Random bullets...

So it's been a few weeks since I've updated the blog, which means that I have been living my life and thinking about posting on the blog, but not actually doing it. Then I get overwhelmed because of "everything" I would need to do to update it, then I procrastinate blogging until "next week."  But my house is clean (for once) and Ruby is sleeping and Ira is in school, so what have I left to do but blog...or sleep... I suppose I'll blog.  I'll fore-warn you that it may be random and incomplete, but it's a start and then hopefully next week I'll return to the "regularly scheduled" What I Loved posts.

• Ira went to Totus Tuus for the first time this summer.  He totally loved it!  We hosted the girls from the team again this year.  It is always fun to get to know young Catholics on-fire for their faith.  They give me hope!
• My best friend from high school, Laura, came down for a visit during Totus Tuus week.  We talked and talked and talked.  It was so nice to spend some time with her before life gets busy again with school (she's a teacher.)
• That same week, (what is it about Totus Tuus week and bad things happening in Andy's family?) Andy's mom ended up in the hospital because of stomach pain.  We spent many hours up at the hospital and the kids were troopers about it.  She ended up having to have a laproscopic surgery done to straighten out a "knuckle" in her small intestine that was causing an obstruction.  The whole thing was a pretty miserable experience for her, but luckily, she's recovered well and quickly!
• Successfully used my new pressure canner to put up some tomatoes for fall/winter/spring.  My first try, I didn't know what I was supposed to be listening for with the "jiggler", plus I used the raw-pack method, which left me with not enough product in the jar to create a hermetic seal and not enough certainty about the canning process that I just decided to freeze that batch. (the Mirro canners don't jiggle constantly, only 2-3 times per minute they let out a big puff of steam - of course, it couldn't say that in the directions... I had to dig that up on the internet)  I wasn't going to give up though, so the next week, I successfully canned 9 pints of tomatoes.  We have enough for about 4 months now, but I think I'm going to have to supplement with store-bought tomatoes (that I'll can myself) that I saw on sale the other day.  Our tomato plants are looking pretty dried up at this point.  
• Went to the Catholic Family Conference as a family for the first time.  Ira really enjoyed the Kids Program and Andy and I enjoyed many of the talks.  It was kind of a crazy weekend because we also had an out-of-town wedding to go to on Saturday afternoon/evening, but we made the most of it and made it through the weekend and hope to go back next year.
• Went to my cousin's wedding (whom I haven't seen for 6 years!)  It was so good to see family and celebrate!
• Sent the kiddos to Grandma and Grandpa's for the weekend!  Andy's parents had all 4 of their grandkids (6,6,3,&2) over for a fun-filled time (Fri afternoon 'till Saturday night.)  Andy and I went out to dinner and then had movie certificates to use.  So we decided to go see a movie for the first time in probably 5 years.  I regret (and hesitate) to inform you that we saw "The Campaign" because we'd seen previews and thought it looked funny.  Although there were some funny parts, it was filthy and raunchy and just downright uncomfortable oftentimes.  I'm honestly embarrassed that we saw it.  What was even worse was that the theater was packed and everyone else seemed to think that the whole thing was just a riot.  I guess that's what I get for going off previews alone and not looking up reviews in advance.  Epic. fail.  Lesson learned (for 5 years from now when we go see a movie in the theater again.)  We did enjoy sleeping in the next day and then went to lunch and worked in the yard.  It was a nice break, but we were both ready to see the kids by Saturday night!
• "Dreaded" the end of summer.  Unlike last year, where Ira and I were BOTH ready for school start, I was really sad to see him go back to school this year.  He's growing up and maturing into such a neat little boy that I truly miss having him around during the day.  I didn't spend as much one-on-one time with him as I would've liked to this summer, but we really did have a great summer with him at home.
• Rubyism: "I need a dan-daid.  My tummy's on wrong."
• Prepped the garden for fall, leaving only the tomatoes, green peppers, green beans, and okra still standing.  The squash bugs had obliterated the zucchini and were moving on to the cukes and melons, so we just pulled it all up and sprayed with malathion to try to curb the problem.  Seems to have worked so far.
• Need to get all the fricking bermuda grass out of my front flower bed before it completely swallows up my flowers.  I was on top of it until mid-June, then it laughed and said "you think you can stop me, watch this!" and proceeded to fill in most of the flower garden.  We've worked on it a little bit, but it's such an obnoxious task that part of me just really wants to mow it all down and say "to heck with it."  Real mature, I know.
• Andy and Ira had "boy time" on the weekend before school started.  They camped out (in the backyard) and then went fishing.  Ira positively loves "boy time" and I think Andy enjoys it a lot too!  (Ruby and I cleaned and played and painted our fingernails & toenails while they were gone.)

