Blueberry Jam

Guess what I did this morning? Yep I was busy making blueberry jam. I promised yesterday that I will share my recipe so here we go. I use CERTO Premium Liquid Fruit Pectin. I guess that would be the big secret. And I use the recipe that is inside (with few changes). Wal-Mart has the best price for it that I know of.

Cooked Jam

ingredients:

4 1/2 cups crushed berries

2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice

7 cups sugar

2 pouches CERTTO (there are 2 in one box)

makes about 9 cups

1. Wash jars and screw bands in hot, soapy water; rinse with warm water. Pour boiling water over flat lids in soucepan off the heat. Let stand in hot water until ready to use. Drain well before filling.

2. Discard stems and crush blueberries (4 1/2 cups crushed blueberries).

3. Prepare fruit. Crush berries 1 cup at a time, using a potato masher for best results. Uf using food processor, pulse to chop. DO NOT PUREE. Jam should have bits of fruit.

4. Measure exact amount of prepared fruit into 6- or 8-quart saucepot. Stir in 2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice.

5. Measure exact amount of sugar into separate bowl (7cups).

6. Stir sugar into fruit in saucepot. Add 1/2 teaspoon butter or margarine to reduce foaming, if desired (I do).

7. Bring mixture to full rolling boil (a boil that doesn't stop bubbling when stirred) on high heat, stirring constantly.

8. Stir in 2 pouches of pectin quickly. Return to full rolling boil and boil exactly 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim off any foam with metal spoon.

9. Ladle quickly into prepared jars, filling to within 1/8 inch of tops. Wipe jar rims and threads. Cover with two-piece lids. Screw bands tightly. Turn jar upside down for 5 minutes then turn it back up and let it set for 24 hours in room temperature.

ENJOY !!!

It is as in the instructions in the box except for the last part. Looks pretty easy so I hope you will try it as well. Let me know how it turns out.

Blueberry picking

Today we headed out to do some blueberry picking. I love this farm they have so many blueberry bushes and the ladies are very friendly. I got to talk to one of them today and she was very interested in our adoption. Isn't it interesting how people react when you tell them that you are going to adopt? So far I have gotten all kinds of responses from all kinds of different people. I always get very excited when people ask for more details. It's so different from when I was pregnant. Then everybody could tell that I was going to have a baby. This time around you can't tell but our little girl has probably already been born. I can't wait to see her. I am getting antsy again. Hopefully soon.

Anyway we picked over 12 pounds of berries with the help of my boys and little girl who was mainly eating from my bucket. She figured out very quickly that the blue ones are much better then the green ones. She did pick few from the bushes. We did very well and I will be making jam tomorrow and I will write the recipe I use.

Here are the blueberry pickers.
Emma looking for some good ones.

Quilt

I finally finished a quilt for Emma. I have to admit that it took a long time to do it. She is almost 2.

Ladies from our mother church in Concord held a baby shower for me after Emma was born. Since I already had everything I needed I asked for a gift certificate to a quilting store. I ordered all the fabric a long time ago but did not get around to it until this year. As you can see it is done and it looks great. THANKS TO ALL OF YOU WHO CONTRIBUTED FOR THIS GENEROUS GIFT. I even had enough left over fabric to make a quilt for Emma's doll.

I learned to quilt in Denver Colorado with my friend from church and I have made a few quilts since. It is always so rewarding at the end to see it all come together.

I made quilts for all of our kids so I better get started on another one.

Weekend

I am going to try to catch up what we have been up to. Last week the boys attended a Wilderness Camp about 9 miles from our house. It was a day camp so I was driving a lot again. They had a blast and on Friday evening all of us got to see what they had been up to. It was so encouraging to see all those young people eager to serve God. I am sure we will be back next year.Nate sitting in front of the camp counselors who were singing.
Emma on daddy's back. She loved all the kids running around. She was trying to keep an eye on her brothers but since they were in different groups it got hard to do.
On Saturday Fil took the boys mountain biking. He had to take apart his bike to fit it into the car so I guess our next purchase will be bike racks. Anyway I had Emma in the jogger and stayed on the fire roads. The boys tried some trails around and we all got attacked by mosquitoes. I forgot the bug spray in the car and it got really bad. We all got bites all over and I believe Emma got the worst.

