Politics and Canning

Ok, I have become very behind in keeping up with the news lately.  I catch things here and there but have found most of it to be too annoying to listen to.  I know we need to be informed and am grateful that my husband keeps me updated on the necessary.  This whole "he said she said" thing drives me crazy.  It is so amazing to see Congress trying so hard to push their own agenda that they can't get anything accomplished.  I really believe if they would use the Bible as their guide our world would be such a better place.  I've heard this before but recently heard it again so thought it worth repeating.  As the family goes so goes the church, as the church goes so goes our nation.  God help our families to follow You then maybe everything else will fall in line.  There is so much in life that can bring us down I want to encourage you to make Philippians 4:8 to direct your thoughts...

   "Whatsoever things are true,
      Whatsoever things are honest,
      Whatsoever things are just,
      Whatsoever things are pure,
      Whatsoever things are lovely,
      Whatsoever things are of good report;
      If there be any virtue,
      and if there be any praise,
      Think on these things."

I try to test my thoughts to see if they match up.  When my thoughts match up then I am so much more content and my stress level is less.

Now what a busy couple of days we have had.  I love watching my canning shelf fill up.  Lately I have been quite busy with making jam or preserves or syrup, matters who you talk to.  I have decided to quit using pectin in my jam making.  I feel it is such of waste of money.  Fruit has pectin already in it and if I cook it a bit longer it makes wonderful jam.  I so prefer home made jam over store bought so now I have several jars.  My friend told be how making jam without pectin saves money both because you don't have to buy the pectin and the jam is a bit runny so you don't use as much on your sandwich.  :)

We have also made 10 loaves of zucchini bread (and ate 3), zucchini cookies, chocolate zucchini cake, and strawberry rhubarb pie in addition to our strawberry rhubarb, apricot, and apricot/pineapple "jam." I really enjoy cooking. The clean up not so fun but worth it. 

  Have a great day and if you ever wondered what to do with rhubarb I included a recipe for the pie.

Rhubarb pie for Davids birthday party, with the left over dough we roll it out, spread butter over it, and sprinkle Cinnamon and sugar.  Then bake it with the pies. 
Strawberry Rhubarb pie:  mix 1 2/3 cup sugar, 1/3 cup flour and 1/4 tsp nutmeg.  Add 2 1/2 cups rhubarb and 2 1/2 cups strawberries.   Mix all together then let set while you prepare the crust.  Pour into crust and top with dots of Butter around top of pie.  Bake at 375 for about 45 minutes. 

here are 6 of our zucchini bread loaves ready to freeze

made strawberry rhubarb jam with remaining strawberries and rhubarb and for fun added some raspberries.  Can't hurt, right?

Here are the apricots.

and here is my poor sick little Cassie girl.  She is better today but hasn't been doing much but sleeping lately. 

Fun Day

Yesterday we had a busy but fun day.  The morning was spent with yard work and a blessing from my neighbor.  She has an abundance of raspberry plants and let me come dig some for myself.  Apparently, I'm not very strong but was able to dig some and transplant them.  It was in the upper 90's so probably not the best time to be transplanting but the opportunity arose and I took it.  I drenched them in water and we'll see what happens. 

After that we went to do photos.  Oh what drama but we try to make it fun.  After the discussion of attire and hair we finally made it to the park to take pictures.  I brought lots of water but we drank it all and were very thirsty and tired when all was done.  I think we got some good pictures.  My favorite was of all the girls.  By that time Isabella was no longer happy and Cassie was ready to play but I still liked it.  It is so funny to see their personalities shine when you take pictures.  Several I took, I just couldn't delete because they cracked me up.   Alex was working so we'll have to get some of him later.

Then we hurried home for naps and to ready ourselves for the evening.  We were having Mark and Amy and their 8 (and one on the way) kiddos and Chad and Jessica and their 5 kiddos.  What a fun evening.  We roasted hot dogs (yes in 90 plus degree weather), had a great potato salad, yummy watermelon, homemade cherry ice cream (the remaining of the cherries we picked),  then finished the evening with games, conversation and SMORES.  How great is that.  I so enjoy getting our families together.  Everyone has someone to play with and I just love them all.  I am so blessed to have such good Friends.

Mark and Amy had just had their ultrasound that day and after 4 boys in a row they are expecting a healthy baby girl.  What a blessing!!!  The older girls are thrilled.  They have the sweetest story.  I wish Amy would start her own blog but she has ok me to tell this story.  God has been so good to them in blessing them with 3 (now 4) girls and 5 boys and the provision has always been there.  It has seemed that with several of their babies they received raises.  So, when Mark got a raise a couple months ago he came home and asked Amy is she was expecting again and to their delight she took a test and sure enough, they are.  Isn't God good?   

I wish I had pictures to share from last night, but I hope you enjoy the pictures from the park.  Have a blessed day.

Cherries, cherries cherries.

