Apple Pie, Apple Crisp . . . Mmmm

 

We spent most of last Saturday making and freezing apple pie filling. The house has smelled cinammon-y for days! (My favorite fall scent.)

 

 

 

And after putting up all that pie filling, we finished our day with an apple crisp, because really- what's a little more peeling and slicing when you have all that yumminess to eat as a reward?

 

Apple Picking

Weekend

Weekend = cooking, reading and sewing.




We spent our weekend with apples. Lots and LOTS of apples. I made and froze several jars of apple pie filling and applesauce, and I made two apple crisps over the weekend. We had apple pancakes Sunday morning for breakfast, and I still have apples left. They are wonderful crisp Fuji apples that we picked at a farm north of us. The boys had a wonderful time picking them, but I don't know how we'll ever eat them all. I've spent two days coring, slicing, peeling and cooking and there are STILL more apples!




I suppose I'll be making more applesauce tomorrow. And apple crisp for breakfast.




I updated my reading page. I've plowed straight through all the Laura Ingalls Wilder books this month, save The First Four Years. I find that I don't ever want to stop reading them and I've been disappointed at hitting the end of each book and having to wait to get to the library for the next one. I started Jennifer Weiner's Best Friends Forever 2 nights ago and I'm about half way through. It's fine so far, but not as good as I'd hoped it would be. Next in the reading queue is the next Jacqueline Carey book and the last Laura Ingalls Wilder book as soon as it comes in at the library. I'm out of ideas for where to go next.




And the last weekending thing- I did sew. A lot. The boys are now each 3 pairs of pajama pants richer, and I have a new skirt. Or I will when I finish gathering the blasted ruffle and sew it on. For now though, we'll pretend that it's NOT annoying to gather without a ruffling foot (can't find it ANYWHERE!) or else this post will quickly turn into 18 million paragraphs about how much I loathe gathering by hand. I should have started with sewing the slips I cut last week, but I'm feeling really nervous about working with slippery material and I thought the skirt would be soooo easy . . .




But again. Not talking about the stupid ruffles.




Oh, oh, and! I pulled out My christmas fabrics I bought way back in the spring and I'm going to get started on Christmas stuff this week. I have a few small gaps in my teaching schedule this week so I'm going to try to sneak in a bit of Christmas sewing. I really want to get all my Christmas sewing done before Thanksgiving this year.




Stop laughing! If I aim for it all to be done by then I might actually be done on time. :)

Seven Quick Takes

 

If you'd like to see other quick takes, go visit Jen.

 

~1~

It's been a quiet week here. If you've emailed or messaged me since last weekend I probably haven't gotten back to you (but I will try before the end of the weekend). I haven't been much on the message boards I typically frequent, or even online at all. Sorry about that, but it was much needed quiet.

 

~2~

I was "that mom" on three separate occasions this week - once in the post office while I held a hysterical toddler (hysterical because I wouldn't let him just wander about the place), once in the middle of Target when my 4-year-old threw himself to the ground and then kicked me in the shin (over my refusal to buy candy), and once in a parking lot where I wrestled with Ezra for what felt like 10 years to buckle him into his car seat as I said over and over, "Car seats are not negotiable!" while people walked by staring at me.

 

I'm tired. And it feels like the boys are ganging up on me sometimes.

 

The reality is that they could tell that I was on edge and they hadn't seen their Daddy in almost three days, so they were on edge too. Extra sleep and good food is a great cure for edginess.

 

~3~

So I've been hiding out, spending a lot of time cooking and talking with Ender, changing little bits of our routine to make it easier on me, reading for a few hours after the boys are in bed (real books, not online), and getting to bed early. I needed a massive recharge.

 

~4~

When Superman came home on Wednesday, there was a long discussion about why we're doing this- why I'm working, why he's taking such a heavy course load this semester and next, where we want to be by this time next year and 5 years from now.

 

A re-focus, if you will, partnered with lots of prayer.

 

A reminder of what my husband has asked me to do, a reminder that this is indeed a short season, and that life will be peaceful again in just a few months.

