Almost 20

 Malachi was home last weekend.  His 20th birthday is coming up, so we went ahead and celebrated while he was here.

We also were able to go to his concert last week.  

Emry's Turn and Painting the Deck

 

Emry enjoyed his first cooking club on Monday.  He made an apple dessert, which was quickly devoured.  I think all of the kids will enjoy their 4-H cooking clubs.

Also this week, we cleared the deck.  Nathaniel powerwashed it on Sunday, and yesterday the younger boys did touch-up painting.

They took turns between the roller and the brush.  It tried my patience for sure, but the deck got mostly done.

Buddy Bean enjoyed his time in the pen in the yard during both the powerwashing and the painting.  He is now back on the deck, which is still mostly empty, which he seems to find a bit annoying, but we did give him his tunnels and favorite hideaway spot.

A Bushel and a Peck

 

On Saturday, we had a great time apple picking!

It's been years since we got to pick our own apples, and Emry had never been apple picking.  We picked a bushel and a peck.

After the kids had some time on the playground, we returned to the fields for pumpkin picking.

Lastly, we also headed into the corn maze, with Nathaniel to guide us so we wouldn't be left wandering forever.

Now, I've got apples to process.  I've been dehydrating them, and like the peaches, dehydrated apples have been a big hit with my youngest two.  Nathaniel has always liked apple chips, too.  I also made some apple sauce, and an apple pudding.  I will probably make some apple cinnamon jam and a pie at some point, but fortunately, apples keep much longer than peaches, so I don't have to rush.

Cooking

 All three of the younger kids are signed up for 4-H cooking clubs this year.  Last night was Gyunay's first time in his new club.  Lydia is also in that club, but she was home sick, so he had to go solo.  He loved it.

He wore an apron that was Malachi's.  Mamaw made it when Malachi was probably 10 or so.  Gyunay is so happy to do something connected to his big brothers, so wearing the apron was perfect.  Emry can't wait for his first cooking club next week!

Children's Museum

 The youngest three and I took a trip to see the family a few days ago, and we explored the Children's Museum of Evansville.  The boys had never been there, and Lydia was too little to remember going.  We were joined by my parents, sister, and nephew, and the boys had a blast!

(Lydia had fun, too.)

We also watched a high school freshman football game, so the boys were excited to finally go to a football game.  We had fun seeing my niece cheer.  It did end up pouring on us at the end, but it was still fun.  It just made the boys that much faster putting on their pajamas when we got to my parents' house!

September Harvest Totals

 I finally got some produce from the garden this month.  The tomatoes have been deer-eaten and just not producing, but the tomatillos have produced more than ever!  I had over 6 lbs last month, and over 9 lbs this month!  I've made lots of tomatillo salsa, and more will be coming on.  The hens are mostly laying well.  Belle hasn't laid an egg since May, but the other 12 hens generally lay very well.  A couple of them were molting this month, so the numbers are a bit down.  The Edmondson cucumbers have taken off, too, and I've fermented lots of pickles as well as canning some.

Beans, blue lake - 2.1 lbs

Beans, cresent - 13 oz

Beans, dragon tongue - 14.2 oz

Cabbage, Asian - 1

Carrots - 7

Cucumbers, Edmondson - 66

Cucumbers, Green - 3

Cucumbers, NC - 1

Eggs - 196

Jalapenos - 4

Pepper, Bulgarian sweet - 2

Pepper, misc sweet - 1

Squash, Butternut - 3 mini ones (2.3 lbs)

Tomatillos - 9.2 lbs

Turnips - 1

Zucchini - 1

Plus cherry tomatoes, basil, cilantro, mint, sage, thyme, oregano, rosemary, and lemon balm

I grew one fennel plant, which the boys got at a 4-H event.  It has these really pretty caterpillars on it, which look a lot like the caterpillars that turn into monarch butterflies, so I let them have it:

Saint Canoes

I taught my first saint class of the year last week, and our saint, St. Isaac Jogues, spent a lot of time traveling via birchbark canoe, so I decided to do an easy canoe craft.  First, I cut pieces of felt:

Basically, one sheet of felt can make 2 canoes.  By folding before cutting, the sides will match up, but the bottom will be connected.

Then I let the kids have their choice of embroidery floss to sew up the sides.  This caused all kind of joy.  You would not believe how excited the kids were to pick whatever colors they wanted from my floss box, which admittedly has a ton of colors (probably around 80 or so).  None of the kids was familiar with sewing, but they all caught on very quickly, since this was a very straightforward project.

Gyunay sewed his by himself, which surprised me.  I thought I'd have to hold it for him, but he is always so capable.

The boats are upside-down in this photo, but you get the idea.  I told the kids they could decorate their canoes with markers if they wanted, but so far, my boys have left theirs plain.  I originally thought we could make some peg people to go inside, but I was out of pegs, and so was Walmart.  Since I only had this idea the day before class, I didn't have time to run to Louisville to Michael's or anything, so we just didn't make people.  I think we may do that next class.