Apple Crisp Adventure!

So, it's a school night and Parker has been harrassing me since we went to the apple farm to make a pie or some apple crisp....how could I say no and let all those apples go to waste!?  FIRST, though, I had to go out and get myself an apple peeler!  As graceful as I am, I woulda cut off a finger for SURE trying to peel them myself! HA!

Isn't it cute?!  It's green!  I had to go all the way to the mall in Fargo to get it though because neither of the Target's or Wal~Mart's around here carry them in the store!  WHAT'S UP WITH THAT?! 

SUCCESS on the first try!  And, I only cut my thumb open ONCE playing around with the blade (trying to make it tighter!) .... oh well.... just a little SPICE for the pie, eh!?

OF COURSE we had to get Ty in on the action!  He did do some of the work pickin' apples after all!!

 On the left is our oatmeal cookie topping....the right side is obviously the apples, brown sugar and cinnamon!

 Good job guys!

Yeah....this is how Aiden helps!  After we've gotten everything into the pan, he decides he wants to peel some apples!  Oh....and eat one as well!  Good Grief!

 Goofballs, gettin' their fingers dirty with the crumbles....

 TA~DAAA!!  Here is the final product!  And it's LATE at this point....I didn't realize how long it would take to bake!  Better eat up fast, kiddos!

All in all, it was a very good first try!  I made the mistake of putting melted caramel in the topping so it turned out a little too sweet for me!  Maybe that's a good thing because I only ate a few bites instead of eating the WHOLE APPLE CRISP!!  Hehehehheehhee!  The kids gave it a THUMBS UP though so we just may have to make this a new fall tradition!!

Three Cute Kids

Every once in a while the kids are all dressed up and they look so darn cute, I just HAVE to take a picture!

My Little ROCK STAR!

Tuesday, October 12th 2011

Today is Rock Star day at school...one of the dress up days during Homecoming week and Savannah decided to dress herself!  I think she did a pretty good job....she DEFINATELY has the attitude for it!

 Apparently, rock stars only wear "black, silver and a little pink if you're a girl"!  Mom helped out with the eyeliner, but had to say "no" to the black eyeshadow!!

Who knew a toothless Rock Star could be so STINKIN' CUTE!?!?

Elijah

Mr. Elijah was such a treat to photograph!  He was instantly friendly and chatted with me non-stop!  The only challenge was getting him to pause, even for a SECOND and to LOOK at the camera!  I was LUCKY if he would glance in my direction :o)  Those big blue eyes and curious nature were QUITE charming!!

Don't you just LOVE his hat!?  He has a passion for hats!

 You can just SEE the stinker in him, can't you!? 

 Told you those eyes were big and blue!

 Here we were looking for gold dabloons under the bridge

Thanks, Elijah for a FUN morning!

Lake Ida Apple Farm 2011

A few years ago, we found this really COOL apple farm/orchard on Lake Ida (it may have been before I began blogging) ~ this year, the kids wanted to go again so we could make pies or try our hand at applesauce!  So....the next MILLION or so pictures are going to be of our adventure.  This apple farm is a family run business and they have at least 7 varieties of apples for your picking pleasure!  Here is the website if you're interested: http://www.lakeidaapplefarm.com/.  You can either pick them by the pound or purchase the ones they have in their quaint little store!  The family dog is more than willing to tag along and show you his favorite spots and if you're in the mood, you can purchase some HONEY that is produced in the far corner of this cute place!!  And, for those of you who know me, you don't even need to ask....I bought TWO different varieties of the honey and we all tried them from the tips of our fingers on the ride home!  I got Basswood and Clover...the kids loved the Basswood~ hands down!

 Above you can see our eager and ADORABLE apple~pickers!  We brought along our neighbor, Ty....he is such a sweet and WELL MANNERED boy!  He can hang out with us crazy Juntunen's ANYTIME!!  Not only is he easy-going, he is good to Aiden and Savannah...which is important to me....AND he ALWAYS says please and thank you!  You are a treat to have around, Mr. Ty!

 These are the Haralson apples we got to pick!

Parker and Ty ~ such good sports letting me take pictures!

 Mr. Aiden....I'm pretty sure this apple is "icky" and he was JUST ABOUT to throw it in the ravine!  hahahahaha!! 

 My pride and joy....and cause of my grey hair, but WHO CARES!!?!  Aren't they CUTE!?!

Lovin' that toothless grin!

 Looks like it's rest time....the little white building you can see is a church....this picture reminds me of Little House on the Prairie. 

Almost ready to head back to the car....but willing to stop for one more group picture!  And no, I didn't have to threaten that I would leave them there if they didn't pose for me....or DID I!?!?  MWAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA!

 Well, WHAT do we have here!?  Lemme explain....when we arrived at the orchard, we asked the owner if we could make cider (it's an option they offer on the website if there is an employee around to assist) ~ he said, "no" because he didn't have any apples for the cider.  They usually use more than one variety for the cider and it's usually the ones that have fallen on the ground (after all, you only squeeze the juice out of them, right?).  Needless to say, WE WERE BUMMED!!  BUT!  I think the guy has a wonderful soft spot and took pity on the silly woman with the big camera and FOUR KIDS because when we came up that hill after picking apples to our hearts content.....LOW AND BEHOLD ~ he had the cider machines READY TO ROCK!!  LOVIN' THIS MAN, JUST WANNA SAY!!  So, here is the "mashing machine" ~ you put the apples in it and crank the wheel and it mushes the apples up into chunks. 

