Wow. August is almost over, and boy have we been busy! The green beans are about half way done now, and so far we have canned almost all of them. The kids don't like green beans, and I just don't get it. I saute onion and bacon and toss in the green beans. What's not to love? Bacon makes everything better, right? Oh well, one day they will hopefully appreciate them :) The past week has been nothing but nonstop corn. With over 800 ears growing in our garden, Kristi, Derik, and I have all been busy. I canned about 80 pints, Kristi took 12 pints canned and we froze at least 24 more for her as well as some whole ears. Derik froze all of his which is quite the feat while working full time and moving! I'm tired just thinking about it. The best part was being able to give some of our bounty away to friends and family. I love being able to share God's blessings with others!
This week promises to be a good one for canning spaghetti and pizza sauce. So far I've done a few small batches of sauce, but I need about 100 pints to make it through the year. Kristi and I are going to be canning diced tomatoes this year too. That is more labor intensive, but will make sure that we can use our garden tomatoes for all of our cooking throughout the year. Next week will be Potato Canning Week. Yep, it is an official week here in our family! The kids love helping to load up the washer with potatoes. This was the best potato canning tip I ever received! I load up the washer with potatoes and use the rinse only cycle with no spin and the potatoes come out clean and ready for cutting and canning. These canned potatoes are SO good. I used them in so many recipes all year long, and they make for easy quick meals. This year we are going to can beef, and I'm so excited to be able to pull a whole meal from my pantry this winter. Beef and potatoes with canned corn or beans and peaches or pears. I feel so Laura Ingalls Wilderish.
I'm also busy with school. Every year we add things and try different ways to make school an easier more enjoyable time for all of us. The kids are so bright and love to learn! I never want to be the reason that they start dreading learning. Don't get me wrong, they aren't catered to completely. There are still quizes, math is still mandatory, and all work has to be completed daily no matter how much crying or wailing is done by said children. One big victory for me was finding a way to get Alex to do his work without him feeling overwhelmed. Throwing 4 workbooks in front of him was too much. I now tear out 4 pages and hand them to him each morning, and he does his work with almost no whining about it being so much work that it will take 4 years to do it all :) One small victory in our home school world that makes the day more doable for us all. Well, time marches on and I need to start Levi's preschool reading. He loves his Sonlight P4/5 core this year, and the older kids will wander over and listen to the stories too. They loved this core 2 years ago, and it is just as much fun the second time through.
September is almost here, time flies by so fast I can't seem to catch up, but I am so grateful for all the memories that we are making.
Friday, August 19, 2011
Monday, August 1, 2011
Third Times The Charm
Over the past 2 weeks I've sat down to write, gotten about a third of the way into a post, and then had to close my computer. Life is busy here. Luke is sleeping better, which makes my days seem much more doable. I've been squeezing in finishing up my lesson plans for the first 3 months of school, which is starting back up in full swing tomorrow. With 6 kids doing school work as well as caring for a 2 yr old and 4 mth old, I feel like I need to be as structured as I can! Of course, I've learned that "structured" needs to mean completely flexible. All of my plans are in pencil, meaning I can tweak the schedule to fit our lives not rule them. With so many variables to take into consideration, I either plan of interuptions and delays or I feel completely overwhelmed and get really cranky!
To make things even more crazy, our garden is bursting with produce that needs to be canned, frozen, or dehydrated. When my Dad walked through the door and told me the corn was ready, I wanted to cry. I still need to do peaches! I've tried to get 1 bushel done on my own, and it hasn't been successful. I am acknowledging my limitations when trying to can with an infant. I still hope to salvage the last of the peaches I have for baby food for Luke. I hope he likes peaches :) I am going into the garden tomorrow morning, and will probably have a full day of canning to go with it. Green beans are still coming, and I have less than 50 of the 100 jars I was hoping for. We will have no shortage of corn either. I really want to get 50-100 jars of those too. Then come the potatoes. I need about 50 jars of those too. After that comes apples, which we use to make the best applesauce! Lia loves it and won't eat any other sauce. That's my girl! So all in all, I have about 300-400 jars or bags of food to put up for the year still. Yikes! And lets not forget the pumpkins, squash, green peppers, and onions still growing out there too! Ok, now I'm really tired, but in a good way. I love watching my shelves get full of colorful jars of food. More on my canning adventures to come.
