Rockin' the School Day

So today was the first day of school for Ian and sorta for Lee, but we'll get him a different day.

Ian was so excited to start school, he has been counting the days down and it has finally arrived! Yeah for school! I hope he always keeps that excitement when things and the grades get really hard, and life changes as it does for everyone.

He was telling me mom, it's time to go to the bus stop...hitch 'em up and lets GO!

One of the important things of starting school is the backpack accessory...Here is Ian's awesome backpack. Cool right? He's got a lunch box that matches!

And of course the new shoes that make us jump higher and run faster. These are Ian's, and they are Sketchers. And yes that's important. He's only 7 folks but he does know name brand on a few things. His Grandma Paulson bought those for him and she choked on the price but boy did she make her grandson happy! He has red and silver metallic shoes...I hope these last longer than his other Sketchers he had last year, they lasted all of 3 months.

I went to take this picture and had to look away from the camera cause I just couldn't believe how much he'd grown in 3 years. He's gotten so tall and keeps getting older and I really don't like that, not one little bit. Well, I was going to show you his pictures from 2007 and 2008 but I can't get them to do what I want, so you'll just have to picture it...pictured? Good, he's gotten too big! Don't you think? I thought so.

I've been canned!

Okie Dokie people! After some harassment I am finally updating my blog. I have been SO busy...against my will! So last week sometime, I forget the day/night, I decided to jump in feet first and try my hand at canning peaches all by myself. I figured I could follow directions so why couldn't I figure out canning...right? RIGHT!

So here is my story in photos ( I was going to type more but of course Eli is up and well...whatever).

So here is the view looking into my kitchen. It's my set up. Pot for boiling peaches up front, syrup up front, canner in back and lids in back. Note to self...NEED bigger kitchen. It is a ONE butt kitchen!

And just so you all know, this blog site changed their format for loading pictures and it's throwing me all off. But it doesn't take much at this point to do that. So this is my pot I was boiling the peaches in. I have to be honest and tell you, it's the coolest thing ever doing that and then just taking the skin off those peaches...WAY cool!

Here is my light sugar syrup I put in my jars. So this is my canner, well a friends she let me borrow it. Anyway, the first batch I didn't quite get a canner full.

So here is my 'helper' and I use that word loosely. This is where he sat and fell asleep for the HOURS it took me to do my peaches.

Here they are boiling. Speaking of boiling...just a canning tip, but it does help a wee bit to actually have the said burner in question ON! Don't ask! I'm just THAT scary folks.

So here is the aftermath, well not really. Some if not most of that was from before I started. I needed my dishwasher for my jars.Here is my end net result. After hours of labor on my newest venture, I managed to can 10, count them folks, 10 jars of sliced peaches! WHEW! Now I have to do my pears today, otherwise...well we just won't go there will we? We will enjoy them this winter and I CAN'T wait!

OK, sorry that this post was so long in coming and that it's so 'off' with the pictures but I'll figure out the new system yet.

Take care and I'll try and be back tomorrow!

And just for giggles cause things are all F.U.B.A.R anyway, here's a picture of where my cold bowl for the boiled peaches was and where I put my sliced peaches after I was done pealing them. Quite the set up I tell you. I need to figure something out for the pears today.

Prayers

I am asking for prayers for some family members. Today something horrible happened to them, they had a fire in their house and they are now staying in a hotel room. Please pray for them as school is also starting for their oldest child. The child will be starting Kindergarten which is a big deal and a lot of change on top of that, there was a fire in his home. How traumatizing! I remember when we had a fire in our house and just how horrible it was and how hard it was and how traumatizing it is.

I don't have any other information other than this link and the phone call we got. They are all well, no one is hurt. I don't know how much they lost...I really don't know anything. So I ask for your prayers for them while they figure things out and try to get past this scary and horrible thing that happened to them.

Thank you!




Early morning fire displaces Covington family | Kent News from KOMONews.com

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Generate

OK folks. What's in a name?

Want to help me generate a name?

For the last 2 years going on 3, Frank and his family have done Fantasy Football. Last year a few people forgot their passwords and couldn't get into their team and we tried to fix it and ask for help but no such luck. So this year we are going to a different site for our Fantasy Football, which gives me the opportunity to pick a name that will strike fear in the hearts and minds of all other Paulson's. I will NOT be toyed with kind of name. The last two years my team name has been The Frogstompers...if anyone knows me you all know I like frogs and the color purple. I am open to just about anything.

