Busy weekend

Well, at least Saturday was. We all got togehter (Hila, Christina, Mom and I) to can all sorts of things. Since they were running a little late, I started my blackberry jelly and finished that by the time they got there. Then we peeled a bunch of apples, cored them, and made apple butter and apple sauce. Smelled soooo good. Then we cleaned the grapes, and pressed them and made grape jelly! Then we made blueberry cobbler/pie filling. It took allll day but the smells were definetly worth it, not to mention the food storage we are now beginning to pile up. ;) I have to admit though, that I was overly exhausted Saturday and I didn't sleep at all Saturday night, so I went to half of sacrament and then asked Brad to bring me hom eand I took a nap with Ben. I still don't feel well, I really do not sleep well at all ever so it may take a few days to recover from.

SO much going on.. *sigh*

Really, I expect to be able to type a whole lot of stuff because I DID say that a lot of things were going on, but in all honesty, its nothing out of the ordinary or even worth blogging about. The weather has begun to get a little cooler which is bittersweet to me, mostly because we've only got electric heaters/space heaters to warm the house this year because we can not afford the heating oil. But we do have a ton of nice comfy blankets as well, and that certainly helps.
Hila, Mom and I canned peaches and peas on Saturday. It was a lot of fun, the kids only got in our way a few times, and generally they listened when we told them to go out of the kitchen. I love my kitchen, I just seriously wish there was a safety gate big enough to block the entry from the living room. I really enjoy doing those things, and with family makes it even better. I am no expert canner, but I'm getting there, hey I can read instructions.
We mowed some of our front yard yesterday, sadly the bees in the ground undug the dirt that Brad threw on there a few weeks ago in hopes that it would smother them and they'd die.. (so sad I know, but those things stung the mess out of me and I don't want them to do it to my kids as well). We could only get so far with the mower before the bees started swarming, and by that time we determined it was time to go inside. The last few blackberries were picked from the bushes, I gave Saria an absolutely HUGE one, was so proud of it honestly. I think I'm going to be canning some more jelly and maybe pie filling with that stuff, as soon as I figure out how to do the pie filling part..
Yesterday we also had to deflea the house yet again. I sent the boys upstairs while I put the carpet powder down and brushed it into the carpet. Brad sprayed the couch with some flea spray stuff, and so far today I haven't had a flea jump on me. Not that I honestly care if they eat me, it's Ben that I'm concerned about, the poor kid is absolutely covered in bites and it looks as though he has chicken pox which I know he doesn't..
SO yep, that about sums up my awesomeness for the past few days. I lead such an exciting life huh!

Ghost Busters-I need you

Ya, so it doesn't even matter what time I go to bed at night, or at which time I sleep in until.. I AM ALWAYS TIRED. I never get sleep when I lay down, in fact whenever I toss and turn in the middle of the night it's very very violent-so violent that I've punched/kicked my husband before. (I'm sure Hila's all like way to go Tarylyn at this point) I'm like the lightest sleeper ever (unless I'm really zonked) and I tend to wake up with the slightest of noises. Well last night I had a hallucination apparently, i still think I actually saw something. It was a man's figure (we were in bed Brad was asleep and I was trying to be apparently) I honestly thought it was Brad, just LEAPT over our bed and landed where Brad's sleeping. Leaping over a King size bed as gracefully as that thing did was impossible, but I freaked out and said SOMETHING to Brad, and I'm sure I sounded sorta freaking crazy...I believe I said something like "I just saw you jump over the bed" and apparently he doesn't remember this, because I just called him and he has absolutely no idea what I'm talking about, but he suggested in a jest that he was having an out of body experience, and I replied with "ya, you're smart because whatever you were doing, you KNEW the exact moment I'd open my eyes and returned to your body." So anyway, ya I'm a little freaked out because I feel like I'm going insane, and I know I'm absolutely healthy in the brain department so I'm convinced that what I saw was real and that's freaking me out more. Maybe next time he'll let me go with him.. haha

Saria's first day of school

So yesterday was Saria's first day of school, and while I did take pictures, I forgot to post them so I'm doing that now. She had a wonderful day, and she bought home a bunch of dot to dot and coloring pages that she did, and she did a wonderful job on them! I really think she just wasn't ready for 1st grade last year, and I think she'll do better this year.

