Double, Double, TOIL and TROUBLE

Tons of tomatoes

I am not kidding when I say tons- I think 13 big box or bushels, whatever they call them.

Kelly, Brenda and the crew spend a couple of days peeling, quartering and canning all the tomatoes.  I decided to try and make salsa with some of the loot.

Pretty peppers from my garden.  Just out of curiosity why does the rhyme go "pick a peck of pickled peppers?"  Wouldn't be better to say a peck of peppers for pickling or a peck of pickling peppers?

Boiling diced tomatoes

All the good stuff in

The final product-  I use vinegar instead of lime juice - not so good.  Lucky for me Kelly made some with lime juice and gave me a jar.  Now I know not to follow the checkered cookbook recipe.

Merry was my partner in crime.  She loved peeling the skins off of the tomatoes.

This is what Gracie did while we worked.  I love her little dimply knuckles and chunky wrists

Another visit to the pumpkin patch.  Merry just woke up from a nap.  My sister Ann came with her family.  We had a great time partying as always.

What's up?

What are we up to today?   Canning tomatoes.   My friend Kelly talking me into a canning co-op.  I have been boiling, peeling, dicing, and processing all day.  More pictures of my adventures in canning to follow.

The butterflies are all over in my garden this fall. So are the hummingbirds.

They love the blossoming sky flower.

Just because I like butterflies

more of the pumpkin patch

We drove past the pumpkin patch in Helotes twice in the past 2 days.

They have all the scarecrows, hay, and other decor out but no pumpkins.

So we headed to the pumpkin patch on Tezel instead.  I spent the whole time searching for 2 matching short, squat pumpkins for my urns on my front porch.  Brian walked to Walgreens and got us all drinks and the kids made sure all the decorations in the photo setup were rearranged (except for Gracie who tried to eat her dress, then a pumpkin, then some Indian corn, then her hands, and then her dress again).

Merry insisted on not wearing shoes- which was all fine and dandy until she stepped in a sticker patch.  Fortunately the lady at the pumpkin patch had band-aids on hand.

Jacob sat on a fruit snack in the car, then sat on some hay- his cords were not a pretty site.  Thank goodness for goo be gone at times like these.

Grace looking at Merry 

Merry looking at Grace 

and Jacob dreaming of getting a green pumpkin

I love fall

The top 5 reasons I love fall

5.  ubiquitous use of the color orange

4.  high boots

3.  fantasy football

2.  new No. 2 ticonderoga pencils for doing crossword puzzles

1.  little girls in striped tights

Opinion poll - which coloring do you like better?

Lots of Grace

Grace is five months old and enjoys sleeping, eating and screaming

Her favorite toy is a beach ball with a rattle in it.

She loves to swing in backyard and watch Jacob and Merry play.

Her little hands are constantly grabbing things.

We love our happy little baby girl

Please save me pumpkin

Good thing I have a pumpkin to lounge on

5 Month preview

Gracie at 5 months-  she was so determined not to smile - this is a sampling of some of the faces she was making.  More pictures to come

Fun in the sun

We went to the Guadalupe river on saturday with the YW

 Here's little Gracie modeling her swim attire

Jacob chasing a beach ball

Merry wearing a PBJ sandwich on her legs and a scowl on her face

Thanks Ashley for this lovely shot of me

I forgot to take any pictures of the scenery - I was to busy trying to navigate the river 

but this is what it looks like- the cypress trees are amazing

These are Jacob and Merry's school pictures I scanned in - they are grainy but you get the general idea