Corn is READY!

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I went for a leisurely walk through the garden last night... and noticed the corn was quite large. YUP... it was ready and so we dropped everything and picked it. It turned out to be our entertainment for the night. We brought some to the neighbors, ate it, husked it, flossed it out of our teeth and got it ready to freeze this morning. 
I love and hate doing corn. I love it because it is easy to freeze and beautiful, but I hate corn because you have it stuck to you instantly and your house is trashed with the first swipe of a knife. Soooo... I started at 6:00 this morning and was done before breakfast. I needed to avoid the heavy morning traffic.

I had some great helpers...

 Amazingly cute

 Ummm... mom can you get some floss for me? These baby teeth are killing me.

One of our piles

All of the kids husked corn..even Abigail got two completely husked. She is a huge asset to the team.

They got paid in corn.

My recipe for freezing came from my Aunt Carol. It is so easy now all of my sisters use it too.

16 C. corn

5 C. Ice cold water

1/3 - 1/2 C. Sugar

2 T. Salt

I used 1 cup of lukewarm water and dissolved the sugar and salt into it and let it sit for a while. Then I added 4 cups of ice cold water. I just used my sauce pot to mix it together because it is BIG, but don't be deceived... there is NO COOKING that needs to happen.

Then I scooped two cups into quart bags (another tip: use name brand so they don't leak in your freezer...soooo sticky). I flatten them so they store better and then freeze them. One batch makes about 8 bags and you need about 32-40 corn to make a batch (depending on the size).

Yea! My garden came through... even if it did get neglected a bit! Hey, it was a baby year. That is all that needs to be said. It is a miracle there is anything that survived.

The Garden Shed...Turned Office ( Now...The Shoffice)

Pin It Here is a little update on our summer garden shed project that is being switched into Justin's office. It looked like it would be quite a simple job, but I am learning that is never the case. Granted, this is my husbands project ad I really have done nothing, but I occasionally watch our children for him.

The boys have loved every minute. Our house is Grand Central Station with people and JOBS. The kids love all the work that is happening out there. An occasional backhoe or cement truck has made this project like a Christmas present everyday as we wait to see what each day brings.

The PROJECT:

• Rip out old sidewalk and add new one that went all the way to the Shoffice
• Put up gutters and dig trenches for the water to go away from the basement
• Add dirt and landscaping in front of the house
• Put a new door and window on the Shoffice
• Paint
• Add carpet
• Find a desk and chairs
• Install heat and AC
• Run electric

Here are a few before pics...

What the front of the house looked like before we started

I didn't get a picture of the sidewalk before, but it was little, and only went to the front porch steps

The front of the office had two beat up doors and we replaced them with one door and a window

The inside. It was  dry walled to begin with, but it needed to be cleaned, painted and have carpet put in

Dirt and peet moss where added to the front for the new bushes

The beginning of the new sidewalk

We decided to add a little patio in front of the office while we had a concrete truck at our house

The (almost) Finished Pictures

Yea! We are celebrating the end of a VERY LONG project. A few more paint touch ups and it will be done (but are these projects ever completely done?).

If My Kids Only Say One Thing About Me...

Pin It I hope it is this:

"As we were born one by one, instead of preaching its (the Bible) advantages and spiritual benefits to us and then letting us make our own decision, he simply told us to read it and told us how much to read. We will thank Father and Mother for persevering with us and making us do it. In fact, we will not only thank them all our days on earth, but if  people thank people in Heaven, we'll probably thank them throughout eternity. It wasn't through philosophy, or psychology or psychoanalysis that we really learned to live and know God, it was the Bible read plain an simply without comment, at regular times everyday."

The Broken Leg

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Here they are in all of their glory... the broken leg pictures.

Dad trying to keep her busy

Playing in her bed. Is that hospital gown not the cutest thing ever?

Still waiting... so we found a wagon to pass the time

All done! A little slushy for a treat!

The most precious child int the world.

The story

We went on a date and came home to the babysitter telling us that she thought Abigail might have sprained her leg. She had run into her brother and fallen and didn't want to put weight on it.

The next morning I got her out of her crib and she hit the floor and soon as I set her down. Whoops... I had forgotten about the leg. By mid-morning we knew something was still wrong and headed to the hospital to get X-rays. No problem... they would call us with the results, probably nothing I thought. So... we came home, did lunch, put everyone down for naps and I headed out to run some errands. Thankfully, I checked my phone because I put it on silent and I had three messages from the doctor. "Yes, it is broken... and you need to head to Devos Children's Hospital, they are expecting you." WHAT???? DEVOS???? That is a 2 hour drive and it was already 1:30 in the afternoon. Come to find out, no other hospital will put a cast on a 18 month old and she needed it on ASAP. Justin hopped off the lawn mower and into the car, we grabbed Abigail, the boys went to Nana and Papa's and we spent the evening of Justin's birthday in the ER.

The results... Three weeks in the LARGEST CAST IN THE WORLD, a screaming, heavy daughter, and many tears. Then, three weeks in a short cast ( I am already in love with this short cast and I haven't even met it yet).

I told my mom on the phone... it will be fine, I probably won't even remember this in 20 years and she said... "But maybe you will." Let's hope it isn't that bad.

The broken leg is just another addition to the craziness around here!

Spending Time with Dad

Pin It  Since the arrival of our newest little treasure dad has really stepped up to the plate with our other three littles. Our house is a constant buzz of activity and the minute he walks in the door after work he hops into "POWER DAD" mode. It literally takes all of both of our energy and efforts to go anywhere... church, over to some ones house for dinner, or most recently, a 3 day trip to Pennsylvania (that is another post).

I have learned to let go of my aspirations to spend a lot of quality time with our older ones during this season of life, and  for now, Justin is getting to enjoy the fruits of special time with the kids. He always has one of the boys with him now and they are loving the extra dad time they are getting.

Golfing has seemed to be the activity of choice when mom needs a break and the house needs to be quieted down for a few hours. The boys love to be on the course with their dad and soak up the time with him. I look at these pictures and I envision the day the boys will be grown and out of the house and they call their dad to meet them on the course. I dream and pray over the conversations, character training, and teaching that will occur on that lush, green grass.

For now, I am happy and thankful just for a few minutes of peace and quiet, but I know in the future that time with dad on the course will mean so much more to them.

My favorite pic... both boys trying to keep up with dad!