We went to Pendleton this weekend for a family reunion for my dad’s side of the family. It was a long drive, but one speeding ticket, twice getting a wee bit LOST and 4 1/2 hours later we finally arrived. ;o) Yep, we got a speeding ticket. We were driving along, sandwiched between two cars in the right (aka “SLOW MOVING”) lane, that were moving equally fast as we were, if not faster, and it was just our luck that we were the ones that got the ticket. As he was explaining to us that our conversation was being recorded, he noticed the carseat in the middle seat and asked if we’d like him to inspect it, because he was a licensed carseat installer. We had never used the latch feature that our minivan has. I had seen the little trapdoor in the floor for it but I had no idea how it worked, so we always just used the shoulder belt. He helped us install the latch and moved the belt up to the top notch on her carseat. He even got in the van and put his knee and all his weight inside the carseat to tighten the latch as much as possible, and that thing now does NOT budge. Before, it would move a little, not more than an inch, like he said — if it was installed right it wouldn’t move an inch either direction, but this thing is rock solid attached to that seat. I guess $264 is worth peace of mind that your daughter is completely safe in her carseat LOL.

The family reunion was held at a little park in Pendleton that was horribly hard to find, but once we got there we had a good time. The kids did a pinata, played Bingo, and tons of other fun things :o) We went back to our hotel and the kids swam for a couple of hours before dinner, which ended up being Sheri’s a block over from our hotel. I ordered a chicken burger and my chicken was raw in the middle

While the kids were swimming Ashlyn and McKenzie got brave enough to jump off the side of the pool for the first time, once they did it the first time, that’s ALL they were doing in the pool. It was fun to watch and we were SO proud of them. Here are a few pictures, that you can click to enlarge.

We left this morning after breakfast and my dad took all the girls back up to the cabin, Tanner wanted to come home with us. This worked out nicely actually, because it turned out Dusty, Tina and 2 of their kids were in Eugene and headed back to the Tri-Cities, so we met them at Char-Burger for lunch. I had the best smoked salmon chowder in my life, it was SOOOOO delicious, totally made up for my cruddy dinner the night before. Tanner and DJ get along so well and had fun giggling and playing around.

We got back this evening and started getting some things ready for the fair, which is what we’ll be spending all next week on… it starts this Friday. WOW!! We are really excited :o)

Here are the pictures from the reunion (click picture to go to photo album):

Bailey and I had a nice, quiet day. We both woke up earlier than we have been this summer. Seems like the kids and I have been sleeping in until about 9am or so. Bailey and I were both awake at 7:30 this morning. This meant we both got to take naps at 1:00!

Bailey leaves tomorrow for the cabin with Elaine. She’s all packed up and ready to go. So excited, too. She keeps asking when Elaine is going to get her to pick her up. This morning she was SO sad when she saw her sissies were gone still. She loves her big sisters SO much and will be thrilled to see them tomorrow.

I got “The Lunch Box” page started today. Every Fall, I go looking for new ideas as I always intend to pack way more lunches then I ever do, but I find lots of neat ideas on how to make kids’ school lunches fun and appealing. My kids love brown bagging it anyway… but, I’m basically just offering some ideas to get out of that peanut butter rut. I hope to add some more to it. I’m kind of getting bored with all the blue on all my pages. I love blue, it’s my favorite color… but I will probably get crazy and try to change the color schemes of things around this place.

http://www.theulloms.com/theullomson/kidsinthekitchen/thelunchbox.htm

Grandpa left for the cabin with the four older kids this morning. They will be up there for ten days. How exciting for them. They love it up there, it’s almost like being away at summer camp. So many things to do, swimming at the lake every day, boating, and the list goes on. I think they are even making homemade root beer and ice cream as well. Fun! Bailey will join them on Thursday with Elaine (Grandpa’s girlfriend). David and I are meeting them on Saturday to go to a family reunion in Pendleton. Not looking forward to the hot icky weather there, but the reunion itself will be fun.