Well, I think that catches you up for the most part.  Now I can go back to just being "whelmed" about posting.  Hopefully you'll hear from me again next week with a normal "What I Loved" post.

What I Loved About Last Week 17th and 18th Ed.

So, I'm doubling up weeks again, forgive me!

What I loved about July 9-15th:

1. Wet and Wild.  Our local volunteer fire dept. came to the city park to spray the fire hoses for the kids to run around in and have fun.  Surprise, surprise, brave, crazy Ruby was more into it than cautious Ira.  Both of them did have a lot of fun though.

2. Playing together.  Ira and Ruby really do play so well together.  The other day, I overheard them playing with dinosaurs.  Talk about your total boy/girl difference.  Ira was knocking them down and having them fight with each other.   Ruby having the dinosaurs bite each other than give each other a kiss and say sorry.   It was so funny!

3. You may have noticed that the pictures I feature on my blog are on SmugMug (a photosharing/storage site.)  Well, it saved my tushy the other day.  I usually try to keep 2 copies of my pictures for back-up purposes: one on my external hard drive, and one on SmugMug.  Well, I was reorganizing some folders on the external hard drive and accidentally deleted the entire month of December 2011.  (And no, it wasn't in the recycle bin, before I deleted it, it said "this folder is too big for the recycle bin - delete files permanently?")  Luckily, they were on SmugMug and I was able to recover them all in about 4 zip files.

4. Put up 7 quarts of dill pickles!

5. Had a new nephew!!  My beautiful sister had her baby on July 11th and we got to go up to the hospital and snuggle him before he was even 12 hours old.  Man do I love me some squishy newborn!  The kids were absolutely enthralled too.  Come on God, give us one in our house too!

6. Picked out Ruby's hair.  What do you do when you're bored... you pick out your daughter's extremely curly hair to see how "big" it gets.  What do you think???

Girl would've been a rockstar in the 80's... or in Texas...

7. Updated our budget.  It was about 6 weeks behind, and although it's a pain to track every penny - it is totally worth it for us.  It feels really good to know where we stand with our finances.

8. Along those lines, I am so proud of my hubby who got a promotion and a raise!!  We sat down together and re-worked some of the budget to allow for more savings in a few places.  We'll see how diligent we can be!

9. Spent a crazy Saturday going to 4 different events.  1.Met up with a good online-friend who I'd never met in real life.  We also got to snuggle her sweet new baby!  2.Went to an anniversary party for a family friend where I got to catch up with some people that I hadn't seen for 15+ years.  It was a really neat party!  3.Celebrated the baptism of aforementioned nephew.  It is such a beautiful ceremony - welcoming a baby into God's family.  Love it every time!  4.Went out to my younger sister's house and played cards and toured their new property.  It was a full day, but boy was it fun!

