Monday, August 29, 2011

The lost, lost tooth...

Adam lost another tooth - except he really lost it this time!  It had been loose for at least a week, and Scott kept asking if he wanted it pulled out, but he kept saying no.  They took a look Friday morning, and it was still there.  Sunday afternoon at church I was talking to his primary teacher and noticed that it looked like his tooth was really loose, so I looked in his mouth and the tooth was gone.  We have no idea what happened to it - it could have fallen out anytime between Friday morning and Sunday afternoon.
 We weren't sure how the tooth fairy would feel about not getting a tooth, so we decided to write a note...
 I guess he got lucky, because the next morning, he found a note from the tooth fairy and $2.  I don't think he'll wait so long next time, and he'll let daddy pull it out.  The tooth on the other side of his bottom middle teeth is loose now - so it could be anytime.

Jackson wanted in on the mouth picture action...  No loose teeth in this mouth!

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Please, oh PLEASE, can I have a time out???

Jackson loves to pick on his big brother.  He pinches, hits, whatever he can think of to get a reaction from him.  I find myself saying over and over "Jackson - don't hit your brother", or "Jackson - don't pinch your brother".  He doesn't do it to be mean.  It's usually when Adam is involved in something and Jackson wants his attention.  The only thing he gets from it is Adam yelling "OW" and then returning to whatever had his attention in the first place.  So he does it again, and again, and again - well, you get the picture...
I've decided to try time outs for Jackson whenever he starts doing this.  I'm not so sure it's working though.  This morning, Jackson was pinching Adam.  After asking him to stop, I asked him if he needed to go to time out.  Jackson's response... "Ya" and he sauntered over to the stairs, which is our time out spot.  He had a big grin on his face and just sat there.  (He wasn't happy I tried to take a picture, which is why he isn't grinning here...)
I left to set the timer for his timeout, and Jackson suddenly started wailing - not really crying, but a nice fake cry.  I guess he figures if you're in time out you have to cry...  He sat there for two minutes, keeping up the wailing the entire time, and once the timer went off, he jumped up, walked over to Adam, gave him a hug and said sorry and then turned around and walked away.  I guess he knows the time out routine!!
(I do get my children dressed in the mornings - he's in just a diaper because we had just finished pouring the water out of the pool in the backyard and he had soaked his pajamas.)

Busy summer kitchen...

I love all the fresh produce you can get in the summer!  Unfortunately, our garden hasn't done very good this year, (except for the blueberries!) but I am blessed to be able to purchase some produce pretty inexpensively through a bulk buy group.  I decided to try a couple of new things this summer, and I think they've turned out ok.  I normally only do pressure canning, but found a great deal on a water bath canner, so I bought it and decided to give it a try.  I haven't pulled the pressure canner out yet this summer, and it may just stay on it's shelf - we'll see.  The first thing I did was some pickles.  I found a great deal on pickling cucumbers at a farmers market in the area, so I snatched them up.  I've never made pickles before, and we haven't opened them up to try them yet, but they look pretty!
Next - I got 75 pounds of peaches.  My mom came over on Monday and was so nice to help me can 24 quarts of peaches, 10 pints of peach jam and 14 pints of peach pit jelly.  Don't the peaches look lovely in this picture.  I think I like water bathing them better than pressure canning.  They don't turn as dark (at least they haven't yet), and I didn't lose as much of the liquid in the jars.  They are all still this beautiful peachy color!
 I learned a few things about jam and jelly as well.  I've always made freezer jam, but I'm trying to empty out my freezer to get it ready for a 1/4 of a cow that we will be getting in October.  So, I decided to give cooked jam a try.  I've also never done peach jam.  The jam is on the left and it is so good!!  I have some peaches left that are still ripening and I will be making more of this yummy goodness! 
The jar on the right is peach pit jelly.  I wish you could see the color better.  It's a really lovely dark color.  I had heard some of the women in the bulk buy group talk about peach pit jelly and was curious about it.  I looked in all my canning books, but didn't find anything about it, so I checked out the internet and found a recipe.  You make it by boiling down the peach pits and peels.  Mom and I figured we'd give it a try since we usually just throw those parts away anyway.  I think it ended up being a success.  The jelly is sweet with a little peachy flavor. 

