The pool

Elle loves the pool here. Today her and I spent a lot of time there and every day she gets more and more comfortable in the water. But today was a break through for me with her that I thought I would share for anyone else who has a VERY strong will and "I'll do it myself" type personality. (And I'd love any ideas/examples anyone else may want to share with me! It takes a village!)
 I have a challenging time teaching her things that require a process--she is super easy to teach facts to, but actions are much more difficult because she is so determined to lead- not follow. I want so much for her to learn not only how to follow directions about things that are not easy to do but also that good leaders are leaders who know how and what it is like to follow.
So with the swimming it has been a real process trying to encourage her to do more things in the water, without pushing her to where she doesn't like it or is scared of the water. So today I took a new approach and asked her to teach me. (really the best way to learn anyway) She LOVED it. I said "okay I am going to show you real quick how to use your arms and then you're going to teach me how to do it." We made our hands into "closed bear claws" and "scoop scoop scoop"ed the water behind us. And then she taught me- ever so carefully- correcting me and using her hands to show me and to push my fingers together. I pretended to wonder why we want our fingers together instead of appart,  and we "contemplated" it, etc... It worked great and in less than 10 minutes I made more progress with her than the last 3 pool visits combined. Her "getting" to teach ME meant so much to her and she was so proud of herself and it was obvious that the techniques will not be forgotten.

Coconut Grove...treasure found....

I found it! Nearly 5 miles from the condo... the most incredible area! A grand park that is HUGE- lots of different play toy areas, exercise area (a little cheesey- but Elle loved it), bridge over the water with an incredible view of boats and wind surfers, open grass, sand volleyball pits, jogging path.... awwww..... a mile past the park is an area called Coconut Grove... a bit to the opposite extreme fromo "my" neighborhood... pretty ritzy.... nice stores, a market (can't wait to check that out), sidewalks without trash, broken furniture and dog poop on them, a beautiful marina, no bars on the windows, The Cheesecake Factory (!!!! YUM!) and other stores that I recognize. The greatest part of it all is that NO highway is required to get there! I make 2 turns and that's it.... I may just have a change of heart about the city after all...

We survived!

My courage was still wanting this morning for the grocery trip... I ended up walking with the kids in the stroller... I would rather be mugged than get lost on the highway!... I found the grocery store (about a mile-mile and a half away) and only bought what I could fit in the stroller and then rushed to get home before any of the perishables went bad. Finding that store on foot (way easier to go back the way you came on foot that by vehicle) gave me the confidence to pull up my boot straps and find the bank AND Wal*Mart (which I rarely shop at back home). I was so proud of myself, with Mapquest's help- I found both! And then failed miserably to find my way back home... I should have mapquested my return trip as well because retracing my steps does not work when they don't have the same street exits going one way as they do the other. These erronds would have taken me MAYBE 50 minutes to complete back home.... today... 2 hours 38 minutes... same approximate mileage... not to mention how difficult it is to haul purchases in with two kids- one who needs to be carried and an assigned parking spot that is as far away as possible (75 yards?) from the 4 (yes FOUR) doors that we have to go through to get to our condo. Just to bring in the $38 worth of groceries took me 3 trips...Again... seriously... how/why do people live like this as a choice?!

Did I mention that everything here is WHITE?

White tile floors, white dishes, white towels, white sheets, white bath rugs, white (well, really sort of cream) cushioned dinning room chairs, and white walls... oh dear.... I do not belong here... I suddenly notice how dinggy all of my things are (mom- you were right...). I had no idea how much soot would be on our patio! Within hours of being here we have successfully made trails of BLACK throughout the condo with our dirty bare feet! One bath rug is totally at a loss and Elle managed to get her little black feet on a wall. Blueberries for dinner were a trial for not staining the chair cushions, and I just immediately boxed up all the white towels and sheets and comforters and put them in the closet. This place will be lucky to survive me and my children... I am going to buy some slip covers for the furniture and the dinning room table chairs... how do people live like this? I am just glad there's no carpet... Talk about CULTURE shock!