10. The day after all that craziness, I wasn't sure how productive we'd be, but we actually got something checked off the to-do list that I'd wanted to do for a LONG time.  After we laid Ruby down for her nap, we set out all of Ira's toys in the basement family room and decided which ones to keep and which ones to chuck (or sell, any ideas on how to go about that?)  We started by asking Ira which toy he absolutely couldn't live without (his drum set) and then asking him to pick one that he absolutely didn't care about at all anymore (a hacky-sack.) And continued asking those same 2 questions until we'd gone through every single toy in the house. If you're good at math - you'll realize that means we have HALF as many toys as we used to!  It's working well for us.  Ira seems proud of the job he did and is happy with the toys he has left.  Combatting commercialism/materialism one toy at a time here...

Before

After.  Kind of hard to tell, but there really are a TON less toys.
All the toy box lids close now!

Here's what I loved about July 16-22

Hmm.... I can't even remember what we did last week really...

I know we took care of Andy's parents' plants while they were out of town...

Ruby got her hair trimmed to help some major tangle issues...

I went to the dentist to get a pesky tooth looked at... it still needs some work...

We welcomed Andy's folks home from their trip and looked at awesome picture of whales and eagles and glaciers...

We played at home...

We welcomed Totus Tuus teachers into our home on Saturday...

We had cinnamon rolls for breakfast and homemade pizza for lunch on Sunday...

I don't know - apparently last week wasn't that exciting.  I have no pictures, and no notes written down about anything that happened.  So there you have it I guess.  I bet you're hoping I take notes about this week.  Definitely makes for much more exciting posts!  Blessings!

What I Loved About Last Week - 15th Ed.

Sheesh, I didn't really take many pictures or write down much about last week (usually I write down keywords on a notepad by the computer) So this one's going to be from the 'ole noggin alone... results may vary...

Here's what I loved about last week - June 25 - July 1st.

1. Met with my Napro doctor again.  No, I am not pregnant. Keep praying on that one.  We have decided to pursue post-peak Progesterone shots to see if they make more of a difference than the Progesterone capsules were.  I am both excited and scared.  Excited because this is THE protocol that Pope Paul VI Institute in Nebraska would follow -  Scared because first off, it seems much more serious than just using progesterone capsules and secondly, because I have heard that the shots are painful.  The progesterone is compounded in sesame oil, which means that it is a thick shot – think cortisone shot.  It is administered in the rump (I know, laugh away) and has to be administered slowly because of how thick it is.  Andy gets to learn how to give them to me.  Fortunately, the progesterone is longer lasting than the capsules, meaning I only have to have the shots every 3 days.  Prayers for bravery (for me) and a steady hand (for Andy) would be appreciated!

2. Rubyisms.  Luckily, my light-of-my-life’s (Ira & Ruby) keep me from stressing too much over the shots.  Ruby has been obsessed with going out and playing in the snow lately.  I would think the hours that we spend outside each day would be enough to convince her that it is most certainly summer.  Nope. Pretty much every day this week, she’d ask, “Should we put on our pink mittens and go out and throw snow?!?!” And she was genuinely disappointed each time when I told her “There’s no snow, Ruby, it’s summer!”  So silly.

3. Garden dinners.  We are still battling the squash bugs (removing 100-200 eggs from the plants every few days) but luckily, it seems as though we’re at least keeping up with them, because we are still getting zucchini from the garden.  Seeing as how it was the end of the month, I had to get really creative with dinner one night last week.  We had like nothing left in the cupboards (or at least not enough to make a meal out of really… cheerios with black beans and green chilis anyone??) So, Andy smoked some zucchini slices and we topped them with couscous that I had made with tomatoes (canned from last year) basil, green onions (both from the garden), and balsamic vinegar.  It ended up being really delicious.  Even the kids loved it. (Ira has decided that his two-year-running dislike for zucchini is a thing of the past – HOORAY!)

