Some more from the Farmer's Market...

Freshly made bread, and a portable fireoven.

Little Christiana, another niece, poking eyes and roly cheeks from the warmth of Mama's sling.

Mom and the flowers~ she is where I get my love of flowers from.

This man was my favorite. Not only was his work beautiful, but his presence was beautiful. Homey. Comfortable. He had piercing blue eyes and friendly smile wrinkles that framed them. You could tell he was a genuine and kind person upon first glance. He allowed me to snap lots and lots of pictures, and acted as though I wasn't there-which I LOVE. I deplore wanting to take a photo and people acting all awkward and pasting on a fake smile. But because he was who he was, I knew I was welcome to be in his space.

Some Ladies

Saturday, I met up with these ladies for a morning of Farmer's Market shopping and, in my case, watching. The children stayed with Papa, a favorite activity of theirs, which left my hands empty enough for a camera and my eyes able to fix in a lens rather than dart about counting heads. It was fun!

Before we left, I physically forced them to stop in front of my camera and smile for a picture or two, sometimes even forcing them down on their knees, much to their delight, as you can imagine. Wha ha haha .

My mom

My sister

and

my

niece. :-)

Sweet Tart

Bushels of apples have loomed outside my door since our return on Sunday. There they sat, as I baulked at the thought of sticky applesauce splatters on kitchen floor and ceiling (and every space in between), sinks piled high with pots and pans, hauling out the 'equipment', and unpacking more canning jars. I knew with such a big task at hand, my day would be spent and the children would undoubtedly be underfoot.

But I bought the things with the intent to can them, and surely must now be a good steward of the gift of HAVING them. (In abundance!)

Yesterday was the day of reckoning.

From morning until dinner I was in the kitchen. I sorted apples (the worst ones were used) the pretty ones set aside for drying, eating, and baking with. Rinse. Quarter. Throw in the pot. While they were cooking up, I'd unpack canning jars. Wash. Bring water bath to a boil, sterilize jars. Cooked apples would then be pulverized with my very own Norpo (the second year we haven't had to borrow one, and I am STILL as giddy about it as the day I got it!) and thrown in the roaster oven.

Again, and again, until the roaster oven was full- then the sterilizing, ladling, topping, canning, and setting to rest on the tabletop. All the while, between filling jars, I'd continue the quartering apples. The washing of more jars. The finding of more lids and rims. The pulverizing. The adding freshly made applesauce again to the roaster oven.

And so it went from 8 until 5:30, all the while helping Corynn with schoolwork, throwing loads of laundry in and out of the washing machine, and helping Panda with those pesky puzzle pieces that just wouldn't fit. I kept going until my feet were exhausted and Bunkin felt as if s/he might fall right out of me.

Many thoughts of the day revolved around how much easier if I had several pairs of hands to help me. I thought about (and pined for) the day when my children would be able to help me in a way that was actually efficient. Andrew could take to the cranking and Corynn to the quartering, and Bunkin could do the jar washing all the while I was the ladler and topper and finish-offer. Who knows?!? With even more children, the day might come when I can just snap pictures! ;-)

I can picture it now: Laughing and smiling together, sharing stories and antics, all the while working hard for the good of the family and finding joy and fulfillment in that place, together. What a DAY that will be!!!

But those days are still yet to come. The days of now have children milling about my feet while I race from one end of the kitchen to the other, cranking boiled apples occasionally (and for sport) but not a bit efficiently and me terrified that burning applesauce might scald their little hands. It is incredibly important to share these experiences with your children, and to encourage them to find value in being with you and sharing the workload, but, at this stage of MY game: all these things are still a bit more of a SACRIFICE than getting anything productive out of it.

Yet: when that wonderfully productive kitchen daydream DOES happen, won't I be just a bit sad that I didn't have a little boy who was walking about using a funnel as a trumpet or a little girl who was asking me questions about heaven that only a five year old would ask?

I pray that the day comes when my young adult children will enjoy working alongside me in the kitchen (and throughout our home) and that, even then, they will share with me freely what is on their hearts and minds openly and willingly. I look forward to that day so very much, but as I look forward, I can not look PAST today. Because today is the MAKING of our future together. That day, far into the future, is a day that is built upon the many days of now. What a shame it would be to miss out on these precious moments.

My back bent low with aches and my feet heavy with soreness, I looked upon the table before bed, and still, found satisfaction. I worked hard yesterday. I did the work myself (with the exception of a few "helpings" from the children) and juggled and toiled, but I did it. At the end of the day, 26 jars of applesauce lined the table like little soldiers awaiting orders and a roaster oven full of more applesauce sat simmering for today's canning of apple butter.

