Happy Birthday Jennifer!!

Mom, you're the best!!!!!

Kids made me a cake. So sweet. 

And scary to eat. 

 Stuffing my face. 

Confinement

           

          Although "confinement" is a term more used for labor, this word has been on my mind. I always wondered what was up with women who needed to be "confined" towards the end of their pregnancy. I mean really? Get over it. Sure it's uncomfortable & hard to move around. But get on with life. 

             Boy have I been bitterly eating those words. I'm not sure why this pregnancy has been so much more difficult than the rest. 

Maybe because I'm over 30 now? 
It's number 5 & my body is done with this process? 
Or is it the fact that I've had 5 kids in 8 years? 

Hmmmmmm. For whatever reason, I am frickin MISERABLE & long to be confined. Or maybe just be put out to pasture. 

             These last 8-9 weeks have been complete torture on my mind & body. Terrible aches, pains, spasms, mood swings, crying (more than usual), anger, depression.  I have been so tired that I can lay in bed all day & still feel exhausted. I avoid people so I don't get upset. It seems I've been sick every other week for 3 months. My ears have been clogged for over a month. No clothes fit because I have gained so much more weight than ever before. And I still have 5 more weeks to go. 5 weeks. 

           My poor Jared cringes at the thought. Doesn't like watching me be miserable. He has been my rock through all this. The only person I can stand to be around. I even get tired of my wonderful children. Just give me my Jared, who happens to never be home & have plenty of other responsibilities then take care of pitiful me.  Even though I am being this super crazy woman, Jared still loves & supports me. Even the crazy me. Which is a large part at the moment.  

       Many times I have to look at my belly & wonder who is in there. Remember why I am going through this hell. Remember how bad it was the other times I was expecting, but look to see who came to be in my family. I love my kids. I'd do anything for them. It makes me feel better for a moment. Till I think of how someone looked at me last week & I start crying or go into a heated rage. 

       The boys have asked why I'm so sick & when I'm going to get better. I told them I was this bad when they were in my belly. I tell them I'd do it again just so they can come into this world to be a part of my life. It makes them smile to think I did this for them too. 

        5 short weeks. Or will they be long? Can I make it to church each Sunday where I hear the word "pop" 20 times or see the pitiful looks given my way? Go to the store without wanting to yell at someone in my way. I mean really, you're going to make me move out of the way? I can barley walk & have 4 kids hanging off my cart. You move. How many more times will my middle finger make an appearance as I honk at the idiots driving around me? Will Jared's pajama pants still fit? Will my kids still like me by the end? How much more stretching can my skin tolerate?

        So please, c.o.n.f.i.n.e. me. 

28 weeks!

28 weeks!

Do you like how clean my mirror is? 

Just like Charly's pregnancy, I've been having some major sciatic problems. 

Walking, moving, sitting, laying down, etc., it all hurts.

But it is fun when people ask if I'm ok. I say my butt hurts & they give me great looks. 

I've already gained my allowed 30 pounds. Oops.

Maybe this one will be chunky, or have hair. 

Can't wait to see who she is!!

A finished product

Every year I end up making a quilt for someone in the family for Christmas. 

I like to start early as possible so I won't stress at the end. 

I had Kirsti this year. 

I picked out her fabric & pattern 2 years ago. 

I cut & started it February 2012. 

Life happens. 

Come November, I had gotten no farther. 

I had to stress. 

But I love it!

(pic isn't great)

I wish I would have taken a picture of the back. 

It's my all time favorite fabric. 

By The Fruits of Your Labors

 This year has been really fun having a backyard with a huge area for gardening & several fruit trees.  

I want to have a place to keep track of what I did this year, so I can compare for next year. 

Here are some pictures of what it's been growing. 

A sunflower getting ready to bloom. 

The bean fences in the background. 

 Pumpkin plants. 

We had 11 tomato plants, cucumbers, crookneck squash, several zucchini plants (yum), sugar snaps peas, green beans, corn, jalapenos, green-red-yellow bell peppers, pumpkin, spaghetti squash, melon (never bloomed), strawberries, raspberries, blackberries. 

I think that's it. 

Our spaghetti squash plants.

We used huge tomato cages. 

They were hard to put in, but great at holding up the plants!

The corn. They ended up taller than the fence. 

Pepper plants before they got huge. 

I'm determined to learn how to grow the best peppers. 

We eat so many. 

I learned how to make real jam.
The stuff you cook, jar & can keep on the shelf for food storage.
All in all, I made 5 pints of strawberry jam, 4 pints of apricot
cherry, 4 pints of apricot raspberry,  11 pints of cinnamon plum.
Whew. It was fun, sticky, but we're set on jam for awhile.
Also all the people I've given it to. Plenty more peeps!!

I'm super paranoid about canning tomatoes, but I've done 11 pints so far. 

If you don't do it just right, you'll grow botulism & kill everyone who eats it. No worries right? 

I just added some extra cooking time to kill all germs. 

Fingers are crossed. 

Here is a picture of some of the food I've canned.
Apricots  3 quarts, 6  pint.5,  8 pints.
Peaches  9 pints, 9 quarts.
Pears 3 quarts.
Asian Pears  5 pints, 14 quarts, 1 pint.5.

