Harvest Time

We have been enjoying vegetables from our garden since July, but today as I looked out my window I noticed about 6 birds out in my garden having a great feast on the sunflowers. I decided it must be time to harvest them, if we were going to have any seeds for ourselves.



In the spring I let my kids chose one item that they want to grow in our garden. This year Joseph chose Sunflowers. He planted the seeds himself in the spot that I showed him. (He also planted a few randomly around without my knowledge.) All summer we watched them get taller and taller. In August they bloomed and made our backyard beautiful. I have never grown sunflowers before so I was not sure when they would be ready to eat. When I saw the birds today I decided it was time.



I got on the Internet and found directions for roasting the seeds and the boys and I went to work.






And work it was........

It was harder to get the seeds out than I thought it would be and I did not realize that sunflowers have sap on them. I found a faster way by the end, but I only did

3of 6 flowers today because I did not think my thumb could handle anymore.

After you get the seeds out you have to wash them and then boil them in salt water for 1 hour. (I had tried this with my pumpkin seeds last year and it made the salt flavoring just right.)

Then you drain the water off and put the seeds on paper towels to dry off the excess water.

Then you place them on a cookie sheet and roast them for 30 minutes. After they cool they are ready to eat.

They are yummy!

We will probably do the last three flowers tomorrow. I am hoping that It will be faster next time, now that I know the system.

We will definitely be planting Sunflowers again next year.

Going to the Zoo

Saturday night we went to the Zoo with Ryan's family.

When we first moved here we had a zoo pass and went pretty regularly, but we had not been for about a year and a half so the kids were excited to go. It was not until we got there and started looking at the animals that I realized Joshua had been a baby when we had our pass and this was his first real zoo experience. Every time we would see a new animal Josh would yell in his excited voice and tell us what animal he was looking at. He really likes the baby alligators.
We also attended the bird show where Joseph answered one of the questions correctly and got a coupon for a free gallon of chocolate milk. After the show they let us come take a picture with the bald eagle. Josh started to go stand by the bird for the picture, but then decided not to.
(If you look closely you can see Josh's hand on the edge of the picture)


The animals were all really active that night and it made it even more entertaining. I forget how much kids enjoy seeing the animals. I need to take them back a little more often.

Scrapbook Expo

Last Friday was the Scrapbook Expo. Once again Ryan took the day off of work so I could spend the entire day there. Unfortunately my regular buddy Tracy moved so I had to recruit new buddies. None of them were willing to get there at 6:00am with me so I made friends with the ladies sitting next to me in line. This is a strategy of mine. If you have friends in line with you they will protect your spot.

The tickets were sold a little differently this year. They usually have one big line in the morning and at 8:00am they start selling the Early Bird tickets and give you your gift bag. This year at 7:00am they handed out numbers to the first 150 people in line (I was #77) Then they had everyone leave our stuff and form 6 lines at the ticket booths. Then after you bought your ticket you were supposed to form one line again to get the gift bag. The only problem was that the front of a few of the ticket lines were towards the front of the bag line. So instead of going to the back of the line the ladies were just cutting in. I was towards the front of the ticket line so the bag line was not very long when I got in it, but it was not moving because of the cutters. I was standing by the ladies I had met that morning and so I told them to hold my place in line. Then I went up and stood where the lines were merging and I told anyone who had just bought there ticket where the end of the bag line was. After that the line moved quickly and I was able to get my bag. I know everyone would have eventually gotten a bag, but I wanted to get back to my place in the real line, the one to get in the door. (see what my Friends missed by not coming early) The numbers were a nice thing because it made it so those of us who got there early were able to be the first ones in to get our tables.

I have heard reports back that I get a little crazy at the expo and push my way into booths and stuff. Maybe I do. But hey that's how you get the good products. Tracy understands. (I still need to train my new friends a little.)

Here is a picture of some of the things I got at the Expo. It is all pretty cool and you would not believe how much I paid for it.

Thanks Jenny, Brenda, Cathy and Heather for coming with me. It was a lot of fun.

