Monday, September 30, 2013

Making Applesauce

One of my friends made a trip to an orchard this weekend, and brought home a bushel and a half of apples.
Yoga pants are our Monday uniform. Don't mind the mess. We were making dinner and making applesauce. It gets a little rough looking for a bit, but it's better now.


We did lots of cutting and boiling.
We borrowed a Victorio Strainer from a friends. It made it so easy to strain the peels and cores from the applesauce. This thing was great.

We had several bowls like this and we just kept swapping them out.
Tami packaged while I churned. We make a good team. 
All the while the kids all watched a movie and messed up the living room. Don't worry, that is cleaned up too.


We ended up with 18 quarts. It ended up costing $0.58/quart. A quart of applesauce at the store is at least $2.00. I'd say that is a good night's work.

Free Samples

Just another reason why I love Target. They have some fun samples today. Go here and you can request a sample for Airborne, Simple facial products, and Snapple K cup. I love getting samples in the mail. It's like presents for grown ups. Hey, it's the little things.

Sunday, September 29, 2013

Fall Fun














We went to a park this weekend and shot a few pictures. My kiddos are growing so fast I can hardly believe it! I love seeing how much they change. Isaac with his lost tooth, Bubba with his many poses, Little Man looking like a big boy. Amelia is even changing. I can't get over how much she has changed in just three months home.

Friday, September 27, 2013

Boiler Up!

We are Purdue fans. Each year we go to the Purdue vs Notre Dame game. This year it was at Purdue. My two biggest boys got to join their daddy in the game while mom stayed at the tail gate with the littles. We met up with Dan's parents, sister and brother in law, and some friends for the game.

 Me with my girl, Austin, and baby Drew.
 Watching the band play before the game.
 Purdue Pete times four.
 At the game. They got a bottomless Sprite. It was a good day. :)
 Bubba and Brady playing war. Tailgate fun.

Austin was hiding his Irish side under his Purdue jersey. His mom is a ND fan, and Daddy is a Boiler. They are a house divided.

Even though Purdue didn't win we had a great time. We love being on campus. It was so fun to introduce Amelia to our family tradition. 

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Gluten Free Week 2

It has been one week since our family started to cut gluten out of our diet. We are hoping to see some positive changes in attention for our kiddos and energy for us grown ups. It has been in the back of my mind for some time now, but I really didn't feel ready. Honestly, it has not been nearly as hard as I thought.

Here is our menu this week:

Monday
Breakfast- eggs, yogurt, fruit
Lunch- lunch meat, cheese, strawberries, applesauce, carrots
Dinner- Tilapia, sweet corn, salad

Tuesday
Breakfast- Chex cereal
Lunch- leftovers
Dinner- Baked Chicken, roasted potatoes, peas, salad

Wednesday
Breakfast- Smoothies
Lunch- chicken chunks, string cheese, applesauce, green beans
Dinner- House church

Thursday
Breakfast- Gluten free pancakes and eggs
Lunch- PBJ (Udi's bread), apple slices, carrot sticks
Dinner- Chipotle

Friday
Breakfast- eggs
Lunch- GF mac and cheese, hot dogs, applesauce, and corn
Dinner- Chicken and noodles, mashed potatoes, green beans

Saturday
Tailgate

Sunday
Breakfast- cereal
Lunch- on the road
Dinner- rotisserie chicken, salad


Thursday, September 5, 2013

A quick peek

With the craziness of four kiddos, travel, starting school, and all that goes on to keep life going blogging has fallen a little behind.

 We went hiking at "the farm park" with some friends. We love seeing all God's creation and getting a little energy out.





Spent a fun Saturday morning cooling off at our local splash pad. I think they liked it. ;)

We just got back from a very long cross country road trip to visit family. I have some fun photos from that too, but I hope to get those all on the computer here soon.

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Just another day

Right now I have an apple scented candle burning, a hot cup of cappuccino to sip on, my littles are fast asleep, my bigs are listening to  a history lesson about Rome. Life is good. We went to Little Man's open house for Tuesday school this morning. He is so excited to start again this year. We came home and got some morning school work done. We had lunch, and then went to the park to meet up with some friends from our homeschool co-op.

I love the cooler weather. Fall is almost here. If you know me, you know I am a little obsessed with fall. I'm sure I will gush over how much I love it later. We are attempting to use this month to try going gluten free. I am excited to see if it helps us all feel better. We'll see how it goes.

The windows are open. The cool breeze is blowing and it is just another day in paradise. Love, love, love.