I Think, I Can!

 These are the photos we took documenting my canning adventures! Though this was not my first time making applesauce and the likes, it was my first time trying hot-water bath canning.

 Before I could get to the jars, I had to do a little research & preparation. Then I had to get the apples ready to go.

This is my brand new apple peeler! I love it! I never could have gotten through 300-some apples without it! I thought those ribbons of peels were just beautiful!

And honestly, I didn't really get tired of using the peeler. I know that you would think somewhere around the 153rd apple, it wouldn't be fun anymore, but it was generally a good time... a lot of work, but the good kind!

 Apples, apples... everywhere! I worked in batches of about 20-30 apples, depending on the sizes of the apples.

Now, here's where things started to get sticky, literally! I canned for several hours each day during one week. Once you started, you just had to go with it because once you get the apples peeled and sliced there is sticky, apple juice and little apple chunks everywhere. It's best to just work through it and do a big clean-up at the end of each day.

 The next step was coring & slicing. I know that my peeler can do this step, but I didn't like the result, so I used my corer/slicer instead.

Then the apples go into a pot to cook!

While the apples cooked, I started preparing my jars. My canning process involved a LOT of multi-tasking. I was constantly moving to get jars ready or peel more apples. Kudos to the pioneer women who started everything from scratch. It takes a lot of work!

I used a crock-pot to keep my cooked apples hot while I prepared jars or had other batches in the canner. This is a scrumptious looking bite of my applesmash: a chunky, sweetened & spiced apple dessert.

 This was one of my first batches of applesauce in the canner. I can tell it's one of the first batches because there are only 3 jars in there. When you're working with a lot of apples and two small children underfoot, you've gotta keep the production line going.

 Success! It took a lot of time & effort, but the results are worth it! All of my jars sealed, and now I have beautiful jars of applesauce, applesmash & apple chunks!

I Want S'More!

So, I had this great idea that we could have a fire pit in this little 'away' space in the backyard. I was thinking it would be super-easy: just put down a little sand & gravel and stack some pavers. Well, like most things, it turns out it wasn't that easy, but it was definitely achievable and most definitely worth it.

 Last weekend, Darren went and got all the supplies, which amounted to about a ton of sand, gravel and paving stones. He started to dig the pit, but after a whole lot of running around for supplies he didn't get much past the digging part.

 This weekend, the weather felt a whole lot more like fall. It was the perfect weekend to lay the stones out. With a little help from Degen, of course.

 These are the dowel rods the kids & I decorated to make our marshmallow roasting sticks, in anticipation of our first, family campfire.

 The finished fire pit! Darren did a great job! The whole thing looks very professional!

 This is our first fire! We have an absolutely gigantic pile of sticks and limbs that we've been collecting from the yard since spring. It's enough for a dozen or more campfires!

 Here is Kyrie trying out our new roasting sticks! We had hot dogs & s'mores! This was her first time doing anything with a real fire, and she did a great job!

The embers' glow of our first campfire!

Tappin' Toes

 This year, Kyrie is taking a ballet & tap combination class. She was very excited to start this class, mostly because of the cool tap shoes, I suspect!

Fall Portraits

A great day for pictures!

Degen Richard Aurelius, Age 1 1/2



Kyrie Belle Alyce, Age 4 1/2

(Kyrie took a LOT of great pictures today!)

GO INDEPENDENCE BULLDOGS!

Kyrie was just too cute in her IHS (Darren's alma mater) cheerleading uniform!

Apple Peeler

I bought an apple peeler this year because I knew that I'd never make it through 300+ apples with a hand peeler. The first night I tested it out, I ended up with a fairly nasty slice on one of my fingers, but had everything figured out in time for the first batch of applesauce. Here's a short video showing how cool it is! I especially love all the piles of apple peel 'ribbons' it creates.

An Apple a Day

These are photos from our annual apple picking trip! Usually, we go to a commercial orchard to pick apples, but this year we were invited to a private orchard. It was a treat to enjoy a quiet day among the trees!

Kyrie tested out her tree climbing skills.

Degen worked quality control and tasted as many apples as he could!

Of course, Darren did most of the work!

Though I helped a little bit, too!

Darren found this super-cool caterpillar on one of his apples. If anyone knows what kind of caterpillar this is, please let me know!

Kyrie wasn't too sure about it!

Darren still working hard!

The fruit of our labor! We picked three basketfuls- that is a LOT of apples!

When the work was done, it was time to explore! Kyrie found this butterfly getting nectar from the flowers. He was so busy with his nectar, that he let her get close enough to touch him.

This was the view from the orchard! It was a beautiful, September day! We enjoyed a picnic beyond these trees after all the picking was done.