Little Lover Leo

We have a new family member! His name is Leo and he actually loves our kids :) Perfect feline. We searched a long time to find a kitty that would be okay with kids picking him up, carrying him around, and cuddling the stuffing out of him. We found one who is more than willing to play that role. He isn't very playful even though he's still under a year old, but he loves to be a lap cat. Actually, a chest cat. He kneads his paws and drools and purrs non-stop. He's such a little lover! Unfortunately he contracted a kitty cold from the other cats at the shelter, so he's down and out today, but we hope he'll kick it soon and be back to his usual lovely self. Meanwhile, the kiddos love him and so do I!

Pursuing the canning path

With many, many pounds of rotting tomatoes on my kitchen counter, I decided the canning must continue. I borrowed this handy machine from my friend Ann Marie:

Sarah, Samantha, others here-- have you ever used one of these??
Super simple machine; amazing life saver with tomatoes. I could NOT believe how easy it was to process pounds and pounds of tomatoes in one quick sitting. Everything goes in-- just quarter the tomatoes, and it separates the seeds, the skins, cores, etc. I even ran the "guts" through it 4 or 5 times after the first run through and got still more juice and pulp. I got a huge bowl of my final product without having to quick boil the tomatoes and throw them in ice water to skin, etc.....

After all that work, I was still amazed that I only got 2 jars of final product-- spaghetti sauce. I even added shredded summer squash, fresh basil and oregano, chopped peppers and onions...to provide more bulk. After simmering for a couple hours to reduce it to a nice, thick consistency, I ended up canning 2 jars. That is a lot of vegetables and work for a very small amount of turn out. It is delicious, though :)

Mike did some figuring the other day on how much it cost for me to make homemade applesauce. I got 4 1 1/2 pint jars out of 10 lbs of apples (I left all the skins on, so I got more than you probably would without skins). The apples, which were organic and locally grown, were #2 grade (still not many rotting spots to cut out) and cost $2/lb. (The grade #1 were $3/lb.) So 10 lbs of apples cost $20, and I got 4 jars out of that. That's pretty pricey applesauce at $5/jar. Now it *did* taste better than the store-bought stuff, and I *do* love supporting a local business, and I actually don't mind the tremendous work and time I committed to it since I like to cook. But I'm bummed that this isn't saving us money. I suppose if we had our own apple trees....and a garden, this canning stuff would be more financially-viable.

Samantha, you always have amazing gardens. Do you can? Freeze? Give surplus away? Just eat and eat veggies every day of the summer? Looking for insight :)

Yurt!

We went camping this weekend in a long overdue & belated father's day weekend celebration. After our camping weekend fell through over father's day when all the kids had strep throat, we vowed to make it up at some point. Then it got HOT....forever....and we didn't. Now our tent is temporarily disabled since Gavin climbed on it over Jack's bday weekend and broke a fiberglass pole. So we rented a yurt in a state park outside of Winterset, and it was so much fun. It had a kitchen but no bathroom. That was the trickiest part-- getting the kids up to the bath house when they had to go. Luckily we have boys who, most of the time, could pee in the weeds outside the cabin :)

Can you see three heads peeking out of their beds?

There are only 2 yurts, and they are right next door to one another. Luckily we were the only renters this weekend, so our kids' EARLY morning squeals didn't bother quite as many campers. ;)

We had a fun "backyard" that was more private and larger than most campers get. The fire ring was a hit, and the boys had fun collecting sticks to make the fires.

The boys bought special flashlights for our nighttime walks to the potty. Light sabers make it easy to spot your kids at a campground, too :)

We spent a lot of time at the park playground. The boys made a good friend, Max, who made the whole trip super fun for them. Max shared his silly string the morning we all checked out.

The park we stayed at was smallish and fun. Good hiking trails, and not super busy. We didn't find the time for the boys to plan in the ford at the park, but next time that's on the to-do list. We were amazed to hear that two families have their campers permanently stationed in the first two spots at the campgrounds the entire camping season, and they switch off who "chaperones" each night (even weeknights). Since we were there on a weekend, they had an afternoon ice cream treat for kids who were there camping and an evening movie for all families. The showed the Lorax on a big screen they pulled from the side of their camper, and had a real popcorn machine that stays at the park. Our boys made so many friends. It was such a great campground!

The morning before we left I saw what I assumed was someone's malamute dog running off from the grounds in the early morning, but no one noticed it or claimed it. It could have easily been a wolf I suppose. It was too large to be a coyote, which is what we *thought* we heard howling through the nights we were there. Maybe it was a wolf! Kind of freaky that it was out in the morning and that close to the campground. But it didn't bother anyone so I guess that's what nature is all about. We saw a fair amount of deer and had some good bird sightings, too.

We went into Winterset on Saturday to hit one of the covered bridges and Clark Tower, a place I remember visiting several times as a kid with my parents. It was strange running up that old tower's steps, in tow of my own children, and remembering all the times Adam and I played there on our family trips.

This park had some awesome trees, which made for interesting hide and seek spots.

Clark Tower

We had such a nice weekend and hope to go back again before winter hits!

Applesauce Learning

1st attempt at homemade applesauce: epic fail. I'm gonna guess that no one in my family is going to relish eating applesauce dotted with flecks of cinnamon bark. First lesson learned: count all cinnamon sticks before putting them into the pot. Make sure all are accounted for before blending. Check. Also, don't add so much water.

