Got Apples?

September brought a wonderful opportunity for our family to go to an apple orchard. We have a friend in the ward, who has an appple orchard with millions of apples! He said we could get as many as we could pick because they were falling from the trees and many of them were rotting. We took several friends and picked apples until it was dark. We filled up about half the truck bed with apples. They were all organic and simply delicious! As we were leaving, Carter said he wished we had an apple orchard because it was so much fun picking up the apples and climbing the trees. I was grateful to have the opportunity to pick the apples, but to own the orchard appeared to be quite an overwhelming task.


The weeks that followed included many long days in the kitchen, washing, coring, steaming, juicing, and bottling the apples. We made lots and lots of apple juice and applesauce. We also found a delicious recipe for apple butter and that was fun to make also. We hoped to make apple pie filling, but we simply got worn out. We do have some apple slices in the freezer that we can use for pies later. What a task!


Mason became my best helper during the many applesauce days. He quickly learned his task and would jump up when it was time for him to help. His tasks involved taking the apples from the bucket and putting them in the water to wash. Then he would wash off the apples and place them on the counter next to mommy's station where I would then quarter them and get them ready to steam.

After they were cooked, we would put them in the strainer where Mason would remove the skins that would get stuck and then he would empty the skins in the garbage container.

He did such a great job helping and was so thrilled that he got to help.

I was trying to get him to look at me for the picture and he deliberately kept looking away!

Here is one of the many cases of applesauce we did.
Here are some of the apple butter pints that we love!

I realized that the Jars names were "Mason" and "Kerr". Too bad the latter wasn't Kear instead of Kerr. Although I do believe the Kear name goes back somehow to Kerr. Interesting. :) We had fun working together on this project as a family. We all helped pick the apples and now we will all get to eat the applesauce together! :) I never realized how delicious warm homemade applesauce is! What a delicious treat! Oh, and not to mention the sweet taste of fresh apple juice. We may never be able to eat store bought again. I must admit though, I can wait until next year to go to the orchard again!

Learning & Reading

I am so pleased at how well Carter and Chloe are doing in school. Chloe went into Kindergarten already knowing her ABC's and 123's of course, but she has been working really hard at learning to read. She has been reading these BOB Books and doing really well. They are a great series for beginning readers. There is a collection of 5 Sets and about 8 to 12 books per set.

Carter picked up on these books before he started Kindergarten and Chloe has finally shown an interest in them also. Carter has really enjoyed reading the Junie B. Jones chapter books and can't wait to finish each book so he can move on to the next one. He has also had the priviledge of getting to go to a special class on Fridays where he can do extra activities in Science and Social Studies.

We are having so much fun reading together. The way the kids rooms are set up, both of their doors angle into a small hallway that face the bathroom. When all the kids are in bed and I sit in the hallway, I can use the light of the bathroom to read and act as a gate to keep them in their rooms. :) It is becoming a real treat at bedtime. We have been reading the first Harry Potter book together and it has been so much fun. (Thanks Rebekah for some helpful hints about bedtime reading! I couldn't figure out how on earth to keep all the kids in bed and spend time reading to each of them!)

We love to read the scriptures as a family also, and sincerely believe it helps the kids speech and reading skills. Mason has really struggled with his speech, and repeating one verse every day has really helped him pronounce new words and improve his speech. Even Josie picks right up on new words and sounds as she repeats the phrases. Oh, how we love to learn in so many ways!

Chloe's 6th Birthday

We had a really great Birthday Week with our beautiful daughter Chloe. It seems like birthdays around our home continue on for a week, so we want to share how much fun we had celebrating Chloe's 6th birthday!

We started out on Saturday, the 29th, having a "Fancy Nancy Party" with several of her little friends from church, the neighborhood, and school. Mommy read the story of Fancy Nancy to all the girls so they could prepare to be "fancy."

The girls listened intently and after asking the girls who had heard of Fancy Nancy, Chloe was the only one who knew about her. We were excited to "accessorize" all of the girls after reading the story...and practice using all our new "fancy" words.

We gave each of the girls a fancy pair of "flip flops" and decided that was a fancy

way of saying sandals.

Of course we had to have decorative balloons for the party.
We even had two really great butlers helping serve us. Butler is a fancy way of saying waiter.

