Thanksgiving Eve

Right now we are sitting in a cabin in the "Finger Lakes" area of NY overlooking Seneca Lake. The kids are playing games, and we're listening to Christmas music and hoping for a big snow storm! It is almost as picturesque as it sounds, but there is no heat--it's not too bad. We've got a space heater going and warm clothes on. Tomorrow we are going to enjoy a crock pot turkey and various "micro-waved side dishes" as we sit bundled up and cuddled

Thankful

Bet you don't store your rice and beans this way!
I've got two great little helpers.

Made another run to the cannery a while back (actually a LONG time ago) and I am finally getting everything into some big buckets. It always feels good to spend money on food storage. It is very satisfying to have something set away for a rainy day.

From the church web-site:

"For longer-term needs, and where permitted, gradually build a supply of food that will last a long time and that you can use to stay alive, such as wheat, white rice, and beans."

"While there is a decline in nutritional quality and taste over time, depending on the original quality of food and how it was processed, packaged, and stored, the studies show that even after being stored long-term, the food will help sustain life in an emergency."

I have never liked the "stay alive" and "help sustain life in an emergency" part. I guess it if far better than the alternative though. I have been the ward food storage person for the past several years and have tried to help people get food in their homes. I was just released from this calling and do feel relieved in some ways, but am already making a list of things I need to stock up on again for our own family. What a wonderful thing to be able to feed my kids when they say they are hungry--even if it is cold cereal or "mac". I feel very blessed to have full cupboards, food under beds, in closets, and a full tummy everyday.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL!

Garden of Weedin'

I know it has been WAY too long since an update. This is for my faithful reader--my Mom--I'm sure that no one else checks EVERYDAY! When it's been so long, I feel like I've got to come up with something spectacular to write about--the last few months has just been life. We had a very swine-infested October--everyone was sick at least once--except Grace. The kids have enjoyed some days off school to recover. We've done some yard clean-up, had fun Halloween adventures, and just lived life. Here are pics from our garden clean-up. I really enjoy gardening, but when it gets above 80 degrees I slack off! We had some huge tomato plants this year and even bigger weeds. One evening for FHE we cleaned everything out. Now I am filling the boxes with leaves and grass clippings--just lazy mans composting! It is still fairly warm--we've had a few freezes, but it warms up during the day. I love this time of year--it is a full season here in TN!

KK 2!

Well, little Katherine turned 2 on September 10th. She is a great person. I got this darling picture of her right after she was making funny faces--the reason she has such a great smile is that she was really pleased with her faces, because we were all laughing. Some of her favorite things: soft blankets and robes--she is very particular--not necessarily about the item, rather its softness factor, bottle and pacifier (recently confiscated from William--oh well!), Desitin and toothpaste (really anything that comes from a tube and is fun to squeeze out, squish between fingers and smear on various objects, markers (preferably black Sharpies--yes, I put them up--she can move chairs, turn over buckets and climb to get whatever her little heart desires), big bins filled with flour and powdered milk (they have been moved various times--she still finds them), pens and pencils--she loves to write--and has very fine scribbles, shes loves it when the older kids get home from school--so do I, going to nursery, finally! She loves singing songs, snacks and bubbles.

She is fun to have in our family. We sure love her.

Eliza was making frosting for the cake and got her finger caught in the mixer. It was bad. Parker got attacked by killer bees and is icing his head with frozen pepperoni. He said hotdogs work better. As you can tell we had a very exciting birthday party with lots of trauma.

Pick a Winner

Every household should have a 4-year old. Peter is such a fun little guy. The other day he was picking his nose again. I asked him if he was enjoying having boogers for breakfast. He replied, "I am not eating my boogers, I am eating the snot--I am having leftovers!"

If only the rest of the family was this easy to feed!

Peter is a great helper--here is is cutting up tomatoes.

Pooch!

Last night as I was snuggling Peter and KK in bed we were singing songs and trying to get Katherine to say new words. We were going through the alphabet, doing the sounds and helping her say various words. When we got to the letter "P" we tried to get her to say "Peter" (she can get "Pete" out really well, but the "-er" part hasn't come yet--so she calls him "Pete-Pete").

Anyway, the word that came out was "pooch". This basically a Cannon cuss word. Peter started laughing exclaiming with surprise and delight, "She said POOCH, that is what Uncle Steve says when he is losing a game!" And then he demonstrated Uncle Steve throwing down his cards in digust. It was hilarious and we all had a good laugh at Steve's expense.

Steve is great--here is a picture of him canoeoing last summer with Isaac, Michael and Denise on board.

The Law of the Harvest

You reap what you sow. You also eat what you grow. Here is our first garden meal. SO delicious. I've been canning like crazy again and trying to get everything done before we hit the road!