Halloween Boo

Happy Halloween.
This is the only picture from the elementary school parade.

This years costumes were- hunter/ghost, purple crayon, chef, witch, witch/baby, cowboy, butterfly/fairy, fireman, pumpkin. We didn't get pictures of individual costumes or the pumpkins they carved.

It was an absolutely beautiful day that ended in a beautiful evening for trick or treating. There was no wind and the temperature was about 15 degrees.  Awesome!
We attended the trunk or treat at the Knight Street Church parking lot. The big boys even got some treats!

After the trunk or treat ended at 5:30pm, Aaren headed to Jace Salmon's for dinner and trick or treating before heading to a Hudson Searcy's party. 

Devin went to Hunter Jarvis's party from 6-8 and then to Harry Searcy's party from 8-10 then back to Hunter's from 10-11:30. Devin got an invitation from Harry first and told him that he would come. Then most of the grade was invited to Hunter's. I told Devin that he needed to honour his commitment and go to Harry's. When I picked up Devin from Hunter's, Devin was totally caught up with friends. The Jarvis house was swarming with teenagers! Had I not arrived, he never would have gone on his own. Devin was disappointed to leave but I reminded him as we were driving away, what an influence he could make in the lives of others. Later he said he had fun at both parties. I'm grateful to Devin for his example and his willingness to be a little different. He has a kind heart. I let him know that he might never know what affect showing up might have meant to the few boys that were there. 

Because the Searcy party finished at an early hour and Deanna Jarvis told Devin he could come back, Devin asked if he could return to Jarvis's. I told Devin how proud I was of him of his actions that evening and that I told him I would take him back. I asked if he could please find a ride home as I wanted to head to bed early. He phoned at 11:30pm begging for a ride home-wanting me to come and get him. I reminded him that I wanted him to get a ride. After listening for a few minutes, I told him I would come. I was grateful that Devin wanted to connect with me. It was a nice drive home.

Later I reflected that about the security of knowing my child would return home safely from a night out with friends if I was the one to bring him home. It may be only a few more years when he will indeed find rides home late at night and then his safety lies in the hands of another.

Cassandra went trick or treating with her friends Jonah Penny and Daylen Wilde. She had a great time and came home with 1/2 a pillowcase full of treats. At 4 pm she began waiting for her friends to come get her as she said the would. At 5pm I told her we would go to the trunk or treat. At 5:30, she began panicking that they had stopped by our house and she missed them. At about 5:45pm I dropped her off at Daylen's aunts house. You could see the relief in her whole body when she found out that she didn't miss out going with her friends. She returned home about 8:00pm. 

Brandon stayed home and handed out treats to those that came to our house.

We met up with Cara and Ethan at the trunk or treat and then she took Maren, Evan and Savanna trick or treating with Ethan. I caught back up with them after getting the others to their parties. We trick or treated together for a bit. Actually she sat in my van because Tysyn and Rebekka fell asleep and I took the kids into the culdesacs so she didn't have to walk.  Then she took them again while I did more running around.

One of the best parts of the night was seeing the local ambulance out driving the streets of town playing Halloween music from its speakers. What a great way for the kids to feel safe and the guys working (Matt Tatlow and Cam Keinzle) feel a part of the fun on Halloween.

The not so great part was hearing of damage done by roaming youth on a beautiful night. Apparently several hay bales and old farm buildings were set on fire.  I was grateful to know that all my teenagers/children were safe in their beds and not up to mischief.

Apples and Squash

2 juicer loads taken out of this bin. (There was 5 1/2 in total from this 1 bin. )

3 more bins to go.

And all theses boxes in the back of the van. 

2 steam juicers going at a time. Thanks to Cara for letting me borrow her equipment. 

Amazing yummy surprisingly sweet crabapple juice in all it's deliciousness!

The applesauce process 

Pure applesauce. So good!

3 squash ready for peeling. 

3 peeled squash ready for chopping

I did squash today too because I left them in the van overnight and they froze. I didn't want them to spoil so I had to take care of them also. In between cooking the apples, I peeled and cut up the 6 squash. I plan to put them in cubes in the fridge for a few days and then will cook them after more of the apples are done.

Facebook post: On the menu today: 6 large Squash and working on 300lbs of crabapples for applesauce.  

I think I'm going to run away,  join the army and work in the kitchen. At least then maybe I can get paid for all the cooking that I do.

Mini Cross-Bow

For Scouts on Tuesday, Aaren wanted to make mini cross-bows that were seen over the internet. He helped gather supplies and organize the activity. After it was over he was able to come home with his own bow to shoot. They shoot great and he is all set to make a few more. 

Because we had some leftover popits from July 1 a few years ago, the boys had a great time making exploding arrows. 

The rest of the supplies came him and the other kids all want one too. 

These really work well.  Be careful where you aim boys!

Krispy Kreme Donuts. Oh ya!

Over the last few days, Aaren has been watching some YouTube videos on how to make some mini crossbows which led to videos on cooking and he came across one on how to make Krispy Kreme donuts.

