Yeah!! I'm Finally Domesticated!!!

The title says it all. I have finally joined the ranks of so many other Moms. I have become a part of their "secret society";) I can join in on these conversations where everyone talks about all the things they have made from scratch (and saved money on too! right up my alley!!). I can breath a sigh of relief that I too am now DOMESTICATED! You see, yesterday I had the privilege of making apple sauce. Yes, apple sauce has now brought me to this new level of being a homemaker!

A very good friend of mine and I braved through making apple sauce together. Neither of us had done it before, so we weren't too sure what we were getting into! I stopped off at Bennett's on the way and picked up 4 different kinds of apples, 1/2 a bushel of each (while in the store a whole busload of older people came in - field trip?? - and when they saw my cart full of apples they smiled and said - going to be a busy day today for you isn't it? - it was busy, and it was a lot of fun too!).

Our first batch was made with out the peels, so lots of work peeling (we didn't have a machine to do that!!) and then coring the apples. Then we thru them in the pot and boiled them to a mush. Another friend of mind lent us an apple smusher/puree machine that took the boiled apples and made them into beautiful smooth apple sauce! How easy is that! Our next batch we tried it with the peel on, much less work, and it turned out beautifully as well (a bit of a pink tinge - but tasted great all the same!).

Unfortunately we ran out of time, but we ended up with 3 batches (worked out to about 11 baggies each). Which, we were quite impressed with - it was supposed to be more of a "trial-run" which ended up going very well. We were each left with about 1/2 a bushel of apples - which we decided we were going to make some apple crisp on our own for freezing (once you get started on this domesticated stuff...there's no stopping it!!!).

We had a fun time - lots of socializing in between (friends and family popped in during our day as well...a few extra hands to help!), and the kids had a blast playing with each other.

It was a great day to become domesticated!!

The Kids....I think they may have eaten more apples then we made apple sauce out of by the end of the day!

The Appples

Our weapons of choice

Hard at work!

Esther trying her hand at the "machine"

And Voila! Apple Sauce!

"Ompudur"

So Anna asks me to draw this the other day - an "ompudur". Um, yah....as a Mom I'm supposed to understand everything right? I should be able to speak and understand their language like no one else. Well, doesn't always work that way, and lucky for me, Caleb has become my "translator" when I just can't figure out on my own what Anna is trying to say (and he's usually right too!). So when Anna said "ompudur" - I was pretty confused for a moment...and then it sunk in what she wanted (I actually figured it out on my own!!) - she wanted to be like everyone else who gets their turn on it here at our house...Anna's gonna follow in her Daddy's footsteps when she gets older!! I can just tell ;)

Boys and their Ties

I love little boys all dressed up. I think they look very refined and just so darn cute! And...being a Mom of course...I can be a little bias with my own ;) Last year Caleb was in my sister's wedding party - so this was his first exposure to the bow-tie and suit (minus the jacket) idea. And boy oh boy...did he look cute! So, for Christmas he got a new shirt and tie - and for Caleb this was his opportunity to be JUST LIKE DADDY. Well...last year's tie was a bit too small for him now (yah! he's growing!!) - so I went out shopping to find a new one. Good thing I liked the only one from Once Upon a Child - I suppose that ties are becoming a thing of the past? Too bad...cause I really like little boys in ties! What do you think of his new tie? Can it get a little more "boyish"? ;)

Climbing, walking, climbing, climbing....

We were able to enjoy a brisk walk Saturday afternoon at one of our favourite places to go - Sam Lawrence Park. It's neat to start walking there in early spring, watching plants sprout, then summer when flowers are in full bloom, and again in fall - when things are slowly dying off. The kids especially like this park because of the rocks and fantastic climbing tree! Once again, I went a little camera happy - but I love being able to catch the excitement in their eyes as they enjoy the great outdoors!

"The Climbing Tree" (enjoyed by all!!)

Alvar dazzled us with his climbing skills - brought back many fond memories of his childhood!

"The Wall"

Favourite "rock" - lots of fossils and just fun to stand on

Peppers anyone? They sometimes plant some pretty funky stuff in the rock garden!


Shadows were nice and long....Esther knew that I was trying to get the shadow...I think Anna and Caleb were a bit confused...not sure where to smile ;)

Sleepy-Head

Alvar found Anna sleeping in the middle of the floor this afternoon...guess the puzzle was too boring for her!

Leaves

What's the fall season without the classic "kids in the leaves" pictures!

Thanksgiving Weekend....part 3

On Thanksgiving Monday we headed of to my Uncle and Aunts place out in Nell's Corners where we would meet a bunch more of the family (my Mom's Uncles and Aunts, their kids (my cousins) and my cousins kids too - basically a whole lot of people! We had beautiful weather once again (the whole weekend was great for being outside) and enjoyed more good food and socializing. The kids just love being on a farm - nothing better than having the freedom of running around in lots of open space! We all had a great day again - all of us pretty tired by the end from enjoying the great outdoors!

Can't get enough of those fall colours!

Uncle Dick and Aunt Grace's house

Ok, this was about the most favourite part of the day for the kids (maybe both the ones in the trailer and the drivers!). I'm pretty sure we went thru a lot of gas today, but we worth the smiles on the kids faces with every ride they got!

Anna doing her favourite thing - Swinging! And this swing was huge - definitely beats any playground swing in the city!

Mmmm...food!!

Alvar diggn' in with the kids :)

Anna's best friend

Aunt Grace and my Mom

Old tractor in the field

Very old wagon wheel by the barn

Future tractor driver

Oh boy...that's a "mean" lookn' farmer!

Ok, so I thought that the hi-lite of the day was going to be the lawn-tractor rides - well, I was wrong. By far the biggest hi-lite for Alvar and the kids was getting a ride in my Dad's old car (did I mention it was old? yup...1937 - that's old!) Alvar went for a "real" ride with Dad (on the road) and the kids got to go up and down the long driveway (no seatbelts, no carseats...mmm...maybe that was more the hi-lite for the kids!)

Alvar looking pretty excited to be in the cool car!

Well, I think Caleb looks even more excited about being in the cool car!

You can just see the tops of the kids' heads here...if you were there you could definitely hear them, they were so excited!

Back-view of the car

All in all we had another great day - and over all a fantastic Thanksgiving weekend!!