The Third Degree

Dawson is obsessed with cars. Toy cars, real cars, the movie Cars, pretty much anything with four wheels. I once went to go get him out of his crib one morning and the first thing he said to me was "cars!" We will be driving and he points to all the ones that really catch his eye and says Mom, car! My response now is yes, we are SURROUNDED by cars!!! Anyways, when he watches the movie Cars (which he requests to watch multiple times daily but does not get to watch it that much) I pretty much get the third degree until the movie is over. I wont complain, an hour and a half of him sitting there is NOT a bad thing! I have learned not to let him watch it around meal times or sleep times otherwise if I turn it off it is total meltdown. Here is a video of him watching Cars with his Cars pajamas...usually he is holding a toy car too but not this time!!


PS For you parents with your car lovers out there (Lindy) here is a website I found from the movie Cars that has fun little games like Maters memory game, a color the picture, and tractor tipping.

Tasty Tuesday

For the last few years I have thought it would be neat to learn how to can fruits or veggies. It has always intimidated me and I have never had the equipment necessary so I haven't bothered. Well, this year I talked about it to a couple people, read a few peoples blogs, and found out my friend Sheri was borrowing her mother in laws canning stuff and was willing to teach me so I decided to try my hand at it! I just bought one box of peaches and decided to can just that to see if I liked it and could do it. The result? Much easier than I thought! As long as you follow the instructions it's really not hard and it's kinda fun to know that I made 14 jars of peaches. I definitly commend all you canners out there who have done like, 50 jars of produce because it was a lot of work just for 14! I think I am sold though and this time next year maybe I'll get daring and do peaches AND green beans!!
Interested in preserving?? Check out www.freshpreserving.com
PS....I just wanted to say Happy Birthday to Brandy whose birthday is tomorrow! Thanks for being such a great friend and I hope you have a great day! :-)

I Stuck!

This happened the other night while I was at Young Women's. Christopher was scaling my counters and cleaning off the tops of the cabinets, walked into the other room, came back, and found Dawson climbing on the chair to "help" but got stuck instead. **Note** Do you see Dawson's "alfalfa" hair do? That's compliments of Christopher as well.

Tasty Tuesday

As fall is slowly creeping up on us, I am bringing out more and more of my fall/winter recipes like soups, casseroles, and yummy things in the crockpot. Since it's not so hot out I also bake more and love filling my house with the smell of something freshly baked. I found this recipe last year and fell in love with it because well, it's 2 ingredients. Yep! 2! They are called Pumpkin Spice Muffins and they are actually low in fat because you use a can of pumpkin in place of oil and eggs. Pumpkin is also really good for you, scoring high in antioxidants (anti-cancer properties) , iron, zinc, and fiber. So tomorrow morning, whip up a batch of these yummy muffins and enjoy with a tall glass of milk (my favorite way to eat them!)

Pumpkin Spice Muffins

1 package spice cake mix (dry)
1 (small) can pumpkin

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In medium bowl, mix cake mix and pumpkin until moist (may still have lumps but that's ok, don't over mix!) Spray or line muffin pan. Fill muffin cups 3/4 full (batter is sticky and will look lumpy on top!) Bake for 15-20 minutes or until done (toothpick comes out clean!)

Signs of a Sugar Addict

I think I may have a sugar addict on my hands...you be the judge! It amazes me how he can tell the difference between candy/treat and healthy food/snacks. He is ALWAYS willing to take candy or share a yummy goody....yet if it's something good for him like pretty much most vegetables besides a few, he says ewww and pushes it away. The mind of a toddler is a smart little thing!

1. The sugar-glazed over eyes
2. The sugar coma
3. The face stuff...must have it all in your mouth!
4. Slyly trying to sneak it from Mom and Dad (I love his face in the picture, so guilty!)
5. Eating/drinking anything of a sugary substance that (mom) leaves laying around
**Note, these are over the past year....he doesn't consume sugar like this regularly!!

Tasty Tuesday (one day late!)

About a year or two ago, I decided to try making some freezer jam. Making homemade jam, bread, canning, etc. has always intimidated me but I figured I would give it a whirl. Turns out, freezer jam is a piece of cake!!! No pressure cooker or anything fancy, just make it and freeze it! I recently just made a few batches of jam using my friend Tammy's peaches from her tree and here is my favorite recipe!

Peach Cinnamon Jam
By: Sarah Selin

12 peaches, peeled and crushed smooth
1/2 t cinnamon
1 T lemon juice
1 1.59 oz package freezer jam fruit pectin
1 1/2 c sugar

In a large bowl, combine sugar and pectin, mix. Peel and crush peaches until smooth texture (I like bits of fruit in my jam, so I leave it a little chunky.) Add peaches, cinnamon, and lemon juice to sugar/pectin mixture and stir for 3 minutes. Ladle into jars, leave 1/4 inch space at top. Cover with lids, and let sit for 30 minutes. Stores in your fridge for 3 weeks or freezer for 1 year.

PS Now maybe one day I will tackle bread to go with my jam...

Week in Review

We have had a busy last week, which has prevented me from blogging lately. Which is why I figured I would do a little review of our past week.

1. Dawson- At the beginning of this summer I put him in the reading program at the library (as a read to me child) and he got his final prize and book for completing it this past week! It was bug themed (Catch the Reading Bug!) and so each month they got a little prize, which was mainly plastic bugs and then when you filled in all your bugs on your door hanger you got a book in the end. Dawson loves going to the library weekly and seeing the chinchilla and playing with the toys and books there. I am so excited for Storytime to start Sept. 17th! On a side note, Dawson loves to do what I do when I get ready in the morning (brush his hair, put on chapstick, and now of lately...put on earrings!!!)
2. Ward Camp Out- We went to the ward camp out last Friday night and had a lot of fun sitting by the fire, eating s'mores, playing games, and hanging out with all of our friends. Dawson loved being outside and playing with sticks and rocks and dirt. He fell asleep in our arms around the campfire and when he woke up the next morning and found us all (including Uncle Jeremy and Aunt Jen) in a tent he thought that was so funny and started jumping on all of us. His most favorite part of it all? The hammock that Dad brought!!!
3. BYU Game- After the ward camp out we headed home quick to unpack, shower, and let Dawson nap before Chris' Dad came and picked the three of us up to go to the BYU game (it helped so much that he drove so we didn't have to waste gas going back and forth.) Dawson loved watching the football players and would shout "Go, Go!" whenever Chris did. He would also raise his hands in the air and say "Touchdown" when Christopher told him they scored. He loved when everyone would stand up and sing the fight song after they scored and would request "Again, again!!" when it was over. I enjoyed the second half much more when the sun was covered and it wasn't so stinkin' hot!
4. Play Date- Dawson's friend Addy came over today to play and they had a lot of fun! Summer came to hang with me and we talked as the kids played away. They have a lot of fun together and play so well. Dawson for some reason wants to play with whatever toy Addy is playing with so we are working on sharing right now. For some reason too, this time they would bear hug each other then fall over and roll around as if they were wrestling each other! They weren't being mean, but usually who ever was on the bottom of it was not too happy! Good thing they are 2 and not 13 otherwise we would have a problem!! PS The picture is an older one, I didn't have one from today.
It was one fun but busy week and weekend. As much much as it was, I look forward to a weekend at home this weekend with no traveling involved!