Sunday

This was the first day off for us from church duties in a long time. We are usually at church around 9am to help with the sound, singing, or the kids Sunday school. Since we had no responsibilities this Sunday we decided to go down to Boston and visit City Life Church. We have been there before and it is always encouraging to see God's work. Afterwards we headed to to Qdoba's for lunch since we do not have a Qdoba's in NH. After that we spent the rest of the day at Boston Museum of Science. All the kids loved it including Fil. Here you can see Emma brushing teeth.

As you can see we have been busy. I am really looking forward to slowing down in the near future.

Singing in the rain

They enjoyed some time playing in the rain yesterday. They sure had fun but after 30 minutes they came home soaking wet complaining about it. Well it was raining. I asked them to pose for a singing picture in the rain so this is there idea how to sing for a picture.
They were cooking up something. They look like to scientists discovering something. I love them so much. Emma watched them from the window complaining the whole time that she wanted to joined them as well. She even brought her shoes and asked me to put them on. Oh well next time.

New Bikes

First of all we want to say

THANK YOU BABI

for the new bikes. For those who don't know BABI is my mom (and it also means grandma in Czech). She offered to pay for the boys new bikes. They were in need of bigger bikes and because of our adoption we are kind of financially limited. She wanted to get them something and I never knew what to tell her since they have everything they need. Anyway we arranged it all over the Internet and here are the boys enjoying their new rides. They both learned to ride their bikes a long time ago and now they are ready for some big trips with dad ( I will have to wait with Emma since we will have to figure out how to deal with our little girl and another one next year). There are some great mountain bike trails around us so they can't wait to check them out (I will be running around with a jogger for now).
We did a lot of research. Well actually Fil did all the work I just checked the final product. We decided early on that this time we will buy real bikes from a bike store and not a department store ones. We did that last time and it did not turn out so well.
We also discovered there is a big reason to pay $40 for a helmet. The ones boys had before never sat right and were always falling off. They got new ones and they sit perfect. I am feeling much better this time especially since Nate is a very aggressive rider.
Here they are. I am very happy for them.

Why Adoption?

Our desire to adopt goes back to when we were still engaged to be married. Like many couples we had discussed the family we would like to have. We decided early on that we wanted 2-4 children and that our last child should be adopted. When we started trying to have a family we were unable to do so because of six emotionally difficult miscarriages. During this difficult process we knew that adoption might be our only option to start a family. However, we didn't have to pursue an adoption because we were finally blessed with two wonderful boys that are 13 months apart. Several years later we decided that we wanted to grow our family again. It was with great excitement that we learned that we were expecting another child. But within weeks of this pregnancy we went through another miscarriage. At this point rather then going through another series of miscarriages we decided that we should grow our family through adoption. Before we were able start any formal adoption process I became pregnant again and gave birth to a beautiful little girl. God has blessed us with three biological children. However, the act of adoption has always been desire and part of our marriage. We feel now is the right time to make this step of faith and adopt a child.

As we began researching adoption options adopting from Ethiopia became the most desirable option for us. We have always had a heart and desire for the peoples of Africa. While exploring and learning about Ethiopia we discovered it has had a rich and wonderful history and beautiful children that deserved the opportunity to live happy and productive lives. We truly believe that all men were created in the image of God. Because of this every life on this planet is precious to the God that created it and should be loved and nurtured regardless of the child's background or race.

We are all looking forward meeting our girl soon.

Emma

Emma. This is my girl. I love taking pictures in the morning since the light is at its best. For some reason some of my best pictures were taken on Sunday mornings before we go off to church (if we are not running late witch is most of the time but now and then I will find few moments).