So give me your suggestions, I'd love to see what everyone comes up with.

I Scream...

You scream, we all scream for ice cream.



When I found out we were going to Crescent bar, I asked my friend Nikki if she would bring her hand cranked ice cream maker. I have been dying for some home made ice cream for a long time. So she obliged me and brought it. I remember making homemade strawberry and vanilla ice cream as a kid. One of the incredibly few good memories I have of my childhood. So we made vanilla ice cream. I think everyone had a great time making ice cream.



Putting the ice in the maker.Ice and rock salt...my friend Nikki showing us how it all goes.Dru taking his turn cranking and working hard on making our ice cream. He really enjoyed cranking this, he kept coming back to crank it so he could show me his muscles. And he kept getting stronger by doing this. He's a funny kid.And Lee taking his turn. He was good for a few cranks and then he was done. MY TURN! I had fun and we sure did enjoy the ice cream! It was tasty!Our finished product! It was DIVINE! Makes you wanna just get a taste doesn't it? Enjoy looking at that!

The King...is Dead

The King Salmon that is.

(Frank's birthday is the day after Elvis's birthday...so hence the pun)

Last weekend Frank and the men of his family went to Ilwaco (in Washington) and went Salmon fishing on a charter boat, called the Seaquest. The deal is they go out REALLY early and they get to catch a limit of 2 fish. Everyone on the boat gets to catch 2. Frank really likes to do this fishing with his dad, brothers, grandfather, and great uncle (I believe that's what he is to Frank).
Anyway, those are the fish he caught. The one on the left is missing most of it's head cause it had a chip in it. The neat thing about that is, the captain of the boat or someone, will send in the info of that chip and then they will email the info to Frank. So that means he'll get to find out where the fish started out at and where's it's been. Kinda fun. His dad had one last year and I think it came from Yakima (if I remember correctly) and made it all the way to Ilwaco, which is like 7 miles from Astoria, OR. Here's a better look at one of his fish, with out the glare. And just so you know, we have fish leftover from last years trip. We are not big fish eaters...don't ask what we are going to do with ALL that fish.Here are all the guys that went fishing, the kids were checking out the fish...so were the guys. Frank's brother Jason has two fish in each hand, and he still had more in his cooler, only one though. I still think he should have had one hanging off his foot or something, but that was me.

So here are all the guys that went fishing. Starting from the left...Frank's dad...Lee, Frank's Grandpa...Morris, then there is Frank, his brother Jason, his other brother Ted, and Frank's Great Uncle Kelly. That's a whole lot of fish right there! And trust me when I say, that everyones fish will be LONG gone before Frank and I EVER open our freezer to eat ours.

All in all, Frank had fun and as you can tell by the smiles, they ALL had a good time. But I think that next time I'll stay home. I'm glad he can do this with the men in his family, but if we are only going for one night, I'll stay home. It's too long of a drive for a few hours and it's just exhausting all around, and that's all we were there for, a few hours. If we could be there for a weekend that would be better, but things don't always work out that way.

I hope everyone has had a good week! Take care!

Birthday Boy

So today was Frank's birthday! He's 33 today! Man he's old ;) Kidding! Well I couldn't find the newborn picture of him like I wanted, and you know it will show up after I post this...of course!

But this is Frank with his dad when his dad and mom got married.Frank and his cousin.Frank and Ian...Frank was having a moment...OK well he has a lot of moments...this is just one we caught on camera.

See, told you...he has moments! This is Bob The Builder Gone WRONG! But I love it anyway! That's MY guy!

And here he is more recently. This was on our way to Ilwaco. He hurt his back so I drove and we were going so he could go fishing with his family. He had a great time fishing with his family. So that was good. He looks very tired here and he is...he works very hard for us.

So today Frank took the day off for his birthday...that and his back still hurts from doing something really stupid earlier this week. So today we went to town to see if there was ANYTHING at all possible that Frank could buy himself with his birthday money. Alas, he couldn't find anything he desperately needed...YET! So we went home and I cooked the lasagna I had made earlier this morning and cookie fruit salad and garlic bread. Then, because my belly was full, I crashed on the couch for a nap. I have no idea what happened. Anyway, before Ian had to go to practice, we put some candles in a dessert dish I had made for Frank instead of cake. He doesn't like cake, so I made Reece's Peanut butter Bars. I think all in all he had a good day!

Here are the Reece's Bars I made....he'll be lucky if there are any left for tomorrow.