I went to bed and felt satisfied. Satisfied because, though drained and at times overwhelmed, I taught my children that I love them so deeply that I wanted to serve them and this family with my actions, even if it just making sure they will be fed this winter. I gave them the gift of love, ladled into jars, so that their bellies might be filled with it and they might be satiated. A jar of applesauce from the grocery store just doesn't have that same effect. When they ARE grown, I will have paved the way for them to love being in the kitchen with me and hopefully, then, they will remember their little bodies hovering near me (and being welcomed) in the kitchen as I worked and they might understand how much I loved them and wanted them near, even if they weren't able to help me. Because isn't that what unconditional love is? Real love? Not wanting or expecting anything in return?

I have a roaster oven full of apple butter, ready and waiting to be canned as I type, so time is of the essence. Somehow my words just start oozing, even if my intent is just to post photos.

Before I go though, I want to record the applesauce experiment, lest I forget and it be made useless.

I made four batches of applesauce and flavored each one differently. My hope was that we would try each batch and decide which one we preferred so that I might be able to make our own favorite "Newman's Own" applesauce every year.

Here are the different batches:

Batch One: Cinnamon Spice Applesauce

1 1/2 c. sugar

2 t. cinnamon

1 t. allspice

Batch Two: Natural Applesauce

plain, unsweetened applesauce

Batch Three: Red Hot Applesauce

2 c. sugar

3 T. red hot cinnamon candies

Batch Four: I call This Caramel Applesauce

1 c. dark brown sugar

1 T. maple extract

Each batch yeilded 6-7 quarts, made with about 15 soup bowl scoops of unsweetened applesauce.

Now that I have THAT recorded, and the jars labeled, the experiment has officially begun!

Panda in the Kitchen

Because Big Sister got her time to shine already...

Corynn DID get to help (after schoolwork was completed) but I never did get to snap one of her. Too bad too, she looked pretty cute in her apron and headscarf ensemble.

Typical

While holding the pooled up apple in my hand, I got the notion in my head that I ought to take a picture of a droplet falling from it. How cool would THAT be? To see a droplet, suspended in mid-air, falling from the stem of a most gorgeously striped apple?

And I had a minute (or didn't, but pretended I did so that I could try it out...)

So, I started the awkward little dance of trying to manipulate camera and subject while coordinating the movement with the timing.

Starting gently tipping it. So far so good...

yes...YEss.... the water and stem are still in focus...

All is going according to plan...now, just a BIT more...

Oh YES. It's gonna work. Just another smidge forward and I'm golden...

And then. THIS.

Just another day in the life of this wannabe.

Starting Early

Every year the beard starts coming earlier and earlier.

Which isn't NECESSARILY a problem, if only it would stay THIS length.

Pretty please, Mattie?!?

Many Happy Returns

I mentioned in passing our weekend away, and now I got to share some photos (though admittedly few) about our stay.

We returned "HOME" last weekend. In truth, it was our LAST home, but even as we drove past the familiar fences and trees, in my mind it was as if these last few months had only been a short visit and we were just returning from a time away.

It has been since June that we packed up and hauled off, leaving our dear friends with sorrowful (and wet) adieu's. Frankly, it was high time we returned to get a "refill" of them.

I have missed them all SO much, and realized even MORE than I thought, as we caught up and basked in each others' company.

*sigh*

Someday perhaps our lives will include cherished memories of particular fences, trees, and country lanes in this neck of the woods, but even if that is true, a piece of us will always belong out there- for as long as our friends are present there, we shall be, because our friends hold pieces of our hearts with them.

I had such a grand time.

This was the hostess with the most-ess, who opened up her home and made me lose my much-prided "not much weight gain status". I am sure I gained more in one weekend than I have this whole pregnancy thanks to her diligence and delectable cooking.

Proof of the wonderful visit is made evident by my lack of photos. I hardly THOUGHT about my camera, the enjoyment of company was too all-encompassing. But at one point, I did hijack my Nanci so that I could get a photo of us both, with credit and thanks to her daughter Megan for the taking of it.

Octoberfest

The timing of our travel was dictated by the annual Octoberfest our friends hold each year, which is a slambang occasion, if you ask me.

It was so wonderful to see them all, along with our previous church family. I took very few photos, again, because living the moment and catching up with one another took precedence. No regrets though, we came back home satiated with good company and wonderful fellowship.

It has been very sad for me, this year, because I made the decision to not spend (waste) what money we have on silly things like disposable decorations. That means, I made myself give up the notion of having pumpkins and mums sitting in our doorway, greeting us as we entered. Because, well, there is QUITE a list of things that DO require money and ARE required for us to buy and somewhere, someTHING needs to be prioritized. Whaaaaaah! Anyone who knows how I enjoy decorating for holidays and such knows how terribly hard a decision it was for me!

Well, the decision was not too terrible, it turns out because when we headed to the Octoberfest and to our friends, they practically begged us to take some off their hands. They had produced a bumper crop of about 50 pumpkins this year and were sick to death of them already! :-)

Sometimes, waiting or sacrificing things is actually just opening the door for God to grant us the desires of our hearts in a spectacular way.

These two are for The Papa. He loved how Corynn sat with her hands in her lap during the hayride, and even occasionally straightened her skirt.

