Of corn and tomatoes and other things

Tuesday September 2

Stephen raised corn this year. A week or so ago Matthew said it is ready. I kept bugging Stephen about what he is going to do with it. Finally this morning I told him he better just go pick it! He brought a nice amount of starchy corn in. We did that this evening after school work was done. We were so tired that lessons took a long time. Then the corn took awhile also because of the same. Thomas took Matthew out for a father-son evening.

I also made some cottage cheese. I had heated the milk to make yogurt yesterday and forgot it, so I turned it into cottage cheese.

This still needs to be crumbled and have cream and salt added to it. Yum!

Wednesday September 3

We did lessons this morning and then ran about. 

Still studying early Explorers of America

A friend said she had 10 dozen eggs and do I want them? I needed my sister's juicer for tomatoes. Another friend said I could pick the corn in her patch. She said it would probably be just enough for a meal. I went where she said it was and picked and picked. There were 5 banana boxes full. I wondered if I understood her correctly. She wasn't at home to ask. Another friend who is gone on vacation said I could pick her tomatoes so we did that and got a tomato box full. We came home at 4:30 and worked on tomatoes. Did 36 qt of juice. The boys went to the river for a swim around 6:30 or 7:00 and came back after dark. We went to bed around 10:00 and left the mess. Not totally but we didn't wash things up well.

Thursday September 4

I called my corn friend this morning and she said yes, I was supposed to get all the corn that was there. 

We had eaten some for supper before I took this photo.

No lessons today. We washed lots of dishes and did the corn. I have my weeks scheduled during September with Fridays off from school. That way when these days come up that produce needs to be done (NOW!) we can easily do it and still have a day to play with. It catches up to me when I have so much to do. I was quite weary again today and had to take an Ibuprofen to still a headache.

Friday September 5

We dove back into the books today. Began studying science once again. We had started a study of Astronomy that we are continuing. We finished the study of the sun today. 

I don't know why these turned sideways on me!

Know how hard it is to find pictures of the sun?!

A 

Turn the wheel to view different things about the sun.

This afternoon the boys went to the church school for an hour of P.E. which consisted of a game of softball. Stephen went on from there with the youth group. They are camping this weekend and Sunday. (I don't think of Sunday as the weekend. It's the beginning of the week.) I cleaned part of the church sanctuary while the boys played. 

When we came home Thomas and I left for a shopping trip/date. We got a few necessary items and had a date at Golden Corral. Dates are too short and far between for all the matters a family our size needs to work on. But I treasure every one.

Can you tell us something interesting you've learned recently about the sun?

What are your dates like?

Labor Day

Our Labor Day wasn't totally a holiday. We had a heavier school schedule today, beginning with My Father's World's Exploration to 1850. 

We started a study of the book of James called, Boy Have I Got Problems. We intend to memorize the book of James this school year. 

I do a daily session with Melvin in Barton Reading & Spelling which is especially for dyslexic children. 

Melvin and Christopher are doing Intermediate Language Lessons which covers 3 years of study (4th-6th grades)

Matthew is doing All-In-One English. 

He also is doing a book study of Johnny Tremain. 

For History we have a number of books we are going through.

Exploring American History

The Last 500 Years

Building a City on a Hill

In God We Trust

There will be more later but that's all for this week.

(Sorry about the photos that are sideways. Just turn your computer on end. Ha.)

After lessons we went to work making food. Fixing lunch -coleslaw (leftovers someone gave us from yesterday's fellowship meal), beans and cornbread- and making food for a church picnic this eve- sloppy Joes, buns, grape juice and potato salad.

Thomas and the 3 youngest went to the church house early (2:00) to check on supplies and etc that trustees are responsible for. Stephen and Austin decided they would rather stay and milk before going over instead of stopping through a ball game to come home and milk. I stayed to finish the food and do lesson prep. 

It was 5:00 or better until we three left home. Because we are trustees I was responsible to look after getting the picnic together. I did get to sit and watch the ball game for awhile. They had so many playing that they made 3 teams that rotated. The ladies all helped to set the food out then so it wasn't like I had a lot of work to do. It's just that being responsible is a little heavier load. Everyone brought sloppy Joes, buns, a side and a drink. A simple and interesting meal.

We are having our dog days in an Indian summer this week. Upper 80's low 90's. At least it's not 100's. The boys thought they might get a swim in this week. Stephen was lamenting the other eve that he hasn't even swum this summer. And truly it has been such a cool summer there wasn't much of a chance. 

