Cannonville in the Fall

A few weeks ago Dustin, Mark and Papa Jack went to Cannonville to visit Grandma Bonnie,  get my horse and pick some apples. The leaves were brilliant shades of yellow, orange and red on Cedar Mountain Mark stopped and picked me a flower :)   Papa Jack and Mark climbing up Red Rock   Over looking Uncle Mark and Grandma Bonnie's homes   While they were sitting and enjoying the view, a storm blew in!
So they high-tailed it back down the hill!   Dustin and Mark at Promise Rock Next time you see Mark, ask him why they call it Promise Rock. :)   After a day full of adventures, the boys came back to Uncle Mark's to play some tunes.   'Til next time!

Preschool Pumpkin Pickin'

Today we loaded up the four-wheeler wagon with preschoolers and headed up the road to Grandpa's pumpkin patch! Emma kept the boys in line!    Caleb and Hal   Luke helped me drive   Marcus and Mark   

 

My handsome boys

  Knox and James   Kristi, Matthew and Emma   Emma and Luke   The whole crew on the wagon   Me and my little pumpkins!

3 month pictures | Tongue!

About a month ago Johnny got his three month pictures taken by Kiss a Frog photography. Home boy would not keep his tongue in his mouth!! Tongue or no tongue, he's pretty cute!  Probably the most drooly of photoshoots ever too!

4 Months | Eating Solids

Saturday my little man hit four months!
Yesterday at his well check, he got a couple shots and
tipped the scales at 13lbs 12oz and was 26in long.

~~~

The doc gave us the go ahead to start solids! So this morning we tried some rice cereal!

First bite...

"I'm not sure about this stuff, mom..."

"Why do you keep putting this stuff in my mouth?"

"I'm gonna eat my jammies instead!"

"Okay one more bite won't hurt me.." 

"Yum!"

Johnny did so good eating cereal. He was a little confused at first but then he scarffed it down!

Also at four months Johnny is

:: rolls back and forth a little but hasn't flipped all the way over again.

:: loves playing with his feet.

:: asleep by 9pm and up by 7am.. still getting up about once a night.

:: loving his chew toys and sucking on his fist. Teething maybe?!

Applesauce

After making a bunch of apple pie filling the other day, I still had a ton of apples left over. Since Johnny will be eating solid food pretty soon, I thought it would be a good idea to make applesauce with the remaining apples.

Making applesauce was surprisingly easy. You don't need the peeler/corer/slicer that made the apple pie filling so easy. An apple segmenter would work just fine, because you will be straining the boiled apples and removing all the the chunks.

First, load your rings and jars into the dishwasher so they are sterilized and hot. While those are being cleaned, wash and chop your apples. Put your sliced apples into a large pot, add an inch of water to the bottom and boil. Turn the heat to medium and let apples steam until they are soft. 

I've been told if you add Red Hots candy to the boiling apples it makes the sauce super yummy! Since I was making this for Johnny I didn't try it this time.

The next step is to run the boiled apples through a sieve to mash them. You'll add the apples to the top by cup fulls. Then the sauce will come out the bottom while the peels and chunks come out the side. Be sure to have your bowls placed in the appropriate places in order to catch the sauce and the debris.

Place the strained sauce back into a large pot on the stove. You don't need to cook the applesauce further, just keep it hot until you are ready to bottle your sauce. Add sugar and cinnamon to taste.

Fill jars with sauce, leaving about a quarter inch of space on the top. Wipe jar mouths clean with a cloth and pack hot in steam canner for 20 minutes.

Applesauce is said to have a shelf life of about 3 years. You can also freeze it in tupperwears instead of canning. Frozen applesauce is said to last indefinitely.

I used about 60 apples and got 12 half pint and 2 pint jars worth of applesauce.