Go figure....

I can hardly believe it, but in 12 short days my baby will be 3 years old. When did she get so big? :0( Sigh.

In anticipation of her upcoming party, I have had a few people ask what to get her. So, I figured it was best to get the answer straight from her. I'm thinking maybe I should have just left it alone. :0)

What does she want for her birthday you ask?

Cheese.

You know, the kind you eat.

Go figure....

Just Peachy!

I have wanted to more "homemaker"-ish for a long time. I don't sew, though I really want to learn. My mom is an amazing seamstress and my grandmother is the Queen seamstress of them all. And then...there's me. Sigh.

Though this is the third year I have planted a garden all on my own, this is the first year I have produced more than a few green beans. Bugs ate everything the past couple of years at my old house. :0( This year...I've finally got tomatoes, corn, squash, and jalapeno peppers! The watermelon plant still died...but hey! It's a start right?

I picked more strawberries this year so that I could make more freezer jam. I think Jaysen would die without it. :0) But beyond that, I have never canned ANYTHING all by myself before. I helped in the process growing up, but haven't ever done it alone.

Well, Jaysen's mom has a peach tree. And she wasn't going to can them. And so they would be FREE! My mom....she has about 40 million quart canning jars and said she would give me some....for FREE! So how could I NOT can some peaches? Seriously! FREE!

So, yesterday I went out to Jerome and with the help of Mackenzee and Rita I picked two ginormous bins of peaches. Sadly, though I grabbed my camera on the way out, the memory card was not in it. So, no pictures of my little one picking them. :0(

After picking, we went out to my mom's house for a crash course in canning. Fourteen jars and two hours later, I had it down. I had only made a slight dent in one of the bins of peaches though. :0)

Today...

today was the day I pushed up my sleeves and finished off the first bin without my mom's help.

I did have others helping though. :0)

Notice how thrilled Jaysen was to come home to a messy kitchen and a pleading wife. Isn't he so nice to get his hands all peachy for me?

And look! Another 14 jars! I did it! I know...It's sad how excited I am. But it's my first time! And they turned out...and the lids sealed and everything! {That was my biggest fear}

Now....only one ginormous bin and about 30 jars left.

Anybody want some canned peaches? :0)

Priceless

Dora Hair Barrette..

$0.25

Dora T-shirt...

$7.99

Dora Tights...

$1.25

Dora Shoes...

$12.99

Being able to put together this "amazing" outfit to show it off to Great Grandpa Anoot....

Priceless!

Mackenzee has been so excited to go back over to Grandma and Grandpa Burnham's house to visit with her Great Grandpa again. He lives in Texas and because the hurricane was coming, he decided to head up this direction to avoid the problems associated with power outages and bad weather. We went to visit him earlier in the week over at Jaysen's parents' house. I don't think that Mackenzee has ever met him before, and if she has, she was too small to remember. But she informed me before we even went in the house that she wanted to give him a big hug.

I don't think she was prepared for how long the hug turned out to last {she's not the biggest hugger}, but obviously the visit made an impact on her. All week long she has asked when we were going to go and see BIG PAPA again. :0) I told her this morning that today was the day and so she carefully picked out what she would wear....clear down to the hair barrette and shoes.

I'm not sure if Grandpa Anoot has even heard of Dora, but he has definitely been educated today. :0)

The Joys of Motherhood

Too many times I hear that phrase and think....

"Whoever coined that phrase could not have possibly been a mother."

Because, seriously, kids are a lot of work and oftentimes a huge frustration. They never listen, they talk back {not mine....but I've heard other kids do} :0), they complain, they grow out of their clothes too quickly, they break bones or get sick, and scare you half to death when you can't find them....

But then...there are other times, I look at my babies and wonder how I could possibly complain. They are wonderful, adorable, kind, sweet, and giving kids {at least sometimes anyway}. More importantly.....they LOVE their mama.

And I eat it up.

See? The joys of motherhood.....

Honesty is the best policy

My sister is going to kill me for posting this picture. {I love you Smelly!}

We had a fun weekend at my mom's house scrapbooking and chatting away. While there, Melanie, Shelby, and I decided to color our hair. Why? Because we can.

I went dark as I did last fall, Melanie went darker to a light brown shade, and Shelby got some pretty blonde highlights.

So, after I got home and Jaysen saw what I had done to my hair THIS time {I change my hair frequently...I always have} I asked him what color he has liked the best. He, of course, tried to give me the "appropriate" answer of...."whatever you like, I like". The problem is that I don't want a politically correct answer. I want the truth. I like looking sassy cute for the hubby. :0) Anyway...after 5 minutes of attempting to drag the truth out of him he finally drops the bombshell...

"I like you better blonde."

What? What? Sigh.

I asked him last year, when I went from blonde to brown if he liked me better blonde or brown. His answer? "You look great both ways." Safe answer huh? If he would have just been honest...we could have avoided the whole month of red....and now to the almost black again. Sigh.

