More Canning!!!

I have been busy again today. Canning tomatoes and making applesauce. I diced the tomatoes and canned them. I decided just to freeze the applesauce, because I didn't want to quit my canning to go to my sisters to get more cans. She has very generously said that I can have some cans and I will need to get them soon. So I made the applesauce and am making jelly from the apple peels. I found the recipe on http://bethany.preciousinfants.com/ and I'm really excited about it. Its nice to find multiple uses of one item. Here are some pictures.

"Canned tomatoes and applesauce"

"The goodies in my pantry"

My New Baby!!

Check out my new baby!! She is so precious. She's supposed to be the kids puppy but she is kind of spoiled to my lap. All she wants to do is lay in my lap all the time. She is just like a baby , she loves to be cuddled and wrapped up like a baby. Her name is Chi -Chi, she is a Mt. Fiest and just the cutest little doggy ever.

CANNING, CANNING AND CANNING!!

I have been a wee bit busy here the last few days. I have been canning. Last year was the first year that I ever canned anything and I loved it. I have been canning alot this year too.

This week my parents gave me two five gallon buckets full of tomatoes. Wow. I'm not complaining though, I was thrilled. My tomatoes just aren't doing anything much. It may be because the sun can't get to them through the weeds. I promise my garden that I will do better next year.

So with the first bucket of tomatoes I made 10 quarts of tomato juice. Today I made 14 quarts of salsa and still have half a bucket of tomatoes left. I guess I will make the pizza sauce recipe from www.tammysrecipes.com as soon as I get some more jars.

I know some people think that canning is not worth it. Well it is a lot of work but I feel that it is worth it. It is actually kind of fun. Maybe I have just been raised with the importance of raising a garden and canning and freezing the food for use all year long. It makes me feel less dependant on the stores for things and feel kind of self sufficent.

I recently purchased a food mill from an antique store for $10. It was just like the kind that are for sale at stores for $35. The one that I got was in really good shape just needed a good cleaning. It was really neat using it. For one it worked perfectly. But it was also kind of neat thinking about the woman that used it before me. Was she a mother or grandmother putting food away for her family? Was canning a necessary way of life for providing food for her family or was it just a hobby that she liked? Maybe she did it for the health benefits. Or maybe that was how she was raised and knew no other way.

I know that with the time put into raising and caring for a garden and then having to harvest the produce and can or freeze it is a lot of work. I'm sure that I could buy the items at the grocery store for a lot less work and effort. But to me its so rewarding to know that I can go to my cabinets and pull out my own jar of salsa, or pickles, or jam or tomato juice. It also taste so much better than the stores.

So if you have never tried your hand at canning, I challenge you to try it. Either you will hate it or love it. As for me I love it.

Happy Anniversary Honey!!!

Today is our anniversary. We have been married nine years. It's really hard to believe that we have been together for a decade. We were together for almost a year before we were married. In some aspects it seems like we have been married for a century though.



We were married very young, I was 18 and he was 19. We had Colton just over a year after we were married. Things have defiantly not been easy over the years, but it has been fun. Well its fun most of the time:)



Travis and I truly are soul mates. I know that we were destined to be together long before we knew. He is an amazing husband. Yes he has his faults ( a lot). But so do I. But he is very good to me, he works so hard so that I can stay at home with our children, he loves to buy me things and spoil me (when we can afford it). I never have to worry about him going out and drinking or doing drugs or fooling around. When he is off he is spending his time with me and the kids.



We have been through a lot over the years and with each tragedy or hard time I think we have just gotten stronger and learned to depend on each other more. Marriage is not easy, but when you find the right person it makes it easier. I know I have found that right person.



I know we will face harder times in the future, but with Travis by my side I can get through anything.



I Love You so much Honey!! You are the one I dream of sitting on the front porch with and watching the sunset when we are old and gray. Happy Anniversary!!

I tried to post some pictures, but for some reason its not working.

I wish I had my Camera!!

Saturday evening around 6:00 the kids and I were heading to the grocery store. We were on a small road a few miles from our house and you will never believe what we saw. We saw a momma bear and four baby bears. I could not believe it. It was so cool.



Well it was cool since we were in the car, but it would have been really scary if we were in the middle of the woods. It seems that black bear keep getting more and more populated in our area. We are already completely over run with deer, now it will be bear too.



It was still exciting seeing them and the kids were really excited. I pulled off on the side of the road to see if we could see them in the woods and Emma started crying, she was scared they could get in the car. Now Travis wishes he could see them. Too bad I didn't have my camera, well its probably good because I would have wrecked trying to take a picture.

I Survived!!

So the big day came and went and I'm still here. I did better than I thought I would, I only cried a little as I seen the big yellow bus pull away with my babies. But Emma had a wonderful first day of school and can't wait to go back on Monday.

Her second day didn't go as well. School was great, but she got scared on the bus. She was so pitiful telling me about a first grader that wanted her to be his girlfriend and he tried to kiss her. But her big brother was sitting with her and he protected her. I just hope he's still protecting her in say...8-10 years.

The Big Day is Almost Here:(

I'm still here. No I haven't been out of the country all summer, just hanging around in VA. I just really haven't felt like blogging much. We have been kind of busy. We've went to the lake with my parents a few times and camping once. But mostly I have been busy gardening. I have made tons of pickles. I made sweet pickle spears, cucumber sandwich pickles, pickle relish and zucchini pickles. Speaking of zucchini, this was my first year planting it and all I can say is WOW. We had enough zucchini for an army and a half. I tried giving it away and it seems you can't give the stuff away. So I made some pickles and froze some, I shredded and froze some for zucchini bread and we ate alot. But you kind of get tired of it after a while. I also picked lots of blueberries from my mom and dads and froze some and made some jam.

So the rest of the garden hasn't done as well as the cucumbers and zucchini and squash. We have tons of tomatoes, but they are still just as green as can be. I really hope they ripen soon because I really want to make some more salsa. It was soooo good. Our corn is looking hopeful but still kind of weak, I hope we have some, last year what we did have got ate up by bugs, hope that doesn't happen again. Our green beans were not good at all. I'm not sure what kind they were, but they were tough and had no flavor and I even tried to pick them before they got too big.

Every year the garden is a learning experience and I'm trying to figure it out each year. Next year my garden is going to Rock. Well it kind of does Rock now....lots of ROCKS.

So I've been really sad this week. I think I've mentioned this once or twice or five hundred times, but my baby starts kindergarten this year, and the big day is only 6 days away. I'm trying to stay strong for her sake, she is so excited. But it is so hard. I have been at home with her since she was born and I'm not going to know what to do without her. I didn't have as hard of a time with Colton, because I still had Emma, but now I don't have a baby at all.

Don't get me wrong, there has been days this summer that I can't wait for school to start. Especially when I here "Mommy, Colton pulled my hair, and stuck his tongue out at me." or "Mommy, Emma pinched me" or "Mommy, Colton called me stupid." Yeah that gets very annoying. Maybe I will like the house all too myself. Wow I want know what to do.

Emma has gotten really bad a tattling here lately. At their school the kindergarteners have to wear a tail pinned on their backside if they tattle. So I have a feeling my little girl may be wearing the tattletail a lot. Hopefully not. I'm just praying we have a good school year.

Pray for me as the big day arrives, that I stay strong and remember they all have to grow up and she will love school.