Rites of passage

Camryn shot her first Deer hunting in Early Doe season. Hunting is pretty important in our family. Everyone is raised to respect guns before they can even hold one. With the adoption and having small kids in the house it has been weird not having guns in the house. Last year the littles each got a bb gun to begin their training. It is important to know how to feed your family and put food on the table. Meat does not magically appear in plastic containers in grocery stores. i can't wait till they kids are all old enough to hunt will Aaron.

home canning

Totals after today:
10 pints unsweetened applesauce
13 half pints unsweetened applesauce
6 quarts apple pie filling
5 half pints apple pie filling
6 quarts tomatoes
2 pints apple butter and 3 half pints
and some spaghetti sauce in the fridge to eat fresh
David Helman gave me some tomatoes to do up for him tomorrow (which turned out to be 7 quarts)
Why the  half pints? Well, Aaron brought them home from Wal-mart when I sent him there for canning jars. So use what you have. Baby Breece will enjoy the small cans of unsweetened sauce when he/she comes to visit grandam in Michigan.

Build a Play Kitchen from ready made components

 After seeing several play kitchens made from old entertainment centers I got a bug to build one myself. The kids are very hard on plastic toys and a nice wooden one should be able to withstand three active kids playing together. I found a board that looked like butcher block at Menard's  It is edge glued pine 1" x 16" x 48" for $9.00. Aaron found two closet components to use for the ends like the one shown here at Family Fun. They were $7.00 each. I bought a stainless steel bowl at Walmart for $9.00 to use for the sink. I found some sunflower material in the discount bin at walmart that is perfect for curtains for $3.00. I am looking around the house and at garage sales for the accessories but so far no luck. I need a pine shelf, towel bar, and some s-hooks. Total to date $28.00. I have seen similar ones on sale for $140.00on line during my searches. The colors are green and yellow with a knotty pine butcher block and white counters so the kitchen isn't going to be too girly-girl for the boys. After all, I hate having the kids in the kitchen when I am doing my serious cooking. Now they will have their own to play in safely.

Her are some of my favorites like this one from bug bites.  
I also like this one here too.

The Weekend

Aaron and cam got up early and left for ice fishing. The plan today was to bring the three little ones out for an hour to a small local lake. But the weather was nasty last night and there is alot of ice on the roads so we will be staying home today. Update! Cam caught her first pike!!!!! She's got a cat fish minnow at the bait shop and is bringing it home to raise for a little while. More science lessons on a real life scale.
Pitty-pat and little man watched an educational video Meet the Sight Words 1 this morning. It was too long for both the 6 year old and 18 month old. Tippy-toe is watching little man in his room right now. She is a good sister. I plan to reward her by letting her help me in the kitchen today.(Everyone knows how much I hate having someone in the tiny kitchen when I Cook)