 

 ~5~

In my non-online, post-little-boy-bedtime free time this week I've:

:: Cut pieces for 6 pairs of pajamas for the boys

:: cut material for two new slips for myself and one new skirt

:: cut beautiful, beautiful Alexander Henry fabric for a sunny apron to help me through the dim winter months

:: Read 3 books

:: cast on wristers for myself

:: cleaned my sewing table so I can actually sew for the first time in a few weeks. This is the weekend. Next week might be a million crafting posts since I have about a million things simply waiting to be made.

 

~6~

Why has Superman been away so much this week, you ask? Well, after work he's had at least one school-related stop to make each day- new classes started up, he had to do the whole advisor things one night to deal with the special requirements of applying for graduation and taking a last competency exam. He's been home every night, but between some craziness at work with late hours and his combination of class nights he didn't see the boys awake any time from Sunday evening until Wednesday night, and then only for an hour or so before bed. He had class last night, but thankfully once he's home tonight he'll be home until Monday morning.

 

We so need this time with him.

 

~7~

The most helpful bit of this week? An hourly schedule. A simple thing really, but I need something mindless so I could just look at the list and do whatever it said. 9 o'clock? School things with Ender. 10 o'clock? Off to the kitchen to take care of a few more of those apples. Laundry? Meals? Even reading? All on the list, designated to a time when I knew it would be taken care of.

I don't generally like to be told what to do with every minute of my day, but I needed it this week. I'm thankful for this coming weekend and the free time held there.

 

Time with Superman and my boys.

 

Time to sew.

 

Time to be outside, take a picnic (perhaps for the last time this season), and just be.

Daybook

Outside my window… It's dark. I usually write early in the morning, but I'm up late. I haven't had caffeine in ages, but one little Dr. Pepper at lunch and I won't be asleep any time soon. I really should know better by now.

Our leaves are almost all changed over- there are very few green leaves left! The trees in our front yard have huge leaves and Ender is really impressed that the leaves are bigger than his head. He wants to keep every single one of them.

 

I am thinking… about how to make our early mornings run better. I'm not naturally a morning person, but over the summer I had gotten into the habit of getting up early to help our mornings. I've been terrible about it in the last few weeks though- I need to plan ahead a little more in the evenings and actually get up with my alarm clock every day for a few weeks to help my body get used to it again.

 

I am thankful for… weekends. It was a good weekend.

 

Always Learning… Ezra has started to notice shapes. We talk a lot about circles, triangles and squares, but all he has so far is "shapes! Shapes!" which actually sounds like "sip! sip!" Hey- it's a start.

Ender's new thing this week is a book about rocks and minerals. He has a special box of rocks he has collected from camping trips, visits to new parks, rocks from the back yard and a variety of other places. A few are shiny or have a cool shape, but most of them seem like ordinary rocks. He has a reason why he chose every single one, and he keeps them ordered in his own way. He is in love with this new book and has spent quite a lot of time on it.

 

From the kitchen… 80 Gazillion pies worth of apple pie filling for future pies and crisps this winter. That's pretty much all I'm doing in the kitchen this week- apples every single day!

 

I am wearing… My favorite jersey jammies.

 

I am creating… nothing new this week. I need to finish up a few things so that I can get started on Christmas stockings and Christmas gifts.

 

I am going… to catch up on the house this week.

 

I am reading… Little Town on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder.

 

I am hoping… for some resolutions to the schedule problems I'm having.

 

I am hearing… most excellent silence.

 

Around the house… I'm de-toying the house. It was becoming too much and it was time to put away some of the outgrown things. So our infant and under-2 toys are all packed up and in storage. I also sent Ezra's 24 month clothes to storage along with his crib. He's growing up too quickly!

 

One of my favorite things… Homemade Tomato Soup. I made a bunch yesterday. That is my soul food right there.

 

A few plans for the rest of the week ... lots of apple pie making, quiet time in the evenings (I have hats to finish!), and Superman starts new classes this week.

 

Lots of prayer.

 

Lots of white space.

