mudpies, rivers, and castles, oh my!

Their new thing to do after it rains (and we've had some downpours) is to go out and play in the mud. 

 

They mostly move it around with their buckets and shovels and spoons.  Mason likes to make new rivers and castles.  Emma follows him around, making her own versions. They fill anything and everything up with mud and water until it finally dries up.

I made it through my first day of school on Thursday.  I have an awesome class.  We're in full force this week which means we're slowing finding our new school routine.  Meal planning, house cleaning, quiet times, laundry and the sorts all need to be re-figured out...plugged into a new schedule.

 

I'm gearing up for a 5k in a couple weeks.  Nothing like going from zero to three miles all at once. I was at a conference in Denver this weekend with a friend and I dragged her to the fitness center at our hotel at 6am to make sure I could do this thing.  I really surprised myself when I got to that third mile.  Needless to say, I'm a little sore today, but looking forward to that run with my sister and cousins.  I'm thinking I better get a few more runs in before the big event (it's big for me at least...I am not a runner!)

 

Have a great week!

 

canning



Here's a little peek at what we've been canning over the last week or so.  Lots of jam (strawberry, strawberry rhubarb, blueberry, spring conserve) and bread and butter pickles.  We were down to our last three cans of jam and we have two cans of pickles left.  This was our first try at bread and butter. 

 



 

We also got two bushels of corn.  Mason was the "string puller-offer" and he did really clean them up.  I love his attention to detail! 

 

We ended up with 19 pints, 7 quarts and 6 freezer bags of leftovers.  While we were busy with the corn we watched the second hail storm of the summer wreck havoc on our garden.  We just watched, not really able to do anything.  We're hoping to can some beans and beets, but they were pretty tattered when the clouds cleared.  And that evening there was snow on our mountains (I know!) so we're not counting on a late frost.  Hopefully it holds off enough for things to bounce back.  It was just starting to really look good after a hail storm in late June.  Such is gardening! 

 It's our last weekend before I have to report to school!  My classroom is (mostly) ready and I'm reading up on all the new curriculum after the kids go to bed as long as I can keep my eyes open.  It's going to be a great year. 

We're tidying up the house, meal planning, making s'mores, getting ready to can pears, finger painting, and enjoying these last days before we have a whole new routine. 



wordless wednesday ~ sorting

August

I was a little hesitant to turn the calendar page this morning.  Is it really August already?  That means school is just around the corner...both for me and Mason.  He's getting excited about preschool.  Although the keeps reminding me that as soon as he turns 7, he will get to be in my class. 

 

 

We went camping a few weekends ago.  Lots of exploring, marshmallows, flowers, potty-training in the woods, rain, and laughs.  Not a lot of sleep.  Oh, and Daisy decided to find herself a porcupine.  Luckily it was little and we had pliers. 

 

 We're still hoping for another camping trip or two in the near future. 

On Tuesday we spent the evening fishing with Karly.  I'm really not sure what we're going to do when she leaves for college.  We're trying not to think about that yet.  I love these fishing pictures.  We didn't catch anything, but we sure had fun playing in the water.

 

Lovin' these last weeks of summer!