Apples Dancing

The end of September and early October is usually when my mom makes a trip to my house and we make several bushels of apples into applesauce. She won't be able to make it this time, so it looks like I'll be on my own...(I'll probably conquer this project next week)...

I decided to do a mini applesauce making demonstration for Ellie's pre-school class. The theme of the week was apples so I thought it would be interesting for the kids to see how applesauce was made.

In this picture, I'm explaining to them all about the fabulousness of a honey crisp apple...(by the way, these do not make good applesauce...they are strictly an eating apple only...)

I used three different kinds of apples...Mackintosh, Rome and Braeburn...

Each child got to have a chance to turn the handle on my old Victoria strainer...

They were all so delighted to see the sauce coming out of the strainer...

Everyone got to have a sample of warm applesauce...divine!

When I went to drop Ellie off at school the next day, I heard a little boy tell his mom that I was the "applesauce lady"...(I suppose I've been called worse)

I wasn't able to go to the Relief Society Broadcast on Saturday night because I got tickets to...

SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE!!!! Yes! You heard it right!

Earlier this summer, I got an e-mail from a girl in our ward who was fairly new. She wanted to know if anyone was interested in getting tickets to So You Think You Can Dance...

I hadn't been a follower of the show but had so many friends that were so I agreed to purchase a ticket out of pure curiosity in addition to the chance to get to know her better...

All I can say is WOW!!! The evening did not dissapoint!

This was one of my favorite numbers...

I think it was the combat routine or something along those lines...

I have to laugh when I think of the fact that me and my "Elaine dance moves" are such a sharp contrast to these highly coordinated folk....

What a show! It was so entertaining! I am now officially a fan and will be sure to watch it every week...

Here we are (me, Cindy and Alana) during the intermission...

Definitely a night to remember!!!

My stupid camera or computer is making uploading pictures a real pain...I'm so frustrated with the whole thing...why are things always so complicated?!

I'm leaving to go to South Carolina tomorrow morning (without Brian or the kids)....(returning on Sunday night).

I am meeting my mom, sisters, brother and uncles there for a memorial for my grandma Aikin who died about a month ago...

My uncle rented two beach houses for the occasion. We'll be spreading her ashes at one point and hosting a special memorial service at the clubhouse in the development that she used to live in.

I've still got a million things to do before I go...(I want things to go smoothly for Brian while I'm away--or do I? I sometimes wish he could get a true taste of what my days are like...i.e. getting kids to and from activities, planning and preparing meals, laundry, helping with homework, etc...) I guess the bottom line is that anyone can get by for just a few days...I always tell him that when he's in charge of watching the kids he's basically "holding down the fort" but when I'm around, I'm "advancing the troops"...

***Have you ever made homemade applesauce?

***Are you a So You Think You Can Dance fan?

***Can you relate to "advancing the troops"?

Five for Friday

1. Check out the extra digits on this guy! Gotta love polydactals...

I've been seriously thinking of having Charlie cloned...

2. This is the second time in a year that my passenger side mirror has been broken...
The first time was when my mom was driving my van on the way to Time Our for Women last October when some guy side swiped us. It cost me $350 to fix...

This time was just me not paying attention and nailing into someone's mailbox...(the mailbox fared better than my mirror)...

Thank goodness my inspection isn't due until June 2010...this is just another thing on my long list of things that I need to buy...

Who said money doesn't buy happiness? It sure would come in handy right now...I'm so sick of always trying to pinch pennies...



3. Ellie and Joshua Clawson...(notice his chenille pants!)...Love this guy! He reminds
me of Jake when he was little...Isn't he edible?!

I went over to my friend, Meg's, house the other day to help her put in a small herb garden. Ellie spent most of the time trying to mother Joshua...

She loves babies and little kids...In fact, she keeps dropping hints that she wants me to have another baby...(dream on, there, girl! That won't be happening...)



4. Feast your eyes on these homemade donuts...BACON donuts that is, made by my friend, Jenny. She hosted a brunch the other day and made these rings of joy up. They were delicious as was all the other things she baked up...(two different kinds of scones and cinnamon rolls!)



5. I love this little pear man. He was sitting on the counter at Solebury Orchards the other day and I couldn't resist taking a picture of him...Doesn't he just make you smile?

***What made you smile today?

Randomness...

Reilly started soccer for the first time this year...

Last Saturday was her first game and it was really fun to see her in action...

It has been interesting to see how each of my childrens' chacteristics manifest themselves...

Reilly is very stubborn and determined once she sets her mind to something...this seems to be playing out well with the game of soccer...

I love this picture of her...she looks so happy and relaxed...





A daughter of a woman in our ward offered to have us come pick grapes at her house...
This is the first year that I've actually gone to pick them...usually, she picks them for me and I go to her house to get them...





We invited Brady and Emalee Day to join us in the picking...
It was a bit tedious as most of the grapes were wedged in between the branches and the arbor
and higher than the kids could reach...but we all still had a good time...
We went out for pizza afterwards and loaded up...Good times...