13 states, 3376.4 miles, 4.5 days and 2 kids under 4

Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, Florida... We have arrived!
Here was some of the play by play:

20 minutes in- Elle: "I have to go potty."
35 minutes in (just after leaving rest stop for Elle)- a strange noise... is that a water hose broke in the engine? (I say that like I know what that is... I have no clue, but it sounded like what I'd imagine one breaking would sound like). Pull off... nope! Just the toy oven "boiling water"... back on the road...
1 hour, 20 minutes in- Elle: "Are we almost there?" =)
3 hours in- carrier starts whapping (is that word?) against the roof of the van...seriously DEAFENING... pull over, tighten the strap... 5 minutes later, still doing it... This continues for about a hour before I am determined enough to figure out a way to stop it or just leave it on the side of the road... I wrap a wash cloth with electrical tape (thank you Niki! It was the roll you gave me ages ago) around the srap and problem fixed.
Day 2 -Christian cried the ENTIRE day. The only time he didn't cry was when he finally fell asleep for short naps. When he finally fell asleep at "night" (7pm) I decided to keep going to get a couple hours in while there was finally SILENCE. (Elle had been an angel all day.) I stopped at about 10pm hoping to carry in two groggy kids and put them to bed and then crash myself... Christian was WIRED! It was so adorable... he was so happy to be out of that car seat, the was flopping around on the bed, head butting me, growling and having such a fun time....until nearly 1 am.... Elle thankfully slept through it all.
Day 3- Elle: "Are we going back home now?"
My phone car charger is broke... My battery is low and abviously this is a problem... turn phone off to save battery
Day 4- Stop at a gas station to ask where nearest Verizon store is for a car charger. The guy tells me, but also showes me that they have car chargers and directs me to the rack....of about 30 different chargers... none of them are working. He kindly comes around the counter, "what phone are you looking for one for?" I show him, "this one"... He chuckles outload with great restraint to hold it in... "no, I know we won't have one for THAT one...better try the Verizon store."
I find the Verizon store... I present my phone at the counter and inform them that I need a new charger. There are 3 people standing there, and they all look at each other with smirks on their faces. I am thinking I must have granola bar stuck to my face or something... "no ma'am (did he just call ME ma'am!?), we haven't carried cords for THAT phone in THREE years." !!!! Apparently I have an ANTIQUE cell phone! So I had to buy a whole new phone in order to get a charger. I got the cheapest one there and it is still so stink'en complicated and fancy!
Day 5- we arrive! The FIRST turn off of a main hyway and I am lost! I don't get over fast enough- those semi's don't take the mini van with the 2 decade old roof rack seriously... I am COMPLETELY lost and all turned around- I end up on a bridge that is taking me WAY to the other side of the city.... I am so stressed out... I hate the city... I got it all figured out to get back to the correct side of the city and Michael met me at a gas station and had me follow him the rest of the way...completely helpless... I am never leaving the condo...

Trip Observation:

Not a SINGLE person asked what was taking us to Florida... NO ONE asked a SINGLE question when I mentioned we were traveling from WA to FL. They all just sort of looked at us... we looked RAGGED... the kids had dread locks forming on the backs of their heads from their carseats rubbing, Christian rarely had pants on and was ALWAYS covered in whatever food he had been eating for the last 5 hours, Elle never wanted to wear shoes and had WAY too much time to pick the scabs on her chin and cheeks and often had dried blood on her face. I won't even start to describe how rough I looked... let's just say it was NOT pretty... Everyone who saw us either thought I was running away from my abusive husband, or I had stollen those kids and was on a run for it....probably didn't help that I paid with cash every where I went. Those kids don't look like me at all...which is a whole nother story... "oh your kids are SO CUTE... they look JUST like their dad."... Not as much with Christian... in fact in the beginning I had people ask what ethnicity my husband was! (he sort of has chinnese eyes) and then there were (are) all these comments... "where does that RED hair come from?!"... hello folks- I AM 40% IRISH!.... I promise, I don't know any red headed Chinnese men... anyway, I digress... I am certain that a family almost offered to buy us lunch one day at McDonalds when it was taking me a minute to find my cash!

