OH, &*$S%#!

So, if you hadn't guessed it already, today I jumped from an airplane with our babysitter and friend, Erica. We actually got E a gift cert to go skydiving for her birthday a few months back and i volunteered to go with her, seeing as how I needed to cross it off my bucket list anyway. Because I'm a giver like that.
So today we drove to Plattville, Al'BAMA (because that's how you say alabama in the south) to the Alabama Skydiving Center for our tandem jump. I actually did NOT bring my camera (*gasp, choke, cough from the audience*) but I brought the Flip.

When we arrived, Erica was mildly concerned over the dissarray in which the skydiving "center" looked....meaning, she wasn't very comforted by the fact that the office/"lounge" looked like a college dorm.
After a rave.
Didn't faze me, but I thought the people who were running the place looked like they stepped out of some sort of sitcom. They were all good friends, aged 19-27 (with one guy who looked to be about 35, but acted like a 17 year old), adrenaline junkies, some of whom probably still live with their parents, ranging from very good looking to the guy who looked like he just rolled out of bed (because he probably did) and hadn't shaved in 2 weeks (because he probably hadn't). They looked like those kind of college students who never want to get "real jobs" so they make it their job to go skydiving on the weekends. A bad thing? Whatever. They were cool.
And annoying all at the same time.

When we got there they were taking a group out for a jump, so after we signed all our waivers (can't sue in case of dismemberment, death, etc.) we stood outside to watch the group land.



Then it was our turn.
We suited up, got about 5 minutes of instruction, watched them finish packing up our chutes, and we headed out to the plane.

Here's some still shots from the video camera a few minutes before we boarded the plane....




I thought my orange prison jumpsuit was hot 'n sexy....


so did E....



Then we boarded the plane. The very SMALL plane.

This would be a good time to mention that Erica has never even BEEN on a plane, let alone jumped from one.
So as the plane lurched into a tight angle into the sky I heard Erica beside me say, "oh shit" and I looked over to see her eyes wide and knuckles white from gripping the plane bench.
I wish I had THAT on video.
I kept the video going for a few minutes, but to be quite honest, I have this "thing" with heights. Meaning that they mildly frighten me. Not so much if I'm safely strapped into a seat in an airplane or behind sturdy glass in a skyscraper, but being 2 feet away from an open door of an airplane as the ground gets further and further away... NOT belted in, with nothing to hold on to, straddling a vinyl bench. So after this little video...I turned it off:



Actually, this was only about 45 seconds into the climb and we went up for about 15 minutes, to about 14,000 feet (about 2.5 miles), which looks something like this:


The instructors reminded us what to do one more time: toes on the edge of the door, thumbs tucked in your harness, arch your back, feet up. And just fall out of the plane.

Erica went first. One minute she was at the door, the next minute she was gone.
Then I was up. Oddly, I felt no butterflies, no nerves. Just anticipation. I expected my stomach to drop, like when you're on a roller coaster, but it didn't. It almost didn't even feel like we were falling. It was AMAZING.
Absolutely amazing.

and windy.

and amazing.

and loud. I couldn't even hear myself scream so I figured, 'what's the point?" and shut my mouth in case there were any bugs flying around at 14,000 feet. Erica said that she went through a cloud and she could feel it. FEEL a cloud.

amazing.

We were free-falling for about 60 seconds, then the shoot opened (with a mildly uncomfortable tug of the harness in the hoo-haw area) so I scooted the leg harnesses down under my butt until I was in a sitting position (as the instructor had told me to do). And then we just drifted down to earth for about 7-10 minutes....and it was so quiet, and so peaceful. And did I mention it was AMAZING??

And we totally want to do it again. That....or bungee jumping.

Who's with us?

Cross That One Off

Well, it approximately 16 hours I will be able to check an item off my bucket list.

Any guesses what'll it be? (no fair if you already know, so no cheating and spoiling the surprise! And no, it's not the one about the nudist colony either) :)

I'll try to blog about it tomorrow night if I'm not too tired.

Hope you're all having a great week.