4. Shopping with my mother-in-law.  I am seriously SO blessed by my mother and father in law.  They are about the nicest, most generous people you could ever know.  Last Thursday when we were talking during swimming lessons, she mentioned about going shopping to get the 4 grandkids clothes for having their picture taken together later in July.  Later that day, she picked us up and we went into town and got the kids some adorable coordinating outfits for pictures.  She also let Ira get some Angry Birds underwear, an Angry Birds shirt, some cool (size 2 big kids!) leather flip flops, and a Toy Story Book.  She got Ruby a purple tank top, Nike flip-flops, and a “You are my Sunshine” book.  No, my kids aren’t spoiled at all…  After shopping, we went and got drinks at Sonic (strawberry vanilla limeades – SO GOOD!)  Although the kids got a little antsy while shopping, we had so much fun and enjoyed the diversion from being at home all day.

5. 3-2-1 Cake.  My parents (also kind and generous) surprised us with six, yes 6! boxes of angel food cake.  On vacation, we learned how to make this awesome treat called 3-2-1 cake.  You use one box of angel food cake mix and mix it with a box of any other kind of cake mix (confetti, strawberry, yellow are some of our favorites) in a ziplock bag.  Then, when you’re ready for a sweet treat, you mix 3 Tablespoons of cake mix & 2 Tablespoons of water in a microwaveable mug.  Heat for 1 minute in the microwave and voila!  Delicious, easy, one serving of your favorite cake.  Try it, you won’t be disappointed!

6. Swimming lessons are over!  Ira didn’t pass, but he really improved his swimming a lot over the course of lessons.  I am sure that with some more time and practice, he will be able to pass next year.

7. Family day. Last Saturday, for once, we didn’t have anything at all planned.  We had a nice lazy morning and went swimming as a family in the afternoon.  Ruby, who is just about too big for her britches, decided that she likes to jump off the side of the pool all by herself. She jumps in and bobs to the top at which point we grab her and help her to the ladder (in 5 foot water no less.)  She and Ira spent the better part of an hour jumping in. I’m glad that she’s not afraid of the water, but I wish she feared it just a little bit more.  We’ve talked to her about never jumping into a pool when mommy or daddy aren’t in, but I’m just not sure how much of that she “gets.” Pretty glad at this point that nobody we know owns a pool.

8. Pickles.  For the first time, I canned some dill pickles on Sunday.  We had fresh dill from our garden and 8 pounds of pickling cukes that needed something done with them, so I pickled them with a recipe from my Ball Canning Book (Grandma’s Dill Pickles for those who also have the book.)  They are absolutely, positively delicious!  And the pickling cukes really are more crisp and crunchy.  We don’t normally eat a lot of dill pickles around here, so I had thought the 7 pints would last us all year.  However, with as tasty as these are, I’m guessing I’m going to have to make a lot more to last us through the whole year.

9. Early Independence Day.  We celebrated 4^th of July a few days early with Andy’s family.  On Sunday, we went out to their house and had brats (with our yummy dill pickles on top) and shot off fireworks.  Ira is still pretty leary of lighting anything (although he did let grandma pay him a dollar to light a smoke bomb.)  Ruby loved helping light things (again with the no healthy fear thing…) and doing sparklers.  Andy and I had fun throwing firecrackers in the lagoon and watching (and listening) to them explode.  While we were shooting fireworks, a kitten showed up and the kids had lots of fun petting it and holding it.  I tried my hand at some long-exposure photography (despite the fact that I didn’t have my tripod) with the fireworks.  I got a few good ones I think!  It was a great end to a great week!

Stomping snap-n-pops.

First shot

 

Last shot

If you pick a peck of peppers...

If you pick a peck of peppers, there sure are a lot of peppers to pickle! Our pepper plants have been insanely successful this year, so to date, we have put up 24 pints of pickled peppers (which is actually a peck and half, for those nerds who know that a peck is 8 quarts.)

The canner and I are becoming better friends now, and I really feel like I'm getting the hang of it all. We certainly have used it a lot this year! 24 pints of pickled peppers, 10 half pints of pepper jelly, 5 pints of bread and butter pickles, and 8 quarts of applesauce have all been through the canner this year!

