May Menu #4

Monday (24) ~ taco salad
Tuesday (25) ~ subway sandwiches
Wednesday (26) ~ chicken salad paninis & soup
Thursday (27) ~ spinach tortellinis, salad, french bread
Friday (28) ~ out to dinner for friend's birthday
Saturday (29) ~ camping
Sunday (30) ~ camping
Monday (31) ~ bbq

Canning Jam

As promised, Aubrey and I spent a few hours in the kitchen together and made strawberry jam from the berries that were picked at the farm.

{Berries hulled and ready to smash!}

{We took turns smashing the berries to get 5 cups each batch}

{Time to fill those jars!!}

{We had a great time canning jam - and look forward to doing more canning this summer.}

{Our finished product!}

10 cups crushed strawberries...

14 cups of sugar...

1/2 cup lemon juice...

 2 whole batches...

2 packets of pectin...

LATER

we made 10 (12 oz) jars of canned strawberry jam!

DELICIOUS!

(now we need to make some bread to go with it)

Soccer Play-Off Game #2

For the second play-off game, the team tied 0 to 0 against the first place team. Then they went into 2 (5 minute) overtimes. Still tied 0 to 0. The refs were then deciding whether to go to penalty kicks or to sudden death and they ended up going with penalty kicks. Aubrey's team's goalie saved every shot the other team made (3 of them) and Aubrey's team shot all of them into the net (again, 3 of them). The final score was 1 to 0 - with their team now moving up into the championship game next week. The girls were sooooo excited! :)

This is also the farthest Aubrey has gotten on a soccer team; all seasons, she has made it to play-offs but never the championship! And every season, she keeps getting better and better and more aggressive with the ball and out on the field. Go Aubrey (and team)!

{Aubrey - blue shirt, middle}

{We finally got smart and brought his bouncy ball - thinking it would provide more entertainment than going up and down the hill. But it ended up being the same...just while holding his ball now! :)}

{This picture was taken right after I stopped her from picking on her brother - pulling on his shirt while he kept trying to walk forward...to be exact. Such a stinker!}

{Aubrey - blue shirt, middle}

{Aubrey - blue shirt, far right}

{I put him in his blue soccer shirt - to match and support his sister on the field!}

{Team sitting during penalty kicks}

{After game snack & pep talk}

We're so proud of you Aubrey! Way to go!! :)

Showcase Of Excellence

Friday night, Aubrey's soccer practice was cancelled due to a scheduling conflict - which was probably a good thing in our case because we were originally being torn between two events: soccer practice & her SCOPE project that was on display for the evening. So we were able to attend without the hassle! :)

{Sisters - we just arrived at the high school}

Here is Aubrey with her SCOPE project from her class that was on display at a local high school. There were over a dozen elementary SCOPE classes in the county that were part of this "Learning by Doing" project. A lot of creativity goes into these SCOPE projects and her teacher was so proud of her! She created a trifold with her group on the alien society called the V.S.S.

This is her doodle project called "I'm a Little Hoarse." Here is the story behind her picture: A toy horse thinks he's real but he wonders why he can't "neigh" and thinks it's because he's a "little hoarse."

{Here are the cookie monsters - enjoying the events treat! :)}

Good job to my miss Aubrey! Your project turned out awesome and we are so proud of  you!

Love, Mommy xo

Soccer Play-Off Game #1

This was game #1 to start off the play-offs. The team tied 0 to 0 and then went into two (5 minute) overtimes. Then they tied again and went on to penalty kicks. Their team scored three kicks and the other team scored one - with the final score being 1 to 0.

{Aubrey - blue shirt, far right}

{Aubrey - blue shirt, second in from the left (#51)}

{Aubrey - blue shirt, second in from the right}

{running down}

The little kids entertained themselves by running up and down the slope that was between the field and the parking lot. Most of this game, I was helping to take watch so they didn't run out in front of cars - and little time watching the game. But...they were happy! :) Luckily, I got a few good pictures of Aubrey racing all over the field. 

{one going down, the other going back up!}

{And now we're all going back down. Again. :)}

{Jocelyn loves to hold (aka: squeeze) his hand to "help" but he doesn't like it so much! I can't honestly blame him!}

{Aubrey - second in from the right. Towards the end of the game and tired!}

{SO cute! I love this one!}

{After game snack & pep talk}

{Evening sky as we were leaving the game}

Berry Picking

It was a school day and it was warm and sunny with blue sky. So some friends and I, with our younger children, drove out to Westmoreland Berry Farm to pick some strawberries. This farm is almost an hour away from us and along the Rappahannock River on the way to the Chesapeake Bay - part of the Northern Neck of Virginia. (HERE are some fun facts about the farm.)

We were getting there at the peak of strawberry season and boy were we excited to go pick our own fruit. I haven't gone berry picking since I was a child myself so I thought it would be neat to get my children involved in something fun and rewarding. I would have pulled Aubrey out of school to join us but I felt she was better staying at school to take her yearly SOL tests and not get behind. BUT, her and I will be making jam together so she will not be excluded from this fun experience! :) And I have a feeling this won't be the last time we visit the farm - the harvest schedule shows that raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, peaches, apples and pumpkins will all be available to pick in the coming months.

{Andrew, my friend's son, and Jocelyn}

{Berries at the farm for sale}

{The goat walk}

{All of the kids on the wagon. I love this one of Andrew - when we said to say "cheese" he said "eeeeeese" with a HUGE smile and eyes squinted!}

{My darling helpers and I before our FIRST strawberry picking adventure together!}

{I think this was about the time she informed me she needed to use the restroom. We were obviously on the farm now without one in sight so we walked a bit down the road away from the food so she could squat and pee. I guess we can add that to our day of adventures I suppose! :)}

{Took a picture of the stages of a strawberry}

{She helped carry the basket until it was too heavy. She did great picking only the red ones!}

{Was picking berries with a sleepy and hungry little boy easy? Nope! And he was hot and sweaty which led to more whining - but he was a trooper (and cute in the berry patch) and we all had a BLAST!}

{Us strawberry picking}

{My friend Annette}

{My friend Heather and her son}

{Andrew wandering around :)}

{Here's our 8 quart basket when we were done picking. To pick your own, it was $2.20/lb - so total, it came to $23 and some odd cents. It would have been $4.75/quart if we had bought them already picked. So about $38+ Soooo glad we picked our own!}

{Don't these look SO GOOD? :) Yum!}

{Lunch time!}

{Jocelyn LOVES animals and goats are no exception. She was a little disappointed there weren't any other animals but I had to explain to her that this was NOT the zoo!}

{Swinging is an all time favorite of theirs!}

{View of the farm from the snack bar/eating area}

{Andrew's animal vocabulary is still pretty minimal. Kitty and Doggy are it! So when he saw the goats, he yelled, "kitty, kitty"!!! Not quite, buddy! hahaha}

{Group photo before leaving the farm. Left to Right: Me, Jocelyn, Heather, Heather's son, Andrew and Annette.}

{"See you next time!"}

{On our way back home, we took a quick driving tour of Colonial Beach. This area divides Maryland and Virginia.} 

*Pictures of jam making coming soon!*