You Will See

Ok, so I know this is hard to believe and very weird...I've blogged more in the last 2 or 3 days than over the past year...but the canning is caught up for now, and I can't do a thing outside due to the wind and rain...and let's face it...there will always be laundry...the kids are ALL at school for another hour so I have peace and quiet...so I'm catching up.
Well, last night at the Relief Society Spiritual Mall, all went very well, there were many good messages and several touched me and I really felt the spirit and was able to reflect on things in my life that I could take to a new level and see through a different perspective to be more positive...and my friend Jacqui was kind enough to record my newest song for me...but as you listen focus on the message and not the delivery...I don't know why, but I still get such stage fright and my voice gets bad and my tempo isn't very steady...but regardless everyone seemed to enjoy the entertainment.  And you all should know that I had been sitting at the table right under the air conditioning vent so my hands were FREEZING which makes it hard to play the guitar...not to mention the newly formed blisters causing pain (due to my over practicing, and not playing much over the last few months till last week)  Ok enough disclaimer...on with the show!  Enjoy!

The name of my song is "Your Will See"

Put to the music by Taylor Swift "You belong with me"

Takin' scraps to the girls!

Chickens never seice to amaze me...I'm actually excited anytime I have extra scraps to go through to them...I love watching them run over to it and start pecking away.  It's amazing how cuious they are, and somewhat smart as I am learning the more I watch them.  This post is dedicated to our little flock.  Which I will be sad in a way to move outside permanently in a week or so when they are 8 weeks old.   We only bring them in at night and put them in a big box in the kitchen, but I love hearing them chrip when the sun comes up and we start bustling about in the kitchen in the morning getting ready for our day...plus loading them up in a little box to take them out to the coop gives us hands on interraction each day which will be harder to get when it's not a necessity. Oh, and the video that I uploaded is kinda long...sorry about that, but I was wathching them and they were doing their little run super fast and flap their wings like they were going to take off on a flight...until I turned on the camera...so I was waiting for another show and it never happened...but they are fun to watch.  ENOUGH SAID...

I know this last picture is not a picture of a chicken...but it looked cool...I'm calling it our "Hole in the Wall"  The chickens love to peek through and grab bits of asparagus from the neighbors...the leafy stuff that's gone to seed sticks through and they peck it off.

Tomatoes, Tomatoes, Tomatoes/A REALLY RED Post

Well, I've been picking tomatoes from the garden, and being that I'm the only one in the family that really likes tomatoes I decided I should can some...It's been years since I've done that cuz again....I'm the only one that really likes them...but I had fun canning up a few bottle from the two big bowels of tomatoes I'd collected last week.  I also had alot of fun playing with my camera again throughout the canning process...It's so much fun turning work into art...maybe I'm probably a little crazy and it just looks like tomatoes but to me it's ART !!! :)

Well, it's a very messy job, but SOMEONE'S gotta do it...and I always say, you might as well have fun while your'e at it...so I did my best at having fun!  Oh, and by the way,  They chickens absolutely loved the left over skins and cores...so it's a win/win, and I love not wasting what is waste to us anymore.

Playing with the camera

I was melting down some honey because it had crystalized and as I was drizzling it I thought it would make a nice picture...doesn't it make you want to taste?  Also I discovered our camera allows you to change settings so I was trying to do some close up picture things...

The final product!

Here's the final product with the run attatched.  The chickens love being out...and they especially love getting out to free roam the yard...On Labor Day one of them even got brave enough to come up on the deck however finding her way  down took a little bit...she finally resorted to flying off the edge.

Here's Pup doing her morning ritual of terrorizing the chickens...

One Fall Morning...well almost

Our Beautiful Apples...Emma's already been eating them...she's really excited to have one now that they are ripe.

Brandon and I have already had one nectarine...there are only 3 more on the tree...but the tree is very small and it's only it's first year...so I can't wait till next year.  Oh, and by the way the nectarine was YUMMY even though it was still a tad firm.

