Jewelry Giveaway

My cousin has started her own jewelry business and is doing her first giveaway this week. She specializes in unique and one of a kind pieces, they are so beautiful!! If you want to check out some of her pieces and enter for a chance to win a pair of earrings check it out! www.ruthparkerjewelry.blogspot.com (I have a link toward the bottom of my page under My Blog List)

It's Autumn Time

Yay!! I think this is my favorite time of the year. The weather is just about perfect, Parker is in preschool, the leaves are beginning to change and the harvest is here with it's bounty! The only thing that I do not like about Autumn is... it's not long enough!!! Just when I am beginning to enjoy the change of seasons, it starts to snow!! I am just not ready for that yet, can't we enjoy fall for just a little longer!

We have been keeping busy here at our house. Parker is really enjoying preschool and learns something new every day. He is beginning to speak more clearly and increasing his vocabulary, some words we want to eliminate from his vocabulary already. He participated in his first Primary Sacrament Meeting program and did very well. I think most people were even able to understand his lines. He is growing up so quickly and will soon be 4 years old. It is hard to believe he was my baby that long ago. Sometimes I still tell him he is my baby and he says to me "No I'm a big boy!" it is true!! He loves his little sister and loves to torment her even more. For some reason he gets a kick out of making her scream. I am constantly telling him to leave her alone. I didn't think they would pester each other this soon, but at least they love each other and love to play together.

Paige is also growing way too quickly, she will be 18 months old next month and I can't believe that much time had flown by since we brought her home from the hospital. She is the sweetest little girl, she loves to be with her momma and doing exactly what I am doing. She loves to wear lip gloss and put on lotion. On the other hand, she does not like her hair done, but I love to do it. She is getting better at holding still while I put the elastics in. Paige is a complete copycat of Parker. Whatever he is doing she has to do as well. If he has something, she has to have it to. I keep telling Parker he needs to be a good example to his little sister, but he doesn't think that is fun. Sometimes I catch him saying "do it Paige do it" encouraging her to do something he knows she shouldn't be doing. She is also the monkey of our house. She climbs on everything and gets into everything. She is very smart and will find a way to get what she wants. She has learned how to scream very loudly within the last couple of weeks and loves to see exactly how loud she can scream. Sometimes I hear it and rush to see what is going on and she is laughing then screaming and laughing because she is screaming. She is one silly little girl.

I am truly lucky to be a mother to these two great kids, I really do love them even though at times they do test me. Matt and I are staying busy and counting down the days until he is done with school. 14 more to be exact!! We are hoping that a great job will come along and make us both very happy!! Our October is looking to be a pretty busy month, which means more to write about. We can hardly wait!

Case Lot Sale!

I happen to get the Idaho State Journal and yesterday inside was the weekly Smith's ad. They are having a huge case lot sale and I went and got my share. I love it when that time of year comes around, when you can buy things in big cases and feel so good about updating and increasing food storage. I was really excited to go, but a little unexcited about taking my children with me. But I was determined to go that day because the sale said "while supplies last" and I didn't want to go at the end of the week and then them be out of all the things I wanted. So I braved the store with my kids and it was successful. Now I was curious about the prices and wondered if they were really a good deal. I am also a fan of winco and they usually have great prices on canned goods and meat and cheese all the time. So I took my list from Smith's and went to winco to compare prices. I was pretty shocked, most of the items on the case lot sale at Smith's were really good prices. Olives were less at Winco and so was pineapple. But the rest was less at Smith's. So after purchasing a cart full of stuff at winco that I wasn't going to get at Smith's I headed to the next store. By then Paige wanted nothing to do with being in the shopping cart, which made the Smith's trip pretty horrible...and embarrassing! I managed to push around a very full and very heavy cart with one hand and made it to the checkout. $190 later I had a van full of canned food and a smile on my face. Paige fell asleep on the way home, which allowed me to unload everything and unpack most of it into my storage room shelves. I have one of those Provident Living rotating shelves for cans, and it is completely full along with 5 cupboards!! I love going inside and seeing all that food and knowing that is something were to happen, we would be alright. So any of you that are out there thinking about getting your storage ready or need a few items, stop buy the store and stock up, you won't regret it!!

A Lot Accomplished

I seem to be having a bit of an ambitious streak going on over the last few days. I don't know what has gotten into me, but I am hoping it stays for a while. Yesterday it started with the wedding cookies I had to make. I took advantage of the time Parker was at preschool and got those done. Then I took both kids to the store, it was a successful trip and Paige fell asleep on the way home. I then took advantage of her nap time and made 17 pints of dilly beans. They are the best thing ever!! I haven't been able to get enough of them lately. I thought about doing them for Christmas presents this year, but then I changed my mind and decided I wanted to be selfish and keep them all to myself. If I get around to making more then maybe I will change my mind. But after cutting beans, boiling the liquid and canning only 17 pints, I thought to myself that was a lot of work and I want to eat all of these!! If you have never had a dilly bean you are missing out. They are a pickled green bean with cayenne pepper and a hot pickled pepper. They are a little salty, a little sour, and a little hot all in one. They are so good. I could probably eat an entire jar at one sitting if I am not careful. Of course I would regret it after the heartburn set in, but I think I would still do it. Anyways they are great...you NEED to try them. Back to the subject, so I was pretty ambitious yesterday and it seemed to carry over to today. I got up early and hit the gym for an hour, came home and got to work on the housework. After doing the dishes, sweeping the floor, cleaning the bathroom, picking up toys, vacuuming the carpets, doing 4 loads of laundry, balancing the checkbook, paying bills, and making beds. I finally got a shower in. Now I won't even thing about the fact that it is 4:00 and I just showered or the fact that it took me all day to accomplish these things. But I am pretty excited that all that got done. Now if every day was this productive and if every day my kids behaved well, I would have no unfinished projects and a lot of scrapbooks finished. I do hope the energy carries over for a little while. I can just imagine all the stuff I could get done in a week!!!!!

