My 2010 Reading List...

I set out at the beginning of 2010 to see just how many books I could read in 1 year. Lots of slow nights at work, and nights without Justin while he worked helped a lot to accomplish some serious reading! So here it is...my complete 2010 reading list!

1. The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
2. The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom
3. Marked by P.C. & Kristin Cast
4. Betrayed by P.C. & Kristin Cast
5. Chosen by P.C. & Kristin Cast
6. Untamed by P.C. & Kristin Cast
7. Hunted by P.C. & Kristin Cast
8. Tempted by P.C. & Kristin Cast
9. The Sound of Rain by Anita Stansfield
10. The Best of Times by Anita Stansfield
11. A Distant Thunder by Anita Stansfield
12. A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park
13. The Alchemyst by Michael Scott
14. Winds of Hope by Anita Stansfield
15. The Magician by Michael Scott
16. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
17. Shelter from the Storm by Anita Stansfield
18. The Silence of Snow by Anita Stansfield
19. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
20. The Scorceress by Michael Scott
21. Agent Bishop by Mike McPheters
22. Burned by P.C. & Kristin Cast
23. Dear John by Nicholas Sparks
24. Spirit Bound by Richelle Mead
25. Here's the Deal: Don't Touch Me by Howie Mandel
26. The One-Week Job Project by Sean Aiken
27. Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
28. Pretties by Scott Westerfeld
29. Specials by Scott Westerfeld
30. Extras by Scott Westerfeld
31. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
32. Lemon Tart by Josi S. Kilpack
33. I Didn't Plan to be a Witch by Linda Eyre
34. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
35. Heroes Among Us by John Quinones
36. English Trifle by Josi S. Kilpack
37. A Far, Far Better Place by Anita Stanfield
38. Devil's Food Cake by Josi S. Kilpack
39. Spy Mom by Val Agosta

Stella Loves Patty...

And Patty loves Stella too!

Open for Business...

Alright, we took a month off after our last two kids got to go back home in October and we are now officially open for new kids. Just waiting around for the call that could come anytime, night or day. So far with all three placements we've been open for about a month before getting a call. Should we take bets this time?? Maybe a little lottery? Haha!

Just Us...

It's just us again! Michael moved out in November, and while he didn't spend a lot of time here lately, it's still nice to have our house be just our house again. And now we've got more room for kids! ;)

The Bigger Picture...

It's a slow day at work...So I thought I'd try to figure out how to upload bigger pictures to blogger...

The Hunger Games...

Earlier this year, I read The Hunger Games. I loved it. Justin always gives me crap when I get into a book and do nothing but read for 2 days...but then he read it...it 2 days! Then I spent a few months telling my mom she needed to go to the library and get on the waiting list. FINALLY she did. My mom read The Hunger Games, then she gave it to Jen. Sunday, Jen was bringing it back to my mom --after finishing it in 2 days--when Tim started to read it in the car. Now Tim, just like Justin, gives Jen crap for doing nothing but read for 2 days too. That night he read until dinner was ready, and had to be told several times to come to dinner. He picked the book right back up after dinner, while Jen and I got the kids dressed in their costumes. I assume he also read all the way to New Plymouth and back too. When we got back to their house after trick-or-treating, he went right to the couch and started reading again. By Tuesday evening he was finished, and told Jen he wished they had the rest of the books!
You know it's a good book when Justin and Tim can't put it down!

Birthday Shoes...

Grandma Geri gave me some cold, hard cash to buy new shoes for my birthday, because, lets face it...Girls need LOTS of shoes! So yesterday on my way home from Boise I stopped at Fred Meyer in Meridian to see if their Converse were on sale...THEY WERE! but they didn't have my size in the color I wanted...So on his way to Young Artists, Justin stopped at the Fred Meyer in Nampa...no luck. After a fantastic dinner with great friends (thanks again Barclays!) we stopped at the Fred Meyer on Overland and Jacque and I both scored a pair of converse! (Mine are the black ones!!) A birthday is only better with new shoes!!

Oxnam Salsa...

I have been dreaming of this salsa for *so* long! There is nothing like Oxnam Salsa and I finally have the recipe!!! mmm...It's everything I dreamed of, everything I remember, and so easy to make! mmm...Chips and Salsa--here I come!

Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies...

These cookies are AMAZING! I'm not sure if Justin shares my opinion, but since I'm the one who makes the cookies, I guess I get to decide what recipe we use! My friend Jacque told me about this recipe she found at America's Test Kitchen (love that show!) She even brought me a few cookies that she made...I'm hooked. And, no, that is not a picture of my cookies...the fish tanks create too much humidity in my house in the summer, so my cookies don't raise and look pretty...but they sure do taste good!