How was your Labor Day?

Did you have a hot summer or cool?

What are you studying this year? (You don't have to be "in school" to study!)

Would love to see your comments!

The week in pictures

One of our first projects this week was to pick and can the grapes. We just put grapes and water in the jar and canned it hot water bath style. Cooked them for 20 minutes. I like the color with the mixed blue and white grapes. 

On Wednesday afternoon we babysat Gene & Dorcas Ropp's two children. Christopher does real well with children. After looking at books and playing in the house a bit they went to the deck to play church. Christopher is the preacher and Carson the song leader.

While they were being entertained, Matthew and Melvin were making tomato juice and getting it into cans. I had cut up the tomatoes earlier and had them in the freezer.

I took this photo to show you how I keep juice from squirting all over the place. Take a piece of foil long enough to go over the spout and around the back down to the bucket.

On Friday we had a long day picking beans, tomatoes and corn at my sister's house and then bringing it home to get it canned (beans) and in the freezer (corn & tomatoes). We actually finished the beans and tomatoes on Saturday. 

Sometime this week we got some pickle relish made. The boys ground the cukes and onions for me. See the laptop in the background? Audio books keep them at their work.

We did do some academics too! Actually every morning Mon- Thurs we did lessons. Here's just one snapshot. Matthew's handwriting practice.

Have yourself a blessed week!

School

School has resumed. We are now in our third week and how can that be?! Time goes so swiftly when school begins. I am always amazed. We have kept a light schedule for August because we are still doing canning and outdoor work. Bible, Math, and History are the main subjects at present. We are also finishing up a study of Latin root words we began last year. And, as even during the summer, we keep up with tutoring Melvin with the Barton Reading and Spelling system.

Matthew with some of his etchings

Bible and History are also a continuation from last year, because we didn't finish the books we were in. Come September we begin the new studies in My Father's World "Exploration to 1850". We are finishing up "Rome to the Reformation". We use a lot of "living books" for history and I never knew history was so interesting.

Melvin

For math we are using Kahn Academy. A free online educational site that has a good math program. I was considering CTC Math which I really like but the boys are doing okay with this now so it will save us some money. I will likely continue with Life of Fred math occasionally also.

Stephen and Austin are still helping Thomas on the job but plan to resume their studies in September. Austin uses Tablet Class math and Stephen thinks he wants to do Saxon.

Christopher (& Miss Pepper)

We had planned to take "class photos" somewhere outside but since it was raining we found places inside. Matthew has been etching lots of car logos and tacking them to the wall and ceiling around his loft bed so he choose that spot. Melvin sits by his corner of treasures. Christopher sits with the dog and his birthday tractor. The dog is so black she's hard to see and her one eye shines blue from the flash.

The church school started last week and we joined them for the first day of school breakfast. Laurel Keller left us after teaching two years and Melanie Stoltzfus took her place.

4 boxes like this

One day recently I was needing to go shopping. (We go to Winchester for our "big" shopping.) Somehow there were many things piled up that had to be done NOW. Thomas and I left mid-afternoon to go to town and left the boys with over two bushels of Baby Gold peaches to can. Stephen had a youth activity and the milking needed to be done. So it was up to Austin (15), Matthew (12), Melvin (10) and Christopher (9) to do the peaches. I tried calling home around 8:30 and no one answered. If they weren't finished I wanted to tell them they may just quit. When we finally got home around 9:30 they were finishing up and had just finished eating some burgers they had mixed up and fried. I was so proud of them!

The work of four young boys

The reason they didn't answer the phone is because they had the music turned so high they couldn't hear the phone ringing. I guess they needed something to energize them. One thing I've learned to be very helpful when preserving things is audio books. How does that help? Well, the boys will keep trimming and snapping beans, peeling peaches or whatever is at hand, very steadily and quietly if they have something interesting to listen to.

I took a picture of these jars because when the boys ran out of rings they took them off these first ones they canned to reuse them. They were still warm. Something I wouldn't have done but they didn't know.

It has been very helpful to have another driver around here. Stephen got his driver's license on the first try. He was pretty happy about that because everyone he knew would fail the first time and we thought they just automatically fail the young ones to keep them humble. Austin got his permit after two tries at the test. So he is diligently honing his skills.

I would like to keep a daily record of school activities for my own benefit. Just delete me if you get tired of it.