I'm not sure I'll get much more canning done this summer.  I've got a little less than a full box of peaches to still do - probably jam and a peach BBQ sauce that I found that looks really yummy.  I still have tomatoes and sauce from last summer (I think I went a little over board with those last year).  I do have about 6 bean plants in my garden that are starting to produce some beans.  Hopefully I'll get enough to can a few pints of beans.  I'm also hoping to get my hands on some Ginger Gold Apples to dry, but that's probably it for this summer.  I've got so much to do to get this house in order for the appearance of new baby!  November sounds so far away - but it's almost September first.  My how time flies!!

The lazy days of summer...

Summer has finally arrived here in Western Washington!  August has been beautiful!  It hasn't been too hot - mostly in the low 70's - most days I just open up the windows and let the breezes keep the house cool.  It has been seriously lovely!!!  We've had a few hots days - like this past weekend, temperatures soared in the mid to upper 80's.  We spent a lot of time playing outside, Adam riding his bike, playing in the little pool in the backyard, and just enjoying the warmth.  Monday morning, we woke up to clouds and the threat of rain.  This is what the boys found to do in the house...

Silly guys!  We just got the excersaucer back from Daris and Rachael, and it's like the perfect toy again!  Jackson can't leave the thing alone, and keeps climbing into it.  The only thing is, he can't get out.  I guess it's one way to corral him if I need to get something done without his help!  It worked a year ago, and now that it's new again - it works again!

Sunday, August 14, 2011

Annual Jetty Island Trip

We love our annual trip to Jetty Island each summer.  We had so much fun this year, we are even talking about trying to go again before the summer is over.  The past two years, the weather has been far from perfect, and we weren't really brave enough to venture into the water much.  This year, the day started out cold and cloudy, but by lunch time, the sun was coming out, the tide was coming in and we had so much fun playingin the water until the very last minute when we had to clean up and head for the ferry.  There are lots of pictures of all the fun!
Adam and Xander got right to work on building a castle....
I'm so glad these guys are buddies.  I love this picture of them.  They look like they are discussing something very seriously! 
Adam is sort of putting his arm around Xander here.  He was so sandy and dirty - I guess he didn't want to touch Xander and get him dirty. 
 Here's the J-man.  Always eating this guy!
 Or, his new thing is to put his fingers in his mouth...  I couldn't find the dry clothes I had brought for him after a trip in the water, so he wore Adams t-shirt.  He didn't really like the water the first time, so I didn't think he would be interested in going in again...
 but, I was wrong.  When the tide came in and all the other kids went in, Jackson followed them, and had a great time! 
 Jackson and Maira
 Adam was such a little fish when the tide came in.  Here he is floating on a log with Xander.
 He wanted to go out with the big boys.  Grandma was so nice and waded out there with him.  She told him she would go out until the water got up to her waist - and she did.  That spot in the middle of the picture is Adam.  There were some other big boys from our ward at church that came with us this year.  Adam wanted to be just like them!
 Jackson was so tired by the time we headed home.  He didn't want to ride in the stroller, but he was just dragging walking back to the ferry, so I forced him into the stroller, and he almost fell asleep on the ride through the sand.  It was much easier to pull the stoller this way through the sand then try to push it...
 Here's Adam with no shirt - since his brother got it all soaked.  He asked Grandma to ride at the top of the boat with him.
We had such a fun day - and really enjoyed soaking in the sunshine!  Hopefully we'll make it back for another afternoon before the summer is gone.

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

It's never too late for a SURPRISE!!