Flashback

About a month ago, Owen the Insomniac was up at about 11pm and sitting on the couch with daddy watching t.v.
As Steve-o flipped through the channel guide looking for something to watch that would be appropriate for the O-dawg to watch too, he saw that the old school Star Wars were on. He excitedly flipped it over and the two of them watched together as Hans Solo tried to save the universe from the Dark Side. Owen was enthralled, but I'm not sure who enjoyed watching it more. :)
Since then, the boys have developed a healthy obsession with all things Star Wars (favorite movie: Episode I...because it has the pod racing scene with young Anakin Skywalker). I scored about 20 action figures off ebay for about ten bucks so that helped to get a little collection going. Trains and Cars still get some playing time, but Star Wars are the toys of choice for right now. All stickers/reward chart money and piggy bank money go towards purchasing more "rocket ships" and "bad guys" and "obi-kanobi"...although R2D2 is definitely the crowd favorite right now. Imaginary play with light sabers and "the force" is commonplace.

It's fun to watch your kids play with stuff from your own childhood. While the original Star Wars came out before I was actually born, it was a media phenomenon in the decade after I was born (as I'm sure many of you remember). I was never really all that into Star Wars, but my brother was and so was Steve and his brothers. So if you've got some old Star Wars stuff hanging out in your attic or basement somewhere, send 'em our way....I know two little boys who would love to play with them. :)

The H2O Challenge

Starting tomorrow, Tuesday the 27th (about 2.5 hours) Steve-o and I are challenging each other to a 4-week long H2O Challenge.

For the next 4 weeks, we'll drink nothing but water.
No soda.
No coffee.
No beer.
No lemonade.
No tea.
No milk.
No nuthin' ....but good 'ole water.

Why? We surely don't drink enough of it, quite simply. And between all the crap in the other stuff we drink, we're just filling our bodies with unnecessary sugars and calories.


Some facts about drinking water:
75% of Americans are chronically dehydrated

Frequently, the thirst mechanism is so weak that it is often mistaken for hunger

Even MILD dehydration will slow down one's metabolism as much as 3%

Lack of water is the #1 trigger of daytime fatigue

Preliminary research indicates that 8-10 glasses of water a day could significantly ease back and joint pain for up to 80% of sufferers

Want to try it with us?

AJ & Stella

Boys and turtles = hours of fun.

Music...Love it or Hate it?

I added a music player to the blog...whaddya think??

I have a rather eclectic taste in music (as long as it's not country, I dig it) - Indie, pop, (some) rap, rock, r&b, oldschool, newschool....I like a lot so I think a little bit of that is reflected here. If you don't like it, skip to another song or turn it off.

How 'bout some polls?

Pass the Straight Jacket, if you please

It's the first week of summer vacation for the boys.
No preschool.
No YMCA activities (for now).

Kids all up at 7am.
Kids don't go to bed until 7:30 p.m.

12.5 hours of non-stop preschool boys and 10 month old baby that derives great pleasure from hanging off my body for 8 hours a day.
Every day.
For the last 6 days.
BOYS. Did I mention the fact that they are mildly animalistic BOYS?? Because that makes a difference you know.

I'm feeling a little mental.

If you catch me making potholders and numbly spooning Tapioca, then call someone. Because I will officially have GONE CRAZY.

Labs Love to Swim

And Cooper is no exception....

Tyler and the Sparkly Light

Our back yard has great late-afternoon light. The trees that line the back fence offer nice shade from the setting sun, but are open enough to make for a really nice sparkly light.

Last night when Steve came home the boys and I were in the back yard playing. Steve was holding Tyler when I noticed how nice and even the light was and how it made Ty's eyes sparkle. So I ran inside and grabbed my camera.

He was a little sullen, but this picture is one of my favorites:

{click any to enlarge}

The black and white is nice too....


And some tossing fun....

This is Too Fun....

Check out my Meez, a fun little avatar that I made up of myself (thank to Casey, who showed it to me - check his blog out to see his little buddha-belly yoga-ing self).....

You choose body type (believe it or not, my Meez is plus sized), hair color, eye color, clothes, accessories, etc and you've got yourself a fun little animated version of yourself. Try it! It's fun!

