Pork Chops and Applesauce

My nod to Peter Brady aside... this post is all about apples.  And country living.  And apples.  

Among many things that we have discovered on this piece of property, we found two apple trees.  I've never had an apple tree before.  Wasn't really sure what was going to come of it.  Turns out these two trees put on a TON of apples.  Seriously.  I'm not sure we're going to be able to use them all.  In fact I know we aren't.  Too many.

But I took my first stab at applesauce.  I discovered after taste testing a few different batches- I'm a big fan of chunky applesauce.  With cinnamon.  Ty agrees with me.  Ryan likes his smooth.  Kate doesn't seem to care.  So- we made lots of both.  But I told my kids if they had an opinion- they had to help put in some of the work.  I don't know why it continues to surprise me that they never balk at this.  All three of them are always happy to lend a hand in the kitchen.

There's a small chance that Kate ate as many apples as she put in the pot.

Ryan too.

Ty is a solid helper in the kitchen these days.  I'm always a little afraid to give him a knife- but he chopped his apples just beautifully.

We also ended up making apple pie filling and apple juice along with the sauce.  And we still had apples leftover.  Yowza.

I think my favorite part so far has been the picking.  I feel so "Little House on the Prairie" almost.  Kate never missed a chance to help me- in fact we did most of our picking in the afternoons before the boys came home from school.  Kate picked one particularly pretty apple and held it out for me to see and smell.  Then she said, "Mom- I bet the fruit from Lehi's tree was even more beautiful."  It took me a minute to get some context- but I was impressed that she would make the connection.

Tis the season for canning I guess.  And I am so grateful for it.  I love being able to stack my shelves full of the fruit of our labor.  It's a little like the grasshopper and the ant.  I just don't like to be caught without.

Schooool Days

Full disclosure:  I was more than ready to send my kids back to school this year.  Not usually my thing... but the fighting had to stop sometime right?  At least now I get a few hours of a break before they are home from school and at it again.  

It's still hard for me to believe that summer is over.  I feel like it just started.  I was just getting my groove on.  Now I have to switch it.  Groove in a different way I guess.  That's alright.  I'm super awesome and rolling with new things (if Shaun ever reads this he just rolled his eyes).  

I will also admit that I had an exceptionally hard time sending my BABY off to kindergarten.  It was another moment, much like Ryan's baptism, that makes me realize my kids are getting bigger and life is moving on- whether I'm ready for it to or not.  Kate was ridiculously excited though.  If there had been a way for her to go to school the night before- she would have been all over it.  

I had to laugh at her choice of profession- for all of my younger years, I said the same thing. Things changed for me- I guess only time will tell if it will for her.

Ryan was also excited to go back to school.  He told me when he got home on the first day that he was disappointed because they didn't do any math.  AT ALL.  Here I was thinking he was the social one and would be excited to get back to his buddies... but it turns out he's only there for the math.

And then there's Ty.  Ty is only 8 inches away from catching me.  Yeah- we measured... I walked away more than a little surprised.  Height aside- Ty was also excited for school to be back in session.  He was excited to see his friends.  He was excited about his new teacher.  He was excited about his new shoes.  Life really is coming up Ty this year.

As I drove away from the school on that first day, it occurred to me that this is the only year that my babies will all be in the same school.  Here in Declo- they put the 6th graders in with the middle school... so this is it!  One year of being able to make one phone call to the school for messages.  One year of being able to walk down the hall to pick them all up.  One year.  I guess we better make it a good one!

I Like to Look for Rainbows

This was a hard post for me.  Not because writing is hard- no that's the easy part.  But it's the subject matter.  It's these kind of posts and these kinds of moments that make me realize we aren't coasting anymore.  I'm not sitting at home watching Little Einsteins with my babies and rotating hot dogs and chicken nuggets for lunch any more.  My kids are just that... kids.  Ryan just turned 8 this summer and after much (MUCH) deliberation- he decided to be baptized.  

Ryan is not the kind of kid to do something just because everyone else is doing it.  Which is a blessing and a curse.  It's a blessing when it comes to poor decisions being made by other kids.  Kind of a curse when he refuses to go sing with the Primary on Sunday.  

I love that Ryan takes the time to think things out for himself though.  He has always been his own person.  A thinker.  A deliberater.  He wasn't sure that this baptism thing was for him.  He believed in Jesus Christ.  This was never the issue.  Ryan believed that Jesus was baptized.  But he wasn't sure why he had to do it too.  We talked about this for months.  Ryan had questions.  Good questions.  And I have to admit- I was more than a little relieved when he said this was what he wanted to.  