 

Hard stops.

Seven Quick Takes

 

If you'd like to read more quick takes, go have a look at Jennifer's place.

 

~1~

 

Know an introvert? Are you an introvert? You have to read this: Survival Guide for the Quieter Species. I'm an introvert. Working with my music students is fun and rewarding and the perfect job for me, but this much social contact every day of the week make me want to hunker down at home every other moment of the day.

 

~2~

 

Yesterday I asked Ender to hand me something and he said, "Sure," handed me the tool and paused for a moment. Then he said, "Mama, did you know that "sure" is the spanish word for "yes?"

I fell over laughing.

 

~3~

 

In Ezra news, he decided that minty blue adult toothpaste was a great treat yesterday morning and had himself a snack. One call to poison control and lots of milk later, he's just fine, but I'm trying to figure out how to get blue vomit out of the carpet. Thank goodness that's all I'm worrying about! (And the toothpaste is on a much higher shelf now.)

 

~4~

 

I got the newest Jennifer Weiner novel from the library today. I absolutely loved her first novel Good in Bed, and I have enjoyed some of her work since (namely Goodnight, Nobody- my favorite of hers so far) but some were less than exciting and I never could get into The Guy Not Taken. I really want a good chic lit read. All I've been reading this year is historical fiction and fantasy novels.

 

~5~

 

I've spent time reading  (and re-reading) Ann Voskamp's post, Seven Rungs. I'm trying to soak up the wisdom there and all that's on my mind lately is our home environment and how to simplify our daily rhythm to make room for the things that are important to me.

 

~6~

 

For some reason Ender hasn't been wanting to eat much at meals lately so our solution lately has been to have a "snack plate" for meals. So for lunch he might have a slice of ham, some cheese and apple slices- your usual lunch fare, but magically if we call it a "snack plate" he'll eat every bite. Call it lunch and he's not interested. Four-year-olds are tricky creatures.

 

~7~

 

I've been knitting up a storm this week- finished up both pairs of mittens and I'm almost done with hats for two little boys. I'm hunting a pattern for my niece for Christmas as my next project. She will be 3 months old at Christmas, and there are just way too many adorable patterns out there! Suggestions? Ravelry links?

Go Fly a Kite

Elephants on Parade

Ender *loves* elephants. He has a little elephant that he carries almost everywhere and for weeks now he's been looking at countless elephant books and drawing elephants day after day.



I knew that he was choosing to draw elephants daily, but I hadn't really recognized how much he had progressed in his drawings until last night when I was putting files away. I moved to a file crate system at the beginning of August to help me keep track of the ideas I come across and I've been using the file folders to store their work after the week is over. The plan was to use it to keep things sort of organized until I had free time to really go throught the files every 4 weeks or so.



To be honest, I just haven't been that organized. Sure artwork and papers have gone into the right files at the end of the week, but I haven't been back through everything since I first set everything up in early August. In my free time over the weekend I worked on those files and saw exactly how much Ender's drawing has changed in those dozens and dozens of elephants. I thought I 'd share a few:





















The first is from early August progressing to the last one which was drawn last week.



And just for some extra sunshine on this cloudy October day:

Daybook

Outside my window… It is definitely fall. Almost all of the leaves in our neighborhood have changed in the last week or so and it is getting chilly!

 

I am thinking… about getting started on sewing and knitting Christmas gifts.

 

I am thankful for… this short work week. I need some extra time with my boys and a bit of a mental break.

 

Always Learning… We are working on sight words with Ender and he's working on reading the first set of BOB books. He also has been asking a lot about money again, so I checked out a coin book from the library for him and we are working on naming coins and knowing  values. He is forever asking me about how many cents something costs, so we also talked about the dollar and cents sign this week and how to say the price of an item.

 

From the kitchen… I'mplanning on some roasted pumpkin seeds this week and maybe some pumpkin bread? Mmmmmm.

 

I am wearing… jeans and yet another black long sleeve shirt. I soooo need to branch out in my color choices!

