Apple Pickin'

This morning in Come Follow Me we talked about being peacemakers. It was such a fitting discussion given the current world events. My determination to instill in my children a devotion to God, a love for their family & fellowmen, respect for others and a desire to stand up for what is right has never been stronger. 

I took my heavy heart to the apple orchard and we spent the day picking with the sunshine on our faces. I was filled with such joy watching the littles work together to pick the trees! We picked the Sunnybooks, zaychuk, and dolgo apple trees and ended up with boxes and boxes of apples to process. This year is always exciting and extra busy with all of the harvesting and tidying of the gardens. 

Cooper noticed us all putting the apples in our picking aprons and figured he would just put his down his shirt instead, except then they'd just fall out the bottom! Grampa quickly tucked in his shirt and he was able to hold a good half dozen apples in there before the weight of them made it come untucked and they all tumbled out. 

Lily was such a big helper and had fun filling her apron pocket up with apples!

I loved watching Lily and Cooper work together. She is quite a good teacher/instructor and that boy knew exactly what he needed to do.

The Sunnybrook's are so gorgeous!

The zaychuks usually get sun scald, but they didn't hardly at all this year. They will be turned into bags and bags of yummy apple sauce for eating and baking over the Winter.

This was only the second tree we picked and the children stopped more and more frequently for "snack breaks".

Cooper learned how to monkey up the ladder and enjoyed picking from the top (while I held his shirt for safety of course). 

When Joe finished his homeschool for the day, he wandered up to help! There were so so many crabapples on the Dolgo tree that it felt impossible.

Loved witnessing this team work though! 

On the way back to the house I went through the greenhouse quickly and got another half crate of ripe tomatoes to make into something soon. I did up a quick batch of buns for our homemade burgers and whipped up a greek salad using veggies from the greenhouse. While the dough was rising, Lily and I chopped tomatoes and peppers and started out first batch of salsa for the year!

When the big kids got off the bus, Cooper immediately started playing a game of chase with Hyrum. He giggled with delight when he was caught and tossed into the air by his big brother. Then when Camilla pulled up in the car, Lily excitedly ran outside on the deck yelling her name. As I focused on moments like these throughout my day, my heart was made lighter. There is still good in the world if we look for it.

Two of the boys went out dirtbiking with friends, two of the other boys had stayed in town last minute at a friends house, Mike had to go to Red Deer for a church meeting, and Camilla had volleyball practise. Dinner ended up just being me and the three littles. As Camilla left for practise, Cooper was wandering outside. She opened the car door and let him climb in and then plopped him on her lap while she backed out of the driveway. When her car was pointed down the lane, she hopped out and ran Cooper over to the stairs and then rolled down her window and waved at him as she slowly drove off. I loved watching the extra care she took for his safety and well being. 

"None of us can control nations or the actions of others or even members of our own families. But we can control ourselves. My call today, dear brothers and sisters, is to end conflicts that are raging in your heart, your home, and your life. Bury any and all inclinations to hurt others - whether those inclinations be a temper, a sharp tongue, or a resentment for someone who has hurt you. The Savior commanded us to turn the other cheek, to love our enemies, and to pray for those who despitefully use us." 

~ Russell M. Nelson

 

Apple Pie

My mom and I ordered a couple cases of Macintosh apples this year and have been making lots and lots of pies for the freezer! While we have lots of apples here on the acreage, many of them are good for saucing, juicing, and making jelly. My little Mac tree only has about twenty apples on it. These ones were big & juicy and made really tasty pies. It was fun to work together in the kitchen! Mom made the crust and I peeled and chopped. 

 

Oliver's Golden Birthday

Happy NINTH birthday to our Oliver! We celebrated his golden birthday with take out and homemade angel food coke with the favourite sea foam icing. His big sister took him to Tim's this morning for a special treat before school and walked him to his classroom. 

Oliver has a big heart, still loves to give me hugs, enjoys playing with his younger siblings and will often take Cooper for walks, tries his best to put other's needs first, and has the best laugh.

 He's a pretty special part of our family and we are so glad he's ours.

Happy birthday Buddy!!

 

Homestead Stuff

Today we butchered seventeen chickens and one turkey (that had a sore leg). While we got all set up, Lily munched some tomatoes!

