More happening...

More from the day to day...

Market Day:
One thing I have found to be prevalent is Farmer's Markets. I have been to 3 so far. We have enjoyed fresh picked delights of every color. On my way home from the second market, as I smelled the sweet aromas of the vegetables I had bought, I was compelled to spend some time complimenting God on the delightful way he went about all of this fruit and vegetable stuff. I was reveling in all the colors and imagining the tastes. It was fun to enjoy this simple thing with him. I felt that he was delighted with my delight - just like I am with my children.


Chucky Sue:
... is a mouse who was in our house. More specifically, in our stove. Mark startled a mouse that was on our counter and it ran right into the whole where the element goes into the stove. We spent some time trying to find it and making sure it was unable to get out but could not find the mouse. Turns out it was in a little space under the control nobs. And there it would stay until we got a trap. Thankfully, I had no intention of using my stove since it was so hot!


The next morning the boys were thrilled to learn that we had a new pet! Ethan said, "We are going to get Chucky Sue out of there and he can be my pet." I chose my words carefully as I explained that we would not be keeping "Chucky Sue." What kind of name is that? Would anyone else like to have a transcript of their child's thoughts? He doesn't know anyone name Chuck or Sue.

Mark came home that evening with a trap...


...and first thing the next morning we found Chucky Sue had eaten way more peanut butter than a mouse of his (or her?) size should. Ethan wanted to help let the mouse free (Mark had bought a live trap.) into the neighbors yard! The mouse was so scared and ran away so fast that the most we saw of it was about a 1/2 inch of its tail. I am glad our pet days are over for now. Ethan has moved on.



Pickles:
I had decided that I would not try to do my usual summertime canning since we were in such a state of upheaval, but I made an exception for pickles. I know I am crazy, but you would do it to if you had ever eaten these pickles. I first tasted them at a picnic 3 summers ago at our good friends Kristi and Jeanette's house. These two are some of the dearest souls on the planet. They are so generous and giving and have blessed me and my family more times than I can count with their love. I miss them and I can't wait for them to come visit! Anyway, I invited myself to their place for pickle canning the next summer and we are now pickle snobs.

Throughout the process I had to call the canning goddesses (J and K) multiple times to check on some details especially when I ran out of dill and had to find out it my cucumbers would last! What was supposed to be an afternoon of canning turned into 5 days of having my kitchen (which is quite small) overrun with canning supplies and my fridge full of pickle ingredients. But, we are already glad I did it. Two of the jars would not seal even after re-processing - so we get to eat them now instead of waiting for the 1 month curing process. They aren't quite as flavorful, but they are still the best pickles I have ever eaten! Also, I am excited about our "stackers." I decided to do a couple of jars of pickles sliced for hamburgers just like the ones at the store. They turned out great. Thank you God for little things like pickles!

All prepped and ready to go

Sliced and ready to pack

Done!

Audrey:
My darling little girl is doing some new things and plus she is just so cute I thought I would post some recent pictures of her.

PS - I am writing this while waiting for a meteor shower after spending the afternoon throwing up. (More in another post.)