Thursday, July 17, 2008

More zippin'

In my last post, some of the pics weren't that good, but I'll try to get better ones. Here's a short video of Gabe zip lining. :)
~I really should do You Tube...this video is a little whizzey..sorry.~

Zip-it!!






We decided life can't be all work and no play. After all it is the play that makes the work more tolerable, even enjoyable. So we decided to put more energy into planning "fun"...what do I mean plan fun? Well, we want a natural swimming pool...we have to put more effort into making that happen...we want to help the kids build a clubhouse...again, focus. We can't spend our lives working like mad cats and never having fun. No please. So to start our new "fun" tradition. We ziiiiiiiiiip!!! (Note: Don't let this deceive you into thinking that prior to this we were no fun....laughing, happy kids attest to our grooviness.) So back to the zipping, John decided that zip line madness needed to come to our home. His dad put one up for him when he was a boy and he wanted his kids to have one too. Well, not only the big kids, but the toddler is LOVING this new idea. John took Thatch and Cherish halfway down the line, set up the ladder and had them go from there. Weeee. But once the ladder moved to it's orginal *high* starting point, he decided he need to go from there too. So, yes, our 2 year old, does whole 90ft line. Sweet mama, he's brave, eh? So this is how it goes, I climb the ladder, John hands him up, I lift him over my head, John runs in case he drops and he squeals with delight. Actually, by nature, Thatch doesn't squeal, he grunts, and swings his arms in this macho-monkey-man type pose as if to say, "Um hmm, beat that." And for all of you who gasp at the danger of it, just know we had him do it multiple times from the lower part before we let him tackle the high side, and John runs with him, and I say in a repetitive quicklike manner, "Thank you Jesus he won't fall, thank you Jesus he won't fall, thank you..." So it's all good.




Oh, and yes, Cherish does it too, but she hasn't scaled the heights her younger brother has yet. Feminine wisdom?

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

I think, I can

We've tried gardening before with minimal success. This year was better, but our goals soar even higher. We want sustainable living. Self-sufficiency. Mmmm, breath it in. Ahhh. So I'm canning like a crazy woman. So far, we've done green tomato relish, squash relish, potatoes (not sure how these will jive but we were given several free potatoes so...), rotel, and BLUEBERRIES!! Yum! Still to come is more rotel and/or tomato something, jams(oh, I forgot we did strawberry freezer jam...yumomanificient!)...which will include wild grapes that grow on our property...I did blackberry but we didn't get much and have already eaten it all :(, and PEACHES!! Yum! Today was a big day well, I'm not done yet, just taking a breather. It's fun and I'm learning. We hope to have even more next year...did I say that already? John's planted some trees and we are getting more in the fall (fruit and nut). It's so fun.

Back to my canning....I've decided the time is drawing nigh when I should write my own cookbook...my husband has said I should for years, my boys tell me at least biweekly that I should, and after making relish I've decided, they're right. Who writes these recipes?? In the words of our wise 6 year old, "They must be sugar pigs." I halfed the sugar in the recipes I had for relish...half I tell you and less than half in some cases because we don't like things overly sweet. Well, they were too sweet by Akiki standards and we were all bummed. So I revamped the recipes and will NOT conform. I'm bummed because of all the work I put into it and it would be so yum if not for the extra sweetness. It is beyond our comprehension how people can palate foods that sweet. I was wise to the sweet ploy by the time I made rotel and it is just right...finally. So here's to better success with my own recipe!


The kids oinkin' the rest of the blueberries.






Pretty berries!


















So far....







Our garden...to be bigger next year.