My poor neglected blog

Sigh, I thought with school starting that I would be less busy...ha. We are attempting to get all the summer projects done before it gets too cold. We are in the process of sanding our stairs before we can stain it the same color as the deck (which was unfinished wood when we moved in so we had to clean that too). It has been a good little project. I hope to be done with it by the end of September. Then there is the kitchen cabinets. I have not liked them from the minute we bought the house...hopefully by the time Thanksgiving rolls around we will be done with that little project. In the mean time it is harvest season and today I bottled 12 pints of peach jam and 7 bottles of peaches and there are grapes in the steamer for juice (which this is my first attempt so we will see how it goes.) I have also been trying to get out of the cooking rut...I have been quite successful with recipes from several cooking blogs. Really I don't know how they do it! The sites I have come across that I like are recipeshoebox.blogspot.com crockpot365.blogspot.com 365daysofcrockpot.com and the old standbys sisterscafe and melskitchen I have tried to be more organized by planning meals. It really works so much better this way! I have so great pics of the David and Emma that I will post maybe after I check on the grapes. We also had a FUN cookout with my sister and her family. It is always great to get together with them!

First Day of School

Sarah is a big 4th grader, Becca an amazing 2nd grader and David is in Mommy school. Sigh, they are growing up too fast!

Camping

Last weekend we went camping and had a blast! We roasted marshmallows, saw TONS of beautiful stars, slept on rocks (literally) and boated in the lake. We wanted one last hurrah before school starts. the boat was a little awkward and I kept going in0 circles, but we had fun anyway.

Locks of Love

Becca's hair FINALLY was long enough to cut. You have to have 10 inches to donate. I think we will do it again, and I might just do it next time :) Sorry I have the after and before pictures mixed up :)

riding on the bull

Last Saturday we had to get our cars inspected. We had a coupon for $10 inspection which saved us about $25. Well, so did a lot of other people. When we dropped our cars off at 9 in the morning the guy said, we will have these done by 2. What do you do then...you ride a bull of course.

we didn't realize that it was a local festival going on so we had a great time at a petting zoo, inflatables, rock walls, and watching burly Scottish men chuck heavy things. after spending the money at the carnival, lunch and the Hawaiian shack we still saved $15 AND made great memories :)

top 10

Top 10 reasons why I don't want summer to end

10. We can't go to the pool when ever we want.
9. David's playmates will all go back to school
8. The girls will be gone all day!
7. I will have to do my "chores" all by myself
6. Homework
5. It will get dark and cold
4. I love having the kids home with me
3. No more lazy days and adventures
2. I have to think about what to make for dinner
1. I love summer!

David jumping off the board

This is David going off the low diving board. He went off the high one too. That kid is fearless. Kinda scares me.