I came acrossed this poem on somebody’s blog the other day. I didn’t write down who’s blog it was, just copied it and emailed it to myself, so I can’t give proper credit (other than the writer), but I thought it was really neat - and fitting for me, since I’m a mom to five. Just thought I’d share.

She Mothered Five!
Night after night she watched a little bed,
Night after night she cooled a fevered head;
Day after day she guarded little feet,
Taught little minds the dangers of the street,
Taught little lips to utter simple prays,
Whispered of strength that some day would be theirs,
And trained them all to use it as they should
She gave her babies to the nations good.
She mothered five!
She gave her beauty-from her cheeks let fade
Their rose-blush beauty-to her mother trade.
She saw the wrinkles furrowing her brow.
Yet smiling said, “My boy grows stronger now.”
When pleasures called she turned away and said,
“I dare not leave my babies to be fed by stranger’s hands;
Besides, they are too small;
I must be near them when they call.”
She mothered five!
Night after night they sat about her knee
And heard her tell of what some day would be,
From her they learned that in the world outside
Are cruelty and vice, and selfishness and pride;
From her they learned the wrongs they ought to shun,
What things to love, what work must still be done.
She led them the labor of the youth
And brought five men and women up to truth.
She mothered five!
Her name may be unknown save to the few;
Of her the outside world but little knew:
But somewhere five are treading virtue’s ways,
Seeing the world and brightening its day;
Somewhere are five, who, tempted, stand upright,
Who cling to honor, keep her memory bright;
Somewhere this mother toils and is alive
No more as one, but in the breasts of five.
Edgar A. Guest

I have had AOL since… 1997 when I got my very first computer. I remember paying like $59 for a 36k modem upgrade for my 14k modem and being really excited about the speed increase. I can’t even fathom this now! But, yes, like many, AOL was my introduction to the Internet. I have never once tried or had the need/want to cancel. I have called for technical support many times in the past, and not had very many problems getting help with what I had called for. I’ve changed my plans a few times and been offered deals… for my BYOA plan I currently have with our DSL. Never a problem. David hates AOL, never ever uses it. I really don’t see how I’ll ever get rid of it. I am just so used to and happy with the email system they have, and it’s pretty - what can I say :o) User friendly and yes, I admit it, I have a really hard time with change.

Anyway… a friend of mine, Jeni, forwarded this onto me and I thought it was hilarious! We all know how people have called to cancel and been given offers of first born children and more to keep the service. This is too funny, hope you enjoy it! http://www.ebaumsworld.com/audio/canceling-aol.html

I decided to start adding some family recipes that are made with Farmer’s Market fruits and veggie finds (or your own garden if you are adventurous - I’m not there, yet.) I perused my cookbooks and my favorite bookmarked websites for my favorite apple recipes. APPLES, I know it’s not quite APPLE PICKIN’ TIME JUST YET, but…. I’m anxious for Fall to get here, what can I say. It is by far my favorite time of the entire year. And we looooove apples here at the Ullom House. It is one of two fruits that ALL my picky eaters like (the other being watermelon), and one of the few food items in general that they will all eat. Here are 15 of my newest apple recipes added to Jessica’s Kitchen.

Apple Butter Bread

Apple Dumplings

Taffy Apple Salad

Apple Squares

Slow Cooker Apple Butter

Caramel Apple Pie

Peanut Butter and Apple Sandwich

Easy Apple Crisp

Apple Fry-Babies

Apple Cream Dessert

Apple Cider

Pork and Apples


Glazed Apple Cookies


Apple Cinnamon Muffins


Apple Cheescake

The kids all got free Dilly Bars with their DQ Kids Meals last night. Bailey fell asleep before she had a chance to eat hers, so she ate it just a bit ago. She was in Heaven! Click the picture to enlarge.

