Preserve it

So it's been really busy with freezing, canning, and kids the last few days. I have barley left the kitchen.  Vern even got tired and fell asleep on the couch today. 

The bus was on time (of course if I have the kids ready early, it will be on time) I yelled about four times before Tara heard me asking if Vanessa had her glasses. They go up our hill and back down, good thing I can catch them on days they forget something (like today's journal, he who shall remain nameless.......Virl ;) )

Fed Tiny Man (that's what we call Vern), had some coffee, and headed outside. After feeding the animals and letting out the chickens we checked on dad, and took him a surprise....

                       

Yup, chilled vanilla latte, just like store bought and sooooooo easy to make....

10 cups hot coffee

1/2cup brown sugar

1/2cup sugar

1/2cup vanilla creamer

Mix,chill, and drink!

Oh and I had a surprise in the mail ....

                                      

                                     

These came from the nice gal over at Meg's Crochet And Jewels. She has tons o' stuff over at her etsy shop, go check it out at 

  http://www.etsy.com/shop/MegsCrochetJewels?ref=l2-shopheader-name

She made these special! Green Bay Packers, just for me :) 

But after all the excitement it was time to get down to business.....

                           

Okra, and lots of it! Being from the north I had never encountered this weird thing. So here's a bit of info for my Canadians.

Okra is from the mallow family (related to the hibiscus,the flowers are gorgeous)

          

And you're actually eating the seed pod of the plant. They are slimy when you cut in to them. They look weird. But, they're pretty yummy! So I had a total of 6LBS 10OZ. What to do?

Mum inlaw cuts them, flours them, and freezes them ready to fry.

I wanted to freeze them, but went about it differently, as I want to try a few dishes. So here's what I did...

                                 

                                                                    The Okra

                               

                                                              Trimmed ends

                                

                                              Blanched for 3minutes in boiling water

                             

                                    Chilled out in ice bath until cooled right down

                             

                                                            Patted them dry

                             

                                             Weighed them by the pound

                             

                                                    Two funny stories:

1)I didn't have any Saran Wrap so I used tin foil to protect them

2) notice the straw? Our food saver bit the dust so I used a straw to suck the air out of the ziplock

I finished it up, tossed it in the freezer, and can't wait to try Gumbo (yes, I've never tried gumbo and I live in the south, not the Deep South...but the south)

Gumbo....that got me thinking. I'll need tomatoes. Mum inlaw has had a bunch of garden tomatoes, and I thought I'd take a crack at canning for the first time by myself (I have canned before, but always under supervision by mum inlaw)

So Tiny Man and I packed up and headed to Mamaws to get these..

                              

                                                             TOMATOES! 

So. A long story short, this goes fairly quickly, and being by myself I could not take pictures and get the tomatoes done. So here's how it goes....

1) blanch tomatoes, DO NOT leave in more then a few seconds, you do not want to cook the tomatoes

2) straight into cool water. Make sure you have lids in water on a burner.

3) cut stem area out and peel skin off

4) 1/4 tomatoes and cut out any blemish

5) place in clean jars, I got a pic at this point.....

                      

6) tap down tomatoes until you can't press down anymore, leaving 1/4 head space.

7) in quarts place 1tsp salt, I made pints which is 1/2tsp salt.

8) wipe down jar, and make sure top is clean

9) retrieve lids out of water and place on jar

10) place on rings, and screw on tightly

11) fill up pressure cooker, and add water until its above lids, pics of this step were taken....

      

                                  

  

   

12) bring to boil

13) time for ten minutes and remove from cooker (this is just a water bath with no lid on the pressure cooker)

Sounds easy huh? It only took a few hours for ten pints!

So the kids came home. We did homework, had dinner, showers, and a bit of tv time.

                           

Yes, it was a quiet night in this household.

But hey,

Welcome to my crazy house!

