Goin' Crazy

This has been one crazy week and it isn't even over yet! I like to feel like I have accomplished things at the end of the day. Every day this week I have accomplished tons and yet still go to be with tons left undone.
Partly, it is adjusting to working full time. Church has been extremely busy as we are getting ready for our annual Pig-a-Palooza event. The copier is smokin' due to all the copies I am running, lol! This will be the 5th year of this community event. There will be pony rides, a bounce house, climbing wall, live music, bow hunters, Chicken BBQ and more. I am sure I will post pictures since I seem to be the designated photographer.
Then there's the boys. They are still adjusting to school, homework, chores and the like. Of course they don't do those things in a vacuum. Homework requires our help, chores require our oversight, school requires us to get up at the crack of dawn too. Did I say I was looking forward to a routine again? WHAT was I thinking??
Josh is in football and now the games have started. I don't know who is responsible for their schedule this year but most of the games are away and most of the locations are an hour's drive. They had their first game on Wednesday and it tied up 5 hours. Poor Josh didn't get home until 8:30 and then had homework to boot. Here is a shot of him after a scrimmage last weekend. He plays offensive line at the moment.


And then there is the call of the produce! I thought I was mostly done with my canning, except for a couple more batches of salsa for Kaleb. But then came the call of more free peaches. The kind perfect for canning. So, off we went to glean more fruit. Greg and I were up until 11 the other night putting up quart jars of sliced peaches. Again, a first for me. I was glad to have a helper because these were a bit time consuming. But look at the result of our labor...


Aren't they beautiful?? We did 18 jars in total. One broke in the canner. On the last batch I cooked some whole vanilla beans in the light sugar syrup to see if we could mimic the vanilla peaches we tasted at the Mennonite market this summer. Oh Baby!! We opened a jar at dinner tonight and it was unanimous...these peaches ROCK! You know what that means, don't you? Probably more canning in my near future!

Back to School

Summer is over. The buses are running. The new sneakers can finally be worn. Ah yes, the start of another school year. Kaleb is now a 6th grader, officially a middle schooler. Josh is an 8th grader. As I do every year, I made them pose for a picture before the bus came. I needed to use the flash since the sun wasn't exactly up yet. I was wishin' I wasn't up yet, lol. So, here are our two fine, young men...

Loaded down with stuff already. Poor Josh had 3 bags to carry. One for the football gear he needs for practice after school. Yes, you read that correctly. Josh has signed on to play modified football this year. Kaleb decided to sit the season out and I think he has missed it somewhat.

Kaleb was very nervous about entering a new building with new rules. He now has to change classes every period. He managed just fine, no major incidents to report.

Last week we had the chance to go to a Buffalo Bills preseason game against the Detroit Lions. Our friend Lynn gave us 4 tickets she got from work. She was going to take the guys but at the last minute had to cancel, so I went along. It was a perfect night for watching a game. We had awesome seats, mid way up on the 40 yard line. All I will say about the score is that it is going to be a loooooong season if you are a Bills fan! Here we are at the end of the game.

One of our old Young Life kids is now a Buffalo Jill cheerleader. We didn't get a chance to talk with her but we could see her on the field doing her thing. Fun stuff!

I am off to bed. Tomorrow is another early morning.