 

Ok so every year I look forward to cherry season.  I really enjoy cherries.  A few years ago I had made a comment to my husband how fun it would be to have a cherry pitter.  Not thinking much about it he bought me one.  What was I to do with it.  Well, I was very blessed with a Friend who allowed me to come and pick my fill of cherries.  This year my friend's, that I normally get cherries from, tree didn't produce much.  I was bummed and thought it all lost for the year but was blessed by another friend whose tree produced an abundance.  So I have been busy and could probably do more but here is what we did. 

First we canned 17 qt cherries.  We are already eating one.  We wash, then pit them.  Add hot water and 1/3 cup sugar.  Put lids on then place in boiling water for 25 minutes to seal jars.

Then we put some of the cleaned and pitted cherries in the freezer on cookie sheets to freeze.  Then will place in gallon bags to store. 

Next, we made this amazing crisp.  Thank you Amy for the recipe.  I took 8 cups cherries (cleaned and pitted), boiled them in 2 cups water for 10 minutes.  Mixed together 2 cups sugar and 1/4 cup cornstarch then added them to cherries and stir till thick.  I then poured them in a cake pan.  Next I mixed 1 cup softened butter with 2 yellow cake mixes and sprinkled on top the cherry mixture.  Baked for about 1/2 hour and yum. 

Then what ever is left we are eating fresh.

I was wondering next year about making cherry jam and maybe canning cherry pie filling.  Oh well, we'll see.  Hope all is well out there.  Have a great day.  God Bless 

Beware the Fish Hook

We had such a wonderful weekend.  This weekend we went camping.  The place we stayed was so beautiful.  We were camped by a lake and all around us were mountains.  God has made such an amazing creation and I am so thankful.  The first night we were there we had and awesome thunder and lightning storm.  I'm not sure if I have ever heard thunder that loud.  I think the mountains intensified the sound and it was so powerful.  I was concerned about the kids but they all slept through it or were unconcerned.  So I just laid there and listened to it.  Boom!!! wow that was a close one.  How amazing.  The next morning my baby Isabella woke up bright and early and so, as not to wake everyone, I took her for a walk.  The mist on the water was so gorgeous and the crisp morning was so refreshing.  We went down to the pier and saw all the ducks.  The mama's were leading their little ones around and if one stepped out of line she would squawk and back they would come.  I loved just watching then and was awed by how well they obeyed their mom.  The next morning David joined Isabella and I for our morning walk and we showed him the lovely ducks.  They were not as happy this morning.  The mother was all out of sorts.  Her ducklings were following her but she kept coming back to the pier.  Pretty soon I noticed a ducking under the pier splashing away.  It was so funny.  I thought "is this one being rebellious?"  Then I noticed a fish line connected to him.  How sad.  I was angry at what fisherman had left his line for this innocent creature to get tangled in.  David went to rescue the little guy but the duckling was scared and didn't want David's help.  Finally David grabbed him and found a fish hook in his beak.  Poor little guy.  David took the hook out and instantly the duckling dove under the water and disappeared for a bit.  Then a few yards away we saw him reappear and quickly swim to the safety of his mother and siblings.  Isn't that like life.  Here we are as parents trying our best to lead and guide our children but then someonelse's mess, that they think nothing of, will snag our child, tangle them up, and even hook them.  I watched as the mother duck went back and squawked at her little one and implored him to follow her but he was too caught up.  He would try to fight to free himself, but the more he fought the more tangled he got.  Imagine if one of the other siblings had been nearby and his flapping about in his mess had tangled them and got them caught up too.  It was only by the kindness of this unknown man (David) did this little duck get rescued from the snares that had entangled him.  Thank you Jesus, that we know you can rescue us from the sins that have ensnared us or our little ones.  The mother duck was totally helpless to help her baby and the more she tried the worse mess her baby was in.  I often wonder as a mom when to stick my mouth in and "help" my children get out of the snares I think they are in.  I try to prevent them from making the same mistakes I have made or teach them a better way then where they are going.  Then I'm stunned by there insistence to do what I may have warned them of.  Dear God, give me a teachable heart that I may hear your voice and not be snared by the unseen.  And dear Father let me be an example to my children in your ways.  May you be there to help them when they fall into the snares of this world and keep them from the fish hooks that will trap them and hold them there. In Jesus name, Amen. 

Well here are some pictures, I hope you are all well.  God Bless.

Here is the little rescued duckling hurrying back to mama.

Uncle Dan spinning the little girls

Grandpa and Cassandra picking up sticks

Loved the mist on the water

Daddy and Isabella

walking down the path.

The kids working on a puzzle

Enjoying summer

 We have been enjoying a great summer. Busy one day and little to do the next. First off I wanted to share the garden progress.  It has been a bit of a struggle but it is finally taking off.  I just finished harvesting the last of my spinach and some sweet peas.  My strawberries are pitiful.  I don't know why they are struggling but we'll just keep watering.  The corn was doing great but a huge wind came through our are and hurt them a bit. 