He was concerned I was mad at him after he made his revelation. Mad that he was honest? No. Frustrated that I just dyed my hair chocolate brown and could have dyed it back to blonde if I would have known? YES. Sigh. That's what I get for having such a nice hubby who didn't want to hurt my feelings.

Punk. :0)

He told me not to just go and change it back just because he said he liked it better blonde. I let him know there was no way to go from DARK brown to blonde without ending up with ORANGE hair. So, I am staying dark...for now.

Perhaps I'll go purple next time.....just to teach him a lesson in honesty.

It is always the best policy you know....

{love you Jaysen}

Full circle

You know those moments when you wonder if your child really does belong to you because what they do isn't anything remotely close to how you would do it?

Like how Mackenzee is such a free spirited child and has yet to meet a stranger....I often look at her and wonder....but then I remember who her father is and realize she probably does belong to us. :0) {She gets her stubbornness from him too. It couldn't possibly come from me. I'm way to laid back and easy going.....what's that? Oh...you knew better than that, huh? Oh well, doesn't hurt to try}

Anyway.....I have had these moments with Landon too, but today I knew for sure he was mine. We were on the way home from his soccer game and as I was driving I was doing a little potty dance. {Too much information?} Landon noticed and told me that he hoped I didn't pee my pants. I told him I was in full agreement on that one. And then....he said it.

"Just think about dry things mom."

My immediate family is now busting up laughing because they know...oh yes, they know what I am referring to. Sigh. And I about did pee my pants just hearing him say those six words.

When I was younger...oh, about Landon's age....I told someone else to just think about dry things.....you know...like flour, and sand....

I have never repeated this to my children because I would like to forget about the retarded things I said as a child {though my family keeps reminding me}. So, for him to randomly come up with this on his own....

You can only imagine. It has come full circle. He is my child. Not that you were really wondering.

Should I be Concerned?

Things my daughter has said this last month....

As she climbed into the car...

"Holy crap it's hot in here!"

As she tried on a hat that was getting put into the "too small clothes" pile....

"Mom...am I sassy and cute?"

Today after I got off the phone with her daddy....

Kenzee: "I love daddy"

Me: "Me too. He's cute, huh?"

Kenzee: "No! He not cute!"

Me: "Oh, that's right. He's handsome and you're cute."

Kenzee: "Yeah. He's handsome, I cute, and you.....you sassy mommy?"

Me: "That's right. I'm sassy."

Seriously...should I be concerned? :0)

It's a Love/Hate Relationship

Go Herrons!

That is the name of Landon's soccer team this year. Doesn't sound very fierce does it? :0)
Landon has been really excited for this year in soccer because he's got his two best friends on the team, Cole Dixon and Hatim Eujadyl. It was fun to watch them play together because all three of them have the same approach to soccer......watch your teammates do most of the work and occassionally get up enough steam to to kick the ball every now and again. :0) OK, so it's not really as bad as that. All three of them got in some good kicks last night and Landon worked a lot harder in this game than I remember from previous years. He didn't score a goal, but then again, he only played forward for one quarter.

Doesn't he look like he is working so hard? :0) Because there are 11 members on his team and only 7 or 8 spots on the field, a few kids have to sit out for one quarter per game. During Landon's quarter out he was attacked by a swarm of little girls. Maggie gave him a good spanking. I'm sure he deserved it. :0)
Anyway...this was just the first of 8 games for this season, so we are just getting warmed up here. Landon is dying to score a goal, so hopefully he gets one in. We'll be rooting for him!

2008 Photo Shoot

Yes, my friends, it is that time of year again. School starts and the new crop of school pictures are taken. As I am a slacker mom, I tend to completely forget about picture day at school and Landon ends up with crazy unbrushed hair or wearing one of his shirts designated only for outside play at home. You know the shirts I'm referring to right? :0) So, in an attempt to create the illusion of perfectly groomed children, we usually have them done outside of school. Last year I got brave and took the kids down to Shoshone Falls and tried to nab pictures of them. After an hour of taking photos, I ended up with some really good ones of Landon....and that's about it. Mackenzee was a bit trying {to put it nicely} and none of the shots of her worked out. So, though the formal shot of Landon last year was professionally taken by yours truly....we had to have someone else take Mackenzee's picture. Sigh.
This year, I resolved to start a bit sooner, before it got too cold outside. So, I took the kids out to Jerome to Grandpa Burnham's farm on Friday and snapped away. Oddly enough, this year I got so many adorable shots of little Mackenzee, and the ones of Landon were not so great. He's started doing this weird thing with his chin when he smiles and so not only does the smile look totally forced, but he looks like he's got a double chin. :0) Yes, my child that you can count the ribs on looks like he has a double chin. Crazy, huh? Oh well. We'll have to try again with him.


This one was the best on I got of him, and though he looks insanely handsome, I'm not loving the hand positioning.
This one is going to be blown up and framed. Sure, it's not an uncommon sight to see Kenzee loving her mommy, but Landon.....that's a different story.