 

Cooper spent most of the morning pushing his bike around the warm greenhouse while we worked away. 

Lily was right in there watching it all, taking the heads off the stump and carrying freshly plucked birds to Gramma and I at the work station. "I love this stuff!" she said. She stuck it out until her hands got too cold and then she went in for a snack.

Cooper lasted until the last couple of birds and then fell asleep on my shoulder while I visited with my mamma. I quietly brought him in the house and tucked him into bed for his nap. 

Tonight, Mike finished reading all of president Nelsons conference talks since he's become our prophet. He described the experience in his own words and I think it is a valuable addition to our family journal and I hope that the children will take note of his testimony and love for God and our prophet through his words. 

"On the eve of President Russell M. Nelson's 101st birthday, I completed my study of all 44 of his general conference talks given as the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. 

For the past two weeks, it felt as though I got to spend every evening sitting across from a dear friend giving me timeless advice gleaned over a century of living and from one who has dedicated themselves completely to God. Simply put, I have been changed by this experience. 

Although I may not have the opportunity in this life to sit across from him and thank him in person for his counsel, I am grateful to have spent these last two weeks with him in my quiet study. I know He is a Prophet of God!"

In the evening my mamma brought us over a warm apple pie to enjoy before bed. It was very welcomed as the overwhelm of the season threatened to overcome me. The whole top shelf of my fridge is full of apple juice waiting to be canned. On my bottom shelf is a giant pot of chicken broth waiting to be canned as well. There are still apples to pick, the dolgo, sunnybrook, and kerr. The to-do list never seems to end. 

The boys stayed out past dark on their bikes, and I found myself sitting on the couch near an open window worrying. When they go out trail riding they are on their own. They are typically good about figuring things out on their own or sending one person back if they get too stuck, but I hadn't heard from them all evening. The relief that hit my chest when I heard their bikes come up the back tree line through the open window... After they parked their bikes they walked to house chatting excitedly. All I heard was some exciting story about almost hitting something black and how Hyrum wouldn't have been able to go to school tomorrow and would have been blind if that happened. What?! When they opened the door they recounted their buddy almost hitting the biggest skunk they've ever seen as it scurried into the bushes. They laughed at how close they got and how lucky they were to have never been sprayed (because Hyrum wouldn't have been able to go to school). All I could do was laugh!

Giving up control is one of the hardest parts about parenting. Of course we have set rules etc. but we also allow them some wiggle room for them to learn from experience. I've sent many prayers to heaven for their safety as they've grown into teens. Before diving into the apple pie, I reminded them to be home before dark next time or they wouldn't be allowed to go out biking after dinner anymore. They apologized and all was well.

 

Waving Goodbye

This morning as the two oldest were driving out to school, Hyrum rolled down his window to wave to the littles. Lily was out on the front porch in the morning sun, wearing her pajamas and shouting, "Bye! Love you! Drive saaaaaaafe!" Cooper stood next to her frantically waving as he does with a big grin stretched across his face. 

The pepper jelly was labeled and brought down to the canning shelf after I admired the morning sunshine pouring through the glass. 

We spent some time in the greenhouse harvesting cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, and the ripe paste tomatoes.

The afternoon brought some outside time on the deck while we waited for the kids to get home from school! We are loving this beautiful weather!

 

Prairie Magic

This afternoon the sun finally came out and we headed to the orchard to pick apples! We picked the rest of the rescue crab and a nice little basket of our prairie magic apples. They are a nice sized apple and super tasty! We can't wait for the tree to mature and give us a larger harvest. 

Lily had a lot of fun climbing the ladder and passing me apples!

Our Sunnbrook apples are almost ready to harvest as well. They are so pretty and also very tasty!

Joe finished his school about the same time this boy woke from his nap, so he lugged him up to the orchard to join the fun. He munched a lot of apples!!

Joe was a huge help finishing up and loading boxes into the quad trailer!

 

We are juggling all of the different ages this year! Just tonight I went from changing diapers and tucking in littles to helping a teen fill out a job application in the dimly lit evening kitchen while braiding my girl's hair before bed. I stayed up way too late chatting with the big kids and I know the morning is going to hit hard tomorrow.