dOmesTic…. Part II

The story of jAm….

My dearest friend Nicole suggested that we make jam one Saturday afternoon, since strawberries were on sale and such, how could I pass up the opportunity to put on my apron and learn the art of canning.

Both Nicole’s mom and my mom offered up their advice, but we were armed with a recipe and all the tools needed to make a the perfect jam. So we threw caution to the wind…

I was intimidated at first, lets be honest, the word “pectin” should scare anyone. Let alone boiling jars hoping the lids pop??

The process started out fairly simple and in no time I thought what was I so worried about? After an hour or so we were done. Really that easy?!? We set off to lunch, Nicole helped me with my blog background and then we went to check on how it was setting up. Nothing had changed.

Again we called our mom’s hoping that they would tell us it would be fine. After reading the recipe again we looked at each other baffled, how many strawberries did we use?  Did the recipe call for that many crushed or whole. We used splenda were we supposed to add more pectin (see, it’s a dangerous thing) and so on second guessing ourselves.

In the end the jam maybe a little more runny than most but it is delicious and I learned that I should do a little more research next time we take on this adventure again:)

dOmeStiC…. Part I

do·mes·tic

–adjective   1. of or pertaining to the home, the household, household affairs, or the family: domestic pleasures.

–noun   4. a hired household servant. ( I wish I were getting paid) LOL

Since I have had a little extra time on my hands I have been trying to finish up a few projects that I had started!

First up, Payne’s Room…

We started this little project back in November. It started with painting the walls with one accent wall and then repainting the accent wall so it was the perfect shade of gray.

I couldn’t find the right duvet cover so I ended up purchasing sheets and making my own. I am pretty proud of my mAd sewing skills;)

 

I am obsessed with anything that has a name, initial or number on it so I whipped up a couple of pillows.

the wall of “P’s”, again obsessed. But I LOVE how it turned out two of the pieces are from Payne’s preschool art work, LOVE that too! (and don’t for get the cute girl, snow white)

His little reading corner and a magnet board for all of his fabulous art work!

Finished!!!!!  now if I could just get him to sleep in there….

How do you start your day?

8:40am

please note: the pj’s that are total floods, no socks, CRAZY bed head and a soda before breakfast.  when did I become “that” mom;)

BROTHERS

These two had a rocky start, Wylie was 6 at the time and the youngest at his dad’s and the only one at our house when I found out that I was expecting Payne.  He loved all of his friends siblings but has no desire to be a big brother. 4yrs later I think they are starting to warm up to each other.

 

Well, at least sometimes……………………..

and sometimes NOT!!

Wylie hated that Payne wanted to do everything he did, but once he realized that he was just being IDOLIZED he came to terms with being so cool and started to let Payne “hangout” with him.

Even while waiting for the school bus…

and at night when he is scared to sleep in his own bed.

I LOVE and ADORE these boys and hope that they will always remember to love each other too!

4 yr olds….

they are funny creatures!!

(my little UTE fan at the game on Halloween 2009)

1st- Payne insists on eating from the same plate for every meal. (we have a whole collection but no, just this one)

2nd-He always wants the princess sippy cup!! (you know he loves cute girls)

3rd- He can do everything himself!!! I am so impatient that at first it really bothered me but I let him and when he struggles he always asks nicely for help (I am trying to nurture the independence in him.)

4th-Yet, he can never do anything I ask because he is too tired!! ( that is really what comes out of his mouth) LOL

5th-  He has short term memory loss at our house, you know you ask him to do something but he forgets or is too tired. . At the store he has the memory of an elephant (they never forget) especially if there is something he WANTS!!

6th- The BIG boy bed….He was ecstatic and told everyone he came into contact with that he was getting a new bed but low and behold we got them, bought the sheets he wanted and he has slept in them (bunk beds) 4 times!!! yes four in 4  months. ( He says that he is afraid of a fire, I guess I need a therapist??)

7th-My favorite, he is working on his stand up routine.  He loves to tell jokes. Of course most of them don’t make sense but you have to laugh and then he busts into a belly laugh. Which is just funny all in itself. Here are a couple.

Knock knock, who’s there, your mother, your mother who. You don’t remember who your mother is.

Knock knock, who’s there, orange, orange who, aren’t you glad I didn’t say banana????  ( he was supposed to say banana first, and repeat a couple of times and end with orange)

His latest is whatever you say he will end with “that is what she said!”

There are a lot more but you get the idea.  Good times at our house, if he keeps it up maybe we could get rid of cable??

Well, that’s our 4yr old right now!

Back to Responsibility……

Really, I feel like I am beating my head against the wall with my oldest. He doesn’t care, I know he is not an adult and doesn’t have a true concept of cost but when you can’t remember where you IPOD is I feel like I am going to explode with frustration!!!

Am I over indulging him with things that are past his age? Should I have waited, I guess it’s always hindsight at this point but something has to give….. We are going to a library system, he gets to “checkout” his things for a while to see if that helps. I feel mean but who cares (right). We will see how it goes.

Play Dates…

Are just as much for mommies as they are for kids! It was nice to have an adult to “chat” with and get to know these mom’s better. We have been so lucky to be invited over to a couple of our friends house this last couple of weeks to have super fun play dates.

First Payne’s sweet friend Lucy invited us over after preschool.  They had so much fun playing in her very cool kitchen with the coolest play food I had ever laid eyes on, her mom saved her play food from when she was little and it was in pristine condition. The highlight of the play date for Payne was when we had lunch and Lucy’s mom let Payne cut his sandwich out with cookie cutters, he has been asking to do it every time we have sandwiches:)

(Lucy and Payne at Payne’s fourth birthday)

Payne has loved Lucy from the first day of preschool and I am so glad that he has her there to make his day better! She is such a cutie pie and they have so many funny little things in common ( like, they both collect pez and share a love of chocolate milk) I know they are four but I hope it is destiny! LOL

Our second play date was just down the street with with a sassy little girl that we are glad to see all of the time, Ms Sydney. Payne and Syd have been friends for a couple of years now and they are really funny together! Both Sydney and Payne are a little strong willed but Payne lets her have the reins for the most part and he follows her lead. I am glad that he has such a cute friend in the neighborhood and she is someone I know will keep him in line;)

(Payne and Sydney, Payne’s fourth birthday) Don’t you love her dark brown eyes?!? She is so adorable.

Thanks Ladies for such great times!!