11.5.14 Cider

We were blessed with LOTS of apples this year. And I mean LOTS like over a thousand pounds, which in years past I have split with at least two other people. So we had to come up with some creative uses for apples. About 13 years ago we made apple cider with Greg's family. I mean aunts,uncles, cousins etc. It was a major project! We pressed 5 800lb bins of apples but man was that cider good. We checked on the availability of a press, but had a hard time finding anyone with the machinery that was local. We were finally hooked up with a local inventor man and made our appointment.

We worked for two hours grinding and pressing apples and got about 10 gallons of juice. I was a little disappointed it wasn't more productive but it sure was good. We are scheduled to go again sometime this week I hope, because I am done canning apples here and need a way to use the rest. 

Cider deserves donuts and grandma was kind enough to help us out and make some yummy cake donuts.

FIRST TASTE OF THE CIDER, YUM!

Our kind friend Kelly who has blessed our family with many opportunities. She is an amazing woman.

Turning the press to get the cider. Anna and Harold were best sized for the job, but Mark and Addie had to have a turn too.

We decided the remains were diabetic apples. Sugar is gone just fiber...Makes great animal feed though.

Washing then shredding the apples. That was the best bowl. This is set up on a geothermal hot spot, while the night was fall-cool the water was delightfully warm. In fact they have to cool not heat their water for use. We live in a great place.

 It was a fun night and the apple cider syrup on pancakes the next morning was divine!

As we continue to debate travel and doing fun things like the rest of the blog world vs. our work together in all different conditions and situations I have to remember to be thankful for who we are and not wish we were somebody else. The kids really enjoyed the evening. The owners are delightful people full of talent, kindness, and newness to our family. It's good to meet others and great to get such delicious rewards for a big project. Let's just say apple picking is almost a bad word at our house. Not that it's hard or bad it's just kids... but this night, like most nights we work together as a group, was full of good giggles, great people, and a lot accomplished. We did recently decide that we try to live with purpose. Mean getting good things done.

I love helping others and I love that my family is able to serve others in real and meaningful ways. We appreciate all the opportunities we are given to do these projects. And really fresh cider and homemade donuts is that really so hard? Nope just fall goodness! Best to you.

11.4.14 Pumpkins

While I don't love Halloween I do love carving pumpkins. It is a fun tradition we have  recruited my parents in as master carvers and more hands and eyes watching lots of knives working at one time. This year we got a few pumpkins from our home garden but the carving pumpkins came from some seeds we had tucked in the ground at my mom's garden. She is deer free with a dog and more traffic. We are thankful there are some deer free zones in our valley.

Each year the kids get more independent and creative. And there seems to be more kids and pumpkins. This year we canned applesauce all day then carved pumpkins that night. It was a full day and I was so thankful my parents and Greg showed up to get the carving done because I was beat by the time seeds started appearing on the table from the pumpkins.

We switched out the large pumpkins for a small pie pumpkin for Miss Millie. It was much more her size and she enjoyed being part of the fun.

Ears are a trademark of my dad's. Addie loves to add ears and worked to get these on her pumpkin. Her persistence paid off and she did it herself. She was very proud of her pumpkin.

And finally after much ado and matches flying we enjoyed the masterpiece of lighted pumpkins on our front porch. And that was the fun of Halloween.

Well not exactly. We went to the doctor the next day and found we did have strep. So we got some of the kids started on antibiotics, skipped the trunk or treat and watched the three stooges. The kids loved it. We ate some candy we had around the house and it was great. The next night we went and visited the grandma's and uncle Kevin. They were overly generous and we have candy enough till Christmas. So every night or when we are together we have some candy bars and are slowly working our way through all the fun of Halloween. My kids have good grandparents and a spoil sport mom. Oh well it works out in the end. Happy holidays!

11.3.14 Bad Habits

Our children tell on us. No matter how hard, or not so hard, we try to hide who we really are they pick up on those small nuances and broadcast them in cute/not so cute ways.

My favorite part of college was having my own jug I could drink from. No wasted glasses, no needless extra dishes just swig and return to the cold fridge. Well in a large family that's probably not the best practice and these two little monkeys have picked up on that bad habit. These are actually empty milk jugs retrieved from the top of the garbage... oh they are cute.

Their poor father. He is so much more disciplined. He was not happy, but still loved me when he discovered this major flaw years ago. But now that the young un's are also following in my very bad way well let's just say he is less than thrilled.  I keep telling him he deserves so much better. I guess I should just work harder at being better. But again I spend major hours of my day hands submerged in dish water or deliberately avoiding the teetering stack of either needing to be washed or put away dishes. How do I make so many messes? It could be the small army of wolves that keep returning to my table.

I took these a few weeks ago while talking to Greg on the phone, it was kind of cute at that time but like all bad habits it spread and it's probably not cute anymore.

This girl studies all life around her. Nothing gets by her wise eyes and FAST brain. Don't let the innocent look fool you she knows exactly what she is doing.

