Fog Willow 2012

Went to Fog Willow this year. 

Super fun, lots of stuff to do. 

Charly's cute hair cut

Charly's hair was getting soooo long. 

It was a lot of work trying to keep it up & out of her face. 

So I watched a video on how to cut it & tried it out. 

Before:

After:

It turned out pretty good. I took off over 6 inches. 

It looks so much more full. And stays out of her face!

She's such a cutie!!

Child #5 is on it's way!!!

This summer, Jared & I decided it was time to add our last edition to our family. 

 The due date is April 27th, 2013

Here's a sonogram at 12 weeks. 

This picture is me at 14 weeks.

 I gained almost 20 pounds in the first 3 months. 

I was sick as heck like usual, but this time I was determined to fight back.

 I would gag down food, eat every 30 minutes & refused to get held back. 

That lasted a couple weeks before nausea took it over & landed me on my back. 

Vertigo & dizziness was more prominent this time. 

Watching TV or looking at the computer would make me sick & my eyes hurt. 

I finally tried the "Belly Band" & I LOVE IT SO MUCH!! 

I can't believe I've been missing out on this thing for so many years. 

It allows me to wear so many more clothes. 

Which is good so I don't want to buy anymore maternity:)

Now at 16 weeks, I feel much better. 

Still tired & need lots of breaks & down time. 

We're so excited for you to come whoever you may be!!! 

Can't wait till April. 

First Days of School

It's been busy around the Hasleton household! School has started!

Homework, flyers, PTG meetings, what not to wear, schedules, etc.

Here are the boys on their first day. 9-4-12

Grant to Second, Nate to Kinder

Charlotte one week later 9-10-12 to preschool. 

She has a carrot in her mouth. Wouldn't swallow it for anything.

And Grant gets his first pair of glasses. 

I'm so nervous for them. Not the cheapest things around. 

But it's fun watching him be able to see. 

He keeps moving them up & down at things & saying, "wow, it's blurry, then it's not." 

It's so hilarious & sad at the same time. 

I'm waiting to see what gets better for him with good vision. 

The poor kid has been walking around with a worse vision than me. And I can't see squat. 

Hey you bloggers. Update your blogs with awesome pics of what you're doing would ya!

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!