A fun project and other yummy stuff

For about a year I've had this little project in my mind.  It all started when our then seven year old was trying to figure out why it was 8:00 p.m. at our house (in Ohio) but only 5:00 p.m. at his Aunt Geri's house (in California).

Am I so lazy that it took me a whole year to pull it off?

Well, kind of, but honestly, I was waiting to find the perfect clocks.  About eight months ago I did fall in love with a clock at Penney's, but she was pricey, and I needed four of them.  Then a few weeks ago I was running though Dollar General to pick up some toilet bowl cleaner, and there they were.  On sale too!  $4.00 a clock!  It was time to start the Time Zone Project.

 

My sweet hubby (who freaks out when I show up with a hammer and nails) measured everything out and got those cute, red time keepers hung for me.

 

 

Then my awesome friend Becky cut my vinyl words for me.

Don't they look so cute?

 

 

Justin loves to show people the clock wall and I love to hear him explain all about times zones.  I don't think he really gets it yet, but he thinks he does and that is fine.

What do you think?  Go find a wall in your house for the Time Zone Project!


It is time for the sweet potato update!

The verdict is...........................

 

We can grow them! 

and we are happy about that

 

 

Look how big! 

 

 

I cooked up that smaller one and it fed us as a side dish for dinner and left overs.

 

 

My most favorite is cut in cubes and roasted in the oven with olive oil, honey, and salt & pepper.

But on this day I couldn't wait, and dinner was nearly ready, so I just boiled them up and put some butter, s & p, cinnamon and a tiny bit of brown sugar.  Yummmmmo.

 

We put some plants in the normal garden and we put some in our garden boxes.  They did great in both locations.  The ones in the ground and a little shorter and fatter.  The ones in the boxes are longer and skinner because the soil is nice & loose.

 

 

And just a side note -

 

Last year the deer ate all of our pepper plants.  :o(

So this year I bought eight, thinking that maybe we could end up with a couple of them.

 

Well guess what.  Layne found an awesome place in the garden that the deer didn't find the pepper plants.  YIKES 

 

 

This is just a single picking.  It isn't unusual for Layne to come in the house with over 30 peppers at a time.  I've given away SO many peppers this year.  The best way to get rid of them is to put them in a cute basket with a little pile brown paper lunch bags and take them to church.  (It's all in the presentation, you know.)  Every time I do this I leave with an empty basket.  YES!

 

 

Can you say AWESOME?

I we love grape juice and we love our friend George that is always so good to share with us.

 

 

Looks like we were also making a snack at the same time.

The kids were so excited.  We ran out of juice a few months ago and have been anxiously waiting for the grapes to be ready. 

 

I love this time of year.  Don't you?

Pondering Nineteen

I was thinking about the number 19.  Not too much glam goes with it.  There aren't even any traditional gifts that are attached to it for something like an anniversary.  It is one more than 18 or one less than 20.  See what I mean?

BUT, Nineteen is the last of the 'teen' years, so I guess that is kind of cool.  The 19th amendment gave women the right to vote, so that is pretty awesome.  The 19th U.S. President was Rutherford B. Hayes.  He was born about an hour from where I live and his wife's name was Lucy, so that is nice.  I got married at age 19, had a baby on the 19th, and got married on the 19th.   
I guess there is more to the number 19 than I originally considered. 

So today I'll proclaim that the official 19th Anniversary Gift is a Fresh Peach Pie (if you have a summer anniversary, like we do).  Layne is going to be so excited.  It's his fave.

Happy Anniversary Layne! 
Our 19th year married on the 19th of August!

xxoo

confessions

I'm afraid I may have looked a lot like this yesterday.

Don't you hate the next day, when the stress of yesterday has simmered down, the BIG things have shrunk down to their actual size, and you now realize what kind of crazy person you must have looked and sounded like?

I had a party set to be at our house last night.  One thing after another kept getting in the way of me being able to get everything ready and pulled together.  But, as always, somehow things worked themselves out.  Josie left work early to get my car keys to me (the #1 reason I lost my mind...my car keys were in the car she had) and she took half the list and I the other and we were able to get it all done and home in time to pull it all off.  I was sweating like a pig, but hey, everything was ready within minutes of the first arrival.

Don't you hate it when you act like someone you aren't? It makes me so mad when I let stress get the best of me.

So, today started out with repenting and apologizing.

Thankfully I have a new day to try to be better.

  On to better things....

like these beauties.

YUMMMMMMM

The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly

SEVENTEEN

++

Snow White

Pride & Prejudice

She requested one candle.  I don't know why.

She seemed pretty happy with her two, all time favorite, movies.  Red velvet cake.  Cute clothes.  Working watches.  Mitch had new batteries put in her watches that had died.  I thought that was sweet. And you'll have to ask her what else. 

WE LOVE YOU JOSIE!

Doesn't Justin look a little suspicious?  Like he might be getting ready to launch some food at someone?  Yes, it could/has/would happen.

Can you tell what finger Todd broke?

(hint:  the one that is twice the size as the rest)



Todd seems to require at least one x-ray per year. 

Yesterday we got to look at the bones in his R hand.

I didn't get a good picture of how gross it really looks.  I should have snapped a shot when he got home from practice Wednesday night.  At that point the middle finger was laying over on the ring finger.