Lia has been having a hard go of it lately. After a year of multiple ear infections, we finally decided to opt for tubes. That surgery was this morning, and in a short 10 minutes I hope we have saved her from need so many antibiotics and infections. Our prayers were answered in that Lia didn't even ask for food until 15 min before her surgery. She was up at 5:30 AM and three hours later asked for food! That is unheard of! Lia normally is straight into her chair for breakfast when we get up in the morning. I know it was all the prayers from friends and family. God truly cares about the small things in our lives, and wants to bless us. I think those small answered prayers show His love more than the big prayers being answered. Somehow that God cares about the big things, the obvious needs, seems well obvious. But, those little things, like whether a toddler is crying because they can't have a sippy cup of milk for 3 hours after they get up for the day, just show His interest in our lives. I love how God works! We can't put him in a box and claim we "get" Him.
Ok, so my post is all over the place, but hey I'm sleep deprived and running in circles these days. My thoughts are scattered and very stream of conscience. Luke is sleeping, and I'm off to sleep too. Another day tomorrow, and I pray for God's grace to lead me through the day. Because I'm tired, over scheduled, and my to do list is enough work to keep me busy 24/7 for the next 2 months. Good night!
To make things even more crazy, our garden is bursting with produce that needs to be canned, frozen, or dehydrated. When my Dad walked through the door and told me the corn was ready, I wanted to cry. I still need to do peaches! I've tried to get 1 bushel done on my own, and it hasn't been successful. I am acknowledging my limitations when trying to can with an infant. I still hope to salvage the last of the peaches I have for baby food for Luke. I hope he likes peaches :) I am going into the garden tomorrow morning, and will probably have a full day of canning to go with it. Green beans are still coming, and I have less than 50 of the 100 jars I was hoping for. We will have no shortage of corn either. I really want to get 50-100 jars of those too. Then come the potatoes. I need about 50 jars of those too. After that comes apples, which we use to make the best applesauce! Lia loves it and won't eat any other sauce. That's my girl! So all in all, I have about 300-400 jars or bags of food to put up for the year still. Yikes! And lets not forget the pumpkins, squash, green peppers, and onions still growing out there too! Ok, now I'm really tired, but in a good way. I love watching my shelves get full of colorful jars of food. More on my canning adventures to come.
Lia has been having a hard go of it lately. After a year of multiple ear infections, we finally decided to opt for tubes. That surgery was this morning, and in a short 10 minutes I hope we have saved her from need so many antibiotics and infections. Our prayers were answered in that Lia didn't even ask for food until 15 min before her surgery. She was up at 5:30 AM and three hours later asked for food! That is unheard of! Lia normally is straight into her chair for breakfast when we get up in the morning. I know it was all the prayers from friends and family. God truly cares about the small things in our lives, and wants to bless us. I think those small answered prayers show His love more than the big prayers being answered. Somehow that God cares about the big things, the obvious needs, seems well obvious. But, those little things, like whether a toddler is crying because they can't have a sippy cup of milk for 3 hours after they get up for the day, just show His interest in our lives. I love how God works! We can't put him in a box and claim we "get" Him.
Ok, so my post is all over the place, but hey I'm sleep deprived and running in circles these days. My thoughts are scattered and very stream of conscience. Luke is sleeping, and I'm off to sleep too. Another day tomorrow, and I pray for God's grace to lead me through the day. Because I'm tired, over scheduled, and my to do list is enough work to keep me busy 24/7 for the next 2 months. Good night!
