I realized as I am cooking dinner

that I grew the chard, the onions, the potatoes and fed and harvested the eggs. We had frittata. It was a very satisfying moment.

and no, I am not getting a cow so I can make my own butter. :shaking the head: no.

First Day of School!

Yah!

Yes, they are getting big

and I like it. It has been 14 years of mothering so far and these past few months have been wonderful! Really. It has not been without trial or #1 mouthing off. The work of mothering has not been so physically draining. All the children are becoming more independent. These are a few things that have happened this year:

#5 is potty trained
#6 learned to feed herself without splatting the entire kitchen
#6 has learned to wash her fingers
#4 has learned to brush his teeth
#1 has started seminary
#1 has had jobs outside of our house
#2 has learned to shoot a .22
#3 read the entire Lord of the Rings series
#5 likes to have her hair brushed
#4 has learned to completely dress himself, as have #5 and #6 has started
#4,5,6 have learned to bathe (need help with the hair still) but if they want a soak they can do it themselves
#5 learned to wash her face completely not just lick around her mouth with her tongue
#1 and 2 are learning to completely finish tasks
#2 is starting to do things without being asked (oh, heaven)
#4 is emptying the dishwasher
#2 learned how to make bread
#1 is making lunches and dinners (occassionally)
#3 learned to slice bread
#1 is finding his personality and he is really funny

and the cherry on top of this whole sundae is:


DH has taken over all the laundry





told ya' he was a keeper

Nauvoo Photo

Garden Money

Sometimes the way to get to my DH is to tell him how much a certain amount of work saved us.

This past year the garden saved us approximately $2679.91.

Next year will be even more because the perennials will be edible (strawberries and rhubarb). The first year is always the hardest and normally the least amount in harvest.

Next to the last canning day

This is it. The only thing left to can is applesauce. That is done in October or November. Nona will come and bring a few bushels of apples, I already have 3 or 4 bushels here, Jackie will probably join us and we will be canning maniacs and do 300 quarts in a day and just be done.

Today I finished off the canning by making green tomato relish. I had at least a bushel of green tomatoes. The garden is being prepared for winter. The chickens have been unleashed into the garden to eat their fill and clean it up. The only things left in the garden are rhubarb, kale, swiss chard and the strawberries.

Nona is here helping me. It has been almost 2 months since we have had a chance to visit with each other. She is mopping my floor. I am sitting here typing. #6 just brought me a popsicle to open for her. It is really getting to the end of summer and I am letting them eat unlimited popsicles today (just so I can get my freezer space back). Trees are turning red, the air is getting a nip, I can't just wear sandals to seminary in the morning.

I am sitting here typing, listening to my floor getting mopped and so very thankful for the bounteous produce from our garden this year. I am even more thankful I am DONE for a few weeks. Time to get the house clean and get ready for school.

Awwww

Poor Michael Moore.

This is what he said, "I am tired of feeling like I'm doing this alone." in this article.

Boo hoo. Cry me a river.

Salsa Day!

For the cost of 2 bushels of roma (paste) tomatoes and a 1/2 bushel of bell peppers (10.99 each and 4.99 respectively)(27 bucks), I made 59 quarts of salsa. The savings on this item is substantial. I saved about 350 dollars by making salsa with veggies I grew in the garden. That is just using an Aldi price as the comparison. If I used regular Pace salsa the savings would be more.

I should add for this price I also canned tomato puree-16 quarts. (I ran out of peppers to keep making salsa.) We use tomato puree to make homemade cream of tomato soup. It is easy, easy to do. (Quart of tomato puree, quart of milk, 2 vegetable bullion cubes, warm it up and watch it disappear.)

I may actually meet my goal of filling every single canning jar in my house. Don't ask how many. :eyeroll: Maybe I'll count after the applesauce is done. :)

And if any of you have any of my jars--keep them until spring. I am pooped.

Life will never be the same

#1 started Early Morning Seminary this morning.

I am trying to spin this into something positive-he's clean, I'm clean (and groomed), he had scripture study and I had 50 minutes of quiet to have scripture study. Next week, maybe we will get family scripture study done too.

My Mastercard entry

Miles travelled: 4368
Fuel cost: $612.82
Poptarts consumed: 67
Shoes that didn't come home: 3

Watching your mother-in-law walk on water: PRICELESS

Ah, the places you will see.....

Mishawaka
Oquawaka
Quitaque
Floydada
Tokio
Meadow
Carrizozo
Nutt
Arrery Derry
Elephant Butte
Mountainair
Zuzax
Tucumcari
Tonganoxie
Funks Grove
Kankakee
Dowagiac

To make the drive more fun I kept track of all the interestingly named places. It started 'cause Mishawaka just sounded really funny in the wee hours of the morning. Meadow was nothing but industrial complexes. And any place that has 2 "Z's" or "Q's" or an "X" had to be worthy of mention.

Lubbock Texas Visited

We were on our way to Roswell (just so we could take a picture for Margo) and the check engine light of the van turned on. We turned around and headed to the nearest dealer that services our van. This is our 3rd night in Lubbock, Texas. Now, we are not slumming here folks. DH last year with the purchase of our van got a AAA membership. When he started asking about the benefits he discovered that the membership we had would only tow the van for 5 miles in the event of a break down. Anyone ever traveled back and forth to Texas on a regular basis? There are lots of places where you are way more than 5 miles away from anything. DH upgraded to RV insurance (well, the van is big enough to count :)). That insurance also has a trip interuption policy. So, if the car breaks down, our AAA membership pays for hotel and food for 72 hours. They won't pay for groceries, only restaurants (shucks, darn). My children have never, ever eaten out this many times in a row in their lives. We have a suite at the hotel and a pool. Each room has a TV with cable. The kids think this is a little slice of heaven. They have 2 minutes of chores a day, free access to TV, gameboys, a pool and Rudy's BBQ in the frig. Today I gave my big boys a good workout in the pool showing them how mom used to play ball in the pool at her grampa's house. They didn't know I knew how to tackle. They certainly didn't know I knew how to roughhouse in a pool. (it was fun!)

The trip has been going well. The only glitch is sleeping assignments but I expected the chattering and bickering.

We stopped in Nauvoo, Illinois for a day and saw the LDS church historical sites. We stayed in a hotel there with a pool. I am a firm believer that hotel stays should involve a pool just for tiring out all these bodies that have been cooped up in the van for hours and hours.

#5 has gotten over her water phobia (remember this?) and is becoming a little fish, jumping in the pool and everything. (Phew.) #6 hears the word "pool" and immediately starts stripping and dancing around the room. She finds the wet suits, pull them down and brings them to me, naked. (I have to go hunt down the diaper.)

We also stopped at Carthage, Illinois visiting the site of the martyrdom of Joseph Smith. We saw the watermelon harvest in western Texas. I had never before seen a whole warehouse of watermelons before.

Tomorrow we head to Carlsbad.