Here are some canning and produce pictures for your visual pleasure!

Getting everything ready for pickling peppers

Our knife-skills have definitely gotten lots of practice lately!

We capped and froze these babies to make stuffed green peppers at a later date, when we have more time!

So a canner can can, can he?

You know that exceedingly canny canner? The one who remarked to his granny about being able to can anything he can can? Well a canner can't can a can, can he? But let's just pretend he was going to.

Would he:
-need to add lemon juice
-have a proven, tried and true recipe
-have the right kind of pectin
-have exactly the right amount of every single ingredient
-have the right number of the right size of jars
-need to boil the can
-need to sterilize the jar to put the can in
-need to leave 1/4", 1/2", 3/4", or 1" of head space
-need to remove the bubbles around the edge of the jar
-need to wipe the rim of the jar
-know to tighten the band finger tight or more (and whose finger are we talking about?)
-have to process with an inch water on top
-have to add water to maintain the inch
-know to add 5 minutes to the processing time to allow for the extra altitude of the area
-know to leave the jars sitting in the canner for 5 minutes after processing
-know not to tilt jar
-need to leave one inch of breezeway in between jars
-know to not touch the jars (or the water on top of them) for 24 hours
-listen for the pop of the jar sealing
-observe the concave lid that cannot be removed
-remove the band to store the canned can
-say "Screw this, I don't want to kill my family of botulism" and decide to store everything in the fridge anyway

I don't know. I'm definitely not the exceedingly canny canner...

Epic Strawberry Jam

“Free strawberries!” the blog of a friend did insist,

“Take all that you want, please, they will not be missed!”

Cheapskate that I am, I thought, “This’ll be great!”

So I called, we decided Thursday’d be the date.

Thursday dawned humid and hot (so you know)

And I showed up with both of my kiddos in tow.

Boots, stockings, and jeans was the dress code to pick,

So as hopefully not to acquire a tick.

I started the picking of strawberries sweet,

But my babe wanted nothing to do with the heat.

She fussed and she cried ‘til I finally relented,

And left with fewer strawberries than I had intended.

“Oh well,” thought I, “such is life with a baby!”

“Now what should I make? Hmm, Jam?” I thought, maybe.

I thought I would can it, “How hard could that be?”

“Well,” mused my husband, “I guess we shall see.”

The recipe I found was read and re-read,

‘Til the process of canning was stuck in my head.

I started the process prepared, no doubt,

With all of my stuff on the counters laid out.

The boiling began, and the burning did too,

Of my arms and my legs as the mixture did spew.

Strawberry fire flew everywhere.

Believe me, it even got stuck in my hair!

And just when I thought that the mess couldn’t worsen,

Seven cups of sugar through wax paper went burstin’

All over the counter, stove, me, and the floor.

At this point I should have just run out the door!

But run I did not, I re-measured the sugar,

“I will not be conquered by this stinking booger!”

I added the sugar and thank God it did not

Send any more mixture from out of the pot.

As I ladled the jam in the jars (it was STICKY!)

I noticed my feet and my floor were quite icky.

But canning’s not something you stop in the middle

So I walked through the sugar (just maybe a little…)

Using mom-in-law’s pot with a pasta insert,

I put in my jam jars, ever alert.

I added more water, it was just right I thought,

One small prob, it was gushing right out of the pot.

So I reached for the biggest stock pot that I own,

"Screw the rack that the jars are supposed to sit on!"

“Move the jars, switch the water,” I quickly reflected.

Then I poured and one lid all the water deflected.

All over the counter, stove, me, and the floor

Went the water, now mixed with the mess from before.

"Just keep going," I thought, finish up the process

And then you can clean up this huge, epic mess.

The jars started boiling just as I had planned.

In five minutes, I had all the stinkin’ stuff canned.

Surprisingly, all of the jars did seal,

Six half-pints of jam – one HECK of a DEAL!