Strawberry Jam

The girls helped make strawberry jam yesterday using some of the strawberries we'd picked last week.  I washed and stemmed the strawberries, and the girls cut them up using table knives.  Megan did a great job cutting them evenly in half.  Amelia cut some in half, some in quarters, some in thirds, and some in eighths.  It was a good math lesson for her to figure out what happens when you cut a half in half again.  And it kept them busy for quite a while so I could get everything else set up to make jam.

Megan took the opportunity to sneak a few berries into her mouth:

 They both took turns using a potato masher to smush up the berries, and then stirring up the berries and sugar.  They wanted to help fill the jars with jam, but I thought that would be a little too messy, so I let them put the lids on instead.  Then we got a loaf of Grandpa's good bread out of the freezer and made toast with jam.  Everyone enjoyed it!

Hey, look, it's Megan's natural smile!   Megan had to change dresses because her cute white sailor color was completely covered in strawberry juice.