To the drivers who saw me dancing like a crazy person... there were kids behind those tinted windows and THEY were loving it.... To the Verizon store that allowed my children to run around and roll on the ground and play like crazy in that huge open show room.... thank you.... And to the woman at the rest stop that was seriously beside herself in shock that I allowed my children to run through the sprinklers and roll in the grass down the hill... you should try it sometime...

Here's photo's of the new place...

Those are the trees roots!

Our new back yard. =(

Couldn't be more different, but the pool is awesome and it is so sunny and warm here! Tomorrow's adventure... find a grocery store... and find our way back... oh my... how my "adventures" have changed... I think I'd rather help birth a cow...

Day 9

The final push... less than a week and a half and we did it... the kids got to enjoy a day at the zoo today with their nana and papa and aunti Meg and cousin Elena. I got up about 5:30 and finished all the packing and then went to a soccer tournament where I played 3 games (they're short games) and then came back and finished loading the van and bringing in garden tools and spreading straw over the garden beds to keep weeds down. (the big garden- we put a large tarp over it.) I am doing a final load of laundry now and took all the garbage cans down to the street earlier. We enjoyed a nice dinner with Grammie and Grandpa and Elizabeth and Tauney at the Oyster House. The kids are spent, I am spent. The house is clear with the exception of a final load of odds and ends my parents will come get when we are gone and a pile of things a friend wanted. It is beautiful outside, the leaves are turning colors and the change in season is apparent with the chill in the morning and at night. It is fitting that we have this change in the season of life... it will be a beautiful drive. I'm not sure that I will have internet access for a few days. So the next time I post I hope to have photo's of our new place! Good bye field, good bye smelly chicken house, good bye 4 acres and 2400 sq ft of house that need to be maintained.... =) Hello LONG TERM VACATION~ =)

Day 8

Really getting down to decision time for the packing... so many factors... Do I really want to store this that long? Will this toy be age appropriate by the time we are back? Will these clothes fit them? What should I leave for when we come and visit? What should I take? Agh! The few remaining boxes I packed today took more thought and time than any. Both kids rooms are clear-bare floors (other than Christian's pack and play in his). Truck load to the dump done, contracts signed and done, trip to grocery store for goodies for the road, trip to bank to pay for gas, carrier is fixed to the top of the van and loaded with towels, bedding and Christian potty seat ( I had JUST bought it for him). Linda (Michael's aunt) came with Lacey (her granddaughter) to get Oliver today. I will have to post pictures later, I packed the cord that enables me to upload them... but real cute- all the kids got in the back with him. It was sad. Elle cried a little after they left, but she's tough. Susan (Michael's moom) brought us the most incredible dinner, I got to hang out with my mom most of the afternoon running the above erronds, while Melody (friend) watched the kids. (thank you! Elle had a BALL!) The van is packed, with the exception of the few boxes I have left to "top off" and Elle is "camping out" in my room tonight as her bed is disassembled. She is laying here snoring beside me... I love that little munchkin!

Day 7

ALL TRIM IS PAINTED AND ALL WALLS TOUCHED UP!!! Hooo-RAY! Thank you to Jerusha and Lindsay, who came and played with the kids while I finished. Got my AAA card, set up the tenants contracts for the other house, fed the horses down the road the remaining carrots from the garden, sold the rooster and 5 other hens, packed the remaining kitchen drawers, packed a duffel bag of the kids clothes for the trip,  and picked out carpet color and pad at Home Depot.

