Homemade Applesauce

Very few things smell or taste better than fresh, warm homemade applesauce.

I made some today for my kids. We bought the apples 2 1/2 weeks ago when we went to the pumpkin farm, which is also a major apple farm in the area (BelleWood Acres) - the cashier recommended I wait a couple weeks before making applesauce because the apples would be sweeter and need less added sugar.

The apples most recommended for applesauce are Gala, Jonagold, Golden Delicious, and Fuji.

I used 8 apples, peeled, cored and sliced. I added them to a pan with 1 1/2 cups of water (which easily could have been reduced to just one cup... I had to let some of the liquid cook off at the end). Then I added 1/4 cup of sugar, several dashes of ground cinnamon and two dashes of ground cloves. The cinnamon and cloves are basically to personal taste - you could add them after cooking if you aren't sure where you stand on your spice levels. :)

Cook over medium heat until the apple slices are soft and easily mashed. You can then mash them in the pot for a lumpier sauce or run it through a food grinder for a smoother sauce.

Here are my kiddos enjoying the fruits of my labor. Well, two of my three, anyway - my younger son (the pickiest of my three) devoured his bowl so quickly, I didn't have time to get a picture!

I put one container in the freezer for later and the rest in the fridge for this week! I'm thinking pork chops might be in our near future.

Pumpkin Patch Time!

I absolutely ADORE fall. The crunchy leaves, the wind in the trees, the stormy rainy days, cozy meals, and the annual family trip to the pumpkin patch!

This year we decided to try out BelleWood Acres - known mostly for their apples (and they are amazing!) but they also have a pumpkin patch. BONUS: you can ride in a train of apple carts pulled by a tractor. My kids were thrilled.

You get a gorgeous view of Mount Baker while selecting your pumpkins. They've set up a great photo opportunity to take advantage of it. The cart in front is our selection of pumpkins. My oldest was excited that his pumpkin was the tallest of the five.

 They also have a wonderful shopping area where you can buy fresh-made donut holes, apple cider, a wide variety of apples, caramel apples, cookies, other treats, and fun decorations! Plus, the kids can sit on this awesome rocking horse. Although, as you can see, my 2nd son was less than thrilled to share his turn with little sister, hahaha!

Despite the look on Thad's face, we had quite a fun time on this year's pumpkin picking trip. Our two boys both have extra needs plus our daughter is three, so family outings are always an unknown. Will they behave? Will we have a meltdown? Will more than one of them meltdown at the same time? (This has happened and is probably one of the most parenting stressors known to mankind, ha!) Thankfully this time everyone behaved (mostly - they ARE kids, after all - some whining is expected) and we all went home happy.

It's Like Christmas All Over Again!

So says my five-year old, who has been "celebrating" Christmas for three months now. He takes random toys from around the house (believe me, there is plenty to choose from, I swear the stuff is breeding) and "wraps" them in one of Dad's boots (for a stocking, don't you know?) or in one of my dish towels.

Then he "gives" them to his brother or sister or me. By "give" I mean, he says it is for you, then proceeds to unwrap it himself and tell you all about it, but don't you dare actually try to take the toy and play with it!

I finally got so tired of him carrying around his father's boots (of questionable cleanliness) that I went out to the garage and gave him his actual stocking.

Although, I have to admit, think about how much better off our finances would be if I could just wrap up any old thing around the house in a dishtowel and give it to someone as their present - especially if I get to then take it back, wrap it up again, and give it to someone else!

Somehow I think if I tried that at his next birthday, it wouldn't fly.


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My Knockers and My Virus

There's a title for you!

First off, I've been sick. Really really ill with a head cold/virus/nasty bug thingy. I don't think I've been this sick for this long in over 10 years.

I haven't been able to taste anything or smell anything in days. My husband picked our daughter up the other day and said, "Whew, she STINKS!" She had just been crawling all over me and had been pooping the whole time. I walked right up and took a big ol' whiff of her diaper with my nose pressed against her fleece-covered bum. Nothing. I couldn't smell even a hint of poo! Which is nice (and I got saddled with changing her as a result, not so nice) but it also means I have to visually check her diaper every 1/2 hour to make sure she hasn't pooped. Oh, it's been fun, let me tell ya!

On the plus side, since I also can't taste anything, my appetite has been fairly nil. So I've lost nearly 10 pounds already. I force myself to eat some toast in the morning and then usually have some soup for dinner. I have been snacking on a few Ruffles potato chips since they feel good and scratchy on my throat and I can almost taste the saltiness, but I can still only eat a few. You know you are sick when you don't even have an appetite for potato chips!

