school breaks suck---for the kids!

My poor kids! First on Christmas break they all had the stomach bug. Everyone puked and Christmas day could have easily been spent lazing on the couch as everyone had NO energy!
Now, spring break is ending and they are still sick with this horrible cold! Conner started it before break even began - and now they are going back on Monday but everyone is still ill. I had to take Harrison in yesterday and we are taking Bella and Lexi in today. :(
I will say that all the sickies has made for a very quiet house for spring break! But then, I am not one of those mom's that is saying "I can't wait for them to go back to school!" which is probably why I loved homeschooling so much and miss it. (besides the superior education they were getting! LOL)

Today has been quiet. I started off this morning by scoring Jonas Brother's concert tickets for me and the 2 oldest girls. I am taking them in June for Kaitlyn's birthday. They are going to be so surprised!

I knit Bella a shirt this week...she loves it! She chose the yarn and everything out of my stash.
My gauge was off a bit so it did turn a bit tighter than planned-but she loves it and it is so pretty on her.





Speaking of stash....have I showed pictures of my stash lately? Keep in mind that even now, there is more yarn that is not pictured! LOL



and what Harrison can do with a few moments alone:


**disclaimer** no yarn was harmed in the process of this play time**

CLICK ON IMAGES TO SEE THEM LARGER

So what does a sunny day

$26 and the promise of watching back episodes of Criminal Minds equal out to?










SPRING CLEANING!!!!



Today we decided that with the weather being so nice and the kids being on spring break that we were going to do some spring cleaning!

With the promise of watching Criminal Minds, the kids were very cooperative! Well, except for Noah who slept most of the day as soon as we got home from scouts as he is running a fever and feeling quite ill.

However, that didn't keep him from pack meeting...he earned his Webelos today and got his recognition for getting the highest score on uniform inspection! 99 out of 100 points! He only missed 1 point because his shoes were dirty.

We also took a trip to the library to pick up a book I had on hold. There are several others that come with it, but this was the only one there today-specifically for the kids.



I recently heard of it and remembered reading quite a bit about it a while back-I like that it really falls in line with the Word of Wisdom which is our law of health in the church. In it we are told concerning food:
The Lord also declared in the Word of Wisdom that the following foods are good:

* Vegetables and fruits, which should be used "with prudence and thanksgiving" (see D&C 89:10–11).

* The flesh "of beasts and of the fowls of the air," which is "to be used sparingly" (see D&C 89:12–13).

* Grains such as wheat, rice, and oats, which are "the staff of life" (see D&C 89:14–17).


I have only read a bit of the book so far - but I am very impressed with it. The research is their to back it up to. We already eat less meat than most families as we really do feel that we are told to eat it SPARINGLY. So this is going to be good for us. Whole foods, little meat. healthy living. I can do that.

Today is also a crafty day for me. I had most of my swap package done up and then realized that part was missing-probably taken by one of the kids and so I had to improvise and quickly replace it as it was nowhere to be found. Stay tuned for pictures of that later.

Hope you are all enjoying your saturday!

oh man, the blog sucks this week

I keep forgetting to come out and post! *blush*

Currently, I am on spring break and it is so nice to not worry about classes or homework! I have had a lot of time to just clean and knit and watch tv and play with the kids, it has been so nice! I also got a TON of yarn dyed up this week...here are a few new colors:









so I hope that excuses my lack of posting! LOL

Update on my brother

I have had some requests for an update on my brother. For those that don't know, you can read in the 2008 archives for November and December.

So he is doing a lot better. He has been released to work part time but he has to wear a helmet which of course mortifies him because he is 20 years old and running around all the other cowboys he works with wearing a helmet! LOL

His balance is still iffy-his right side still responds slower due to the brain injury-but he doesn't have the walker anymore! he can tell though that his body still doesn't respond 100%

I talked to him tonight and he was actually doing dishes!

His therapy has been reduced down. He still cannot drive. He is gaining more and more every week.

I am so grateful for his survival and his recovery.

very productive day

this week has been wonderful. I have had a lot of time to actually do stuff I want to do around the house.