He asked a few days ago if we could make them sometime. I said yes. Today after school he asked if he could make them. I hummed and hawed. You see, I wasn't home when he asked. I was with the little kids at the primary presentation practice. So while texting back and forth, I gave him permission to start. This is what I said "Ok. You can start if you feel confident you can do it by yourself."

I first encouraged him to get out all the stuff and then by the time he was ready, I would hopefully be home.

Because he was watching a YouTube video how to do it step by step, the dough was mixed and set to rise when I got home. He started about 1:30pm. I did very little to help him. After the dough was mixed he set it on a big bowl to rise. He covered it with Saran Wrap and then set a 60 minute time on his IPod for rising. When the timer rang he set to work rolling and cutting out the donuts.

Once they were all cut out, he started preparing the glaze while I prepared the oil for frying. He preferred that I fry them. I gladly helped. He enjoyed glazing them.

We had a lot to do and he was fun to work with. It was a quiet, busy afternoon of mostly him and myself.

(D was at football and with a friend, B was hunting with Jeff, C M E S T were playing at cousins and R was asleep in the van. I kept dashing in and out to check on her but she slept until just after 5.)

I had to leave him at 4:15 to go get the girls and take them to dance. I also hesitantly left him at 5:25 so I could pick up the girls from dance. He assured me he would be careful at the stove. I let him know if he wanted at any time, he could just turn the burner off and wait until I returned. He was working away when I got back from picking the girls from dance and the littles from playing with cousins.  

He worked until nearly 6. I was mindful that he really wanted to go to the Junior High Haunted House that started at 6. He kept asking what he should do as we still had a lot left to finish. I told him I would finish so that he could go if he wanted. I could tell he wasn't sure what to do. I could see he hated to leave his project unfinished but I knew he really wanted to go so I shooshed him out the door. He came home about 7. 

It was a long process but he was so diligent with it. I was so proud of his efforts. He did an amazing job. They tasted so yummy and looked fantastic!

Aaren followed the video exactly but the guy never said how long to mix the dough for.  Because Aaren doesn't know what to look for, I asked via texting how long he mixed it. He said a few minutes. I told him I mix bread dough for 10 minutes and because this was a yeast dough he could probably mix for 5 minutes or more and still be fine. I encouraged him to turn it back on and let it mix for longer. He did. He texted back 

This is the dough rising.

He ended up with about 2 dozen donut holes and 68 donuts!!!

Donut holes

He took the glazing job!

Some of the finished glazed donuts!

As we worked together, we talked about some of the things he could do differently to make them better. We decided that not rolling the dough as thin; leaving it thicker for cutting would make them great. Also, finding something to make a smaller hole would be nicer. A second batch of glaze was a little thick and we decided we just liked a thin glaze.

He packaged up some to give to Ammon and family and to his good friend Cade and his family. He was so exhausted from his afternoon of baking that he asked if just I could deliver them and he stay home. I did the deliveries for him. Both deliveries were happily received!

I encouraged him to watch the video again sometime in the future and write out the instructions. The ingredient list was all that was written out and posted.

Later this evening after all the kids were in bed he sat on the couch with his iPod, earphones, pencil and paper and wrote out the directions. (He told me that he hasn't written that much since some of the stories he has had to do for school.) 

More tomatoes...

Way too many days to get er done but...I did it.

39 quarts over 2 1/2 days. Yay tomatoes. 

All is safely gathered in.

(I know there is only 36 there. I can count. The last three didn't fit on the counter!)

Next big project: applesauce and juice. I wonder if there is an easier way?

Random pics from our house.

B's look after a hunting trip. We've seen it often lately. 

D's way of filling the water pitcher.

A chilling with his snack at Family Night Live.

C's Family Night Live snack. 

The rest of the Hardy bunch eating their snack. 

T's banana ghost. M is the ghost!

R playing with the ribbon wands at Monday morning parent preschool. She can stand up on her own. 

T can't decide which treat to have at the RES family dance. So many to choose from!

T dancing to the monster mash with ribbon wands at parent preschool. 

S working on rolling her ribbon wand back up.

Rags for shoes?

This boy

IS HARD ON HIS CLOTHES!!

Time for new shoes. 

(These are not "new this school year" shoes. He actually got them for Kindergarten. So I guess they lasted a good while.)

Oh baby

Rebekka is a climber! 

Carrots

I harvested the carrots today. They were the last veggie to come out of the garden. Yay. I just need to empty a few flower pots and clear the garden of shovels and stakes and such and then we can rototill. 

We got quite a few carrots. And the size of most of them surprised me. I really thought that they would be small and underdeveloped. Next year I plan to plant 4-6 rows instead of two and maybe put the rows a little closer together. 

After they were all dug, I chopped off the tops and the root end. (I fed those to the rabbits. They enjoyed their feast.)

Then I washed all the carrots. I left them in the wagon and hosed them down outside. The water and mud ran right through. Then I left them for the afternoon to sit outside in the wind and sun to dry. The wind today made short work of that process!!

Most of the carrots will be boxed up so they can be stored in the cellar at Cara's.

Once the carrots are dried, they are laid down in rows in the box and then a layer of newspaper is placed on top. Another layer of carrots is added and so on until the box is full.

It will be nice to have a couple of boxes that will hopefully get us through the fall and maybe some of the winter.