Growing Well

On the first day of the challenge

Our mystery plants continue to grow, despite a couple of close calls when they got pretty droopy after not being watered often enough. We have noticed new leaves and the older leaves getting bigger.

After a few more days growth 

The plan is to transfer these out of the pot they're in and into either the ground or a larger planter where they can grow on their own.

This morning

Betty Crocker, part two

The second Betty Crocker Challenge we finished used a recipe we found online: Minty Strawberry Mango Freezer Jam. It was new to us and sounded like a unique flavor for a jam. First we picked lots and lots of strawberries from our strawberry patch.

Garden strawberries are the best. June is one of our favorite months.

Next we doubled the recipe. It was easier than the banana bread.

After we saw exactly how much we needed for a double batch of jam, we went to the store to get a few more strawberries and several mangoes. It takes a lot of fruit to get four cups of each of strawberries and mangoes.

The recipe was really simple. You pretty much just mix it all together for a few minutes, then spoon it into the jars.

We ended up with 12 half pint jars of jam. And two silly girls.

When both the banana bread and the jam were done, we walked some over to a neighbor's house to share the bounty. If they like it as much as we do then they'll be drooling for a while.

Betty Crocker, part one

For the Betty Crocker Challenge we made up not one, but recipes. The first was a banana bread recipe that we love and the second was a new one that we'll put in another post. We started with learning how to multiply fractions.

Next we worked together to measure and pour the ingredients.

Bananaaaaaaaah!!!

We made two loaves of banana bread and the one that we kept for ourselves may have lasted a whole two hours. It was delicious.

Mystery Plant

We are all ready for the Green Thumb Challenge because we already had two plants we planned to put into the garden. There was just one problem: we don't know what kind they are. Several months ago, when the plants were barely more than sprouts, Mom put them outside to harden. That was a couple of hours before a giant windstorm that turned the well-organized plants into this:

Not organized chaos, just plain chaos

Mom tried to save the plants, but only two hardy little sprouts survived. They were the same kind, but that doesn't make much difference because no one in our family knows how to tell what the plants are before they start producing food. So it's a mystery. What we do know is that the plants could be either corn, spinach, onion, sweet pepper, cucumber, zucchini, butternut squash, broccoli, a bean, cantaloupe, or watermelon.

Basil is on the left, mystery plant on the right.

Hopefully we find out what these are before the end of the summer...if they survive that long.

Summer's First Day

Almost immediately after the last day of school the older girls went on a camping trip with Dad and the other dads and kids in the ward. Mom stayed home with the boys and tried out the new hair curlers, though the boys were spared a makeover. It was, of course, beautiful. The girls got to sleep in the car (the tent was left behind) and the boys went shopping with mom. 

Duck-faced Medusa

We counted the first Monday after school let out as the first official day of summer. Things were pretty low-key. There was a little bit of outside play (like, five minutes) while Mom tried to weed the garden. Blue Eyes and Pink Blur worked on their summer packets. We talked about the possibilities for the Stay Sharp Challenges during Family Home Evening. Other than that we kept it pretty chill. There was some tidying, some screen time, some dog chasing, and some sewing for Dad's brother's baby coming in four months. Video Game got to try on the dress for a fit test, though he looks better in pants. Q-ball just enjoyed having everyone home.

Modelling his cousin's dress

Tomorrow, and for the two days after, the three oldest will be spending the afternoon in Miss Lori's Summer Beehive. Pink Blur attended her preschool this last year and Q-ball is enrolled for next year. We're all looking forward to it. They just need to get their necessary things done first.