 

I am creating… winter hats for the boys. I have never made hats before, but it's going pretty easily so far. NExt up? New Christmas stockings to sew.

 

I am going… to stay home and play with the boys this week!

 

I am reading… By the Shores of SilverLake by Laura Ingalls Wilder.

 

I am hoping… for a lot of sewing time in this free week!

 

I am hearing… the boys playing trucks. It is a long and favorite game every morning. :)

 

Around the house… I spent the weekend finishing up the clothing switchover and everyone's drawers are organized and ready for winter. Now I just have the jackets/hall closet to take care of and we're ready for snow!

 

One of my favorite things… My Dad. My mother was out of town for a quilting retreat so Dad asked to borrow the boys so he wouldn't be lonely. He had them almost all day Saturday and then they asked to stay overnight too! It was so much fun for them to have that much time with Papa, and I was able to finish up the ends of several projects at home.

 

A few plans for the rest of the week . . .  going to pick out pumpkins, picking apples on the weekend, learning  more about how trees grow and why the leaves change color in the fall.

 

Here is picture thought I am sharing… My birthday boy 4 years ago...

Meet Mr. Waters

For Ender's fourth birthday he became the proud owner of a blue betta. We fish-sat for friends a few times over the summer and he fell in love. These friends called a few days before his birthday to see if he would like to have a fish of his own, and we thought it was a great idea.

When I asked Ender what the fish's name would be Ezra shouted "waters!" and Ender laughed and proclaimed him "Mr. Waters". He *is*nice and blue! Mr. Waters is apparently also fairly hearty. He already survived his first bowl dumping (courtesy of Ezra) without keeling over, so I think he'll make it around here.



See? Ezra is already reaching for the fish again.  I swear that I'll try to protect that fish from well intentioned 2-year-old love as much as I can!

A House for Elephant

You've heard of a House for Hermit Crab, right?

 

Well, this is a House for Elephant, designed by Ender.

 

 

 

This Season of Life

This past summer was so nice.

Calm.

Peaceful.

 

 

We had a rhythm, there was time for the things we deemed important.

 

August came, and that all turned upside down.

 

Superman returned to school with his heaviest workload yet and I returned to an overly full studio. It was a difficult decision to make- 1 very hard busy school year to put us in a better position to have many easier future years. A preparation for homeschooling Kindergarten a year from now and higher grades in the future. A preparation for being debt free, including the school debt Superman has incurred over the past 2 years. A preparation for my work to slow down, for Superman to work a normal work week, a preparation for life with "school-aged" kids.

 

 

Oh, I love these boys, and this season of life will be over soon. Only a little over 7 months to go . . .

Daybook

Outside my window… It is early, but the sun is here. It won't be long before the time change and my early mornings will be dark again.

 

I am thinking… about the growing amount of lists I've been posting here in the last few weeks! I suppose that is where my head is- planning, working through things, trying to be prepared for the next few weeks even if I can only take things one day at a time. I've been making holiday lists also, trying to get my head around what I want to make as gifts for Christmas and what I can actually and reasonably accomplish.

 

I am thankful for… my husband's skill with numbers. If it weren't for him an enormous error would have been made, NOT in the studio's favor!

 

Always Learning… We spent our morning yesterday talking about Apple trees after reading a book Ender picked up at the library. It led to drawing a picture of a seed and then a picture of the tree it grew into- I love when he self-directs like this.

We also made a few countdown chains- one til the end of the month and one until Ender's big "camping" weekend with his grandparents. He's so excited!

Ezra is drawing quite a bit- I actually plan to post a few of his specific drawings because they have a bit of shape to them now. It's so fun to watch his drawing develop, because even at 2 years old he most definitely has a process and a purpose.

The rest of our week involves being outside while we can be out without freezing our noses off, leaf collecting, and a few other leaf and tree related projects.

 

From the kitchen… Well, I'm armed with a slightly pared down budget (results of cuts at work for Superman, but hopefully work will pick up for him in a few weeks) and I'm trying to plan make-ahead meals. I'm going to test out a few recipes this week and see who eats what.

