She's Got A New Atti'do!

Just wanted to share some before and after pics from our recent trip to the hair salon (Ok, I know Great Clips isn't what usually comes to my mind when I think of the word "salon" but Tehani has been dying to get her hair cut so this is where we ended up :)

It's been several years since she's even been in for a cut and she's been asking about chopping of her locks for the last month or so (Apparently, spending over 10 minutes each day to brush all of the knots out of her hair is no longer her idea of fun) Anyway, Tehani got a new super cute bob cut, and someone else is going to end up with 12 inches of her long brown hair since the Hani Bani donated it to Locks of Love. I'm very proud of my lil' philanthropist and her good deed (And no, I am not just saying that since we got her cut for free because of the donation) That's my girl!

Birthday Nunsense

I didn't want today to go by without wishing my favorite "Mother Superior" a Happy Birthday! No, my mom isn't really Sally Field. But I'm pretty sure you can see from the pics that back in the day, Crazy J bore a striking resemblance to a certain Flying Nun.

So although it would have been nice to have a mother that could fly through the air on her magic nun habit, I had to settle for a mother that got unlimited flying benefit on United...

and made me eat my vegetables (peas and all)

and forced me to practice the viola (even when I complained)

and made me do my homework (even when I didn't want to)

and had me write thank you notes (Miss Manners must have taken lessons from my Mom)

and taught me how to cook (though at the time I'm sure she thought I wasn't listening)

and made me the person I am today (idiosyncrasies and all!)

So Happy Birthday Sister Bertrille, err...I mean Mom! Hope you have all the birthday nunsense you can enjoy!!

Doing the can-can

In case any of you have been wondering what I have been up to instead of posting on my blog, I figured its time I let you in on a little secret...I am a canner. Strange hobby, I know. I like to blame it on my mother, the queen canner herself. I grew up eating everything from home-canned peaches to strawberry-peach jam. Now I am sure there are some of you that are saying "My mom canned. It's not THAT uncommon." Well, did any of you eat home-canned ketchup? Or how about home-canned sauerkraut? I think it is safe to say that my mother took canning to a whole new level.

Well, apparently the ready-to-be preserved apple doesn't fall very far from the tree. So far this year I have bottled--listed below in order of production:

Zucchini relish

Strawberry jam

Salsa

Apple butter

Apple pie filling

The kids love, Love, LOVE the jam (I've had to ration their allotment--they were going through a jar every few days!) And I now know that I will never be making pie filling again (the jars overflowed and I had to reprocess the whole thing again) But I am having fun. And that is all that counts, right? Anyway, if you have a good canning recipe you would like to share, just let me know.