KIDS and their STUFF!

This article caught my eye today. Organization being my ambition lately, having just moved and having lost some pretty important stuff in this clutter I'm surrounded by.

I liked this idea the most:

...invite your child to pick a few toys that he has outgrown. Together, pick a charity or friend who will be your beneficiary. If saying good-bye is hard, take a picture so that your child can preserve the memory in an album of outgrown toys. Let giving away toys be a ritual by which you celebrate your child's growth.

My oldest is a memory keeper. My youngest is just in denial about thinking he still plays with certain toys. I have already started an album of artwork/schoolwork through Shutterfly. I take the photo, add it to the album and toss the paperwork/artwork. GASP!! Well, I do save a few favorites, but MOST has to go! I just don't have the space to store a box for each kid, each year of elementary school. That would be about 24 cubic feet.

... I LOVE the idea of adding photos of beloved toys/stuffed animals/memorabilia. Easy, relatively cheap, and it will sure weigh a lot less and be easier to pack up for the next move! I mean think about it: you return to your parents home for a visit and mom hands you about 16 large boxes of all the stuff she's saved for you. Wouldn't you rather have a book with photos and stories of the beloved items. I am so all over this!

Preparing for General Conference

I am really looking forward to the spiritual nourishment of General Conference. I saw something on SugarDoodle.net that I thought would be a great way to have my kids participate more fully in General Conference. It should also help them remember the names and faces of the Twelve Apostles. Have you seen this? Now, if only I could find my printer in this mess...

MOVING.... so fun!

 

 

So, THIS is my mess... at least a tiny part of it. Moving is always a lot of work, this move has seemed like twice that for a variety of reasons. Of course this is the first move we have done ourselves since being newly married. We've accumulated a LOT of stuff. To complicate matters, although I labeled boxes very well (if I may brag), we have opened them all and rummage through looking for missing items. Items are scattered, boxes are no longer as stackable. Chaos.

I am making some progress. These photos are of the downstairs of our house, and I will post more when I'm done. The good thing about moving is that you have the perfect opportunity to purge unneccessary stuff. I've already had a large garage sale and hauled off 3 van-fulls of stuff to GoodWill or the DI Truck at the S.J. Stake Center. Now, for another round...

In a JAM...

(pun intended) Jam is suppose to be easy to can. I'm thinking that it may be IF one were to follow the instructions that come with the box of Pectin. Those instructions were NOT the way that my mom has always canned or the way her mom taught her to can. So, when we called Mom (who was out of state for her sister's wedding)- we took a detour on the instructions and tossed caution to the wind. Needless to say my sister, Mirriam, and I are feeling pretty lucky that the jam indeed tasted yummy and even more fortunate that all ten jars seemed to seal well. Sorry for the very unprofessional recipe that follows. This is what we did:

Plum Raspberry Jam (one batch= 5 pints jam)

5 3/4 cup fruit: (3 lbs. plum, pitted and peeled + 18 oz. frozen raspberries)
1 pkg. Pectin
8 1/2 c. sugar (measure out into a bowl so it can be dumped all at once)
1/8 c. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. butter

DO NOT DOUBLE THE RECIPE

Instructions: Put jars in dishwasher to sterilize and heat. Put the seals in a small pot of water on the stove, so they are ready when it's time to heat them. In a large pot mix fruit, pectin and lemon juice. Cook over high heat stirring constantly, until it comes to a full, rolling boil. Turn heat on underneath the pan with the seals. Dump the sugar into the fruit mixture and stir quickly. Let the fruit mixture come to a rolling boil again, stir constantly. Boil for exactly 4 minutes. (Meanwhile: keep an eye on the saucepan of seals- heat to a boil and turn off) Remove from heat. Add 1/2 tsp. butter and then skim off the foam. Pour the jam into hot or warm jars. Clean threads and top of jars with a damp towel to remove any jam residue. Top each jar with a seal. After seals are on you can screw on a lid. Try not to move jars. They should seal on their own, if they don't you'll have to do a water bath.