Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Making Applesauce

After picking 150 pounds of apples, and tripping over them for over a week (seriously...Sophia must have run into them a few times a day!!), it was time to make our applesauce!  Last year, we had the help of Dave's parents which made the process go much faster, but this year, we were on our own.  We set up our assembly line, and away we went!  It took the good part of a day (can anyone say "Home Ec" for homeschoolers?), but we ended up with around 50 quarts of yummy applesauce and a couple of gallons of juice.  Yum!!


Benjamin's job was to wash the apples and get them ready for Mom to quarter and boil.

He worked hard all day!

This is my work station.  I was quartering apples and putting them into two pots to boil.  When there were soft, they went to Dave in the dining room who put them through the food mill.
This is our set up...it's not pretty, but it worked!
Here's Dave with most of our bounty!



Saturday, October 20, 2012

Apple Picking 2012

Many months ago, we sadly ate the last of our applesauce from last fall.  We had frozen about 20 quarts or so, and ate it sparingly, but it was oh, so good!  So it was with great anticipation that we set out to pick apples again this fall at our local Sycamore Spring Orchard.  This time, we took along the "big pickers" as Dave and Sabastian joined in on the fun.  We ended up with 150 pounds of apples--more than twice what we picked last year--in about half an hour.  Once again we picked Empire apples, a hybrid that, picked at the perfect time, makes a pink, sweet applesauce with no extra sugar.  For fun, you can compare last year's photos with this year's photos by clicking here:  Apple Picking 2011.  Last year, Sophia wasn't walking yet, and sat in her stroller the whole time, wailing...thus no pictures of her!  This year, though, she helped us out!!

(To enlarge the collage, just click on it!)


Sunday, October 7, 2012

Happy 15th Birthday, Sabastian!

A few days after celebrating a 5th birthday, we celebrated a 15th birthday in our home!  As usual, we celebrated over a few days, with cake and ice cream one day for both October birthdays, and then lunch at Arooga's another day for one of Sabastian's favs...chicken wings!  We are so proud of the young man that Sabastian is becoming.  While he's all of a 15 year old boy (smile!), he is sensitive to instruction and truly has a heart for the Lord.  We pray that he will continue to grow in grace and the knowledge of His Lord and Savior!

We love you, Sabastian James Fisher!!







Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Happy 5th Birthday, Nathaniel!

Ever the brave one, holding a creature from the touch tank at the Visitor's Center on Assateague Island.

Five years ago today I was blessed with the birth of our youngest son, Nathaniel.  He has brought lots of fun and joy to our home, and certainly keeps us on our toes!  His sensitive spirit and loving heart mean so much to me.  He can test the boundaries with the best of them, but under it all he has a great big heart.

Happy Birthday, Little Tank!!