Notes to self . . .

This summer I made freezer jam and canned peaches. It was quite adventurous for me! But there are a few things I'm worried I'll forget about those experiences. So I'm writing them here.

CANNING PEACHES

1. Don't can peaches. 

FREEZER JAM

1. Buy/pick enough berries to do several batches. I only did 2 batches of strawberry jam in May and we'll probably run out in October.

2. Buy the containers at the dollar store. You get the most for your money there. Last year I spent almost as much $ on containers as I did on the berries.

3. Buy sugar at Costco or Sam's. Sugar and flour are so cheap there! How did I never realize this before?

4. For as long as we're still in Utah, pick raspberries at The Raspberry Patch in Payson. So pretty there!

5. If you pick berries, you must save old milk cartons and cut a hole in the top, then loop the handle through your belt while you pick. You'll feel nerdy at first, but it's SO nice to have both hands free.

6. Buy lots of MCP pectin when it goes on sale.

7. Let the kids help mix, but don't let them pour. (I learned that one the hard way)

Dragonfly

I took off all the window screens the other day to give them (and the windows) a good, thorough cleaning. As the screens were drying, I cracked open the kitchen window to keep an eye on the kids playing just outside. That's when I got a visitor.

He was beautiful, but still not welcome-- and it was quite the ordeal to get him back out. But at least Porter loved every minute of it.

The screens went back on the windows right away.

Water Babies

I've discovered a new secret weapon in my mothering arsenal: water.

Seriously, if we do anything with water, my kids turn instantly from grumpy monsters into happy campers.

I hope I figure out a secret weapon just as good for winter!

Rainy Days

This activity was followed by making chocolate chip cookies and eating soup for dinner. I love rainy days!

Lucy's First Birthday

Two weeks ago, our sweet little girl turned ONE. Oh my goodness, how time flies! Here are some pics from her party. And can I just say how happy I am to finally have a birthday to celebrate during the summer months?

Lucy Turns One

Every time one of our kids has a birthday we make them a slide show of their year. Here is a look at
Lucy's first year.


 
New Project - Large from brian nye on Vimeo.


I can't believe my little girl is one already, she is beautiful and I have enjoyed every day with my little girl.

Happy Birthday Lucy

Love,
Daddy

Goodbye Teacher!

After 8 wonderful years of teaching, I am changing careers; or rather, getting rid of one of my two careers so I can focus on the most important one. 

My days will now be filled with runny noses, laundry, milk spills, grocery stores, naptimes, dirty dishes, walks to the park, snacks, doctor checkups, time outs, and bills.
And I couldn't be happier about it!

A part of me will miss teaching. But I'm so glad that I had this past year to try to teach full-time while raising two small kids . . . because I think it cured me from ever wishing that I could do both! This past year was pretty difficult. 

So I am D-O-N-E. School finished last Thursday (May 30th). I said goodbye to my students at our end-of-year school dance:

And we said goodbye to our sweet babysitter:

On Friday, I officially checked out with the principal and I got the last few things cleaned out of my classroom . . . with some help:

Brian was there helping too-- he just didn't make it into the photos. And that's not all MY stuff in that photo, by the way. Another teacher was already moving into my classroom. I was pretty proud of how much stuff I was able to give away and throw away. I have one stack of boxes in our basement (floor to ceiling!) and one well-stocked pre-school corner in Porter's room. The other 90% of my teaching stuff is gone. It felt so nice to throw so much stuff out!

And while I am so happy about moving on to the next phase of my life, I couldn't help but tear up a bit when Brian gave me this on the morning of my last day of school:

It was a great 8 years!

Picky

When Porter was a baby he ate whatever whenever. He's a bit pickier now. He knows what he likes and is not very open to trying new things.

Here's his current list of favorites:
yogurt, mac & cheese, oatmeal, plain rice, plain spaghetti noodles, plain bread, cereal, peanut butter, waffles, pretzels, chips, crackers, strawberries, fruit leathers, fruit snacks, juice, milk.

He doesn't like to venture far from those items.

This week he was mostly into yogurt. The sneaky boy tried to pack his own lunch a few times!

St. George

About a month ago, we decided it was time for a new car. We found one we loved in St. George and decided to drive down and make a weekend out of it. We bought a car, hiked, shopped, napped, visited the temple, and ate yummy food. We only stayed over one night, but it was so nice to get away from our regular routine. Porter and Lucy didn't love staying in a hotel but overall, it was a good weekend.

I forgot my real camera, but luckily I remembered to capture some of our moments with my phone.

Here's our hike. Porter got to pet three horses on the trail and became fascinated with finding horse poop the rest of the time.

The following picture was taken just after his time-out for kicking dust at all the people we passed.

Porter's become a little photographer. While we think he's playing a game or watching a movie on our phones, he often goes to the camera and snaps a few photos for us. This one happens to have people in it. That's a blessing because we usually just discover twenty consecutive photos of his legs or the floor! This photo was taken just after we bought our new car. Way to help out with my goal to document every little moment, Porter!

Porter loves temples so we thought he'd enjoy eating lunch on the temple grounds. He did love it. It might not have been very reverent, but he ran and ran and ran all around the grounds. And since we had spent the entire morning driving and filling out paperwork, he definitely needed that!

Lucy was there too. You'll just have to trust me on that!

And here's our lovely hotel room. Porter and Lucy both were fussy about sleeping away from home. And truth be told, I didn't especially love sleeping in this hotel room either. But it was worth it to have some quality family time . . . and a new car that's not on the verge of death!

Brother-Sister

Porter and Lucy love eachother. He adores her. She idolizes him. I took this picture with my phone the other day as we were rushing to get to the babysitter's house. I know it's blurry, but it melts my heart each time I look at it!