Baby Likes Sushi

Cream Cheese Roll, to be exact.
Want some?? He shares.

Summer Dream'n

I've been thinking a lot about this summer and potential plans. Since I won't be coaching volleyball this fall (for the first time in about 5 years! **sob**) I'll have more time on my hands and since Steve-o won't have to be doing 18 different jobs at SCA, he'll also have more time on HIS hands...sooo....family time will be at a premium this summer - yay! :)

The boys are already asking when we can go to the "quarium" and "the city" and "gramma's house" and "da beach" and although I'm getting tired of answering their endless questions, I can't help but wonder too.

Here's the stuff I want to do this summer:
1. Go to the beach. A Lot.
2. Visit the Atlanta Aquarium (never been there!)
3. Fly up to Michigan in July to meet my new niece.
4. Relax with my family and get a great tan. :)

What do you have planned for the summer??

Here's the Skinny

I've had several people facebook me and email me expressing concern over Steve's employment over that post I wrote the other day, so I'll try to clear things up as politically correct as possible.

...Obviously, if you know me - a difficult task since I'm pretty much a straight shooter,but I'll do my best since I know my honorable and classy husband will be cringing already when he reads that first sentence. Perhaps short and concise would be the best way to do it.

Here's how it went down for those of you who aren't in the know:

We are required to be members of X church per Steve's contract at X school.
So, we go to church. But not very often because we don't really like X church.
X church is Baptist.
We are not.
X church is fine and dandy. It's just not our cup 'o tea.
----
X School says to Steve, "Go to X church more often or you can't work here anymore"
Steve says, "We'll think about it"
----
Realizing his job is in jeopardy, Steve looks for other employment. Several options arise, but due to various factors (timing, money, location, etc.) only one is something that he/we are interested in. This particular option is very impressed with Steve and shuffles him quickly through interview process with various people and offers him a job one week later.
----
One month after inital meeting with peeps at X School, Steve meets with them again and says, "Hey, I love teaching at X School - can't we just go to a different church that we like and I can still teach there??"
X School says no. You will go to X Church and you will be very involved or you will not come back.
Steve sadly says: okay then - see you later.
----
Steve accepts job at school across town....X School's former rival and town's prestigious private school.
Steve is bummed, but resigned. He loves kids and friends at X School.

Students and athletes are: confused. angry. sad.

Legalism sucks.
-----
Onward and Upward!

The end.

Prince Caspian: Be Still My Heart

Steve-o and I went out last night and saw Prince Caspian and it was Sooooo good. I kindof LOVE the Chronicles of Narnia and the subsequent movies - they're probably some of my favorite movies of all time. The spiritual imagery is amazing and the character of Aslan is such an awesome allegory for God that it leaves me thinking about it for days after.

Loved it.
Go see it. :)

He Makes A Difference

This has been a hard week for Steve.
Anxiety, sadness, disappointment, anger, tears, frustration, love, support that is so heartwarming it's heartbreaking.....it's all been a blur of many emotions over the last 5 days that have crashed together from all different directions and many different people and snowballed themselves through this week.

Last night at graduation, I stood back after the ceremony and I watched my husband. And I watched students flocking to be near him, to laugh with him. I saw past graduates wait in the wings for their turn to talk with him, to tell him their stories, to share their life with him. I saw parent after parent come up, put their arm around him, speak sincerely to him.

The students of all kinds - the "outcasts" love him because he talks to them, invests in them, makes a point of getting inside their world. The fact that this teacher so obviously cares for them and loves them sincerely for who they are matters so significantly to them that you can see their appreciation for this man all over their faces. I see them pull out their phones and type in each other's cell phone numbers. Their phones no doubt scarce with contact numbers of friends, his full of the names and numbers of students of whom he's invested in.

The athletes stop by and say hey, tell him they'll miss him, give him hugs. He tells each one that if they ever need anything to call him. And he means it.

The "cool kids" come by one by one, or in their groups to give him hugs and tell him how much they'll miss him. He takes time to speak to each one genuinely - to tell them they did a great job on their speech, or poke fun at them, or laugh over an inside joke. His charisma spans social groups and personalities. He is loved by all.

