Apple Sauce Candy?

The applesauce didn't come out like we hoped. It turned dark brown and was so sweet it nearly melted in your mouth before you could actually move it around and swallow it. Matthew refused to taste yucky brown applesauce and so we threw it away. It was really like eating warm candy and I couldn't help but wonder if we couldn't make some time of candy out of it:)

My second batch of apple butter didn't turn out too well either. I let it cook too long trying to do it around my crazy weekend schedule. It too had to go. So, I must get the rest of these apples canned soon! I still haven't made an apple pie, but Matthew and I are going to tackle that this weekend! Should be fun!

Just me

Applesauce

Finally, I put on a slow cooker full of apples to make applesauce. It called for 10 large apples, 2 cups of sugar, 1/2 cup water and some cinnamon but I'm leaving that out. I know Matthew won't eat it if I add it. I don't think I used 10 large apples either. More like 5 large and 5 smaller ones. I wish the recipe had called for cups instead so it will be interesting to see how it comes out in the morning. Oh, and another large crock pot of applebutter is going as well! A number of apples are showing brusing from their traumatic wash so we are going to have to keep those pots cooking this weekend:)

Yay for Fall and Thank you Lord for apples!!!!!

Crock Pot Apple Butter

8 cups of peeled apples
4 cups of sugar
1/2 cup vinegar

Mix all of these ingredients in crock pot and cook covered for 12 hours on low. I cook mine overnight. In the morning the apples will appear watery and there is a vinegar smell. Mash cooked apples or puree. I used my potato masher righ in the crock pot.

Add
1/2 tsp ground cloves
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. all spice

and cook for 3 hours with the lid off or until the mixture becomes a spreading apple butter consistency. Put into hot sterilized jars, adjust lids and heat process by submerging for 10 minutes into boiling water. If apple butter is boiling and jars are removed from boiling water just prior to putting in apples butter, then putting on the lids and rings and inverting them quickly and turning them right side up again should produce an adequate seal.

Apple Washing

Yesterday evening we took my grandma's old wash tubs out on our brick patio and washed the rest of our bushel of apples. Matthew loved using them and it brought back such great memories for me helping grandma wash clothes when I was little!!!

Part 2- First batch is made!

I am praying these seal! I'll probably put another two batches on tonight and can them tomorrow when I get home from work around noon. This batch made 7 twelve ounce jelly jars, 1 eight ounce and 1 that I have no idea what it holds but it has peaches on the lid. I reused this lid and I'm hoping it seals. I put it in hot boiling water to process just in case. Matthew is still waiting for his applesauce so I need to get that on as well! He came in the kitchen earlier and asked, "Mommy, what are you doing?" Before I could answer he answered himself, "You are making a big big mess!"

Apple Butter Part 1

Matthew loved the apple peeler! It was such a good buy at $15, on sale, and with a $5 off coupon:) He practiced on our potatoes for supper and then Phillip and Matthew, cored, peeled, and sliced the apples with on flip of a little switch on that new peeler! Yay! I put on two batches (one in each crock pot) of apple butter. My jars are 12 oz instead of 8 so I'm not sure how far it will go. I added the spices around 9 am so it will be ready to go into the jars around noon!

Apple Picking!!!

Today we went to an apple orchard so Matthew could pick apples for the first time! Now, the funny thing is, he doesn't like apples! I was so hoping this whole experience would really motivate him to try one, but it hasn't!

We packed our picnic lunch before heading out the door alittle before noon today to Millstone Creek Orchard in Ramseur. Matthew helped me make sandwiches and asked if we had a picnic basket. I actually do have one and we put some chips and our plates, cups and napkins inside of it and put the rest in our cooler.

When we told Matthew this morning we were going to take him to pick apples he was instantly excited. Phillip told him we were going to put him up in the tree and let him throw them down to us. He liked that idea, but said he couldnt' climb the trees b/c (and he raised his hands in the air to show us) he wasn't like spiderman. He was dead serious and didn't even crack a smile:) Later he told me he was going to shake the tree and make all the apples fall off. Luckily when we got there he didn't try this.