Tomorrow will be the moment of truth to see if everything I am planning to bring will actually fit in the van! =)

Day 6

Pruned 5 apple trees and 1 pear tree, started pruning the grapes, FINISHED painting all the trim and windows! (hoo-ray! That was a dreaded one- that has taken HOURS and HOURS over the last couple days... still have to touch up paint all the walls) My mom came over today and CLEANED... I mean CLEANED my van out.. it is sparkelen! It has NEVER been so food or dog hair free...I am scared to even go anywhere... maybe I will just stay home until it is time to leave for Miami... While my mom was here, she had the kids and I made the most of it by taking care of referring all of my real estate business and signing over my license to the referal department of my office so I can still help people find AWESOME agents if they are looking for a home, or planning to sell theirs. I also took the last standing order of T-shirts to Bayview, tagged them, invoiced them and delivered them. Elle and I had a good time planting the strawberries I pulled out of the garden (before mowing it) in another garden area that won't be covered with plastic...probably about 40 plants and lastly I may have figured out the rental situation for the basement of the other house... I should know tomorrow for sure. I CAN NOT WAIT to say I am completely done with the painting! That is a TOUGH job with little ones... one that wants to help, and the other that wants to tip the tray and play in it... so glad we don't have carpet installed yet...

Thought on today... it really is incredible how much you can accomplish in a day if you just keep doing stuff. Really... a day is a LONG time...

Seeing the world more clear

UNBELIEVEABLE the differnce clean windows in a house makes!!! We have not cleaned our windows in and out since we moved in (a year ago) and WOW what a difference! It really does let in so much more light, makes the view all the more incredible and just makes the house look cleaner (which in the disarray that my home is in right now, says A LOT). I also finally got glasses today. My vision is just bad enough to not quite notice and allow a decade to go by without taking care of it. The real "kicker" for me was Elle's 3 year check up where they tested her eyes. I stood at the line, helping make sure she stood at it, as she covered one eye and read the shapes off the chart... I stood there, leaned in as far as I could, squinting BOTH eyes, questioning, "did she get it!?" =) Between that and never being able to read road signs until they are being passed... I knew it was time. They came in today...I was happy to see that I did sort of like them... when I went in for the appt. the dc put the drops in my eyes to diolate them and then said to go out and pick what frames I wanted right then before my eyes got blurry. I was finding NOTHING that I liked...until about 8-10 minutes in...the same time my eyes started getting blurry...so I wasn't sure if it was the fact that I couldn't see myself in the mirror, or if the frames were really the right size and shape for my long chubby face... I don't hate them, so that's good... and it'll be nice to be able to read road signs....you know...for 3400 miles...

Let me tell ya... I had NO idea how beautiful it is outside! I can see leaves on trees, needles on pine trees and fur trees, even the marina that I drive by EVERY day to get to and from home is incredible... each mast on the sailboats SEPARATE from the other.. amazing... I only have the glasses for driving...but wow, I am so glad I got them before driving accross country... now I will be able to see all the beauty...

Day 5

First coat of paint done on all trim and windows (all but two windows). Trip to Home Depot to buy something I never thought I'd buy (or have)... DVD players for the kids in the van. Returns made at Target, two trips to Home Depot, items back to the library, phone call to get AAA account set up, picked up the last print order of T-shirts to deliver tomorrow to Bayview Thriftway in Olympia, John and Ali (friends of ours) came and helped paint and watch the kids- so fun to see them...mowed the grass for the last time- super short, hauled more boxes downstairs,  and deposit  made at the bank I  just recieved an email that one of our basement tenants at the other house is moving out...so now I need to figure all that out here before I leave...yey... so close...

Day 4

ALL windows washed in and out (thanks mom!), another truck load packed and moved to my parents (who will be storeing everything), the bridge railing over the creek built (thanks dad!), remainder of trim chaulked, 4 more loads of laundry done, 2 more pick ups for free items, pantry cleared out, another truck load of outside stuff stored, ran 2 miles, met with future tenants and signed paperwork and got deposit, signed over title for truck sale, hung hanging basket hook that fell off front post, chaulked sinks so they wouldn't move anymore, grandpa came and picked up the rocking chair he bought (thanks grandpa!), and sealed the wood shed with linseed oil (thanks mom and Elle!). It was a BEAUTIFUL day out, we managed to fit in a couple games of tag, playing in the puddles the tarp over the garden saved, and Elle mastered some artwork this evening. I am hopeing to get the trim painted mostly tomorrow and then the major daunting tasks will be done and just little ones left. I talked to Michael this morning, he has arrived in Miami and says that the condo is nice and that's it's real hot there... the kids miss him, it'll be nice to all be together soon.

