Canning and Freezing

Once again it is that time of the year when preserving food for the winter is in full force around here.  Today I was doing applesauce.  My mom and Josiah helped.  I'm now all finished except for running it through the canner.  The pop of the sealed jars is music to my ears.

So far this year:
Pickles - Banana Pickles, 5-Day Pickles, Pickle Relish
Tomatoes - Salsa (2 types)
Peaches - 4 baskets Red Haven
Apples - 2 baskets Ginger Gold mixed with 3 baskets Summer Rambo
Corn - 20 dozen
Green & Wax Beans - Still freezing as they ripen

I have 2 gallons of chopped tomatoes in my freezer to do something with as well as a gallon of tomato juice.  My counter has tomatoes on it and there are more coming in the garden.  I'm not exactly sure what I'm doing with them.  Lots of options:  Pizza Sauce, Spaghetti Sauce, Tomato Soup, Sauce, Diced, Juice, Stewed...

I plan to can 3 or 4 baskets of Bartlett Pears.

I also want to can (or freeze) another 5 or 6 baskets of apples worth of applesauce and make apple pie filling.

I am running out of quart jars...

I love to see the jars lined up on the shelf.  :-)

Homeschooling

Josiah is homeschooling this year.  He had started working through his grammar book, health book, and on his art lessons in July/August.  He started "for real" on Thursday when his siblings went back to school.  I'm enjoying having him & Micah here with me during the day.

For those of you who wonder about curriculum and such:

• English/History/Bible - a combination study from Notgrass Company studying US History and American Literature and how religion affected people in the US.  Lots of great books to read and papers to write.  Lots of critical thinking.  Also studying grammar.
• Math - Algebra 1 - Teaching Textbooks.  I've heard mixed reviews on this...so we're trying it.  And if it doesn't work for him (seems to depend on how your brain works) we will try something else.
• Science - Apologia Environmental Science - at the local Co-Op meeting one day a week with daily, on-line assignments starting September 4.
• Phys. Ed. - Physical Activity.  Currently focusing on Road Biking as he has a big ride coming up.
• Art - We are currently working on drawing.
• Music - He will continue to work on his bass guitar skills
• Foreign Language - Rosetta Stone Spanish 1
• Health - Currently focusing on First Aid

So we will see...I said that we can try it for one year and then re-evaluate.  So far, so good.

First Day of School

Mark is all ready for his first day of Kindergarten.  At our school, Kindergarten children go either Monday/Thursday/alternate Wednesdays or Tuesday/Friday/alternate Wednesdays.  Because Mark has some challenges, he will be going every day.  He will miss a few hours every other week when he goes to occupational and physical therapy.  He will have speech therapy at school.

Autumn is now in 7th grade.

Janae is in 4th grade this year.

Josiah is in 9th grade.  As our private school only goes to 8th grade, he has chosen to homeschool this year.  He had started art, health, and grammar already.  Today he added history, English, and Bible.  In a week or two we will add Science and Math.

The whole crew.  At first it was quiet with only Micah and Josiah here, but Micah soon started making lots of noise to fill in the gaps.  I remember Micah & Mark doing the same thing last year.  There is usually a week or two (or more) of the preschoolers adjusting.

The first picture that I took of Zach had him looking away from me (as is typical when I try to photograph him).  Mocha was the ticket to getting a great smile and eye contact.  :-)

 

Everyone came home with smiles on their faces so the year is off to a good start!

End of Summer

Today we plan to enjoy our last day of summer.  Tomorrow the children go back to school...For the first time we will have 5 children in school and only 1 preschooler.  That will seem very strange to me!

While there have been times this summer that they were arguing or fighting and I couldn't wait for them to get back to school, over all I am sad to see them go back.  Sad to think about having to pack lunches every day again and having to get them up whether they are ready or not so that they can catch the bus.

On the other hand, I keep catching myself saying things like "I'll just wait to do "x" until next week when the kids are in school".  I do hope to get caught up with some things around here that have been put off.

In September Randy & Josiah are planning on doing a 125 mile bike ride to raise money for Black Rock Retreat.  If anyone is interested in sponsoring them...here are the links:
https://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/RandySauder/BR2RB
https://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/JosiahSauder/BR2RB

Before we went to the beach I had canned peaches.  Sometime soon I need to start canning/freezing applesauce, apple pie filling and pears.  Our tomato plants are producing abundantly so I plan to start with 2 types of salsa and then move on to some other things....not exactly sure.

Off to begin the day...

Another quick post

We got home today from a lovely week at the beach.  Hoping to get back into updating my blog more regularly soon!

Summer

is winding down.  Only a couple of more weeks until school.  And I am not ready.  I love having all my kids at home.  I love not having to rush around in the mornings.  I'm sure I will enjoy having the break...only 2 kids at home...but I do so enjoy summer.  That being said, I really need to start doing the canning/freezing thing if I'm going to have all the produce preserved that I wish for the winter.  And I need to make sure everyone has school clothing.  But I'm sad that summer is winding on...it's okay...it'll be good to move on as well...