August 27th was a BEAUTIFUL Saturday, and little Ryan was surrounded by his whole family.  My parents came up, they brought my grandma.  Dave and Nat and their little ones.  Miss and Jer.  Shaun's family came out in force as well.  Jacki and Orllo.  Grandma Dorothy.  Chad and Jeni with their boys.  Chase and Dani and their babies.  Members from the ward.  The Bishop.  This little guy had a lot of people in his corner.  

I love how much these two LOVE having their picture taken!

Ryan seems older these days.  I can't quite put my finger on it.  I tried to get a picture of it the other Sunday morning.  The boys were dressed and waiting for Kate and I to finish in the bathroom and I came out and saw this.  Ryan received a set of scriptures of his very own for his birthday, and he has been very diligent in reading from it most days.  Always on Sunday though.  He started in the Old Testament and is slowly working his way through.

I pray that Ryan is always a thinker.  That he always questions.  I just hope that he puts his faith in Jesus Christ and does his best to stay on the straight and narrow path.  I believe he will do great things- he has an amazing spirit and a testimony that belies his youth.  I hope that he continues to grow it.  Love you, Bear.

On my Honor...

We celebrated a strange pack meeting... it was the boys' first and last pack meeting together.  And while I am relieved not to have two cub scouts that I'm trying to help... It's a little sad too.  I guess bittersweet is the best word to describe it.  

Ryan earned his Bobcat badge (seriously in a day... he has been carrying his Wolf book around trying to pass things off constantly)...

I got my new Bobcat pin... No blood spatter yet- I'm impressed boys!

This was also a BIG night for Ty.  He has put in so much work to earn his Arrow of Light...  I am so proud of him!  He was asked to put together a table with some of the things that he has worked on through the years- luckily the bird house he and Shaun build years ago is still in my living room.  I'm not going to lie though... most of those projects have been misplaced through the years and moves.  Whoops.  We still have our favorites though!

Love this picture.  Ryan was a little leery of a new experience (classic Ryan) and wasn't entirely sure where to be or what he should be doing.  So he stuck pretty close to Ty.  In fact at one point- he discreetly held onto a corner of Ty's shorts.  I love that Ty didn't bat him away or tell him to buzz off.  In fact- he put his arm around Ryan and led him up to the front to work on this project together.  

We took the boys out for ice cream afterward to celebrate.  

Roughing It

I used to go backpacking with my dad when I was in high school.  It was a fun way to spend a couple of days with my dad.  I didn't really love the food.  Or the fact that I never slept while I was away.  But it was still fun.  We'd spend time walking in silence or talking about everything.  There wasn't really an in between for me and my dad.  He didn't seem to mind either though- so I guess it was alright.  

My children are missing out.  I'm just not a camper these days and Shaun is tired.  So... we haven't really been camping too many times since they have gotten big enough that they are actually helpful and fun in a tent.  So when Jacki said let's go to the City of Rocks- we figured this would be our kids' only chance this summer.  I cringed a little because it was so close to our other vacation- but it's summer after all and you only live once.

We couldn't have had a more gorgeous back drop...

The boys were ridiculously excited to sleep in a tent.  They set up their own and packed all their crap into it before we even realized what they were doing.  Apparently we should be doing this more.

Shaun and I set up our tent too.  It's technically a 4 man tent but by the time I get my queen sized air mattress blown up inside it... it's mostly just for Shaun and I.  I'm okay with that.  Ryan snores.

Now... Grandma Jacki isn't a camper either.  At all.  And that's okay.  She rented a cabin.  Kate and her cousin chose to sleep in the cabin with grandma.  Seriously... the girls were SO good and had so much fun together!  They fight and love just like sisters- which is good since neither of them have a sister of their own.

Little Spencer was so cute in his jammies and cowboy boots.  I just want to eat him up!

Grandma and her babies...

Shaun quickly found where his mom had hidden the chocolate covered mangoes (have you had these from Costco yet?  Don't do it.  You'll just eat them all.  Or your husband will and you'll only be left with the crumbs and this will make you cranky.)

We seriously have the cutest cousins.  On both sides.  What gives?  We're just pretty lucky I guess.

I had an epiphany on this trip too.  Shaun wants to be the favorite uncle.  And he's not above bribery.  He bribed my brothers kids with Cheetos and Coke.  He's bribing his brothers' kids with s'mores and Cheetos.  I'm okay with it.  I'm associated with Shaun so that makes me fun too- by default!

I tried my hand at a pinterest treat too (I know- it had potential disaster written all over it)- we recently found gluten free ice cream cones at the grocery store and I remembered seeing that you could pack them with all kinds of yummy things like chocolate chips, peanut butter and marshmallows then wrap it up in tin foil and cook it in the coals.  It was a melty delicious little treat that I'm pretty sure will reappear again.