 This is the cute little apple presser!  Another fun thing for young little whipper~snappers to do!  Look down some more, I'll show you what I mean.

After the apples are mushed into chunks, you scoop them into the presser.  Here "Mr. Apple Man" is explaining the rules and giving tips and such to the kids!

 Aiden gets to scoop out the chunks from the tub....

 Just LOOK at that GOLDEN deliciousness!!

Not gonna lie though....it IS hard work to reap these benefits!!

 Aiden doesn't seem to mind though!!

 And Miss Savannah is ALWAYS READY to help out!

Look at how happy these kids are!  Wonder if they even KNOW they were doing WORK!?

 Before leaving, I HAD TO take advantage of the little pumpkin setup they had there....fall is my FAVORITE time of year, after all!!  The boys were still sampling our cider so Savannah offered to take a picture by herself with the pumpkins first.

Ahhh....family, fun and food!  What could be better on an early fall day!?

Gourd Dinner

I'm sure you are all sick and tired of me talking about Bluebird Gardens....BUT....I have to share another cool thing.  We received gourds in our box and I have NEVER used these things for anything other than decoration before.  This time, we got an email from "Farmer Mark" with a recipe that I just had to try (I know, you're probably thinking I'm LAME because; a. I don't usually cook, and b. I'm excited about a gourd recipe ~ please bear with me!). 

 We started out with these cute little things....

 And made them into THIS!  It's a hamburger, mushroom, onion stuffing (we also made 2 sweet ones with just brown sugar and butter in them).

 After stuffing them, we placed them in a pan with about 2 inches of water and baked them for an hour ~ didn't they turn out cute!?

TA~DAA!!  Here is the final "masterpiece"!  Everything on this plate is from Bluebird Gardens (potatoes, mushrooms, onions, gourds, even the salad we had with carrots that isn't pictured)!  The insides of the gourds fell right out of the skins and we mashed them up ~ it was an interesting combination of meat, mushroom and gourd....I kinda liked it!  And the dessert gourd was YUMMY as well!  We are certainly going to sign up for a share of the farm again next year! 

Thanks for reading! 

My 2 Front Teeth

............are G-O-N-E!!  Hahahaha!  Savannah worked VERY hard, for MANY days to get these front teeth out!!  The first one she yanked out on her own at school...on PICTURE day...I tried to appear calm when I asked if she pulled it out BEFORE or AFTER pictures...she said "oh, it was after ~ we did pictures early and when we got back to class, I grabbed a paper towel and just pulled it right out"!  She was SO PROUD I had to hide my sigh of relief!  And of COURSE gave her "cheers" for being so brave and determined ~ WINK!! 

 As soon as the first tooth was out, she went to work on that second one.  It took her TWO DAYS to wiggle it enough to pull....and she wouldn't let me do it for her, she wanted to do it on her own.  After school she was a little upset that we didn't have big, brown paper towels at home ~ that seems to be the trick you know, all you need is a paper towel....a tissue doesn't have the same "magic" (silly mom, didn't 'cha know?!!). 

The tooth fairy was very kind and left Savannah a funny note/poem about having NO FRONT TEETH.  Savannah loves to hear herself talk, even MORE SO than normal now that she has an adorable little "lisp"!  WAY TO GO, SAVANNAH!  I adore your toothless smile :o)

Aiden's Bible

SEPTEMBER 25th, 2011

 Such a MOMENTOUS and WONDERFUL day for our Mr. Aiden Lee!  Today, he received his Bible and a blessing at church!!  We have been to 3 classes getting prepared for this event (there was even homework involved!!) and he is READY TO ROCK!  The 'Women of the Church' purchase these Bibles and hand them out during the blessing, as parents, we get to place our hands on him and tell him how wonderful and important he is not only to us, but to God as well (sniff, tear).  There is even a special certificate in there for these AMAZING 3rd graders!

 Here Aiden is with Pastor Mark and Tara (Diactonal Minister) ~ she ran our Milestone Classes and stressed that the Bible is God's "love letter" to each child.  Aiden wanted to read it AS SOON as we sat down!  Not only that, but when we got home, he went STRAIGHT to his room to find a "special spot" to display his Bible!  SO CUTE!

There wasn't anyone around to snap a picture of us as a family (BOO!!), so I had to settle for one of the three kiddos!  Parker is very proud of Aiden and was giving him "tips" on reading and Savannah said she can't WAIT to be "just like you, Aiden and get MY Bible"!!  I may not always be able to answer all of Aiden's questions when it comes to his faith, but I hope he knows he can ALWAYS come to me with questions....not only me, but his Godparents as well!! 

LOVE YOU AIDEN LEE!!

It's Stir Fry Night!

SEPTEMBER 21st, 2011

Well....our adventures with the crop share at Bluebird Gardens is winding down, but LOOK AT THESE VEGGIES!!  They are ROCK SOLID!  Tonight, we are gonna have us some CHICKEN STIR FRY!  WHOO-HOO!!

(p.s.~ I wasn't able to use all of those beautiful carrots you see above....the kids kept sneaking them and eating them raw!  Are we going to sign up for CSA next year?!  OHHHHH  YEAAAHHHH!!)