David had Poker Night tonight at his friend’s house, so I decided to take the kids to see Monster House. It was 103 degrees here and so humid. I had to go out and about to take Tanner to the doctor, otherwise I think I might have never left my comfortable 73.5 degree air conditioned home. I hate hot weather. So, while we were out we hit up Target for movie candy and there were aisles and aisles of toys on second markdown, gotta keep an eye on that. My clearance buzzers were going off, not that we need any more toys, but Ashlyn’s Birthday and Christmas ARE just around the corner.

The movie was really cute. We paid the extra $1.50 per ticket to see it in 3D. I didn’t even know it was out in 3D. The last 3D movie I think I saw was maybe Poltergeist a gillion years ago at a drive in? I can’t remember for sure what movie it was, but it was a LONG time ago. The 3D glasses then were those little paper ones that had one red lens and one blue. We got actual plastic glasses this time! The kids were thrilled. I have seen the various 3D shows at Disneyworld, Disneyland, Seaworld and the like, and I know I felt like I could reach out and grab things in those shows, this one wasn’t as cool as that, but it was neat. I guess I expected more and if given the opportunity to see it again, I would not see it in 3D. Bailey didn’t want to wear her glasses, she also was pretty scared in certain parts. The movie is rated PG, but the “monster house” and Mr. Nebbercracker were pretty creepy I do have to say. We all enjoyed it though! We can’t wait for Flicka to come out… we saw a preview for that and it looks SOOO good.

Stopped by Dairy Queen on our way home for cheeseburgers and Dilly bars (and an Oreo Blizzard for myself, teehee)… totally cured the “I’m so hot, I’m cranky” blues.

It’s supposed to be more of this humid, icky, hot crud all weekend long, so we’ll probably just hang out inside and try to stay cool. Good thing I got most of the yard mowed the other day when it was a wee bit cooler. Have a good weekend!

Do you ever wonder why kids enjoy playing in a nice, clean room more than in a messy, cluttered with toys room? Anytime someone calls and asks what I’m up to, I almost always say “cleaning”. A mother’s job is never done? I swear it’s true. I have this insane inability to walk through a room in this house without picking up things and putting them away as I walk through. It could just be that I’m walking down the stairs, through the foyer and into the kitchen and I will try to pick up everything in sight, because these things say “PUT ME AWAY” and apparently NOBODY else here these toys/shoes/blankets/clothes little voices. Only I do. LOL. Now this is a quirk that is only my fault, so I can’t help but pick these things up and not jump all over everyone else who has walked by these things about 50 times before I do.

But what really gets me, is… I will clean up the living room, then go do the dishes in the kitchen. All the while the kids have moved from the ALREADY MESSY playroom into the living room to continue the messes in there.

My stepmom had a room in this very house that was their formal living room. It was basically for pretties, not a whole lot of people sat in it, there was no tv. I believe she held Bible studies in there and a few Christmas shindigs - that type of thing and now I know exactly WHY. A room that never got messy. It’s a phenomenal idea really. Not practical with 5 kids under the age of 15. BUT… phenomenal. One day, I will have a room that is just this…. a room that never has a mess in it. LOL. Please don’t misunderstand, it’s not to say that I don’t allow my kids to be messy and carry on with their fun play time in all their messy glory most of the time, BUT… why… oh why…. do they insist upon making a mess everywhere they travel.

I figure consistency…. if I consistently tell them to pick up one mess before making another, maybe one day they will get it. Kati is 14. So let’s say she’s got about 11 years of consistency under her belt, and she is still the same way! Consistency just doesn’t work for my kids. We sing the clean up song “Clean Up, Clean Up, Everybody Everywhere, Clean Up, Clean Up, Everybody Do Your Share”. Here that kids??? EVERYBODY do your share, LOL. Bailey loves to sing this song with me and throw her toys all around the room as she sings it.

Oh and my children DO NOT PLAY IN THEIR BEDROOMS. They find it most entertaining to make messes all over the main rooms of the house that we all use. The living room, “quiet room” (sort of like our study - there are bookshelves with books, two couches, NO tv and NO toys kept in this room!), kitchen, and playroom. I NEED HELP. I try to keep the toys in the playroom. When we clean up, the toys find their way back to the playroom 99% of the time. The crayons and markers I like to keep in the kitchen for obvious reasons… our walls are colorful enough with little scribbles, but… toys… books… movies…. paper…. dolls…. stuffed animals…. are everywhere and they scream “pick me up” all stinkin’ day long!