And then I watch as parent after parent comes by - astonished that he is leaving, shaking their heads in disbelief and sadness. Three of them cry.

Each graduate makes it a point to seek him out and say goodbye. We are some of the last to leave.

He is a rare breed - this man who honestly and whole-heartedly invests in the lives of his students. This teacher who gives of himself completely and yearns to be a part of their story. Who meets them for lunch and buys them coffee and speaks to them in the hallway and sits at their lunch tables. Who challenges them spiritually and as leaders and as athletes and as human beings.
He has truly made a difference, and there aren't very many people who can say that.

And to the people at SCA who brought about these events: You are damn fools for letting him go.

This Is Odd.....

Hey there guys.....had a long day at the office? Then grab yourself a Japanese lap pillow and take a little snoozer. Or have yourself a good cry.

Targeted at Japanese single men, the "lap pillow", shaped like the bottom half of a kneeling woman, is selling for about 9,429 yen ($90).

"Single men find this soothing," said Mitsuo Takahashi of the manufacturer Trane KK.

He told AFP that the Hizamakura, or lap pillow, fulfilled a primal need.

"From the time people were kids, people have laid their heads on their mothers' laps to get their ears cleaned," he said. "This is made to be quite close to the real thing."

I don't know about you, but I won't buy one until it can clean my ears.

Sobering Thoughts

one more "depressing" blog today and then I'm done.

I just saw a little blip on the news (which I typically avoid, because it depresses me) about the death tolls from the earthquake in china...how they're estimating it could get as high as 50,000. And then there's the estimated number of people dead from the Cyclone in Myanmar - about 20,000. That's 70,000.
70,000 PEOPLE.

It's so hard to fathom numbers like that. Especially when it's about human beings. And it's so easy to forget about "those poor people" over there because it's so far removed from us. I guess I was just reflecting on the sheer amount of LIFE that has been lost in the last 2 weeks, just from these two catastrophic events. 70,000 people....who had families, and jobs, and kids, and parents. Who laughed over dinner with friends, who played games with their kids, or who were kids themselves...who chuckled with their neighbors and had dreams for their future. Gone.

It's unfathomable, isn't it?
And it makes me sad right this minute.

The Trash Vortex

I've recently learned of the Great Pacific Trash Gyre, which is basically a concentrated section of ocean about the size of the continental US of "trash soup". So now I'm gonna educate you on it, in case you're one of those weird people who think that the recycling is too difficult or that we're not actually having any significant impact on the environment.

Ocean currents, (in addition to air currents) pull large amounts of ocean debris to this area where it slowly swirls around. Due to its lack of large fish and gentle breezes, fishermen and sailors rarely travel through the gyre. But the area is filled with something besides plankton: trash, millions of pounds of it, most of it plastic. It's the world's largest landfill, and it's smack in the middle of the ocean. The gyre has actually given birth to two large masses of ever-accumulating trash, known as the Western and Eastern Pacific Garbage Patches. The Eastern Garbage Patch floats between Hawaii and California, and is roughly the size of Texas. The Western Garbage Patch forms east of Japan and west of Hawaii. Each swirling mass of refuse is massive and collects trash from all over the world.
Much of the plastic is in very small pieces floating under the surface of the water, going about 100 feet deep, meaning capturing a photograph of the patch is not possible. Because the garbage is so small and scattered, clean-up is also incredibly difficult, without endangering sea life.

The only way to truly understand the depth of the trash is by doing a trawl, which entails dragging a net with a bucket attached to it off the back of a boat. Here is a picture of what a normal trawl should produce....zooplankton, occasional small fish, seaweed, etc. Now, contrast that with the contents of a trawl done in the Pacific Garbage Patch. And then we wonder why beautiful Hawaiian beaches sometimes look like this.

Charles Moore, an American oceanographer who discovered the "Great Pacific Garbage Patch" or "trash vortex", believes that about 100 million tons of flotsam are circulating in the region. Most of the pieces are in such tiny pieces that the only way to clean it up would be high intensity trawling similar to shrimp trawling. The thing about shrimp trawling is that it kills 10 pounds of non-targeted sea life (dolphins, sharks, turtles, whatever) for every ONE pound of shrimp gathered, making the impact on the marine life far greater than what it's potentially worth to clean up such a massive area of trash. Bottom line is, we just have to live with it and make every effort to not make it any bigger.