1 3/4 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

14 tablespoons butter

1/2 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cups brown sugar

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

1 1/4 cup chocolate chips

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees. Line 2 large (18- by 12-inch) baking sheets with parchment paper. Whisk flour and baking soda together in medium bowl, set aside.
2. Heat 10 tablespoons butter in 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat until melted, about 2 minutes. Continue cooking, swirling pan constantly until butter is dark golden brown and nutty aroma, 1 to 3 minutes. Remove skillet from heat, and using heatproof spatula, transfer browned butter to large heatproof bowl. Stir remaining 4 tablespoons butter into hot butter until completely melted.
3. Add both sugars, salt, and vanilla to bowl with butter and whisk until fully incorporated. Add egg and yolk and whisk until mixture is smooth with no sugar lumps remaining, about 30 seconds. Let mixture stand 3 minutes, then whisk for 30 seconds. Repeat process of resting and whisking 2 more times until mixture is thick, smooth, and shiny. Using rubber spatula or wooden spoon, stir in flour mixture until just combined, about 1 minute. Stir in chocolate chips, giving dough final stir to ensure no flour pockets remain.
4. Divide dough into 16 portions, each about 3 tablespoons (or use #24 cookie scoop). Arrange 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets, 8 dough balls per sheet. (Smaller baking sheets can be used, but will require 3 batches.)
5. Bake cookies 1 tray at a time until cookies are golden brown and still puffy, and edges have begun to set but centers are still soft, 10 to 14 minutes, rotating baking sheet halfway through baking. Transfer baking sheet to wire rack; cool cookies completely before serving.

SPDT--Graduation...

Stella graduated tonight! I must admit I had my reservations...I wasn't sure if she'd make it to be honest. I haven't had the time to work her like I should have, but she still passed!! And how can you not love that sweet Stella face and awesome graduation cap!

Winner, Winner...

Stella Hawk - First Place

Vancouver, BC - First Place
So 2 out of 6 wasn't bad! Along with those Mom got 1 first place. Jen got 2 first, 1 second and 1 third. Michael got 2 first place. Kaden got 1 first place and Mason got 1 third place. So all in all, I think we did pretty well!

Fair Time...

It's that time of year again! Here are the pictures I entered in the fair this year.

Stella Hawk

Vancouver, BC
Faith Marie

Kisses for Candy

Faces of Jacks

Stella loves Maddie

We'll find out Thursday how we did!

Justin's Couponing...

This is Justin!!!

When we went on our family camp out, Janeen told us how she had been clipping coupons. Amy had already said how good she was doing using coupons, so we figured we would give it a shot. When we got home, Jamie got an email from Janeen that told what she was doing that week with coupons so we could get an idea. Jamie said she was over whelmed by everything involved in getting the "good" deals with coupons, so deferred the job to me.

I decided to start clipping those coupons, but wanted to go easy at first. I must admit, it does take a little time, but I was amazed how much you could save or get for free with just a little time and effort. I am not trying to go crazy, just getting stuff we need with a few stock piles of things here and there because they are free.

Here are my results this far:

12 Boxes Kraft Pasta Salad

4 Boxes of Fruit Gushers/Roll-ups

2 Kikkoman Teryiaki Sauce

Clorox Green Works Cleaner

Nexcare Bandages

Total Retail: $29.45

Coupons: $25.50

Savings: 87%

Gillette Body Wash

Crest Vivid White Toothpaste

Tampax Pearl Tampons

Oral B 2 pack Toothbrush

Total Retail: $14.64
Coupons: $13.00
Savings: 89%

6 Cans Ro-tel Mild Chilies
2 Pop Tart 6 packs
Baby Goldfish
Rhodes Warm and Serve Dinner Rolls
4 Large Avocados

Total Retail: $15.27
Coupons: $ 13.37
Savings: 88%

6 Jars of Prego Pasta Sauce

2 Pepperidge Farm Cookies

6 Hunts Pudding Cup 4 packs

2 Juicy Juice 8 packs

Oscar Meyer Select Hot dogs

2 Chef Boyardee Raviolis

2 Clean and Clear Face Wash

2 Scrubbing Bubbles Toilet Gels

2 Scrubbing Bubbles Toilet Cleaner Refill packs

2 Kerr Large Mouth Jar Lids

Total Retail: $46.93

Coupons: $40.52

Savings: 86%

So in just over a month of couponing, we have gotten over $106 worth of goods for the low low price of $ 13.90!!

SPDT - Week 6...

Week 6...Stella is now--officially--an off leash dog (with a little bit of a safety line). Our distraction this week, besides 30 other dogs, was a goat. Check out how April stares down the dog as it heels past with it's owner. Apparently most dogs instinctively want to attack goats...who knew!