I thought about just doing my day in pictures, but you know that I am too wordy to let it go by without saying something! LOL

Today, I made yogurt. If you have not made your own yogurt, you are missing out! It is very good and is so nice to have in the refrigerator to throw in a smoothie and you can even use it in pancakes!




Last month, I talked about my "new plates" that I found while out thrifting, a favorite past time of mine! LOL This is the second set of plates that I have found....I have a complete set of each now for my large family!

I also have yarn soaking to dye up tonight for my store

I also broke out my brand new serger today and did this shirt to finish up a gift for expectant friends. could these longies be any smaller?

and of course, with the opening of the serger box came the brand new toy for Harrison!

and a few random pictures:

cloth diapers: organized

My beautiful girl

and last, I got 3 new cookbooks this week and have started reading them looking for yummy new stuff to serve to the family!

WHOLE FOODS FOR THE WHOLE WORLD

THE VEGETARIAN FAMILY COOKBOOK

THE VEGAN LUNCH BOX (NEW VERSION) - I have the first edition too!

I bought some fabric, and did NOT buy any yarn!!

so that was my day, today. *smile*

A new knitting for me

ok, I have never done a scarf for me. They are boring. A knitters curse. But I finally found a pattern that I thought I might actually like. I am working on it slowly, but it is coming along. This is the last picture I took of it, I have about 3 times the length done now!



Today was a beautiful day! It got up around 69-70 degrees. It was funny because the sky was so dark and stormy and the wind was really whipping around. It was totally misleading and as I looked outside I figured it was cold and did not take the littles outside. My bad...they would have had so much fun. Now it is pouring rain so we may not get to go out tomorrow either.

This week is going to be a bit more relaxing for me. One of my professor's decided to give us a break this week so I only have one assignment due on the weekend! That means I have lots of time to knit and DYE YARN! WOOT! Our STORE is stocking again on the 15th of this month so I need to get a few yarns done up. If you haven't seen our new design, come by and see it! It is so pretty and calming!

Sunday was a good day-we actually all got to go to church as no one was sick. That was a first in a long time!

we are starting to talk about a garden this year. I want to rip up a good portion of our backyard so we can have a big one. With the good eating we are doing, we could definitely use a larger garden this year!

Noah has finished his Webelos and is starting to work on his Arrow of Light. Conner is about done with his Life and Kaitlyn is going to girls camp this summer. How did my kiddos get so big?

Hope all is well with you and yours!

High fructose corn syrup-yup I am going there

Watch a video here

So I am sure we have all seen the videos--high fructose corn syrup isn't bad--its just ... well.. corn! right?

yeah-and a little mercury added in for what? flavor?

an article released in January caused quite an uproar and many denials of the ingredients carrying mercury. ok, so say that is true...it still isn't JUST CORN.

Do you really know what high fructose corn syrup is?

My friend gave the best explanation for everyone: HFCS is corn syrup that's been processed to force some of the sugars to change to fructose. And fructose is worse than the other sugars in terms of telling our brains we've had enough to eat.
It is artificial. not natural. its not JUST CORN!

One thing I love about the commercials is it really touts "its fine in moderation" but have you looked at your labels? HCFS is in a HUGE amount of foods. that makes it hard to be "in moderation"

Just one more reason to eat a whole foods type of diet

oh-and huge kudos to Pepsi for this

Weekly meal plan

in case you are wondering why....I have to admit that I do tend to lose my paper that has my meal plan written on it. GASP! How could that be? With 7 kids, a home business, school and just life-how in the world?

let me tell you--it is actually quite easy!
So here I am going to write it out so if--strike that...WHEN I lose the paper this week, I will still be able to find it out here-because nothing bugs me more than having food that I can't remember why I bought it or what I am supposed to make out of it.
There, a deep dark secret from me.
i put it on facebook, but then became paranoid that somehow the server would crash and i would lose it there too..so here we go!

And now-onto the food-just through thursday
breakfast:
*brown rice cereal with golden raisins and vanilla soy milk
*whole grain toast and eggs with homemade yogurt
*oatmeal and juice
*muffins and homemade yogurt

lunch:
*Aloo samosas
*homemade chicken and corn soup with homemade bread
*baked potatoes with chili
*tuna salad sandwich with fruit and pretzels

dinner:
*massur dal and carrots over jasmine rice
*Grilled salmon with veggies and rice
*spicy jasmine rice with cashews and carrots
*veggie fried rice

snacks:
*smoothies
*pretzels with ranch
*celery with peanut butter
*peanut butter bars

whew-now I can't lose it. my meal plan that is!

