Busy

Why do I feel like I always have so much to get done? Sometimes I feel so busy it is completely overwhelming. I run from place to place as fast as I can to get more things done. Doing, going, rushing. I have a to do list that I constantly keep (either in my mind or on paper) of all of the things that need to be done: dishes, laundry, grocery store, meal planning, library, LLL, sewing project, knitting, .... it can go on forever.

What is this mindset of business that I always seem to have? I don't think it is necessary or even important. A few days ago it occurred to me that being to busy with so much to do was not making me feel fulfilled or even happy. I was so grumpy and cranky, yelling at my kids and whining to Ben. I was miserable! This was not a new revelation to me but it was a much needed reminder to slow down, enjoy life, be happy. 5 years from now, I won't think back to this time when my kids are so little and say "oh how I wish I had a cleaner house, or I wish my dishes were clean." I'm sure I won't care about that at all. Instead I will wish I had taken more time to play, to laugh, and to love. I will wish that I had cherished and soaked in every moment when my babies were little for it only last such a short time. I want to stop being to busy. I want to stop doing things that make me overwhelmed and stressed. I want to forget all of the to dos and instead do the things that make me happy and fulfilled.

My usual self would say "What is wrong with me" but I resisted. On Tuesday I went to a workshop on Emotional Intelligence and learn many things. On of the most useful things I learned was to resist asking "Whats wrong with me" and instead as "What can I change". So I put this to the test. Being a list maker, I made 2 lists: "Things that make me happy" and "things that don't". I noticed that I wasn't doing anything on my "things that make me happy list." No wonder I was so miserable. So I decided to make a simple change- Do more things that make me happy and less things that don't. That is exactly what I did yesterday and it worked wonder for me. I took the kids on a little hike to trow rocks in the stream. I enjoyed taking pictures while the kids played in the leaves and water. It was so refreshing and I feel so much happier. It's funny how easy it is for me to get stuck in a rut of miserable living and how a simple change can make such a difference for me and everyone around me. My new goal for the next... well forever really... is to do more things that make me happy and less things that don't. I will put this up on the fridge along with my lists as a reminder : ).

Hope you all have a happy weekend full of things that make you happy.

This girl

These days I can't seem to get enough of this girl!

She has such a wonderful spirit about her. 

She can be strong willed and quite opinionated. She has recently learned to crawl and scoot about and climb. If she sees something she wants, she is so very determined to figure out a way to get to it, even in her semi-mobile state. 

I hope I can teacher her (and all of my children) to think for herself and to stand up for what she knows is right. I hope that she will always no she needs no ones approval to be of self worth.

Eeva, I am so glad you have blessed our home with your presence. I am so happy you can be here on this journey with us. I am trying to be a good mom and I love you with all of my heart!

How to can (or not to can) green chilies

I just finished canning a lot of green chilies. It was fun. I wrote a how to or how not to

• When you order your bountiful basket add the 25lb bag of green chilies for $12.50. Who doesn't need 25lbs of green chilies right? Besides, it's only $12.50. That's a great deal!    

• Spend the weekend trying to figure out what to do with the chilies. Wonder why in the world you just bought 25lbs of green chilies when you only ever make 1 dish that uses green chilies. 

• By the beginning of the week the chilies have started to go bad. It really is time to do something with them and you should start right away. (I didn't know exactly what I was going to do with them but I found out you have to roast and peel them first so I started there). 

Image Source here

• Roast the chilies. We used the grill outside. Be careful not to char them to a crisp. You just want to blister the skins on the outside. Don't let your husband take over, this part is very enjoyable. He may try several times to do the roasting but don't let him. After roasting, place the chilies in a lidded container (with the lid on) and let them steam until ready to peel.

• Let your 2 year old fall asleep and take a nap at a ridiculously late hour for a nap. 

 

• Peel the chilies. Remove the stems and seeds.  

• Give little girl a peach, cucumber, shoes... anything to try and keep her entertained so that you can keep peeling.

•   Take a break for peeling to can pickles that have been waiting for a few days now.

•   Continue to peel chilies. Invite grandma, grandpa, and Aunt Jen over to keep kids entertained so that you can keep peeling. Send kids out to the garden to play.

• Peel chilies late into the night. Have your husband stay up even later to finish peeling after you and the kids have gone to bed. ... Ok enough peeling but this does take a long time. Put the peeled chilies into the fridge to finish tomorrow

• Next night, de-seed the chilies in the living room while watching a movie. This takes a long time. (note the messy house and Heber's quite book on the floor, also being used as a pillow in a previous picture. We obviously neglect all other duties while trying to get the canning done. If I had more money maybe I would hire someone to come a clean. But probably not really.)

• Pack chilies into jars, pour boiling water over them, put lids on, and processes in a pressure canner. 13 lbs for 35 min. 

• Post info on your blog and sigh at your terrible picture taking abilities. Someday I will learn to take decent pictures (or at least get a better camera) and my blog will be full of beautiful pictures. 
 

I froze some chilies to use in salsa once we have ripe tomatoes. I am also going to use some to try and make a green enchilada sauce using some of my green tomatoes. I'll let you know how it turns out. I feel like all of my extra time is spent canning and we haven't even got to all the tomato stuff yet.

