beets, and green beans, and peas, OH MY!

Canning season has officially begun at our house. This morning I did the first wave of pickled beets, the first wave of frozen peas, and even roasted two chili peppers. Fun, fun. The kids also hopped in the car early this morning in jammies so we could drop off our county fair entries - bessie, of course, along with beans, peas, beets, a scrapbook, brownies, and a picture of Rachel. Doesn't take much to get me excited, huh?

We went to Wal-Mart and bought the kids some new toothbrushes (among other things) since Caleb or Ella - I'm not sure which - used Ella's toothbrush to smash an earwig in the bathroom. Sick. Little buggy body parts among the bristles. Blech.

I asked Caleb to tell Rachel a story to keep her happy one day, and he did a great job relating a tale of a lady who got killed by a bee. Hmmm. Well, it amused Rachel, so he did a great job.

Here are the kids one day last week - nothing special, just a great Kodak moment (pardon Ella's crazy hair):


SO CUTE!

Kip had his birthday yesterday, happy birthday Kip! It was nice to see the Thygersons/Sagers/Shoemakers at dinner on Sunday and thanks to everyone who gave/sent birthday wishes. Kip is a fantastic husband and father and we sure feel lucky to have him! (Happy Birthday to Kendra, too!)

We enjoyed a camping trip this weekend, the ward pot-luck, and all the usual library and park fun. Seems like we've been really busy lately, but not with house cleaning. :o) Some day I'll get it all caught up. Or not. Maybe we'll just wallow happily in all our piles.