Even so, I canned all the flecked sauce. I didn't want 10 lbs of organic apples to go entirely to waste, and this was my experiment with canning. So I canned. It went pretty well!

Day #2, next 10 lb. of apples. Cinnamon sticks accounted for and removed. Blended with less water. Perfect!

Always learning.

Fall outings have begun!

The weather finally cooled down and we are making the most of every open window, chance for smores over the fire pit, and fall activity we can make happen. This weekend we visited the Wills Family Orchard to buy some locally-grown, organic apples and have a little fall fun. This is my newest favorite place to go. Unlike Howell's Farm, it's not crawling with as many people as the State Fair. It's lower key, and the family who runs it is so very nice. The kids had a great time in the corn maze, and helping me pick a few pie pumpkins. I'm going to experiment this year with using real pumpkins to cook some stew... and maybe a pie, if I'm overly ambitious. I also bought 20 lbs of honey crisp apples for my foiree into home canning. Have canner, have book on how to can, have 20 lbs of apples. GO! This should be interesting.....

I only snapped a few shots of the boys enjoying the orchard and their new kittens before we lost Jack in the corn maze and had the whole crew looking for him....but alas, no Case Haub family outing is complete without a little drama.

It was all I could do to stop myself from taking this little grey and white one home....

1st day of preschool

Oh my, I'm definitely not the blogger I used to be. So much has happened that doesn't appear on this blog. I think I'm too tired to write it! But I do have some fun photos to share of Gavin's first day of preschool today. He has been talking about being a "Jumping Frog" for a year now, and had eagerly awaited his turn to stay at school and have me leave him there. I was very glad to not be one of the mommies leaving a crying, screaming toddler behind as I walked out the door this morning. Gavin couldn't wait to be a big kid.

Jack's pirate backpack finally arrived and he is pretty happy about it.

Jack has adjusted to kindergarten well. He is buddies with the principals' son, Will, and he asked me the other day, "Can the principal come over to our house and play Wii with me?" Apparently Will told Jack that his dad can save Princess Peach on Super Mario Brothers, so Jack wants to play Wii with him now. That would be an odd playdate. Jack is fulfilling the traditional "oldest sibling" role of being the caretaker and rule enforcer while he is at preschool. Apparently he spends most of his recesses "keeping an eye on Devin, the naughty kid" and telling the teachers when Devin is being naughty. Sigh.

I'm tired.

giggle

I had to giggle when I read Jack's kindergarten teacher's 1st day blog entry. When you look at her photo and read what she writes, she doesn't really strike you as the "bossy" type (which is still how Jack refers to her!)

Mrs. Baker's Kindergarten Blog

Jack's 1st Day of Kindergarten

Today was the day! He was very excited going in. Coming out he was a little grouchy. He said his teacher is bossy, the kids are naughty, and he doesn't want anyone to know his name (as he ripped up the name tag he is supposed to wear around his neck for the first week). Then he claimed he is NOT going back tomorrow. Yikes. But as I asked him questions about what stories they read today and how lunch went, he seemed happy about the things he did. So hopefully this is just the 1st day jitters coming out after a long, busy day. I'll be hoping for no tears or balking tomorrow when I take him back again. Fingers crossed!

Here's the happy boy at the beginning of the day:

Jack turns 6!

It seems surreal that six years ago I was in awe of my entry into motherhood an entire month before I expected it. Little 5 lb Jack came into my world and changed me in remarkable ways. He was a joy from the first moment I laid eyes on him.

I have never been more scared in my life than when Jack stopped breathing the night before we left the hospital. The ensuing three weeks in the NICU were some of the scariest, but most amazing of my life. I grew to know my son and myself as a mother before even leaving the hospital. It was a turbulent ride, but it ended well and with many memories of love and support from all around us.

And for the past six years I've watched my tiny babe grow into the sweetest, most caring, thoughtful, cautious, hard-working, little guy around. As I type the "count-down-to-Kindergarten" chain only has three links. So many things to celebrate and reflect on this week. And in the past six years I have experienced some lows and some truly difficult challenges, but without a doubt I would do it--all of it, down to every last move I've made and choice I've chosen-- over and over again without regret. Motherhood has been the hardest and most meaningful thing I've ever done in all my thirty-four years. I'm grateful to my first-born for teaching me to be a mother, and patiently showing me the ropes for six years and counting. Happiest of birthdays, Jack. Your mommy loves you oodles.

This year Jack wanted a Pirate-themed birthday. Since Kindergarten is coming so fast and we've been feeling a bit pulled in multiple directions lately, I wasn't quite up for a big party like last year. So we did the same thing as with Benji's birthday this year, and let him choose a few friends to take to dinner at Chuck E. Cheese's. He had a great time.

On his actual birthday, Saturday the 11th, we had grandparents, and Uncle Danny & Cousin Miguel over for lunch and Pirate Cake. It was a gorgeous day, as the heat had finally broken. Just like last year! He must be a Lucky Leo.

After family went home, we decided to continue with a tradition started last year and set up camp in the backyard for the evening of his birthday. The weather was too nice to skip out on this. Neighborhood friends came over and shared smores, and then I camped with all three boys overnight in the tent. They did great! It was a cool night, but we were toasty through the rainy night in the tent. Our tent is holding up nicely, considering I've had it 12 years! Of course, for the last six it's only been used twice :)

It was a fun birthday weekend. Still hard to believe my little dude is growing up so fast. But it's amazing watching him do it!