Lots of Laughs!

Jax and I were enjoying youtube videos when we stumbled upon this video. That red head has some serious moves! {as a side note for you, KALLEE: The entire time we were watching, Jax kept saying "jared is dancing!" and pointing at the red head. Guess Jared has some moves I haven't seen... particularly the "slap move"! Must be those Sunday mornings dancing on the coffee table! :) LOL}

It's a Snotty world out there...

and it's even snottier in here. We have been fighting colds at the Stephens house this week. I can just see the pleading in Ty's eyes... "please don't wipe my nose again!"

Jax plays with Ty

This is the second time in a week that I have come upstairs to find Jax in Ty's bed. Generally, it happens when I have decided that Ty needs to "cry it out" for a nap time (I guess that is so that I don't cry it out?)... Jax does NOT like listening to his little brother cry. I snapped a quick video on my phone today, so the quality isn't great but it is still a great little memory for me!

I love that my boys enjoy one another's company. I love that they want to spend time together and that Jax wants to take care of Ty!!

Call me Ashley Stewart...

...okay, so that is a slight exaggeration. BUT, I have been trying to learn new homemaking skills and I am really having a great time along the way! This last week I tackled my first canning project--choosing to can salsa, of all things. I used a local food co-op (Bountiful Baskets, for those of you in AZ or UT and are familiar with it) to purchase a 20-lb case of tomatoes. I bought and sterilized my cans, I picked out my seasonings, and I was very careful not to alter the pH of the salsa mixture too much (did you know that the salsa can spoil and blow up in the can!? Crazy). So far, there have been no explosions and we are enjoying fresh, homemade salsa almost every night of the week. I would guess that all 10 pints will be gone within the next 3 weeks if Eli keeps going at it the way he does :) I'm just so glad that he likes it! I had a fun time and I am keeping my eyes peeled for my next canning experiment.

After the canning, I felt like I was on a roll. We had some extra apples and bananas, so I threw them into the deydrator. We have all been enjoying banana and apple chips all week--Jax loves them, which I am thrilled about. I had some extra zucchini from the co-op delivery too, so I've been making zucchini bread today. I am realizing that I love having this fresh food on hand! Homemade is ten times better than store bought. I have to admit that I don't know if I will be able to keep up the momentum, but I am having a fabulous time along the way.