This was just last week...see how green they are compared to now.

This peach is hanging quite low in the tree...I'm surprised Pup hasn't gotten it yet.

This morning this is how the peaches are looking...they are still a tad firm...but I'm guessing within the week they'll be ready.  It's amazing how quick they've turned. 

What Hannah's been up to

Emma loves her new skirt...it's an original by Hannah

You can't really see it...but she even sewed on belt loops because she was unsure of the size...what a smart cookie my girl is.

Hannah just picked up a needle and thread a bit ago and started making clothes for a tiny baby doll...then when we were at Walmart on Labor Day after of course losing every needle we had in the house...she brought money with he and bought her own set of needles and thread and a threader...And while I was at gymnastics with Emma I got a call from her asking how to use the threader...so I explained it over the phone and as she was trying it I hear "Oh cool, that's really handy...and she giggled her cute giggle.  When I came home this is what she had created for Emma...she was going to wait and give it to her for her birthday in 6 months...but I said it might not fit her then and it might be better to give it to her now...she did this without even trying it on Emma...just eyeballing. it...I'm really proud of her gifts and talents...she is now a seamstress, guitar player, singer, and artist...not to mention great helper and babysitter for when I really need her.Way to go Hannah!!!

What Emma's Been Up to Lately

3 weeks ago Emma signed up for Gymnastics to give it a shot...our neighbor had seen her doing "tricks" in the front yard and said she was a natural and she should pursue it...this is what she's been working on.  I hope you all enjoy she sure does.

Emma is really loving gymnastics....Thank You Grandpa and Grandma Knopp...it's the best gift she could ever have.  And everytime we get in the van to drive home she says..."Do you know what my favorite thing was today?....it was the bars...she just loves pulling herself up and learning to do the moves...plus I think she enjoys it because it's a challenge.  A lot of the other things like cartwheels and backbends and splits and handstands are easier and she can practice them all day at home..but bars and beam are only at gymnastics to practice and so she can't get enough of it...I know there are a ton of videos...but I wanted to give Grandpa and Grandma a glimpse of what they are assisting in creating in Emma's life....THANK YOU!

A Fun little project.

One day last week my friend Holly told me she was asked to be a presenter for the Relief Society Spiritual Mall Activity next week.  She was in charge of Best Buy...and wanted to know if I would write a song for it as part of her presentation.  i thought it sounded really fun and I was up to the task...well, at least part of it...I knew for sure we could write lyrics...but coming up with the actual music and learning it well enough to perform in less than a week I was unsure of...so we used Taylor Swifts music to You Belong With Me and I wrote a new version to go along with Holly's topic...I'm pleased with how well it turned out...I hoping tomorrow night someone will record it for me and I'll upload it as well, but anyway on to the story of Journeys...just moments after talking to Holly a neighbor from across the street that I'm in the Primary Presidency with asked if I'd help her with the store she's in charge of ...she wanted me to do the Store Sign...I tought it would be fun...and here is the end result...I painted it today and she was happy with the results.  I'm very excited for tomorrow night...I just know it's going to be fun and spiritually uplifting.

Asher's First Day of Kindergarten

Asher was so excited for school the moment he walked out of his room in his jammies he said, "Is today my first day of school? "  He was all smiles...I wish I had been able to capture that moment on the camera...it truly was a Christmas morning look on his face...he is loving school.

Look it's my new backpack!

Ready to go and soooooo excited.

Come on already Mom, why are you taking so long...I was getting on my bike and he was riding circles in the driveway waiting for me to get all ready.

He arrived in front of the school...I'm sad I never took pictures of the other kids' first day.

Through the front door he goes...he's looking at me like why are we taking pictures lets just get in there already!

He was really concentrating on staying in the lines

His first assignment when he got to school...he was so excited he wouldn't even give me a hug goodbye.