I also made jelly yesterday, and Brad helped me with that. I don't think I will be using the powdered pectin anymore I really don't like it because for me it doesn't mix well. But the jelly did set this time, so I'm happy about that. :) I have two more full buckets of berries still so I am sure I will be making more sometime soon.

WOOT!!

I lost 5 lbs so far, yay me!

Sorry!! for my absence ;)

Ok, so I've not posted in a few days, and my mom has gone back home, and a lot of what we did went into the abyss of forgotten memories (I know it just happened right!!)And things have been a little hectic getting back to normal, so I really don't have much to say. We did go to dinner with everyone Tuesday evening @ Shari's, which was crazyyyy. My mom, stepdad, Ben and his wife and their 3 kids, Christina and Nick and Desiree, Mom and Dad, Grandma and Grandpa and my brood too. We all had a very good time together. I don't have any pictures of that night, and I still haven't put my pictures on photobucket (Procrastinate much?)But I will get to it eventually, I promise.. ;) As for other things, I've been picking the mess out of blackberry bushes around my yard, I have a huge container full of juice (which I froze because I don't feel like doing anything with it just yet) and I have a HUGE bowl (2 actually) full of berries that I have frozen waiting to be turned into something awesome like jelly or a pie or maybe a smoothie...But ya, I've been outside cutting bushes away to get to the good berries because they're about to go to waste if I don't. It kinda drives Brad crazy because he thinks we have enough berries saved up and that I don't need anymore, but I keep picking more and more and tell him that you can never have enough. I mean it's free goodies right, grows naturally in my yard, I should take what I can and do what I can with it. ;) So the kids wanting to play outside gives me an excuse to get out there and pick them.. Tomorrow I am probably going to make some jelly. The first two times I did mom helped me, so this will be interesting.. doing it by myself for the first time.

I am also kinda determined to lose some weight now, and I have been taking walks and trying to stay away from certain foods etc. It's a lot easier to get fat than to lose weight lemme tell you. I just want to be able to run around and enjoy playing with my kids without dying of shortness of breath etc, and I do reaize that I am unhealthy in the amount of weight I have gained, and so I am going to strive to become more active and healthy!! I was promised a new wardrobe when I successfully complete my mission, and the sound of new clothes is just soo great to me since I have been wearing the same clothes that I did in high school...graduated 7 years ago so, ya I need some new clothes.
As far as anything else goes, Saria starts school on the 3rd so I will be a little more free during the day, just the two boys to look after, and I can take a long walk after I get her on the bus because I have a double stroller, or better yet if Brad's home he can watch them while I go walking. I am pretty excited about life right now, it's good to me, and I'm thankful for it. I am super excited that Hila moved up here, I may have someone to go walking with now! :) And I'm sure she's got a few awesome healthy recipes up her sleeve as well. Well, I will definetly try to get some pictures up soon, I hope everyone is safe and remains that way. Love to all!!

Zoo and Pike's Market

So two days ago we went to the Point Defiance Zoo for a few hours, the kids of course had a blast, Ben loved the sharks the most I think. Samuel really enjoyed the effalants (elephants) and I think Saria's favoriate was the parrot she got to feed a dollar to (it dropped her dollar in a donation box (real bird too) We made jelly yesterday, but it won't set, and I think the reason is because we put too much sugar in, I guess we read the instructions wrong, oh well, maybe I will be able to pick enough berries to do it again. I have been trying to add pictures to my myspace page. After I get them up over there, I will put a few of them here. We went to the Pike's Place Market and walked around there yesterday afternoon. My mom said she could walk around that thing for hours, it really is a neat experience. The kids trid some chocolate spaghetti! Today we went to Illahee again for a little bit, and we walked up and down the nature trails they have, and picked shells and the park ranger gave each of the kids a sticker.