Canning, Canning and More Canning!

This year I learned to can. I know that James has canned jam in the past but I didn't realize you could can more than jam. So, this year I have learned to can peaches, tomatoes, salsa, chicken, chicken stock and am getting ready to learn to can pears (hopefully on Thursday).

Some may say that I have been a little out of control. I have a new canning buddy and we have gotten together on several occasions to can tomatoes, salsa, and dehydrate peaches. We borrowed a pressure canner, she had one and we bought one, so at times we have had three pressure canners going at the same time. It was AWESOME! At home I still have the borrowed pressure canner and have been known to run both canners all day. I have officially canned 100 quarts of tomatoes! The boys learned to blanch the tomatoes for me and did all of the blanching for the last 24 quarts. They are AMAZING! I also fell in love with canning chicken breast. Chicken has been on sale lately and I found that my freezer can only hold so much chicken. So, instead of buying another freezer I learned to can that chicken! It might be said that I canned about 100 lbs of chicken. Hmmm. . . maybe I am out of control!

I am now done with all of those item and am ready to do pears! I have my first 20 lbs and just need to figure out where to find more. We have run into some cold weather here, so gardening is quickly coming to an end. A local farm now has all of its produce on sale for $25 per bushel. I of course ran over and bought lots of apples, sweet potatoes and squash. Now I need to find uses for each of those things. Any great acorn squash recipes out there?

I think I have come to love canning so much because I feel like I am preserving food we will actually use. As much fun as it is to store wheat, oats and beans, one needs more variety in their life. So, now the goal is to go through the winter with a very low food budget. We'll see how it goes! Soup season here we come!

Happy Birthday, Joshua!

We didn't end up with a ton of photos from his birthday, but Joshua did say it was "probably the best day of his entire life, so far."

So there you have it.

We had waffles for breakfast, and Joshua opened a new [to him] suit that he wore to church so proudly. He got to practice the primary program, which he loves, and eat peanut butter sandwiches for lunch. He helped me make ice cream and decorate his soccer ball cake, and we enjoyed garden pizza for dinner. The "garden" part was a specific facet of his request, so he walked through our fading garden with me looking for suitable vegetables. We ended up with garden tomatoes, broccoli, brussels sprouts, and some store bought mushrooms, onions, and red peppers. Here he is with his ultimate creation.

After dinner he opened his presents: nano bug, robe, slippers (he is so his father's son) and probably his favourite, The Game of Life. We played a round as a family and had a grand evening. What a blessing Joshua is in our lives.

So Much Soccer!

On Saturday, we had what we consider to be a singular event in the history of community soccer. OK, it's probably not, but we were a bit overwhelmed.

You see, we have three boys playing this year, and they are all three in different age brackets. To add to the impact of this season, LIz and I are coaching Michael's team, which has been a wonderful learning experience for us. On Saturday, however, we felt a little stretched.

We had FIVE games on Saturday.

Five.

F I V E.

Yeah, we only have three children. Jacob started his game at 9 am, the same time as our double header with Michael's team. When he and Joshua didn't show up at our field after that game, we figured they were just playing soccer with some of their friends around the fields, and let it go. They've proven that they make good choices when they're together. As Jacob dragged himself over at the end of our second game, however, we learned that he had just finished his second game as well. Yes, they had a double header that overlapped our double header, and we didn't even know it. It was crazy, but we acknowledged the crazy, and packed up our stuff and headed over to watch Joshua.

Of the five games, we won four, and tied one. The tie, however, was against a team from a different area, who get to practice more than we do and have been playing together for five years. They've never lost in Galesburg. Saturday, however, these green coaches helped their team tie. We play them again next week. Maybe, just maybe we can pull off a win.

Pinewood Derby

These things are so fun, except the wild children, the lack of order, and the noise. Other than that, though, pinewood derbies are, um, the bomb.

The boys had a great time, they raced that track at least a dozen times each, and as a group, we managed to make a 7-person bracket as complex and endless as possible.

All in all, though, it was a great time, especially for this Dad and his two, yes, TWO cub scouts. I'm getting old, and it's a delight to experience all the things that are slowly moving me from young to aged. The boys drew out plans of their cars, and I did my best to help them realize them, right down to their chosen numbers and the paint jobs. I think they both felt like they were able to plan, execute, and adjust in ways that made them both very happy.

Plus, I got to play with molten lead.

The boys made great cars, had a great time, and Michael brought home a 2nd place ribbon, Joshua was in 3rd. Having two kids in the derby is quite the change, I'll tell you that. They'll never win best of show, unfortunately, because we'll have to split our votes between them every time. I don't think they care much, though, because I'm pretty sure they each voted for someone else.

I can't lie—I'm a little proud that I had to do twice as much work with twice the sons as the others, and my boys still had cars that placed. I only did the things they really shouldn't, like unsafely operate a jigsaw and pour molten lead, so the glory definitely goes to them.

I'm a little proud of [glory in?] all of us.