I guess it's just proof that we all have things to work on... maybe I should try sippy cups at their level. I do think it's great that they are self-sufficient. Life is hard when you're littlest. Well not too hard I guess. Oh well there's always tomorrow to work on being better and more graceful. Best to you.

10.25.14 Posters

It was time for the annual book fair at school. This year there was a new twist or rule set that encouraged children to more fully complete their boards on their own. I was a little hesitant about this wondering what kind of mess it might turn into but was happily shown just how capable they can be.

The kids had definite ideas on what they wanted and how they wanted to present themselves. I loved watching them work and think through the describing of their books. Unfortunately, the little girls were too involved and some scribbles showed up on the finished projects. But as the competitive side of me bristled with no blue ribbons this time, I am very aware that they learned a lot. The real win is the advancement of thinking. And in respect to Addie her skills in processing the written word- both hers and the authors was greatly advanced.

We tried diverting the little girls with popcorn. Livy helped me make it. Between the two of them they removed the lid to the air popper while I was sharpening pencils and we had popcorn everywhere.

I had not purchased green paint- no one had ordered it. Addie informed us we just had to mix the yellow and blue. We did and it worked well! She's learning all kinds of things at school. 

She was all kinds of help in so many ways. Here she is loving Mark while he is coloring his tiger he traced on his poster. He is a really great artist and my most careful color-er.

Aliza likes mystery books. She chose the Westing Game. A book that has a yucky cover but is a great mystery that was not easily solved. She had fun coming up with a way to convey the message of the book. For this kiddo who eats books like cold cereal I think it was especially valuable to have to stop and think about what she read.

I forgot to take pictures of the finished products. 5 kids in elementary school 5 boards completed. Addie learned a lot about writing doing this project. I did not loose all my hair but there were times in the 20+ hours she and I spent composing -mostly me spelling, erasing, demanding more careful work that I thought I would go CRAZY!. But it was pivotal learning project with a lot of worth. Glad we're done till next year and thankful our school still offers/requires some higher level thinking projects.

10.16.14 Just some little things

These two little girls keep me hopping. They are busy, unique, and cute. Amazingly (duh) we don't have repeat personalities here. They are all their own personalities and they are charming and in trouble a lot of the time. Harold is developing some serious baby skills. He loves to show his muscles by packing, throwing, twisting, and in general playing with his little siblings.

Millie has a very individual self-soothing style. She holds her belly button. When she is upset, waking up, a little unsure of the situation she roots for it and holds it. I think it's cute and way easier than dealing with thumb sucking- at this point anyway. And it seems to work for her. No germs are spread seems to be a win-win.

 

And on other fall food storage news we have been blessed by a neighbor to get to pick apples. This is a bumper crop year and it has been amazing and overwhelming to try to get the trees clean. More and more apples seem to be there. But so nice to have the opportunity to work and serve. And enjoy a lot of apple pie!

I love the greenness of it all. We live in a beautiful world.

 

10.15.14 Anna's Evening of Excellence

My daughter is in the Young Women's program in our church. Part of this program is a personal improvement/learning program that has 6 (I think) areas of development to work on. Anna has been doing some here and there in addition to all the other life stuff that normally happens around here. About a month ago when the girls checked in with their leaders Anna was rewarded with 4 regular sized candy bars and given the challenge to do more so she could throw pies in someone's face at their evening of excellence.

The raccoon looking girl just got one of Anna's pies in the face

Anna's fellow classmates. Her back is to the crowd. They had all just smashed their first pies.

 She continued to plug away at the requirements and managed to get 11 more done and 2 big projects that required more than 10 hours of work. She counted the garden they grew this summer and canning. Thus she was able to throw a lot of pie! Even 2 pizza pies for the large projects. See the youtube video HERE

The pizza pies didn't smash so well but it was the experience that counts. Those laurels were sure gracious about the whole experience.

I was really proud of her getting so much done, mostly on her own initiative. However, I am more thankful for the kind, thoughtful young lady she is becoming. She is kind, she mostly makes good choices, and she is happy a good part of the time. I think the best part of motherhood is watching- because really it's not our choice- who our kids become. A wise mom told me a while ago kids talents are the things you can't keep them away from. They just gravitate towards them. I am continually thankful of how much softer Anna is than me and how pleasant she is to have in our home. She is a great young lady!

10.13.14 Family Photos

Just taken at random at home. The kids were so wiggly and happy. First picture always the best

Now we are getting bored or just taking advantage of siblings close by to poke or prod...

Although Milile was smiling and Alivia is finally looking up.

Now mom's turn

 

I didn't even notice him holding my arm until I got done. This is not my most openly affectionate child but he does need his mom. Kiddos are so funny how they show their love, personalities, and needs some need to be noticed and laughed at or tickled, some need a hug, some just need your undivided attention, some need to show their skills and share. It is a blessing and a hard thing to be the mom. Hard to apply the right language to the right kid to not get confused on who likes it what way.

A nice little brotherly love slug!

And one back to keep the power balance in tact. Ahh family!