Maple Sugaring - Tapping the Trees

Step by step, here's how it's done. It's pretty easy, and everyone was involved. A special thanks to Patience, our photographer. We put in four taps (two in each of our maples), using our new 3/8" drill bit. I discovered this is the largest bit our drill will take, so it's good we didn't get the 7/16" one recommended in our book. It took us all of about 15 minutes, including unwinding the extension cord, referreeing some whining about who got to do what, and cleaning up (winding up the cord again). Also, despite the 24-degree temperature (not bad but below freezing), you can see the sap was running a little on account of the warm sun on the trunk, and we collected an inch or two of sap in each "bucket" by the end of the day. Remember to click on the pictures to enlarge them and get a great view of each step!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Maple Sugaring - Prep

 
 
 
 

A big birthday

This was a "milestone" birthday for Papa Bear. So we gave him "big" gifts.

Frankly, he's hard to shop for, so we've been planning on this birthday gift for about a year. Remember you can click on the pictures to enlarge them and see them better.

We gave him a "football". That means that we gave him what we wanted.

My family explained it to this way when I was growing up; a little boy asked his dad what he should get his mom for her birthday. Dad told him to think of what he would like, and to get her that. So the little boy bought his mom her very own football.

All in all, giving footballs is somewhat of a family tradition. Still, we try to get gifts we think people will appreciate too.

We started with something "safe" - the gift from my parents. He does indeed like the Red Sox. What a great gift!



Then he opened up Patience's gift - new drill bits (little did he know).

I think he actually liked and appreciated that one. He said "I needed these!" (again, little did he know.... we needed a size bit we didn't have for our little birthday football).



Next he opened Vivace's gift. This child was having trouble sitting still, he was so excited.

You can see the puzzled look on Papa Bear's face. Why is my cooler all wrapped up? And when he opened it and found a bunch of empty milk jugs, the mystery thickened.

And the kids were eating it up.



When he got the next gift (6 metal "spiles" - aka spouts or taps) from Andante, he had no idea what they were. The kids were all but howling at this point. They knew he had no idea what he was holding.













Andante was in heaven.















These taps were wrapped in a cool Patriots T-shirt. At least Papa Bear knew what that was (a little reprieve from wonder and confusion).









Finally, he opened Constance's gift - a cleverly packaged sprinkler for the yard (merely an extra, like the t-shirt) and a book entitled Backyard Sugarin'. His look says it all. "So that's what you're up to....."


I gave him a bucket w/some new, empty syrup bottles so we had something pretty to put the finished product in to give the grandparents if all goes well (which it may or may not - we'll see). I also gave him new frames for his photographs, especially of the kids.

A few classic reactions from him include

• I sure hope you know what you're doing.
• Are you sure we have the right trees?
• How much is it going to cost to boil this down?
• Don't give this away if it's going to kill anyone (I reassured him we'd only give away to family LOL I guess I promised not to kill the neighbors, only family. The knowing kids reassured me that this stuff gets boiled to eternity and beyond so there's no risk of any germs surviving to kill anyone; they're right. We'll explain that to him at some point.).
• Have fun! (as in "This is your project, not mine.")
• We'll talk... (as in "Have your fun this year, but we'll talk about whether or not you'll do it again after we know what it's going to cost us."

I love my husband, and I think he appreciated us having our fun, at least to some degree. Pictures of our project to come in the next few weeks. In the meantime, happy birthday to my beloved - and thanks for letting us have so much fun buying you this football!

Indoor winter fun

I thought I'd share some pictures of some of the things we've enjoyed doing indoors so far this year.

This rice bin is actually an "old" toy we got out to give away. First we sorted out many precious shells and rocks to keep and the younger three played with it for days at every opportunity. It was a favorite when they were really young but it had been a long time since they'd seen it.

It works as an indoor sand box, only less messy. The kids have loved shovelling, dumping, sifting, counting, feeling, burying, digging, "hide and seek", playing "the hand" (I bury my hand and then it comes up all creepy like out of the mire making moaning sounds saying "the hand" and they laugh hysterically ...), and so much more.

There are memories here - the broken unicorn that got new life, the McDonald's toys, the trucks, the rocks, the aluminum pellets from a field trip from before the kids were born. It was fun to see it and enjoy it again (and watch the kids interact - really cool "pretend"!).

Naturally on days off from school, we have to make time to eat popovers with nutella and homemade apple butter and drink tea with the special china (and the Tupperware too). We probably need to do this more often. At least this time, we got a picture.

Drawing one's own hidden pictures and then letting the siblings find everything - well, that's priceless. Click on the picture to enlarge it and see if you can find the items. Constance even drew them at the top of the picture, just like the "real" ones, so you'd know what to look for. What will she think of next! Her drawing is really coming along and we love to encourage it.

Getting ready for the game

My little guy is ready for the big game tonight. On Friday, we went to the grocery store to purchase the necessary items for Superbowl snacks and he insisted I let him purchase a mylar football balloon with his own money. Who was I to decline such a request? He is enjoying getting an allowance, a "6-year-old right of passage" in our home - not much but enough to allow such frivolity ($0.25/day). He then lost his first tooth a few hours later. So he posed for a very special photo in light of the excitement. Congrats Vivace, and Go Patriots! (And watch out for the Pats' teeth! They're bared and ready for action!)

