Contemplation

I have 8 1/4 more free days until we all go back to school. I know I'm very lucky to have a job that allows me to be off in the summer with my kids, but it just NEVER seems like enough time to get everything done.

I get to this point every summer, and I just kinda "FREAK OUT!"

I know my to-do list has not been completed...

1. Organize photo CD's into containers AWAY from pictures (cause come on, if something destroys one of these things....they will ALL be destroyed.)

2. Catch up on kid's school scrapbooks. (PLEASE. My goal this summer was to scrapbook PERIOD, and guess what, hasn't happened as much as I'd of liked, let alone school scrapbooks)

3. Make oilcloth liners for baskets and put in pantry for boxed items (I got TWO new patterns of oilcloth fabric, and haven't done a darn thing with either one.)

4. Organize pantry. (This has been HAUNTING me all summer, and hasn't been done. I don't know if it's lack of desire to do it, or lack of the above #3 baskets with adorable liners. One can't happen without the other I guess)

5. Spray paint cabinet knobs in kitchen and blue bathroom. (Kitchen ones just need touched up, bathroom ones have never been done. THIS is cheaper than buying all new hardware. Brass just isn't my "look")

6. Get more large hangers (this might sound silly, but the kids clothes no longer fit on kid sized hangers. The necks of shirts are bigger, and just fall right off!)

7. Make extra meals to freeze when nights are hectic during school (kinda happened, but not to my satisfaction)

8. Finish canning/freezing of all the garden produce (STILL happening....doing more tomatoes now as I write)

Maybe I set my expectations WAY too high every summer....I don't know, but it's officially nose to the grindstone time. My husband, who is not organized at all (I'm not being mean, he will freely admit he isn't, and that is why he married me, because I AM) tells me all the time I make too many lists. This is probably true, but it totally makes me feel better to cross something off.

Those people who are always saying to me....people I don't get together with on a regular basis, people who think they are being funny and say..."WHAT will you do with yourself all summer?" Are you serious? I know I am getting a FREE PASS with no work in the summer, but come on...household work doesn't take the summer off...softball season doesn't end till the 3rd week in June (which means between the two of them, sometimes 3 games a week), we go on a short vacation between softball season and the fair, our garden needs tending, and then the produce needs froze/canned, 4-H projects need completed, etc. I'm not just sitting around on my duff eating bon bons and reading (although THAT sounds WONDERFUL!) (Seriously, do people do that?)

Anyway, our summer has been full, and with all the rules and regulations for school, our year, starts so much earlier than I ever remember as a kid. I'm sad, and I'm frantic!

I'm glad my kids are going back so they won't fight as much, but I'm not looking forward to all the homework.

I guess I'll just BUCK UP like my dear old husband likes to tell me when I complain about something. Oh come on, I just needed to vent....

A Little Peace

So Grace is all about PEACE. P-E-A-C-E! Every peace decoration we pass in a store, every school supply with a peace symbol on it, every item of clothing with a peace insignia on the front...she believes was made JUST FOR HER!

I love her dearly, and I'm sure I tortured my mother the same way at this age with whatever was the fad....but enough is enough. The other day we saw some (and I'll admit they were cute) peace symbol wall stickers. Immediately she told me...."I want that on my Christmas List." (Oh, yes, of course, they both are ALREADY starting their Christmas lists.)

But anyway, at least we're done with the High School Musical/Miley Cyrus/Hannah Montana phase. Lordy Pete I thought THAT would never end!

So, today, while she was waiting the (endless) hours until she left for a sleepover date, she told me, "I'm SO BORED! What do I do?" I think I was in the middle of cutting up items for tacos tonight, and I told her..."Why don't you make some Peace symbols and paint them and we'll hang them from the ceiling in your room." She was ALL OVER THAT!

I saw painting supplies flung this way and that, and paper being ripped, and cups of water being filled. There was total silence for awhile. (which is quite unusual). After about 30 minutes, I was rewarded with this...

They really are quite cute. This one is my favorite...

and THIS ribbon is my favorite...

So, once they were dry and painted on BOTH sides, I laminated them, and we went upstairs.

When she wasn't blowing on them, we were hanging them all around the room.

It did turn out really great. They look very Grace-like. She did a good job.

Tomato, TO-M-A-TO Is this a cruel joke?

I started out on this very rainy day

with the very best of intentions. I wanted to can some tomatoes.

I had done 84 quarts of grape juice this past fall and was feeling pretty good about my water bath canning skills, so I decided to start doing some of my heirloom tomatoes that were ripe.

However, once again, because I had a plan, God thought he'd put me in my place. He "blew up" my eyes and made me hate looking at myself in the mirror. (For some reason, my eye allergies kicked in today, and I looked like Mike Wizowski from Monsters, Inc. or so the kids said.) Needless to say, I spent the day with an ice pack on my eyes to try to reduce the swelling before our Swine Club banquet tonight. When Brent came home at lunch and saw me sitting at the table eating lunch with an ice pack on my eye, his response was, "What have YOU done today?" Well, you're lookin' at it babe!

My plan to can tomatoes didn't happen until AFTER the banquet tonight....so as we speak, the canner is on the stove with 37 minutes to go and it's 10:45 pm.

When I did get my tomatoes all peeled and cut and stuffed into the jars, I preceded to put them in the canner.....low and behold, once again, my plan was foiled. One of my jars, upon entering the water, decided to break FROM THE BOTTOM. So, I've got 3 jars sitting in the boiling water, and one jar, minus bottom, with tomatoes floating all around the canner. SERIOUSLY! So, we (Brent helped...I'm sure he'll read this and want to congratulate himself) fished out the glass pieces (thankfully they were big) and got all the floating tomatoes out, and started over, only to have one jar keep floating to the top. By now, it's 10:00 pm and I'm getting a little impatient. 3 jars go back into the canner and the timer is set for 85 minutes. Hope this works!

I need tomatoes for the salsa I'll make all winter, so once more tomatoes ripen up, I'll be doing this again, hopefully minus the glitches!

By the way, here is THE BEST recipe for Hacienda-type salsa you'll ever taste.

1 28 oz. can diced/canned tomatoes (drained)

1 t sugar

1 can tomato paste (small can)

3-4 cut up pieces of jalapeno pepper

Blend all together in a blender, and keep in fridge until ready to serve. Tastes GREAT! Wish me luck!