Catching Up

Wow, I feel guilty for ignoring this for soooooo long. I hardly know where to pick back up! I apologize ahead of time for bouncing all over the place. :)

I guess I'll start with the kids! Rachael (AKA Ray-Ray) turned one back in June, and in the past week she's decided that walking is the way to go! As soon as I get some footage, I'll get it up here. Her 'spiderwalk' crawling days are numbered. (As hilarious as they are)

Celesta is growing into a very responsible big sister. She's good at letting me know when Rachael is getting into or doing something she shouldn't. Celesta also likes to take Rachael's bottles and finish them, though we're getting more watchful now that Rachael is drinking cow's milk and Celesta is lactose sensitive.

Overall, we're all hanging in there and LOVING Summer! Celesta inherited my 'waterbug' gene and spends time playing in the sprinkler/kids pool whenever she can. Rachael is more on the timid side and likes to sit and splash in the puddles Celesta leaves in her wake. JT and I are still gainfully employed, working all week and playing on the weekends.

Speaking of Summer, canning season is upon us once again! After all the pears we did last year (and the peaches and pears we did the year before) we were shocked to discover that we went through our ENTIRE stockpile and ran out last week! So this year we're planning to do even more boxes of peaches and pears. We're holding off on applesauce and apple pie filling, as we're pretty set up from last years adventures. Jam season is upon us currently, and we took full advantage of strawberries while they were available. I believe we ended up somewhere around 36 pints of jam after everything was said and done. We're planning to make blackberry and blueberry jam once the berries become available as well. Eastern Washington is experiencing an amazing year of cherries, and this past weekend we picked up 25 lbs. for $20 while coming home from visiting family. My husband canned them while I was at work just today, and ended up with 14 quart jars. This is our first year canning cherries (we didn't make them into pie filling) so I hope they turn out well! Last year we decided to try canning spaghetti sauce and salsa, and we might do it again this year.

In April I took the gutsy step and took my beading hobby to a whole new level by acquiring a business license and registering for a craft fair in November. So you can guess where all my spare time (all 5 minutes of it, it seems) has been going! If I'm not actively doing something, I'm off in dreamland coming up with new designs, display plans, logo/stationary design, and all the other business stuff that comes with owning your own business. (And you'd be shocked at how much there is to do!) I attended the Tacoma Bead Show just a couple weeks ago, my first time as a 'wholesale buyer' and though I didn't take a huge advantage of it, I still learned loads of stuff (and brought home a few goodies!). I'm intending to have a blog and online store set up once I get an inventory established and pics taken. Since the fair is in November, I've got a whole line-up of Christmas themed pendants, earrings, and beaded ornaments slated for display. Watch for upcoming details!