School starts...my canning jar collection...

So much has happened lately. School started last week and we sent Rebeca and Elizabeth back to school. Therefore, there were all the activities to do, such as: buying school supplies, clothes, shoes, enrollment, open house, preparing for lunches, and so forth. A constant set of things to do and get done.

David is going to Mid-America Technical School. He is enrolled in two different programs. One is Entrepreneurship and the other is Graphic Artist. Each program lasts two years; one, he does in the morning, one in the afternoon.  He will receive college credit for each program as well, so when he finishes when he is 18, he will have around 40 credits of college and have two certifications.

As we were doing all the errands, I was remembering the days when I had nine children in school, not just three, and all that we had to do to prepare. One year, a kind lady from our church bought all the school supplies for my children. What a Godsend.

Many times, I just bought what was absolutely necessary and then sent more stuff later as we had funds to purchase it.

Come to think of it, Douglas, Benjamin, and Matthew are in college, so I actually still have six children in school…but I definitely do not help the college students the way we should…

I recently was speaking with a friend from church and mentioned that I had started refinishing a hutch of my mother’s. When it was in storage, a battery had leaked on it and ruined the finish. I told her it was too much work and I thought I would just look for one on Craigslist.

She said she had had one on Craigslist for over a year and it had not sold. Well, I ended up buying hers and when we took it home, I decided to leave it in the dining room and move the bookshelf that had been there upstairs to make an art room for Rebeca.

I started putting my canning jars in it and ended up putting my whole collection in there. I can a lot and have always collected old canning jars.

To me, they symbolize the self-reliance and ingenuity of the women of the past. How hard they worked to feed their families, and yet at the same time created a thing of beauty. A jar full of peaches, applesauce, green beans, salsa, whatever….they are so pretty lined up on shelves. And give one such a feeling of accomplishment and self-satisfaction.

You can see that the jars are filled with my husband's marble collection, old buttons, and other misc. stuff we like. I am so happy with this. I have not had my jars all together for years...

Isn't it pretty...and it has a light, too, and I paid $100 and it is wood.