Apples, apples and more apples!!

My grandma has a gorgeous apple tree in her backyard that we enjoy every year. I grew up making and canning applesauce and apple pie filling with my mom with the apples from my grandma's tree. It is now a fun tradition to do with my kids and they love it. I don't enjoy the mess afterwards or the stained brown hands, but the smell the cooking applesauce makes in the kitchen is worth it as well as having the bottles of applesauce and filling to enjoy all year long! Needless to say, I am done canning for the year (yea) and am excited for all the pears, peaches applesauce, tomatoes, and salsa we will enjoy this year!!

Here is Josh having a go with the apple-peeler-corer-slicer (the most awesome invention ever!!)

(Daniel wanted to try it to, of course) He was just happy to nibble on all of the leftover apple pieces

We made a gazillion bottles of applesauce! The kids love helping out and I love their help!

Josh is enjoying the finished product

And as always, nothing spells fall like caramel apples!

Aspen

This past week, we went to Aspen, Colorado to have a little and much needed family vacation and had a great time. The weather was pretty chilly at the first of the week, but warmed up nicely by the mid and end of the week. We played many hours at the park (freeze tag was the favorite game), watched lots of movies together, took walks, and swam in the outside heated pool. The kids loved it. Below are some of the pictures of things the kids enjoyed doing:

Our bathroom had a jetted tub and the kids had a hayday having enormous bubble baths. I think they took one every day.

James set the timer on our camera to take some pictures of our family and I think they turned out pretty darn good!

Our smiley little guy. Can't help but smiling back at him.

Daniel was kind of fussy on the drive home, so I gave him a chocolate chip cookie. Obviously he enjoyed it, maybe a little too much. That's my boy!

Quote of the week from Hannah...

We are currently enjoying a week in Aspen, Colorado and this morning during the continental breakfast downstairs, Hannah looks around at all the people and looks back at me and says, "Why are there no humans here? I only see grandmas."
Needless to say, I had a good little laugh.

Apparently, my kids think their life is sooooooo hard!

Joseph: "Mom, why don't you ever have to do any jobs?" (in response to me asking him to do his jobs)

Hannah: "Am I your servant or something? (Also in response of me asking her to do a job)

Joseph: "Mom, why don't you ever have to go to school?

And the one that drives me crazy is, "How come Hannah doesn't have to do it?" and vice versa.

I know my mom is probably reading this and laughing to herself saying, "that's exactly what you did when you were their age!" I have learned as my kids get older that parenting is so much harder than mothering. It is easy to "mother" my kids, but it is the "parenting" part that I am still trying to figure out what works best with each kid and trying to acquire more and more patience as I go along!


Just have to include picture of my baby Daniel who just turned 7 months. What a joy he is!