Girls Night Out

Every once in a while it is nice to take a break from life and just have some relaxation time. This last weekend I was lucky enough to get to go to my friends cabin for a scrapbooking retreat. I carpooled up with my friend Laura and her sister-in-law Lisa.
It was so nice to drive up into the mountain this time of year and see all of the pretty fall colors starting to show. It was lots of fun driving up together. I had met Lisa before, but I feel like she is more of a friend now. We only took a couple of wrong turns but that made the ride even more fun.
There were 7 ladies from my ward who were able to come and we stayed up almost the whole night chatting scrappbooking and having a great time. I was surprised that even at 4:00am, when I made myself go to bed, I still was not really tired. The next day we got up and continued the fun. It was great to have a time when all I had to worry about was what I was doing.

At one point we joked about the mess in the cabin from all of our scrapbooking, but when everyone packed up their stuff to leave it was amazing how quickly it cleaned up. I was able to get 12 pages done and I am happy to say that Josh now has the beginnings of a baby book. We made it back home around 5:00pm on Saturday. I was tired when I got home, but I also felt rejuvenated and ready for the busyness of life again. I think a little break now and then is a good idea.

Our State Fair

We love going to the state fair. It is one of our family traditions.

The yummy, greasy, sugary food,

The animals,

the vendors selling all kinds of fun stuff

and the craft entries that make you wonder how many crazy people really live in your neighborhood.

And you can't go to the fair without going to see the Butter cow.

(A hand carved statue made completely out of butter.)

One of the top moments at the fair for us this year was the kids on the rides. Emily has always loved going on rides. In the past Aunt Tracy has been with us and went with Emily on the rides. (Emily really missed you) This year Joseph was big enough to ride some of the bigger rides with Emily. The first ride they chose to ride was called the Octopus. I told Joseph that I was not sure if he would be able to ride it, but he was excited and insisted that he wanted to go on it. They climbed in and got all ready to go.

Then the ride started and when they came around the first time this was Joseph's face.

When the ride finally came to a stop Joseph was crying hard. We were not sure if we would get him on another ride.


After that experience we headed over to the rides intended for the younger kids. All three of the kids climbed in the belly of a dragon and were excited to try this ride. (it is a lot like the tea cups at Disneyland)

As the ride started Josh started crying and slid off his seat as the dragon came around you could see his sad face by the door. (He was not in any danger. )The dragon kept turning so I was not able to get a good picture of this. Emily got him calmed down and back on the seat. But he was still crying when the ride ended.
Because we are such good parents instead of running to the ride operator and asking them to stop the ride on both accounts we all stood at the gate laughing hysterically at the crying children. (I know, mother of the year)


The favorite ride of the night for the boys was the wiggly worm.
Emily gets the big sister Blue ribbon of the night for helping her brothers when they were scared, and for going on a few more "kiddie rides" than she wanted to. She did make it on a few more big rides, but Joe just watched.


Emily, Joseph, and Josh all tried the balloon dart game and each got a prize.

The kids all fell asleep on the way home, and I could not help wondering if Joseph and Josh were going to have nightmares about carnival rides. I am happy to say everyone slept well.

Together Again

The blanket is found!

Just as I thought we had left Josh's blanket somewhere and we were never going to see it again, I found it while doing some fall cleaning. It was suspiciously waded up and shoved tightly in the back corner of MY closet like it was put there intentionally by someone who did not want Josh to find it. No one claims to have put it there, but I must say I have my suspicions.

Josh is happy and has had his blanket with him at all times since it was found. I hope this means he will sleep better tonight.

Have You Seen Me?

HELP!

Josh's favorite blanket is missing. The last time I remember seeing it was Friday August 23rd. We have looked and called everywhere we can think of, but still no blanket.

(This is the best picture I have of it. On the front there is a big cowboy.)

Luckily he has other blankets and he is satisfied with his Teddy Bear blanket for now, but I still see him looking for his favorite. If you have seen it please let me know.