Madilyn's Halloween Crafts!

Madilyn has LOVED making things for Halloween! She made a scarecrow, LOTS of ghosts, and a Candy Corn Necklace! She can't WAIT to wear her costume and "go trick or treating to Larry's" Having kids just makes the holidays so much more fun!!

OK! So I have recently rediscovered I have no self disciple to get things done unless I HAVE to! Such as...my canning...I HAD to do it before everything went bad! I loved it! It kept me busy and I stayed motivated, at least until the end. Ron still wants me to do tomatoes and apples-his mom and grandma have tons they want to give away but I'm D-O-N-E! Now that I am done, I feel like I'm just wasting my days. I've tried to make a schedule and for the most part I stick to it...but its just the mundane everyday tasks that I have to do every day/week to keep our home going! I feel like I'm not accomplishing ANYTHING! I've decided to post weekly about my "accomplishments." I'm sure YOU don't care, but I'm hoping it will force me to do something EXTRA and actually work on my goals so I'll do more than just let life pass me by!

So for this week I'm starting a list of things I'd like to get done by Christmas. I'll keep you updated on my status!

1. I HAVE to finish my quilt I started BEFORE I was even pregnant with Madilyn!

2. I want to make a Levi quilt for our bed-I've been saving jeans since we got married, as per Ronald's request I make one-we're up to 28 PAIRS! I think its time I DO something with them...maybe it will be his Christmas present.

3. I want new curtains in our bedroom...I'm thinking John Deere, I might be sleeping alone if I go too feminine.

4. I REALLY need to start working out again. (I set the alarm everyday so I can, but the bed is just SO WARM!)The goal: 5 lbs before I go home for Christmas...10 is the real goal, but I better stay realistic!

5. NO MORE NAPS! I've found that if I take a vitamin in the morning I don't need nap, but if I forget I can't make it through the day with out one! :( Yesterday, I slept for 2 1/2 hours with the kids! What a waste of my Brittney time!

6. Madilyn is getting older now, so I'm trying to spend more time doing new/different activities with her. She gets sucked into the TV way to easy I've let it babysit her too much! We've done some fun Halloween crafts!

Well, wish me luck! I'll let you know what I get done this week!

Spud Harvest

Well, spud harvest is finally coming to an end! Its been quite the year. I can honestly say this year it has seemed to fly by! It has been a little difficult at times. I really miss being in the fields and working in the potatoes. It is SO different having two kids now. I can't just throw a few things together and jump on the tractor for the afternoon. We spend more time getting ready to go than we do actually riding with Ron. Not only have I had to worry about the kids, but we've been able to invest in our own fields this year. It has made me a nervous wreck! I try not to ask Ron whats going on because I don't want to know anything until its OVER-and I don't want him to know how worried I really I am! Our biggest concern has been the weather. For a few days it got so cold I was sure they were going to freeze in the ground! We've had a few other "minor" issues to deal with, but I guess I'm going to have to learn how to cope with the ups and downs of farming if we're ever going to go completly on our own someday.

We actually had an Amazing yield! I have never seen so many potatoes this size! You know they are too big when Larry asks Ron why he's growing freakin' WATERMELONS in their spud field!


Landon's first Spud Harvest!


Learning young!


Helping Dad


"Working"

FEAR FACTOR!

I've been an advisor in Young Women's for almost 2 years now. We've been trying to plan a fear factor activity for over a year now. We finally got it done last night!

First they had to dig through a litter box of "cat poop" to find the 50 pennies!

and the winner was....ALLI


NEXT they chewed on a piece of Peppermint Gum before sucking on a lemon. We've got some tough girls. It didn't even phase them, we finally gave up!


These girls had to fish through the bucket of ice water with their toes to pull out ONLY the rocks in the bottom


And ALli Won again


These girls had to eat pudding with "mouse droppings"! Cass won this round!


The next group was given a jar of babyfood with a life savor on the bottom. They had to eat ALL the babyfood, then guess what flavor the lifesavor was! Kayla was the winner!


And for the last round they had to dig rats out of brains! Cass won again, making Team Alli and Cass our grand champions!


Bobi's boys were too funny! They couldn't wait to see the rats in the brains! As soon as the girls cleared out they were right there to do some inspecting!

Halloween Party

Every year my great friend Brooke puts together an amazing Halloween Party. We always have dinner with things like "Zombie Toes" and "Mummy Wraps" then there are a few games for the kids.


This is the only picture I got of Landon in his costume-he's the pumpkin in the middle of the floor


Madilyn and all her friends


Pin the hair on the witch


Landon eating sombody's hand


A few of the dads got wrapped up like mummies!



Madilyn's wings...we'll be doing some modifications before Halloween!!

Fall Canning

When we planted our garden this year, we did it with the intentions of being able to bottle or freeze our harvests! We are trying to be more self reliant. Needless to say I have been one busy women. I am SO glad to be done! Don't get me wrong, I actually really enjoyed doing it. But I am very anxious to get started working on my quilt of three years! I have a few sewing projects I'm dying to do but I can't start them till I finish this way cute quilt! Anyway, I am very proud of the results of my canning this year! I ended with a grand total of:

59 quarts of peaches
74 pints of Green Beans
10 pints of cherries
12 pints of pickles
8 pints of beats
21 quarts of Pears
16 bags of Carrots
80 something bags of Corn (400 cobs)

Oh and
1 bag of peas...


waiting for the peaches to ripen



Just a few of the bottles of peaches



One of my three cupboards and I still need to find a spot for 21 more jars of pears!!



The corn anxiously awaiting for me...



Madilyn loved shelling the peas!



Carrots...obviously!



...and the pears

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