When we arrived at the orchard a lady met us and gave us our baskets. She told us to make sure we did a "twist and pull" when picking the apples b/c otherwise alot would fall off the heavily weighed down branches. We walked out to the trees labled golden delicious and started picking. We realized it was hard to find lower branches with apples still on them (must have been alot of little people picking) so Matthew got up on his daddy's shoulders and used him as a ladder! He loved picking the apples even though some were hard to reach.

Matthew got the hang of picking pretty quickly although he abandoned the "twist and pull' method almost immediately. It was very hot today in the orchard as apple trees just don't provide any shade. We picked a bushel and were on our way back to the barn and to get our picnic out of the car.

We enjoyed our lunch under the trees. We had hoped to go on a hayride and waited for a very long time but no others were signing up and they didn't want to just take us:( Matthew was very disappointed but we reminded him of the hayride we'd go on in October with Kylie at the pumpkin patch and he was alittle better. Not sure how they were able to overlook those big brown watery eyes but they did. Needless to say we'll be picking our apples at another orchard next year! Anyhoo.....

After stopping for canning supplies at Walmart we came home and Phillip and Matthew went to Bed Bath and Beyond to buy an apple peeler.! I will write more about that tomorrow!

Durham Bulls Game

Last night Matthew went to his second baseball game ever! I don't know that he really remembers his first that was right before his third bday. He knows he has an orange baseball cap with a Greensboro Grasshopper on it and that's about it. But last night, we where invited to attend with Phillip's company who rented a skybox. Matthew sat inside for a while and then went outside where he said it was too loud and came back in to watch through the glass. The Durham Bull came by for a visit and he had his picture taken with him and then wanted to go back out. After that it was hard to get him back inside the skybox! Luckily for us, the game was only the traditional 9 innings, but the Bulls lost. Matthew and Phillip got another set of matching caps and we watched the after show fireworks! Matthew sat in a trance and loved them!!! Again, another first for my little man who normally hates the loud noise they make:) We really had a great time and I have a feeling that next summer we'll be going to alot of Greensboro Grasshopper games!!!

Quote

I just read this quote and had to share it!

"Childbirth is an act of nature, but adoption is an act of God." I love it:)

Lori

Whittlin'

I am trying hard today to stay away from the kitchen table. Phillip has decided to teach Matthew how to whittle/carve today with a bar of soap and a very small knife. While it is so sweet to see my husband teaching our son "boy stuff" it puts my mommy fears in overdrive. "What if he cuts his thumb?" "What if he drops the knife and it stabs him?" Those sweet little fingers and hands that I still love to hold and ponder there growth through the last five years is learning a new skill. One I suspect that will cultivate and be nurtured over the years as his dad teaches him his craft of woodworking. The love of wood has already been instilled. We saw this even as Matthew chose wooden toys to play with over plastic when he was two! Matthew told me one day when he was big he wanted to build buildings and drive a crane and other big trucks. I wouldn't be surprised if our little builder did just that. It's such a blessing to watch his talents and interests grow, even when they scare me a little:)

A nice visit from Cyndi!

Cyndi, Phillip's sister, came up for a visit after church today! It was so nice to see her! Matthew especially loved the fact that "Aunt Cyni" came to play with him today. He showed off his new swing set and threw football with Cyndi for the longest time. She has more patience than me, for sure! While Matthew does a great job at throwing a football, his throws are often a little short, a little long, or they just all together go in a completely different direction! That was Aunt Cyndi's challenge today and if I were her, I know I'd be sore! I guess this is where a picture would be nice in a blog, but I didn't take pics today. I suppose I should remember that next time:)

A new year, a new blog

I started a blog in March to keep up with Matthew's challenges, new words, and overall speech development. I failed as a blogger, however, after only three posts.

Recently, Matthew turned 5! It is hard for me to believe that my sweet baby is now a little boy in his pre-K year of school! He still struggles with his speech apraxia and sensory integration disorder. I am hoping to blog here on our day to day lives of joy, happiness, and just being a family! I will also be trying to revive my previous blog, A dance with words, to document and share not only his struggles but our as a family as we tackle childhood apraxia of speech and SID.

With Love,

Lori

Scrapbooking Quote: Not flesh of my flesh, Nor bone of my bone, But still miraculously my own. Never forget for a single minute, You didn't grow under my heart - but in it

Scrapbooking Quote: Not flesh of my flesh, Nor bone of my bone, But still miraculously my own. Never forget for a single minute, You didn't grow under my heart - but in it