The main problem with plastic -- besides there being so much of it -- is that it doesn't biodegrade. No natural process can break it down. (Experts point out that the durability that makes plastic so useful to humans also makes it quite harmful to nature.) These tiny plastic particles can get sucked up by filter feeders and damage their bodies. Other marine animals or sea birds (specifically albatross) eat the plastic, which can poison them or lead to deadly blockages. This has many other far-reaching consequences on the food chain and marine life that I won't go into here, but even if you're not all that concerned about ocean life, consider that in some cases, that ocean life makes it's way to your dinner plate. And some plastics can become toxic and if they're ingested by that salmon that you're about to eat.....well, you get the idea.

It comes down to managing waste on land, where most of the trash originates. So, I know I've said it before, but we could all use to do a little better at our consumption in general, but especially of plastics. At the very least, recycle your plastics. Don't you think our home deserves a little better care and maintenance? It makes me sad what we're doing to our earth.....

Here's some more links, if you're interested in reading more:

Altered Oceans - a great series by the LA Times, with videos and lots of other info

GreenYour.com - a cool resource for how to green up any area of your life.

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch: Out of Sight, Out of Mind - great article by treehugger.com


Okay, stepping down now. :)

FINALLY!

WOOHOO! I'M LIVE!

Check it out!!

http://www.tamminowackphotography.com/



It's still a little rough around the edges and needs a few finishing touches, but I'm finally back on the 'net! Go check it out (you might see some familiar faces) and lemme know what you think! :)

A Pancake Aydenism

We decided to make the boys pancakes and bacon for dinner, per their request. I was setting Tyler's food down on his food tray as AJ prepared his plate at the table.

AJ: (spreading the butter on his stack of 3 pancakes) Mama. I'm going to do my pancakes like that guy.

Me: What guy?

AJ: That GUY! (pouring the syrup on top)

Me: I don't know what guy you're talking about.

AJ: yeah, you remember.....that guy on that movie.

And then he proceeds to do this:

Last but not Least: Tyler video

For my family in Michigan (especially my mom who I know is dying to see him)...some Tyler footage from this morning:

AJ's Birthday Shoot

Here's a few of AJ's pictures from our birthday photo shoot last night. I'm sure I'll have tons more, but these are just the ones I pulled up this morning for some quick editing and show 'n tell. There's more (some the same, some different) on the Photoblog....
And thanks to Greta, for tipping me off to a cool wall downtown that I used in a few of the shots.

(click any to enlarge)

This is one of my favorites:

I told him not to smile in this one....so he gave me a snarl:

Yup. He's four. :)

I like this one too....this is exactly how he looks when he's pouting. LOL

A Lovely Mom's Day for Me

Yesterday was a fantabulous mom's day for me - one of the most enjoyable I've had yet. Started off with hubby letting me sleep in until 10 am (a rare treat indeed!) and then he made me an omelet for breakfast.
Got the kids dressed and then we went bowling. Owen and I almost won, but were thwarted in the end by Team AJ-Daddy. Then we ran a few errands, did a little shopping and headed home....where the power had gone out and we had no lights and no air conditioning. So we picked up Casey and headed out again. Steak was on the menu for dinner, but cooking in a hot house didn't sound too fun so we took the kids to McDonald's and decided to save steak for today.
My new cell phone was my Mom's Day gift, but Steve also gave me the practical, tongue-in-cheek gift of a set of knives because I'm always lamenting the fact that we have NO sharp kitchen knives in our house. :) the boys had also painted me some pictures that morning while I was sleeping so they gave me those as well.
We wound up the day when AJ agreed to let me take his 4 yr old big boy pictures so I headed downtown with him & Casey to do his photo shoot, while Steve stayed home with the other two and got them in bed. AJ did great, and was perfectly amiable and very well behaved, as long as I agreed to take him to Target afterwards and buy him a toy for a reward. And hey, I'm not opposed to bribery when it comes to taking pictures.