-Keesers 

  

   

   

   

Sunday

Kids are out at Mawma's swimming today. I'm at home making food,doing laundry, and all preps for the coming school/work week.

On the agenda: 

1) check kids room and bathroom for dirty laundry

2) get beans sorted and going....here's a few pictures of that. I didn't grow up with beans, my sister inlaw was the one who taught me to sort and wash before cooking. If you don't sort you could end up with things like this....

                          

Yes, rocks, clumps of dirt, icky looking beans (the one in the picture looks like it spent to much time on a conveyor belt and bounced all the skin off) and what not. 

And if you don't put them through a good rinse/washing you get all sorts of dust in your beans ( I tried to take a picture of my hand, but the iPad wasn't picking up how dirty it was)

3) get beans going. It takes a while for them to cook. We like to put them on the back burner, on low, all day long. Throw salt and a ham bone in as well.

                          

Mmmm, mmm! Brown beans!

4)get breakfasts made and frozen

5)lunches made and ready to pack

6) make sure all laundry is off the line before nightfall 

7) keep eye on water for animals (it is HOT out there!)

8) clean up kids camp out party in the living room

9) do dishes

10) start again (ain't that the truth!)

So there is my great great day.

Then there'll be a, we need showers! where's my underwear? do we have time to watch tv? Mum I'm hungry! Is there school tomorrow? Have you signed my papers...

The reply: yes you do, in your drawer, just a little, what else is new, yes there is, no I haven't.

And as always,

Welcome to my crazy house!

-Keesers

    

Oh crap moment plus some schooling

Oops.

So yesterday mu husband had been 24hrs without his medication and was in a bad way. Not sleeping much, just waiting until he could refill in the morning. Well as I was running around I realized "I sneaked some of his supply into reserve" so I ran to the bedroom, dug around and found this sneaky supply. And he laughed at me. He laughed because yes I gave him something to take, but I gave it to him 30min before I could go fill his prescriptions. 

So yes, that's my oops moment of the day.  

The kids came home and went to homework station before dinner.  It's not a place, it's my kitchen table. We clear it off, put out a container of SHARPENED pencils (no excuses to stand and sharpen and waste time) some big erasers (those are important, if they are not tidy in their writing I will erase it and make them do it over. A page taken straight from mein Opa, who is old school German.....but he would throw the whole page out ;) so I think I'm a bit nicer) here is what homework station looks like.

                                

I do put stuff out for everyone.  Although kids who do not have homework (like spelling or math sheets) get a book, coloring sheets, writing practice sheets, ext. . However there is a rule, and if they cause a commotion, they are asked to leave and let those who need to study, study. They have the option to go play outside (which is the option I encourage, not only for the quiet, but kids need to play and get dirty), or quietly play in their rooms (here's where outside is quieter in the house if four out of six don't need to be at the table). While they study their words and do math (which are the most common to come home) I am in the kitchen cooking up some grub. The other night we had Enchiladas, rice and beans....

        

Before the table is set I take their words in to the kitchen and call out a name followed by one of their words. They until I come back to their name to write down the word I had given them. This is for the reason that a teacher will not wait on one child before going onto the next word, therefore neither will I. It sounds harsh, I realize, but life's hard right? Here are their words, I also write down what week the words are for just incase they don't make it into the recycling pile. That way no confusion over which words we need to be studying.

                               

If they miss any, they are asked to write it three times. With each day the amount increases ( Monday 3, Tuesday 4, Wednesday 5, ext.) 

  After all this, whoever is left at the table helps clear and set.  That's our school evenings in a nutshell.

Right before kids sit, there is a rush to the bathroom to wash up (most days "wash up" doesn't cut it, they would do better with a pressure wash) and running to the table. I serve their plates and set them out. Blessing is said and then they dive in. No literally, I don't know how many times I have to tell them per meal to use their forks and not their fingers!

Welcome to my Crazy house!

-Keesers

 

My kids do the weirdest crap!