Oh, I didn't mention how this happened.  Football.  He plays safety and was swatting at a football.

The specialist, Dr Anderson, put it back in place today and taped it up tight so he could still do a few things in practice without a cast.  Thank goodness for that!  Sheesh, heaven forbid we miss practice SO OUR FINGER HEALS CORRECTLY!

Can you tell I'm the mom?

Shopping from the garden.

It is that time of year that a large part of our meals come from our backyard.

Layne in his favorite hide-out, behind the tomatoes.

All of that goat manure that Layne & Todd hauled last fall...five truck loads...from our friend's goat farm (Thank you Baker family!) sure payed off.  Those tomato plants are tall.

The boys, this past weekend, bringing up the potatoes.

This years varieties:  Red Pontiac & Cobbler

Looks like this cucumber evaded two or three pickings.

(nice pose Mitch)

My canning list is getting a few things checked off.  Still, lots of work to be done.

freezer jam - raspberry

freezer jam - black berry

sweet cucumber relish

pickled beets

beans

peaches

salsa

pasta sauce

stewed tomatoes

diced tomatoes

sweet & sour sauce

pears

cherries

frozen corn

grape juice

We had some corn for lunch yesterday, and it was yummy.  So I think that will be the next item to cross off the list.  I love restocking our bottles and freezer.  It looks so pretty and makes me so happy.

A few more weeks and the acorn squash will be ready and I'm still waiting to let you know how the sweet potato project turned out for us. 

Now Layne is getting ready to get his 'fall garden' planted.  I'm so thankful he loves to garden.

The other big project for the summer was getting some pasture fenced in.

It was A LOT of work.  Layne and Todd worked (and sweated) their tail-ends off.

It didn't help that this is one of the hottest summers we've had in nearly 10 years. 

We took out lots of cold water and they came in for breaks in the AC. 

Justin & Mitch even chipped in when they could.

Getting the post holes cleaned out.

I'm not sure if they are all working or all watching.

For those that have been trying to visualize this project:

Looking South (toward the tree swing)

Looking North

Looking North-East

Having the fence up has really changed how the property looks.

I love it.

Layne, you rock!

What can you do in 3 days?

(I wont post ALL of the pictures, I promise.)

Day 1: Niagara Falls

The falls are so powerful.  You can feel the energy in the air.

Priceless! 

A picture of Todd facing the camera AND smiling.

It was a misty/rainy afternoon, but not enough to ruin our day.

So beautiful.  Have you been?

Day 2:  Palmyra, New York

The Sacred Grove

The Layne Colman Family at the Palmyra Temple

Can you find Mitch in this picture?  He blends right in. 

This is Smith Family's log cabin house.

Layne wishing that his orchard was as mature as the one

between the Smith Family log cabin and the Smith Family frame house.

A funny note, the log cabin house is in Palmyra and the frame house is in Manchester.  (or maybe the other way around?) They are only about 150 yards apart.  Same situation at the Palmyra temple.  The temple is in the Palmyra city limits and the parking lot is in the Manchester city limits.

The boys walking up to the Smith Family frame house.

Taking a little break after hiking around the Sacred Grove.

Alma the missionary, left (also a fellow Mud Lake, ID citizen, Daniel Hulse.)

Sam, the son of Lehi, right

Judd & Mitch posing with Laman, before the Hill Cumorah Pageant started.

It was the 75th Anniversary of the Hill Cumorah Pageant this year.

Here ware two characters in the pageant.

Waiting....

Waiting...

Yea, it is starting!

Awesome special effects.

This is Lehi's dream at the Tree of Life.

Mitch's hero, Joseph Smith.

The stage, while we were waiting for the pageant to begin.

We also visited other areas in Palmyra.  We really enjoyed touring the Egbert B. Grandin bookstore and print shop.  The Erie Canal.  A lemonade stand with awesome chocolate chip cookies.  As always, Josie found a candy store to buy fudge.  It was a perfect day.  It stayed overcast and didn't get above 70°.  We walked 13,746 steps and climbed 13 flights of stairs. (I know because of my fitbit Ü). 

Day 3:  Kirtland

The sister missionary, Sister Hillman, that took our picture here at the Whitney store is from the Terreton Stake.  Roberts 1st Ward.  Isn't it funny how small the world is within the church?

Josie had already been in Kirtland the week before, but she was sweet to let the rest of us tour without complaint.  Our young women go to the John Johnson farm for Girls Camp every year, and one day is always a tour of Kirtland.  I didn't take many pictures of Kirtland.  That is kind of sad.  I think our whirlwind trip had started to wind me down at that point.  We didn't even have it in us to go down to the John Johnson farm, so we'll have to slip up there in a month or two.  That will be more fun because the trees will be in full color. 

By the time we finished up the church's sites, the boys just wanted to drive by the temple.  I asked why and they said they were tired and wanted to go home to play with Jimmer.

Ya, they missed their dog.

I think he missed us too.  He about had a heart attack welcoming us when we got home.

We had a wonderful family vacation.  We packed food and were able to have picnics for our lunches at some of the most beautiful locations.  It was so much fun.  We got to see beautiful things and places.  We got to feel the sweet spirit that is always at the church history sites.  We got to take a break from our extra busy summer and just do things together as a family. 

Did you get to do something fun with your family this summer?

Do tell.