 

I am wearing… jeans and a black button-down shirt. Wow, I wear a lot of black! It's my attempt to match without thinking too hard about it. I mean, black goes with everything, right?

 

I am creating… a little bit of a directed lesson plan for fall. Some more "scheduled" activities mixed with the things the boys come up with sounds good to me!

 

I am going… to work for hard stops in my day for prayer. My timer is set for 4 stops. This is most definitely a need, and I can't push it back any longer.

 

I am reading… On the Banks of Plum Creek by Laura Ingalls Wilder.

 

I am hoping… for Superman to do well on his exams this week.

 

I am hearing… quiet. No music, no talking. Peace.

 

Around the house… I'm trying to finish the change over to cooler weather clothing and outerwear.

 

One of my favorite things… the weather lately. It's been the perfect amount of cool in the evenings, just the right amount of sun during the day to play outside without needing heavy jackets, and no need to have the heat on during the day.

 

A few plans for the rest of the week . . .  LOTS of time outside, finishing hats for the boys, casting on a pair of wristers for myself, and lots of leaf books to read.

 

Here is picture thought I am sharing…

Birthday Boy

Today I'm the mother of a four-year-old. I'm not exactly sure how that happened, but there he is, most certainly four years old.

 Ender at 4

:: Son, you are so kind and tolerant, even with your brother who tries to sit on your head daily.


:: Your compassion and empathy is amazing. You are the first to pat someone's back or offer a hug when someone is hurt or sick. I love that you care so much for other people and their feelings.


:: Your artwork is really developing and changing. In the last few weeks you have made a lot of effort to draw more realistic animals. It is so awesome to watch you grow.


:: You are a great cheerleader for your brother as he learns new things. You encourage him as he's learning to put on his own shoes and use the potty, and you are so patient with him.


:: You are taking on responsibility in a new way. If I haven't asked you to clean up your toys or to help me sort silverware that day, you ask me if you can help.


:: I keep wavering between wishing you would freeze in time and bursting with pride as you reach new milestones. You are lovely, son, and it is wonderful to be part of your growing up. I only wish it weren't going quite so fast!

Hooray for October!

Oh, I love this month! It's just the right temperature to have the windows open most days with a few warmer days and a few with a chill. That makes it so easy to freshen up the house and do a few re-organization projects so that everything is taken care of before we really close up the house for winter. The urge to knit is definitely back with the cooler evenings so I'm finishing up mittens and hats.



I've been hunting down bins with winter jackets and snow pants, relocating mittens and hats from the last few years, replacing our short sleeves and shorts with longer, woolier things. Socks have made an appearance for the first time since last spring! And my very favorite October thing came to be yesterday - two little boys in overalls . . .



In the midst of all this extra cleaning and re-ordering I've felt this pressure about all the other things that I should be doing and an overwhelming feeling about losing my prayer time in the mornings. After being sick for two weeks Ezra's body is still confused about what his sleep cycle should be and he is rising ever earlier. I feel like my body is already at a limit and if I try to get up earlier than he does at this point I will be a mess of exhaustion all day long. I have found my prayer space instead in the liturgy of keeping house, in the repetitiveness of my day. The simple actions of folding a basket of laundry with its repetitive motion almost begs contemplation, and the work of washing all this winter clothing has become extended prayer time in the last few days. Since realizing this and taking full advantage of my chore time it has turned from drudgery to refreshment- maybe not in body, but certainly in mind.



We have a lot of outdoor plans for this month and next before snow and ice arrive.



:: apple picking

:: a visit to the pumpin patch

:: leaf collecting along with lots of leaf tracing and rubbing

:: a visit to "our" lake . . . the one where we were engaged 9 years ago on a very windy evening

:: birthdays for two of my sisters-in-law

:: The birthday of a very special boy who was once my sweet little baby but in just a few days will be a FOUR-year-old boy. How did that happen? After days and days of him asking how many days until his family birthday party we made a long paper chain to count down the number of "sleeps" until that grand day. Now his chain has just one last little link on it and I have no idea where the days have gone.