opening day of strawberry season + 8 hours =

27 jars of strawberry jam, 3 strawberry pies, and a tradition that continues to live on!

I {heart} May! Here is the only math equation I know. May = Strawberry season!

Today was the first day the fields opened up for us to go picking. We were down there first thing to see what this year's crop looks like.



After checking out which row would be the best, Mamaw gave the boys a quick tutorial on "how to pick strawberries". {Pick the red ones, not the green ones}




It only took a few minutes for Preston to realize that he can eat them right off of the plant. {and that they are very yummy, too!}



This was Paisley's first year picking strawberries. She was very festive in her strawberry pants Aunt Emily got her for Christmas for this very occasion!


It was such a beautiful day today. The wind was blowing a little bit, but that gave us a little bit of a breeze so it wasn't so hot.

We always joke about the farmers having to weigh us before we go into the field and then weigh us again before we leave. :) Having all the strawberries there is just way too tempting!



Row after row of strawberries. How beautiful, right? This is probably one of my favorite things to do--ever! I love to go picking. You should try it, you would like it too!




I don't know if my boys {and Paisley} realize it yet, but they are pretty lucky to have so many grandparents, and to live so close to some of them. Their Papaw sure does love them!

Parker and Preston begged and begged to ride on this tractor. Well, they weren't able to ride on it, but they were able to stand by it. {doesn't that count?}



After paying for our 28 lbs of strawberries, we headed home to wash them up and get ready to make some strawberry jam.


It took all afternoon but...................



We canned 27 jars of strawberry jam for my food storage.

And, the best part is this:



{the jam that never made it into the jar that is still warm and you spread it on a piece of buttered toast. yummo!}

Well, I am exhausted. It has been such a long, fun, day!

Oh, and about the pies? We ran out of time, but my mother-in-law will be finishing them up tonight, and we will be enjoying them tomorrow! :)

{Awesome}

Do you remember this post? If you don't, go back and read it. It's a letter from my brother that he gave me one year for Christmas. It is hilarious, well worth your time.

Anyway, the reason I am telling you this is because this evening I have been tearing up my house looking for a talk that my mom saved for me that happened to be the very first talk I gave in Primary when I was a Sunbeam. Sunday, Parker is giving his very first talk, and I was hoping to find my very first talk so he could give the same one. Not because I don't want to write a talk for him, but because I think it would be really cool for it to be the same one I gave. Anyway, while I was going through old papers, I found this letter my brother wrote me I think that same year he gave me my wonderful Christmas present. This time it was for my birthday.

Dear Kate,
First, a few confessions about this gift:
1. No, it is not from my personal collection. It was bought with my hard-earned money at a local establishment.
2. You will notice all the people on the cover look dorky. This in no way should bias your opinion of the overall quality of the recording.
Now, a few recommendations:
1. If you don't like it, pretend that you do. Phrases like, "Wow, what and awesome gift," or "Oh my heck, this is like so awesome," or "Awesome is all I can say about this," or "Awesome. Awesome. Awesome," or "Awesomely I opened the gift, and I realized the awesomeness of the awesome awesomnity of this sacred awesome gift."
2. Phrases like "This gift is so awesome, you don't ever need to give me a gift again," is also acceptable.
3. You can probably use this gift while studying or while sleeping, and if you absolutely hate it, Mom might like it.

Sincerely,

Matt

The gift was an awesome cd in a beat up cd case. But, honestly, I listened to that awesome cd almost every night before I went to bed. I also used that awesome cd during Massage Therapy school. I found it a couple weeks ago and popped it into the cd player. Ben thought I was crazy for listening to it. Well, I thought it was pretty awesome!

{this} is what it's all about!

Warm spring afternoons.
Laying outside on a blanket in the backyard.
Watching the kids play.
My {heart} is full!

beach bum :)

This little cutie is ready for the beach!


I mean, look at those rolls! Don't you just want to squeeze her?

okay, OKAY!

Since YOU and YOU and YOU have been bugging me to post a picture of my haircut...this is what you get!
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{and this is pretty much how I feel about taking pictures of myself!}

p.s. check out the green grass! how awesome is that?

errrg....

can't....find...my....camera....
can't....post....pictures....of....my...new....haircut....
errrg.....

{yes, my children DO wear pants!}

For all of you who think that my children are always running around in their underwear, it is partly true.


















It looks like Parker has some big shoes to fill! {size 13 to be exact!}





So, tomorrow is the BIG day! I'm getting my hair chopped off. I will post pictures of my new makeover. :) Wish me luck.
I'm thinking something like this:

Or this:

We'll see. I always freak out after I get a haircut. I have extreme anxiety when my hair gets cut, even with just a trim. Then, I get over it, and love it.