I decided that my ceiling fans needed a good dusting today, so we got that chore out of the way. Kati’s fan wasn’t bad at all, but the others OYVEY, And the duster I have.. I bought at Walmart, it’s supposed to be one of those miracle dusters, picks up every speck of dust and sucks it up into the bristles or whatever. Nope. After dusting, I had to vacuum and then I had to dust everything around the ceiling fans, because that duster, all it did was push the dust off the fan and onto other things. LOL. I did get all the cobwebs (not a ton, but another one of these little things that my eyes just pick up ALL the time) and got the girls’ bedroom cleaned up really good. Vacuumed all of the upstairs and I think tomorrow, we will wash walls. Does anyone do this? I remember doing this at the daycare I worked at many years ago. I only wash specific messes on walls, splatters of food, crayon markings and the like, but I’m noticing LOTS of fingerprints, so I think tomorrow the kids and I will all take part in some serious WALL WASHING.

Tonight for dinner, I’m making a pot of hamburger gravy. Still deciding on what to serve it over. Mashed taters, biscuits, or rice. We had rice last night so I’m thinking biscuits. And I have salad and corn to go with it. YUMMMMMY.

And to make my night a little sweeter, it’s BIG BROTHER and WINDFALL tonight. I still have a few “lil devils” left to enjoy my shows with. Happy Thursday everyone!

First I have to say Congratulations to my friend Sarah, who just had a baby girl yesterday morning. Congrats Tim, Sarah and Family I made a strawberry sauce today that I got out of the Everyday by Rachael Ray magazine. It is SOOO good. We spooned it over vanilla ice cream (not homemade - that would have been even better) for our afternoon snack. The kids loved it. I have some in the fridge for waffles tomorrow morning. It made quite a bit. Visit My Recipes to find out how to make it.

We are bbq’ing foil packets tonight. David is setting up the tent and camping out with the kids - we’ll see how long they last out there . I haven’t done chicken packets in a LONG time but I’m just throwing chicken, potatoes, and broccoli in foil and throwing on some Italian dressing, parm. cheese, and garlic. Hopefully they turn out okay.

I think that’s about it. No major updates to report… no pictures to post, nothing important to talk about, just same ‘ole, same ‘ole.

Happy day, everyone.

Before I forget… BUHBYE Alison!!!! I’m so glad she’s gone! She’s about the fakest BB houseguest ever. She does not regret or feel embarassed about the crap she said to Janelle… you are either the type of person to act that way or you aren’t…. AND SHE IS. Sheesh, quit making excuses and just admit that you are a two face BEEEEEEP! Ok.. happy days, so glad she is gone!

I had a little bit of apple juice left in the bottle last night after I filled up B’s sippy, so I decided to make apple juice ice cubes with it. I put toothpicks in 3 of them for K, M and B to have today and when I took them out after breakfast you’d thought I hung the moon! My kids love posicles, but we don’t ever make them at home. When you can buy a box of 12 for a buck or so, why bother with the mess of making them. Though, I did feel good about giving them the apple juice ones, knowing it was real apple juice. It was also kind of funny when they asked me to take daddy’s toothpicks out of their popsicles. I need to find some popsicle sticks I guess and get these kids

I made slushies alot when I was little in the summer. I put coke in a little dixie cup and let it freeze to the point of being slushie and YUM! Before Mom bought the cool shaved ice machine one summer, I used my snoopy snow cone maker (REMEMBER THESE?!?!?!) and would pour soda or kool aid over my snow cones. Set up a little table outside with my snow cones (or kool aid) .25 cent sign and wait and wait and wait for someone to stop by and buy one of my lemonades or snow cones, oh and then run and hide when they finally did because I was too shy to talk to anyone LOL.

