxed around the campfire. We were trying to stay clear of the wasps which were everywhere. Emily actually got her first and second sting because the same wasp bit her on her hand and then on her leg. Joe enjoyed using a chain saw and cutting lots of wood. Emily and Madison got to feed a horse which Madison was very excited by because there were some people with horses camped at the campsite below us. We had yummy food and enjoyed the company. Everyone else stayed until Monday, but we wanted to get home so Joe could take a look at his homework for his class. We forgot the camera and only brought the video camera so we don't have any pictures.

Talking

JJ isn't really close to talking at all, but he does have UH-OH down really well. This morning as I was laying in bed I could hear him in the other room practicing his tone and inflection using this word. It was really funny. He would yell it loud and quiet, shreak it, whisper it, and use different sounds in his voice. I think he was trying to figure out how his little voice box works.

Bear Lake

On Sunday we headed to Bear Lake for a short trip. We stayed at the Worldmark resort and had a great time. We didn't get there until about 8:30 on Sunday night so we just ate dinner and put the kids to bed. On Monday, we headed to Paris, Idaho and went to the tabernacle there as well as the Paris history museum. We decided we just wanted a nice relaxing day so we headed back to the room for lunch and naps. After naps we went to the tennis courts at the resort and played tennis with the kids. They had so much fun. Especially Emily who was hitting the ball by the end of the day. (only when Joe would stand at the net and throw it exactly to her) After Tennis we went swimming in their swimming pool. Emily and Madison were kind of freaked out by it though because they couldn't touch the ground in the entire pool. Normally they will jump into us even in the areas they can't touch, but they wanted nothing to do with that. After swimming we went to find the "famous raspberry shakes" everyone told us about. They were really good, but we had a hard time finding a restaurant that was open because everyone started new hours that day and closed at 6 pm. After shakes we went back to the room and made pizza while we watched a movie that they had playing that night on their special resort channel. Then the kids headed to bed. On Tuesday we just packed up and came home. We had a nice time just relaxing. Maybe another time we can see all Bear Lake has to offer.

Glue

I have been doing preschool with Madison and Emily over the summer. They love it! Madison especially loves when we do crafts and has found a new love. Glue! She loves to use the glue and she loves to eat the glue. Anytime she gets some on her hands she starts licking them and then she starts to just stick her finger in the glue so she can lick it off.

My trip to the Family History Library

This last weekend I was able to go to the Family History Library in Salt Lake City with some friends from my ward. We had so much fun. We left early on Friday morning and then spent the entire day Saturday at the Library. Saturday morning we went to the library about 11 am and left at 9 pm. I had a short break in the middle when I went to see Dean and Amanda who just happened to be in town. It was great to visit with them even though it was so short. Then we came home on Sunday and arrived in Caldwell about 5 pm. I am so glad we were able to go and we accomplished so much. I think I looked at over 30 microfilms. They have so many microfilms of data it is amazing. I was able to find a little bit of info, like Joe's grandpa Neratko's birth record. I was glad I found that because previously I had that he was born in New York and I found the birth record in Michigan. I also finally know where Joe's Neratko family comes from in Poland. Yea! I have been looking for that forever. Now I just need to go back to the Family History Library to find more info. We are planning another trip in the spring.

JJ is One!

JJ turned one on August 14th. I have been waiting to post this until we loaded the video camera pictures because we forgot the camera. I decided to do it without those pictures because we still haven't done it, and I can't find the cord.
I was actually out of town on JJ's birthday and didn't even get to see him. Joe was out of town too so we celebrated on Sunday. We went to my parents house and made french toast. He loved it . We also had cake and ice cream. We make a separate cake for their first birthday so he got his own little baseball cake, and everyone else had a piece of the big baseball cake. He loved the cake and went to town on it. I think he devoured almost the entire thing. He especially loved the frosting. It was so fun to watch him. He also enjoyed opening his presents. He got lots of clothes, a car seat, and toys. He loved the toys the most, I think. He kept wanting to hold on to them and didn't want to let go of them to open another present. Thank you to everyone who gave him a present. His sisters hardly let him play with them. Luckily he is still pretty easygoing right now so he doesn't care too much.
He has grown so much this last month and at his one year appointment he weighed 19 lb 1 oz and was 28 1/2 inches long. That was a 2 1/2 inch and 3 lb difference from his 9 month appointment. He has also started standing against furniture, scooting on the ground, and rolling all over the place. Hopefully he will start to crawl soon and then soon after that walk. I do like having him mostly stationary though because then he isn't getting into everything. We love this little boy and are so greatful for the joy that he brings into our home.

Recipe for Pickles

Here is the recipe I use for pickles.

German Pickles

1/2 tsp. mustard seed
1-2 cloves of garlic
1 C vinegar
2 C Water
2 T salt
1-2 heads of Dill
1/2 to 1 C sugar (optional) (I don't use the sugar)

Combine: vinegar, water and salt. Bring to boil and shut off

In the jar add garlic to the bottom.
Then put cucumbers, eggs, or pepper into the jar (I usually do cucumber spears because I wait to long to pick the cucumbers and then they are too large)
Next, add mustard seed and dill.
Add liquid
Put grape leaf on top and close

Water bath by bringing to boil for 5 minutes. Then remove and let sit for three months. If pickles are soft you may add a pea size amount of alum to retain crispness.

If anyone wants to make these and doesn't have the dill or grape leaves just let me know. We have both in our garden.

