Yes, yes I am aware that I haven't posted a blog in like 2 months...well, I'm a busy woman. Here is what I've been doing....
**Got a shed installed in the backyard. Hallelujah! It's 8 feet by 10 feet and has plenty of room. As I started moving lots of thing from the garage and rattled off a list of items to soon be moved out there my loving husband said, "So basically you wanted a second garage?" Well duh! Who doesn't? Here is the view from my back door....
Here is the view of the inside....notice how unfilled it is. I'm working on that....
***Once the shed was up, it was time to organize the garage...still working on that, but it looks much better than before. The main reason for orgainizing the garage (aside from the fact that I am crazy anal like that) was to get the Christmas decorations out from under the stairs so I would have a home for my food storage.
**Ta-Da! I finally made it over to the cannery and got some food storage. Don't get too excited. I didn't actually can anything by myself (that will come later) I just picked up 18 of the starter kits. I'm now well on my way toward a year supply....
Here are the lovely boxes (with the contents totally rearranged into their appropriate food groups and relabeled, 'cause that's how I roll) under the stairs....
I tell you, it is the greatest feeling to have all that food, what exactly I'll do with it I'm not quite sure, but there is time to figure that all out later.
***On to the next item of busy business. A couple weeks ago, I purchased 80 lbs of chicken breasts because it was $1.49 a lb. So I stood at my kitchen island from 10am to 2pm cutting up chicken. We freezer packed half of it and the other
40 lbs I canned....yep, you read that right....I CANNED CHICKEN! We ended up with 38 pint jars. It is so wonderful! And it was so easy! I vowed will buy an extra box of chicken every time and can it.
Here is a pic of the shelf in the back of the closet with my chicken....the bottom 3 boxes and 1 lonely jar that didn't fit. Maybe I'll make soup with him so he isn't so lonely.
Those of you who are super observant may have noticed another box above the chicken in the previous pic. That would be the
13 quarts of grape juice I canned. (Thanks Melissa for the grapes, you're great!) That was another 2 days of work.
Plus I've been working Monday, Tuesday and Friday mornings from 9am-12pm. This last month, I decided to cut back on my hours and will only be working Tuesday and Friday mornings, occasionally filling in where needed. Work is going good. I have 7-10 kids on Tuesdays and 13-17 on Fridays. So basically I get paid to be with my kids, let them socialize with other kids, play with toys I didn't have to buy or store, and watch 3 hours of the Disney channel (we don't have cable, so that is a treat.) all to make a few extra bucks...nice gig, eh?
But what keeps me the busiest are little people like this....
Sometimes, this child is wears me out! The teenage years (even though she is only 12 1/2) are in full swing. The sassing is at full-tilt! The room is a mess! And it's a miracle if she get laundry from the dryer into the drawers without drama! But she also is becoming quite the great helper with the boys and is quite anxious to cook....nice for me! She is loving mutual and is becoming a great little flute player.
This little man finally started Kindergarten (he'd been waiting for like 2 years waiting for all the other kids to catch up). That is his pic from the 1st day of school. Since we put him into a special magnet school, we have to provide his transportation. I have to take him the 8 miles out to school each day, but luckily we carpool home with 2 families from the ward and I only have to pick up Monday afternoons and every other Wednesday. It's not too bad, it just breaks up the day so it's hard to get much done. But he is loving school, especially engineering and library. His teacher is awesome! He is testing amazing and no surprise here, but his reading is so advanced she gave up on all the Kindergarten lessons and got books from the 1st grade teacher for him to read while the other kids are doing their lessons. He is such a smart little kid!
Don't let that adorable grin fool you...this boy is a beast! I took this picture the other morning when I came downstairs and noticed he found the markers. He is into EVERYTHING and keeps me on my toes. He misses his best, best friend (Logan) while he is at school, but makes up for it by playing with his best friend, the next door neighbor boy, as often as he can. There is nothing this child will not climb, nothing he will not color on and no key he will not try to unlock the movie cabinet! But he probably gives the best hugs and has the greatest smile ever!
Sweet baby Ray turned 18 months old! He is officially in Nursery. Lucky for us, his teacher is my best friend so he loves going, even though he has fallen asleep both weeks he has been in there. Owen is trying to pull him over to the dark and bad decision making side, while I struggle to get him to be all sweet and lovey. He also is getting into everything, especially the pantry! Currently we are dealing with separation anxiety, so I can't go anywhere without him...my treadmill and the gym is starting to miss me. When all 4 of his molars finally break through (yep, all 4 at once) perhaps life will return to normal.
As for me, I was released from Nursery (the week before Baby started) and became the Relief Society Meeting Coordinator (aka the person who plans enrichment). Got any good ideas, I would love to hear them!
I should probably stop there and get to sleep. Tomorrow I'm off to can applesauce and Friday we will do apple pie filling...Wish me luck.
Here is Logan and Owen having a "snowball" fight. Really they would just pick up a handful of snow and chuck it at the other one....most of the time not hitting anything.
