Canning Adventures/Back to School

 Many years ago, in high school, I was in our Future Homemakers of America club.  In fact, my junior year I was the president.  At the time I found that pretty amusing because I was quite sure I'd never actually BE a homemaker.

Well.

It turns out that God had other plans for me than me joining the CIA, which is what I wanted to do.  (Don't laugh, I'm serious.)  So now I have been a homemaker (and a happy one, I might add) for more than twelve years.  I always have had this list in my head of things that I need to do to be successful at this homemaking thing, and canning was one of them.  The problem was, I have been terrified of doing it by myself.  I have a lot of friends who have done it for years with their moms, but my mom's health hasn't ever been to the point where we could do this together.  About a year ago God brought a wonderful family into our lives; they live across the street.  He is a retired police chief and she is just finishing up homeschooling the second of their two sons.  I've been talking with her about wanting to learn to can, and last week she taught me how!

We still have some peaches waiting to be canned, but I've done about 48 quarts of peaches, pears, and spiced pears so far.

After my first afternoon of canning I told Ethan I finally get why people who live simpler lives are so happy.  There is something so peaceful about working to put away food for winter, while the big girls make homemade granola and the little two steal pieces of fruit away from my cutting board.  It's a good life.

In other news, we are entering our fifth week of school next week.  This year we have a 6th grader, 4th grader, 2nd grader, and Pre-Kindergartner.  Aren't they cute?
 

We started using Tapestry of Grace last year and love it.  We're learning about the Middle Ages this year.  That could be a post in itself, but I'll just say here that it has been a blast.  We found out we are related to Charlemagne, which is super cool.  The kids were posing here on their first day of co-op.  This year Spunky is taking Essay Writing and Cooking, Giggles is taking a class called Daughters of the King and Reader's Theater, Bubba is taking Art and Kids Crossfit, and Calico is taking Art and a combination class that has thinking skills, math, and literacy.  They are all happy with their classes.