vacation 2013, part MN...the rest of the story

With the jam all made, we could head for the Pipestone County Fair!  My kids love fairs, so they were super excited we could go and do all the normal fair stuff:

Like looking at machinery...

watching the horse show...

looking at all the animals...

(and getting to hold a few! but mental note, don't give the baby a chick to hold and then stand back to take a picture - the chick almost didn't make it!  hence no photo of H holding one! =)

and riding the carousel!

 We also got free yardsticks and other swag from the booths.  But we didn't do a lot of fair food, as it was Mom's birthday and we were going to pick up pizza and head home for a little birthday party for her.

Uncle Lucas came out to join us!

I don't know who was more excited about presents - Aahma or the kids. =)

After supper and presents, we went outside for a bit to burn off some energy before brownies and ice cream.

Uncle Lucas showed off his mad juggling skillz.

No pictures of birthday dessert as it was too good and consumed quickly.  What a busy fun day!

Happy Birthday Aahma!

Saturday was going to be just as busy and fun because it was a baby shower for Auntie Jess!  Jessica's sister Jen threw her a lovely baby shower at Lucas and Jessica's church.  And Grace and I were super excited that we could go and do all the normal baby shower stuff:

Like eating yummy food, including fruit salad served from a watermelon cut to look like a baby carriage...

 ooo-ing and aaah-ing over this John Deere themed diaper cake...

(someone made another one to look like a Harley with a stuffed monkey driving it!)

 bringing books in to stock baby's library...

playing shower games where you lost your little diaper pin if you said baby...

(Grace got Auntie Jess's here!  She and Jessica's niece Koranna were by far the best players)

visiting with a lot of lovely ladies that all love Lucas and Jessica as much as we do and that were so happy to be there to celebrate their little bundle of joy to come...

and of course opening lots and lots of gifts for baby!!!

(top is baby sweater from Grandma Kole, middle is flannel baby blankets from my mom, and bet you can't guess who all the Carter's onsies on the bottom photo came from.  =)

 We also got to take a four generation photo since Grandma was able to come to the shower too.

What a fun shower, and thank you to Boppa, who baby-sat the three boys while we were gone.  And when we got home there was one more fun farm thing to do before getting ready to leave after church the next day...

 ...husking sweet corn!  

Under the same tree my folks have been husking sweet corn since they have owned the farm.

Kids all tried it raw, but much preferred it cooked with butter and salt. 
(Henry liked all the butter and salt off first, silly boy. =)

After church Boppa and Aahma drove us to Willmar to the other grandparents' house to meet Dadda.  It was such a full and busy week I was afraid of a crabby crabby car ride, but between Mom and Dad and I, there were plenty of apple devices to keep them happy and calm and quiet. =)

And we had just enough time for a quick bonfire by the lake with tonka toasters and s'mores before making the final leg home.  

It may not have been the ocean or mountains, but we saw so many people

that we love and got to do so many fun things with them that this

2013 summer vacation is definitely a memorable one!

time out for summer reading!

OK, I will get back to last summer's catch up posts in a bit, but I thought I would take time out today to share what we are doing this year for our summer reading program!  Mostly because I am super excited about it. =)

I have big nostalgia about the summer reading program we did at our library in town growing up.  It wasn't just a minutes logged or reports written based program, but there were categories of books we needed to read and we had to spin a wheel to see which ones we needed to read for the week.  I really wanted to do something like that last summer with our kids, but I just wasn't proactive enough and didn't get anything put together.  When Mom had my niece Evie for a week and was going to go to the library, that turned on the light bulb in my brain again about it and I asked Mom to look at the program (which they still do) and write down the categories.  I hoped I could think of something to do with them.

Mom not only wrote down the categories, but came up with a great idea to put them on clothespins for the kids to draw!

And bonus that Steve dug up my clothesline in the backyard so I had a big bag full that I have not been using. =)  We wrote 24 categories on clothespins three times so each of the big kids had a set.  

We used:  Dog, Cat, Horse, any animal, Boy, Girl, Geography, Science, Biography, Mystery, Sports, Craft,
Historical fiction, Non-fiction, Picture book, Chapter book, Math book, a magazine, Comic book, Mom's choice, Mom's choice, Mom's choice, your choice, your choice

The kids grabbed stocking hats (HOPEFULLY we won't have any use for them this summer! =) and dumped the clothespins in.  The plan is to draw 3 clothespins every week.

The genius of the clothespins is that they can clip them to the handle of their library bag (each of them has one thanks to Mrs. Lynne!), and we can head to the library to find books that fit the categories and the reader.  Then they can also check out 3 more books, and that is about what fits in the bag.  I know they can read way more than that, but if we go every week or more than once a week we can keep that stash rotating.  And they read each others too.

I was also struggling to figure out how to mark each book as completed for each kid.  They can blow through them so fast sometimes, and I wanted it to be a bit more of a challenge to get that "stamp" (that is what we got growing up!).  Our friend and favorite librarian Ms. Jenn came up with a great plan for that.  Use the library's summer reading program in combination with it!  Our program has them read a book and either write or draw about it and hand in the paper when they are done.  Each week the library draws from the papers submitted for prizes.  So each kid now has to do a Bookawocky page to complete their category.  (This is also a HUGE bonus for us as it gets Grace to practice her writing and spelling without her even realizing it!)