Two months ago, Scott had a big birthday.  About a month later, his friend Ryan had a big birthday.  Heidi (Ryan's wife) and I had been plotting a surprise for the two of them.  We started plotting back in May.  We picked a date for the surprise, only to have the Father and Son campout scheduled for the same night.  We picked another date, and an epicenter dance was planned for the same night, we picked another date and so on and so on.  (It's been a busy summer!)  Finally - August came around and we planned for the 4th.   I realized it was exactly two months from Scott's birthday - which I thought was fitting!  But then, my parents ended up going to Reno (my dad was going to smoke some ribs for the party), and a few other things happened, but Heidi and I decided to press on. 
I told Scott we were having a party for Ryan and asked him to smoke some ribs (he had no idea he was smoking them for his own party).  Heidi told Ryan we were having a party for Scott  and asked him to help get Scott over to their house.  Surprisingly enough - it all worked out pretty well!  Scott smoked the ribs, Ryan came over to help him get it all put together and they walked in to the party together, both thinking that it was a surprise party for the other one.  It was great!!  Here they are walking in.  Ryan turned around and yelled surprise to Scott and Scott said "What - it's a surprise for you!"  It was great! 
Here are the brithday boys.  You'd never know they were a day over 30...
It was fun to have a combined party.  Some good friends of ours got to mingle and meet some good friends of the Markowski's.  Then we also had some friends from the ward that knew both of them.  
Here Scott and I are with Jeff and Quyen - our ex-neighbors.  But we still call them great friends!  I was glad they came to help us celebrate! 
 Here I am talking with Scott and Amy Butterfield.  We've known the Butterfield's for over 16 years.  They only live about 20 minutes away, but we don't see them nearly as much as we would like.  It was fun to have them come for the surprise.  The funny thing is that Scott B. and Ryan both worked at Arther Anderson at the same time, and they also knew each other from playing basketball when we were all in the Kirkland Stake.  Small world!
 Here's the boys cuddling as we get ready to sing happy birthday.  I think Ryan looks a little uncomfortable in this picture... 
 Here's a more comfortable picture!
It sure was fun to plan a surprise, and actually pull it off!  (That means I pulled off two surprises for Scott's birthday this year - I'm good!!)  We all got a good laugh over all the stories that were being told at both of our houses over the past couple of months, as dates were picked and then had to be changed.  Scott helped think of ideas of how to get Ryan out of the house, and Ryan helped Heidi come up with ways to get Scott over to their house!  We all had a good laugh!  It was a great way to celebrate two great men - even if it was to celebrate them getting older!  (And, yes - I'm really going to have to watch out when it's my turn to hit the big 4-0 in a couple of years!)

Sunday, August 7, 2011

Silly Frog

A few weeks ago, we went to an Everett Aquasox game - they are a AAA farm team for the Mariner's.  Don't ask me what an Aquasock is, but their mascot it a frog.  Jackson was so excited when he saw a huge frog walking around during the game, and was even more excited when he got to give that frog a high five.  Later on when we wandered into the little store at the ballpark, Jackson caught site of a miniature frog, and immediately, he had to have it.  So, we bought him one and he carried it around the rest of the game.  On the way home, he started saying things about "silly frog" and making him jump around.  We aren't sure where the name silly frog came from - but it stuck, and he is now a part of the family!  Jackson carried that frog around with him for several days, and wouldn't got to bed without him!  He talked about silly frog constantly!  Here are some of the things that couldn't be done without silly frog...
Reading bedtime books
 Silly frog really got into it!
 Going to bed...
Eating a meal!
Scott took a video of silly frog eating breakfast with Jackson one morning.  I can't seem to get it to download, but we'll add it if I can ever get it to work.
I guess Jackson has found a new life long friend - Silly Frog!

Dancing Fool

The Young Women from our ward were over one night to learn a dance and lip sync for girls camp.  Jackson was having so much fun dancing with us!  Ignore the pregnant lady and just pay attention to the little guy!  It was so funny!

Friday, August 5, 2011

100 Miles!

Brian and I did our first 100 mile ride a couple of weeks ago. It was a beautiful day and we had a blast doing it! It was our first time doing that distance so we didn't go as hard as we could have but we still were in the top 1/3 of the riders. At least until we had a flat tire. We were in too much of a hurry to change it out that we blew two more tires trying to fix the flat. So in the end we had to wait for people to catch up and see if they had what we needed. Every rider was great and willingly gave us help. It took nearly an hour to get what we needed and then we got back on the road. We finished in just over 6 hours ride time which we were very happy with! Here are a few pictures from the ride.