Summer Bounty

We are enjoying a bountiful harvest of summer produce! Several church members have given us sweet corn (hooray!), which we have been eating fresh and freezing. All of the children like corn on the cob, and they each have their own ways of eating it. Michael takes random bites all over it, then offers the mangled cob to other people at the table. He is a generous boy. Sarah likes to eat a row at a time, saying, "Nom, nom, nom, TURN! Nom, nom, nom, TURN!" David tries to make the empty cob into different shapes, like hexagons, with the way he eats the kernels.
So far, we have frozen 17 quart bags of corn for the coming winter. Here are pictures of just some of the corn ready to be cut off the cob. This kept us busy during the late-night Olympics on TV.

Next, we have peach preserves (really syrup) and dill pickles.

Finally, pickled beets from our own row of beets and salsa made with our friend Gretchen's help and produce contributions. We had a good Saturday making those 6 pints of salsa together! The children entertained each other very well, and we felt quite productive. We have already eaten the jar that we did not seal.
We thank God for the delicious harvest so far!

Sarah's Birthday

Sarah wanted a Hello Kitty birthday party this year, so we made her an eggless chocolate cake and decorated it using a template off the internet, Jordan almonds, and black licorice. It took two layers of frosting to hold it all together, but was delicious and cute, we think!
Actually, Sarah said that she would like My Little Pony, Strawberry Shortcake, or Hello Kitty for her birthday; then she asked if Hello Kitty might be the easiest to make into a cake. We thought that was very considerate of her!

Sarah received many nice gifts for her 4th birthday. Here she is, showing Michael how to use the school supplies and table that she got from all of her grandparents.

David the Scientist

David got up one morning recently and decided to be a scientist. He picked up a "Fun with Chemistry" book at a garage sale and found an experiment that we agreed he could do safely, even though it involves explosions. He followed the directions and was able to make vinegar and baking soda blow the end off a closed tube! We also discovered that you can use those same ingredients to make a plastic Easter egg break open and spew foam on the sidewalk. Wrapping the baking soda in a Kleenex gives you time to get the lid closed before the reaction starts. Now we all know about how an acid reacts with a base. It's fun!
Notice that David is wearing his safety goggles. All good scientists are conscious of safety.

The Cicada

We've had cicadas in our yard! The children found a cicada shell clinging to the house, then noticed a damp, green buzzing thing crawling nearby. It was the cicada! We were very excited to see both the bug and his shell together.

Mulberries!

We had a good crop of mulberries this year, and decided to make jam. Everyone enjoyed picking the yummy berries. I think we ate as many as we saved!
Here you see pictures of the mulberries boiling on the stove. We may have boiled them a bit too much, as the jam is very crunchy. Oh, well. It is fine if we microwave it first!

Lemonade Stand

Today David and Sarah decided to have a lemonade stand in our front yard. David has been talking about someday owning a store where everything is free, so he wanted to sell his lemonade for free as well. He made signs, mixed up a gallon of lemonade in the sun tea jar, and set up his desk on the front sidewalk to wait for customers. Sarah wanted to sell chocolate milk, so she mixed it up and stored little plastic cups of Ovaltine milk in the refrigerator until someone asked for it. The sign on the desk said, "Chocolate milk also available."
They actually had about 8 visitors to the lemonade stand, and it kept us entertained for the entire afternoon!
We finished the last of the lemonade tonight. It was a good day.