Kellen and Ethan's Blog

8/9/11

Helping Mom!

Yesterday, Ethan helped me make Dilly Beans. He helped cut the beans in uniformed sizes. Then he just practiced cutting.

Ethan practicing his cutting. By the end he was getting pretty good at it

Making tiny little beans!

In this picture there are Bread and Butter Pickles, Dilly Beans, Dilled Carrots, Banana Chips, Zucchini Bread, and Vegetable Soup!

As of today I have finished the Pickles, Soup, Dilly Beans, Carrots and the Banana Chips. Tomorrow is Zucchini Bread and Muffins!

Ray, I am putting some away just for you!

By the way I did not grow this. I support the local farmers!

Berries

I started some strawberries this year in my "green house". They grew so slowly that I was not sure they would live. Well, they are getting huge and they are even giving me some flowers. Maybe even some fruit. I am just amazed that they are producing this year. I am waiting for the big harvest next year.

One of the flowers

Teeny tiny berry

I grow them in an old wheelbarrow with some holes drilled in the bottom of it. That way I can move them to the sun! Again, I am amazed that it is working! I just have to say that I amaze myself!

Hay You!

On Saturday afternoon we went up to Grandma Schumacher's house to help with hay. Well, I supervised but even the boys helped. The boys helped salt the bales. Salting the bales helps to dry them out so there is no possibilities of a fire in the barn. They loved being up on the top of all that hay. It is too bad that it poured before the field was done. But they got 8 wagons full and into the barn!

That is Aaron and Jared on the wagon. They stacked all the bales on the wagon as the baler made them.

Kellen all ready to hay! He looks so big! I can't believe that he is 12!

Some baby deer that were in the road. I know they are called fawns but I like to call any small animal a baby.

Ethan found this woolly caterpillar. He was a fast mover! I was just happy that Ethan let it go and did not squish it. That is what he usually does.

Garden Fresh!

Here is a few more things that we got from our garden! The Zucchini got made into some yummy vegetable soup. The tomatoes got put in there as well! I am also looking forward to some eggplant parmesan! I love it!

8/4/11

Tiny Triumphs 28!

Well, we are well into canning season! I am not doing as much as I did last year. I don't know why. I have done a big batch of blueberry jam and a batch of raspberry jam. I still have some raspberries frozen to make another batch but I have not gotten around to it. I will next week, I hope.

1. The camping trip with the Weiler family was a HUGE hit! It was hotter than H**L outside but we swam in the lake and dealt with it. I do have to say that we stunk pretty bad by the time we were done. There were no showers at the park we camped at so instead we swam in the lake.

2. I have gone through the linen cabinet! I had eight pairs of sheets for each of the boys beds. Who needs that many? I know we had that many for when the boys were potty training and little and made messes. So now we are down to two sets for each bed! The rest are in a box waiting for the garage sale that I may have in a few years.

3. Jared, Ethan, and I are making Mead (Honey Wine) on Saturday! I will take some pictures and we will all see how it goes. We are using 18 pounds of honey. I hope it is ready by Christmas.

4. Kellen is up at Grandma Schumacher's house for a few weeks! He is helping hay and is hoping to learn to drive the tractor. I hope they have a good time!

Have a great week!

8/2/11

Camping At Roche-A-Cri State Park

Over the weekend the Teche family and the Weiler family got together for a weekend of fun camping! I miss them a lot and it is always a fantastic time! It was sad to see the weekend end but we will get together again soon!

Since the grown ups cooked the kids had to do all the dishes. It worked out great for the adults. It did back fire on Kellen. He made the schedule and ended up washing dishes on the one meal that we used a lot of dishes to make.