For Grandma

As you may have noticed, apples are a major theme in our lives during the Fall.  We live in a great place for apples and, more importantly, cider doughnuts.  Little Man has a favorite location, which also happens to be Grandma's favorite cider doughnut place as well.  So this one is for you Grandma, we went, we watched them press cider, and then we watched each freshly made doughnut make its way down the little doughnut making conveyor belt and right into a nice little to-go bag.  Sorry Grandma, the bag did not even make it past the picnic table out front.  You'll just have to come visit next Fall. 

Making Cider

We have this beautiful apple tree in front of our house.  Every year it yields beautiful apple blossoms and a ton of apples that attract the deer to our yard(feeding the deer is not a positive aspect; they eat my plants).  A few weeks ago, one of the women in our church who is a homesteader pointed out that, while the apples on our tree are not pretty, they are in fact edible and would make great cider.  This Sunday, she dropped a really big hint and pointed out that their cider press is up and running, and we really should take advantage of it.  So as the rain cleared this afternoon, the family headed out to our little tree, thinking we might fill a bucket of apples and take it over to their house. 

 We filled far more then one bucket and that is not including all of the drops that went to the compost pile because the chipmunks and worms had gotten to them.

 With our freshly picked apples loaded into the back of the car, mother and son headed to the cider press (Daddy stayed behind to make apple bread from the apples he set aside from the tree).  Before leaving, we had washed all of the apples in the tub and upon arrival we found that we should have waited since there was a nice washing station set up right next to the press.  Oh well, live and learn.  Little Man quickly started to grind the apples into the bucket; a task he was quickly distracted from by the swing set behind him. 

 Once mommy had enough chopped up apples in the bucket and ready to go, Little Man suddenly sparked interest in the task at hand again as the cider was pressed out of the bucket and poured into the jar below.  Of course, his true motives quickly surfaced as he asked for a drink of the freshly pressed cider.  Once thoroughly satisfied, he went back to exploring the play structure,while Mommy pressed well over two gallons of cider into jars (I actually left a trash bag full of apples for the family who's press we were using, because I could not fathom what I would do with all the freshly pressed cider). 

Upon our arrival back at home, we warmed some cider up and sipped on mugs of hot apple cider while staring out the window at the tree it had come from.  Daddy, on the other hand, was carefully investigating the pictures as he planned out how he would build a cider press for the back yard now that we know the beautiful tree out front can be used for more than its pretty flowers and deer food.  

Apple Sauce

When life gives you apples; make applesauce.  For years people have been telling me how easy apple sauce it, so this year I gave it a tray.  I filled the crock pot with apples, added a little water, a little sugar(not needed, but still tasted good) and let it simmer for a few hours. It was tasty and Little Man and I had a tasty addition to breakfast for the week.  I may not add the sugar next time, since it tasted more like apple pie then apple sauce, but it was still wonderful, and a great way to use some of our apples. 

Some Times It Is The Simple Things

We are blessed such an incredible group of friends.  Even on days when I feel run down and want to just curl up on the sofa, they manage to get us out of the house for a beautiful afternoon of apple picking at one of the local orchards.

S'mores

The fire pit in the backyard is by far one of our best purchases.  We have shared many memories with each other, and with friends chatting into the night.  On a recent Saturday evening, we used it for a s'mores party with some wonderful friends.  The best part was how easy the clean up is when everything has to go outside.  Everything comes out on a tray; everything comes back in on a tray. Perfect! We get to enjoy the backyard with friends, and when we are done; we can walk inside and relax and reminisce about sitting around the fire on a wonderful starlit night, while the kids enjoy their s'mores.  Thus, so many wonderful ways to enjoy the backyard with friends. 

With Love From Vermont

I am continually looking for ways to teach Little Man to value the lives of others.  I have found that it can be hard when you have a 5 year old.  There are many volunteer organizations that will not let you bring younger children - for many reasons.  Last year, however, we came across Feed My Starving Children and found so many different ways to incorporate giving and serving into our lives.  In addition to the rice box on our kitchen table that spare change goes into, they hold several fundraisers that incorporate ways to serve the local community as well as Feed My Starving Children.  In the end, it all culminates with one big amazing event; the Mobile Pack. 

 A Mobile Pack is one big incredible day where hundreds of volunteers come together to package food that will be sent around the world; in our case Haiti.  For two-hour shifts people come and package food that will eventually fill a container that will be shipped off to children in need.  Because we helped organize the event last year, we came back to help set up this year.  For Little Man, it was 3 hours of setting up and 2 hours of packing.  He did amazing (even though he did lose all motivation the last 30 minutes of our packing session).  This year for our packing session we were even able to convince 3 other families with kids ages 5-8 to join us.  It was a wonderful day, and I would highly recommend it to any parent looking for ways to teach their child the value of serving others.