Sticky Floor & Liquid Gold

I've been slaving away in the kitchen for two days and I'm finally set free! We had a bumper crop of grapes this year, which meant I actually had to do something with them. Last year we only got one small bucket of grapes - the birds ate the rest. But, after some pruning advice from Dad and little more water, we ended up with several bushels of grapes from our one grape vine. We were not prepared for so many - we had expected the birds to take care of them again this year. I guess there were too many for the birds to keep up. This picture is only about half of what we actually picked. (I hadn't thought of posting my grape adventure on my blog until I was already halfway through the juicing process.)

I was given the job of juicing and canning the grapes. Now, I'm not a die hard canner, so I actually had to purchase jars (gasp) and borrow a juicer and canner from a friend (double gasp). I've helped my mom do grape juice, have done it once before on my own, and have memories of a hot, sticky, messy job. Robyn and I did grape juice years ago. One or both of us must have been pregnant, so I may remember it worse than it really was. But, I was not looking forward to the job.

This is the set up. No, I'm not brewing beer. It really is grape juice. For those who have never done grape juice, it's really not that hard. The juicer has three sections. The bottom section is full of water, the middle section collects the juice and has a tube to drain the juice into jars, the top section is where the grapes go. The top section is like a colander where the grapes steam and the juice drips through to the middle section. All you need to do is wash the grapes and chuck the grapes, stems and all, into the juicer. After letting it steam for a bit, just fill the jars. I do squish the grapes a little at the end just to make sure all the juice is out, but other than that, it's pretty hands-off. I was extra careful in handling the hot jars, which if dropped, can be a disaster. Robyn can attest to this. We (probably me) dropped a full, hot jar of purple grape juice on the floor, splattering the cupboards, counters, oven, and us. Being in a rental, I thought for sure my rental deposit was a goner. After a lot of "Clorox Clean-up", the kitchen survived, but my memory was scarred. Thankfully, my grapes now are white Concord, so no staining factor - just sticky.

After juicing comes the processing/sealing of the jars. I ended up with 35 quarts of this liquid gold - not bad for one grape vine. It's always a satisfying feeling to see sealed jars sitting on the counter. Now all I have to do is tackle my sticky floor.

I May As Well Just Get a Puppy

So, I feel like I need to make an update on the potty training. After a week of being PERFECT, Landon has regressed. The novelty has worn off and he has become a little resisitant. He would rather play than use the potty - a very common occurrance, I know. I'll admit, it has been hard for me to go from him being perfectly independent to having to remind and help him use the potty. He might be good for a couple of days, but then there are some days when he makes more messes than not. I should just keep the "Resolve" carpet cleaner in my back pocket.

Lagoon - "It's What Fun IS!"

(Notice Jayden has been "shot" by the little girl behind them.)

Nu Skin reserved Lagoon for its employee party again this year. You can't beat free Lagoon with no one but Nu Skin and their families - we love it! They even have door prizes just to sweeten the deal. Last year Leon won a 20" flat screen TV. So, needless to say, Leon and the boys were super anxious to get there on time. We ended up being more than a half an hour early and stood in line with about 50 other people waiting for the gates to open. A few people remembered that Leon had won a prize last year, and teased him about winning again. If you've ever seen Leon win anything, it's pretty memorable. Being as early as we were, I kept telling Leon that he wouldn't be as lucky this year. What are the chances of winning two years in a row and so soon after the gates open? Well, if luck would have it, Leon won AGAIN this year. Not even knowing what he'd won, he jumped up and down screaming. Of course, people were staring and laughing at him, and I was pretending that I didn't know him - staring and laughing, too. He ended up winning a mini-fridge, which sent him into more jumping and screaming - classic Leon enthusiasm.

The boys were eager to start on the rides, so off we went - Leon and the older ones to the thrill rides, me and Landon to KiddieLand. Landon was a little put off that he had to ride by himself without a friend, but was soon beaming ear to ear when a little girl sat next to him. From there it was ride after ride - nonstop fun.

Thanks, Nu Skin!

Diaper-Free After 11 Years

Anyone who knows me, or has heard me gripe about it, knows that I HATE potty training (who doesn't?). I also admit that I am terrible at it. You would think that after doing it three times already, that I'd have it down. However, I'm not consistant, I get lazy, and find it easier to tote around a diapered kid than run from restroom to restroom (my germ-a-phobia also plays in here). Landon has been asking/begging to use the potty for about 6 months now. I'd sit him on the potty and he'd never produce anything. After about 20 times of doing nothing, I got lazy and started telling him "no" (really, what mom would discourage potty training - me). We were headed to California in July and as it got closer I didn't want to deal with a newly potty trained kid across Nevada. I kept telling myself (because, afterall, potty training is as much for me as it is for the kid) that when we got home from California, I would potty train Landon. I gave a half-hearted effort in August and let him wear "big boy underwear" for a couple of days, but all I got from it was a lot of wetting accidents. I got lazy and feeling house-bound, and let it go. He would ask to sit on the potty every now and then, but never produce a thing! He just wasn't getting it and I was in denial.

Last week I was innocently reading a book and Landon came up to me and told me that he needed to go potty. My first thought was, "oh, come on, we both know what a waste of time this is, and I'm trying to read." But, I figured that I should be supportive and at least let him sit on the potty for the 101st time. Standing there, waiting for him to decide to get down, he says, "I'm doing it!" I look down, and holy cow, he WAS doing it! I was shocked. We celebrated, high-fived, and praised galore. Since then he has wanted to go potty every ten minutes. So much for being lazy. Where are the diapers when I need them? I decided that there was no going back now that he has the hang of it - big boy underwear from here on out - NO MORE DIAPERS! It has only been 4 days and he has had NO wetting accidents, has been dry all night, and insists on going to the potty all by himself with no potty seat and no help. Okay. (We did have a #2 incident on Sunday, but I'll spare the details.)

So, for the first time in 11 years, I have no one in diapers and I have potty trained my last person.

Dry Spell

It's that time of year again - the dry spell. Summer is over, school is back in session, and there have been no recent holidays. All of this means that I haven't used my camera for a long time (Craigslist stuff doesn't count). Flipping through my scrapbooks you would notice pages and pages of summer, then about four pages to sum up fall and winter. I have purposely tried to take more pictures in the fall - raking leaves, apple picking, pumpkin patches - but it always seems staged and the same every year. Once winter hits you would see the token "playing in the snow" pictures and a few at Christmas. For some reason we have used the video camera more than the still camera during Chirstmas. I think I like hearing the kids' reactions. However, our video camera is broken, boo hoo. Then, once spring comes along the photos seem to pick up. We have all the boys' birthdays in the spring, there's Easter (my favorite holiday), and then it's summertime from there. So, now that you know about my photo dry spell, you will understand if my blog comes to a screeching halt for awhile. Who knows, maybe having the pressure of a blog will cause me to find things to take pictures of - dry spell over?