Canning

 The leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints have always taught and encouraged its members to "Be Prepared." 

Sometimes life doesn't go they way you plan and you might lose your job, get sick, etc. Being prepared gives you peace of mind during difficult times.

In an effort to head the advice of the church I started accumulating food storage some years ago, but with the doubling of my family members in a short period of time found that I needed to add to my supply. Because my sister lives close by we decided to make it a team effort. In less than four hours we canned over 200 cans. There was a lot of preparation that went into deciding how much to can, where to get it and what made sense to can ourselves or buy pre-canned, but we learned a lot and we feel a lot more prepared!

I wish I had remembered to take more pictures. I didn't get any of my sister. We checked out two canners from the cannery and at one point had all the kids helping us. It was great. (The stack of boxes belong to me. My sister had an even bigger stack.)

The General wouldn't nap and had the absolute time of his life crawling all over the garage floor. At one point he was eating pieces of oatmeal that had dropped and mixed with I don't know what on the ground. I know...no "Mother of the Year Award" for me, but he was so HAPPY!

Wrecking Crew a.k.a. My Darling Children

Like most young children, my kids have a lot of fun wreaking havoc...I mean curiously exploring the house. They are like little Tasmanian devils, leading to the occasional dents in the wall, marker/pen on the furniture, Sharpie on the kitchen cabinets, toys in the toilet, dresser drawers emptied and contents scattered, sharp objects in the outlets...you know, the fun stuff.

In the past I usually either cried or yelled depending on what I discovered, but with the advent of the smart phone, I've found myself taking a picture first and disciplining later (it helps me to calm down too). 

It's interesting because they can't believe their luck when I tell them to stop right there so I can get my phone to take a picture. I get the look, "Can you believe it? She's actually going to let us get away with this. She only takes a picture of fun things." Here are a few of the highlights.

 

The Chief can't resist the pantry. I put a lock on it, but he's always watching an waiting for me to forget and make a mistake. When he does sneak in, he always makes sure to close the door and keep quiet so I can't find him. We nicknamed him the Ninja.

 

 Because of his food allergies it can be a big deal when he gets into the pantry and finds something he shouldn't be eating or touching. I usually have the "dangerous" stuff up high, but was caught off guard with his interest in the formula. I had just weaned The General so formula was something new to The Chief . While I was in the other room he grabbed the container, dumped its contents and started eating it...seriously, he's a picky eater too, who would even think to eat that stuff, Yuck! He broke out in hives wherever the formula touched him and his eyes started swelling shut. Thank goodness for Benedryl.

 This is pretty self explanatory. I wonder what he thought he was throwing around? Torpedoes maybe?

 This is the handiwork of The General. He doesn't want to be left out. He broke my 8 cup glass measuring bowl and a tall floor vase I've had for over a decade. I guess he didn't like it. My girls have done their fair share of destruction too, but I don't have any pics to prove it.