{hello} spring!

I love springtime. {Well, minus all the pollen everywhere causing a yellowish-green film on everything outside.}

if you don't know {me} by now

I ♥ looking at pictures. And is becoming apparent that I like to post un-updated pictures on my blog. For me, it is just so much fun to look back and see how much the boys have grown up. I get to look at the older folders on my computer whenever I want to {plus my screensaver is all of My Pictures} , but you don't get that luxury. So, humor me for a moment and let's reminisce. {And...they are pretty random! Don't say I didn't warn you!}

Look at how chunky Preston was! This was taken last spring some time:

Speaking of Preston being chunky, look at this picture I like to call "Buddah Belly":


Last Easter:
Something else we were doing last sping. No, we weren't getting our trees removed, our neighbors across the street were. By this so-called-company. Kinda sketchy, if you ask me:



Can you believe how big Parker is now? I mean, I think this picture was taken 2 years ago:
And this one was taken about a year before that! {Yes, this is Parker, not Paisley}:

I uploaded these next pictures off my father-in-laws camera tonight. :) I hadn't seen them before today.
I like this one....our new little family! :)

And, I like this one. Its a picture of someone else taking a picture:


The boys got a shopping cart for Christmas. Benji wanted to take Paisley for a ride {after he put her in it a few moments before and she fell over onto the ground!}


This is what Ben did a lot of this winter. Can you say freezing cold?

Parker sure does love his baby sister! He likes her to sit by him and I think in this photo, he picked her up and wanted a picture:


Taken today:


Well. That's it! :)

i wonder where he {learned} that from

Do you ever have those moments. When your children do something totally unexpected, and you think to yourself, I wonder where they learned that from? Except, in most cases, you know exactly where they learned it from. Y-O-U! Especially in this case. It just made me smile.
Scenario:
We are just finishing up dinner, and Parker jumps out of his chair. I tell him he can't leave the table until he finishes his dinner. He tells me that he has to go poop. Alright, that's fine. It's now been a couple of minutes and Parker is still in the bathroom. I get up to go and check on him, wondering what is taking him so long.


Humm...that makes sense. Once again, I wonder where he learned that from!

baby {legs}

I have really never had any formal training when it comes to sewing. I don't think you can count the semester I took Home Ec. my Senior year of high school. Half the time I was at sporting events and I didn't make it to class.
Since getting my sewing machine for Christmas, I have used it for scrapbooking, making superhero capes for my nephews {yes Jill, Jheriko will get one too}, and these cute little Baby Legs wannabes! :) I read a tutorial online, and thought, I can do this! And I did! How fun!

{this} was loud!

Last night I was sitting on the couch and I heard a big "boom." The house literally shook. I thought a branch broke off the tree and landed on the roof {because it was windy}, but then I heard dogs barking down the street and figured that couldn't be the case.
Who would have thought it could be this?

This was something I definitely would have talked to dad on the phone about! :)

she's so {cute}

I just want to {squeeze} her! And I do, quite frequently. I just squeeze those chunky little thighs of hers. And I kiss those cute little cheeks!
My friend Caroline asked me today why I had/would want another one after Preston {since Preston didn't sleep EVER for so long and just cried and cried and cried all the time! Why in the world didn't I want to stop with him? Or at least why have one RIGHT away?} Well, I think the reason is, because Heavenly Father knows. He knows me, and He knows Paisley. He knew what a sweet little spirit Paisley is, and how {easy} it would be to take care of her. She is such a sweetheart.
She is sleeping through the night, and pretty much has been since she was a couple weeks old! She is just a happy little baby girl. Always smiling, cooing, laughing, and content. Heavenly Father knew that our little family needed {her} to keep us all sane! I am so blessed to be able to raise her.

you're {it}

I actually love being tagged, and it couldn't have had better timing. I've been in such a rut with blogging lately!

Here's the rules:

1. Go to your pictures on your computer
2. Go to your 6Th folder
3. Go to your sixth picture
4. Post it
5. Blog about it:(also picture #7, because the invitations were just so stinkin cute you have to get the "full" effect!)

This is a picture of Parker's 2nd birthday party invitation that I made. I can't believe he is already three years old! For his birthday, we invited 2 of Parker's friends out to Donna and Benji's house for a "barnyard" themed party. They have chickens, goats, and rabbits, and enough room to runaround. The kids were able to feed the chickens popcorn (something Parker always does with Donna), hold the rabbits and run around with the goats. It was so much fun!

And now I tag:
Beth
Pam
Marie
Peggy
Chancy
Deanna