Making Applesauce

I DID IT, MY FIRST YEAR MAKING APPLESAUCE WITHOUT MY MOM'S HELP!!!

I have the "youngest-of-8 children" syndrome in which I feel I can do no *difficult* thing without my Mother. And by difficult, I mean canning. To me, she is the MASTER, she doesn't have any instruction book she follows, she effortlessly flows from one task to the next until she has 200 quarts of applesauce sitting before her. I'm just along for the ride. Seriously.

But I decided I better grow up and this was the year I did.

Now, mind you, my two Amish nieces VOLUNTEERED to join me....or shall I say, rescued me.

It's a main point that they are Amish because they've been making applesauce/canning since they could use a knife, which was probably age 5. They instinctively know what they're doing.

I didn't even know how to cut the apple up without wasting 1/2 of it.

They kindly showed me.

And I watched carefully.

They came into my kitchen and told me what to do.

And I enjoyed every minute of it....THANK YOU ANNIE & BETTY, YOU WERE A BLAST to work alongside, you helped me learn a new thing today and gave me the confidence to do it! And you gave of your time and energy to stock OUR pantry....BLESS YOUR HEARTS!!!

Until next year.....

"The true meaning of life is to plant trees,
under whose shade you do not expect to sit."
~Nelson Henderson~

Happy Birthday Baby!

Today is my husband's birthday.
I'm SO THANKFUL he was born.

I'm so HONORED he picked me to live this life with.
Truly, I am.

This is what he does to me.

Calms me down and secures me.
Grounds me.
Actually, he does this to most people that know him.
He is peace.

He is BRAVELY leading the way as a Daddy.
He is doing his best and letting God do the rest.

He is a servant leader, unlike ANY I have ever witnessed.
Someday our children will know the treasure that is their Daddy....

He gives endlessly to those around him.
He is selfless.
compassionate.
generous.
forgiving.
kind.
trustworthy.
loyal.
committed.
thoughtful.
wise.
*sounds like Someone Else I know*One day
when our wagon is empty
we will still be hand-in-hand.
Oh, I pray it so.
May our days be long with one another.
May he know the depth of our love toward him.
This toast was made to him several years ago at his birthday party,
but I say it again because it fits so well:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY MAN!!!!

"Life is a storm, my young friend.
You will bask in the sunlight one moment,
be shattered on the rocks the next.
What makes you a man is what you do when that storm comes.
You must look into that storm and shout as you did in Rome.
Do your worst, for I will do mine!
Then the fates will know you as we know you:
as Albert Mondego, the man!"
~a quote from one of our favorite movies, "The Count of Monte Cristo"~

Sweeping up Woody

I like to have piano music on during the day, (grooveshark.com is nice or pandora.com) and if possible, have a good smelling candle lit in the corner. These actions are put into place usually first thing in the morning....right along with the smell & sound of coffee being made! Hey, someone needs to create some peace in this environment that can be a little crazy at times. These are just two small things I do to keep my world calm & inviting!!

The other day during one of my numerous daily broom sweep ups I swept "Woody" out of his hiding place. Paisley was munching on what was left of "snacks", (a dry ice cream cone).
A grocery run was imminent.

The piano music was playing softly and I could hear my thoughts as the boys were playing nicely outside. I looked out the window and saw Tyler enjoying the day on his tire swing. I thought back to when we were in the hospital with him, so many questions. As WEIRD as it sounds I've been "missing" those days just a bit. Not the actual physically being in the hospital, but the natural, effortless, beautiful ALIGNMENT OF PRIORITIES that a hospital or desperate situation produces. Perhaps it was the music, the moment or pms, (or a combination) but I got a little choked up. This won't be the picture of my life for long.... Sweeping up toys and having my children within sight. It was a MOMENT and I hid it away.**
Then my green-booted boy came to the door to wake me from my thoughts & plead his case.
"It's my turn now Mom!"

"Carpe diem quam minime credula postero"
"Seize the day, trusting as little as possible in the future."
~Horace~

**disclaimer: lest you think I live and Mother in "la, la land" I have an upcoming post entitled: "Confessions of a Yeller!"

Park City Plucking!

Today was a normal day, a fun day out for the kids at our local mall. Ride a few rides, munch a few fries, sip some lemonade. And then it all came to a screeching halt! I bent down to get something out of the stroller and my sister gasp and looked at the top of my head. My eyes widened, "WHAT?" I said. "Shrish, oh Shrish", she said, (our nickname for one another). I'm thinking there's a taranchula or some sort of creature on my head, or perhaps a wad of dandruff, but no, it was my first gray hair, sprouting proudly out of the top of my head, like a palm tree in the dessert! She reached for it and PLUCK, out it came with a few other strands of dark black hair! She handed it to me and I just starred at it! It was long, course and just....just so ugly!

"Should I scrapbook it?" I said.
I don't even scrapbook, (I wish I did, but my children are all still jpeg files).

And to make it even worse we were kneeling outside the store so paradoxically named "Forever 21." I've had a few hours to think about what just happened and you know what, I'm okay with it. I don't think I could be paid enough to return to age 21, as lovely as it was for me. 31 feels good, feels grounded, feels gray! I kid!

No, seriously, I'm so thankful that I get to grow older and hopefully, (PRAYERFULLY) wiser. My sister, (Von) once said to me that she knows what she wants to be like when she's older, like 80 years old. And you know what, it will be a mirror of who she is becoming today.....free, kind, compassionate, and wise. So, a simple question remains: am I becoming the person I want to be? I'm convinced that it isn't necessarily experience that brings wisdom, but time that brings wisdom. Those are thoughts held for another day, another post.

Until then, I'm off to examine the top of my scalp with a magnifying mirror and tweezers... seriously, I am.

Back in the day....forever 21 right ladies??
holla!!

"At twenty we worry about what others think of us;
at forty we don't care about what others think of us;
at sixty we discover they haven't been thinking about us at all."
~Author Unknown~