Cooking and Canning

This past weekend we made a big batch of salsa using tomatoes, yellow peppers, and onions from our garden. Once we finished preparing it, we canned most of it. We are looking forward to enjoying our salsa over the next few months.

We also went blackberry picking this past weekend which I turned into blackberry jam. I canned it as well.

I wish we had more and better pictures of our time at the blackberry farm. Those of you who know Joshua, also know he can be a handful in situations like this. It was all we could do to maintain control of that boy! His white shirt was completely purple by the end of our time there, as well as his hands, arms, and mouth!

We had a good time and are enjoying our homemade jam!

Happy 1st Birthday (+ 1 week) Sofia!!!

If couldn't tell by the title, this post is a week late. Last Friday Sofia turned one! Boy, how time flies. In so many ways this past year has just flown by, in other ways it hasn't. It also has been a wonderful year, as well as one of the hardest for me as a mom. Needless to say, Sofia is a joy to have in our family. Although she has only been a part of it for a year, it truely is hard to remember life before her. She fits into our family so well. Her little personality is coming out more and more each day. One of my favorite things is how she cracks up at her brother and sister. She absolutely adores them and they adore her as well.

This past Sunday (July 5th) my cousin Kristen and I had a party for our two girls together. They were both born the same day, July 3rd. We reserved a room at The Jones Center in Springdale and had a cute little party for the two girls. It was a great day!

(I will post some pictures as soon as I can find where Jaime saved them.)

Backyard Fun

We enjoyed a beautiful day today, working/playing outside. Jaime got some work done in our garden, cleaned up the weeds around the swing set, and did some other misc. things. Joshua and Megan enjoyed the pool, sprinkler, and spraying each other with the hose. Sofia even had fun playing in her pack and play in the backyard.

Our tomato plants are huge and needed to get cages around them. We finally got that done today.

Clearing the swing set of weeds.

This is one way to stay hydrated on a hot summer day!

Fun times!

What a sweetie!

This boy loves the water.

Sofia enjoyed being outside with the rest of us.

Pure exhaustion after a long day of playing.

Our trip to North Carolina

Lori with her two boys, Caleb (4) and Titus (2), and Baby Ruth #3 (due July 20th).


Titus was always playing in this mud puddle. He loves to get dirty!


Megan and Caleb became instant friends.


We couldn't get Sofia off this rocking horse. She loved it!


We were given some free zoo passes and decided to make the trip to Columbia, SC with all the kids. They had a great time. Joshua is still telling his daddy, multiple times a day, that he saw elephants and lions and monkeys at the zoo.


The kids looking at some fish.


Our best attempt to get a group shot of the kids.


Our two two-year-olds. The temper tantrums were frequent!


Our meals together.


Another attempt at a group shot.


Joshua got a summer buzz cut courtesy of Lori.
The before shot.


After. What a cutie!

Thanks Lori, for letting us come visit. We had a wonderful time. Can't wait to see you in the fall!

Hello from NC

Some of you may have been wondering why it seems as though I have fallen off the face of the Earth; why I haven't been answering my phone, why I haven't been returning e-mails, etc. Well... last week, somewhat on the spur of the moment, I decided it would be fun to throw the kiddos in the car and drive almost 1000 miles across the country to Waxhaw, NC. Why Waxhaw, NC? Let me tell you! My dear friend Lori is here. Her and her husband are missionaries in Southeast Asia and are back on furlow. Her husband had to leave for a 10 day training, so I called and asked if I could come over and play! She said "Sure!" and here we are. It has been great to catch up with her and see our kids interact together. I will post pictures of our week together when we get back home... that is, if we make it home. I told her I might need to stay a few more weeks because I'm not looking forward to doing that drive again, so we'll see!

11 Months Old

Today Sofia (and Bekah too!) turns 11 months old. It's so hard to imagine that she has been with us for 11 months already. It feels so fast but also like she has been around forever. It truely is hard to remember what our family was like before she came along. While she has been the most difficult baby of my three, she is little by little out growing most of those difficulties. She definately has a sweet personality which melts my heart and I adore that about her.

Some stats about Sofia:

She has 7 teeth and #8 is just about to break through.

She loves to lay her head on my shoulder while I hold her for a minute before falling asleep.

She still isn't crawling.

She loves to walk, if someone will hold her hands to help her.

She just learned to wave and clap her hands. (See video below)

Family Camp 2009

Over Memorial Day weekend we went to Family Camp with our church out at New Life Ranch. The kids had a lot of fun and were completely exhausted by the end of the weekend. Megan says her favorite things were the craft, swimming, and canoeing. Joshua says "Camp! Camp!" whenever he sees any of the pictures.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Check out this video Jaime caught of Joshua. The poor boy was so exhausted by the end of the second day.



I didn't believe this could ever really happen until I saw it with my own eyes. The funniest part is what we didn't catch on camera. A few minutes after this video he briefly woke up and tried to take a bite of his breadstick (unsuccessfully, I might add), then fell right back asleep again. I was laughing so hard I had tears in my eyes.

Tonight's Dinner

This is what we had for dinner tonight. It was excellent! If you're interested, click here for the recipe. These are the Grilled Rainbow Beef Kabobs. We had the Pineapple Chicken Kabobs yesterday. They are both super good and super easy. You can even save a little dinero here on the dressing used for these recipes.

The grill master!