Day 3...

Okay, so I never really got around to doing a "part 2" for Day 2... but here is where things are at today...About 80 percent of the house is packed and moved out (!), more windows have been washed, the van is full of stuff to take to the Goodwill, many people came to get free items- bed headboard/footboard, tv, dresser, bookshelf, bed table, end table, and baby items. 6 more chickens sold and all beef is now gone. 4 loads of laundry done, contract finished for new tenants (one is a cop, the other is a super cleaner...perfect tenants!) and Michael has nearly arrived in Florida. I still have 3 chickens and 2 roosters left.

Day 2...Part 1

Upper exterior windows washed,  garden pulled, strawberries dug up and garden mowed (yes, I said "mowed" that must be against some "rule"!). We put black plastic over the garden (only had enough plastic for half- the garden is much larger than I realized...
 okay... I HAVE to share the story that JUST happened... I am sitting here on the CLOSED LID toilet near the bath while the kids take a bath together and I type this entry. I see with my incredible mothering periferal (sp?) vision that Christian is standing- well, rather squatting in the bath tub. "Oh no!" I quickly set the laptop down and grab him, but it is just barely too late as I see "it" fall from his bottom. I hang him over the toilet (lid now up) as Elle (who is still in the bath) realized what just happened and is desparately trying to get out of the bath, she literally slithers out of the bath landing as a heap on the floor. She is gagging and I am telling her to "quick, just get out" so she won't throw up. Christian appears to be done on the toilet so as I am cleaning his behind, Elle keeps coming in and gagging (It's like a train wreck, she just can't help but want to watch). I barely have him clean and I am trying to dry his legs off so he won't slip on the floor, I can hear Elle gagging right outside the door and I am trying to get a towel for her, just as I get to her she starts PROJECTILE vomitting! I am throwing the towel down and giving it to her to hold to throw up in. Little do I know, as I am holding her hair back and rubbing her back- naked little Christian is pooping on the floor in 3 places behind me, walking in it and then going in to the bathroom and then to the toys (about 8 ft of distance traveled). Elle is finally undercontrol and I am asking her to go and get me wipes as I am out of toilet paper! (I couldn't make this up if I tried!) She is gagging again and there are little brown foot steps all over the bathroom and the carpet outside of it. I clean Christians bottom (and feet) off first and then proceed to clean the floor and "talk down" Elle from throwing up again. Finally the floor is, well, I'll be honest... good enough... we are getting the carpet replaced in a week (yet another thing I have to take care of) anyway (they measured for it today... we had never installed carpet yet just had remnants on the subfloor).. and the bathroom floor is clean. I put the nasty towels in the wash and am now wiping up the throw up on the carpet and Christian keeps throwing this beach ball at my face... this wet beach ball.... after three "smaks" I realize, it is COVERED in throw up! At this point, I am laughing hystarically- with puke on my face and in my hair and two naked kids terrorizing the DISASTER of a playroom (with boxes and bags and random stuff all over the place)...both in DESPARATE need of a bath, that is occupied by a "floater".... Oh my... it doesn't get any better than this! I don't even know how to continue this post with the progress of our day... I think I will have to later...

Day 1

Packed 5 more boxes and 6 garbage bags, planted 2 cherry trees, dismantled and stored the trampoline, the hammock, and the lounge chair, moved 2 cast iron bath tubs, a pile of 2 man rocks and some lumber, found a home for Oliver for the next 18 months (thank you uncle Lee and aunt Linda!), sold 3 chickens, about 100 lbs of beef and all our cloth diapers (still pending payment). Got materials at home depot for finishing bridge over creek and snak food for Michael's drive. Helped Michael pack and get his truck fixed ($800 later...) and saw him off this evening. We got a couple hours of "family time" in before he had to leave which was nice. Not too bad... but this weekend is when we really get serious... I'm calling in the "big guns".... my family.... my parents raised incredible workers (if I do say so myself) and both brothers are coming to help and my parents and a friend as well...