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NB We lost. Though disappointed, he took it well, and the balloon lasted three weeks. :-)

Tired

February has begun - in earnest. We closed out January with the braces and filling and we have had a few challenges in the process.

Constance had the filling on Tuesday, and while the actual procedure went well, we think she reacted to the nitrous oxide. After the procedure, she looked and said she felt like death warmed over (my words) and so instead of returning to school, she lounged around at home. We weren't sure at first if she was coming down with the tummy bug going around school either, which would have been very different, and so we were needing to "be prepared" either way. By late afternoon she was back to normal, so we're pretty sure it was a reaction to the medicine, and it's worth us noting for the future. I am thankful to be a stay-at-home mom who can easily flex to take care of my children and their needs, but it did require changes to my plans for the day, and I wasn't able to accomplish what I had initially planned. This in turn affected the rest of the week and added to the fatigue, as did the concern for her well-being and the watchful eye I had on her throughout the day.

The braces (Patience, on Monday) also went well, and she has had the expected level of discomfort as a side effect. We think the resulting "change in diet" may have compounded what already was turning out to be a challenging week (beginning the day before the braces) of unexplained low blood sugars. These happened all day long but most importantly at night, even in the wee hours. We have been up multiple times most nights dealing with lows, resulting midweek in significant adjustments in settings on her insulin pump. Even with that, we're barely touching the nighttime issue. She's now got a cold, which is resulting in higher numbers during the day (at least compared to earlier in the week), but the lows - or borderline numbers - at night still aren't gone, so sleep is evasive, interrupted, and frankly difficult to come by. I wake up even without an alarm to check her, and I'm struggling to stay awake most afternoons.

Finally, there have been a number of events that have triggered emotions, some closer to home than others, but deep ones in any case. Managing emotions is not easy for me, especially processing those which trigger powerfully deep ones tied to memories or experiences in my past, and thus these have added to the challenges of the week, and the fatigue. Frankly, the fatigue magnifies my emotions, and then I'm left even more drained from working through them.

It's been a tiring week - not a bad one, but a tiring one. The weather (ice ice and more ice - though there have been periods of sun) hasn't helped and we really need to manage this coming week well or we'll be primed for serious illnesses. Do pray for the sugars to level out that we might be able to sleep through one or two nights without concern and perhaps even not having to wake up several times. But mostly pray for wisdom in managing our time and expectations so that we can get the rest we need even if we continue to have to get up often at night.

Empty Bowls

The local middle school has a special 7th grade project they do every year to teach about and raise awareness of poverty and hunger. We attended the dinner this evening (a fundraiser for the local food shelf basically) where we ate soup, got a couple clay bowls (hence the title "empty bowls") and learned a little about hunger. The event involved all of the arts classes since the start of the year; the seventh graders made the clay bowls, they wrote, performed and recorded songs about hunger (which were played over the speaker for "background" music throughout the evening), and they cooked the food (ahead of time, obviously, not all today). The soups were wonderful (I love soup) and ranged incredibly in variety, from apple onion soup, to chili, to corn and sweet potato chowder, to black eye pea and andouille sausage (or some such thing - this is the one I had a whole bowl of - delicious), to squapple (squash and apple), and many more. The bread was good, the cookies fine, and chatting with my neighbors who I hadn't seen since summer very nice.

I loved the evening and the "message" and the purpose in action. I remember almost a lifetime ago being in charge of "missions week" at the school where I was working (elementary). One day during that week, we had rice for lunch. Just rice. That's what most of the world eats every day. Rice. I remember the parents' skepticism (granted I was a naive just married young lady w/o kids of her own), but I'd do it all over again. Much as we need nutrition (and yes, it was white rice), and our kids need fiber and greens, and plenty of it to give them lots of strength etc.... my point was much like "Empty Bowls" night; we are RICH and we lack for nothing, comparatively speaking. We can eat just rice - as much as we want mind you - for one meal. Really, we can, and it's more than many children get every day. Something to think about.

Visual helps like these events give us - and our children - an idea of what other people eat, what hunger is or may be like, how poverty "hurts" and isn't just an idea but a reality, and that we are blessed beyond our understanding. I think this is a good thing, and I am glad we went. I think my kids (who generally don't particularly care for soup) will be hungry tomorrow. And their needs will be met. They were given the option of cheerios and milk upon our return home if they were hungry enough to get it for themselves. I don't think any of them did. They all tried new things, and several of them hardly ate. You know, you'll eat anything if you're hungry enough. I know, and it's a lesson I hope none of them learn "The hard way." So thank you to the 7th grade for our lesson that makes us think. Thank you to the teachers who made it "fun" and practical and taught them good skills (making soup, bread, cookies, bowls and music! - real life!). And thank you to my kids for allowing me to "impose" this upon them. May God give us a heart of compassion for others and thankfulness for what we have. Really.