Whhhsst… + Field Trip Photos

And there it goes… my ability to update.

It’s a circus here right now, but everyone seems to be handling it fairly well. The hardest thing is trying to fit in all the food prep – I feel like I’ve been living in my kitchen.

All but 5 of the first 40lbs ($20) of beefsteak tomatoes are gone. I made two big jars of tomato sauce and had some leftover to try – we had it last night for supper. I liked it; I think everyone else liked it more. I’m not a huge red sauce person. I added smoked paprika and bacon to it. And then I made & froze five big yogurt containers of roasted tomatoes. With the last ones, I’m going to make a roasted vegetable soup this weekend.

Then last week I picked up 50lbs of roma canning tomatoes for $20. I had no idea the place I go to even did bulk romas! I was so excited!! So I got some. So far I have made two big bags of oven-dried tomatoes, and 2 batch (4 pints each) of regular salsa – one with cilantro & cumin, and one plain one. I’m going to make one or two batches of corn salsa tomorrow. It is SO much thicker with the romas, than when I made it 2 years ago with regular tomatoes. I hope we like the taste. Then I’ll oven dry whatever’s left.

This week was supposed to be our first “real” week of activities + school for the kids + teaching for me, but we had a bit of a break as Madelyn’s got a cold/slight fever and stayed home from her things Thursday. (That’s how I got some of the canning done.) She’s not too badly off now – just stuffy. No fever today. And soccer tomorrow morning got cancelled because of all the rain we’ve gotten today – the field is under water. That will make for a much more relaxing day tomorrow. Sunday I’m worship leader at church and the kids will acolyte & Chris will greet. Then we’re heading to an apple orchard for fall fun with some friends.

Madelyn had her first middle school band experience on Tuesday and came home & cried. She told me they hardly played any music at all, and everyone was talking/rowdy, and there were no other sixth graders in the trumpet section, so she didn’t have anyone to talk to. She said it was loud & chaotic, and she just doesn’t handle that well. Poor munchkin. I hope the teacher gets it together & was just letting everyone get reacquainted. She’s to go to full band Tues & Thurs. I’ve been back/forth with the band teacher about when she would hold sectionals and she offered, very nicely, to have Madelyn in special Thurs morning (at a time I said we could come), since she’s the only sixth grader. And that she could join with the other trumpeters on Friday morning, which is ALSO at a time we can come. And they’re both only every other week, so that keeps the craziness down. Both sectionals are first thing in the morning, before we really start academics anyway, so it’s way more than I had hoped for. She can get some (free!) private lessons AND work with the other kids. Madelyn LOVED playing the trumpet last year, but got frustrated with the pace – hopefully this will be a better fit.

September is a month for field trips. Here are pictures from a trip to a local bird sanctuary that we took with friends. My friend has four sons, so there’s a lot of boy energy, but Madelyn does well. I love how the kids are dressed in these pictures, and that Madelyn just goes into woods-girl mode.

Into the woods:

Frog hunting!

Madelyn spotted these pollywogs in the mud. She was bummed we didn’t bring a net… the other boys had them & shared though.

September in Maine:

More frogs!

Of course he brought his bow – restrung after it broke, and fitted with a stick arrow (you wouldn’t believe how far he can shoot that thing!):

My woods children:

Madelyn wrote her name with glass on the bench:

She’s wearing the camp with some Native American symbols she put on it at her summer camp.

Final catch:

At home… can you guess what he’s going to be for Halloween? He’s putting the outfit together:

I made the green cape, originally a “king cape” out of cheap scrap yardage from the fabric store back when Madelyn was maybe three or four. So funny how they do not outgrow dress-up clothes!

Some more science – testing various fruits, etc., for acidity, using the homemade indicator paper:

Science you can eat:

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Another field trip, to Bug Mainea, at our local museum. Madelyn stayed home and rested, but Owen & I went. He caught water bugs in a spoon, tried to catch bugs outside (it was too hot – there weren’t any), and best of all got to use some oak gall ink like they did back in the quill pen days. Perfect since we’re studying illuminated manuscripts in history.