Friday, July 8, 2011
Our Garden Grows More Than Tomatoes
As the 4th of July comes each year, the kids and I watch to see if our corn is "knee high by the 4th of July" and we are once again surprised at how much taller it is than that. Our corn is waist high and growing so well that weeding is not need much any more. Our garden has grown this year, and we are planning to store as much of it as we can. We have planted radishes, turnips, carrots, potatoes, corn, tomatoes, summer squash, spaghetti squash, butternut squash, acorn squash, zucchini, cucumbers, green beans, sweet potatoes, and pumpkins. That's quite a lot of produce! So far, I've made 10 jars of strawberry syrup, 8 cans of grape jelly, dehydrated 10 pints of blueberries, 10 packages of strawberries, and 10ish lb of bananas. Grandpa just brought me 30 or so radishes and I'm not sure what to do with them! I guess I need to decide how best to store them. Do I chop and freeze or dehydrate? Something to google later for sure.
This is our first year dehydrating, thanks to my sister and brother in law. I have learned that things shrink a lot when dehydrated, and that 10 pints of blueberries fit neatly into a pint size storage bag. My 10ish lb of banana chips surely will fit into a pint sized baggie also. Amazing considering the big heavy box they came in. Now, they sit neatly on my storage shelves in the basement waiting to be baked into yummy quick breads, muffins, or pancakes. We plan to dry tomatoes, green beans, squash, and really anything that would be easy to throw into a soup or stew. My plan is to make soup starter mixes so easy fast dinners this winter should be a snap.
I love watching my shelves and freezer fill up with the bounty of the harvest! The pretty jars make the basement cozy and I feel a kinship to those thousands of women who since the beginning of time also stored up food for their families. As we work in the kitchen, that sense of community and family builds up not only our shelves with food, but our sense of closeness as a family. It takes us all working together to bring in our harvest. From planting, pulling weeds, to table, and canned; our whole family has been working and laughing together. These are the things life long memories are made of. I want to pass on these traditions to our children. I want them to learn to be wise with what the Lord has given them, to persevere through a task with a good attitude even if they really would rather not be doing it, and remember that family is the most important thing after God. The Lord is so good to us, and I am so grateful for not only our harvest but these precious moments we get to spend as a family. In the spring as I plant I'm not just planing seeds that will grow and bloom into food for us to eat. I'm growing hard work, character, determination, laughter, joy, and love. God teaches us so much from ordinary seemingly mundane tasks, and I feel so blessed to have these times.
This is our first year dehydrating, thanks to my sister and brother in law. I have learned that things shrink a lot when dehydrated, and that 10 pints of blueberries fit neatly into a pint size storage bag. My 10ish lb of banana chips surely will fit into a pint sized baggie also. Amazing considering the big heavy box they came in. Now, they sit neatly on my storage shelves in the basement waiting to be baked into yummy quick breads, muffins, or pancakes. We plan to dry tomatoes, green beans, squash, and really anything that would be easy to throw into a soup or stew. My plan is to make soup starter mixes so easy fast dinners this winter should be a snap.
I love watching my shelves and freezer fill up with the bounty of the harvest! The pretty jars make the basement cozy and I feel a kinship to those thousands of women who since the beginning of time also stored up food for their families. As we work in the kitchen, that sense of community and family builds up not only our shelves with food, but our sense of closeness as a family. It takes us all working together to bring in our harvest. From planting, pulling weeds, to table, and canned; our whole family has been working and laughing together. These are the things life long memories are made of. I want to pass on these traditions to our children. I want them to learn to be wise with what the Lord has given them, to persevere through a task with a good attitude even if they really would rather not be doing it, and remember that family is the most important thing after God. The Lord is so good to us, and I am so grateful for not only our harvest but these precious moments we get to spend as a family. In the spring as I plant I'm not just planing seeds that will grow and bloom into food for us to eat. I'm growing hard work, character, determination, laughter, joy, and love. God teaches us so much from ordinary seemingly mundane tasks, and I feel so blessed to have these times.
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Time To Get Organized!