What little kid hasn't put a pair of skivvies on their noggin? Mine seem to go above and beyond the normal call of duty with stuff like......

                             

                                              Playing in the dogs bath water

     

                                                            Dressing the dog

     

                                           Sleeping in a car seat in the house

   

                                       Using mums mascara on your lips

    

                                                         Getting stuck in your shirt

        

                                                           Sleeping through this

                                

                             Putting yourself in a empty beer box, just to prove you can

                     

                                            Losing the game has consequences

                                    

                                                   Getting stuck on the bike

                   

                                              Putting jellies on your nose

               Playing in the mop bucket

But with examples like my friend and neighbor back home

This is Jake (from State Farm, j/k) my Hornby Island neighbor, and his notorious trick he taught the kids.

Can you blame them? Poor dancing fools

Welcome to my house of crazies

Until next time

-Keesers

 

Okay, one with skivvies....

  

   

   

What's The Skinny?

On me? Maybe my pinky finger! But seriously this isn't about dieting, it's about my families news. What's happening? What's going on.
How about a little about myself? Lets start with that.....
I was born in Victoria BC Canada
I am 30 (I mean 29)
I moved to Arkansas when I was 20
I got married when I was 20
Had my first child at 20
Then had 5 more children (don't worry, we've figured out what causes it)
I do not go to church, but believe in Jehovah
I am convinced everyone should use the 24 hour clock instead of the 12 hour
Homework is a pain in the neck (especially when I AM NOT SMARTER THEN A FIFTH GRADER)
My kids are my sun, my husband is my moon, and I am the earth. Without either of them, I would not exist.
I do not brush my hair on a daily basis, even though I make my girls
I would rather stay home then go shopping
Love a good book
HATE SNAKES

And the list goes on.

So needless to say, 6 kids, one husband, one cat, one dog, a handful of chickens, and one crazy household.

I'd like to tell you I'm the picture of perfection, all Stepford wife and what not, in reality this is what I look like most days. Yup, say hello to the oh so sexy, mum slept in, kids almost missed the bus, Moi!

                                   

And wearing my everyday not leaving the house sweats. Coaching tshirt. And, yes, no makeup (my sister inlaw is cringing), hair tied back, but where's my coffee? It will show up in future posts I'm sure ;)

So I'm starting this new page on Facebook. All about junk people really don't care about, or maybe they do. But then, isn't that Facebook? 

So, I'm going to talk about my kids ALOT. Some funny things, heart breaking things, happy things. Continue to read on. I love it. Share comments, ideas, or just complain. I love it all!

 A recent story for your reading pleasure: My oldest boy-o has a hard time listening. You can say something to him four times, know he's heard you, and still he'll just stare at you.  Well his teacher, after only two weeks of school was pretty fed up with him, and BOY did she let me know it. I sat him down (and by me saying this, I mean I screamed, cried, and pretty much asked him why he can't behave) so after this note home, and my temper tantrum/break down he comes home with a smile on his face and this 

                            

Now mum cried because she was so proud! Had to share it! And bonus, Grandma was here to read it off the bus! Plus way to go Snow Cones at school tomorrow!!

Getting late lovelies, until next time

-Keesers (Because my real name is butchered almost every time, this is a childhood favorite)

      

My sunshines 4th of July 2013

    

Blogging bummer..

Yes blogging Is a bummer for me.  I can never keep up with it.  Sitting down and writing seems to take to much time.  But then I think about all the time I waste googling this and that, or responding to face book. Well I am going to try nightly (yes where have you heard this before? ;) ) or at least once a week to blog the goings on of my small group of humans.

