My Boys in the Kitchen

This is a funny one. I can't wait to tell you. My boys got out the big brand new jar of applesauce, and served themselves some. They ate 3/4 of the jar (the jar is the big one!), before they reported to me that the applesauce was spoiled, and maybe they shouldn't eat any more of it. In fact, they wanted me to take it back to the store to get our money back because it was bad. You know what was going through my mind now: Oh, no! Will they get botulism because they ate so much of the stuff?

I started my investigation. I tasted the applesauce from their bowl. Yes, it was very BAD. Yuck! But something wasn't quite right, and now I'm starting to get suspicious. I checked for a "Best By" date label and I didn't find one. I wondered if the seal had popped up when they opened the jar, but there was no way to check it after the fact. Next on my list: checking the rest of the kitchen. You know what I found? Ground Cumin with the lid off. I sniffed the cumin, and Yep! Sure enough, it smelled like the "spoiled" applesauce. Do I even need to tell you how my boys are just like their dad in a certain area? If a little of something is good, then a lot of it is even better. They must have used a lot of cumin in their sauce, from the pungent taste of it. Long story short, we need to keep working on our reading lessons, but also on not assuming we know what something says without sounding it out. They thought they had doctored their applesauce with Ground Cinnamon. We all had a good laugh about it. But I still can't get over how they ate so much of it when it tasted so bad!

All Work and no Play Makes Jack a Dull Boy

Okay, so our family works together, but we also play together. We went to the race track with our own celebrity race car driver, my husband! Well, he's still working on the celebrity bit. Ch did some racing on the dirt tracks when he was in high school. He started it up again last year. The boys always go with their dad to the race track, but B and I usually skip it. They get home very late, and it can be dirty and noisy. It's not B's thing so I usually keep her home. (I'm kind of a homebody sometimes and may not need much encouragement to hang out at home!) But the other night, B and I went with the guys. The meet at the track was not for a race, but open practice. It's gearing up for the new racing season.

Ch is very lucky to have a couple boys old enough to help him out. He's got a built-in pit crew! There are lots of other drivers near us in the pits, and they all comment on how they could use our boys for their pit crew. They're not kidding; they really are quite helpful! It's so neat to see them running around with their many duties. They know just what to do and when! This time, B got in on the action too. She had fun doing it, but we weren't there late in the night. She's more of an early bird and doesn't last late into the evening!

In these pictures, C is checking the air pressures in all the tires. If there's too much, he can take some out; if there isn't enough, he puts some in all by himself. Ch will change the pressures throughout the night as the track conditions change over time. H is taking care of the tires, only I had to take the picture off. It had a close-up of hubby's name on the trailer. All 3 kids kept very busy scraping mud off the car. Every time Ch took the car out, the car gets caked with a heavy cement-like clay mud. It covers the entire underside of the car. The kids scrape everything off they can, before it's time for Ch to take the car out again. I kept myself busy with the stop watch, taking still pictures, and also video camera taping of Ch's laps around the track. He uses the video footage to critique his performance. He's always trying to improve his technique next time out!

I have to say something else about this whole racing business. It is not always inexpensive. I am glad that my husband has learned how to be very frugal. Because of his line of work, he has built up quite a network for himself. He's always got his ear to the ground, and paying attention to deals and barter opportunities that may become available. He got this whole car for a steal. He traded the decals on the car and trailer for some dirt work he did for the decal guy. He's always at the auctions (looking for trucks for the water trucks) and you wouldn't believe the deals that you can get on all kinds of stuff. Lots of times, he'll buy something at an auction and turn around and resell it for what it's worth. Oh, and I can't forget to mention that it certainly helps that Ch is very much a handy-man. Self-generated labor is free, and easy on the pocket-book! He's even got sponsors for his racing. Businesses pay for advertisement. So, for that I am truly grateful. And for anybody that's interested, here's a shot of the engine. This is an "open-wheel modified" race car. Whatever that means.

Strawberry Picking

The other day, the homeschool group decided to go strawberry picking. I figured we would meet everybody there, but there was just one problem. Not knowing where the place was, I mapquested and got the address to the Farm. Mapquest gave me the address and directions to the strawberry farm's owners' house. By the time I got new directions from their neighbor on how to get there, we were nearly an hour late. The rest of the group was leaving when I went in to pay for our strawberries. Oh, well!

We were quite impressed with these strawberries. They were delicious! I spent a little time chatting with a gentleman that works there at the farm, picking his brain about their whole set-up. I guess I am starting to think like a farmer! Drip lines, freeze protection, variety of plants and harvest seasons. It's kind of fun. Anyway, they pick there from Dec. to around the end of April. (This info will interest my family living out west. You local folks already know the picking season, I'm sure.) We have had Florida strawberries before, from farther down south, and they taste like cardboard. These berries are SO sweet. Well worth the $1.90/lb. we paid for them. Not to mention the "grazing fee" being included in that. We'll definitely have to go again soon.

The kids had fun picking and EATING strawberries while I, the Mom, picked berries to cart home with us. Then they had fun on the playground, which featured a truly adventurous "zip-line". The picture of C under H is how they would bring each other and the handle (for the zip line) back to the starting position. It struck me as funny!

Chug-Chug, Choo-Choo!

In true family co-operation, the kids have gotten back into their wooden train track set. H got this table and train set around the time C was born, and the 2 boys used to play with it for hours. It was put away for a while, and we almost got rid of it when we moved in our new house. I am so glad we didn't! It sits in B's room, but that's okay. She's playing too. The kids had some Christmas money, and they purchased a few new engines and some new much-needed track. They are having the grandest time together with it. I love how they are all playing together, even given the almost 6 year age span between them.