Abundant Recompense Copy

We've been canning up a storm over here. Our 2015 garden and peach trees have really overwhelmed us with blessings. Our pantry was totally empty of home-canned goodness by the beginning of the summer, so it's good that we've had a heavy canning year, though I am very much looking forward to being done. I've been keeping a running tally of how much we've canned on the side bar over there to help me keep track. It's fun to see the numbers rise! Salsa 5 pints and 17 half pints.We'll see how long it lasts. Bri came up and helped out with the jam. This year we did a strawberry-blackberry mix. I hope it's good, because we have 21 pints of it!  Tomato sauce. We use it for lasagna, spaghetti, pizza, ravioli, soup and gulosh. 33 quarts so far and we are nearing completion, thank heavens! This year's crop took a significant hit from our pesky pheasant friend that lives in the field by our house. Without fail if the tomatoes got nice and red and ripe on the vin...

An awesome hike by a stream. We saw hardly a soul. Checking out the creek at their first opportunity. Asa ran full speed into the drink here, at the beginning of the hike, so for the rest of the time he wore only a diaper. I think that might make me feel very free, if I were him. This is where we decided to stop to have snacks and play and then turn around. It was a perfect spot, and we had fun climbing around and throwing rocks into the water. Bryn's turn to whine. I will mention that whining is just a built-in part of hiking with children. I think that it is worth it. Time will tell.  Addison carried this huge rock all the way back to the car, and now has it on his "personal shelf" in his room. How could we say no? A treacherous river-crossing.

The Sunday before school started, Dad gave father's blessings to the three oldest kids. I got one too, but it was after they all went to bed.   The evening before school started, we hit up the Burger Bar for shakes to celebrate our little reading machines. They read a ton this summer!  Addison and Bryn were pumped to the max to be starting school again. They were so cute in their first day outfits. First grade for Bryn and second for Addison.  Showing off their backpacks. Sometime we'll have to discuss in private how I feel about buying character backpacks. Until then, just know that paying for the privilege of becoming walking advertisements for Paw Patrol and Pokemon makes these two felt like a million bucks. And they're just so cute.  Hauling to the bus stop, where Nate and I both got misty as we watched the bus pull away. Asa is thrilled to have Mom a little more free to spend lots of time outside with him. And Leah is over the moon that our daily preschool ...

Toward the end of the summer the kids were really into having their quiet time downstairs. The legos were put to good use on these days. The arctic. One of many architectural renderings of our new house, by Addison.  Nate's stairway to heaven, or Tower of Babel perhaps.  Leah's tower. Nate and Addison ran a race in August. Though Bryn and I stayed home and frantically cleaned for a showing, I heard that Leah was a top-notch cheerleader as Dad pushed the stroller. Asa counteracted her efforts by grabbing the front wheel of the stroller from time to time. The racers. They each took 3rd in their age group.     The very last day of summer, we visited the airplane museum. It is so close to our house, and it's free! It was fun to spend a half hour looking at planes and helicopters. The kids enjoyed choosing planes to have their picture taken by.