October Activities

Apple Harvest: We did another big apple harvest of the back tree. We divide them into really good, juicing good and good for the compost pile. Nate went up in the tree with the tall ladder and the apple picker and shook the tree in various locations. The result was TONS of apples. We have been really busy these past 3 days making 13 quarts of apple pie filling,  8 quarts of apple sauce, 2 gallons of apple juice and 7 1/2 pints of apple jelly. (Nate figured out a really good recipe for both consistency and taste)

Nate with the "really good" apples

Playing on the tarp used to catch the apples. It was their castle.

On the left is a gallon of freshly juiced apple juice, in the middle is the steam juicer making apple juice from the cores/peels (notice the red color from the peels) and on the right is the finished apple sauce left over from the apple juice. It has been a lot of work but very rewarding and lots of fun.

 Nate working on the apple jelly - he is so cute about it now that it's actually jelly and not just solid rock and really sugary apple juice. He's already thinking about who he wants to give it out to.

Avenlea 8 weeks! 

 Daddy feeding baby for the first time

 Nap time with Daddy

Pumpkin carving: I think we may have carved the pumpkins a little too early, even though it is only a week til Halloween. They are wilting on the porch as we speak. But it was a lot of fun to carve them.

 Chloe and Blain scooping out the guts. They kept trying to eat the "goo"

 Avenlea sporting her pumpkin jammies from Grandma Janice - Chloe being so helpful holding up her head :)

 We are READY for Halloween

Drawing the face for her pumpkin

 Blain's Masterpiece

 Daddy carved out their drawings - these are the finished products

Big Brother Blain: little Blain doesn't show a lot of interest in Avenlea most of the time so when he does it's fun to catch it on camera.

 He was giving her kisses and patting her tummy

Picnic with Blain and Avenlea

Oh Chloe... So Chloe has been getting lots of big girl priveleges lately like sleeping in her big girl underwear all night, going for sleep overs at auntie Em's house, and skipping her naps most days of the week (as long as she plays quietly) She also had the biggest fall/accident of her life this week. She was jumping on "grandma's bed" and tried to do a flip. Well she flipped all right, right off the bed and straight into the changing table, head first. She had a nasty goose egg the first day, but now it's just a big bruise covering most of the right side of her forehead. Her nose and inside of her eyes are also bruising now. Poor little thing. She is so tough though and doesn't complain about any pain.

Battle wounds

 Eating one of her favorite foods ever, "hot mommy beans" otherwise known as edamame. She could eat a whole bag by herself. That trail of pods is all hers.