We practiced some sit-stays and Downs from a distance, then come and finish. We learned not to place Stella and Bella on stays next to each other. Bella came when I called Stella.

Tomorrow's distraction: a donkey.

Grandma's Birthday...

Saturday we celebrated Grandma Geri's birthday. My mom, Aunt Linda, & cousin Jennifer took her to the Saturday Market in the morning, then they met up with my Uncle Dean for lunch, and finished off the afternoon going through open houses in Boise. They met up at our house for a dinner of kabobs and cake! I found the cake recipe at ourbestbites (love that site)! Seriously...you can't go wrong with the recipes these ladies come up with! We worked off that delicious cake by playing a little Just Dance on the Wii...if you don't have this game yet it is a must!

Here's to MANY more birthdays with Grandma Geri!

Patty's Post...

Check out my friend Patty's Fabulously Funny post about Stella and her Elizabethan collar here!

Finding Nemo...

We finally have fish!! (Well, to tell the truth we've HAD fish I just haven't taken any pictures) When Justin started this salt water obsession I told him he could do it, but he could only put fish in his tank from Finding Nemo. :) Have to keep with the Disney theme you know!

Payette River Lucy Belle...

March 28, 1997 - July 10, 2010

Picture taken 7-4-2010 by Mason

My mom had to put her dog Lucy down on Saturday. She was 13 years old, that translates to 101 in human years. I asked my mom about puppy pictures of Lucy, and it made me stop and think just how long ago 13 years was...they aren't digital!

Lucy started out as an outside hunting dog. After two hind knee replacements and a lot of successful hunts, she retired to an indoor best friend.

When I was in high school I didn't have much patience for Lucy. She drooled and slobbered, a lot. Now that I stop to think about it, that's really the only thing that bothered me. Oh and she'd get kind of stinky sometimes after hunting. ;)

After getting married and getting my own dog, I was able to understand just what my mom loved about her. Lucy was awesome. The vet told my mom more than once that she'd probably never get another Chesapeake like her. You could let her outside (my mom doesn't have a fenced yard) and she never wandered. She was always laying on the front porch waiting for you if you forgot about her.

She had so much tolerance for the kids, especially Faith, and all of the puppies we brought home. Between Tim and I, over the years Lucy had 9 four legged friends.

This last year was hard for Lucy. She was slower getting up and laying down and she had a hard time making it up the stairs on the first try.This winter she got stuck on the ice on the driveway and didn't have the strength in her legs to get herself up. As much as we know it was better for her, it's never easy. And much like Abby, she'll never be able to be replaced.

Unfortunately, my mom won't let Tim and I get her a new dog until her house sells and she moves...something about a fenced back yard. ;) I guess that gives us time do some research and find the best breed for her!

Stella's Cone of Shame..

Stella is in heat...Something I've avoided with every other dog we've had. The alternative to the doggy diaper and cone is her being stuck outside (too hot) or in her kennel (how mean) all day for a week. This is the better alternative right???

Did I mention she HATES the cone??

Small Town Independence Day...

We decided on the Porcupine Races in Council again this year for the 4th of July. I mean really. What says "Independence Day" more than 20 wild porcupines racing across the football field? Okay...not all at the same time...and not the whole football field. We got to Council a little early so we decided to get some lunch before the parade. They were a little slow with the cooking so we missed most of the parade. Michael was the first one done eating so I sent him with my camera. I got to see the parade for the first time while going through my pictures tonight...Thanks Michael!

There's always some time to kill while they're auctioning off the porcupines before the race. I took this opportunity to practice using the manual mode on my camera...Kara- How'd I do?
Tim and I decided at the last minute to take our dogs, Stella and Sadie. Since we had to take two cars we put Grandma, Michael and Justin in Grandma's car and Mom, Faith, Tim and I took the dogs in mom's car. Needless to say...I have to help my mom wash and vacuum her car this weekend.

Jen had to work and the boys were with they're dad until noon.

Tim's friend Raleigh and part of his family met us up there. Faith doesn't like Raleigh. He has to bribe her with candy for kisses. Luckily his kids did well at the parade and he was able to trick her into two kisses before the races started.

Porcupines only run about 2 mph tops.

The fence this years wasn't escape proof. Unlike past years, there was at least one porcupine that escaped each of the 4 heats. One of the porcupine handlers had to have 28 quills removed from his leg before he could race his porcupine in the final heat.

After the races we went back to my mom's house for dinner and Jen and the boys met us there.

How many people does it take to fix the deck railing? Seriously, Justin and Tim did a great job!

Couldn't resist this...Faith and Mason playing the piano while Kaden helps them out with the pedals.

In keeping with our small town independence day feel we went to Ontario for fireworks. This is the look Faith had on her face when her sparkler got a little too close to her fingers.

