Do You Like Green Eggs and Jam??

Kayden started taking care of a farm a couple years ago. The owner passed away, and the kids are still trying to sell the house and the land. In the mean time, Kayden keeps the yard looking good. A couple of weeks ago, one of the daughters told him that there were plum trees in the back that produce every other year, and this was their year. She told Kayden we could pick the trees dry, since no one was there to eat them. So last Saturday we all headed over, and sure enough there were nice, ripe, sweet plums. I was so excited about turning them into jam.

Here's the thing though.... they were green plums, not purple. About 1/2 way through my first batch of jam, I found out that green plums make green jam. (Yes, I realize I should have thought of that before I started making the jam....) So here's what they ended up looking like:

(Here's the first 2 of 5 batches)

Yum.... slime covered boogers.... I'm guessing I won't be able to use them as school teacher and visiting teacher gifts this year.... unless they have a great sense of humor!

I still have more plums in the garage. I might try mixing them with some raspberries and food coloring, and maybe strain out the peels... I don't know. It does taste really good though!

Odds and Ends, and Oddities

We were on our way to Soda to watch Kayden run in the Cardinal Classic last Saturday, but it was such a beautiful day (one of the few....), so we only made it as far as Lava. Kayden's cross country team stopped at Lava on their way home, so we got to catch up with Kayden there. He placed 5th on his team. He loves going to Soda to run!

(Taisha and Malia jumping off the 1st platform.)

(McKay in by the rock climbing wall. He figured out how to do back flips off the diving board this trip.)
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Here's Malia's school volleyball picture from this year. Her team is still undefeated (they've played three schools so far), and she is LOVING playing.

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So we have this awesome little birds nest in our front yard:

This would be even more awesome if it wasn't in my wreath on my front door.... How lazy is that bird???

(The nest is on the back side of the wreath on the top left hand side.)

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So I'd like to introduce you to Taisha's pet wasp:

He lives in this box. I'd take a better picture, but duh... it's a wasp. I'm not opening the box. We think it's a "he" because he hasn't stung anyone yet, and according to the research Taisha and her friend have done, boy wasps don't sting. They feed it chicken nuggets and cheese... ya, I know.

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Things at work are still going pretty good, and I think I'm becoming more familiar with everything and everyone. I did try (unsuccessfully) to remove a photocopied staple from a piece of paper though and I think I sound like a dork over the intercom.....

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So my garden froze over the weekend. I hadn't even been watching for freeze warnings yet because it's only the first part of September for crying out loud. This summer has been short, cool, and wet. The peas, carrots, potatoes, corn, squash, onions and beans did great. The tomatoes (only got 2 big bowls full) and cucumbers (only 1 made it to full grown before the freeze) did not do so great this year. No critters ate anything though.

Who are you and what did you do with my old life?

Here's the kids first day of school. Notice how I remembered to take their pictures this year! Kayden kind of has a crazed look in his eye because he SO did not want me to take his picture....

This year I have two kids in high school (9th and 11th grades), and three in elementary school (1st, 2nd, and 6th grades). No one in the middle school this year.

With everyone in school, I decided to get a part time job working at one of the elementary schools in our district. I work as a part time office assistant from 9-1 everyday. I was a little worried about getting a job, but I'm feeling pretty good about it now that the first week is over.

High school volleyball has been even busier than jr. high volleyball and club ball combined! Malia has been exhausted from it all. They have played so well though, and won against both schools they have played so far.

(Malia is number 12)

It has been a weird week for me though. Everyone is wearing new clothes, and all those unfamiliar clothes are going through the laundry. The weather changed so suddenly, and it feels like winter is going to be here any day now. Because of my new job, my morning routine and night time routine are different. I get up and put on new "work clothes," and go to a different school, with some teachers that I know, but most that I don't. The kids at that school are all unfamiliar, and while I think I'm getting the hang of everything, I feel kind of lost. It will be nice when everything feels normal and routine again. But it has been a good week for us all. And I'm curious to see how fast this school year goes, because it seems like each year goes faster than the previous year!