More to life than rush hour traffic!

It's been a little hectic around the Quad L lately.  The kids and I have been canning like crazy.  You can read and see all about that in the previous post. Kevin has been putting in some really long days over the past couple of weeks, mainly due to that crazy I95 traffic.  It seems to be getting worse, if that is even possible.  He still takes the VRE sometimes if he is only going to the Pentagon. The van pool continues to be the best and fastest way for him to commute in, however, coming home is just down right painful in our fast pace life styles.

Fortunately for the kids and I, Kevin has some use or lose leave:)  For our friends who are not military,  that just means that he hasn't taken a vacation in a very long time and he better take some time off or POOF, it will disappear from the books.  You might say he is a borderline workaholic.  Well wait a minute, who's kidding here?  He is!  However, from the time he pulls into his parking spot on the farm, (yes, he has one here too), it is all about family, no matter how tired he is or how late it is.  Some how he manages a little one on one, quality time with each of us, and of course his garden!

This was a surprise welcome home for Dad after
one of his TDYs.  Lol!

Over the past couple of leave days Kevin took and this past weekend, the family has had some pretty awesome family time.  Thanks to our wonderful landlord, Mr. Zimmers, the guys got to scout out a beautiful piece of hunting property and help Mr. Zimmers mark some trees for those law breaking trespassers. Of course, the trip wouldn't have been complete without a little target practice.  In the midst of all their fun, they stumbled across a ground nest of yellow jackets.  They liked Noah the best.  He walked, or should I say, ran away with the most war wounds.  Seventeen stings!!!!  Ouch!!!

Noah ran right out of his boots!  Lol! 

Beautiful piece of property!

Back at the farm, Lydia and I did some baking and chicken bathing.  Lol!

Chocolate pie we baked for our neighbor :)

Baby, hanging his head with embarrassment
after his bath.  Lol!

This weekend we did a bit of exploring with the metal detector and working in the garden and yard.  We always find something of interest and it is usually Lydia who spots it.  That girl is attentive to the smallest details of nature :)  I love it!!!  As for Noah, well his definition of enjoying nature is to be out in it shooting targets.  Lol!  I am so thankful that God gave us such awesome children.  They keep Papa Roo and myself on our toes.  We try to stay just one step ahead of them:)  Heck, we still like to steal their ATVs and take a little ride.  Kevin and I even developed a RED NECK idea for our winter bon fires.  Lol!

Just look at the colors!

Tiny little LadyBug 

Our Red Neck chairs for sitting around the bon fire :)

First crow of the season
Yes, there is a Crow Season up here.

Noah thinks our landlord, Mr. Zimmers, is the coolest ever.  He brought a couple of these guns out for Noah to shoot.  Needless to say, he is loving life out here on the farm!

Gonna do a little shooting:)

Rambo style!

Well, I guess it is time to stop blogging and get to work.  We have family coming and we need to get our guest house ready. :)  Hope everyone enjoys this beautiful day God has created for us :)

Until next time ......

Dooms Day Prepper????

Lol!  I feel like a prepper over the past few days.  My counter tops have jars stacked everywhere.  As mentioned in an earlier post, canning is a lost art that I believe is making a come back.  For me, it is totally relaxing and very rewarding to "see" the end results.  It always looks so pretty in the jars and the entire house smells scrumptious.  Our entire family gets involved with the process.  Talk about great, quality family time.

We actually started canning a few weeks back when our favorite little farm, The Clark's Family Farm, started selling seconds on their tomatoes.  Seconds are those tomatoes that don't make the cut to the produce table.  They might have a crack, a bruised spot, or maybe just a bit over or under ripe.  In other words, they are not pretty and perfect.  They are less expensive and are usually sold by the half or whole bushel, which makes them perfect for canning.  So far we have put up spaghetti sauce, pizza sauce, tomato soup, tomato preserves, and dried basil tomatoes.

Seconds

Prepped and ready to be cooked

Treats for the chickens

Removing the skins and seeds for the soup

Tomato Soup

Homemade candied ginger
I needed it for my tomato preserves

Prepping for tomato preserves

Tomato Preserves

Loading the dehydrator 

Spaghetti Sauce

Dried Basil Tomatoes

Simmering Pizza Sauce

So far, all of our tomatoes have been purchased from the Clarks', however, it won't be long until we can pick them from our garden.  Kevin planted tomatoes, cucumbers, peas, green beans, Brussel sprouts and lettuces on the 4th of July weekend.  Everything is looking good.  We actually have picked enough cucumbers to make our first batch of dill pickles.

Just one of our tomato plants
and she is loaded!

Look closely and you can see Lydia's
pretty flowers

Picking our first cucumbers 

Gonna be delicious!