Freaky Friday

I think I like this trend...freaky Friday, what could be more fun?

This week though it is not a video. It is an article I came across while reading one of my favorite blogs Vegan Lunch Box . The article is on juice usage in children. You think juice is healthy right?
WRONG

Doctors say juice is no better than soda! Yes, you read that right. Read for yourself they’re both essentially a mixture of water and sugar without fiber.

It makes me laugh to think of all the people I know that are so indignant of others giving their children a glass of soda and insisting they could never do that because juice is just so much healthier.
*snort*
even diluted juice like we do is still just water, sugar and no fiber

and why are we teaching our children from such a young age that they have to have sweet drinks anyway? why not just give them straight water? "oh but my child won't drink water" they will if they haven't been given other sugar filled drinks all their life. Shawn and I were talking about this the other night. We made smoothies and someone made a comment that they weren't sweet enough. It made me realize that we live in a society where we just use so much sugar that we cannot eat anything without it. I told him that if we started to cut it out and retrained our palette that soon our dependance on sugar would decrease. We are going to give it a try.

so what do they suggest? water. eating the fruit instead of drinking the juice. that gives them fiber, no added sugars and no added preservatives.

I couldn't wait ... this is Freaky Friday

there are just no words sometimes

Yes, I know I am slow

to post things right now. Things have been so busy and that is really not an excuse for not posting, but I do resolve to be more chatty.
So what have I been doing this month? Dyeing yarn, knitting projects. I am getting ready to dye yarn to make my first sweater for myself. YES! For myself, I am so excited.
School started this week. I got a letter notifying me that I had made the Dean's List last semester and that made me feel good. Accomplished. Like what I was doing was not a waste of time.

Here are a few pictures from this month so far:

lexi's new hair cut...thanks to gum that would not come out!

My "NEW" old fashioned plates. For those that really know me, I LOVE vintage things and am always on the look out for something to add to our home that is old fashioned. I found a set of these dishes the other day and just fell in love!

Now this, this was NOT my doing! The kids were home and Harrison came up with this dress and "asked" for it to be on. Kaitlyn dressed him and as you can see, he is quite proud! He twirled all afternoon!

Yummy yarn....it just doesn't get any better than that.

You have to love friends

Tonight I got to go out with the girls. First, I went to dinner with my friend Jessica and then we met up with the other girls at the coffee shop for a night of chit-chat and knitting. I had a yummy iced rootbeer cream drink and got a bit accomplished on my projects. But the best part was the company of friends.
Being home all day you tend to forget how nice it is to get a way and have a few moments to yourself. I needed it.
I ordered some yarn I needed tonight to make one of my friends baby shower gifts. I am so excited to get started on it, but you all will have to wait until after her shower to see it!
I have a few projects on the needles. A felted basket and a pinwheel blanket. I am also getting ready to cast on a baby sweater-as soon as the yarn is dry as I dyed it today!

So much peace in my heart tonight. Knitting, good friends. there isn't anything like it.

Happy New Year!

so did you make any resolutions? how did you do with the ones you made last year?
I didn't do so hot. So this year, I resolve to do better with my resolutions! LOL

Maybe I shouldn't call them resolutions, but more goals for what I hope to learn and accomplish.

so here are my goals in 2009:
1) learn to cook better. experiment every week with 1 new recipe
2) increase my health. remember to take my medications on a regular basis-this is hard for me
3) be an even better mom-totally a work in progress *wink*


so along that mom line, here is a song that I listened to all the time while I was pregnant with Harrison. It embodies the hopes and dreams we have for our children. I found it again this morning and of course just cried as I listened to it! LOL

ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh

JUSTIN IS GOING HOME!!!!

Our family is meeting tomorrow with social worker to work it out, and then he is out of there!


as of right now, they believe he will not need 24 hour care. He does have to do therapy-3 days a week and it will be the majority of day-but he can be home alone!! Our parents will have to check in with him during the day and make sure he has easy things to eat etc,

he has re-learned how to do the microwave, so he will make stuff for himself.

