Summer Lovin'

I finally had a minute to download 250 pictures from off our camera! There will be more posts to come. Here are a few pictures that I thought were pretty cute. The kids were outside playing one day and Hal captured some funny moments.

Quinn loves playing with his trucks. Here he has them all lined up, ready to roll!

Madison LOVES to pose for the camera.

Here's Quinn's impersonation of Madison's pose.

A dramatic reading of Barbie Fairytopia.

Quinn thought he was pretty funny when he got into the closet and pulled out the blankets for a hiding place.

MORE TO COME.....

I've Been Converted

To using coupons, that is! Recently I've taken up the challenge to try and decrease our grocery (or more like Costco) bill each month. So far, I've hit some really good deals!

This stuff I got at Rite Aid. I don't think I've ever even shopped at Rite Aid before! It was the best shopping experience ever... no crowds of people, no long check out lines, friendly employees, and great deals! Here's how this deal worked out:

$17.74 total out of pocket after using $13.25 in coupons

THEN... I filed a very easy online rebate for some of these items. My rebate total was $18.48.

So I MADE money on this transaction: 74 cents!

This stuff I got at Albertsons. I did it in 2 transactions. The first transaction I paid $19.12 for 16 items. I used $10.55 in coupons and I received a $10 coupon to use on my next shopping trip. Which I used on the purchase of my next set of 12 items. Second total came to $9.96 after using my $10 coupon and other manufacture coupons. Plus I earned another $10 coupon for my next shopping trip. And the store manager gave me a $5 coupon because the register wasn't printing out my $10 coupon and I had to wait a few extra minutes while they fixed it all. So my grand total out of pocket was $29.08, but take away the second $10 coupon and the extra $5 coupon they gave me and my total out of pocket was $14.08! That's an average of 50 cents per item!! Cha Ching!!

Shopping these kinds of deals does take time, effort, and planning. But it's all worth it in the end and it's fun too! So what kind of deals have you scored???

Father & Son Campout

Hal and Quinn went on their first official father and son campout last weekend. Hal was so excited to take Quinn. It's something he's been looking forward to since Quinn was born! They had a fun time and nobody got injured or lost (which is what I always worry about!). They took all their gear to spend the night, but ended up coming home because it started to rain. Seems like it always rains during the father and son campout! None the less, they had a great time! Quinn was more interested in eating his grapes than smiling for the camera.

Dance Time

Another year of dance has come to an end! Madison had a lot of fun taking ballet and tap lessons. Dancing seems to be her thing! The recital was absolutely adorable. She made a beautiful little dancer! There are PLENTY of pictures to follow. Too many cute ones to decide which to post!

Pretty good form if you ask me. (I know nothing about ballet!)

At the end of the recital all the dancers came back on stage for one last applause.

Goodbye Preschool.... Hello Summer!

Madison finished up her first year of preschool at the end of May. Her class had a family picnic at the park to celebrate!

We will miss Teacher Summers, but look forward to seeing her next Fall. Madison won't start kingergarten this year because her birthay is later in September. I'm really happy I've got one more year of her at home before I have to send her out into the real world!

Defining Their Relationship

Madison was putting her dolls/stuffed animals on her bed the other day. She found Raggedy Ann and placed her on her bed. Then looking around her room she said, "Now where is her boyfriend?" She was referring to Andy.... the boyfriend! I about died laughing! I have NO idea where she picked up the term boyfriend. And all this time I thought Raggedy Ann and Andy were brother and sister. Silly me!

Yogurt 101

A few weeks ago, I went to a food storage class that was all about dairy products and how to use and prepare dairy products from non-fat dry milk powder. One thing I decided to implement from the class was how to make my own yogurt. Since my kids think yogurt is one of the major food groups and we eat it almost EVERY day, I figured making my own might be a brilliant idea! So, here's a mini lesson on how to make your own yogurt.

First, put 2 Cups of 130 degree water into a blender. As a side note, I had to turn my water heater up to get water out of my tap this hot.


Add 1 1/2 Cups of non-instant milk powder to the water in a blender. Add powdered milk slowly until smooth.
Non-instant milk powder is the stuff you buy at the cannery, through the church. Or you can use 3 cups of instant milk powder, which is like Carnation that you buy at the store. Instant milk makes a sweeter yogurt, but it's more expensive.



Add 1/2 Cup plain non-fat yogurt. Blend until smooth.

*Use only pure cultured plain yogurt as a start. It CANNOT contain gelatin, pectin or any other thickener. I found my plain yogurt at Fred Meyer in the organic section. All the other yogurt I looked at had pectin or some other thickener in the ingredients.

Immediately pour yogurt into mason jars. Screw lids on tight and place in ice chest.

Cover above level of milk with hot water (150 degrees). Close lid and let set for 4-8 hours.

Then check to see if yogurt is set. If you turn the jars upside down and the yogurt is runny, then it's not set. So if it doesn't set, drain the water out of the cooler, refill with 150 degree water and let set for another 30 minutes. The yogurt is set when you turn the jars over and the yogurt does not fall from the bottom of the jar. When I made my yogurt, it was not set after the 8 hours. So I refilled the cooler with the hot water and after 30 minutes it was set.

Dump your yogurt from your jars into a bowl. Let it refrigerate overnight before eating or sweetening.

I decided to sweeten mine since I knew my kids weren't going to like plain, unsweetened yogurt. To sweeten the yogurt add 1/2 t salt, 3/4 cup powdered sugar, and 2 Tablespoons of Whippit powder to 1 quart of yogurt.

Here's what the Whippit powder looks like. This stuff is so awesome!! It's like whip cream, but not as bad for you! All you do is add water to it and whip it up. And it stays thick in the frig and doesn't get all watery like real whip cream does. I don't know where you can buy it, unless you live in Boise. :) I recently used it on our strawberry topped angel food cake and it was delicious!

So after you sweeten the yogurt you need to put it back in the frig over night again. After it sits in the frig, you can eat it or you can flavor it if you want to.

I decided to flavor mine and made it strawberry. I did this by adding 1/2 teaspoon strawberry jello dissolved in 1 1/2 teaspoon boiling water. Add this to 1 cup sweetened yogurt. There are other flavors you can make and other ingredients (like Crystal Light) you can use to flavor the yogurt. After it's been flavored it has to sit in the frig again for another 8 hours! Yes, making yogurt is NOT a short process!

So I didn't snap a picture of my yogurt after it had been sweetened and flavored, but it looked and smelled like store bought yogurt. So the true taste test.... will the kids eat it???? Well, I dished them up a bowl and they did eat a few bites. That's right, a few. Then they politely said, "No thank you." I ate some and I didn't think it was too bad. I'll admit, it's not quite like eating a Yoplait white chocolate strawberry yogurt. But what do you expect when making yogurt from your food storage... right? I knew my kids would eat this yogurt, but I had to disguise it! So I put it into a fruit smoothie and......

YUMMY..... and

more YUMMY!

Now I can say I've made my own yogurt! Will I do it again??? Maybe......