The smells of fall...

I guess from the cooler weather that fall may have arrived. This morning our house was filled with the smells of fall as well. I got a bag of apples from the husband's grandma this past weekend. So, then of course I asked to borrow her canning kettle so I could make apple sauce out of them (which she happily gave me filled entirely with more apples!). So this morning while only Dylan was awake (and enjoys her "kick time" on the floor), I chopped apples and threw them into a pot to boil. The yummy smell of fresh apples filled the house. I them blended the apples and some of the water to make 5 quarts of fresh applesauce. I even strained some of them and froze them in an ice cube tray so baby Dylan can have them soon.

Busy Morning!

Well, we have an apple tree in our backyard. We don't have much of a backyard other than our deck and hidious bushes on two sides of the yard.... But we have an apple tree. My darling husband threatened to take it out because of picking up apples every time he mows, but I want the tree. Two years now we have gotten tons of apples. Wade finally picked the apples off the tree. I say finally because it froze several nights before he felt like getting around to it. He also left overnight when the apples were ready which they got snowed on instead of picked. :o) Odd sight!

So, this morning I was faced with a HUGE bag of apples (we have given some away!). I started to tackle them to get them out of my kitchen. I canned 10 quarts of unsweetned applesauce and 5 quarts of apple pie filling. If you are my friend, just let me know and you can have some! I should add that we also canned 14 quarts of apple pie filling last week. I am hoping to can 5 more quarts of apple pie filling tomorrow morning (if I can bribe the girls to be good again), then probably just make applesauce with the rest.

Here is a small amount of what I did:

So, while I was finishing the last of the apples, it was approaching lunch time. I asked Alex who just turned 4 if she wanted to make lunch for me. I gave her mini bagels, tomato sauce, cheese, olives and turkey pepperoni.
This is the first lunch she has ever made:



I thought it was good. That said, tomoto based products still are making me gag. Yes, I did gag after I ate this. The girls ate the cheese and olives off and were done. I am super-duper envious of Moms who have good eating kids. I think that if the eldest eats well, then the younger sibling follows suit. In my case, the eldest is a terrible eater and at times this behavior is influenced on my younger one. One meal that Alex generally eats is McDonald's Chicken Nuggets. She will eat 4-5 with no problem - however she does not eat like that AT McDonald's - just when I take it home. *Sigh!*

She was 37 lbs and 41.25 inches at her 4 yo appt though. They told me she was 75% for both height and weight. She has gained 4 lbs since her ear infection in May.