He still has his walker and has a long road ahead of him to just recoup the use of his walking skills - His sensory ability is still a bit lower and he still does not have all his right side back, but he is improving.

He has at least a year in front of him....we will not know how bad or how good he is doing for a while. he cannot walk with a cane because his balance is so bad-but he does good with the walker. His right side is still very limited, and he cannot write well.

JUSTIN IS GOING HOME!!!

Update on brother and just life

We had such a nice visit today. First off, mom and dad came up yesterday early to meet with some of the team of caregivers taking care of Justin. He was given the diagnosis of severe brain trauma. This was hard to swallow. To look at him in his bed, he looks physically normal and fine. But we are looking at 4 more weeks in the hospital and then more time in a rehabilitation center for an unspecified amount of time.

So what does this diagnosis mean for Justin? He may never drive again. He cannot rodeo. He should not ride horses again. It is iffy about working. He may not fully recover. That is the reality of this.

He has no memory of the time leading up to the accident. His long term memory is still in tact, although he does struggle sometimes getting the right words out. He does still also struggle with recognition of things he knew before the accident.

His short term memory is also intact, but he does forget things easily. Like he forgot that I was there last weekend and it took him a few minutes of thinking before he remembered it.

We had fun today. I spent quite a while down there and he was so happy to see me. I first talked to him this morning on the phone and as the day progressed he kept asking mom "when is Jessica going to be here?" It made me feel good. We talked and joked and had a good time altogether. He is still slow and sometimes hard to understand, but there are moments that the old Justin shines through for that brief second-and it is wonderful.

He is still having trouble with the right side of his body, and he cannot write anything-including his name. 20 years old and he cannot walk without the aid of a walker and has to wear depends. Really fair huh?

So that is it. Some good , some bad. But all to be expected with the extent of his brain injury.

I just love him. No matter what happens or how much he does or does not recover...he is my baby brother. And I am so glad that he is close to me so I can see him.

A few more Christmas things

This is the most beautiful picture....I wish they sold the picture by itself, but you can get it in the calendar too...

sock blockers - size medium for making socks

awesome sewing book

Shawn will be glad to see this

Last year, he loved that I did a Christmas list out here...I actually was just doing it for fun to share things I liked, but he printed it off and went shopping. So here we go again-the best help a husband can get at Christmas time!

Knitpicks Imagination Sock Yarn - color Lost Boys...2 balls needed
or (not and...OR)
Knitpicks Felici Striped Sock Yarn - color Patina...2 balls needed

or any of these colors from this dyer:
Mystic Meadow, Minoan Temple, Westley (only need 1 of these)

or Nimbus from this one


Dashing Dach's in Lobster

an applesaucer for canning next year. (but that can even go on my to buy next year list!)

a puffy vest

some addi needles in sizes: 3.25mm/40cm and 5mm/30cm


still working on it-but he was starting to panic so I figured I better give him something!

update on my brother

he is starting to open his eyes and become more conscious!

back to that in a minute though-this is what my mom told me.

he is starting to thrash around a lot-the nurses say that is very good but of course it bothers my mom to watch. they had to restrain him big time today because of his thrashing and he kept trying to pull out all the tubes on his chest.

they had his last CT scan yesterday. there is no negative change. they said something about he had reached the 72 hour point and was maxed out and they felt this was a good thing. I don't understand it and they didn't really explain it to my mom-but that is the update on that.

He did OPEN HIS EYES and followed the nurse with his eyes!

they tried giving him a few commands early this morning and he could not follow-but just a little bit ago they tried again to get him to wiggle his toes. he DID IT! in fact, he kept wiggling and kept wiggling until my dad finally had to say "justin, you can stop wiggling now!"

Today when he was thrashing about, my dad asked him a yes/no question and HE NODDED!


huge huge improvement today! and if he continues this, they are releasing him from the ICU this afternoon and moving him to neurology!


thank you thank you thank you ladies for your prayers and positive energy! I truly believe it has helped him!

