Jam

Yummy, yummy strawberry jam! I can't wait to spread in on toast. It's quite cruel to require 24 hours to sit. The smell wafted from the house. My neighbor came to get her daughter and was amazed at how good it smelled. How can you go wrong with strawberries and sugar?

So, how does one go about making jam?

1. Hull all of the strawberries.

Then eat them?


No, eating all the hulled berries isn't quite helpful but when you're this cute you get away with a lot.

2. Crush berries and put in a stock pot, add lemon juice and fruit pectin. Cook until full boil. Then add sugar and boil again.



3. Skim foam off the top after removing from heat. Ladle jam into prepared jars ( sterilized in hot water), leave 1/4 head space, place lid on (sterlized too) and put on rim bands.


4. Water bath. Start timer 10 minutes after boil. Turn off let sit for 5. Remove from water, let sit for 24 hours.

We ended up with 18 1/2 pint jars! Christina brought some of her own picked berries so I had enough strawberries left to make another batch but I just didn't have it in me to do more. It took us 2-3 hours to make the jam. So, I sliced them all up and froze 'em.

You know you want to make some too...

Strawberrries, field trip, binding, but no field day

As usual lots was done this week.

Monday was catch up day from being gone. Laundry, cleaning, etc.

Tuesday during a break in the rain we went strawberry picking with some friends.



I picked and picked and picked. I got 10 lbs worth of strawberries to use this weekend to make jam. Seth was filthy when we were done. He ate is fill and then began digging in the dirt while I did all the picking. Very helpful.


I grumbled a little today at Costco when I saw 4 lb boxes of strawberries at like $6.00. I paid $2.99 a lb and did all the work! Oh well, my jam will be all the better because of the hard work I put into it!

Any hoo...

Where was I, oh yes, Wednesday. I was a chaperon for Simon's class field trip to the aquarium. I had three kids in my charge for the day. I didn't lose even one! I think every school in NJ was there. My god there were kids galore. All our kids were in red shirts but we weren't the only school to do that.

Simon touching the horseshoe crabs.

I liked the fish hanging from the ceiling.

Where the hippos are is the best sign ever ! If you can't read it it says, "Birds poop every 15 minutes. How long have you been standing there?"

That night I finished up the binding on the Chocolate Coins quilts. I really don't know what to do with this quilt. I made it just to do something. It wasn't meant for anyone. Do I hang on to it until someone needs an Ellen quilt, do I sell it, or do I keep it?



Thursday wasn't all that exciting. We went to the mall, played with some friends, ate Mickey D's, did a little Old Navy shopping, napped (Seth not me), yelled at the kids (probably more than once), made some yummy Jambalaya for dinner, and worked on a friends duvet cover after the kids were in bed.

Today was supposed to be Field Day. Instead it was a rainy free day. I took the opportunity to make a run to Costco after playgroup. Hopefully there won't be rain on Monday so the kids can have their fun field day.

Tomorrow I make jam! I am excited and I hope I don't mess up because I invited other people over to learn how to do it...

Home from MSU, part 3

Or the conclusion...

Day 4

Saturday was a free day.

After breakfast we watched the finalists in the junior division put on their skits.

Then Hannah and I were on our own. A day to do whatever we wanted to do until 7 when the Variety Show started. We went back to my hotel room so I could put on my swim suit because when Hannah was asked, "what do you want to do today" the only thing she said was swim. We ran into some of the other kids in our team at the pool too. I didn't swim long because I had no desire to jump off the diving board repeatedly. I think that means I am old or something like that...

After swimming and getting rid of the wet stuff back at the hotel we walked to lunch. Hannah wanted Chipotle. (Isn't she a smart kid with great taste?) Then we ventured about. Bought some t-shirts, drank some chai, and headed on over to the campus museum.

Sometimes it's ok to touch.

Cool display!

I find textiles everywhere I go.

We wandered back through the garden. A botanist talked to us about the plants and showed Hannah a sensitive plant that shuts down the leaves when touched and he showed us a tree that's been around since the time of the dinosaurs. So cool! It looked like a mix between a deciduous tree and a pine tree.


Then we went back to the dorms. All we did was walk, walk, walk. On to dinner, then on to the show!

The variety show was awesome. Not only are these kids smart they're also talented. Let's see there were dueling violins, a tissue paper fashion show, a ballet dance accompanied by piano, lip singing to the Back Street Boys, MLK's I had a dream speech, and even a guy in drag singing I feel pretty. There were many more too. My favorite by far though was the sock puppets singing Bohemian Rhapsody. It was awesome.

Sock puppets.

Fashion show.

After the show the kids, all dressed very nicely, went off to the dance/social. Sunday would be the last day.

Day 5

Award Ceremony time.

All the parents checked out of the hotel bright and early (7 effing 30). Breakfast, thankfully the last, and then off to the awards. As you know we didn't win but a few awards were snagged by other teams in NJ. We had a great time all in all. I truly hope these kids get a chance to go back!


The rest of the day was spent traveling.

I loved how the fountain in the airport reflected in the water.

All that was left after a long bus ride was a long wait until the flight was supposed to leave, a new flight since our plane lost a navigational radio on the runway, and finally touch down at EWR after 11 pm. The kids all had school the next day too.

