Happy Birthday Buddy!

Yesterday was my son's 10th birthday.

Happy Birthday Buddy!

You can send well wishes here.

How To Time: Raspberry Jam

Some of the raspberries are ripening! I am so excited. The best thing to do with raspberries (in my never to be humble opinion) is to make freezer jam to enjoy on the cold winter mornings on hot toast.

Freezer jam is easy and takes under
1/2 hour if you know what you are doing.
See instructions below:

flowers in pic from here

Prep Time:

30 min

Total Time:

24 hr 30 min

Makes:

About 5 (1-cup) containers or 80 servings, ...

What You Need

2 cups prepared fruit (buy about 2 pt. fully ripe red raspberries)

4 cups sugar, measured into separate bowl

1 pouch CERTO Fruit Pectin

2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice

Make It

RINSE clean plastic containers and lids with boiling water. Dry thoroughly.

CRUSH raspberries thoroughly, one layer at a time. (Press half of pulp through a sieve to remove some of the seeds, if desired.) Measure exactly 2 cups prepared fruit into large bowl. Stir in sugar. Let stand 10 min., stirring occasionally.

MIX pectin and lemon juice. Add to raspberry mixture; stir 3 min. or until sugar is dissolved and no longer grainy. (A few sugar crystals may remain.)

FILL all containers immediately to within 1/2 inch of tops. Wipe off top edges of containers; immediately cover with lids. Let stand at room temperature 24 hours. Jam is now ready to use. Store in refrigerator up to 3 weeks or freeze extra containers up to 1 year. Thaw in refrigerator before using.

While I am working on this quick project I have left the sprouts out in the garden to pull weeds - oh the weeds are plentiful as the complaints (about weeding).

Just Walk Away Moms

If you don't stop it.... I'll.... I'll throw this truck at your own head...(child 1)
"MOM, HE'S ANNOYING ME AND WON'T STOP!" (child 3)
"Mom, he' s annoying ME and won't stop"
"That stinks!"
"No, you know what stinks - you! P.U. you stink, you haven't taken a shower since 1988!"

"MOM" "MOM" Whhhhaaaaaa haaaaahhhh hahhhhhhh


Oh please please please help me! I am stuck in kid hell! Seriously!!! Why do siblings have to fight SO much, why do they have to grate on each others nerves SO much. I am sure I did it as a kid, after all I am the youngest. But, as a mom it is the most tiring part of my day.



As this scene was going on this morning I recalled something that transpired years ago:
My oldest and second child were fighting - they were the only two able to talk at that time (now there are 4 chiming in and adding to the noise! oh the noise!) anyway, they were fighting - right. So, in the middle of their fight I stopped them and asked - why they had to do that, and didn't they know how sad it made mommy. My oldest stopped and looked at me with his innocent 4 year old eyes and said- "....because it's kinda fun"

What? Fun? Are you kidding me?
This is a game to them?
I am about to pull my hair out, getting totally involved
in what is going on, and this is "kinda fun".

So, as all 4 of my darlings (insert sarcastic tone) are fighting and I am trying to keep them quiet so Dearest can conduct some dock business... I have to step back and remember that a couple of things are happening as they fight. 1) As I learned in all of my child development classes (way back in the day here people!) is that kids need to fight, negotiate, and work their way through relationships with their siblings. This is teaching them lessons for living in the real world and living in the business world. (2) I am more emotionally invested in the fight than they are most of the time (3) If I just stay out of it and let them work it out it ends better and usually sooner- no audience- no one to entertain (4) sometimes walking away makes you the better person - and I mean myself here!

So, I am grabbing the keys and one of the children and I am off. I am walking out in the middle of a fight about - hot wheels and kitchen floor space (which is apparently more valuable then lake shore around here) and I am going to the store to buy car snacks for our road trip out to Colorado!

*The pics in this post have nothing to do with kids, fighting, child development or anything else related to this post. They are of places I plan on taking my family in Colorado- because right now that is where my mind is while toys and voices fly behind my head in a slow motion movie like action.

Shoveling

4 children. 4 shovels. 4x's more work then any of us could imagine.

What I did not realize is how many lessons in

shoveling I would be giving today.

It (apparently) is not an inborn ability!

In the end I am proud to say that the

girls (I'll call myself a girl)

outlasted the boys .

We are not done. But, we made a bit of progress today. There are even a few spots that I will be able to re-seed tomorrow. I will take a follow up pic and show you the lovely yard lights soon.

Foundations