Your Lucky Day

I just have to pass on a good deal when I see one; and I have been seeing a lot lately on QVC and HSN. For some reason I now really like to watch the home shopping network if there is nothing great on TV. (That happens a lot it seems like) I just leave it on in the background while I am doing something else at night and believe me, they have lots of stuff I NEED! Who doesn't need a new set of non-stick cookware, or that great necklace, and I am now a Philosophy girl wanna be!

So the Bare Escentuals line is apparently this great make-up line! Now you can try it for free! (Well actually $1.00 for shipping) Just go here and look for the box on the right side that says Free 10-day sample. When you add it to your cart it looks like shipping will be $3.95 but it ends up to only $1.00 in the end.

Now, don't you feel like you have had your shopping fix for the day, knowing you got such a good deal! Me, too!

Domestic Goddess Day

Today we got a little crazy and decided to make raspberry freezer jam. I'm not much of a "Domestic Goddess." I have canned salsa and peaches before but I've always done it at my mom's house with her help. Let's just say my canning and preserving skills are limited. BUT...I do have a little confidence when it comes to freezer jam! I can make it all by myself and have yet to really mess it up! Go ahead..give it a try sometime.

This is a yummy and easy recipe that I use:
Mix together 2-3 cups sugar with 4-5 Tbsp. instant clear-jel (I get it from Kitchen Kneads)
In a seperate bowl mix together 1/4 c. lemon juice, 1/2 c. corn syrup and 5 cups of fruit. (Measure out 5 cups and then blend it.)
Pour the sugar/clear-jel into the fruit mixture.
Stir well.
Put into freezer safe containers.
Freeze! It's done.



Baby Brother is all ready to help out! He helped by not needing to eat, or have a diaper change!


C-Man helped as much as a 3 year old can help!


We are both ready to go in our aprons!



Our raspberries we picked at Grandmas house!
C-man and I had a few samples while we picked!



You need Karo, Lemon Juice, Sugar, Instant Clear-Jel and probably a Diet Coke!


First mix the sugar and clear-jel together.



Pour the sugar mixture into the fruit mixture and stir well!


Pour into freezer containers! Here is our finished product!



Lick off the dishes and you are really done!

All we were missing is a fat piece of homemade bread to put it on! Hmm..another lesson to learn.

Family Reunion Time

This was a brief but memorable moment at our Israelsen family reunion...The Zip Line!

Hang on C-man


I am yelling something like "Bruce, be careful!"



I have been going to Grandpa Israelsen's cabin since I was a little girl for a family reunion every summer. Now it just keeps getting bigger since my cousins are all starting to get married and have spouses and kids. We all still have a great time together. The theme this year was EFI (Especially for Israelsen's) so C-man was quite excited that he got a new T-shirt. I taught a little class called "Writing your Personal History in 1 hour." We had lots of other little classes like car maintenance, making candy, budgeting, etc. That was a new twist that we have never done before at the reunion. We still had the reunion classics like Dutch Oven dinner, the zip line, and lots of talking and laughing. Maybe next year we will actually want to stay over in a tent since Baby Brother will be a little older! Aren't families great!

My Favorite Things about Summer

1. Watermelon is in season
2. Waking up to the sound of the neighbors lawnmower (I really do like it; it just means Summer!)
3. Playing in the water
4. Family reunions
5. Flip-flops everyday!
6. Parades
7. Shaved Ice
8. Hot Dogs and marshmallows cooked over the fire
9. Staying up late
10. Fireworks

Baby Brother's Big Day

A few weeks ago we blessed Baby Brother at church. It was extra special because he got blessed with his new cousin Edith. (My brother Ryan and s.i.l. McKenzie's new little girl) Unfortunately McKenzie and I both had other things on our minds because we never got a picture of the two together.

We were planning on having all of our friends and family eat at the park but of course when I woke up that morning it was raining. Things got a little crazy for a while because we have 9:00 church, Bruce had to leave for meetings at 8:00 and I was running around trying to get 2 kids ready and clean the house so we could have an undetermined number of people eat at our place.
After a little drama and a lot of help from my sister we made it to church and things were great.

I just love how sweet and precious little babies are. Both babies were great and both blessings were beautiful. (Plus I really like all of the yummy salads that people bring to things like this!)

Big Brother Syndrome

A proud big brother!

Smile!

C-man and Baby Brother

C-man pretty much loves being a big brother; but I can tell he is having a hard time. It seems like every time he asks me to play Batman or dig in the sandbox I am telling him "I can't right now, I have to feed Baby Brother," or "I will a little bit later." The poor kid is getting no attention and I feel so bad. He is grumpy and doesn't mind anymore. What happened to my favorite 3-year old?
HELP! Am I permanently damaging his self-esteem by choosing to nap instead of play with him? Will he hate me forever? Is there any secret out there to get through this?
He'll forget it all in a year anyway, right?

Oh the Places You'll Go!

Bruce's baby sister graduated from Sky View last night! Congratulations Maegan!
I hate to admit it but I have a secret confession...I actually like going to graduations! I know it sounds crazy and I do think that they can get a little long; but I still like them. I start getting all nostalgic and remembering my own High School friends and college days and I can't help but enjoy graduation, speeches and all. It is such an exciting time to graduate from High School and move on to a new part of life and then to later graduate from College and feel like you have really accomplished something big!
When all of the graduates started singing the school song last night I couldn't help remembering Mrs. Leatham's sophmore English class. Everyone had to memorize the school song for the first test in her class. (You gotta love Mrs. Leatham and if you remember her purple cowboy boots, you gotta love those too!)
Hooray for good old Sky View High and all the great memories!