all in a days work

I am DONE canning! No, really, I am!! I am all about food storage (if you know me, then you also know that statement is an understatement)....but managing 5 kids---one of which is a baby, 2 that have been off track for three weeks and are bored out of their minds, 1 with ADHD, and 1 that is the only boy in the house so he thinks he can whine about everything----makes it very difficult to get things done on a NORMAL day. Let's now add to that the fact that our peaches, grapes, and tomatoes are all ripe AT THE SAME TIME!!

This morning Mike and I did two more batches of peaches and then called it quits. But, you know us...we can't throw anything away. So, I asked the girls if they wanted to make a few dollars selling them. They even got to keep the money to take to Disneyland. (There are no free rides at this house)

I wish I had taken pictures of during the time they spent out on the sidewalk peddling their wares. It was amusing to watch. The neighborhood boys (ages 6,8,9, and 10) become their best customers. For the popsicles, of course! Not the peaches. They kept coming back and back. I think it was one of those instances where they were buying popsicles in the guise of having an excuse to talk to my daughters. NO!! They are not old enough for flirting and that stuff yet!! It was great though to see the boys out doing something constructive instead of acting like the grade-school gang and picking on dogs.

Later I went out to see how Mike was doing picking the grapes and found a birds nest amongst our grape vines. It was a fascinating find and the kids were so excited to see it. There was one egg inside that was empty and one that had not yet hatched. But since I had to take it out of the grapes, and hence touched it...it will probably remain unhatched. I am sure the mother bird will not be back.

That's too bad, because my kids get others germs on them and I still take them back....