Cooking

This is what I'm doing again today!


Summer is wedding season and I was asked to make wedding cookies again for Matt's cousin's wedding on Saturday. So I am taking advantage of the time Parker is at preschool and trying to get them all baked while he is gone. Luckily these cookies freeze really well and on Saturday I can pull them out of the freezer and they will be just as fresh as today. So that will be nice. We are planning on going to the Fair on Saturday and spending time with my cousins that are coming from Utah. We are excited to be together and to have Matt with us, he took the day off. So it will be great to have him home for 4 days!! I think Parker is old enough this year to enjoy the rides a little more and we may be investing in a wrist band so that he can ride till his hearts content. We love the fair...well mostly the food!! Yummo

First Day of Preschool

Well today was the first school day of Parker's life. I think he was rather excited and I was too, just a little bit. I was excited for a number of reasons, I want my child to be social and to be able to be around people and feel comfortable. Secondly I want him to be leaning and growing in an environment outside of our home. Third, I want him to make some new friends. Those are just a few of the things that I am excited he will learn about this year. I told him all day yesterday and last night that he needed to go to bed early so he could get up for school. Well the dang kid didn't fall asleep until after 9:30!! Is that early to a kid?? So of course he was a beast to wake up this morning. But I convinced him to get up with a bribe of his favorite breakfast...pancakes. I even bribed him that he could help me if he got out of bed right then, which he did. There was very little helping and even less eating. His attention span is way too short. I think he managed to get a few bites in before I told him he had to get dressed RIGHT NOW or we would be late. After getting dressed, combing hair (he wouldn't let me cut his hair or else that would have been one less task) and brushing teeth we were ready to go. Of course being the scrapbooking mother that I am I snapped a few pictures, ok 15 or so, and hurried to the car. I didn't want him to be late on the first day. We got there in time and I snapped a few more pictures and said "I'll see you in a few hours ok." He looked at me a little shyly and said "ok." I am not sure if he was quite sure of the situation and all the people around him who he did not know. Well I didn't stick around to find out. He would be there for 2 hours so I ran home to get a few things done, did I mention Paige was sad to see her brother go and the fact that she didn't get to go with him. Anyways, I got a few things done at home then went to a Presidency meeting and before I knew it 2 hours had flown by. What??? I am going to have to budget that precious time better. I hurried to get there, I didn't want him to be the last kid there. He was so excited to see me and to show what he had done. As we got into the car he noticed another little boy leaving and kept pointing to him and said "Him him I know him" I asked if he was a new friend and Parker said "yes" so he made a new friend on the first day! I think it went well and I know he is excited to go back because as we were leaving he said "I go to that house 555" When he wants to do something he says for 555. I think he got that from me saying only 5 more minutes, or in 5 minutes we are going. He got the 5 part. So it is pretty funny when he gets excited about something and wants go 555 or stay 555 I know that he really liked it. Here are a few pictures from the day. I can't believe my little boy is growing up!

Preschool

I have been thinking a lot lately about putting Parker in preschool and couldn't quite decide what to do. He won't be starting kindergarten until he is almost 6 so we still have 2 full years before that happens. I have heard a lot about pre schools in this area and also the cost of them. That was one thing that really held me back. We can't quite afford something very expensive, but I also felt like I couldn't afford not to put him in to some sort of class. I think he needs the socialization with other kids and a steady routine. He needs something more stimulating and challenging than I feel I can give him at home everyday, especially with another kid around. So I kind of put it on the back burner and didn't really think about it for a while. Well I was talking to my mom the other day and she mentioned that one of our friends really good friends was starting a preschool and she thought Parker might like it. I had seen a few posters for this preschool and had heard of the ladies doing it, but I don't know them personally. So my mom being the great mom that she is called and got all the information for us and even paid for the start up fee and first months class. So Parker is officially signed up for Preschool. When I asked him if he wanted to start going to school he said, "Ya, today?" No not today, and I think he will be asking me everyday until he starts going on Tuesday. We went to the teacher's home, where the preschool will be, last night and she showed Parker all the different things she has and some of the activities she has planned and he said, "I love it" so I think that was a good sign. She is a super nice lady and I know she has great morals and standards. I know that she will do a great job and I trust her with my child. I hope that he plays well with others and does a little maturing. That would be wonderful. I am excited for the 2 hours a day twice a week without him. Isn't that being an awful mom?? I think it would be wonderful if I could go to the store with one less kid, I might be able to get a lot more done, and he will be doing something besides watching cartoons and bugging me. I am sure I will have many updates on his progress and of course pictures from his first day of "School", sniff, sniff. Why do I get emotional about that. I want him to go, but I can't believe my baby is growing up. I am in big trouble when he starts kindergarten I can already tell!