I'm not sure if all of this work was worth it. I guess we will see when I actually come up with some good recipes that use green chilies other then creamy chicken enchiladas. Any ideas? 

starting school

School starts next week for us. I have mixed feelings about it.

I am looking forward to having more of a set routine and less craziness and changing plans and trip after trip. It will be nice to get back on a somewhat regular schedule for all of us. I love the fall time and school starting means that Autumn is near. I love the cool crisp air and the bountiful garden harvest and canning season and an all around excitement that fills the air this time of year. I guess it's more of the time of year I am excited about and not so much starting school. ... Ok it's not fall quite yet- it is still hot, especially today- but school is starting and that makes me think of fall and wish for fall. Although I am not taking any classes, Ben will be and he always shares the interesting things he is learning. He is taking some great classes this semester and I'm sure we will have some good conversations on the topics he discusses in class. 

Heber playing in the leaves, Fall 2009

Ben will be taking 4 classes this semester. I am going to miss having him home a lot and being able to get things done around the house. This summer he has been so great to get dishes done, work in the garden, and fix up the house. Once school starts, he won't have the time to do as much around the house. I am going to miss the freedom of summer and not have a set schedule to follow. I will miss going on trips. The school year always feels so crazy and busy but it's a different crazy and busy then summer is.  I work at the University and summers are really nice and slow. The school year is the exact opposite. Due to some changes that have been made (new computer systems and such), this year is going to be especially hectic.

It has been a fun summer filled with lots of trips and visiting family. Goodbye summer. We will miss you. Hello autumn. I'm sure you will be filled with lots of harvesting, canning, and learning. There will also be trips for visiting family. We love to visit family.

Heber and Great Grandpa reading "Fox in Socks"

Life (and mostly work) will be busy so I may not be blogging as much. I seem to be sporadic blogger anyway.

Pool Party

A few weeks ago we went to Ben's Aunts for her annual Pool Party. It was a lot of fun and good food. Here are some pictures from the evening. I think you can click on the picture to see it bigger.

 


Why oh why is it so hard to place pictures and get them where you want them!! Does anyone know how to get them to line up better?

Reunions

We have been having a lot of fun at some recent family reunions:

1st was the Browning reunion in Teton Valley. It included visiting with family, eating yummy food, playing with cousins words of wisdom and stories from grandma and grandpa, swimming at Green Canyon hot springs, playing games, playing in the sand box, lots of mosquito bites, and a hike to the wind caves.

Heber had so much fun with this little cousin who is about a month older then he is. 

Heber kept giving him lots of hugs and walking around hand in hand. It was so cute.

 

Heber got a bug bite on his eye and when he woke up in the morning he said "Ahh, my eye can't open." 

He also had several bites on his neck and all over his face.

Next up was the Madsen family trip to the Sawtooth mountains. We stayed at the cabin creek cabins by lake Alturas. It included diving the scenic way over a dirt road on a mountainous pass, visiting with family, eating lots of yummy food, playing with cousins, swimming in some natural hot springs, playing games, playing in the sand by the lake, lots of mosquito bites, swimming and playing around on the lake, visiting an old gold dredge and ghost town, panning for gold, seeing the fish hatchery, and a crazy long hike/canoe trip that Ben went on while the kids and I stayed and play with cousins more.

These silly boys jumped on the beds singing "whos afraid of the big bad wolf"

Soaking in the hot springs. Later in the week we found a much better soaking pot but didn't get any pictures. 

At the gold dredge. If you look close in these pictures you can see Heber's misshapen face from swollen mosquito bites.

 

 

panning for gold

If you asked Heber what he was doing he will say "I'm doin my chainsaw." 

All of his cousins decided to follow Heber and copy what he was doing. It was great fun.

The following pictures are from Ben's hike up to Cramer lakes. 

First they canoed across Red Fish Lake (5 miles). Then they hiked up to the lakes (it was 7 miles up to the highest lake). When they got to the top they jumped into the lake from the cliff by the waterfall and hiked back down (running part of the way to avoid many miskitos). It was a total of 24 miles. They left at 7 in the morning and were back in time for dinner. I am pretty impressed and am sure that I could not have made it

Lastly was the Trapnell reunion. Ben wasn't able to get off work so we just went up for Saturday. It was at Heber Valley Camp. This reunion included visiting with family, playing with cousins, a high ropes challenge course with a zip line, playing with cousins, playing in the sand box, paddling on the lake (but no swimming, splashing, standing, wading or anything else as it was against the rules at the camp). I wasn't in the mood for taking pictures so sadly, we don't have many at the reunion. After the reunion we stayed Sunday and went for a hike at sunset at Alta ski resort up to a lake. We didn't swim or play in the lake but it was beautiful. We threw rocks in the water and looked at the tadpoles turning into mud puppies. There were mosquitos but I think we survived the weekend with surprisingly few bites

These trips all seem to have a similar tone: family, food, fun, games, cousins, sand, lake, hiking. Upcoming this weekend: Madsen annual pool party. We will swim in the pool, eat lots of yummy food, visit with family, and play with cousins. I'm sure Heber would love to play in another sand box if there were one and maybe we will go on a hike to keep on track with our other trips. It has been a great summer and we have had a lot of fun and there is still more fun to come.