Instant Apple Pie

Last weekend, Dustin and Mark went to Cannonville (more on that trip later)
and brought home a whole dang bunch of apples from Grandma Bonnie!

I've never done any fruit canning.. just vegetables and jam, so I was at a loss on what to do with all these apples. I knew my sister in law, Kristi, had just done some, so I called her up and said, hey help me out! And like a good sister in law she hooked me up with a recipe and helped me with all my silly questions. Thanks Kris! It turned out to be pretty easy. The hardest part was preparing the apples. But I got one of these little gadgets. If you are wanting to can apples, it is a must! It will save you time and energy.. I was still pooped by the end of the day, but every little bit helps!

Instant Apple Pie

4 1/2 cups sugar

1 cup carnstarch

1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp nutmeg
2tsp cinnamon
10 cups water
3 tbs lemon juice
About 30 medium apples
Yields about 6 quarts

1. Peel and slice apples

2. Mix cornstarch and sugar. Add salt, nutmeg and cinnamon. Stir in water til smooth. Cook til thick and bubbly. Remove from heat. Add lemon juice.

3. Fill bottles with raw sliced apples. Pack down tight.

4. Pour enough sauce to fill bottles. Note: you may have to let the sauce settle and add more, but do not overfill. Allow about a half inch of space at the top.

5. Cold pack (meaning the sauce and apples do not have to be hot) in pressure steamer for 30 minutes. 

I trippled the recipe and got 15 quarts full and a little extra sauce. 

The sauce is so yummy I was licking the pot clean.. I might use the extra for pancake syrup!

Bumbo Boy!

 Little feller is big enough to bumbo!

He loves it!

But not as much as he loves chomping his fist!

3 Months!

On the 13th we celebrated another wonderful month with Johnny!    At three months, Johnny  :: loves to be snuggled. I could hold him all day long and he'd be just fine with that.  :: smiles, especially after a diaper change. :: wakes up once during the night to eat and is up by 6:30am.   :: coos and goos. He's quite the flirt! :: is still nursing! High five to us! Hope we can keep it up. :: is extremely ticklish in his ribs and armpits.   ::   Luke decided he needed to join in on the picture taking.  He's loving Johnny more and more everyday. He tries to pick him up (much to mom's dismay) and he loves to get Johnny's binkie when he's crying. I think he's getting the hang of the whole big brother thing. :)   ::   I thought I'd put Johnny on his tummy and try and take some pictures.  He doesn't especially love being on his tummy, but I wanted to get some with him holding up his head.   After I laid him down and grabbed the camera, I could see that he was started to roll.  Before I knew it he had rolled over onto his back!!   It took me and him by surprise! Look at that face, he like, "what did I just do??!" I think its still a little early for rolling but maybe we can add that to the list of milestones! Happy 3 months Johnny boy!

Johnny's Newborn Photos

A while back, Esther, from Kiss A Frog Photography asked if I'd like to do a trade with her -- blog design for photo shoot. I was so excited to get Johnny's pictures taken that I immediately said YES! She and her sister Courtnie were so patient with my ornery baby and my wild older kids. I was stressing out, but they were so relaxed and amazing.

Well Johnny is almost 3 months old and I'm finally getting these posted. Life is crazy. But good crazy! I can't believe how much my little man has grown!! 

I love the black and white ones they did. They take my breath away. 

And the big kids!

Thank you Esther and Cortnie!

26th Birthday | Family Pictures

On the 8th, I turned 26 years old! 30 doesn't seem very old any more!!!

For my birthday Dustin asked if I wanted to take family pictures. Well of course I did.
So off we went with the tripod to Red Rock, set the timer and said chhhheeeeese!

Out of about 100 pictures, we got one good family picture. I'm a little bummed that Johnny has his binkie in his mouth, but its better than screaming, I think.

Estefan and Allie are always so good to sit still and pose for a portrait.

Mark and Luke... not so much. I ended up doing retakes later at home.

And we're doing Johnny's three month pictures on Friday with Kiss a Frog Photography. 

So stay tuned for those!!

Big Cowboy goes to School

Yesterday was Mark's first day back to preschool!I almost put him in the county preschool, but decided to stick with the mom group we had going from last year. Plus I wanted to be his teacher again. I'm not ready for my big cowboy to get bigger!

He was so excited to go! He got his backpack all packed up the night before with his new crayons and supplies. 
Silly faces -- so Mark!

Toy Story backpack. He loves Woody and Buzz!

Then I dropped him off at his partner, James' house, where Aunt Kristi was the teacher for this week.They are such good buddies!


Its going to be a great year!