So recently I was out in town with my Mother Inlaw And she took us to a nifty shop.  I could live in there.  I only want everything in this store!  You can find them on Face Book under 410 Vintage (yes that's the name of the store, no I don't know how to properly tag them). I am planning on going back very soon! And will take pics for your viewing pleasure ;)

However Potters House is always my favorite and recently went with my cousin Candi.  I had seen a vintage Costco step ladder/seat in there a few days before hand.  Of course I didn't get it and thought I would kick myself for not getting it.   Of course.  But, when arriving with Candi I went straight to the spot and to my surprise it was sill there!! This does not happen regularly at P.H. . You see they have this cool system.... Say it gets tagged with a red sticker:

Week one red: New Arrival
Week two red: Regular Price
Week three red: 25% off
Week four red: 75% off
Week five red: .50 cents

Yes, it's super cool! I love that store :D so here is a pic of my New kitchen arrival.  And so starts my blogging.... If you have tips for me, please leave comments!  I would love to get the hang of this (FINALLY)

-Kees <3

Well.....Updates on the fam....So yesterday we woke up a little on the late side (Oops) and had to rush to get the kids dressed, fed, boys to grandmas girls with me. First off was to TareBear's and Ladybug's Ortho appt. If you have kids that need work done I recommend going to Storms Orthodontics . The staff there is so wonderful and Dr. Storms is so patient and kind, he is amazingly wonderful with the kiddos. Anywho,  TareBear is going to need some brackets put on A.S.A.P, and Ladybug is going to have 2 teeth pulled to make room for her new ones coming down and a check back in three months time.


Then it was off to Miss Mess' eye appt. But first we stopped at the hospital to deliver a special Canadian gift to our cousin N.T (A.K.A Aunty N.T), and grabbed some Subway. MMM Salad (again) since I have been going Gluten free, salad is the quickest thing I can grab without having to think it over so much.

It was a somewhat shocking appt. I never have thought that she has trouble seeing. She never complains, never has headaches or any other signs of trouble. However ( cousin Budd Stanley 's favorite word ;) ) she seems to have a lazy left eye and the poor girl has trouble seeing. We have a second oppinion on monday (the Doctor set this appt. to double check his findings). So Miss Mess may soon have glasses. She's a little bit on the scared side. She doesn't want glasses. So I have tried to think of every to cool kid we know that has glasses. Like the girls friend's R.R, B.W, A.H, S.L; And their cousins E.P, Z.T, and B.L (A.K.A NatureGirl on her Momma's Blog). Daddy's coming with us to her Appt. on monday, if it turns out that she does need glasses I hope him being there will lessen her anxiety.  On a brighter note on the subject, maybe (if she does need glasses) her reading will improve.

After the appt.'s we did school shopping, then to Sam's then home. 08:00 is when we left out, and 16:00 was our return time. PHEW, what a long day.....But it wasn't over!    I was just in time to cook dinner, feed the kids (Grandma dropped off the boys), and run out the door again.  It was meet your teacher night in Huntsville, and Five teachers to meet this year.  We started with the youngest and worked our way up.....With one tiny speed bump..... We arrived there at 18:45....ummmm hehe. I did not know that the older two had there meet until 18:30, so we missed seeing their teachers. We did see the other three though, and signed Perogie up for Football and TareBear up for Cheerleading, talked to cousins (including E.P who was wearing contacts) and to K at the office.   We set out from school, all six kids and I, and headed to Walmart to pickup a few things that I missed earlier.   At home at last (YAA!) it was 20:00.  Time to tell Daddy all about our day, get in Jam Jam's, brush those teether's, and get to bed..... for the kiddo's.....Mommy had chore's and plans that she missed doing during the day.   So after dishe's were done, and the kitchen rearranged (Yes again), I headed to bed at the oh so early hour of 01:00.  Well played Mr. Time.  Time 1 Mommy None.  Ahh well what else is new.   This update was to big to write on FB so I blogged it (Y'all are so lucky EH!).  I did not take my camera so there is no pics to go along with this novel.  But I promise, braces, and the maybe glasses, will be pictured in a future blog.   TareBear and I are still growing our hair out.  Have a long way to go, as not to chop it all off and upset Scruffy Baby.  But it will happen.   Until Next time......