Carey's blog

starring Colson and Aven! for the past few weeks these guys have been carrying a tune everywhere they go. from "Thomas the Tank Engine," to "Three Little Birds," to "Jesus Loves the Little Children," to "Code Monkey,"... they have quite a few songs in their pockets these days and it makes me smile every time I hear them singing one. ;)

music is like the icing on the cake of life...and these guys are thoroughly enjoying it!

it's that time of year again and I have been fresh out for a while now so we are thrilled to see some yummy homeade strawberry jam back in the fridge again. we always had homeade strawberry jam growing up and it was THE BEST! everyone loved it and I always thought my mom MUST have some amazing, secret recipe that no one else knew about!! I actually felt rather prideful about it, thinking, NO ONE could make jam like my momma.

well, after moving to Cali, I had to "grow up" and start cooking everything for myself. (couldn't just run to mom and pop's and get a YUMMO meal anytime I wanted) so, homeade strawberry jam was one of those things that I really missed so when I called mom for the secret recipe, I was dumfounded to know...MY mom used the recipe on the Sure-Jell box! What?! how could this be?! I was somewhat disappointed that this wasn't a "Burnett Family" exclusive (oh my pride) and also relieved when I seen how easy the recipe was! ;)

anywho, I started making the "famous" strawberry jam and was VERY pleased when my first batch turned out "just as good as mom's!" however, since having kids and trying to be more health conscience with their food choices, I felt great that my picky eater was finally trying new things and eating strawberry jam but...ALL THAT SUGAR! I just couldn't feel good about that. so, I recently found this, tried it and was thrilled!

it only uses 1 1/2 cups of sugar compared to Sure-Jell's whopping 4 cups! and it has been officially taste tested by Colson and Aven (and me of course) and get's a giant blue ribbon. infact, as Colson is licking it off of his lips he shouts, "We make the best jam in the world!!"

so I can now feel a lot better about feeding this to my boys and it tastes just as yummy if not better than the sugar-loaded jam!

Enjoy!!!

Bob took off today for his birthday so we enjoyed a beautiful day at the zoo.

stingray bay

totally zoning after a fun-filled day...

colson loves to make things, cook, build, concoct... he's always coming up  with "recipes" (with great enthusiasm I might add) that we HAVE to try! so...recently I let him pull together one of his "great recipes" and this is how it turned out...

the consistency was similiar to fruit roll-ups but a little thicker and it actually didn't taste too bad. needless to say, he was totally stoked about his "green marshmallow" recipe.

ran across this yesterday...now I'm dying to see this live! 

absolutely amazing, enjoy!

http://paintjam.com/

who doesn't love it when something is free, right?

well the links listed below will direct you to free software for your kiddo's. there's tons out there I'm sure but these are a few we have tried and really enjoy.

share the love...

This one's fun for all ages, I even enjoy it.http://www.tuxpaint.org/

We haven't tried this one but I'm sure it's good based on the other ones we have tried.http://tuxtype.sourceforge.net/download/

This is an intro to programming game. Colson already does this one but we have to read the instructions for him so... as he gets a little older he'll enjoy it more. http://www.alice.org/

This is a math game to teach and reinforce mathmaticshttp://sourceforge.net/projects/tuxmath/

So excited to turn 4..."then 5, then 6, then 7...!" I asked Colson a few weeks ago what he wanted for his birthday and he said, "I want a car that goes really fast and I want to channel it!" (a long time ago we figured out that that channelling something means controlling it or using a remote control...) So, that's what we got him and when he opened it he jumped up and down squealing "that's what I wanted!!" It's so fun to see your kids so happy and wanting something and you get to give it to them... Of course Bob was thrilled also when Colson said he wanted a R/C car, Bob's like, "You know we'll need to get two of them." Yeah, this is when it really starts getting fun...when Dad can enjoy some of the kids toys too!! This is right after opening the R/C vehicle

the dino cake...

loving on Analise...

making his "silly face" that he says Poppy taught him...I think it was Nick.:)

Happy Birthday big guy...I LOVE you!

and Thanks to all the family for celebrating with us, both near and far, and making Colson's day special.:) Love you all.

Snow is beautiful and can be so much fun...but I must admit it is quite nice to choose when I want to see it or frolick in it. :) This is one of best things about living in sunny California. I've always loved snow at Christmas but that's about it. So, we took the boys to Yosemite today to try and play in some snow before it all melts away and Colson had a Blast! Aven not so much...he's been rather whiney the last couple of days and we couldn't find gloves his size for the snow so his little hands were freezing, which is no fun. And I think he did about 10 face plants because of his boots and he's still a little guy trying to tread in some pretty thick snow, but fun was still had by all!

our little snowman with whiskers...

a selfpotrait by Colson...

I just loved this when he brought it to me. He's been really diving into drawing and writing his letters lately even more so than usual.

this little dude engulfs himself as well into his doodling. :)