For Sale

Ikea bookshelf- $15

Really solid wine cabinet $50

Solid wood rocking chair- $50

Large Flat screen TV $50

That is not a crack, just my child's hand print! It'll wipe off..

Also selling our frozen beef from our pasture raised cow.

Email me if interested. willowfarmapparel@yahoo.com

Country Mouse moves to the City

WOW! So shocking news came today... we are moving to Florida for a year and a half... Miami, Florida!! It doesn't get more different from our little farm and more further accross teh country than that! My husbands work got a HUGE job over there and so off we go! What an adventure! I can't say I have ever wanted to live in Florida, I actually hate city living, but it is SUNNY there! And after the "summer" we have had, sunshine will be wonderful. We only found this out today and my husband leaves tomorrow... so I am left to COMPLETELY move everything out of our house (that we JUST moved in to a year ago), arrange the rental of the house, button up things at our other rental, take care of my real estate deals, figure out what to do with my new T-shirt company and all that inventory, sell the chickens, sell a truck, prepare the garden to not be touched for 2 years, pack what we'll take, move our banking, utility company stuff, etc... all in just a couple weeks time and with 2 kids in tow! HA! This is actually the type of stuff I live for! I love a challenge. There is so much that goes in to moving, let alone accross country, and all the renting arrangements on top of it. At this point, I plan to be leaving on the 19th of October, driving with the kids accross country... 50+hours of driving! So I have less than 2 weeks to get it all done... we'll see...
Anyone need/want any warm clothes 18-24 month or 3-4T, let me know! I am also going to go through a lot of toys and food. Frozen beef anyone!? I also have a large TV, a wine cabinet, wooden rocking chair and book shelf I plan on selling for CHEAP. Let me know if you are interested! I am also going to try and sell all my Bum Genius 3.0 Cloth diapers as it will not be feasible for me to do those down there in the condo. I will try and upload photo's of those items soon.

Cinnamon Honey Butter

I got this off a friends BLOG who got it from THIS SITE - it is SO DELICIOUS!

 Ingrediants: 1 Cup (2 sticks) of Butter softened to room tempature-(important!), 1 Cup of Powdered Sugar, 1 Cup of Honey, and 2 Tablespoons of Cinnamon (I used 3).

Whip them together in the blender

Could make a great gift for Christmas! Or just really good to bring to this seasons parties with it's sort of "holiday taste".  Enjoy!

Plantain

THIS is Plantain! I have blogged about it in other posts. This grows EVERYWHERE! Look in your lawn, I bet you have some. This is what I use when a kid gets a bee sting. I just pop it in my mouth, chew it up and spit it onto the sting. I have also used this on a weird ingrown nail thing on Michaels finger... it was HUGE and nasty and after putting some of this on it for about 10 minutes, it went WAY down and after a couple days was gone... he had had the bump for over a week before that. If I ever got a snake bite (no posinous ones here) this is what I would put on it... spider bite, etc... it is an astringent- so it pulls the poison out.

See how the leaves have the defined vains... 

Hope this helps you to identify! Great herb to teach your children about. Elle now points it out to me now, it is EVERYWHERE. You can also make a tincture with it using glycerin.

Recipe for Happy Children

WATER AND DIRT!!! Mix together until you have mud, and WOO-LA- Happy kids! =)

Gotta love the band-aid!

Elle said she was making
"raw jersey milk" and "teacher" ( I think she was trying to say tincture...) =)

This seriously entertained both of them for 20 minutes. (which if you know my kids... that is FOREVER!) Then Christian lost interest, but Elle "worked" on this for hours throughout the day!

May you all be blessed by this top secret family recipe! ;)

apple crumble heaven

So while the apples were cooking for the applesauce, I still had more apples and the pot was full so I thought about making a pie, and then thought I'd try some sort of crumble thing that would be faster than making dough... now, any of you who have made a graham cracker crust before... I never have, and didn't take the time to get a recipe for it, and still haven't, so who know's if I did it "right"- but it tastes INCREDIBLE!

