Hey batter batter!

Last year, we decided to put McKailee in softball.  She has done cheerleading, gymnastics, ballet & tap but nothing ever "excited" us.   We all had a great 1st season & decided to put Emilee in it too.  We have had so much fun with both girls being in softball!  Softball allows all of us to join in on the fun!  Luckily, McKailee's Coach also had a 6's team that Emilee played on! 

Tournament time!  (last season) 

McKailee's team (8U)

I think its so important to have my girls in some sort of sports activity to develop their skills & talents.  Also to develop social skills.   McKailee & Emilee (And us too!)  have really enjoyed playing & we have enjoyed watching them play!  The girls have developed friendships that (I think) they will carry with them forever.  Its great to have that "sisterhood"

 

  While we have enjoyed taking the summer off, we are all very excited for the upcoming season to start in the next few weeks!!  Good luck to all the girls!!!! 

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO BAYLEE!!!

   Baylee turns 1 yrs old!   Baylee's birthday was a special day for both of us.  Hitting her 1 yr. mark was a huge accomplishment for both of us.  I never thought this past year would fly by as fast as it did, but I can say I am thankful those first few months are done and over with and we are past our year mark. 
   We spent the morning at the park playing with friends, then came home for an afternoon nap & waited for Daddy to get home to open presents.  She wasn't exactly sure what to do with her presents, but all her sisters had no problem showing her how to tear them open!

I am happy she is 1 yrs. old, BUT I am definitely not happy she is growing up so fast!!!

 

  In my family, its tradition to take the kids out to dinner, where ever they want.  Since Baylee isn't old enough to make her own decision, I thought it would be appropriate for me to decide for her!  We took her to Red Robin!  Grandma & Grandpa met us there to celebrate with the family! 

 

 Karlee was happy!

 

 

DIG IN BABY!!!!

 

 

 

One happy baby!!

 

 We both enjoyed her Sunday!  

 

 

Happy Birthday Baylee boo,we all love you so much!!!!

December brings apples!

   The next thing I waited anxiously for was apples!!! I ordered 40lbs from a farm & they arrived in December.   I was so excited the day I picked them up.  I knew I was going to make A LOT of apple pie filling.  Everyone in my family loves apples and we eat them almost every day.  Surprisingly, we all we're excited to pick them up and get started.   I borrowed my Mother in laws apple peeler, I had all the mason jars I needed and the recipe I planned on using for the pie filling.  The girls and Joey started peeling the apples and I started prepping to make my apple pie filling.  I found a really good recipe on Pinterest.com - for anyone who hasn't checked this website out, it is a MUST!  Its my new favorite "Go To" website.   We spent the day peeling, eating and canning apples.  Joey and I really enjoyed doing this with the girls as a family.  It's something we all seem to enjoy doing together.  The girls also seem to be more willing to eat this stuff when they help me out. 

     FYI:  Putting apples in ice cold water prevents them from browning too fast!

                                        I know this is blurry, but I had to add it in. 

We all took turns peeling apples.  The girls did most of my 40lbs, I think I got to peel two!   Once they were peeled, cleaned and cut, I put them in a cinnamon syrup and canned them.   The apples I got were HUGE.  I ended up canning 17 quart jars of apples and didn't want to do anymore.  I decided to find something else to make out of them.   I decided on Apple Butter.  I found another great recipe on Pinterest.com.  My recipe called for the apples to simmer in a crock pot for about 18 hrs.  My house smelled like apples and reminded me of Christmas.   Once my apple's we're done cooking in the crock pot, I put them in jars and sealed them.  My Apple Butter turned out fantastic!  I look forward to making lots more of the pie filling and the Apple Butter.  Below are my finished products:

                                                 Apple Butter

 

                                                Apple Pie filling

 

 While I was canning all these apples over a few days, I started doing Oranges too.  Smiths had a really good deal on them (.50 cents per 1lb!!!)  So I decided to do those at the same time. I also got some free tomatoes and made green hot salsa.  I do have pictures, but am choosing to just move on to all the other fun stuff! 

 

Peaches!

   I know, it's been way too long since I have posted about any of the fun stuff we do here at the Tippetts house!  

   So, this past year, I have focused on building my food storage.  My sister & brother in law, Noelle & Jason, have taught me everything there is to know about canning!  The first thing I canned was peaches.  I think I canned 16 quart jars of delicious peaches, 10-12 quart jars of peach cobbler (amazing, I only have 1 jar left!) Then we decided to use the rest of the peaches for blueberry peach jam!  At the time, I didn't think to take pictures, so I quickly took some for all to see!

                1/2 eaten jar of peaches.. Just goes to show you they are delicious!

                             Everybody's favorite: Peach cobbler!

                                   Blueberry Peach Jam

I normally puree this jam for my girls, they like it better that way.  We like to eat this on toast, in oatmeal, on sandwiches or with vanilla ice cream! 

   From this point on, I was hooked on canning and building my food storage. Since I am a stay at home Mommy,  I feel like its my job to make sure our house is clean, kids are taken care of and most importantly food for all of us!   Nobody will ever understand this until they have fallen on their face, have kids or have a household where one spouse stays at home and the other one works a full time job.  Even if someone has had all of this, they still may not understand why someone has a food storage.  It could be just because there unaware of all the fantastic things you can do with mason jars??!?!?   Maybe they don't have the time for it?!  Who knows, maybe they just don't care about it?  Regardless, I have found a new hobby that I can do while staying at home with the girls, I am providing food for my family (let's not forget, some canned foods stay good/fresh for years!)  And this is something the girls can do with me.  I love that I am passing on a tradition that my girls will more than likely do, when they have their own families.    It also doesn't hurt that I really enjoy the entire process of canning... well, almost all of it!   This has become sort of a therapy for me that I wasn't expecting.  It's quite calming being able to focus all my attention and my thoughts on this one thing for a few hours out of the day.  Raising 4 little girls, is something I can't even put into words.  My brain is running a mile a minute at all times.  I am constantly hearing 4 little voices asking or telling me something.   So canning gives me back my brain for a few hours.  I am able to gather myself and my thoughts and have some, what do they call it... "Peace of mind!"   I almost forgot what this was after I started having babies. 

Every Second Counts

This summer has gone by way too fast for me.  We have tried squeezing as much as we can into every second we have together.  Its been a very busy summer, but I am happy school is almost here.   We celebrated birthdays, sleepovers, McKailee starting softball, ballet, gymnastics, cheerleading and Karlee runs around like a monster most days.   I really have enjoyed this summer and the time I have spent with the girls.   We have been very busy little bee's around our house!   Here are some fun pictures of all the stuff we have been doing!