On Thursday of last week my daughter Kayla contacted me and asked me what I was doing over the weekend. I told her I was lined up to watch my daughter Kelli’s kids on Sunday and thought my daughter Kalissa might need some help with her kids too.
Kayla told me she would come Saturday morning but later after I told her my PET scan results, she decided to come Friday night.
Kayla is my thrifting buddy. She and I both love a good thrift store tour…so Saturday morning we took off for the farmer’s market and to check out the thrift stores. Poor Jasper would have loved to stay home but he tagged along.
Kayla bought this beautiful bouquet of flowers and then left them here for me. Can you believe they were only $15 a bunch? So pretty!!
Jasper got some cookies he is showing off…Ha. He put them right in front of his face.
We had pretty good luck shopping. I had two scores… I got this piece of fabric for only $3. I think there is 4 1/2 yards there. It will work nice as a backing on a bright-colored quilt.
I also got these five cross-stitched pieces. It was only $5 for the seven for the seven of them altogether. I rarely find a deal like that!!
Saturday afternoon Kalissa’s three boys came over. Craig had been caring for the boys while Kalissa slept after working an overnight shift. He needed to go out to work so the boys came and enjoyed some cousin time with Jasper. We had a family supper that night…
Sunday Kelli came with her kids. Kayla and Jasper were still here…and Kalissa’s boys came again. More cousin time!!
The kids are getting so good at playing together. All those super crazy days of wrangling them are finally paying off. They are a joy to have here now.
Kayla and Jasper left mid-morning and the other kids stayed on. I put them to work picking tomatoes. This is Georgia and Emmett…
Here is Gannon with his picked tomatoes.
Carver helped pull stems and wash them…Eli helped by handing Carver the tomatoes.
These were all destined to be salsa. I’ve modified my recipe now so I process them in the oven as I do with yard sauce.
After they were all in the oven, we played. Georgie got the boys to sit and then pulled a chair next to them. Then she asked if I would take their picture and WOW…it turned out pretty good. This is very typical of how they all look. You can see that Eli and Emmett don’t look alike at all…Georgie and Emmett look more alike.
By 6 pm everyone cleared out.
I went back to making salsa….
I even got them into jars and processed them.
The kids and I made 17 quarts. Sadly one broke in the water bath. So only 16 made it.
That was a great accomplishment for the weekend.
I did all my favorite things…hung out with family…thrifted…made salsa. That’s the perfect recipe for a great weekend!!
Georgia looks like a sweet little angel in that picture. Not the spit fire you say she is. haha
Okay I am a nut but I love Kayla’s overalls. I need a pair. Any chance she remembers where she got them?
Here is the link to he overalls. They are from Duluth Trading Company. She was contemplating getting a second pair in another color. She got SO MANY compliments on them when we were shopping.
https://www.duluthtrading.com/womens-heirloom-gardening-bib-overalls-16760.html?color=HGG&srccode=GPSMART&ogmap=PLA%7CNB%7CGOOG%7C%7C%7C%7C%7C%7C%7C%7C18284927928%7C&gclid=Cj0KCQjw0bunBhD9ARIsAAZl0E3RWLKhosBhwmzabpwd7Rmg2B10PsNzkwhvqjclFr1n3UBa0qB9dIAaAoH3EALw_wcB
A great weekend! Love those with my kids!
Those cross stitch projects – did you “rescue” them? Steph and I are famous for doing that if the price is good.
Your salsa looks yummy!
Love and prayers
That’s a lot of salsa! Well done kids for helping! Georgia’s looking grown up in the photo, and Eli and Emmett look so different! You’ve got some lovely grandchildren, Jo.
I love the picture of the 3 of them,Eli and Georgia have the same little chin. they are sooo cute.
The grands are adorable and they are so lucky to get to have cousin time!! The jar that broke…I’ve been hearing a great deal about the Ball brand of jars doing that for many canners. Breaks your heart when all that homemade goodness is wasted.
Great photos! The Georgia and twins ones is really a keeper. Jo, after ruining two over the stove microwave doors while water bathing my produce (the steam melted and warped the underside of the door) I have switched to steaming. I can’t process as many jars in a batch but it is so much easier. I don’t have to deal with the steam on the microwave door, the water, and broken jars.
At’s a lotsa salsa! What good helpers you had. I’ll bet they enjoyed it.
My Mother Earth days are past and fortunately I never had many broken jars, but I remember one year I lifted the first jar out of the canner only to find it had cracked all along the bottom. Up came an empty jar and out came a quart of tomatoes! What a mess. Cleaning up salsa has to be a lot worse though.
Thanks for sharing your family stories and pictures. Prayers continue. Kris
Oh Jo, I am so sorry that you’re having more issues with your cancer. I am really praying for you and your family and hoping for the best. You are such a caring and giving person. I hope to try and be more like you, you are such an inspiration. I love your yard sauce recipe and have been making it for 3 years now, could you share your tweaks for the salsa recipe. I would greatly appreciate it. Please, only at your convenience. I really your blog and enjoy reading about you and your family and all your experiences, I feel like I really know you and them. Look forward to many more and stay strong.
What a super fun weekend. I love how those little kiddos are such good helpers and so much fun doing so. Georgie is such a cutie and what an adorable picture of her with her brothers. The flowers were beautiful that Kayla bought. So glad you had all this family time.
Looks like a fun and productive weekend! You’re in my prayers.
You have a great bunch of kids and grandkids. Your salsa looks wonderful. Hugs,