Then we dressed up in all the fancy accessories we could find and made some

fancy necklaces and bracelets. (This cute little red-head is Hailey. She's a doll.)

These are two of Chloe's dear friends, Juliet and Kaitlynn.

Two of her new friends from church: Alaria and Hailey.

Then we ate pastries, parfaits, and frappe`s, of course those are fancy ways of saying cupcakes, ice cream and punch!

Chloe blowing out her candle...can't think of a fancy way to say that.

Opening all of her fancy presents.

What darling little girls.

They practiced drinking with their pinkies up too!

After the girls left and the party was over...we gave Chloe her birthday present from our family. New Roller blades! Wow, what a big suprise!

The kids spent a while outside riding bikes and roller blading. What a fun evening!

A few falls later and Chloe was doing really well. She took the falling with great humility.

And her positive attitude about life, kept her getting up for more.

Josie, thought we were still having the "fancy party." Isn't she a doll face? :)

We spoiled Carter with his early birthday present too. We thought it would be more fun to get them together so they could enjoy them the last couple months before winter.

He did great also, and seemed to discover new and improved ways to use them.

Later that evening, we continued the Balloon Fight Tradition that was started years ago in Arizona. These two love to balloon fight and there is always a pretty serious match.

Mason and Daddy joined in this year, and of course Josie and I wanted nothing to do with it! (I, because someone always has to take the pictures!)
The faces are dead give-aways!

Oh, for the love of the game!

Maybe with our eyes closed, we may not get hit...

...and the winner is??? The one with the last balloon.

On Chloe's actual birthday, Mommy made her some cake pops to take into her school class. They were a real hit with all of her friends and teachers. (Mommy was glad that they actually turned out this time. Thanks to a little bit of practice and patience!)

Then after school we took Chloe out to eat her FAVORITE FOOD of all time...

CHINESE! She was soooooooo excited!

We went with some friends that we have adopted as "Grandma & Grandpa Kunz." Grandpa Kunz has the same birthday as Chloe so they thought it would be fun to celebrate together...

and it was! We went over to their home after chinese and made homemade ice cream.

Everyone took a turn churning.

Carter turned it so fast, it was hard to get a clear picture!

And of course, Mason can't do anything without his smile!

Even Josie and Mommy helped!

What a fun birthday week! We had so many different celebrations that it seems like Chloe should be 16 by now. Thankfully, she is only 6, and a very mature 6 year old she is! We are so blessed to have Chloe in our family! She has so many gifts and talents that she so anxiously shares with all of us. If I could have 1/4 of her energy and vivatiousness, I could rope the moon. I will not be suprised if she does someday! She is growing into an amazing girl!

Ketchup

Remembering the fun times playing word games as a kid, I told Chloe to say "Ketchup" after everything I said.

Here is how our game went...

Mom ~ "What do you put on hot dogs?"

Chloe ~ "Ketchup!"

Mom ~ "What do you put on hamburgers?"

Chloe ~ "Ketchup!"

Mom ~ "What do you put on french fries?"

Chloe ~ "Ketchup!"

Mom ~ "What do you do if a cute boy runs ahead of you?"

Chloe ~ "Put Ketchup on him!"

---

I had played this same word game with Carter the previous day and he thought it was a pretty good idea to "catch up" to the cute girl running ahead of him. :)

All snuggled in bed

One morning we woke up with Carter and Josie in our bed. This moment was too precious not to capture. Carter and Josie are the oldest and youngest siblings and they bring the family resemblance to a full circle. When Chloe was born, she looked nothing like Carter. When Mason was born, he looked nothing like Carter and more like Chloe, but when Josie was born, she really resembled Carter as a baby and this picture even captures how much they look alike...even in sleep. I love the way she has her arm around him and they are sleeping so peacefully all snuggled together. They have a special bond because of the way Carter protects her and the way she looks up to him as her protector. They are so sweet.