 

Now that I know what I'm doing, I can plan better next year & do more. 

I want to get more creative with jam flavors. 

I also made at least 12 batches of strawberry freezer jam. 

The booth on Bradshaw has a great deal for a huge bucket of over ripe/ugly strawberries for $6. 

Awesome! Lots of fruit for yummy jam. 

So here's to next year! 

Our New Home

S

A few weeks ago, a good friend of mine, Holly, announced she was moving super far away to El Dorado hills. 

I.was.crushed. 

She is one of my favorite people to see at church, the anchor at our book club, & one of my greatest friends. 

But wait, she said I could live at her house. 

Um, I was totally torn between hatching a plan to kidnap her & keep her in my house. Nobody would ever find out. 

Or, supporting her so I can live lavishly in her awesome home. Hmm........... 

So you know I chose to support her. Also because she had a new born baby, 2 other children & a husband that would notice her missing. So we packed & moved out. A little suddenly I might add. But thanks to some other awesome friends, it went very smoothly!

 Charly on the first night. She was loving it!

 Everyone running in all the new space!

 Me at the end of the day. Totally wiped out. 

And with so much more work to do!

Thanks to Jimmy for letting us use his tow truck.
 That's most of our stuff right there!!

I've enjoyed decorating a bit. 

Although I realize I really don't know what I'm doing. 

This is a wonky wall in the master bedroom. 

 My new kitchen that excites me so much that I have done some embarrassing jigs in it. 

The little nook that our table fits into. Nice & snug. 

 Ahem. One of my favorite things. The pantry. 

No more food on a terrible book shelf, or stored in the garage. 

The kids also love to hide in there. 

 My second favorite thing(s). My house warming gifts. I got to unpack all my books & put them on my nice, new shelves. 

They look great. Thanks to Melissa for putting them together. 

 Two views the middle room. I don't know what you call it. 

But the kids love to run around, dance, play & build in the open space it provides. 

What I get to see from the kitchen sink! 

I love having a window in the kitchen. 

 Back yard & inside the gazebo. 

I can't even tell you what all the fruit trees are. I know there are lemons, oranges, cherries, pears, apricots, purple plums, nectarines, pomegranates, apples & a few others. But they almost all look the same to me. 

I'll figure it out when they ripen this summer. 

The green house. It's fantastic. My seeds sprout in there better than ever! Also, I love having a spot for the lawn mower. A shot of the garden side of the house. Holly was huge on gardening. I get to reap her rewards. (i.e. look at those berry bushes)

We started planting before we even moved in. 

 Cherry tree & other side of the house. 

And my third favorite thing. (yes you can judge me for how lame I am) 

A hanging fruit basket! We eat so much produce, having it all around on the counter has always bothered me. 

But now it can hang around. It's not even a tacky 70's one. Black & modern. 

Sweet Elles. Enjoying her new spot to eat.

I'm so grateful to be in a quiet area. No drug dealers (that I know about), on a court so the kids can play outside, fruit trees, an extra room for crap, a real size garage, a hot tub, great garden area, windows everywhere so it doesn't seem we like live in a cave,  & I get to live in the essence of my good friend Holly.

Feel free to come visit me. I'd love to show off my newest blessing!

Shout out Friday

I went to Target 3 times today. Jared said I should be ashamed.

But I'm sure there are some other gals that understand.

$3.69 skirt

Old Navy had some great clearance this week!

I saw this super cute skirt for $3.69. That's right, only 3 bucks.

Who can pass up a cute skirt for that?

The only down side was the front slit up the wahzoo.

But I had some t shirts lying around to help me out on that.

Cut some strips, made some ruffles & voila!

A cute modest jean skirt.

Just had to share.

Jared said he'd give me a dollar...........

if I wore my hair like this to church.

Been Busy This Summer.........

A brief synopsis of our summer.........

Charlotte really does like chocolate. I was starting to worry.

A quilt top from scraps (don't have a pic of the top finished)

I haven't finished quilting it, didn't like how it turned out.

Our 4th of July BBQ. Delicious.

Playing with Uncle David while he visited.

I finally finished Pili's patriotic quilt I promised her last year.

And my first, very large Dresdon quilt I plan on trying to sell.

Whew, that one was a doozy.

A fun shot of Elles, who is an angel. If I leave her in the high chair long enough,

she usually goes to sleep.

And my sweet Charles, loves to do the same work out as everyone else.

My Grantman turned a whopping 6 years old!!!!

He's such a smartie & has learned how to swim this summer.

We got to go to the State Fair. It was fun as usual.

Not too hot & dollar rides made it possible.

A place I've been dreaming about the last couple of weeks. FABRIC DEPOT!!

I wish we had one here in Sac,

but it's probably a good thing it's in Oregon for Jared's sanity.

Speaking of which, my Jared is such a hottie.

We had a baby shower for Drea & her upcoming baby boy!!!

I love this monkey fabric. Perfect for her kids.

Meeting up with Baby Enzo.

A post wouldn't be complete w/o some pics of Jared sleeping.....

My sweet Elles being patient in the stroller for 2 hours of soccer.

Grant N Nate has their first soccer games of the season. Nate's first ever.

That's bit of our summer.

2 more weeks till school starts. I'm a super ready!!!!!