WOOT!!!!

today's update on Justin and caringbridge site

I went and saw him this morning. They did another CT scan at 3am this morning. The neurosurgeon talked to us today. He is still bleeding in his brain and does still have the swelling.


his body reflexes to some painful stimuli, but not much. they also tried to get him to open his eyes with severe pain (like he pinched him really hard in the chest) several times while demanding in a loud voice that he open his eyes. he finally on the 4th try was able to open them for half a second and then it was gone.

they are still holding off on neurosurgery though. they really want to let his brain try to figure it out on its own and not have to operate-which is risky itself.

he developed a fever last night so they are closely watching him.
he is still having trouble regulating his blood pressure which is to be expected.

He still has not regained consciousness.

I created a CaringBridge Site to try and keep better updated.

For those following-update on my brother

ok, this is what I know.

he was found this morning at about 7:15 am. His car rolled several times and he was ejected from it. They estimate he lay on the ground for at least 2 hours before he was found. His body was about 30 feet from his car when they found him.

He has not regained consciousness since the accident. They could not life flight him to boise because of the weather so they drove him. He had bleeding in his brain and swelling-but the last CT showed the bleeding was stopped for now.

he had surgery on his leg. He broke his femur and they had to put a rod in. They are very concerned about the risk of clots and an embolism right now. He is intubated and restrained and has a neck collar on.

His body responds to painful stimuli, but he will not respond to verbal commands. He is in the ICU in critical condition.

Girls, I am just so scared. But I am so glad that I could be there. My parents do not understand any of the medical stuff so they kept turning to me when the doctors and nurses came out to talk to them.

I am just washed out. I am exhausted.
Thank you for your thoughts and prayers. He sure needs them :(

The Mother Letters

so wow. A friend linked me to THIS BLOG today and I was just amazed at what I read.

A husband is putting together this amazing Christmas gift for his wife. He is asking all mothers to send in a letter and he is going to compile a book to give to her..and everyone who sends one in will also get a copy of the letters.

It seriously brought tears to my eyes thinking of something so amazing as reading stories of motherhood from other women all over the world.

You should go participate!

wow-motrin offends babywearing mom's

you know, if there is one way to totally alienate your target crowd and make yourselves the recipient of a boycott--it is to do what Motrin did over the weekend.
Motrin Insults Babywearing Mom's


Motrin makes mom's mad!

See the Ad Here until they take it down!--(they already took it down! I think we crashed their website..so I fixed it to the link at youtube instead!)

here is the ad verbatim:
Wearing your baby seems to be in fashion.

I mean, in theory it’s a great idea.

There’s the front baby carrier, sling, schwing, wrap, pouch.

And who knows what else they’ve come up with. Wear your baby on your side, your front, go hands free.

Supposedly, it’s a real bonding experience.

They say that babies carried close to the bod tend to cry less than others.

But what about me? Do moms that wear their babies cry more than those who don’t?

I sure do!

These things put a ton of strain on your back, your neck, your shoulders. Did I mention your back?!

I mean, I’ll put up with the pain because it’s a good kind of pain; it’s for my kid.

Plus, it totally makes me look like an official mom.

And so if I look tired and crazy, people will understand why.

can I insert the biggest bout of eyerolling ever here????

motrin...you screwed up! BIG TIME. You insulted mothers. You didn't do your research. and oh yeah! research contradicts you on what babywearing does!

pie in the face to motrin!

You knew it was coming

those that know me know my obsession.......

Which Criminal Minds Character Are You?

More on Criminal Minds. Created by BuddyTV

Harrison is 1!

the birth story, written the next day after


so I got a call yesterday asking me to come in . seems they were overbooked and understaffed on wednesday so dr lowder had me come in due to how sick I was.

I had already gotten the kids on the bus but thankfully dh had not left yet for work.

so I called stacy to let her know and started gathering my stuff as quick as I could. I had some moments of panic as I wasn't prepared to go in that soon-I joked with dh that it was almost like going into labor on my own! LOL

Dh went and picked up the kids from school and I kept getting ready and off we went to the hospital. I actually was contracting 10 min apart at that moment-maybe excitement or maybe it was supposed to be my day anyway!