David is off to pick up a freezer up North somewhere tonight, which is another little reminder that the Clark County Fair is just right around the corner. I’m so excited! If you are a loyal reader (LOL) you will remember last year, we had an ice cream stand at the fair — this year we are doing it again. It’s a great way to make a little extra summer cash and the older two kids enjoy helping out and making some extra money too. It’s a family affair. Oh and we have a free seat to all of the concerts and entertainment venues that come out. Woflstock 2006 baby! Lonestar (they sang our wedding song “Amazed”), Darryl Woorley and Keith Anderson (how hot is he?!?)!!

The rain dance worked. It was a beautiful, gorgeous day today. Big Brother is on shortly… and we are doing the “Please Send Alison Home” chant now… she’s so dang full of herself that even though I thought she’d spice up the house a bit, creating little stirs here and there, I really think there is enough of that without her AND… someone needs to shut her big mouth, so here’s to hoping she’s the one to go tonight. Whatever it takes to get my James baby to win
Got our first ‘lil batch of school supplies today at Walgreens (just some small notebooks and some notebook paper). We try to shop all the sales ads for the kids’ necessities. Oyvey, 1 in elementary, 2 in middle school and 1 in high school this year. Last year, Ashlyn’s teacher had us just pay a flat fee for supplies and she provided everything. It was so much easier - I wish they all did that. I do sort of get a mild thrill over school supplies shopping though. I love my twenty cent box of Crayola crayons that I stock up on each year (and my supply is getting low). And YES Crayola… is THE BEST crayon ever made. I love to color…. and I wouldn’t waste my money (even if it’s only 10 cents LOL) on Roseart or dollar store crayons ANY DAY. This is why I stock up now… so I don’t ever have to pay full price for crayons anytime during the year AND…. my crayons color prettier than yours do. Neener. LOL.

School clothes. That should be fun… taking my 3 girls to the mall for B2S shopping will likely be the death of me. It starts out all fun and nice… we are all excited about having a girls day out shopping until we get about halfway through and then everyone starts to get cranky and tired of looking at sizes and departments that aren’t theirs and “can we go now” with big fat eye rolls. Or my favorite… “this bag is too heavy for me to carry”. LOL. Yah, just shoot me now! Gone are the days that I could go to the mall and outlet stores (armed with a little piece of paper with their sizes scribbled down on it) and pick up all the things the girls (and boy) needed, at my convenience, discretion, and with my knack for picking out the bargains. Taking them one quick trip just to experience picking out their one back to school outfit… and that being just good enough for them. Now… they have wants and needs and tastes that I can only begin to guess about. Why must they grow up??? I will say that my son, I could buy him 1 pair of jeans and 1 tshirt and he’d be good to go in his mind for the entire school year… unfortunately, that fashion disaster of a child doesn’t get off that easy. I will have to take him separately from his sisters to try things on — it would just be extreme torture for him to have to go with them and their drama queen selves, but if I squeeze in a 15 minute break at the arcade for him, he’ll be a happy camper.

Deep breath… I still have another 5 weeks or so before I really need to get all panicky… but yes it IS coming!

Nothing too exciting to report here today. It’s raining. First day in quite awhile. The lawn mower is sitting outside, because it ran out of gas, and that’s probably not a good thing. It’s garbage day and David forgot to take out the trash to the end of the road. We miss our Tanner “garbage boy” Clark. He’s at Great Grandma’s helping her out for a few days and loving it. So now we’ll have two extra garbage cans for next weeks pick up. Blahhh.

I put up a baby freebies page and will be adding some recipes today. Nothing exciting. I’m thinking a rain day 2pm and the girls and I need to go take a little nap. I have a special request for my lil cheddar meatloaves from David tonight, so that’s what I’m making for dinner, along with our favorite Costco mashed potatoes and fruit cocktail (since I am not dredging out in the rain to go get some fresh fruit).

Bailey and I are signing off singing “Rain rain go away come again anudder Day, Old man went to bed and couldn’t get up in da mornin”.