But she quickly got over it.

To pass the time waiting for the fireworks to start we had a dog pile on Justin, played Tag, and Duck, Duck, Goose.

I did leave out one thing. Between dinner and the fireworks we went to Tim & Jen's house and tried out "Just Dance." Let's just say I won't be posting those pictures. :)

Middleton Parade...

Saturday, July 3rd Jacque and I took Kate and Ty to the 4th of July parade in Middleton. Ty had never been to a parade before to get candy and he has no fear of the road or cars. Kate sat back a little and waited for Ty to come back with the candy...then he'd share...isn't that what the picture says?

Kate did get a little of her own candy, but she's not stupid...she knew she wasn't supposed to go as far into the road as Ty would! Thanks friend for inviting me to come along!

SPDT-Week 3...

Thursday night was Week 3 of Scotch Pines Dog Training for Stella and it was AWFUL! (no pictures...I forgot the camera) I wanted to cry half way through because she was not doing ANYTHING like she was supposed to! We were continuing to work on heeling and the automatic sit. She heeled okay, but her sits were always slow and crooked. I had to correct her almost every time we stopped. At one point during the first hour of class, April (the trainer) looked at me and said "Jamie, I don't know what to tell you." It was THAT bad! I was doing EVERYTHING right...so why wasn't she responding??!! There were two reasons. First, one of the dogs in class that night was in heat...which is a great, but very frustrating, distraction. Add to that the fact that we had 6...yes SIX... intact males in the class created chaos. Second, she needed more praise. I thought I was praising her like crazy...turns out she needs EXCESSIVE and EXCITING praise in order to do what she is asked. This week we're working on Sit-Stays...here's to hoping we see some much needed improvement before Thursday night!

We're Back on the List...

It's official (well, it's been official for a few weeks) we are back on the Foster Care list!! After moving we had to renew our license and home study, then had to wait for everything to be sent from Region 3 (where we moved from) to Region 4 (where we moved to). We have finally been assigned a licensing worker and are on the after hours list! Now we sit and wait....again.

Law Family Camp-Out...

Every year the Law's get together for a 5 day camping trip. Some family's go all 5 days and others come up when they can. We went up Tuesday with Jerry & Jeannie, JD & Amy, Josh and Jennetta. This year we camped at Anderson Ranch Reservoir. It was a nice change to have paved roads all the way in, unlike Deadwood.

Jesse & Teagen showed up later that evening. Teagen got a 4-wheeler for his birthday. The "nun-nun's" were the favorite toys all week! The kids loved to go for rides, but were also pleased just to sit on them!

Wednesday Braden fell asleep in Justin's lounge chair. JD went into the camper to help Maddie fall asleep and told Braden he'd be right back. Then JD fell asleep and Braden stayed right where he was put!

Wednesday afternoon Janeen, Brent & Jackson showed up. This is the face Jackson makes when he wants you to smell the flowers.

Stella loved camping! Having such a grassy camping spot worked out well. We had to keep Stella's surgery spot on her belly clean and she couldn't have a bath for a week so we were lucky we weren't camping in dirt.

Thursday Julie, Ron & their gang were the last to arrive. We had a birthday party for all of the June birthdays. Justin made Marshmallow shooters for Teagen, Sarah, and Emma.

We also made and brought some extras for the adults to play with. I didn't think that through very well though. I had to pick up marshmallows all over camp when they were done so that we didn't track smashed marshmallows into the campers (and so Stella wouldn't eat them).

A couple of nights we had some deer show up in camp. (This picture looks so bad because I had to REALLY lighten it up to be able to see the deer). Braden was shooting the deer with his marshmallow shooter...such a cute kid. After they left and we were sitting around the campfire he was calling "come here deer, come here deer!"

Friday morning we caught Braden cleaning Jesse's 4-wheeler with baby wipes.

Maddie and Braden had a love-hate relationship with Stella. They would love on her and let her lick them all up, then they'd get knocked down and be done for a while. I'm so glad they've gotten over being scared!

Jerry and Jesse found a hot springs about 6 miles from camp when they were out riding the 4-wheelers. So Friday we all put on our suits and enjoyed the warm water! I didn't take my camera so click here to see Janeen's pictures! On the way out of the hot springs Braden had a little run-in with a tree branch.

After we got done swimming/soaking we came back to camp and changed clothes. Then Grandpa took all of the grandkids up to the Cafe for french fries. Needless to say I stopped by there again on Saturday before we headed out for some fries for the road!

I just had to throw this one in here because I loved the look on Braden's face! This was right after he gave grandpa a kiss and told him thanks for the french fries.

And no Law Family Camp-Out is complete without the family picture at the end of the week before heading home!