20 bottles of jam later...

When I go about my day, I don't really focus on how busy we will be later and all the things we have to do. Who am I kidding?? As soon as my eyes pop open all I can think about is having to get my daughter breakfast. Heaven forbid I sleep in and mommy guilt sets in about how she might be wasting away, only to find her cuddled with a blanket on the couch holding her iPod watching the latest Minecraft YouTube phenom.

This past weekend my husband and I enjoyed an evening at our friends' cottage, sans kids. I was excited about going, but then the anxiety set in about all of the things we had to do and if we really should go. We did go and had a great time while we knew our kids were safe at my sister's. It was nice to have some down time because the next day was a busy one.

We met up with my sister and the kids at the local strawberry u-pick to pick a flat of strawberries so I could re-stock my freezer with jam. My daughter won't eat store bought jam...go figure. Afterwards we surprised the kids with a trip to the beach which ended up being so much fun and we stayed much longer than anticipated. Once done at the beach we finally hit up a grocery store for some much needed groceries, because who has time for that, and grabbed some groceries for our first ever tenting trip this coming weekend (lord help us all). When we got home it was, like every night at our house, chaos with getting the kids to unpack, do laundry, get ready for bed, and finally...make jam.

Why I decided to start making jam at 8:30pm on a Sunday, I'll never know. I made a double batch, giving me enough jam for probably a year, and mashed enough berries for strawberry shortcake for my husband and I (of course the kids won't eat it). In all fairness, making homemade jam is a pretty simple process and I recommend it.

The next day my daughter and I made more jam together, totalling 20 bottles! I feel like Oprah on her Favourite Things Giveaway...jam for you, and you, and you! So why make so much freezer jam? Because at the end of the day it's not just about jam! It's about the trip to the berry u-pick, the impromptu beach trip, shopping for our upcoming camping weekend, the time spent with my daughter making jam, and the knowledge that I got to spend some much needed quality time with my whole family.

No one knows busy like we do, but we always find a way to get things done and even though it may not be all sunshine and rainbows it's about the memories. I often hear, "when my kids are older I won't be running the roads like you guys do" but trust me, you will because it really is all about the kids and that's OK! When the kids are grown and out of the house I want to know that we gave them memories and ones that, hopefully, they'll remember. We may not have all the material things I'd love to have, my house may always be in a state of disrepair, and I may yell at the kids from time to time, but we damn well have memories 20 bottles of jam later...