We got here and for some reason I was totally dehydrated and they could not start my IV or draw labs. it took about 45 minutes to successfully get my IV started I look like a pin cushion on my arms.

they finally got results back and started the pit at about 11:15am. man-even at the low dose they were some intense pains and I just remember I would look at Stacy as it started, then close my eyes and breath silently. The nurse thought I wasn't feeling anything because I was so calm--I quickly corrected her on that misconception! LOL

They continued to increase my pit. I started to stress because dr lowder had surgery at 12:00 and I really wanted him there. I think that kept me from progressing at the time. Finally at about 12:45 or so I was at a 5. A little bit later I told stacy "that one felt different" she asked if she should call the nurse and I said "no, let me make sure with another one" it wasn’t a pushing pressure but there was a different sensation.
So 2 more contractions and I said "yeah, we better call her to check me" cause I could tell we were close
she came and checked me and said I was a stretchy 8. "you better call him NOW"
By then the feeling was getting quite intense.
Dr Lowder got there and sat down and they had my feet up in position and I remember asking them/him "are you going to even check to see if I am 10 yet???"
he just looked at me and laughed and said "jessica-the head is RIGHT HERE!!"
I laughed too and he told me to laugh again because it was pushing the baby out!

Harrison Parker was born less than 30 seconds later at 1:11pm
7lb 6oz
20 ¾ inch long
14 ¼ inch head

8 years old

I cannot believe she is already 8! We moved to Boise from Twin Falls when I was 37 weeks pregnant with Hannah.

She turned 8 this last week and was baptized over the weekend.

here she is:




So this week has been a lot of contemplation on my part. I am so very grateful that I have the chance to stay home with my children. To see them as they grow and learn and to be a big part of their life. Being a mother is the most important job I could ever have. I am grateful that we live within our means and do not have bills that would force me to get a job and put them in someone else's care. I am grateful to have the support of my husband in all that I do...staying home, running my very part time business and attending school too. I am grateful for the wonderful children I have that are such good kids-especially on the inside where it counts! They are respectful and helpful and a joy to have around. I am grateful for the gospel that teaches me about my role as a mother and how important it is.
I guess this week, I am just grateful for family. for being a mother. for my kids.

Happy Halloween

you should be able to click on nthem to see them bigger

Kaitlyn walked with a trick or treat sign since she was a mime and could not talk! LOL

the kids

conner: number 74-2 seconds later he took this kid down!

kaitlyn before the big hair cut!

Harrison, future computer geek??

or shampoo model???

You have to love midterms

Even with 7 kids, sports and running a business from my home, I managed to get good grades for midterms.
I currently have a B in Psychology, A in Law and Justice and A in Biology. I have no idea what I am getting in Patterns of Criminal Behavior as my teacher can not seem to get her head out of the clouds and grade papers..but what can you do?
Things are insanely busy around here. We are doing another huge group purchase on our yarn from my store Nurturing Threads so I will be mixing up a lot of dye in the coming weeks!
We finally got all our autumn decorations up today. It is amazing how much joy that brings me. This is my favorite time of year and I could just sit here and look around at all the beautiful autumn colors with my scentsy tart warmer going with a smile on my face.
well, until just now when Shawn started cooking bacon and EWWW that is the nasty smell! LOL
Just 16 more days till elections. I am so excited this year. I feel this time we have an actual chance at not getting stuck with a pile in the white house. Lets keep our fingers crossed *smile*

We went to Kathryn Albertson park yesterday and had family pictures done. The scenery was gorgeous and we hopefully got some good shots! I arranged for the photographer that did our family photos in June to come up and do my parenting group so she was here all day and did a wonderful job. Everyone was really impressed and things went smoothly.

Well, bacon calls..so I will be back some other time

quick fly by post

thank you to everyone that did my survey for psychology! I had enough participants and my paper is on its way!

Kids are doing good. Kaitlyn finished up cross country Friday and Conner has his playoff game for football tomorrow night. Hannah just got invited to the enrichment class at school-which we are assured is not acceptance into the gifted program, but they will do that screening next year *smile*

Lexie and Bella are good. Lexie loves school and is reading all the time. Bella is just my little sweetheart. Her and Harrison sure do make me smile during the day. Harrison is walking all over the place. He started walking 3-4 weeks ago and then just started standing on his own and he is off and going everywhere! he has also learned how to call people on Shawn's cell phone! LOL so if you get a call from us that is a hang up or you just hear a lot of nose--sorry! it is harrison



just a quick picture for the upcoming election. it gave me a good giggle

Help Jessica with her psychology term project/paper

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In honor of my 200th post

The pirate speaks, Just a smartly note t' say hi! In honor o' me 200th post and me bucko Patsy on Talk like a Pirate day, I decided t' give a few words that would make old Captain Jack proud.

