The Name Game

So I get the Parenting magazine at my house for free, or at least they keep saying finally notice, but i keep getting it. I havent subscribe to it so I just open it and read it. This months issue had this interesting little article called The Name Game. It tells some of the baby-naming customs from around the world and I thought that it was interesting. So I thought that I would share it.

Germany

You need government approval before naming a child, and officials can veto monikers that dont clearly indicate the baby's sex (like Riley) or that could possibly subject the child to teasing or harm.

Ukraine

Many leave the naming decision up to their priest. Although parents can suggest ideas, the priest gets the final say at a ceremony eight days after the birth.

Nigeria

Among the Ibo people, baby-naming is a group activity; At a feast, the father, mother and grandmother all take turns suggesting names. Guests contribute too; and afterward, the household debates the options.

Kenya

As newborns, babies are given a name that describes their appearance. They have to wait 40 more days for their "adult" name, which is chosen by their parents.

China

Traditionally, babies have to wait a month until the family hosts a naming ceremony. Instead of using their real name, parents often go with a "milk" name or an undesirable nickname to ward off evil spirits.

India

Parents dont choose a childs name before shes born, since what the stars say about the birth date is a big influence.

In my words:

U.S.A

The parents have every right to chose the babys name for themselves. The only problem being that one or both parents cant agree because one of them knew or knows of someone who has that name or has used that name. And it just cant be used again. So naming a child can definitely be a difficult task and can take until the baby is born or a few days after.

So glad that we are able to make simple choices like baby-naming for ourselves. I just think it would be weird to have someone else name my child or to have to have a big ceremony to decide on one. Glad that I live in a country where we still enjoy simple freedoms.

A Few Days of Big Projects.

So last Friday, Aug 6th, my mom and I went and picked three 5 gallon buckets of garden beans. We were lucky to find a local farmer who was willing to let us go pick them for free. I was hoping to get some from my garden but after two failed attempts of planting them, they look pretty weak and I am not sure we will even get a single bean from the plants that remain. So we got up and headed out to pick them. It took about maybe an hour to an hour and a half to pick.

Then she had to leave and go to Boise so I was going to be on my own canning all these beans by myself. I was kind of depressed about doing all this work by myself. But luckily my sister said that she would come and help me, because she wanted to learn how to do it and she just wanted to hang out with me and Logan. I will say that I really appreciate all her hard work in helping me with the beans and with Logan :)! So we sat and snap beans for a while and then got them washed and put in the jars. We sure had a good little helper to help wash the beans and play in the water.

He loved it and for those of you who dont know, this kid loves the water, especially playing in the sink. He helps Grandma Jake with her dishes even when she really doesnt need or want his help. He always pushes a chair up to our sink and plays for a while just filling a cup and dumping it into another dirty dish. So this was the perfect job for our little helper.

Although there was two of us working on beans it sure took us forever. We started at 8:30 am and finished at 11:00 pm. So about 14 hours of nothing but straight canning beans. This sure was a long day. It took forever because we had only one pressure canner and it took about over an hour for the pressure to come down between each batch. YUCK!!! I will have to say that it was well worth it, but I had to convience myself that it was. I really over did it and it took me the next two days to recover from it. But I am glad to say that we were able to get 82 pints (of which I was able to bring home 60). I am so glad that I only have to can beans one day a year. So until next year :)!

Nothing better than home canned green beans!!!

The start of getting my food storage stocked for this year!

My next big project I did today. I had a few hours because both Matthew and Logan are asleep so I decided that I needed to weed my garden. It was starting to look like a weed patch and I wasnt sure what was growning in it any more. And I absolutely hate when my garden is weedy, so it was definitely time to do some well needed work. I enjoy weeding because it is really relaxing for me to be out in the garden. So here is our lovely garden:

Finally a garden and not a weed patch :)!

So we planted and replanted 8 cucumber plants and this is the only sad little guy that we have left. So I am sad to say that I will not be canning pickles this year. I guess I have a lot of learning on how to grow cucumbers to do. So I will try again next year.

Not sure what is going on with my carrots but hopefully we will get some to can this year.

Peppers

Potato Patch

Sad looking green beans. (Matt doesnt want me to pull them).

First patch of tomatoes.

Second patch of tomatoes.

Yummy Corn

So overall I cant complain about our garden. Most everything is looking great and we are going to hopefully have a good canning season. Some stuff will have to wait until next year. But thats okay.

Now I cant wait until next week. My sister will be here and I have several projects that she is going to help me with. So I will have more projects to report on. Loving that I am keeping myself busy but somedays it takes it toll on me. But the life of a wife and mother, theres nothing better :)!

Almost 2!

So Logan will officially be 2 on September 10th. I just cant believe how fast the time has gone. He sure is a joy to have around. I love that I am able to stay at home with him. I love all the fun times that we have together. He is just changing so much everyday. As I have gone through some of his pics I cant believe just how much he has changed.

6 Months

1 Year

18 Months

I have loved all the stages that we have gone through. I believe they are all helping me develop patience. I just cant see life without him. He is just so full of life and is truly ALL boy. He is just so active that I dont even come close to having enough energy to keep up with him. He is constantly climbing on things, throwing things, and he loves to wrestle (thanks to Daddy). He is talking up a storm. He can copy pretty much anything you say when he isnt being lazy. Although the words arent 100% clear, I can make out most of them. I have loved these past 23 months and I cant wait for all the months and milestones to come. We have truly been blessed with a wonderful little boy.

We love you Logan!!!!!!

Good Deals

So the other day I got to have a allowance to go to Once Upon a Child and look for some clothes for Ashlee. Seeing as how we have absolutely no clothes for a little girl, I think that I will get lots of trips to go find some good deals. Well last week they had a sale of 15 items for $10 or $1 and item. So I looked through everything and found some great items.

I got:

10 Onesies

3 pairs of shorts

2 T-shirts

1-Jacket

4- Little Dresses

1- Fancy Dress

2- Pairs of Pjs

1-Sweat Outfit

24 items for $29, I got all but three outfits on the clearance rack.

Just some of the other random things for Ashlee.

I promise that I wont blog about every shopping trip I have or all the outfits I get. I just needed something to blog about because I havent posted for a while. I am just excited to get good deals and cute clothes :)!