See you over the border!

Plans change. Matt decided that he would drive me ENTIRELY to NY and stay at his parents house and head home tomorrow. Which means-I have one LESS day to accomplish all that must be accomplished and one MORE set of clothes to pack. Fun fun.

One of my pre-NY tasks was to rid our camera of its hefty photo baggage-in order to prepare if for a whole new NY load which is why I am on here now sharing pictures. Or atleast the rationale.

Yesterday I fizzled out of my apple making stuff at 16 quarts of applesauce, 25 various sized jars of apple butter and 7 jars of salsa. I also had to make chicken pot pie for supper, wash and hang two loads of laundry (one of which is STILL hanging because it was wet-except NOW it is SOAKED because as I type it is downpouring!) I know. I am weak. BUT-I ALSO ran out of jar lids, so I HAD to stop anyway. I still have two more bushels of apples to work on-but they are "cream of the crop apples" and can wait. Perhaps I will be able to use them for GOOD stuff too-apples pies, crisps, eating, peanut butter apples. YOU know what I mean the stuff that makes you LOVE apples!

It actually worked out really well because I made the apple butter in the roaster oven-which took ALL day long so I was able to finish my other canning during the day and I canned the apple butter after the children were in bed.

I LOVE that machine thing. LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT! I am NOT exaggerating here when I say that Corynn MADE the applesauce herself. I just chopped the apples and cooked them. It was so nice working side by side with her-and her actually HELPING.

Any parent knows that when children are in the kitchen, they can often be MORE work when they 'help'. We do it, though, to teach our children, to encourage our children to want to help, to be near our children and to give them some of our time.

I was flabberghasted when I realized that she was being a GREAT help to me-at three years old. And she enjoyed every minute of it! We sang while we worked, we talked while we worked, and we were happy being together. If I find such joy having my three year old in the kitchen with me, I wonder what I will feel when my children are teenagers...

Anyway. That is the news and I have GOT to go! Far too much to do to dawdle and I have banana bread that needs checking on...

See you on the other side!