All be good at home. I canned 7 quarts o' peaches tonight. That scurvy dog man o' mine kept tryin' t' steal them and eat them- he needs t' be thrown in t' stocks..ARRRR!

well me buckos, thar be not much more I can write in this language, so off t' bed with ya

oh yeah, and have some rum and stuff!

100lb of peaches and 25lb nectarines...

Whew! Was I tired yesterday!

I went to the u-pick orchards with friends and we came home with a huge lot. the peaches were free as it was the LDS orchard and they were gleaning. I had Harrison on my back in an ergo...and sling bucket on my side crawling up ladders picking peaches! It was truly picture worthy. then we stopped at the orchard next door and I got 25 lbs of nectarines for $10

I have jars and got my book to learn how to can.

I think I bit off more than I can chew! LMBO

here are the nectarines I canned today...first time ever! LOL

I couldn't figure out how to get more in the jar without mushing them (I just shook it around to help them settle down in there more)-so there seems to be a lot of space at the bottom
and the first jam I have ever canned: roasted apple butter and kiwi jam

I think this could be addictive! There are so many great recipes out there. The problem is all the stores and all the thrift stores around here are TOTALLY OUT of jars and other canning supplies!

I really want to get one of these for next year so I can do applesauce, pear sauce etc

McCain and Palin's health insurance joke..er plan

this astounds me. truly astounds me. how McCain and Palin can even think this is ok....
From the NY Times...an independent study was conducted concerning the McCain-Palin health care plan...this is some excerpts below

These are changes that will set in motion nothing less than the dismantling of the employer-based coverage that protects most American families. A study coming out Tuesday from scholars at Columbia, Harvard, Purdue and Michigan projects that 20 million Americans who have employment-based health insurance would lose it under the McCain plan.

For starters, the McCain health plan would treat employer-paid health benefits as income that employees would have to pay taxes on

The net effect of the plan, the study said, “almost certainly will be to increase family costs for medical care.”

and then:

Mr. Goodman, who helped craft Sen. John McCain's health care policy, said anyone with access to an emergency room effectively has insurance

Really Mr Goodman?? Really?? So instead of having insurance, people should go to the ER for medical care-get charged 4-5 times that of what they would pay in the doctors office, and then if they can't pay for it...depend on the hospital to write it off? or get sued for non-payment...or heck,lets just declare bankruptcy.
yup-that sounds like health insurance to me!

Brilliant plan. Truly brilliant.


Knock knock
who's there?
McCain
McCain who?
just another scary man behind a mask as Scooby Doo would say

Top 5

Got a call from Kaitlyn's cross country coach on Friday. She was asking my permission to enter Kaitlyn into the Bob FirmanInvitational this next week. From what I understand-it is a huge meet! 5-6 states are involved. they only send the top 5 kids from each team-and Kaitlyn is one of them!
Of course I said yes! She will have fun. And it is local to us so we can go watch.

Go Kaitlyn!

Lots on the plate

Wow, there is just so much going on!

First off, we all started school! Shawn and I included. Doing pretty good so far. Knee deep in chapters and quizes and a biology research paper.

We were able to go down to Twin Falls to see the family. As you read before, my grandfather is not doing so well. We celebrated him and grandma's 60th wedding anniversary and family came from all over.

Here are a few pictures.


Grandpa and his brother Pete


My Uncle Stan and his toy!



My mom (the red head) and her siblings...plus grandma and grandpa



Me and my crew of motley cousins
(oh yeah, and my stinker little brother in the cowboy hat!)



and my daughter..is there any doubt she is related to me?


Conner has started football and Kaitlyn cross country. They are loving it and have had a few games already.

Conner and Noah both got bounced up into accelerated Math due to their ISAT scores (conner's was high enough to graduate) and Noah is also in accelerated reading.

Shawn is busy with school and work and I am trying to keep it all pulled together.