Thus concluding a kick ass trip to MSU with our FPS team!

Home from MSU, Part 2

Day 3

The big day for the kids. The day we came all the way here for. Time to do their packets. They were given a future scene about pandemics and they had to solve it. Coming up with their own set of criteria, challenges, underlying problem, and a solution. In 2 hours no less. Then they had almost 4 hours to create a skit with costumes about the solution to their underlying problem. Please remember these kids are in 5th grade...

So, we parents had to hang back and wait until 3:30 when we could go see them perform their skit. We decided to have breakfast at the hotel and then wander around campus. Do a little sight seeing and shopping.

The campus is pretty cute up by Grand River Ave. Where to dorms are the buildings aren't so cute.





I found a few things to bring home to the boys and we got some lunch at Noodle & Co. I haven't eaten there since I left Denver. This campus got better by the minute once I found that, a Starbucks, Barnes & Noble, a used book store (where I got a good book to read), and a Chipotle! There is apparently a nice quilt store near by too but I didn't have a car and I didn't want to walk three miles there and three miles back carrying fabric.

Time for the skit. It was funny. The kids all used an accent from a foreign country.

This is the suit that will keep you from getting Blue Nile Virus.

Although we enjoyed their skit they didn't move on the final round. The kids that won did this whole rap with one kid beat boxing while another kid rapped and the other kids danced. I don't know how they pulled that together in 4 hours...

After yet another delicious meal (yack!) we went to see the CmPS (Community Problem Solving) projects. Hannah got really excited about these and she wants to do one for next year. What the kids do is decide on a problem facing their own community. First they pick the underlying problem and then they show how they solved it.

An Australian team wanted to Unify the country by learning from the Aborigines.


Texas kids helped handicapped kids through riding horses and grooming.


These kids wanted to make science more interesting and fun.

How do you keep the bathrooms at school from being tagged? Let the senior art students do murals on the walls.

Another group wanted to bring awareness to girls about being proud of who they are. From motivational speakers to classes.


There was sooo much to look at. Crotchet for cancer patients, support for kids who lost a family member, saving a native bird, the tara-iti, in New Zealand, turning cooking oil into fuel, etc. It was awesome.

Our little team of kids headed back to the dorms around 9 pm. We sat in the lounge again and watched some of the Nuggets game. I met some people in from Colorado for a wedding. Apparently when you announce to your table that the Nuggets have sucked your whole life other people wonder where you're from.

To be continued...

Home from MSU

That was a wonderful trip! Although we didn't come home with a big fat trophy we had a great time. There was so much for the kids to do while they were there. We all met people from different parts of the world. We all learned how much there is to do with FPS. I really do hope we get to go back next year.

I am going to do this by days. I'll get them up as quick as I can...

Day 1

We got to the airport at 7 am with Dunkin' Donuts in hand. We were all set to fly to Detroit where we'd catch a bus to Lansing. The flight was delayed due to severe thunderstorms in the area around Detroit. We sat for a while. Yeah, welcome to Newark.

Hannah and friend on plane.

The line waiting to take off from Newark.

Once we got to Detroit we immediately met new friends. This is the group from Great Britain. They were so awesome. They came right up to us and introduced themselves. The kids thought it was really cool.

I didn't get the camera out until they were almost done introducing...

Hannah on the bus.

After a long day of travel we got the dormitory where the kids and the coach's would be staying. This is also where we'd be subjected to day after day of cafeteria food. We also discovered that our hotel, although it's on campus, is a mile from the dorms...

Wilson Hall at MSU.

We all ate dinner together. Ah, the first of many bland meals. The kids were then settled into their rooms with a project for the evening to keep them entertained/busy. They had to put the memento exchange stuff together. I found myself at the hotel all alone at like 7 pm. That never happens. Nothing to do? Weird. I brewed some coffee and read a book. Hannah called later to say good night. She's so sweet.

Day 2

Most of the festivities weren't until the evening so we had some time to kill. After our scrumptious breakfast (that is a lie) we went to play. They played basketball until the pool opened up.


I can believe how many times the kids went off the diving board. Over and over and over. Never tiring.

Spring loaded.

This kid is fearless. He flew off the board!

Of course, in the afternoon we had to go and sample some of the ice cream that they make right there on campus. Who can say no to 35 flavors to choose from? Not I.

For the opening ceremony Hannah was carrying the state flag. Every state that participated had their flag carried in.

Little gardener girl. Get it? The Garden State.

FYI, if you're excited, turn the camera back to auto... All the pictures are blurry.

After the opening ceremonies they did the memento exchange. The kids all brought something that represented where they're from. Hannah got some interesting things like a little plastic flamingo. I held it up to her and said, "Let me guess, Florida?"

Doing a swap.

The parents that were staying in the hotel that night went down to the bar. I am not a drinker myself but I am always up for good company and coffee. We met up with some of the Australian parents and learned a lot about Melbourne. Their flight was 14 hours to LA and then they still had to get to Michigan. That's commitment! We talked about other little things like it isn't soda or pop for them, it's a fizzy drink. It isn't called candy they call it lollies. You don't go to College you go to University or Uni for short. It was truly fun talking to them. I hope to meet Cathy again some day. Maybe next year.

To be continued...