an interesting week....

This was an interesting week. I learned a new skill -- canning (putting stuff in jars and sealing it so that it can be stored in the pantry & eaten later). The new term is "preserving," actually. I got a free canning system - a big 21 quart pot, lid, rack, some other supplies, a book with instructions and recipes, 4 cases of jars, and some other smaller items to give away. I was asked to preserve stuff & show other people how to do it. I practiced a few times over the week and then had some girls over to the house to demonstrate. There were 2000 parties across the country the same day (it's called a "house party" and the Ball Canning Jar company sponsored every one of them the same way -- just asking people to expose others to preserving fresh foods).

I made pepper jelly, salsa from a recipe that came in the book, and a peach chipolte salsa I found online. Then, at the party, we made a 3 berry jam. Most of the party was hanging out & socializing with the short demonstration. It was a TON of work, but in the end I'm glad I did it -- and I get to keep the canning system, books, and tools. Hosting the party forced me to learn this skill; I have no excuse to let any of the goods from our garden go to waste this summer!

Todd and Mercer spent pretty much the whole day together, but we hung out as a family the next day. We saw a couple of art exhibits - one on rare automobiles and one on modern art. Little guy didn't have a lot of patience for the cars as we had hoped - so, we ended up taking turns playing with him in the children's area.

The photographs enclosed are of Mercer eating a sandwich. He's had pieces of sandwich before - but tonight at dinner, we put the sandwich fillings (grilled turkey sausage, squash, tomatoes, and basil) in a bowl for him to eat. He protested and pouted. "Samish" "I want samish" -- so Todd put the filling between a piece of bread, folded it over, and wrapped it in foil so the stuff wouldn't fall out the bottom. Mercer was really happy to be included.

Todd took Mercer swimming while I was preparing for the canning party. He's taken a series of lessons twice now. One series when he was about 1 1/2 years old. One series around the time he turned 2. Now, under 2 1/2 -- he's taking another series. He REALLY seemed to like it -- so much that he came home excited. He said "kick" "I kicked" then laid on the floor and kicked. "Bubbles" "blow bubbles" he laid on the floor, stuck his face to the ground, and made a funny sound. so cute.

One other thing that was interesting this week - he comprehends the word "same" now. One night, he went to bed clutching a yellow car. He woke up with it, then saw a picture of a yellow car. He pointed and said "same." He's got a die-cast blue Prius. He holds it up againt my car (a full-sized blue Prius) and proudly says "same!" He's been pointing things out all week that are similar. It's been pretty cool to see the development and recognition.