We've been busy!

I thought maybe it was time to do a little update for those of you who don't get to see us too often.
We've been busy! This summer flew by. I'm really sad. I'm happy for the break in the heat, but I'm definitely not ready for the cold and snow yet. It seems crazy to me that Halloween is just around the corner!
Jeff is enjoying his new job. It's been an adjustment for him to work in an office, but he's getting used to it and he's starting to get involved in some more important projects for the company. And of course, he's showing them just how smart he is. He seems to catch on to things faster than the average person does. I hope our children get his smarts and not mine ;)
I've been busy trying to juggle working and being a mommy and home maker. It's been crazy for me. I swear, I never have a spare minute until Mads goes to bed and even then, we usually are trying to get something done without the distraction.

I've decided to tackle the art of canning this year. We have some great friends/neighbors that are pro's at it and Ashley has been so kind as to take me under her wing and show me the ropes. When I'm done I will post a picture of the goods. It's been A LOT of work, but it's also very rewarding when I finish a batch of something. So far I've canned, Pizza Sauce, Spaghetti Sauce, Tomatoes, Peach Jam (More like Syrup since it didn't set up) Raspberry Jam and Peach Pie filling. I wish I could say that I'm done, but I've got a never ending tomato plant that keeps pumping those suckers out. Same with my raspberry patch, but I'm SO DONE with them! So I will be at it again this weekend. I feel like I'm actually catching on. I'm sure Ashley is relieved since I was calling her just about every day asking her questions.

We broke down and bought Maddie a new swing set a few weeks ago. I think we probably spend at least an hour a day pushing her in her swing. She loves it more than anything! I on the other hand, not so much. I'm getting a little tired of standing there for long periods of time ;) I have a good book to read right now, so I pull out a chair and push her while reading. I'm wondering though if she will still want to do this in the snow. I sure hope not. If you think I'm complaining now.....



Maddie is also really into Elmo right now. I went to Kohls the other day and to keep her in the cart I let her play with a Elmo Alphabet toy from the toy Isle. It sang the ABC's in Elmo's voice and she loved it. She pushed the button over and over again. I'm sure that everyone around us was wanting to take the stupid thing and break it. I know I did. But it was ten times better than having her ripping things off the racks. She has numerous Elmo movies and asks to watch one at least once a day. I relent most days to avoid the half hour tantrum that occures if I don't. But I really don't like her watching a lot of TV.
She is gaining quite the vocabulary. She understands pretty much everything we say now and she can say a lot of words. I can't believe she is getting so big!
We've had the Flu in our house this last week and so we've been home bound quite a bit. We haven't been able to go down to Draper to see our pony in a while. Hopefully we can get down there soon. My mom and Dad have been working with the ponies and have them both Halter broke and leading now. They take them on walks every day and seem to be having a lot of fun with them.
Well, I think that's pretty much all I've got today. Hopefully we will have some more fun stuff to post about soon. Hope you are all doing well!