Thanks to my hubby and my boys for a great mom's day! I love you guys!

Happy Mother's Day Mom!

I love you!

And a happy Mother's Day to all the other mom's out there!


"It's not easy being a mother. If it were easy, fathers would do it."

Life is the fruit she longs to hand you,
Ripe on a plate.
And while you live,
Relentlessly she understands you.
~Phyllis McGinley

Biology is the least of what makes someone a mother. ~Oprah Winfrey

A mother is a person who seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie. ~Tenneva Jordan

Saturday Morning Waffles

A couple weeks ago I had about 25 extra minutes to kill before I picked the boys up from preschool so I stopped at the Goodwill around the corner. I typically don't like to go to Goodwill, because the other shoppers in that store look cannibalistic as they peruse the merchandise, hunting out all the "good stuff" before someone else gets it - no! I saw that suitcase from 1976 first! It's mine!MINE!
And it smells weird.

But anyway, I stopped there anyway and I bought a wafflemaker for $2.
And it's made me happy.

Here's the waffle recipe that I've been using:

1 c. whole wheat flour
1 c. white flour
-->You can just use 2 c. of regular flour if that's all you've got <---
4 tsp. baking powder
2 TBSP. sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 c. warm milk
1/3 c. butter, melted
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. cinnamon

I also added: 2 TBSP. wheat germ and about 2 tsp. of flax seed.
But if you don't want wheat germ and flax seed, or if you don't even know where wheat germ and flax seed are located in the grocery store, then you can just skip those.

Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl, then in a separate bowl beat the 2 eggs and add in the milk, butter, & vanilla.
Then mix it into your dry ingredients. Don't overmix it, (it should be lumpy) or the waffles will be dense. Pour some batter into the wafflemaker and let it cook until they're golden brown (they will have stopped smoking).
Transfer to a cooking rack (so they don't get soggy). You can also double the batch and freeze them just like freezer waffles and toast them on another day.

Go forth. Make waffles.

For Dano

She's in the back row on the end.
She did great.

For Abby

Here's AJ doing the monkeybars....a feat he just conquered a few weeks ago and will quite proudly show to anyone.

Consider This: Becoming a Bone Marrow Donor

Last year, I impulsively decided to register myself on the bone marrow donor list.
I haven't been called to do anything about it yet, maybe I never will be. But I was thinking about it today after I received word via Steve-0 that the beloved football coach at SCA has contracted a rare form of blood cancer, Amyloidosis. Apparently, from what I understand, bone marrow transplant may be a viable option for treatment. Anyway, I won't mince words - apparently giving bone marrow is a rather uncomfortable procedure, but maybe if you know that doing it could save someone's life, someone like Coach Knapp who is loved by many, maybe you would think twice about doing it.

It's not hard. You just sign up, and then you're sent an envelope with a couple of swabs in it. You swipe the inside of your mouth and put it in the enclosed envelope and send it back and viola! You're registered.

We haven't done Good Deed Tuesday in awhile, but this could give you your Good Deed quota for like,...ever.

Think about it.
Than, go here to sign up.

How would YOU spend the 3 Trillion?

This is a fun site....

go decide how YOU would spend the 3 Trillion Dollars that Bush has spent in Iraq.....

The $3Trillion Shopping Spree



Here's what I bought:

Darfur Peacekeepers

QUANTITY: 1
PRICE: $2,600,000,000.00

End hunger and poverty related diseases QUANTITY: 1 PRICE: $195,000,000,000.00

Clean drinking water for Africa QUANTITY: 1 PRICE: $3,000,000,000.00

End our Dependence on Foreign Oil QUANTITY: 1 PRICE: $500,000,000,000.00

finish repairing the damage done by Katrina QUANTITY: 1 PRICE: $200,000,000,000.00

Switch to Solar QUANTITY: 1 PRICE: $420,000,000,000.00

Eliminate our debt to Japan and China QUANTITY: 1 PRICE: $1,000,000,000,000.00

Food for all poor hungry people in the world QUANTITY: 1 PRICE: $200,000,000.00

TOTAL: $2,320,800,000,000.00


Looks like I had some leftovers. You try it!

