Up to no good

I've been trying to keep out of trouble lately. Here's a little of the past week or so.

A small quilt top


We made strawberry syrup and strawberry jam from a flat of strawberries. Chad is using the Squeezo. I love that thing! It gets out the juice and separates it from the pulp and seeds. Not so fun to wash it though.
A whole flat of strawberries and this is all we get??




I made a batch of bread yesterday. This time, it did not cave in and make itself into a bread bowl loaf. However, I am having a problem with the tops of my loaves sinking a bit and leaving me with a wrinkled crust. Anyone have any suggestions? Share them in the comments!

I mopped the floor tonight. I realize that some of you will not think this is anything worth mentioning. If that is the case for you, let me introduce myself. Hi. I'm Arlyn. I don't often mop my floor. When you come for a visit, please don't take your shoes off.

I also cleaned up the laundry room which had been terrorized by muddy boots all winter. It was an all day effort, but it looks so much nicer!

I bought 12 yards of fabric this afternoon to make dining room curtains. It cost me just under $50. That is my motivation to actually make the curtains! When you come for a visit, please mention how cute they are! (But give me a couple of weeks to make them.)

Nathan and Joseph got shots yesterday. Nathan got his last chicken pox shot and Joseph just about got everything. Poor kid. He woke up with a little fever this morning, but slept for a good chunk of the night! Rebekah and Joseph are on the down side of ear infections.

Daniel signed up for pee wee baseball tonight. It's more like a clinic, I think. It's only about a month long. Perfect!!! He still gets a T-shirt out of it, so he'll have something to brag about until he outgrows it (in two years at the rate he's growing). Anyway, he's quite excited about it. I said I'd only sign him up if he would quit complaining about going to TaVaci for the rest of the season. He starts to get TaVaci burn out near the end of each semester. I'm not a pushy mom, though! I don't make him sign up...I just make him finish. He gets a trophy when they graduate the kids in 6th grade. Part of him wants the trophy...part of him doesn't (the vocal part).

And for those who would like to and are able to, the Spring TaVaci concert is May 10th. That's a Saturday. It would be over about 7 pm, I'm guessing. It's free and you can watch Daniel and Leah on stage. You can also watch Nathan in the seats. He gets restless about 3/4 the way through and starts asking when it's over.

I have been doing a lot of laundry lately as Rebekah is timing her bathroom trips poorly. The boys just chose to wet their pants. Leah never did. But it seems like Rebekah is creating more laundry than any of the others ever did. It's been interesting. The little spot of linoleum by the toilet gets cleaned almost daily. And you should know that goes against my cleaning nature!

Other than that, I haven't been doing much. And my house shows it. On a happier note, I have been more patient and slower to anger with the kids. We're having nicer days all around. (I still want them to leave me alone while I eat my breakfast!)