Happy Halloween!

Here is our Island Princess, Artemis (daughter of Zeus, twin sister of Apollo) and the classic Halloween Ghost.

And here is our Gypsy enjoying her Candy.

And here are the girls teaching Izzy the art of the Candy Swap.

We had an unusually mild night (weather wise) for trick-or-treating with plenty kids swarming the neighborhood.

Tooth Fairy

Maren just lost her 3rd tooth.  Kirk found this note under her pillow along with the tooth...

Dear Tooth Fairy,


Please give me $200 for my tooth.
Hello, thank you for the money.
Next time I will probably keep the tooth.


Love, Maren

The Harvest

It's harvest time at the farm.  Some things we have planted (corn and sunflowers).  Everything else we are discovering as it comes.  There is an orchard with at least 20 trees.  It's kind of like 'The Secret Garden' and we are in the process of clearing out the weeds and overgrown vegetation to discover what lies underneath.

Kirk's field of dreams (a.k.a. the corn patch) has given us lots of corn to eat and share.  The girls like the corn so much, they will munch on it raw while we are at the farm.  We planted yellow and red corn.  FYI... red corn looks interesting, but doesn't taste nearly as good as the yellow.

My 'frutarian' children love all of the fresh fruit and are great helpers when it comes time to pick.

  Plums, apples & pears from the fruit trees.

 And, after all of the work, there is time to play. 

Hannah has found a friend next door (Lindsey) who has horses... perfect!

Work Detail

This weekend at the farm, we involved the girls in a few work projects.  While Kirk and I rolled a culvert down to the creek to make the beginnings of a bridge, Hannah and Paige were in charge of bringing the branches of a downed tree over to the burn pile.  They were good workers and made a great team.

Peaches, and Pears, and Apples! Oh, my!

I don't know what possessed me, but I've been on a canning binge this past month.  Normally I do a batch or two of pear sauce. And that's all.  My neighbor has these amazing seckle pears that make super sweet pear sauce with great texture and no added sugar.  But after a rather heavy pruning last year, there were no pears to be gleaned,

and this year my cupboards were feeling rather empty,

and the fruit at the fruit stands looked rather appealing,

and I went a little crazy.

It all started when my good friend Cassi did a day trip from Spokane to be my applesauce partner.  We tackled several boxes of freshly picked apples from the Whitby's. 

It is never safe to attempt applesauce without help. 

We make a good team. 

We make a good mess. 

We always wonder why we do it. 

In the middle of winter when we open a can of applesauce and enjoy it's fresh taste,

we remember why we do it.

 Processing outdoors on the camp stove is a lifesaver.

 After the applesauce came pears, which I always swear I will NEVER DO AGAIN.  Until next year, when I forget and do it all over again because, like childbirth, I forget how much work it takes. 

Then I did peaches for the FIRST TIME.  They weren't as bad as pears and I know I will have to ration them because my kids will beg eat them everyday, all winter.

This is why I dislike canning... the big mess. 

 But, with a little help from my favorite stove cleaning product 

and lots of elbow grease, it (usually) comes clean.

School Begins

School has begun.  It actually started a few weeks ago and we are getting into the groove although it has been a hard transition from a fun summer.  I just found my camera, so this post is a little delayed. None of the girls were very excited to get their picture taken.  Paige was the least excited, can you tell?

Maren is in 1st grade with Mrs. Vanhorn. Going a full day is tiring and has been a transition for her.  She likes riding the bus home with the big kids.  She reports that 'there is too much math' but likes school otherwise.  I just realized that this is the year when I will need to sit with her EVERYDAY as she sounds out each and every letter in each and every word in each and every book she brings home.  This is tough for me. I am hoping that her learning curve is short and she can be a smooth reader soon.

Paige is in 4th grade with Ms. Litven.  Her group of friends got split up this year.  She is a little sad about this, but I am hoping this will give her an opportunity to expand her pool of friends.  She is in advanced reading and math.  This is the year she gets to go skiing for one of her field trips.  I have already signed up as the parent volunteer for that one.

Hannah is in 6th grade with Mrs. Roget.  Her first pile of math homework (she is in advanced math) was more than she has ever gotten before.  I have a feeling that this is the year when she learns how to balance homework and free time.  No more finishing homework on the bus. This is her last year in grade school.  I am already nervous to send her off to Junior High next year.  Is she that old already?

Boys Club

On our third night of our rafting trip, we had a perfect rock to jump off into the Snake River.  The boys got serious after all of the kids got their fill  and a little showing off was in order.

 A little back flip and muscle man from Kirk.

 

From Keith we witnessed a few twisting maneuvers.

Bruce won the silliest award with his excellent Popeye dive.

 

Bret showed off his running man and back flip.

 

Jake (aka 'the Fish') learned how to do a back flip with encouragement and pointers from the men.  Way to go Jake!

Megan finished us off with style as she performed her fashion dive.