Stokoe Farms 2013

                                                                                                                     Last weekend was the military appreciation weekend at Stokoe Farms so we got free admission for the entire family.  Translation: the only way we could afford to attend.  Combine that with the discounts Bryan gets for working there this year and we had a fun time.  Bryan was able to provide free admission for his Grandparents and a significant discount on lunch for everyone.

Apple Picking

After processing all of the apples last week that I bought from the produce stand, you'd think I would want to avoid apple picking. But we went this past weekend (in the rain) and got a bunch more apples for the next few months.  Yes, apples will keep in the fridge that long if you store the proper variety.  I'll also be making a few more batches of applesauce, pie filling, apples and cheddar, and cinnamon spiced apples.  Depending on what is left at that point, we may dehydrate a few or try apple fruit leather.  It depends on how the week goes.

Robert was here but was hidden by a few older people.

Grandma and Grandpa even treated us to honey crisp apples which I've always refused to buy in the past because they are just too expensive.

Stokoe Farms 5K

Alan and the older 5 children participated in the Stokoe Farms 5K fund raiser run this past weekend. The run raises funds to send live Christmas trees to troops overseas.

This was the second year running for the older two boys and the first for the rest of the kids.  Everyone had an awesome time. Sean came in 11th place or so and everyone finished the race strong.  There are already plans in place for running next year.  No pictures of Sean running because he finished before the folks with the camera but he was there to cheer everyone else on while they finished.

Pictures from our World

Just a few recent pictures from our life lately. Here's  the helicopter Gabe built by himself using the directions in his LEGOClubJr magazine.  If you have LEGO fans in your house, LEGO offers both a regular and a Jr. version of their magazine for free. You have to request a new subscription every two years or so but it's free and all my kid have loved it.

Some of the peaches off our trees this year. This was an awesome year for the peach crop. Sadly the week the kids picked most of the peaches, I got super sick, Alan was out of town, and we were unable to can them.  Truly heart breaking sad to have wasted them.  Seriously. I guess next time I'll try to call a friend to help can them so they don't go to waste.

A special Reese's Pieces snack to go with movie night. You can find the recipe here.

Because we were watching this movie.  I'm liking the idea of themed snacks for movie night. Just might have to try to continue it when possible.

And our version of vanschooling. Or what happens when Mom really needs a break so Dad takes all the kids to karate.

The Locket's Secret

We have several kids in our home who are at the stage of looking for preteen/teen books but often find that most of what is currently being offered for kids at this level is simply inappropriate for our family.  I promise the authors out there that you can actually write entertaining stories that have nothing to do with occult type themes.  Really, it's not that hard.  But I digress.

Lately we have been making a point to seek out young adult authors who write books that we actually want our children to read.  I was thrilled to discover that Pauline Books and Media is now starting to focus on producing books for teen readers.  I had the opportunity to read the book The Locket's Secret by K. Kelley Heyne.

The main character in this book, Carrie, is a young teen girl from a homeschooling family who finds herself in the middle of several different major life changes. Her family is moving across country so that her father can accept a new job, leaving behind all of her friends.  Mom is expecting a new baby and the entire family is still recovering from a heart breaking loss.  We follow Carrie as she struggles to make sense of all of these changes while loosing herself in a vivid daydream of her own design.

I will admit that the daydream world was my favorite part of the book.  I think we can all remember placing ourselves in our own fantasy world when life's challenges got a bit too hard to handle. As Carrie lives within her fantasy world, the characters in her mind deal with the same issues she is trying to handle.

My one complaint was that you did not discover that the family in the book was struggling to deal with the death of one of their children until several chapters into the book.  As a family that is currently dealing with the same issue, having it sneak up on me in the book was a bit startling.  I do wish it had been spelled out a bit more clearly in the description because I'm not sure how each of my children would have handled that aspect of the book had they come upon it themselves. And yet I did find that a passage in the book spoke to my heart regarding the issue and helped just a little bit. "I'd love to tell you that it's going to be okay, but you'll always hurt a little. It's the price we pay for loving."

Overall I enjoyed the book and plan to keep my eye on the other offerings for young adult readers from Pauline Books and Media. This review was written as part of the Catholic book reviewer program from The Catholic Company. Visit The Catholic Company to find more information on The Locket's Secret. The Catholic Company is the best resource for all your seasonal needs such as First Communion gifts as well as ideas and gifts for the special papal Year of Faith.

Monopoly House Party

We hosted a Monopoly House Party last night. Hasbro and HouseParty sent us an awesome party package that included 3 new board games, a monopoly card game, tattoos, monopoly key chains, a monopoly pet bowl (otherwise known as an awesome bowl for salsa), cups, and coupons.

I will say we had an awesome group of folks come over. While the younger kids were playing CandyLand and the littles two girls were playing with the baby dolls, the older kids were playing monopoly and connect four.

I was rather happy to see everyone playing together with no thought given to ages or that dreaded boy vs girl thing. Something I can't ever recall seeing often growing up myself but am thrilled to see being cultivated in my own kids.

Thanks to HouseParty and Hasbro for letting us host such a fun evening and thanks to our friends for hanging out with us.

Happy Birthday Gabe!

Gabe just celebrated his 6th birthday. He took us all out for dinner on Thursday (because getting a table for 11 on a Friday night often requires more than a short wait). On Friday, he helped Dad make his cake and he requested spinach tortellini soup for dinner. I have to say there is something magical about the smell of onions and garlic cooking filling the house. And something magical about a 6-year-old who requests anything with the word spinach in it for his birthday dinner.

 He received some pretty awesome presents this year. A catapult from Uncle Matt (which Sean learned it was best NOT to launch in the dining room) and  LEGO set from his cousins.  (Yes, we keep birthdays small around here just in case you haven't noticed.)  We'll work on fixing up the backyard sandbox later this week.

Happy birthday little man. I hope you had a wonderful day.