We had a jam packed weekend of fun too!  We came home absolutely exhausted.  The morning was spent hiking around the City of Rocks- it's like Goblin Valley in Southern Utah on steroids.  Unreal.

Ryan caught us a friend...

Yeah... he was ridiculously proud of himself.  I was too... those little things are super fast!

Check out the scenery!  I've never seen anything like it!   

"I'm King of the Rock.  And there's nothing you girls can do about it."  Name that movie and you get a Coke.

Thanks grandma and papa for such a fun weekend!

After getting all hot and sweaty from hiking around all morning, we went over to Almo to some hot springs pools that open year round.  SO much fun.  I'm thinking this will be an activity we do again sometime this winter- the kids loved it!

And seriously- one of these days I WILL get a picture of Ryan where he is not being... well Ryan.  I guess maybe I don't want one of those kinds of pictures anyway.  It would look strange if he actually looked at the camera and smiled.

We went fishing after dinner... naturally we got skunked, but I guess there's always next time.  The boys got new rods for their birthdays and were so excited to give them a try!  Ryan had a rare moment of sweetness and let his sister even have a turn.

Kate and Ryan have a troubled relationship at best these days.  It seems that they are always either in each other's way or just bugged by the other one.  I don't think they try to be pills to each other... it just works out that way.  I guess in that respect it will be nice to have them back in school here in a few weeks- each of them will have their own class and activities.  Maybe it will mellow.  Maybe I'm being a little bit of a wishful thinker.

Shaun claims he's not any kind of fisherman- but in my kids eyes- it doesn't really matter.  What matters to them is that he took the time this week to go and get a fishing license for them and he sat and re-baited their hooks time and time again.  We sure love our dad.

On My Honor

This is another post that gives me pause.  My kids are big kids.  We have no more babies.  Gone are the high chairs and binkies.  We no longer have to carry around a change of clothes in the back of the car (actually I'm currently re-thinking this... boys are messy).  I don't have to plan my day around a nap schedule.  I cry a little inside when I think about this- but I'm also coming to the realization that it's also kinda awesome.  

We can just go if we want.  We can eat on the fly.  We can all put on our own shoes.  We can go to the movies.  Essentially... the world is ours.  That is if we can stop fighting long enough to go and see it right? 

That said- my boys had their first and last pack meeting together last night.  It made me weepy. 

Ryan has been waiting for this day for a LONG time.  It is his deep-seeded belief that scouts is awesome.  And he has had to watch his brother do "all these cool things" and he wasn't old enough to do it.  It bugged him more than just a little bit.  Finally though.  Finally HIS day came.  We marched into the scout store and he carried all his stuff himself (did NOT want my help) and came right home and immediately started combing through his book.  

Needless to say it took him less than a week to earn his Bobcat badge...  Which he was awarded last night.   

And I got my new Bobcat pin.  I love that they make a big deal about of the moms at scouts.

So proud of my middle baby!

And I'm also so proud of my oldest one too.  I guess I have to stop calling him a baby.  It takes on a new meaning at this point... even though he'll always be my baby.  He earned his Arrow of Light last night and said good-bye to his Webelos den... and is moving on to Boy Scouts.  Ty had some amazing leaders who pushed him to get everything finished on time- we are SO grateful to the Mannings- for their hard work and dedication to these boys.  They were so incredibly lucky.

 I'm going to add something here that Ryan will probably wish I didn't.  That's okay though because to my knowledge he doesn't have anything with an internet connection and probably won't read this until he's older and hopefully in a forgiving mood.

While Ryan was extremely excited to be in Scouts on Thursday night... it was also very new to him.  He was a little unsure of himself.  I watched as they called all the scouts up to participate in an activity.  Ryan very surreptitiously reached a hand out and held onto the tiniest bit of Ty's shorts.  Not enough that his brother would notice, or anyone else really- it just looked like he was standing close.  But just enough to assure himself that this was what they were supposed to be doing.

Ty did notice though- and he put his arm around Ryan and brought him in closer to the group.  I know they fight.  I know they argue.  And I know that sometimes they probably want to throw bricks at each other.  But I also know they love each other.  And they care about each other.  Ty nodded down at Ryan and made sure that his little brother was in his group as they worked together to solve some riddle their scoutmaster had set for them.  It was a tiny nod.  It was fleeting.  And the meeting went on as if it never happened.  But I watched something pass between brothers.  And it made me proud to be their mama.

We took the boys for ice cream after- to celebrate their rank advancements and the fact that they are pretty cool dudes.