Abundance

I feel like the gardens are producing late this year. I know my tomatoes are late. I've canned about a dozen jars here and there of spaghetti sauce. Now that the weather has dried up and stayed warm, the tomatoes are really coming on. So I've been busy canning. My problem is the best time for me to do it is after supper. That means some pretty late nights!

I ordered a 20+ pound pear add on with my Bountiful Baskets this time. I remember always having home canned pears at Grandma Mary's and loved them. Granted, I didn't grow these in my backyard but they'll still taste better than the ones from the store!! I used honey in one batch of syrup and sucanat in the other (that's the darker ones). I read that you can leave the peel on the pear and cut them into chunks and can. So I tried a couple jars that way. We'll see how we like them. I started around 8pm and finished what I had jars for around midnight. Of course there were a few interruptions in there! I still have probably 5 more quarts' worth of pears to can. 

We also got quite a few bananas in this week's baskets. They actually ripened a lot faster than usual, which is fine with me...banana bread! My absolute favorite. So I made 3 loaves of that tonight, too. 

My tomato plants are finally producing quite a bit. Still haven't gotten what I had planned on out of them, but it's better than nothing considering how our weather has been this season!! I made about 15 pints of plain tomato sauce with these. And as soon as I finished these, Aaron went out and filled the bucket back up!! I told Aaron if we ever build our own house, I want a canning kitchen with a great big stove and big, open counter space. He looked at me like I was crazy. It just completely takes over my kitchen, which is why I usually wait until after supper to do it!

Baskets full of goodness Saturday morning!! Mmmmmm!

Busy Weekend

Last weekend was busy, to say the least. But it was a good busy. First, Audrie, Cherie, and Binga came to visit Scott's again. We spent most of Friday afternoon over there. 

The baby mini was in the pen. Isaac and Anna had a blast playing with him and his mama and daddy!

Too stinkin' cute!!!

Isaac didn't want to ride very long this time because I wouldn't go out of the corral! I couldn't even "go bast" because the saddle was too small this time for both of us to sit IN the saddle. So he lost interest pretty quickly in riding in a circle slowly!

Grandpa and Grandma got here that evening, too. They brought a nice, big delivery of produce from Anders Farm Stand!! Colorado peaches, Rocky Ford cantaloupe, sweet corn, peppers, green beans. Mmmm!!!

Bright and early Saturday morning, I got even more delicious produce!! Can I just say again how much I love Bountiful Baskets?! Can you guess what I spent all Sunday afternoon and evening doing?!

A little less bright & early, the ladies went to the annual Women of Grace women's conference. There were close to 750 women this year!!! This is about 2/3 of the room. It was, as always, phenomenal.  Kris Goertzen is such a gifted speaker. The Lord always uses her to speak to the heart of things and pour Biblical truths over our souls. I strongly encourage you to make plans to attend next August! 

After the conference, the men and kidlets met us in town to see the movie Planes! The kids were ecstatic! Two bags of popcorn and 20 minutes later, Isaac was ready to go home! I think it was a combination of getting to the theatre 45 minutes before the movie started, him being tired, and not feeling great. I really thought he would love it. Oh well. Anna and Jacob absolutely had a great time!

Grandpa was a weeeee bit nervous about this lap-sitter......

Summer Thus Far

We always seem to have a busy summer. Little trips here and there to see family and friends. Harvest, family celebrations, short weekends away. And of course, the gardening!

 We got a tropical pack last time in our Bountiful Baskets. We all tried coconut water for the first time. Anna loved it, Isaac thought it was okay, Jacob gave it 2 thumbs down!

 This year we planted only tomatoes in the garden at home because we got a plot at the community garden. I put 12 of them in, all but 2 that Stacy & I started from seed! Most of them are doing pretty good. One of them died and I replaced it, but all the others are looking good. My cherry tomato plant looks like it's going to give me a hefty yield! 

 The first tomatoes of the year! Only one of them lasted til morning. :)

 We've had a busy few weeks with lots of late bedtimes. Which means Isaac has been falling asleep at the pool! Works out okay-he doesn't fall asleep after we get home at 4 or 5 and then is up til midnight, and he only gets a short nap in. He does miss out on all the fun of the pool and I don't get to do anything but sit beside him, but that's okay. Anna and Jacob have a great time. We love the pool!

 The other day I found Anna teaching Isaac about his letters. He was content to sit there and let her do her thing and would throw out guesses here and there. Jacob joined the mini school time, too.

 The most exciting thing for me this summer is that we got our Bountiful Baskets site opened here in town!! It's been a long time coming and we're all so happy not to have a 4 hr. trip anymore! It's not exactly fun to get up before 5am for the drop, but it's well worth it for what we get right here in town!! Mmmmmm!

 Some family came down and Anna got to meet a "new" cousin. They had a lot of fun riding horses at Scott's and playing at the Wetlands! I told you we would be going back again!!

 After the water park, we went to a playground while we waited and Isaac took a tumble. He fell flat on his back off the equipment and hit his head pretty hard on the gravel in the play area. He cried for quiet a while but it didn't bleed too much so I knew he didn't need stitches. It's in a terrible spot for car rides though! Poor kid. 

 Anna was a bit tired! A long day of horse riding, water park, and playing with Audrey (all with an early start to the day). After the water park, we headed out to the farm for a weekend of fun with extended family as we celebrated Grandpa and Grandma's 65th anniversary...those pictures up next :)