I have about a million pictures to post... but I don't have the energy to post them. I'm in the middle of canning (SHOCKER!)--- I'm canning chicken and ground beef. I made bread and butter pickles last night and canned them. Sprouts (our local "farmers market" for you who may not know) had a great sale on chicken breasts, and since they don't have fillers or preservatives, I thought it would be a good time to really go for the canning thing with them. Thanks to Mom Williams for her help (she got suckered into it when they came over briefly today). Turns out, it doesn't take all that long to get everything ready, its the hour and a half per 6 quart jars to process them that takes for. ev. er. I'll be up til at least 11 pm to finish. Oh well, it's my own fault. I wish that I could catch the exercise bug like I have the canning bug. I have my sweet little boy Clayton on my lap watching me type and moving his head back and forth to follow the words. He's getting so big--and is a character and a half. Tommy just turned 5-- we had a campfire party with hot chocolate and marshmallows, we had a blast. I need to post those pictures. (even though they look kinda like our OTHER campfire pictures).

Clayton is yelling "DO IT" every time I pause in my typing. He's also leaning on one arm so I'm having to pause more than I normally would. Just a commercial break there---

We started a chore chart with stars that the kids have to complete to get dessert. They start out with 3 "behavior stars" that they lose if they act up. They have their regular chores that they can mark off, and then they have "extras" that they can do to either earn back their behavior stars or, if they've finished all their other stuff, they'll be able to earn money with the extras. Today was our first day and so far it is working! Yeah!!! Okay, I'll sign off and my next post will be a catch up with photos.
Leann