With 8 children, a schedule of sorts is a must. My life quickly becomes one big game of crowd control and nonstop damage control when I have no schedule. My schedule has been up in arms since Luke came. My neatly planned out day with charts and chore charts and menu plans sit covered in dust waiting to be revived and used. I need to get them out and get back on a schedule. All I have to do is look around and see the list of "things to do" getting longer and longer. For instance, right now I am sitting here with cloth diapers needing stuffed and put in baskets, and my living room and toy room needing vacuumed. But for now I'm sitting and enjoying the quiet. I'm savoring that my early morning devotions and bible time have refreshed me for a new day, and sipping one last cup of coffee before the thundering of little feet hit the steps. This is the key to my day going much more smoothly. My bible time and a cup of coffee with the Lord makes my days seem so much more manageable. Did I mention the quiet? Very few times in this house is it quiet. I love the sounds of children playing, the busy hum of activity that is our daily life, but these few moments of quiet give me a chance to refresh before the day gets busy. I need a schedule, but I don't want my schedule to rule me, just give me a place to run to and know what I need to get done. I need organization, and I love checking off my to do list. Right now, my day is ready to start, lists ready, and schedule ready to guide me.
And so my day begins. I hear Lia singing her mommy song, and the thud thud thud of Levi as he slides down the steps and comes running to give me a good morning hug. These are the important things. Hugs, songs, laughter, and joy. Yes my schedule is important, but if I miss the oportunity to enjoy these moments because of my schedule then I am missing out on the best parts of being a mom.
And so my day begins. I hear Lia singing her mommy song, and the thud thud thud of Levi as he slides down the steps and comes running to give me a good morning hug. These are the important things. Hugs, songs, laughter, and joy. Yes my schedule is important, but if I miss the oportunity to enjoy these moments because of my schedule then I am missing out on the best parts of being a mom.
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
A normal day?
I'm a 24 hour a day, seven days a week, no vacations mom. What exactly does that mean?!? Well for me, it's that I know my morning coffee is not negotiable because without it I won't be able to function. It means that I am up for middle of the night feedings at 12:30, 2:30, 4:30, 5:30 and drinking my first cup of coffee at 6:00 and I keep running until I start the whole thing over again. It means I get to be the one who kisses boo boos and make them better, and cheer and clap for all of these amazing small people who make my days so worth all the sleepless nights. Ok, I focus a lot on sleep right now, but that's just because I am in the middle of no sleep with a 3 mth old, 1mth old adjusted age, more than I spend my nights sleeping.
Tonight in fact is one of those crazy nights. Luke normally starts a marathon feeding session that lasts from around 7 until 10. Yep, almost 3 straight hours of nursing. And, no he doesn't sleep longer because of it. Usually he is up every 2 hours all night long. Tonight however, I fed him, smiled and sat in awe of how precious a blessing he is to me, and watched him fall asleep at 9:00. I am a gun shy mom, who was not about to let herself be faked out again by the "I'm falling asleep early" bit. So, now here I sit at 11:00 knowing I should have bit the bullet and gone to sleep. Of course, I can't do that now because he should be waking up at any moment to eat again. This is my day. And no mater how little sleep my days may bring, I wouldn't have it any other way. That's my normal.
Tonight in fact is one of those crazy nights. Luke normally starts a marathon feeding session that lasts from around 7 until 10. Yep, almost 3 straight hours of nursing. And, no he doesn't sleep longer because of it. Usually he is up every 2 hours all night long. Tonight however, I fed him, smiled and sat in awe of how precious a blessing he is to me, and watched him fall asleep at 9:00. I am a gun shy mom, who was not about to let herself be faked out again by the "I'm falling asleep early" bit. So, now here I sit at 11:00 knowing I should have bit the bullet and gone to sleep. Of course, I can't do that now because he should be waking up at any moment to eat again. This is my day. And no mater how little sleep my days may bring, I wouldn't have it any other way. That's my normal.
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