I hope everyone has a good week!

Thorny Situation

So a few days ago a friend and I decided to go Blackberry picking. So we took the kids and met at a park to pick. We have ambitions my friend and I...pies and jam. We are going to pick enough for each of us to walk away with a double batch of blackberry jam and pie filling for two pies. We picked more than what I thought we had. When all was said and done we picked 26 cups of berries...enough for 2 double batches of jam and enough for 1 pie filling. So we will go out again next week and pick more. Really I'm hoping for more berries that just enough for 3 pies. I'm so ambitious...I guarantee I'll be calling another friend and ask her for a refresher course...

So, when we went picking, I told my boys that if they wanted anything blackberry related they would help pick. And help they did. These two were cracking me up, this is Lee with one of his good friends. They were just chugging along and picking the berries. They were talking shop...as in superhero stuff, and now Lee's friend was going to go off to college and he would wait for Lee, cause he's an older 5 and he'll be done first. Then when Lee's done they'll go off and save the world. Then they kept singing songs, some I recognized from VBS, and other's I"m sure were theme songs formed in their heads. They were hysterical! These two guys get to be in the same Kindergarten class together...their poor teacher! ;)Just picking away.Dru is the official bucket holder! He's showing Ms. Wiz (Liz) something.At the end of our picking extravaganza! We picked for about an hour and a half, if I remember correctly! We did good! Lee chose to not be photographed...he was being a pill. Now on to making pie filling and jam! GO Team!

Well I got the berries in the freezer waiting to be made into something delicious! Take care and have a good weekend. We are off to Ilwaco, WA for a night of camping. Frank is going on a charter boat for Salmon fishing. He hopes to catch his limit of two fish...what we'll do with that I don't know (but he's not using my big freezer!). We are still working the last summer's fish! Takers?

Anyway, I hope everyone has a nice weekend, the weather is suppose to brighten up...we'll see!

Water Babies

OK so here are some more pictures from my mini vacation.

Here the boys are playing Ring Around The Rosie...Dru did NOT want to go under the water! Lee got out of the pool and was a bit cold. It was warm there but when that wind picked up there was a bit of a chill. I'm not sure Lee could clench his teeth anymore.

Kids boiling themselves in the hot tub, these people kept this thing HOT! On the last day it was 110! I kid you not!

See Sparky perked up on the last day, this is before we headed in for lunch and to go home. But darn it all if that face doesn't just wash away all the frustration from me.

What frustrations? See already I had forgotten!

Dru, he had so much fun. Have no idea what he's doing here but darn it if he's not cute too!

My friend and her kiddos...Blondie there was jumping in with out a life jacket and was so proud of himself and so was his big brother!

All the boys on the floaties together!

Dru and his buddie/friend Lame (and yes that's just how he says it)

Tweedledee and Tweedledum...

He loved his life jacket that Auntie Ikki let him borrow. SO brave with it on!

OK well I have run out of time, Eli is in his bed screaming at me. So enjoy my photos and look for the next post!

Party Pooper

"Every party has a pooper; every pooper has a party". Well you get the idea.

Little Sparky here...well we left for Crescent Bar on Wednesday. And when we left he had a little fever and I didn't really think much about it. Well, sheesh I should have. That bugger...or booger had a decent fever for 3 days and THEN even felt the need to puke a few times and fill his diaper for me more than once. RUDE! So anyway...he pretty much was a sourpuss the whole time...literally!

This picture is of when he was quiet for the first time we'd been there...so SEVERAL hours, not that he was quiet for several hours but that we'd been there for hours before he was every quiet...ever...we all basked in the peacefulness of it all.I don't like this one bit momma! Not ONE bit!Quiet time with Auntie Ikki (this is how Dru says it, cracks me up!) Every time we got in the pool this kid would fall asleep in the pool! Such a weirdo!This IS my happy face! He was done before he was ever placed in the car seat on Wednesday afternoon to go to Crescent Bar...DONE! And I'll have you know he perked up to his old self when we got home, all flirty with his dad and talking up a storm....*shaking head here*By the time I took this photograph he was starting to perk up but not too much. At least he's not crying...he had my friends kids in a tizzy! Which was funny too. He cried with me and them and they just wouldn't leave him on the ground to cry, so they held him as he cried.
I sure hope next summer he's better than he was this time. This kid is SO high maintenance it's silly...he's not a girl for heaven's sakes!