Feeling Patriotic, Anyone?

Playing around with the Flip, my birthday present from Steve......

Here's the very first video, which Owen insisted I take of him, immediately upon removing it from the box:




This thing is great. If you have kids, a pet, are mildly amusing, or ample time on your hands, you MUST get one. Simple, easy to use, no software required for your computer - you just plug it in.
There will be more movies coming from here...oh yes, there will be more.

Strawberry Jam

Last Saturday we drove out to Van's Strawberry Farm and picked a bunch of fresh strawberries.
And then....get this: I made homemade strawberry jam.
Just like I did last year. And the year before that.

And now I'm going to tell you how.

Come on....don't be afraid, it's not hard. Really. And it tastes SOooooo much better than the store bought stuff. Besides, who wants high fructose corn syrup and red dye number 51 in their jelly??

So....one day this weekend, make it a family affair and go out and pick ya some strawberries. Or heck, buy some at Publix. Or pick up some frozen ones - I won't judge you.
It's not as hard as it sounds, and it doesn't take too long either.

First you have to wash and hull your strawberries. I had actually picked about twice as much as this, but then I left them to sit on the countertop for 3 days and a bunch of them got MOLDY. Gross. Fresh strawberries do not last long, people. So if you pick 'em, better be ready to eat or can them within about a day to maximize freshness.

This is all that I ended up with, but it'll be plenty - you'll see. This is just a big mixing bowl of 'em.


You'll need a few basic supplies too. Canning jars like the ones below, for starters. There's a bunch of stuff that you can use to be a pro canner, but I try to keep it simple (i.e. spend as little money as possible) so I just have the basics.

Supplies:
Canning jars
A BIG pot. I use a lobster pot that we as a wedding gift.
Canning Tongs
A funnel of some sort

And that's about it. If you're keepin' it simple. Like me.

You'll also need the following ingredients:

Sugar (LOTS of it, if you're going with the full-sugar recipe - like 2 full bags from the grocery store)
Lemon Juice
Pectin (located next to the canning jars at the store)




1. First, you have to smash up your strawberries a little bit at a time. I used a potato masher, but you could use the bottom of a clean plastic cup. Or your hands. Whatever.

2. Then, we have to do a little prep work.
-Sterilize your jars by washing them in the dishwasher or in hot water. Keep them in some clean warm water - we'll use them in just a few.
-Put the lids in a pan on the stove with some water covering them and heat them up (no need to boil, just heat them up so the underside gets pliable and gummy).
-Fill your lobster pot 1/2 to 3/4 full of water and start it boiling.

3. While all that's going on, your strawberries are just sitting there, waiting patiently to be cooked. Measure out the correct amount of smashed stawberries, per the instructions in your box of Pectin. Mine called for 6 cups. So that's what I did. Because I follow directions like that.
Dump your strawberries in a large saucepan or pot and combine it with the pectin. I always put in a little more pectin than the directions call for - about 20% more. No need to measure, just open another package and dump some more in there. Stir it up and bring it to a full boil.

4. While those are heating up, you need to measure out your sugar.
Now, when you buy your pectin you can buy low-sugar kind or just regular kind. If you dont mind the high calorie count of jam made with regular pectin, you're going to need about 6-7 cups of sugar for each batch of jam.
Low-sugar pectins use juice and Splenda to cut the calories. Sometimes I make one batch of low-sugar and one regular, but this year I just did all of them full of sugar. Yum. Sugar.

5. After your berries and pectin are at a full boil (the kind that can't be stirred away), dump in your sugar, about 6-7 cups (check your pectin directions for the exact amount). Bring it to a hard boil again for one minute.

6. Remove from heat and then scoop off the foam from the top with a spoon.
7. Now, if you're a freak about your chunks of stawberries being evenly distributed throughout your jam, then you'll need to do this OPTIONAL STEP: Let the pan of jam sit for 5 minutes and then stir it up completely again. This helps the jam settle so the berries won't all float to the top after jarring them. I skip this step, because I dont have the time to mess with evenly distributed strawberries.