And this is proof, that while she is often prim and proper, an equal amount of time is spent in pursuit of anything BUT. Here, she is trying to master the art of blowing bubbles. Obviously, there is still work to be done on that. But, hey, that's fine by me!

The hayride couldn't have been more beautiful, though it was a bit unyielding and uncomfortable for my baby-in-tow and I. In fact, by the end, I thought I might not be able to stand up! Several more rides were given, even some by moonlight, and I would surely have enjoyed that one immensely, but I just couldn't bear to climb on board again!

Corynn's faithful sidekick.

For days leading up to our visit, Little Miss anxiously anticipated playing with her friend Zachary again; from the moment they were reunited, they didn't leave each others' side.

She's got good taste, by the way.

The Panda, always near a bonfire and sporting a thrifted pair of Carhart overalls. I bought them when he was just a baby, and anticipated the day when they would actually fit. They do now, and it hardly seems possible.

a days work

a days work, originally uploaded by sgrbear724.

Wednesday night I stayed up until 2 AM working in the kitchen. Well, actually it was 10:45....but it FELT like it was 2 AM since my feet, back, and eyelids were ready to hit the sack by 8:30. (I've become such a wuss...)

I had a 1/2 bushel of apples to take care of before a LONG WEEKEND AWAY! (HURRAY!); these apples were "Deer Apples" which mean they have spots, scrapes and imperfections from falling from the tree, and so you KNOW after a week they would be drawing the fruit flies like mad! I certainly didn't want THAT, so I needed to take care of them. Pronto. Not to mention: I had quite a list of baking I wanted to do for gifts as we were being hosted on our weekend away.

I was determined to get some canning done this year, even if it killed me...and when I determine something, well. That's just that.

That night, over a dozen jars sealed in apples swimming in cinnamon syrup. About 8 jars of Pumpkin Butter perfumed the house and lulled my senses to sleep that night. Then, slices of apple were dried overnight and bagged for "someday".

The next day I sliced and stirred and mixed my way to the two loaves of Chocolate Chip Pumpkin bread and two pans of Apple Crisp that intoxicated me and had my nose coveting like all get-out.

And THEN, when I was sure I would break with all the goodness that I COULDN'T eat, I made almost 100 caramel popcorn balls for an Octoberfest we were attending.

I was in a drunken stupor of cinnamon. The house smelled perfectly of Fall spices. My day was very productive. Very sweet. Very spice-y, and very VERY hard not to eat it all.

It felt really good to can, really good to bake, and REALLY good to get some food stashes around. Don't think I am through, either, because on our weekend trip, I went to last years' apple place and got three more bushels of deer apples at $5.00 a bushel. A dollar increase in price, but well worth it-if nothing else, to provide us with applesauce and apple butter for the coming year-and allow us to actually EAT the treats I make! ;-)

PS. As you can probably guess, Kitchen Riches will be a hopping place sometime later this week!

Cheerleaders

One of my most happy realizations recently came in realizing that I worried in vain about my children being friends.

You see, I somehow thought that only same-sex siblings would share enough commonalities to get a deeply rooted friendship. Girls and boys are too different, I lamented, to be able to share ANYTHING.

But it just isn't so. Dollies or trucks don't make bonds, loving words and kindness do. If you train your child to think of others more highly than themselves and to be kind always then regardless of the toys scattered about ones foot, your children will enjoy being with one another and sharing in each OTHER's passions.

It sounds as if, after that last sentence, I *have* the answer down pat when in actuality- that sentence about 'training your child to think of others more highly than themselves and to be kind always" is going to keep me on my toes for the rest of my days. (Sometimes I wish parenting were more cut and dry versus plant and till.) Truth is, though, even I still struggle with the learning of these things.

It makes me happy to see Andrew toting around a doll to play with Corynn, or see her on the floor making trains when I know personally she would rather be doing other things, but you know what REALLY gets me?

When Andrew sees Corynn working hard at a picture or drawing and praises her saying: "Grit dob dida!!!" (Great Job SISTER!)

Or~ when Andrew does something wonderfully accomplishing for a two year old and Corynn excitedly exclaims "Andrew! You did that all by YOURSELF?!? I am SO impressed!!!"

OR~when the big sister comes running into the house and happily shouts to me: "Mama! Andrew just said "YES" instead of "yeah! For the FIRST time! Isn't it exciting?!?"

Now that is the sort of tattle-taling I can stand for!

Because such happy admiration is shared so lavishly by and for one another, the result is a relationship where they look for opportunities to share with one another.

While Little Miss does her schoolwork each day, often the Panda is found doing puzzle after puzzle. He quickly got the 15 piece puzzles down pat and has since moved on to the 24 piecers. The other day, I was so proud of him that he completed that puzzle on his own, with out a stitch of help from me. This two year old boy of mine impresses me mightily. As you can see from the photo, though, he was more interested in what SISTER would have to say about it.

It's so fun hitting the milestones with your children, and even more fun when a whole cheering section gets in on the fun.