The 2 Dollar Date and the "Pocanut" Hunt

I believe in date nights.

In our church, we commonly refer to the everyday, important gospel things we do as "Primary Answers" because our Primary kids (3-11 yrs) know that they are the answers to most questions on staying close to the Lord. Examples: Scripture study, prayer, going to church, etc.

I feel strongly that there are certain things that are AS essential to keeping our marriages and families strong as these "Primary Answers" are to our daily lives. One of those things is date nights.

And before you say that this is just me looking through my newlywed-colored glasses, I'd like to mention that many people who are more experienced and studied in these matters than I am stress the importance of continued courtship. :)

I always think of this counsel from one of my favorite professors.

He and his wife have 10 kids. They've been married 30+ years. Date nights for them are not always grand, long-winded, or easy. Most of the time they don't go out for date nights. But they always try to set it apart somehow. Sometimes they send the kids to bed a little early so they can watch a movie or play a game. Sometimes they eat steak while the kids have mac and cheese and hot dogs. They find creative ways to still make date nights work, even if they aren't typical. They said that their kids always knew the importance of date night. It sends a message to them of how important their parents are to each other.

That being said, I'm sure they weren't able to make it work every week. Sometimes the kids go on date nights with you. Sometimes date nights include some extra pillow talk before drifting off. The important thing is that we do what we can in our stage of life and we don't beat up on ourselves for days that don't go as planned.

Also. This post is not written in any way to be offensive, condescending, or judgmental. It is merely an expression of my belief and the goal I am shooting for. :) Blame it on my minor in marriage and family studies.

Sometimes date night feels kind of pointless as a newlywed because every night is just the two of us anyways... But the point is that we are setting an important pattern. I am sure it will be a blessing to our marriage later in life.

Ok. Soapbox over.


Our Friday date night last week needed to be a quick one because we had family coming into town. We decided on geocaching and ice cream cones. We found two caches and got two ice cream cones.

We love geocaching! And two dollar dates!

 Quote of the night: Man! When you sing with Celine, you just sound better, ya know!?

We may or may not have had a few rousing sing-alongs in the car.


I also believe FHE is essential.


For FHE on Monday, we watched a Mormon Message and went on a "Pocanut" Hunt! (My youngest sister used to call pinecones, pocanuts.)

I wanted them for crafts. (Which I will post pictures of soon, hopefully.)

Logan saw this perfect pinecone. The only problem is that it was still attached. So he started throwing our keys at it. ... Flip flops are really good at getting keys AND pinecones out of trees. ;)

We found the mother load of [unattached] pinecones after much searching.

Fact: Pinecones smell REALLY good if you bake them in the oven for a few minutes to get them to open up. 200 degrees for 10 to 20 minutes on a foil-lined baking sheet. Mmmm!

Canning Peaches and Pears, OH MY!!

Fact: There is a Wizard of Oz allusion available for every situation.

The last two days have been consumed with canning. I'm a well-seasoned noob now. But still a [major] noob. I forgot to take any pear canning pictures. So here is me creepily posing with a jar. 

Canning pears is not my favorite. 

Here's why. You know when you're peeling a potato, and you're almost to the end... And the dang thing is just so slippery that it is hard to hold onto? Well, pears are worse. They jump out of your hands. 

Fact: I am pear-peeling challenged. Shawna, my MiL, can peel two and cut out the centers of three in the time that I can peel one. She's the boss. 

But, I have to admit that I DO love pulling the stems out of the pears. That is quite satisfying. 

I enjoy peaches a little more. Possibly because I like eating them more... and blanching is involved. 

First you wash them. 

Then you blanch them so the skins come off easily. 

Usually, the best canning peaches are Elberta peaches because they slip right out of their skins, but we couldn't get them this year. So we got O'Henry and Elegant Lady. (Or "Pretty Ladies" as Logan says.) O'Henrys peel ok, but Elegant Ladies... Oh boy. They're way high maintenance. 

 With Elegant Lady peaches, you CAN and SHOULD rush Blanch.

Peeling is my favorite part. It's like peeling the dead skin off of a sunburn. ... But gooey and peachy smelling. Ok. That sounds super gross outside of my mind... But trust me, it's good. I think I dreamt about peeling peaches last night.

You cut them and pit them, cover them in sugar water, then stick them in the canner.

And Ta Da! Dozens of peaches. Peaches for me. Boxes of peaches. Peaches for [not quite] free!

I love the nice rosy color of these peaches. It's like a peachy sunset in a jar.

Just remember: You can't can more than you can. But you can can as much as you can.

Hairy Things... Like Corn and Beards.

Remember all of those vegetables? Well, I found a great first use for my enameled dutch oven. My first attempt at vegetable soup was pretty decent. :) And I loved this dutch oven. Best soup-cooking pot ever.

Saturday was corn day in the Searle families. The farm plants lots of corn for silage for cow feed. But, they also plant a few rows of sweet corn for canning and human-consumption purposes. Logan and Kelly (FiL) woke up early and filled 6 huge bags of corn.

We shucked (or "husked," as the Searles say) all of them right on the bed of a truck for easy clean up.

Lots of flies. Lots of hair (silk). Lot's of fun.

And lots and LOTS of corn!

 One of the best things about canning corn (which is actually freezing it, not canning) is that there is a ton of corny humor to be used. More and more of it was used as the day went longer and we got a little slap happy.

Please take a moment to enjoy this awkward picture of me holding a cobb. #frizzyhairdontcare

The summarized process goes like this:
Wash corn. Blanch corn. (Put in boiling water for 3 minutes, then an ice bath to cool.) Cut all of the kernels off. Put in bags. Freeze. Consume as desired.

Logan and I were on sink duty. We washed and cooled the corn. Logan earned the nickname "Blanch" because he really got in the blanching zone and took over Momma's job of boiling.

Rule number one of corn freezing: "You can't rush Blanch."

Brittni and Jill were the "kernels" of the operation. They stuck the blanched cobs on a long nail sticking up through a board and used these little, round cutty things (Yes, that is the technical name...) to de-kernify (also a totally technical term...) the corn.

They were speedy pros. They were sometimes "a little board" (hehe) because Blanch was too slow. You can't rush Blanch.

You gotta love a man in an apron. Especially a man named Blanch. ;)

We laughed. We cried. But, in the end, we triumphed. 

Last night for FHE we decided that it was time to cut Logan's hair and shave the beard. :( He wanted to start Hogwarts... I mean September off clean-shaven. We had quite a bit of fun with it.

Enjoy these mug shots. (Beware: Shoulder nudity. Super offensive.)

Before:

During: (Yikes!)

Hitler/ Charlie Chaplin moment:

Clean shaven baby face. :)

Remember to eat your vegetables! And if you have none, come eat some of ours!