Déjà Vu

Last year we had a really good time going to the fireworks product demo put on by the group GR purchases all his commercial fireworks from. And having gone before, we felt more prepared this year to invite friends and turn the event in to an official tradition. The weather was picture perfect and we had a fabulous evening!



We packed a simple "camp fire" dinner (aka, hot dogs to warm on a couple disposable charcoal grills), drank pink lemonade, talked and laughed and relaxed, made s'mores, used up odds-and-ends paper goods from previous parties, watched the kids run and play and laugh, and then oooohhed and ahhhed at a beautiful, breathtaking fireworks show. Most of the kids piled into the back of Joe's truck to watch the show; making up their own names for each of the displays.

It was so nice to escape to the country, leaving the stress of "real life" behind and be with good friends for a couple of hours, living totally in the moment.

For your viewing pleasure ... two videos from the evening ...

6-8-10-12 inch shells from Willi Wild on Vimeo.

AERIAL FX Mini Pyro Musical 04/18/09 from Willi Wild on Vimeo.

Welcoming Committee

Yesterday morning, Alex collected a few of my favorite garden creatures and lined them up on the front step. I couldn't resist taking this picture ...

The Reward

Kansas State Assessment testing for the 3rd - 6th grade happened the end of March, early April. And while the kids weren't stressed out about it, they were very focused and really wanted to do their best. One of the reasons they really wanted to do well on the state assessment tests, was because if they did well, there would be a teachers vs. student basketball game. Rebecca was very excited about the prospect of being able to play in this game. And no one was more shocked than I was, when she came home breathless with excitement that SHE had been picked as one of the students to play.

Illegible kids names were placed in a hat, and drawn for spots on the court. Each grade would play one 15 minute quarter (two teams of five would play for 7.5 minutes each) against a team of teachers. Each quarter was followed by a second group of 10 kids throwing one free throw each.

The game was incredibly fun and exciting to watch, an absolutely perfect way to celebrate a job well done by the students. GR was able to take off work a little early and came and watched the game with Alex, Anna and me. Rebecca (the one in the blue t-shirt looking to the right) did really well dribbling the basketball and passing to her team mates. I was so very impressed with how well she and her classmates played. Overall, the 3rd grade did just as well as the other grades competing against the teachers. They all had so much fun with this reward!

And, the score ... it was very close ... 155 to 153, in favor of the students!

Anna's lightening fast, super quiet Stealth Powers

And I was 3 feet away with my back turned, making dinner.

CAN you say CHEESE?

We have an amazing food storage, provident living guru in our ward. I love her dearly and she is so willing and eager to help others store food, preparing for hard times. One of her best qualities, is that she is amazingly practical. She looks at what her family needs, and finds ways to achieve the desired outcome within the limitations of short and long term food storage. She is who turned me on to TVP - love it! - amazing stuff! She discovered you can can butter or margarine - no hot water bath needed, no pressure cooker needed - and it doesn't have to be refrigerated after it's opened - amazing I tell you, amazing.

Her latest discovery is canning hard cheeses.

I have to say that while this ranks right up there in the category of weird home storage things with canning butter, the idea of having cheese that does not need to be refrigerated or frozen and will last ~2 years, and can be eaten straight from the jar or shredded on pizza or melted into a casserole, really appealed to me. And frankly, freezer and refrigerator space is at a premium here and it isn't going to get better as the kids get older. I figure if I can get this to work, it will be a benefit all around! So, on a Sunday afternoon, while the kids were playing with GR, I tested it out for myself, using some shredded mozzarella and cheddar I had in the freezer.

What you need:
wide mouth pint size jars
lids and rings
hard cheese, shredded or cubed.

1. Pack cheese into wide mouth pint jars. A 5 lb bag of shredded cheese filled 6 pt jars. You can also use cubes of cheese, but the shredded was cheaper when I purchased it at Sam’s/Costco.
   
   
   
   
2. Put jars into a pan of water. Bring the water to a slow boil, allowing the cheese to melt. Continue to pack and fill the jars till ¾ inch from the top. This took 20 minutes or more.
   
   
   
   
3. Put on hot new canning jar lids and rings.
4. Water bath the jars in gentle boiling water for 35 min.
   
   
   
   * I found that the mozzarella comes out of the water bath looking a bit burned - light brown on the bottom and around the sides. Denise said the same thing happened to her. The outer layer more than likely is burned. I personally don't think it needs as much time as the cheddar. On my second batch of 3 pints of mozzarella, I reduced the time to 30 and the cheese looks better. That being said, I haven't popped open a jar yet, so I may change my mind once I've opened a jar and tasted it.
   

Denise, let the jars set for a week before trying them. "I opened the lid on the mozzarella and it came right out onto the plate. It sliced great and tasted great. I can use this to shred onto a homemade pizza. This was easy to do and you don’t need a canner, just a deep enough pan for the water bath. "

Happy Easter!

Our Egg hunt Saturday was a fun, laid back, good time, nestled between a busy Saturday activities. All the kids went home with candy filled eggs, and the mama's went home with enough beautifully decorated hard boiled eggs to use for sandwiches and salads over the next couple of days. Easter Sunday brought colder weather and constant rain! The kids had an indoor egg hunt ... the boys hiding eggs for the girls and the girls hiding eggs for the boys. We all enjoyed hanging out at Grandma and Grandpa's playing, eating good food and taking a load off before heading into another busy week.

I hope each of you had a wonderful Easter - or will have since some of you are on the Orthodox calendar and will celebrate this coming Sunday.

Here are pictures from our weekend:









Everyone decked out in their Spring best: