Life handed me a lemon tree: I make lots of Lemonade

This is my Lemon Tree (and my cute kids playing nicely together, sometimes it happens)
I like it. We are on the end of Lemon Season. My second one here in FL. I know this tree needs pruning but I don't know when to do it, since I am still picking lemons when the blossoms come on for new ones... I will learn, until then...

I like tart lemonade, my family can't be expected to. Since we will be drinking a lot of lemonade (lemons are free after all and milk is SO not) I needed to find a reliable, consistent, easy method for storage, preservation and usage.

Juice lemons using citrus juicer. We have four ice cube trays so that's usually about 1 full basket of lemons. Ours are really big and juicy so a number may not be appropriate. Sometimes I strain out the pulp and seeds and sometimes I don't. It depends if I have time or not.

Pour juice into ice cube trays and freeze.

When frozen store 24 cubes to a ziplock freezer bag, write date, fruit (because I have juiced light grapefruit that looks like the lemons too) and whether or not it was strained.

Back into the freezer or deep freeze. When we need lemonade, it's easy.

2quart pitcher
1cup of sugar
6-7 lemon juice cubes (about 6-7 TBS)
Stir up

I can add a spritz of key lime juice or another lemon cube to mine. But this is the perfect ratio where my kids and husband like it and it is easy and consistent. And if I am putting on a meal and the pitcher is half full it's a no brainier to add a few cubes, sugar and water.

Eventually I will branch out and use my lemons for more, but this is where I am at. I have a recipe to try so that's a start. :)

When we first moved here, this sweet tree with it's tart fruit gave me something to love about being here. It was a hard transition, but as I look back on it I am grateful for the little things like the lemon tree and the big things like life's Lemons that teach me to be better, to look for the positive and acknowledge the Lord's hand in my life, to appreciate the blessings I have.

Lemons, flowers and CTR rings

Zurich has always taken good care of the things that are important to him. He is a saver. He got a few sheets of stickers for his birthday and they still hang on his board. He amazed us by how well he took care of his Mack truck that was meant for a 6 year old but we gave it to him when he was 2. He usually knows pretty well where the things he cares most about are.

A few Sundays ago he was given a CTR ring. Gary commented that he is amazed that it is still with us, especially since Zurich often wears it.

Olea had come home early from school sick and she and Giddy were napping. To keep the house quiet for them Zurich and Nev and I went out to get the mail and check on our lemon tree. I had good little lemon pickers and we discovered a bunch of flowers we haven't seen yet on the property. Zurich
thought that he had lost his ring outside. While we were looking he said some silly things, "We just need to look for something shiny." "I think it is in the lemon," or "I saw it in the tree." Literally meaning in the trunk of the tree. He also insisted on digging up a bunch of rocks in the driveway looking for it. That surprised Gary when he had a bumpier than usual drive down the lane that evening.

I later determined by looking at pictures we had taken outside that he didn't have his ring on while outside at all. This eased his mind and we later found it on the couch, he went and put it in his treasure box with his pirate necklace which you can see in the picture (a Gianni Versace chain he found in the garage, we cleaned it up and everything because my guess is that it was a dog collar.).

I juiced the lemons and made Lemonade using a recipe I found on Pinterest. They said Juice 6 lemons.... Our lemons are extra juicy, I will modify the recipe in the future, because it was way too much lemon. (Not for me, but for the rest of the family).

I love sweet time with these two.