When Did Life Get So Busy?

This turned out to be quite a busy week!  And at the end of the day on Sunday, I said to Brian, "There just aren't enough hours in the day to get everything done that we need to!"  We had Curriculum Night at Hailey's school on Wednesday.  This was a way for us to hear about what Hailey will be learning in Kindergarten over the year and what we should be doing to help her.  It was very informative, and I'm excited to see how she does throughout the year.  On Thursday, I spent the majority of the day attempting to make tomato sauce with some ripe tomatoes from our garden.  I had about 15 pounds of tomatoes, which sounds like a lot, but when cooked down, amounts to a little over 1 quart of sauce.  I looked up some recipes online, because I wanted to be able to use some of my fresh herbs as well, and found a few that were very similar in ingredients.  So, I grabbed the best of each recipe and got started.  All the preparation and cooking went great, but after eating it with some pasta and hamburger that night for dinner, I knew I needed to do some tweaking the next time I made it.  I think cooking is a lot of trial and error anyway.  I can't imagine that perfection happens very often on the first try.  So, at least I have something to start with!

Clara has really picked up her walking abilities in the past week.  She knows how to stand up on her own without holding on to anything, and she's starting to walk more than crawl (unless she wants to get somewhere fast, then she crawls).  We also noticed in the last couple days that her two top front teeth are starting to pop through her gums.

A Hailey funny from Saturday...I went to see my friend, Laura, and her 2 month old twins in the morning, and before I left, I told Hailey she had to be good for the morning if she was going to go with Brian to get wood for our winter wood pile.  When I got back, I asked her if she had been good, and her reply was, "Good enough."

We went for a "Nature Walk" on Saturday afternoon in a nearby forest preserve.  I wanted to get a few different types of leaves to make a banner with for Clara's birthday party (I'll post a picture of that in a future post when I get it done).  It was fun to get out and enjoy the beautiful weather!

On Sunday, we went to church in the morning and then Hailey and I did a little clothes shopping as we realized she can't wear any of the clothes she had from last Fall/Winter.  After getting home, Brian and I decided we would make Apple Cider donuts that evening instead of next weekend.  Because of the impromptu decision, Brian had to make two trips to the store for buttermilk and Crisco, and we didn't even get to frying them until 8:30 pm.  But they are done and taste good!  Although, next year, I think I'm going to try baking them in the oven instead of frying them.  It's so hard to get the frying part right, and for me, I prefer the taste of the actual donut instead of the taste of grease.  Again, trial and error, right?

So, the projects we couldn't get done this weekend will have to spill over into this week.  Thank goodness I'm not working!

 

Hailey's paper "self" she made for Curriculum Night.  The teacher said the kids did all the cutting/gluing/drawing/coloring on their own.  I love how Hailey even cut the paper to look like hair.

 

On our nature walk.

 

Hailey's wildflower bouquet she gathered.

 Each week the pumpkin grows a little more!

Apple Cider donuts all ready to eat!