I Love To See the Temple

The other day, seemed to be a really hard day for me. I don't even remember what was going on, but I remember it was hard. I was very grouchy with the kids and it didn't help that they were making messes and refusing to clean up when asked. After I threw my own "mother tantrum" which seem to becoming more frequent...I sent to my room for a time-out. (Something I need to do more often!) Anyway, when I came out, I noticed on my computer desk this little note and picture from Carter, taped to the cabinet. The picture is the Albuquerque Temple and the note he wrote says, "I love to see the temple. From: Carter." I guess this was his way of letting me know he loves me, even in my weaknesses! I am grateful for the humbling experiences that come from being a parent. I heard once that having children is the Lord's way of keeping us from becoming too selfish. I tend to agree.

Tender Moments

On the 2nd day of school, the 1st day riding the school bus, Carter and Chloe ventured off to school. We told Carter to keep an eye on Chloe and help her get to her class. The bus was 30 minutes late, as it was still figuring out all the details with how many kids and stops to make. This made the kids 30 minutes late for school. The day proceeded...

Later, I met the kids after school, at the bus stop, and Carter was almost in tears. He told me that he realized how much he loved his sister today, and began to recount the following story...

"Chloe and I were walking together into the halls and we found Roy (a friend in Carter's class who also rides the same bus) walking in the halls. Then Chloe and I were walking with Roy and Roy and I found our hall to go to our class. Chloe was walking down the hall and I told her to look through the glass windows in the halls. I don't know how many minutes later, but I was starting to feel sick because I was thinking Chloe was lost. I felt like Heavenly Father was telling me she was lost so I started to cry. And so I thought I should tell my teacher, just like daddy gave me a blessing that I would have the courage to tell the teachers what I needed to tell them. I got up and walked to my teacher, Mrs. Mahana, and I told her what was wrong. I started crying harder and harder, once I told her everything, she said "I will call your sister's teacher and see if she is there. What's her name and her teacher's name. You are such a great brother." She called Ms. Cox and asked if Chloe was there, which she was. Mrs. Mahana came to my desk and told me that she is there and she is safe and you don't have to worry about it anymore. She and Ms. Cox made arrangements that if Chloe didn't show up, Ms. Cox would call Mrs. Mahana and talk about it."

After Carter recounted his story, I asked Chloe what happened from her point of view. She said that after Carter and Roy went to their class, she started to walk down the hallway and then she stopped. She didn't know where she was so she started crying. (I can only imagine how that echoed in the hallways! She has a set of lungs!) She said that a lady came out of a classroom and asked her if she was lost and where her classroom was. Right then, she looked over and saw Mrs. McFall, the Education Assistant for Ms. Cox, and she answered pointing "Right There!" She went right into her class and started her day.

As these two sweet kids recounted their stories, there was a visible bond between them. I asked if they had discussed their stories together on the bus and they both agreed that they had. It was a tender moment for their mother.

Here is what I learned...

How grateful I am for Father's Blessings. Matt gave each of them a blessing tailored to their needs. Carter was blessed that he would have the courage to ask his teacher for help. He can be shy around new people and situations and I am grateful he did have the courage to tell the teacher his concerns.

How grateful I am for children who follow the promptings of the spirit and recognize answers to their prayers.

How grateful I am to see a special bond form between siblings.

How grateful I am for a loving Heavenly Father who watches over and protects each of His children, when sometimes those whom He has given earthly stewardship have no idea what is happening in the lives of their children.

These are the tender moments that make parenting worth all the efforts.

Countdown to Christmas

In Relief Society my calling is the 2nd Counselor in the RS Presidency. I am over the Home Family and Personal Enrichment Program. In September, we had a Relief Society Activity with many different gift ideas for Christmas on a budget. It was a lot of fun and there were lots of really great ideas. It seems that because of economic times, there is a need to save money when we can. Here are some of the ideas that the ladies shared.

Candy Making & Chocolate Dipping

Christmas Box Activities

Quiet Book Ideas

Several 12 Days of Christmas Ideas

Fabric Cards and Ingredient Jars

Flavored Popcorn! Yummy!

Personalized Tile CoastersChristmas Story Countdown Books

I am getting excited to start preparing for Christmas. This activity really helped me start thinking about making gifts with feeling rather than just wasting money on things that really aren't necessary. I hope to get ready for Christmas soon, so that when December rolls around, I can really focus on the true meaning of Christmas and not get caught up in the hustle and bustle of the holidays.