Apple Pickin'

If you know me, and I know the both of you do, I have started to enjoy canning, especially applesauce. Last year I bought two bushels/ boxes of apples from a wonderful orchard near by. I made a lot of applesauce and applebutter with those. However, the applesauce didn't last as long as I had hoped. This year we skipped spring and started in on a hot dry summer in May, so I was a bit worried about the crop this year.
This pass weekend, my mother-in-law informed me that her apple trees were ready for picking and there are lots of apples out there. I was thrilled, since previous years the crop was less than stellar and completely picked over by birds.
So the next morning I loaded up the big girls, a few baskets, bags but no gloves. The good thing is apple trees aren't pokey. The gloves could have come in handy while picking up the gross apples that had fallen off the trees already. But we made do, and the big girls didn't complain, about that.
My mother-in-law got the ladder out after the girls had picked everything at their level. Big Girl J was first up.

With the sun, I wasn't able to get a picture from the other angle. Now Big Girl J, has her big brave moments, but not very often, this was not one of those times. She was nervous up on that ladder, even after many times up and down she was still un-easy about the whole thing. At least the time up she seemed like she was getting more comfortable.
While this was going on, I was still looking for apples at my height, and Little Miss O was trying to move the basket of apples we had gathered thus far.

It was a little heavy.

Big Girl O was not  any more brave than big sister. She was just as uneasy and neverous, but didn't want to pass up her turn to get on the ladder and pick apples. So mommy had to come up the ladder behind her, to keep her comfortable.

We spent only 2 hours, we picked about 48lbs of good apples, and I couldn;t stop smiling. There was just something awesome about doing this with my girls, and how much they enjoyed it.
They love to help me do so many things, some things I let them help and they decide they don't want to help anymore and give it right back to me. Other things, they will continue to do until they believe the job is done.
I love my girls, I love to do this kind of stuff with my girls.

Best Super Awesome Great Aunts

We had a special treat last weekend. My mom's sisters made a trip across the corn fields and pass many cows to the not so wild west, to crash a 3 year old's birthday party.
As the story goes, Mamma was trying to talk her recently retired sister into coming out for the weekend to help her dig iris. Obviously, no one in their right, or retired mind would want to drive 8 hours or more to 'help' work in a garden in 95+ temperatures. However, if you add in the opportunity to attend a certain 3 year old's birthday party thrown by the best party throwing mom, then it just might sound like a good idea. Good enough to talk another sister into coming along! Which means I get a weekend with my Aunts and my girls get a weekend with their Great Aunts! This is the first time they get to meet Baby K, but they have met the big girls many times before. Of course, it took a few minutes to warm up to them, but before they got in the house, both girls were hugging and loving on their Great Aunts.
Both came bearing gifts. Like they were trying to bribe the girls for the Best Super Awesome Great Aunt Award. the BSAGAA.

Baby K got a blanket from Wonderful Aunt Gaynell, all blankets are welcome from her. Aunt Gaynell is always so thoughtful and gracious with her gifts to my girls. As if they were her own grand kids, and they love her just like a grandma. She got to stay at our house and help me while I prepared for the birthday party, and I was very thankful for the extra set of hands!

Of course, Baby K was passed back and forth as arms got tired, neither one admitted it was tired arms. They tried to act as if they were just being nice. One comment of 'you can hold her since you have fewer years left with her than I' created a comical conversation and lots of laughter!
Super Aunt Jan, gifted the big girls a hand made toy, that the girls just loved. They came rolled up and tied with a ribbon, that was supposed to just be the 'wrapping' however the big girls thought that is how the toy should be stored.

There were video's of them playing, however they are little big. So I will have to figure out how to add those, or link them or some technical thing I don't understand. But these toys get played with daily and it is very fun to watch them play!
Great Aunt Gaynell brought them a craft to work on for the next morning. The girls love coloring with markers and this time they got to color on clothes with markers!