Ahhh...the fruits (literally) of our labor...

Making grapejuice has become a yearly tradition...

It's so interesting to me when I think about how opposed I was to canning things when I was growing up and now, it's that very thing that brings me great pleasure...

An apple a day...

We look forward every year to going apple picking at Solebury Orchards...

Kiley, Arielle and Bella Atkinson got to go with us this year...

This place is the epitome of quaint...

Hands down the BEST apple ever!

Gala and Honeycrisps were the only two varieties ready to pick. We sampled some of both and all agreed that the Honeycrisp were the tastiest...

Some of these smiles were a bit strained thanks to some lingering gnats...

(what is the purpose of a gnat again, I forget?)

We bought the last bag of these...
They are amazing!!

We sipped fresh apple cider and ate a cider donut sample before heading for home...

Everyone was pretty wound up at this point...but in a good way...

***Have you been apple picking yet this year?

***What is the purpose of a gnat?

***Have you tried Honeycrisps?

Hickory State Park--Labor Day Weekend

I found out something new about myself this past weekend...

I love to camp! Seriously! Who knew?!

I don't know why it's coming as any surprise to me...

I love being around nature...I love the outdoors....I love campfires...and surprisingly, I did OK without my nightly bubble bath...There were, of course, bathrooms not far from where we were with running water (does that still count as camping?)

Early in the summer, my friend, Leisha sent out an e-mail trying to coordinate a camp out for anyone in our ward who was interested in going...We ended up with 7 families...(about 40 people)

Here is the gang stuffed into the van like sausages. I tried to think of every detail, but alas, I was missing many key items...(hot dogs for roasting on the fire, anti-itch spray for bug bites, kettle for heating up hot chocolate, hot chocolate, sausage and pre-cooked bacon for breakfast, an awning, beach towels and my swimsuit!, (can't believe I forgot that!)

We had the smallest tent of any of the families...It worked out fine because the kids are still little enough, but we were pretty stuffed in there...

We went over to the lake after we got set up on Saturday...

The adults had fun chit chatting while the kids enjoyed boating, swimming and playing in the sand.

Each family took care of their own breakfasts and lunches but we all came together for the evening meals..

I was in charge of the main dish for Saturday night...(pulled barbecue chicken and junior league salad). In addition to that, we had a fruit salad and a delicious potato salad (courtesy of Costco)...

For dessert, the Seguine's made baked bananas with marshmallows, and chocolate chips. Oooh la la. We also had a fabulous dutch oven dump cake courtesy of the Muellers...

Oops! I forgot to take off the tags to my fleece before I came. So much for passing myself off as a seasoned camper! This made for some good laughs!

Ellie's tends to be a bit on the...how shall I say it?...Clutzy side of things. I'm not sure I could even get into some of her predicaments even if I tried...(and that's saying a lot since I'm not the most graceful person in the world either)...

She was taking a bite out of her burned...er...I mean "heavily roasted" marshmallow when an ember flew off and landed on her nose...

Here is Brian trying his hand at flipping pancakes...

The spray pancake mix is so handy!

Ellie and Whitney getting warm by the fire...

Connie brought her paints and brushes for the kids to do a Sunday morning craft...

They all got to paint rocks...It was such a big hit!

The Atkinsons brought their ladder ball set and Brian played with the kids for a while UNTIL...

...the ladder ball flipped back while Ellie was trying to throw it and nailed her in the head...

(calling all ice packs!)

None of us could settle on their favorite picture...I guess this is always the case when you get a bunch of women together...

(Leisha, Pam, me, Jen, Kelly, Connie, and Amanda)

Everyone got along so well...I just loved how the kids were so occupied with each other...

There was always something to look at or someone to talk to...

Decisions...Decisions!

Later on in the day, we all hiked to a waterfall where several people were taking turns jumping off of the cliffs...

The water was ICE cold but beautiful...

On the hike back, Ellie tripped on a rock (I was surprised this was the first time that this happened). Thank goodness Brian works for Johnson and Johnson! We go through band aids by the case full!

Whitney, Bella and Ellie with their walking sticks...

(Ellie was still grumpy from the previous "biff"...)

Leisha was in charge of the main course for Sunday night's dinner...

We had a delicious pulled pork burrito with lots of yummy toppings...

For dessert, she made a cozy dutch oven apple crisp...

We had a mini church service that evening which was really sweet...

Here is a picture of all the families that went on the camp out...
It was such a nice experience...One that I will always remember...

Reilly's a campfire girl like me!

The next day, before leaving, Brian and I took the kids to fish...

We didn't catch anything, but they had fun trying, at least...

This cute little picture of Andrew Tippets pretty much sums up how we all felt after the weekend.

It was all so very worth it, though...

A weekend filled with beautiful weather, good food, campfire chats, and lots of laughter...

The most challenging thing about this whole weekend was trying to figure out which pictures to post on my blog...there were so many good ones to choose from...

Go HERE to view the rest of the photos on smugmug---

I think this is going to become a tradition!