Cutting Dill slices 

Making pickles :)

First 5 pints of Dill Pickles getting
a water bath

We are also fortunate to have a pear tree in our yard and it is loaded with pears.  So loaded, that a limb broke off due to the weight.  The pears were not quite ready but we didn't want them to go to waste so we made some scrumptious, old fashion, pear preserves.  The kids and I peeled over 100 pears from that one broken limb.  We still have a tree full!  If you are a friend or relative, you know what your Christmas gift is going to be.  Lol!

These pears soaked in sugar all night in the
fridge, creating a delicious syrup  

Preparing the jars.
I haven't found my canning pot yet! :(

Can you smell them?  Mmmm!

Getting their water bath

Ta Da!  Old Fashion Pear Preserves

I have to admit, the past few weeks have been fun.  I love being in the kitchen with my family.  Yes, it is a small kitchen and no, I haven't found my canning pot and some other useful tools, but that hasn't stopped the Lambings.  We just got creative and used what we had.  This is a picture of our results.

Just a portion of what we have canned :)

If you have never tried canning, give it a try.  I am pretty sure you will like it.  Oh, and don't forget, make it a family affair.

Grandma got ran over by an ATV...NOT!!!

This warrants a post all it's own!!!  Anyone who knows my mom will not be surprised because at 85 she is still spunky as ever :))))

A Week of Memories

What a wonderful week we had!  So many memories were made for our family.  Lots of laughter and adventure over the past seven days.

We enjoyed having Grandma (my mom) here this past week.  I am so blessed at 85 years of age, she is still going strong.  She may move a bit slower but slow and steady wins the race.  Being here on our little farm brought back a lot of memories for my mom, especially watching the chickens and seeing our beautiful vegetable garden.  Growing up, we always had a huge garden.

Walking down to the coop

I think Nightingale likes Grandma :)

Tall Tales are told here :)

Watching the Olympics via Live Feed
We don't subscribe to cable/satellite

Going for a ride :)

Of course a visit wouldn't be complete if we didn't go shopping at Costco's and Wally World :) and you gotta have some fun while doing it.

Watch out!  These girls are wild! 

Shopping in style!

Lydia was super excited because Grandma was able to come and celebrate her eighth birthday with us.  For Lydia, that day is all about family.  She always wants a family party with grandparents and cousins.  Unfortunately, due to our recent move, our family was just a bit far away this year.  As usual, God never misses the smallest of details.  He lead us to a church where Lydia met a couple of sweet girls that she immediately became friends with.  Among the many things they have in common, homeschooling is one of them.  I cannot stress enough how great our God is.

TheThree Amigos

The birthday party was a success!  The Chicken Girl had her "Chicken Party".  It wasn't the normal BDay party where the event flowed smoothly.  Lol!  It went more like this...
The girls played with the chickens, the adults ate the delicious BBQ and visited.  The girls continued to play with the chickens.  The adults wanted some dessert so we practically pulled them by their hair to come sing Happy BD so Lydia could blow out her candle and we could finally have a piece of cake. :)  As her guests were preparing to leave, the girls noticed the gifts in the corner and decided to open a couple of them, which lead to a few minutes more of play time.  The other gifts from family were opened way later in the evening.  It was much more important to have play time with friends!!!  Oh and somewhere in this crazy afternoon they had a silly string fight from the roof top of our little cabin and an egg hunt.  Can't have a chicken party without an Egg Hunt!  What fun!

Faces of Angels

Some last minute play :)

On Monday, Lydia's actual birthday, we drove down to Bass Pro, which is about an hour away.  Lydia wanted to show Grandma the big catfish and have lunch at their restaurant.  Of course Noah was super stoked about her choice!  That boy eats, sleeps, and dreams about shooting and hunting so Bass Pro is like a huge candy store for him.  After we had a great lunch, the trip turned out to be an early Christmas shopping adventure with Grandma.  Not only did Lydia get the ultimate birthday present, each of them got some super early Christmas gifts.  Thank you Grandma!!!

Lunch at Bass Pro

This shopping is making me tired! 

Lol!  Grandma, that chair is a bit large! 

Can I have this in my room please?

My new ATV!!  Love it!!!

We ended the day with a trip to Olive Garden.  That was Lydia's choice for her birthday dinner :)

This past week flew by as we packed in as many memories as we could with Grandma.  We managed to take her to a few landmark places around Fredericksburg, to include Carl's.  Anyone from around the area knows it is the best ice cream ever!

Gotta love Carl's

Brain Freeze!!!! 

Liver and Onions

An Old Landmark 

Antiquing in downtown Fredericksburg

Before we knew it, it was time for us to take Grandma to the airport.  Just as she had arrived the previous Wednesday, we took her back via Metro.  :)  Now she is a pro commuter!

Riding the Metro to the airport

Made it! 

Such a gentleman!

Waiting on Grandma's chariot :)

Thank you God for the great weather and wonderful memories that were made here at the Quad L Farm these past seven days.

For all our friends and blog readers, take a moment to hug your family today and make a memory.  Who knows what tomorrow may bring!