 This is my apricot tree, maybe.  It is loaded with fruit and hopefully we'll soon have a great harvest

My peach tree we planted is doing great.  I was so excited but someone told me that you aren't supposed to let it produce fruit the first couple years and that it might have been better to have taken off the blooms.  Oh well, we'll see.  If you look closely you can see a peach, but I counted and believe there are over 30.  Such fun. 

Next, our Bright Lights group is doing great.  I'm so blessed to be doing this group with help from Ivy and Latisha.  They are such a good example to the girls.  We have a great group of girls who are so sweet and I just pray this group will help them for years to come. 

Latisha getting some air. :)

David making an awesome serve.

Alex making it look easy.

Isabella enjoying the show.

Sierra holding Cassie and Isabella in the pool while Danika snorkeled. 

Cassandra loved the sparklers.

We had a great time celebrating our countries birthday.  I am so thankful to be living in a country that has such a Godly heritage in its founding fathers.  I pray every day for Gods protection over our country and that we will once again be a Christian nation, one nation under God with liberty and justice for all. 

We have also been able to go to the zoo a couple times.  Enjoyed a lunch with my wonderful friend and a mega walk with another great fun.  Last night we had around 50 youth and young adults over.  And so much more going on.  Hope you all are enjoying your summer.  Have a great day.

Be Bold Be Strong

Isabella getting the hang of walking and loves to clap for herself

Good morning one and all.  What a lovely morning and a good summer we have been having.  Isabella has finally decided it is time to walk.  She seems to do things at her own pace.  It has been a good time to learn patience for me.  I would try to work with her but truly she had no desire to walk.  The last couple months she finally showed an interest in walking.  The kids and I would get her to walk between us and she would look at us like "why are you making me do this."  Then she finally started to crawl to things and pull herself up.  I was so excited and tried to let her do things on her own.  It is so sad to watch a child fail.  She would pull herself up then slip half way and fall hitting her head.  I would comfort her and try to help her.  I want to protect her all the time and keep her from hurting herself, but it seems the more I let her do herself the more progress she makes.  She finally got to the point where she could pull herself up and hold on to things then try to take a step and fall over and hurt herself again.  She hated it.  She would pull herself up and stand there all happy then didn't know how to get down.  What I saw was fear would grip her and she would begin to cry out for help.  She didn't know what to do, her legs were tired and she needed to sit, but was scared of the fall so would just cry.  I thought about how she was scared to try because she was afraid to fail or at least afraid of the consequence that failure would bring.  That is so like me.  I have a hard time starting new things for fear.  "What ifs" surround me and I choose to do nothing.  But I am thankful that God will stir my heart to keep trying and sometimes I fail and have to get back up but sometimes there is success.  My goal is that if I walk like God wants me too I will not fail and he will show me how to get down or move forward as he leads.

the infamous scuba diving

Several years ago David and I took a trip to Mexico.  We were at a resort that taught scuba lessons.  I have always thought it would be fun to scuba with all the wonderful fish.  Knowing that I have a hard enough time snorkeling should have been my first clue that this was not going to be easy but I thought how hard can this be.  So we took the free lessons in a nice shallow pool and it was so fun.  I didn't mind the tank and when I got nervous I just stood up.  After about a half hour of our pool swim I told David "lets do it."  So we signed the release and they took us out in a boat.  Then they told us to put on our gear and then we were to flip out of the boat backwards to finish our "certification."  David promptly did it but fear began to grip me like never before.  I couldn't do it.  They finally got impatient and pushed me out.  This didn't help.  We were next to the boat and they told us to let the air out of our vest and we would sink.  David did this and off he went.  I couldn't seem to get myself to push the button, so the instructor did it for me.  I promptly filled it back up and floated to the top.  When I went under the water all I could see was black and I was very scared.  After several minutes of a slight discussion between the instructor and myself, I begged him to let me back in the boat.  I was so disappointed in myself.  I sat in the boat thinking what is wrong with me?  Is David disappointed in me?  Why couldn't I do it?  I just waisted a bunch of money, (no they did not refund me).  There was a girl in the boat with me from Germany.  I was so embarrassed.  But she encouraged me not to worry about it, at least I tried.  She didn't even try.  She sat in the boat while her husband was scuba diving and really felt no remorse.  Maybe someday I will try again.  Next time I would prefer to start on the shore and work my way out at my own pace, but at least I tried.  I failed but I tried.  Another day maybe.  But let me encourage you to try.  You never know what you can do until you try and take a step.  Cry out to God and he will be your help.  Hebrews 13:6 says "So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me."  "For God hath not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love and of a sound mind."   2 Timothy 1:7  Philippians 4:6-7 "Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.  And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."  Be bold, be strong for the Lord your God is with you.  Have a great day.