First I had the kids mash up a bunch of graham crackers in a ziplock bag. Which Elle particularly enjoyed doing...

I poured about 2/3 into a pie plate and set the other 1/3 aside. I took a cube (1/2 Cup) of butter and melted it and poured it into the crumbs mixing it in and pressing it to form a crust.

I sliced apples- a little thick because I like a little crunch even when they're cooked- and then put in cinnamin, nutmeg, brown sugar and cane sugar...I couldn't tell you exact measurements because Elle put the stuff in and she used no measuring devise (just like her mama)... I'd guess about 2 Tablespoons of cinnamon, 1 teaspoon Nutmeg, 1/2 Cup cane sugar and 1/2 Cup brown sugar... basically enough just to coat the apples when stirred together.

I dumped the apple mix into the pie plate and Elle added the remaining 1/3 of grahm cracker crumble on top.  I put foil over the top and put it in the oven at 350degrees... for about 30-40 minutes... sorry didn't see the time exactly-(just judge by when the apples are soft and the crust is browned-can't really go wrong)... I was too busy finishing making the apple sauce, chasing the naked child who escaped from his diaper and was thoroughly enjoying his "freedom time" and cleaning up all the mess such things cause... ;0)

And then I put about 2/3 of the crunched crackers in a pie plate and melted a stick of butter and poured it in and mixed it up and pressed it to the pie plate.

It was SO EASY, really fun for Elle to help do (especially getting to stomp on the grahm crackers), and seriously SO GOOD.  I am sure it would be great with berries too...maybe not use the brown sugar? Anyway, successful experiment for sure! =)

Making Applesauce

We made applesauce this morning. Got the last apples from one of the trees and a few from another and quartered them and threw them in the pot. I recently learned about apple seeds... they have a lot of anti-oxidant, but too many can be toxic to the body... so some apples I didn't core and some I did. I leave the skins on mainly because I am too lazy to peel each one, but also they have a lot of nutritional value as well. For this large pot I put water in to about 2-3 inches, put a lid on and let it steal to a boil and the apples were soft and the peels falling off.

Like this.

 and then with

that I borrowed from my mom... I did this:

EEK!

A small interuption... my little man got his diaper off of course while I am pouring steaming hot apple chunks into the grinder! =) Kids just love the dishwasher... funny isn't it?

Anyway..Look at all that warm-insert DELICIOUS smell- yummy applesauce! I put some in containers to freeze, we all had a bowl with some cinnamon on it and the rest I will just keep in the fridge as I plan to use most of it this week. It is a great sugar subsitute in baking breads or cookies, I also use it making pancakes. The smell alone is worth the effort (which really isn't much).

Money really DOES grow on trees!

And here in Washington- that means APPLES! We picked this basket full this morning...Elle got stung by a bee when she was up on the ladder picking them- I chewed up some Plantain and spit it on the sting- the stinger was still in and we couldn't get it out with our fingers, but the Plantain took care of it... Elle can now identify Plantain- she knows it is worth knowing because this is her second bee sting and she has experianced how quickly it takes away the pain, keeps the swelling down and pulls out the poison....anyway...just a little "for your information"! =) Learn about Plantain! Maybe I'll post some photo's of it on here...

Anyway, we washed the apples, set aside the PERFECT ones to just eat whole and quartered the ones we were going to make juice out of.

Put them in the juicer and Elle turned it on and pressed them down.

Wala! About 10 minutes of work for about 3/4 gallon juice...the res is froth that we'll scrape off and add to a beef stew or crockpot meal. SO GOOD! We plan to make applesauce tomorrow. The chickens went crazy over the disgard apple mush...It feels good not to waste anything... We didn't get many apples this year, but I intend to use every one of them one way or another.

Sunflowers

I love sunflowers. Easy to grow, low maintaince, long lasting flowers, simple yet beautiful.