Since all the lilies are blooming now I knew I had to get some pictures with Emma. Sorry boys but it looks better with a girl. We had fun. I even gave her a few flowers to hold. First she didn't know what to do. She sure was smiling for the camera I don't have a problem with that (We were late a little bit for church that morning but I got some cute pictures).

Car Wash on Saturday

This Saturday morning our church did a Free car wash outreach. The key word is FREE but people here still don't get it. We do it to show God's love not to collect money. Sometimes people get upset that they should be able to give us some money but we never take anything. Just washing cars for free. I love this about our church and its many outreach projects. It helps us and our kids to look beyond our back yard. Both me and Fil have a heart for missions but this way we are able to be involved with our community as well. Here is Mr. B standing with a sign.
Here we are in action. They boys were looking forward to this all week and as you can see they very busy bees.
And here we are waiting for some action.
And washing again.
Nate loves washing the tires.

Even Emma was with us. It took her few moments to process what was going on. I brought our beach buckets with us for her to play with and she was busy pouring the water from one bucket to another. She did wash some cars as well.
Brothers.
Ok, this is a little bit extreme don't you think so? When this guy drove around we thought for a moment that he was joking. I mean it is a bus not a car and the signs say CAR WASH. Anyway we did end up washing the bus as much as we were able to. Sam's comment on it was that he never washed a bus before. I believe it is safe to say that for most of us we haven't washed a bus either. The tires were bigger than Emma.
After we were done with the bus a SUV pulled in. I have to say that after washing the bus the SUV didn't look as a big job like it did before.

We did this outreach a few years back when a South Carolina missions team came up. I was pregnant with Emma at that time (really pregnant). The boys remember that till this day. I am sure they are looking forward to the next one.

By the way I know it looks like I didn't do much washing and was only taking pictures. I did get my hand wet and helped a little between taking pictures taping and taking Emma potty at Wal-Mart.

Swimmers on Thursday

After running around this morning we decided with the kids to go to the Manchester pool. And I am glad we did. Even though it wasn't the warmest day the water wasn't cold and with the sun in the sky we spent the whole time in the pool. Even Emma enjoyed it, both her and Nate were shaking at the end of the day. The boys were most of the time under water. They all had a good time.
Emma having fun playing in the water.

Nate spent the whole time under water. I would love to see his dreams tonight.
Two water monsters.
And one little mermaid.
Driving home I couldn't but notice the beautiful sky. It was the perfect blue with fluffy clouds and some strokes of white behind. I talked to Fil on the phone and he saw the same thing all the way down in Massachusetts. I guess God had fun painting the sky today.

Family

I have been wanting to write about family for a long time. For those who do not know both of our parents live overseas. I go through times when I really miss them a lot usually around my birthday which is in September. For some reason this year it came earlier. I am fine the rest of the year but for some reason I will go through about a week when I am so sad everybody is so far.

I do not have a grandma to call to come watch the kids so I can run some errands real quick. Or I don't have a place where I can drop them off so me and Fil can enjoy a quiet evening. My kids don't have cousins since Fil's brother is still single and lives in CO and my brother is too young and still in school. They have been asking what cousins are and I felt sad for them. I wish somebody from our immediate family would live close. I am sure that some of you who have family too close wish they would live further so you have some peace. But for some reason now I wish our families were closer. I feel like my kids are missing their grandparents in their lives even though they do get to see Fil's parents at least 2 times a year.

Then I miss my family when I am running out of time. Like when laundry or ironing needs to get done, I am tripping over toys everywhere I go, the garden outside and see that itneeds some work really bad etc.

I will be fine in a few days but I wanted to share my feelings with you. I guess that is mainly why I am exited about our growing family. I never thought we would have four kids (the thought still scares me some times). I believed we would maybe have two at the most. Fil always talked about 3 at least and maybe four. However, when we all sit down at the dinner table and there is always something to say I am so happy. I love to watch the kids play together they never get bored. Even though sometimes I loose it and question my sanity especially when there are toys laying around every where and I am having a hard time finding a little space to cook dinner in my big kitchen. But then I have to count my blessings. I have been so blessed in my live, I never in my wildest dreams dreamt about all this. I have the best loving husband and three healthy beautiful and full of live children. We have place to sleep and plenty of food to eat. I think about that a lot especially since we started our adoption process.