Canning

Yesterday, I was able to can; pickles, northern beans, and basil. All three are very easy to can. For the pickles we have a recipe that is by the jar so you don't have to have a million cucumbers to do a batch. I was able to get six jars from the cucumbers in my garden, and we still have more growing. For the northern beans all you do is take, 1 cup of beans, 1 tsp salt, and fill the jar with water. Then you pressure cook them for 90 min at 15 lbs of pressure. The hardest part is waiting the 90 minutes for them to get done. For the basil I just washed it and then put it in my dehydrator. Today I plan on blanching some tomatoes to freeze until all my tomatoes are ripe so I can can them all at once. I love being able to put all this together so we will have food this winter that we don't have to purchase from the store.

Bugs

Madison has recently gained the fear of bugs. I remember that Emily went through this at about the same age. Yesterday, when I was getting Maddie up from her nap there was a fly in her room. She was yelling and screaming at it. I brushed at it which only caused it to fly even closer to her. All of a sudden she grabs her dress and holds it as tight to her as she can and yells at the fly "My Dress, Get Away!" I thought it was so funny she was so concerned about her dress.

Camping

This last weekend we went camping again. We had a lot of fun. It was our ward camp out and we camped at the Walker Cabin Campground up by Council. Luckily it was a grassed over area because it rained all day Friday and then Friday night. We still had fun and drank lots of hot chocolate to keep warm. Our tent stayed dry and we slept pretty good. Friday night we made s'mores using a heat lamp. They turned out very yummy. Saturday morning we had pancakes, eggs, sausage and hashbrowns for breakfast. Emily and Madison were able to ride in a paddle boat that they have on the property. Emily wasn't ready to leave on Saturday because she wanted go in the paddle boat more. I would love to go to this same place again sometime when it isn't so wet. They have a creek that runs right next to it that you can fish in and a water slide that runs down a hill. There is also warm springs that are about 2 miles away.

Forever moms

I am part of a group called American Mothers. It is a national group that is interfaith, non-political, and non-profit. We meet once a month and have a parenting lesson. American Mothers Inc participates in several programs and campaigns such as ABC Quilts, Books for Babies, Mothers Against Abuse, 5th Grade Essay Contest, AMI Blood Drive, Interfaith Alliances, and locally we have been participating in the White Ribbons Against Pornography (WRAP) program. I really love meeting with this group and learning new parenting skills. Recently we started a blog called Forever Moms. We post the lessons from our meetings, literacy helps, as well as other parenting helps. We also have a question and answer portion for moms to ask questions and get some help with problems they might be having. Check it out. It is kind of new so there aren't many posts now, but we plan to add more.

Madison

Madison is really starting to talk quite a bit and always amazes us with how much she understands. She is also starting to love the princesses and is constantly telling me "I am a princess" We are hoping that she starts using the consonants "K" and "G". I think it would alleviate a lot of her frustrations. She will often tell me something and I repeat it back to make sure I heard her. Quite often I get it wrong and she just melts into tears or starts screaming. She doesn't like to repeat herself I guess. I have started saying "Show me" and this seems to help some.

So big

This last week since Emily has turned 4 it is like she suddenly decided she is going to act so big. Yesterday after dinner she went to her room and put her pajamas on without me even asking. Then after Family Home Evening she went right in and went to bed. Today, she came into my room first thing and said I am dressed Mom. I couldn't believe it because again I didn't even ask her too. After lunch today she went straight to her room and climbed into bed for nap. Again I didn't have to even ask. It has been so nice and I hope that it continues. :)

It's too bright

Today I was putting Madison down for a nap and she told me to turn the light off. I looked up and the light wasn't on. I told her it wasn't on and she said "Yes, it is, turn it off." I again said it wasn't on and showed her by turning the light on and off. I asked her if it was too bright and she said "yes" I told her to close her eyes and it wouldn't be so bright. I thought it was cute that she recognized she was tired and wanted the light off to sleep.

Emily's Birthday

Yesterday was Emily's 4th birthday. She had such a fun day. In the morning we went garage saleing. (maybe not so fun for her) then we went to my 10 year reunion. She had a lot of fun there because they had lunch, a bounce house, and snow cones. After the reunion we went to the Caldwell Pool and went swimming. She said that was her favorite part of the day. Ben & Sara, Rachel, Jared (he was working) & Kacey, and Aunt Michelle & her kids were all there.
After the pool we went home and had dinner, cake and ice cream. She requested hash browns and carrots for dinner, I asked her if we could include Pancakes and Eggs and she said yes. Her cake was a princess cake that was strawberry flavored with strawberry icing. We also made another cake so we would have enough for everyone. We had just family over for dinner and cake. Before cake she opened presents. She received a lot of fun things. Thank you everyone she loves everything she got. She received many princess themed items as well as ballet things and books.
She keeps getting bigger and bigger and is such a helper around the house. She loves to help her brother and sister as well as help me clean. She is very literal in a lot of things and has a hard time understanding why it is okay for someone else to do something she can't. (i e. when it is time to leave the park why can other kids stay) She almost always has a smile on her face. We love her so much. I can't believe it has already been 4 years since the day she was born.

Here are some fun pictures from her opening presents.

Emily's Husband

This morning Emily informed us that she is going to marry Lucas. We told her she couldn't and she got very upset and said that she wants to marry Lucas. We tried explaining to her that he is her cousin and that you don't marry your cousin. Finally she said she will just have to marry a friend then.

JJ is 11 months

This post is a little late. JJ turned 11 months on July 14. I can't believe that in a couple of weeks he will be 1. He is getting so big and has learned so much this last month. His 1st word is UH-OH. He says this all the time and loves if you mimic it back to him. He thinks it is so funny. He has quite the personality and laughs all the time. He almost always has a smile on his face and has hugs for almost anyone. He also just recently started doing this:Yes he will finally stand on his feet. He thinks he is so funny when he is doing it too. He will often start chuckling. It is almost as if he is saying, Ha ha ha, I could have done it all along, but I didn't want to. We love him so much and are very happy he is a member of our family. The girls are very protective of him and guard him from harm.