Signatures, Tomatoes and Zucchini

If I got paid for every time I signed my name yesterday (and the day before), I'd be rich.  School papers are not our favorite thing around here.  I was sat down, while my tomato sauce reduced, and a pen was placed in my hand.

"Sign this Mom," they all said.


You can definitely tell school started around here.  My e-mail inbox fills up daily with stuff from scholastic, Market Day, school newsletters (to save on school paper), and many other e-mails.  Pretty soon the fundraisers will start flowing in, and I'll start to hear "Mom I need $$ for this and that."

Last year, about this time, we were winding down with the garden goodies.  We made lot of salsa, but never canned anything.  I did freeze many tomatoes, but last year we had mostly Romas.  This year, I have many larger types of tomatoes. 

Yesterday my sauce took about 25 pounds of Romas, and that is about 125 of them.  Today I cut up and froze 3 very full quart bags of tomatoes.

My goal is to can them vs. freeze them, on account of our expensive electric here.  I was very pleased with the seasoned tomato sauce I canned.  It has so much more flavor in it, and by canning it myself, has no BPA or other unwanted chemicals.

I canned more zucchini relish and still had some zucchini left over.  I decided to make some healthier school lunch snacks and after school snacks.  They are already getting some delicious garden fresh watermelon.

Yum!

Kids Say the Funniest Things ~ Now the Pressure is On

My kids, especially my 9 year-old daughter, say the funniest things. 

For example, we went went camping last weekend, I noticed my camping tote was a mess.  In fact, we were missing important items such as our lanterns.  The older girls held a backyard camp-out earlier in the summer, and used my camping supplies.  I had mentioned that they need to learn to put things back or simply stay out of it, when my 9 year-old said this:

"Hey Mom, just put a sign on it that says Mom's reusable panty liners."

It just made me crack up laughing.  I did get a sample from Naturally Cozy, and they all ran when I opened the package.  You never know if the economy will be worse next year, so I wanted to be prepared for anything.

Anyway, aside from that funny story, she told me something after she got off the school bus.  She told me how the kids went around and talked about their family.  She boasted about having 25 animals around here, and proudly told me this:

"Hey Mom, you know when they came around and asked about our families?  I told them that Dad worked at ....and you were a writer!  I told the class that you were going to get published one of these days."

Ugh.  Now the pressure is on more than ever.  99% of my day is taking care of the family, processing and weeding the garden, regular housework, errands, and so much more.  I've tried to sit and write, but setting up my "writing space" has been the only accomplishment this summer.  


As for the number 25, in how many animals, it's about to go up one notch if she gets her birthday request - a turtle.