Don’t be late!

Or you might end up here trying to find your luggage.

Then you might be forced to look at your luggage while it is held hostage until you can find the Baggage person with the key.

However life is VERY good when you can head to the hotel with your own jammies to sleep in.

Harvest

I have not so fond memories of going to my grandma’s to help with her garden.  We would pick & snap TONS of green beans.  Shuck & cut off the cob dozens of ears of corn—very stick hot business.  But the messiest part of all of it was doing tomatoes.  My mom & I also canned tomatoes at home.  I remember the deck railings covered with tomatoes that were “ripening.”

So I am carrying on the the tradition.  We got our garden in late this year.  June 18th to be exact but I did put in plants not seeds so that helped get us going. I just kept putting in plants & finally when it was all done there were 34 plants.  They have grown in to a jungle! I just said “Yikes” that will be a lot of tomatoes.  Guess what?  I was right!  God has really blessed our harvest this year. 

There were a few that grew in to monsters.  We picked them and compared them to Joshua’s head.   He is truly my garden boy.  He loves walking in the garden looking for “tomato bugs.”  He especially likes when we throw them out in the road for cars to run over—yuck!

Pretty significant!

This morning’s picking was 2 ice cream buckets full to overflowing!  We also picked more tonight as it is supposed to storm.  So my helper & I got to work.  He’s awesome & peeling those slippery tomatoes(notice the new glasses!)So today we put 12 quarts in the cabinet for this winter.  I love using “our” tomatoes for chili, soup, etc.  It just makes me think about fall & the coming change of seasons.  Our count so far is 21 quarts & there are lots more out there.  Needless to say I am too tired for a picture of the finished product but they are beautiful!

Tuesday Top Ten

There are so many things I love about summer!  Here's the best of the best. 

1.  Changing up the schedule.  We play in the morning while it is cool & then do any "work" or school time.

2.  Vegetable Gardens.  We planted 30 tomato plants this year--yes crazy I know but it will keep me from buying diced tomatoes all winter.

3.  Flowers!!!  I have lots of shade in our yard which makes it hard to plant those sun loving flowers but we carved out a spot and planted sunflowers, zinnias, cosmos & rose moss!

4.  Late bedtimes.  It seems like every night around 8 we start a game that is going to take at least an hour.  I don't stress about it because our getting up time is rather flexible right now. :)

5.  Chill & Grill.  We eat SO differently in the summer.  I like to keep the heat outside so we grill more & I use the crock pot when I can.  Also we more salad, vegetables & of course watermelon.

6.  Projects.  Since I am not tied up in school(as much) we are able to tackle some projects that have been put off all winter.  This summer I am ready to paint the girl's room & perhaps the master bedroom.  I dream of doing the living room & dining room too but that might be a bit much.  Also we are working on cleaning up weedy places outside--just a little at a time!

7.  Visiting friends.  In the past two weeks we have enjoyed visiting with several of our friends families.  It seems there is more time to just get together & play.

8.  Bike rides.  Since Joshua has gotten old enough to ride w/o training wheels we have been packing up the bikes to go on rides because the road we live on is just not safe for bikes.  So far we have enjoyed riding at Cosmo & Oakland parks and we went on the Bear Creek Trail too.  Everyone loves the feel for speed!

9.  Open ended plans.  It seems we are daily evaluating what is most important to do.  From projects to vacation plans--I am feeling the blessing of flexibility.  We tackle things to get them done & then move to the next thing but I don't have this big schedule that has to be stuck to in order for our lives to function well.

10.  Warmth.  Anyone who knows me knows that I love the sun.  I struggle through the cold part of the year so that I can enjoy the outdoors & the warmth of spring & summer.  It makes things grow & keeps my toesies warm.  Now if I could just daily add some sand and waves . . . .

Doing less is good

Things have been tough around here for several weeks.  It is a long story and really boils down to the fact that my hip hurts & haven't been able to do as much around the house.  The five o'clock hour is when I am the tiredest and I hurt the most so making supper has been a challenge to say the least.

Sometimes(okay a lot of times) Steve is very wise.  At the beginning of last year he said that I should have the kids help more with lunch.  I am not saying that I haven't taught them to cook.  I have.  They make a great lettuce salad.  Peeling carrots--no problem.  Michael makes a mean loaf of honey wheat bread & actually enjoys rolling enchiladas.  However I hadn't turned the kitchen over to them for an entire meal.  I wasn't having enough time to grade papers so Steve said--get out of the kitchen at lunch time & use that time. 

That is SO paying off now.  When I am just done for the day by 5 p.m. I have been able to ask the kids to do supper.  I am so proud of the job that they are doing.  It is Elizabeth who has been shouldering most of the burden.  She has a willing spirit and just turns up the music and COOKS!  To be fair, Megan and Joshua are doing a great job of washing dishes afterwards(we don't have a dishwasher) and cleaning up.

I feel guilty for not "pulling" my weight right now but it is allowing my kids(girls especially) to help and contribute where they are needed.  Tonight is date night for our friends so we have their kids here.  While we were at the grocery store this morning I asked the girls what they would like to make.  After a short discussion they decided the other family liked Chicken Tetrazini and that wasn't too hard to make.  This is my 13 year old girl cooking for 10 people.  WOW!  That is so awesome and just makes me proud of her.

I need to step out of the way in areas where my children are capable but I haven't allowed them freedom to work and serve.

Date night

Last Friday night Steve & I enjoyed going out on a date.  Our dates are never really exciting but we cherish the time on our own.  With 4 kids & the busy life we lead it can be hard to time to enjoy being together.  Often we go shopping because well . . . we enjoy puttering around together.

So recap of Friday

Dinner at Red Lobster
Shopping for new sandals for me!
Dessert at Steak & Shake
Home before the kids were back(its nice having one that carts the other around)

We are boring but very content & still in love going on 19 years.