With Great Aunt Gaynell sleeping in the nursery, we had Baby K in the bassinet in our room for a couple nights. The nursery and the big girl's room have plug in night lights. Our room is quite dark at night, and I didn't think ahead of time with that. So the first night I told Wonderful Husband that I forgot to bring a night light in to our room, so if Baby K wakes up in the middle of the night I won't trip on anything to go get her. So he snuck into the big girl's room and stole theirs. The next evening Aunt Gaynell had gone to bed while the girl's showered, so when we went to tuck them into bed, Big Girl J was concerned that their night light was gone (even though the light in the bathroom stays on and lights their room much more than that little night light does.) This was a very big problem for her. Wonderful Husband told her 'Aunt Gaynell must have borrowed it, maybe she is afraid of the dark" This made me giggle, but I let it be. After the girls were asleep, he snuck back into their room and took the night light for our room.
Since night lights are not something I remember when the sun is shinning, this happened again the following night. The night after Great Aunt Gaynell left we were walking into the girls' room and Big Girl J said, "Now what did Aunt Gaynell do with our night light this time!"
We both laughed very hard at this, but we allowed her to continue to think that Aunt Gaynell had been taking their night light, only because she wasn't here to defend herself!
Love You Aunt Gaynell!

It was so awesome to have you both here this last weekend! We love you Wonderful Great Aunts so much, and I have decided the BSAGA Award goes to the both of you!

Pinter-Win

I know I have stated how much I enjoy the new website pinterest. I have found many fun recipes, crafts, decorating ideas and other random things. I have been sitting on many ideas with our house currently being on the market.
A weekend ago I was struggling with the current housing situation. I feel like we are in limbo. Half of our stuff is packed up to 'stage' the house and we are essentially in a holding pattern that wasn't feeling promising. So I decided I was going to do a few of the things I was holding off on to help me feel at home again. Considering everything I did for the last 9 months was done or not done to the house to keep it 'staged' and not personalized.
So in an effort to keep my sanity, the very little I had, I decided I couldn't keep spending the weekends at open houses. So we went garage sale-ing for the first time this season. I had lots of finds, and we went late enough in the day, almost everything we picked up was 50% off! So even bigger win. Then I went over to the thrift store, who also does 50% off on Saturdays, looking for specific items to make projects found on pinterest.
This is a veggie basket, most veggies I buy by the bag would last longer if given proper air flow and not kept in the bag sitting on top of the microwave. So I found this for planter basket for $3 at the thrift store, hung it in the kitchen and Bazing! It's perfect!

 I have to admit, although I am an Independent Pampered Chef consultant, I do struggle at dinner time if I don't plan it out, so I was going to make a menu board, but found this at Kohl's for $6, had $10 Kohl's cash, so I think I came out on top with out having to try and make something while ALL of my craft stuff is packed away.

 My girls have been collecting jewelry like little girls do. Their Daddy bought them a very cute little jewelry box just before Big Girl J was born. Very little, obviously not knowing how much jewelry little girls collect! So I made 'open hanging' jewelry boxes, one for necklaces and one for bracelets. Found each frame at the thrift store I think $1 each and already had the hooks in a box for a different project. But a small 5 pack of these hooks were $1 less than a 100 pack, so we bought the big pack, and I am glad we did!

 I have been sitting on these half done for a while, my garden mushrooms. Made from wooden salad bowls, also found at the thrift store for a couple bucks and some fire wood I had in the stack out back.
I had the bowls painted for months and for some reason the white circles had me struggling. I finally decided to go try it free hand and see how it worked, I also had to do this early on morning while the big girls were sleeping, since they like to help, a lot. After I did one, I was happy enough to keep going without a circle template, and finally finished my project in minutes. Wonderful Husband drilled the hold and screwed them together for me, and I planted them!

All said and done, I felt very good for what we got done that weekend. And I felt a lot better about the place I currently live!