My mother's day gift

For Mother's Day I asked for 2 new storm doors (I know, exciting stuff!) for the front and back doors. Jaime told me I could only get one for the front door. So, last weekend we picked out a door and brought it home. Yesterday, Jaime got started and the project quickly went from a simple storm door installation to a major project. The wood under the door was completely rotten and needed to be replaced. The more he took out the more he found that needed to come out. It just got worse and worse. In the end I ended up with two new doors, just not the two I initially wanted. He ended up deciding to replace the front door too! The project isn't completed yet. It will take him a while to get all the wood under the house replaced. (He's super busy at work so this project will have to wait until next weekend, I think.) For now the new front door is only wedged in place, no nails, no nothin'. Just the deadbolt!

Before:

During:



It just kept getting worse and worse!

I'll post some after pictures once it's all done!

Awana Awards Ceremony

This past Wednesday night was the end of AWANA for this year. Megan finished her book and got through the entire review as well. She worked so hard and did such a great job each week working on her verses. I was so impressed with her, because once she finished her book and we began the review I could tell she really learned them since she was able to say 4-5 review verses each week!

The Sparks did a little presentation during the ceremony. Megan's part was reciting John 3:16. She did an excellent job. I wish we had a little video clip of it, but our camera doesn't have sound with the video. For now this picture will have to do!

Resurrection Rolls

When Megan came home from AWANA on Wednesday she had an Easter newsletter from the church. In it was a recipe for "Resurrection Rolls". It's such a sweet and simple recipe and perfect for younger children. Yesterday I picked up the few items I needed for the rolls and this afternoon we made them. Megan loved helping and she was so interested in how the rolls were like the story of Jesus' resurrection. When I asked her what she thought of it, her response was, "Cool, mommy. That was cool!"

Here is the recipe if you're interested.

Ingredients:
1 can refrigerated crescent roll dough
8 large marshmallows
melted butter
cinnamon
sugar

Directions:
1. Give each child one triangle shaped section of crescent roll. This represents the tomb.
2. Each child takes one marshmallow which represents the body of Christ.
3. Dip the marshmallow in the butter and roll in cinnamon and sugar mixture. This represents the oils and spices the body was anointed with upon burial.
4. Lay the marshmallow on the dough and carefully wrap it around the marshmallow.
5. Make sure all seams are pinched together well. (Otherwise the marshmallow will ooze out of the seams.) Talk about how the tomb was sealed.
6. Bake according to package directions.
7. Cool then break open the tomb and the body of Christ is no longer there!

I thought we had pinched the seams of the dough well enough, but we didn't. All the marshmallow had oozed out. Thankfully Megan and I talked about what was going to happen while the rolls were still in the oven. So, when it didn't work quite right she wasn't too disappointed.

I took some pictures but I'm not sure what's going on with my camera. If I can get to the pictures I'll try to add a few to this post. Let me know if you try making the rolls too!

Happy Easter!

Nine Months Old

Mommy's birthday

So, I know these posts are a bit late, but... better late than never! Right?

My birthday fell on a Wednesday this year so we waited until Friday to get out and do something special as a family. After dinner we had fun dipping strawberries, bananas, pretzels, and marshmallows in chocolate.

I had been wanting to take the kids bowling, so after we cleaned up the mess we headed to the Rogers Bowling Center. The kids loved it! We all had a fun time together. It was a pretty good birthday, I'd say!

The Frugal Muse

A family friend just started a new blog all about saving money. It is a great resource for finding sales and how to make coupons work the best they can. She often gets many of her products free! Check it out, here!

RSV, Bald Eagles and Eyes

Sofia:
Today I ended up taking Sofia to the doctor. She has had a cold for a few days but each day it seems to get a little bit worse. This morning I could tell she was absolutely miserable! I called the doctor and got her in. It turns out she has a double ear infection and RSV, which basically has symptoms of a really bad cold. Our doctor said it seems to be a mild case. I'm thankful to hear that since she is only 8 months old (today!).

Joshua:

Joshua cracks me up. Little by little he is talking more. Almost everyday he is saying at least one new word. His newest thing to say is bald eagle, which he pronounces "Ball. Geagle." Two very separate words. I laugh every time I hear him say it. If we had a digital camera with video AND sound I would get a video so you all could hear him. It's funny! Part of what makes it even funnier, to me, is that he won't say simple things like please or thank you, but he'll say "ball geagle".

Megan:
Back when Megan was just starting to get mischievous I told her that when a girl becomes a mom they grow eyes on the back of their heads. (In other words, don't do anything foolish because mommmy see's everything.) I remember my mom telling my sisters and me this when we were little. She has never forgotten this and completely believes me. Today she was behind me, jumping around and wanted me to watch her. So she said,"Mommy, watch me with your back eyes."

Happy Birthday Chichi!

Sofia - 8 months old

Here are some recent pictures of Sofia. My sister Lisa commented recently that I don't send out enough pictures (or any, for that matter) of Sofia. Unfortunately, the accusations are true. Sofia will be 8 months old tomorrow and we are still very much in survival mode around here. She is quite a difficult baby. She doesn't like much of anything, most of the time.

You can see here how much she loves being on her tummy, especially since she can now sit up! (See video above)

She usually is a good napper. She'll go down pretty easily most of the time. Now if we could just get her to do that all night long. I'd like to take this opportunity to say "Thank you" to my husband for voluntarily taking the night shift last night so I could get a little more sleep than I have been. I actually feel semi-human today.