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.

My Baby Started Preschool!

I'm not really a very sentimental person. Not really. I haven't saved all my kids' baby teeth. I think the "souvenirs" from their infancy could fit in a small storage tote each - a couple outfits, a special stuffed toy, the hospital paperwork, and maybe a fun bib or rattle or something. I figure most of what I want to remember, I can revisit through pictures without having to store a bunch of stuff.

I don't really mourn each phase my children pass through, and to be honest, I spent all summer looking forward to when school was starting again. Ok, so mostly this was because my kids are at that constant bickering/name-calling/tattle-telling phase and I'm going insane (please, please tell me they outgrow this? Or at least get more adept at it so my involvement isn't needed? ha!) To put it mildly, I'm just not sentimental about a lot of things.

However, it kind of hit me that my very last baby, our youngest, our only daughter... is growing up. It isn't a sudden revelation, truthfully. She's always been eager to keep up with her brothers and has been eschewing anything "baby" since before she turned two. Somehow, though, this step smacked me in the face a bit.

Not that she cares. Look at her:

This is the face of excitement, folks. This is the look of months' worth of anticipation! She just did not understand my need to cuddle her and hug her and kiss her and take a bazillion photos of her this morning. She just wanted to leave already! (Note: she did cry for about two minutes after Daddy left, not realizing somehow that he wasn't going to be staying there and playing with her the entire time.)

See that sparkle in her eyes? No? Well, she is making "camera smile" face here, hahaha. The sparkle is there, trust me, and it was even sparklier when I picked her up three hours later. She spent the entire 10 minute drive home filling my ears with all the fabulous things she got to do: play with playdough! Play with her friend from Church! Hear a story about pirates stealing beans from Grandma! Eat a snack!

So, goodbye baby and hello school girl. Mama loves you the same. No, that's not true - Mama loves you even more!

NOTE: This Post Contains Poop.

Ok, so don't say I didn't warn you!

I am currently trying to poop toilet train our 3 year old. In fact, he will be four in September, and I need to get him trained before he starts preschool end of August.

We have tried:
1. letting him run around naked (he pooped on the floor and then played in it)
2. giving him rewards like m&ms.
3. Promising a big reward, such as a train for his Thomas the Tank Engine collection.
4. Taking away one of his current trains every time he poops his pants.
5. Making him sit on the potty till he poops (he just won't do it.)
6. Spanking him when he poops his pants (this was a last resort and, just like the experts said, only induced him to hold it longer and constipate himself silly).

We have had a few successes, but these are always followed by unmitigated disasters, such as yesterday when he pooped in his swim trunks. UGH! Cleaning poop out of mesh is NOT FUN. And that is a vast understatement.

Anyway, I have had a few emotional breakdowns along the way. The last one was Monday when I called my husband at work and left a hysterical sobbing message that after 7 poop incidents (not to mention our youngest's three poopy diapers) I just couldn't take the poop anymore and wanted to get a job and let someone else raise our kids for awhile.

Needless to say, I am still here and have yet to turn in one application. lol

My inate laziness kicked in and I realized that as hard as it is being a mom and raising two little boys, having a "real" job would mean getting dressed up, doing my hair, and wearing makeup. No thanks!

Plus it would mean someone else would be witnessing the moments when my boys make it all worth it - like the oldest walking up and giving his brother a hug and a kiss for no apparent reason! Or the youngest crawling into my lap and selflessly offering me a sip of his room-temperature chocolate milk he's been nursing all morning.

Ok, enough rambling. I do think my oldest looks like he needs to poop . . .