Mom went to Utah and brought back a couple boxes of apples so we decided to take two boxes and make some homemade applesauce. We borrowed Mom's strainer, the Newson's steam caners and almost every bowl we had in the house. It was more work than we expected but we are happy and glad that we did it together.
We got two boxes of two different types of apples and they made two different colors applesauce so some of our jars are dark, some light and some a mixture. We first washed, cut and removed any bad spots from the apples. We then boiled them until they were soft.
We then put the apples in the strainer and squished and turned them through to make the applesauce. It was kind of hard to get them through but Elizabeth really wanted to help (until her arms got tired and she went to watch a movie).
Because the kitchen was such a mess we got Chinese Take-out and ate it as a picnic on the living room floor. Elizabeth thought this was so cool! Then after we got the kids in bed it was time to can the applesauce.
We didn't add any sugar or spices to the applesauce, just a little lemon juice, and then we bottled them, washed the bottle tops and put them in the steamers.
We ended up getting about 32 bottles of applesauce. I over filled some of the first batch and they overflowed (so I made sure the other ones weren't too full).
And then there were DISHES. I did dishes while cooking brownies and listening to conference talks. So it turned out being a good day and I am proud of us for learning how to make our own applesauce!
Friday, November 20, 2015
Friday, November 13, 2015
Hallo-"Week"
On Monday (Oct 26) we went to a Halloween Party at the YMCA.
This is the first time Elizabeth got to wear her costume and she was very
excited. We played a lot of fun games.
Elizabeth loved the bouncy house and would have done that all night if we would
have let her. They had a bunch of
carnival games and it was fun to see her try; she would usually just walk up
and put the ball in the hole instead of throwing it. At one game she had to hit
something with a mallet but it was so heavy I thought she was going to tip over
every time she lifted it. We also went
into a dark room with black lights where they were having a dance party; she
absolutely loved it.
On Wednesday (Oct 28), we met some of our friends from play
group at Cottonwood Farms by our house.
We got there before everyone and had already looked at everything a
couple times but Elizabeth still ran around in wonder at all the exciting
things. There were animals, tractors, a
hay bale maze and lots of pumpkins.
One of the interesting highlights came about while watching
the chickens. One chicken in particular kept
pawing at the ground and scrapping up the hay that was in their pen. Elizabeth
asked me why and I told her that the chicken was looking for bugs to eat. She then saw vegetables in the pen and asked
why, at which I told her that the chickens also like to eat vegetables. Ever since then, and still to this day,
Elizabeth with ask me why chickens eat bugs and carrots. She has come into my room in the middle of
the night with the question, "Why do chickens eat bugs and carrots?"
She will stop in the middle of playing and ask, while driving in the car and
when trying not to take a nap. No matter
what my answer might be, she cannot understand or comprehend why chickens would
eat bugs and carrots.
We had a fun filled
"pre-halloween" day on October 30 with lots of activities. We went to
the Library for a 'Halloween Hullabaloo" with stories, crafts and
trick-or-treating throughout the library.
It was Elizabeth's first time trick-or-treating this year and she loved
it (she didn't really remember last year very well).
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| James was not as interested in the library festivities as Elizabeth was. |
We missed our wards Trunk-or-Treat so we went to Longmont
and went to Mom and Dad's Chili Cook off and Trunk-or-Treat. Before the Trunk-or-Treating began they had a
Costume Parade across the stage and the music ended right as Elizabeth got up,
she showed her Princess pout to the whole Ward (until the music started again
and another girl helped guide her along).
Most of the older people in the ward, who knew me growing up, said it
was weird seeing Elizabeth because she looks just like me at that age. People
say we look alike a lot but it is fun to hear people who knew me at that age
tell me.
It was fun to watch
Elizabeth and Grandpa go from car to car and her excitement. Ben sat with our car and oooed and awwed over
all the kids costumes; he is so good at that.
Halloween morning we had spooooky Orange oatmeal with
sprinkles for breakfast (I only mention this because Elizabeth now asks for it
every day) and then began our fun filled day. We then carved pumpkins. Elizabeth touched the pumpkin insides once
and then was done with that. She then
colored on a pumpkin but didn't want to carve it. So.... she played and I
carved pumpkins. We carved an owl and a
bat but they did not really turn out great.
Even though no one else really wanted to dive into the pumpkin goo and
carving, it just doesn't seem like Halloween to me without carved pumpkins.
We then drove into Boulder for lunch and the Munchkin
Mascarade up and down Pearl Street. Most
of the stores on Pearl Street come out and have trick-or-treaters; there are
tons of people and it is fun to see all of the interesting costumes. This year there was a dance group in front of
the Court House that was teaching kids to dance. Elizabeth went right up to the front and
attempted the dances; she usually was a couple steps behind and was really
focused. It was so cute and she could
have stayed there the entire time.
After the Munchkin Mascarade we went to the Forsyth's house
and went trick-or-treating in their neighborhood with them and the Hoffmans.
All the houses had steps going up and at every house Elizabeth would step on
her long dress and get stuck, so we ended up pinning it up to her knees so that
she could keep up with the older kids.
They all got really good at picking the houses with lights on, saying
trick-or-treat (loudly), retrieving candy (with no complaining), mumble some
thank you's and taking off down the street.
Elizabeth had a lot of fun and enjoyed being a beautiful Princess all day!
| I forgot James' costume at home (ugh) so he was a cowboy in his cowboy bib! |
| It was impossible to get them all to smile with their excitement, distraction and exhaustion (at least for Elizabeth). |
| We had a purple princess, Storm (from X-Men), a Blue Cheetah (from a TV show I don't know) and a Cat. |
| Walking back after a long night! |
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