First off this morning, we butchered the remaining 30 smaller-than-they-should-be chickens. We were joined by Dean, Judah, Astrid, and Joseph Kaisner who wanted to see how we did our butchering. Done by 9:00, Dad had jobs and errands, and girls and I had kitchen projects to do. One project was a huge batch of frozen fruit cups – a recent favorite that we are thoroughly enjoying. VERY refreshing on a hot day.
Frozen Fruit Cups:
1 pint blueberries
2 quarts strawberries, drained
2 cans peaches, drained and cut into smaller chunks
4 cans mandarin oranges, drained
2 cans pineapple chunks, drained
1 box instant vanilla pudding
1/2 can frozen lemonade concentrate
Mix all ingredients, reserving juice to drink later. Fill cups and freeze for 1 hour. Enjoy.
This recipe makes about 12 of the bigger cups (see size below), but that makes a huge serving so we’re going to use smaller cups next time. If cups are in the freezer longer and are frozen solid, they need to be taken out at least an hour (maybe a little longer) before they’re eaten so they can partially thaw. Delicious…and a fun project because little girls can help with many things.
After lunch – the youngest six kids and I headed to Uncle Jerry’s; Sandi and her youngest five kids met us there and we had a delightful hour or so of swim and fellowship fun. Then home for a beach afternoon – with the hose hooked up to the rainwater tank and slowly draining into the sandbox, the kids were happy for a couple hours. Sand + water = very much fun! Meanwhile, Dad and the boys went tubing on the Mackinaw River with Nate, Gabriel, and Josiah – it was a beautiful day for a lazy float down the river, complete with all its accompanying rope swings, swims, and bridge jumps. They were home a little after 4:00, right after our crew here had started to clean up and go through showers etc. We had very much fun hearing about their river adventures; but I’m even more convinced that I don’t really want to be that adventuresome. Maybe someday? Well, maybe. Certainly not right now, though.
Chores, lots of cleanup, supper prep, and supper. To CIT to check out the hay they had baled, and then to Morton for fireworks. I forgot my camera; I didn’t want it for fireworks (go borrow a book from the library – it would have much better pictures) but rather, I wanted it for pictures of Joshua. He was SOOO CUTE. He was on Jesse’s lap eating crackers when the first one started, and he stopped mid-chew and just stared and stared and stared. After half a minute he decided this was not fun, and he dove for my lap and kept pointing to the van. Smart little boy – he knew the escape route pretty well. I took him in the van, and he kept staring and staring, and after a couple minutes he started saying, real quietly, “Boom” after every boom. I’m not sure how he knew to say that, but his “Booms” got louder each time, and his smiles got bigger too. When Dad brought Jewel to the van (scared), Joshua was ready to go out with him again. And he spent the rest of the show just grinning so cute and saying “BOOM” after every explosion. On the really loud ones, his whole body would stiffen up and he would shout pretty loud…all with big grins and laughing. I so wished I had my camera; a video would have been precious. Oh well. It was such a good time regardless.
Home to beds.
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