Fall Days...

It is cold outside. Almost Stoney Ridge Farm weather. The wind was howling and our poor old house was chilly. We have no heater or duct work in our home so a furnace is not an option. We heat with a wood stove only. I love it much better than a furnace as it is virtually free for us to heat our house(and when I re-learn how to manage the stove every year the downstairs stays a comfy 75 degrees all winter, lol!) BUT it is messy, very messy.

It is another proud year as Daddy only sat on stool and ran the log splitter for countless hours, our two boys, 10 and 7, stacked, moved and restacked all 7 cords of wood for the home and then stock the back porch every day. What providers they are! What young men! Not to boast here(o.k. maybe a little) but we were uptown just a couple days ago and a lady at the counter at True Value looked at Daniel with a sly grin and told him "You are going to make a great husband when you grow up, are you going to get married when you grow up?" You could tell by her expression she was expecting HIM to run screaming "Cooties!!!!" But he looked up at her with a sweet smile and told her with all enthusiasm "I can't wait to get married, God has my wife all picked out and I can't wait!" She told him that was wonderful! But you could tell she was a little taken back, lol!

ANYHOW, not to get off on rabbit trails, whoever the Lord has planned for my boys will be blessed women, imo. These are the pic's I took yesterday and will be the last for the weekend. I canned another 14 quarts of apple pie filling, I know that doesn't sound like a lot but that is me, mommy, running at maximum. School was completed and all assignments checked for the week, only one child *a-hem* turned in 3 assignments when there were supposed to be four so the person sat at the table until they caught up.

During school I took advantage of my Bosch and whipped out 13.5 dozen ginger cookies. Mmmm.

Then we jumped in the van and ran to a friend of my moms and picked 3 boxes of King apples and a bucket of fresh hazelnuts! Free! And to boot, she gave me 3 doz of her old canning jars!

Daniel on his beanbag on the kitchen floor doing his handwriting(Italic). He is there as opposed to the table so I can keep him and his brother from being cut-ups and actually DO their schoolwork, lol.

We scored on fresh boneless/skinless chicken breasts at Safeway for $1.99lb. I bought three family size cartons, cooked them and the girls shredded them into pre-measured freezer bags for use.

Chief bottle washer and cook.

Jacob started washing all my canning jars. He also baked up his 4 loaves of Amish bread, yum!

Our loot. Hard as a rock and perfect for the apple peeler/corer/slicer.

This picture tells it all. Why should a man help his wife can? Who woulda thunk it could be so much fun?! I have been innocently commenting to my husband(with no hint of jealousy or insinuation at all) that aaaaaall my friends husbands help them can... O.k., the aaaaall was little exaggerated, but mostly truthful. Paul didn't seem to mind me telling him this and actually praised the *other* husbands, so I made sure and told him several times, each time he kindly praised the *other* husbands.

Last night he came in at 9pm, my legs were shot(now I have the dog gone vessels on the bottom of my feet, drats!) and I was getting my last batch ready to peel. He saw me preparing my apple corer/corer/slicer and slipped out the door only to appear with his battery drill! Yeah! He hooked it up to my apple peeler/corer/slicer(we like saying that) and apple peel was spitting on the walls. He managed to do 3 apm(apples per minute), against my 1/2 apm. My bucket-o-apples was filled in no time AND my husband helped me in the kitchen. Who could ask for more?

I promised Jessie I would blog this. The children think it hit the window and stunned.

They saved it, made it a comfy home and eventually it flew away....isn't it beautiful?

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We are busy celebrating Emma's 6th birthday. My toothless Emma, my first homebirth, Jessica's long awaited and prayed for sister, coming into the world two weeks after we moved into our new home. Always smiling, always giggling, favorite color is yellow and such a tom-boy. Lover of chickens, schoolwork, horses, apples and carrots. Is notorious for ripping every dress she owns, legs covered with bumps and bruises, Polish blond hair, Dutch freckles and piercing blue eyes.

All she asked for for her birthday was a baby doll and a book on "How To Be Mommy".

My baby. ;-)