7. We're almost there! Now, pull your jars from the warm water you've been keeping them in (keeps them from breaking when you fill them with hot jam) and fill your jars, leaving about 1/4 inch of room at the top. This is where that funnel comes in handy.



8. Use some tongs to pull the lids from the pan of hot water and put them on the jars and screw on the rings. Once you have them filled up, place them in your lobster pot of boiling water for 10 minutes. That batch of jam gave me 3 pint-size jars and 2 cute little jars to give away.



9. After they've boiled for ten minutes, use your canning tongs to remove them from the pot and then set them out to cool. As they cool, you'll hear the jar lids pop and you'll know the jars are set and sealed.
After i made that batch, I started all over and made one more batch, so I ended up with a total of 7 big jars and 4 small ones.
They'll keep for about 8months to a year and they are REALLY yummy.


See?? It's not that hard. And it doesn't take very long either. After I washed and hulled the berries, it only took me about 2 hours start to finish to do all these jars.
My first year canning jam, I went a little crazy with the berries and had about 5 million jars of jam. Okay, not that many, but about 20. Good thing is, if you go overboard and get sick of making jam you can just throw the berries in the freezer and do them some other day.

So try it! it's a fun family activity and you'll have some great jam when you're done.

Of course there IS this small matter of the sink load of sticky messy dishes.....

We'll just leave those for Steve.

New Birthday Tradition

As you may remember, Cooper was my birthday present from Steve last year. He's come a long way from adorable little puppy (i.e. poop and pee machine) but he's definitely still a ball of puppy energy, although now its more like gawky adolescent horse instead of roly poly ball of fluff.
Since Coop and I have birthdays that are so close together, we decided to take a picture of the two of us together every year to document how we change and grow, year by year.

So here's the first one - taken yesterday by Steve. :)

May 2008
Tammi - 29 years
Cooper - 1 year

Show Me your Wenis

Tammi: My wenis is bigger than yours

Casey: Is not!

Casey & Tammi (simultaneously): STEVE! Who has a bigger wenis??

Steve: I don't know.

Tammi: Come'on! You have to look and choose one

Steve: I. DON'T. KNOW.

Casey: I think mine is thicker, but Tammi's is longer.

Steve: It's a tie.

Casey: Show us yours. We showed you ours.

Steve: No. I like to keep my wenis to myself.

Happy Birthday.....

to me!
I'm 29 years old today and I must admit that I'm starting to feel a little old. Not physically or anything, because I still FEEL like I'm 18, but when I think of the actual NUMBER 29 I think...damn. What happened to 25-28??

So yeah.
29.
Which might as well be 30.
Which is only 10 years away from 40.
Which is midlife.
And then you're 50 and you're on the back nine of life.
So...what I'm trying to say is I might as well be dead.

:) LOL

J/K! You're only as old as you feel right?? Well, most days since I feel like I have the maturity of an 8 year old I guess I'm good to go.

Although I think that having a yellowed picture of yourself definitely pegs you into the OLD category.


All I know is....

I'm going to go out and cut myself some bangs exactly like when I was five years old. And they'll go all the way to the middle of my head.
Because that. is. HOT.
And who doesn't like some strawberry shortcake pajamas??


:)
Later friends.

Splish Splash

I was looking back through the last couple weeks of posts and noticed that I'm doing a lot of "mommy-blogging"....i.e. endless pictures and stories of my kids, and aren't they so cute, and they're the best ever and don't you wish you were so lucky as to have children with just a hair's breadth of adorability as my children's etc. etc. etc.

But then I remembered that all of those things are true, so I guess it's okay.
So now, I will subject you to the ultimate stereotype of mommy-blogging (drumroll please)::
::::Pictures of my child in the bathtub.:::::

And I promise to try and post something mentally stimulating, politically charged, religiously controversial, or very intriquing to the masses in the very near future.

But not today.
Because isn't my baby the cutest freaking thing you've ever seen?
And he's in the bathtub.
**squeal**

(click any to enlarge)

Showing off his teeth. Of which he now has 3.
And a half.

I love this one.

And this last one is my favorite. :)

Happy Tuesday!