It is not a long time ago when the boys watched Spider Man for the first time (so did I). The scene when Peter Parker is talking to his uncle right before he heads out to his first fight it struck me. His uncle was telling him that

with a great power comes a big responsibility.

I know that it doesn't feel like we have any power at all but when I look around with what God blessed me with and that one day He will ask what I did with what he gave me, am I going to be able to answer that question? This is one of the things when we have to look beyond our backyard. Since I grew up in Europe that never has been the problem but I really want my kids to look around and see. I hope that one day we will all be able to go to Ethiopia or another place to see that not all places are like here in America (and I think about that when I am tripping over my kids toys and sometimes I believe they have too much stuff and so do we). How much power do I have to make a difference in someone Else's life?

A wise man has great power, and a man of knowledge increases strength;

Proverbs 34:5

Beach Boys (and a Girl) on Wednesday

We made it to the beach today. Hurray! The weather here has been cloudy but warm and sticky. Got to love the humidity. As I am writing this blog it is showing more than 65% humidity outside. Anyway it was a nice day to spend at the water. The boys enjoyed themselves very much and I believe they were in the water for more than 3 hours with a few trips to the bathroom. We got invited to ours friend's sister in-law summer lake house with other mom's and kids. The poor sister in-law (well I actually know her personally I am sure she did not mind it at all) it was 6 mom's with 11 kids total. Not bad. I almost forgot plus one dog and one cousin from Scotland. Emma did not care for the water at all. Maybe too many kids for her taste. They all got to enjoy canoe rides plenty of water floats and even a jet ski ride (By the way a single woman lives her in this house). There was enough toys to go around.

Emma watching all the action around her. Out of all the kids there were only 3 girls. We ended the day almost with a trip to ER. Emma felt of a chair (again) and cut her ear pretty good. We decided not to go since we dont think she needed stitches. I tried to put a something on it to keep it together and I hope it works. We shall see tomorrow. I believe we will make it to the ER with Emma again by the end of the summer. She is so busy and she can not sit still.

Bikers on Tuesday

Today was another day we spent around the house. However, the boys have been asking about the beach again so I guess we will have to make a trip soon. Anyway today they were busy playing outside. They pulled every single thing out of garage all over the yard but managed to clean it up before Fil made it home from work so he did not have to park in the drive way. They had a race going on around the house. Two bikers and one trike. Seeing the pictures I realize how much the boys need a bigger bikes. Hopefully soon.


Emma's the biggest biker of them all. Yes she has a big kids helmet on but all of the kids have. Their heads are too big for little kids bike helmets so they all have been wearing bigger sizes since the beginning.

Artists on Monday

We did not make it to the beach today. That was the original plan but we got rained out. Actually we didn't even make it to the beach. I knew the rain was coming from my personal weather station (my husband). So we stayed home and tried to do some stuff around the house. I worked on many pictures that needed to be edited back from the spring. Fil's parents and his brother spent some time in Costa Rica and I got all the pictures to play with. They got some really nice ones and I will post some of them eventually.

Since it was raining we dug into my basket to find projects we could do on a rainy days. The boys picked painting and you can see the results. I did help Nate a little (Let's just say I was trying to save his picture). These are the times when the artistic side of me comes out and wants to do it for the kids. But I was good and let them do it their own way and I picked up the pieces at the end. This one is Nate's and my picture of the day.

And here is Sam's. He did his on his own all the way.

Well and here is the greatest artist of them all. Actually she was very good the whole time. She just watched the boys and me to see what we were up to.

Also I have been checking the Waal's blog a few times a day. They are in Ethiopia right now and they are posting numerous posts every day, including pictures and short video clips from their trip. I am very impressed and a little bit scared since they raised the blogging bar so high for us.