Anyway, want to hear about my knockers? I thought so!

My three year old has been obsessed with his Diego adventurer/explorer kit lately. He is probably at least six months to a year behind his peers verbally, so sometimes it is hard to understand what he is saying as he is yammering intently to you. I kept hearing him in the other room saying "knockers." Since I was pretty sure he hadn't sneaked a copy of Playboy magazine into the house, I went to investigate.

He was leaning against the back of the couch looking intently out the window through his yellow Diego binoculars. He turns and holds them out to me.

"Look, Mom! My knockers!"

Kids Are Funny!

So the baby and our five-year-old had been playing upstairs. I'm not overly worried as I hear lots of baby giggles and no loud thumps.

Until later, when I realized that the baby's hair is gooey and she smells like lavender.

"Isaac," I call. "What did you do to Miri?"

"Nothing!" he calls back.

My husband, in a moment of sweet genius, takes a different tack.

"Isaac, come here. Why is Miri's head sticky? Did you put something on her head?"

"Dad," he says, matter-of-factly. "I was babytizing* her!"


Of cooooourse! It all makes perfect sense now! We can't have Miri crawling around without being babytized! Heavens, no!!

I just have to say that as often as my kids drive me nutso, they also make me laugh on a daily basis! :)

*Babytizing apparently means anointing her head with baby wash found on her changing table. At least he didn't use the butt cream.

No Etsy Seller of the Week this Week

Why, you ask?

Well, I forgot. Ha!

Our baby has been waking up in the middle of the night the last few nights and it takes about 2 hours to get her back to sleep again. I am pretty wiped out and as a result, my brain is foggy.

I'll be more ahead of the game next week, I hope!

So, instead, I'll share a story about my family life - lucky you!


I usually manage to luck out during the week and have at least one grandma available to watch at least one of the kiddos. But not Wednesday last week. My mom was working or busy all week and my mother-in-law had watched the boys the day before so I could get some orders made and mailed.

So, I hauled all of us into town to both the post office (where I had to stand in line because I had international packages to mail) and the shop where I sell, to restock. First of all, hauling three little ones under age five ANYWHERE is not pleasant and takes about 1/2 your day just to get them all ready and loaded in the van. Then, my 4-month old is apt to cry when we are still 15 minutes from anywhere. Which then makes the almost-five year old start yelling and crying. And that sets off the three-year-old, who doesn't cry when the baby does, but will start yelling when his older brother does.

So usually by the time I've got them all dressed, fed, in the car, and then listened to all three of them lose their minds for the last 15 minutes - you can see that I am not really in the mood to haul them all out of the car and actually be seen in public. Which is why I never go anywhere.

I keep telling myself that in a couple years or so, this won't be nearly as much of an issue. Then I think "what if it is?" and get a mental image of driving around with a crying 12-, 15-, and 17-year old in the car; which makes me laugh and I can somehow make it through that moment without selling any of them.

So, we get to the co-op where I sell. I madly put out the measly few things I've managed to make above and beyond orders that week and pay my rent. Meanwhile, I've got the baby strapped to my chest, and my head is on constant swivel to make sure my boys aren't destroying anything (the 3-year-old managed to "redistribute" about fifty business cards from other tables the last time I took him with me.) But we get in and out without any damage and not even any screaming! I am thrilled.

On to the post office! If you've stuck with me this long - well, I am impressed! :) Thankfully the line isn't very long. My younger son immediately starts walking laps around the island divider thing that separates the line from the counter. Then my oldest decides to follow him, which quickly erupts into a game of chase. I put a stop to that immediately and praise God they listened to me and kept it to a walk after that.

The highlight of the trip was when my three-year-old stopped in front of the waste bin, pointed to the "W" in "Waste" and said, "W!"

I don't even know if my almost-five-year old could point out a W! I have tried working with him, but he is way more interested in drawing trains. He knows the alphabet, and the letters in his name and that is about all he cares to know right now. I figure he still has a year of pre-school and kindergarten to learn these things, so no pressure!

After the post office, I had to sit in the van in the parking lot and nurse the baby. No way was she going to make it the 20-plus minute drive home and no way was I going to listen to the kids screaming that whole way!

Well, there was a little slice of my life. I made it back home in one piece, and so did the kids. Although if you had told me 10 years ago that going to the post office and dropping in on a shop would take me three hours from the moment I put on my shoes to the moment I took them off back home again, I would have laughed you out the door!

Might I just add one thing? I love my kids to bits! As much as they can drive me crazy, being crazy is the best thing that has ever happened to me! :)