Then once everything is checked by Momma or Dadda, they can clip their clothespin to their Reading Goal sheet hanging in the sunroom (with oh so fancy blue tape).  As you can see I also have one for Henry and he gets to put stickers on for books he reads with Momma or Dadda from the library.  He has to do stuff like the big kids, ya know.

What I now need to come up with is prizes.  Everyone is SO VERY EXCITED about this now, and I want to keep that momentum and I think the prizes will do it.  I remember being thrilled to pick something out when I completed a goal at the library and I hope they will too.

Need a summer reading challenge with your kids?  Give it a try!  It wouldn't kill the adults to come up with a few categories to expand their horizons and do it along with the kids too.  Hmmmm, we just might have to do that!

vacation 2013, part MN...peach jam edition

After leaving Brookings, we headed back to the farm for the rest of the week!

My mom had bought a couple lugs of peaches at the grocery store earlier in the week because they looked good, and by Friday they were PERFECTLY ripe and ready to make peach jam.  Good thing the kids and I were there to help!  And Dad made sure I took pictures so that I could write this all down and remember how to do it myself someday, like I had done for strawberry jam. =)

1.  Gather supplies needed: SureJell, sugar, jars, screw band rings, NEW lids, canning funnel, stockpot, bowls, measuring cups, ladle, rubber spatula, trivets, bath towel, hot pads, dish towel, wash cloth.  [this will require Dad to go into town to pick up sugar and SureJell and bakery bread and stop at Verlyn's for a pop.]

2.  Wash jars and screw band rings in hot soapy water. Rinse well and air dry.  OR run jars and rings through the sani-wash cycle on the dishwasher.

3.  Get perfectly ripe lug of peaches.  Resist temptation to just eat them all plain.

4.  Tape SureJell instructions onto the microwave for easy reference

5.  Pour boiling water over lids in a small bowl (or pyrex measuring cup!)

 6.  Get a large bowl of ice water ready in the sink (frozen pop bottles work in a pinch) if you don't have enough ice.

7.  Bring 4-6 quarts of water up to a boil in a pot to.  Put out 5-6 peaches in a bowl.

8.  Drop them gently into the boiling water for a minute.  This will loosen the skins without cooking the peach.

9.  Immediately transfer them to the bowl of ice water!  Enlist small children to slide the skin right off the peaches and put in the bucket.  Hand slimy peaches to Boppa and Momma for slicing.

10.  Slice open peaches and discard the pits in the bucket.

11.  Slice peaches into small parts.  Do not make perfect slices.  Make more random small slices with your knife and the peaches will break down better in the jam.  (Lesson from Grandma Grace)

12.  Measure out 4 cups of peaches.

13.  Measure out 2 Tablespoons of lemon juice.

14.  Put peaches, lemon juice, and one package of SureJell in a large stockpot over high heat.  STIR CONSTANTLY!  [Realize that you are probably not going to have enough SureJell for how many peaches you have and send Mom to town to get more from the grocery store]

15.  While one person stirs, get jars and lids and spoons ready to go.

16.  Have your tiny helpers measure out 5 1/2 cups of sugar into a bowl.  [Realize that you are not going to have enough sugar for how many peaches you have and send Cary to town to get more sugar.]

17.  KEEP STIRRING CONSTANTLY!  Add an oven mitt to your hand as it will get splurty.  Stir until fruit mixture comes to a full rolling boil, where it doesn't stop even when you are stirring it.

18.  Pour in the sugar, and keep stirring!  Bring the mixture back to a full rolling boil.

19.  Boil AND STIR the jam for 1 minute, then remove from heat to the trivet you set up by your jars.

20.  Skim off some of the foam and put it in a separate bowl.  DO NOT throw away as it tastes delicious on bread or over ice cream!

21.  Working quickly, ladle hot jam into mason jars up to the ring.

22.  Wipe the rim of the jar with a wet wash cloth, put a lid and a ring on the top, and tighten.

23. Flip jar upside down on bath towel for 5 minutes.  This is important to sealing the jars and getting the peach bits evenly dispersed in the jam.  And if you are working very quickly, the heat from the boiling jam mixture will seal and preserve it in the jars so you don't need to do a water bath canning process.

24.  Any extra jam you can put in a bowl to be used right away.  And quality control is very important!

 25.  Clean up time!  Wash all pots and utensils, and then repeat the entire process for however many peaches you have or batches you want!  Each batch makes approximately 4 pints of jam.

 26.  Remember to flip over jars after 5 minutes and leave them on the towel to cool for twenty-four hours.  Become giddy every time you hear a "ploink" of a lid sealing!  And if there are any that don't seal, put in the refrigerator to be used right away.  All others can be stored in the pantry.  Best if used within a year, but honestly that has never been a problem!

*Bonus step, but just as essential and traditional.  You must have fresh peach jam and peanut butter sandwiches for lunch on fresh bakery bread!  And you must finish the whole loaf because you need to experience that kind of deliciousness in life.  [Realize that you don't have enough peanut butter for sandwiches for everyone, but serve just jam sandwiches instead because you are NOT going back to town again!]