Saturday, September 29, 2012

Apples

Earlier in the week, my sister, Mindy, called and asked if I would be interested in getting some apples.  She had got a really good deal of 40 lbs of apples for $17!  I hadn't ever done anything with apples before... other than eat them, but after talking with her, I decided to go for it and try to make my own apple pie filling.  It actually went really well.  I waited until the kids were taking their afternoon naps (smart move), and then I started.  It was definitely a sticky job, but it went pretty quickly.  After peeling and coring (thank goodness for nifty machines that pretty much do it all for you), I added sugar and boiled the apples up.  Then I got to add the 'good stuff' - Penzey's Apple Pie Spice.  It smelled SO good in the house!!!  I think the best part of the entire process is pulling the nice, hot jars out of the water bath and hearing the lovely popping sound as they seal.  I will thoroughly enjoy being able to pull out a jar, pop it into a pie shell and having a hot apple pie this winter!
 The start...
The finish!

Friday, September 28, 2012

Tired Boy

This morning while I was trying to get the kitchen cleaned up, Emma and Ben were playing downstairs.  After a while, Emma came upstairs to 'help' me.  I was cleaning away and after about ten minutes realized that I hadn't heard Ben in quite some time (dangerous)... I went downstairs and this is what I found - Ben was sound asleep on the couch!  He's only been having an afternoon nap the past few months, as he won't go down for a nap in the afternoon if he's slept in the mornings.  Emma goes for a nap in the afternoon, so instead of alternating naps and having at least one kid up the entire day, I put both of them down for naps and I get about two hours of uninterrupted time to try to get things done (or have some 'me' time!).  I guess today he was just too tired to hang on for another hour...

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Higher!

We went for a walk this evening and ended up playing at the Town Square park for a bit.  The kids both LOVE swings and would swing the entire time if we let them.  I tried to post a video of them that I took on the iPhone - but blogger was being dumb and wouldn't process it... will have to try again...  Here's a couple pictures instead!

This shows a little bit of how Emma only wants to go "Higher"!
Even on the slide... Ben is 'swinging'!

Sunday, September 23, 2012

Popcorn!

Last night we had a few friends over for a bit of a get-together.  It was so nice to just sit and visit with each other and not have anywhere to go or things to do.  One of the couples that came brought two HUGE bags of popcorn that didn't end up getting eaten, so they left them for us.  When Emma got up this morning her eyes just about popped out of her head!  She pulled a chair over, grabbed the bags and just started shovelling it into her mouth as fast as she could.  What a good breakfast!

You can see the wheels turning... how much can I get into my mouth before she takes it away?!
Shovel faster, Emma!

Friday, September 21, 2012

Cute Boy!

I just love this picture of Ben.  We went out to the airport this afternoon the help my mom move the airplane out of the hangar so that she could varnish Rachel's kitchen cupboards.  Benny was being so funny.  I was trying to get a picture of him, but he would look anywhere except the camera!  I finally captured this one and it makes me smile everytime I see it.  He is such a CUTE boy!!!

Monday, September 17, 2012

Mirror, Mirror

It's not the best picture (taken with the iPhone), but it makes me laugh.  Ben was quite intrigued with the car mirror that we'd brought in to try to sell.  He kept looking at himself in it and giggling.  What a funny boy.

Saturday, September 15, 2012

Quad Ride


On top of Pole Haven.  360 view... with the quads actually all being in one place, though they are split in the picture!

We had so much fun today.  Mountain View was having a trail ride/quad ride for a ward activity and Lennard & I got 'invited' to go along.  My Uncle Barry lent us a quad and we found a babysitter to take care of the kids while we were gone.  The day started out great with the kids sleeping in until almost 7:00, and then, when we got ready to leave, both kids gave me a hug and a kiss and let me go without a fuss!  Ben is usually so hard to leave that it rips my heart out, but he was so good today that it definitely helped make the day even better.  We met mom and dad at their place and then we headed out to meet everyone else at the corrals for 10:00.  We got there about 9:45 and by 10:00 there was only our 'family' there with quads, so we headed out!  There was Uncle Barry & Aunt Laura; my cousin Cindy's father-in-law, Curt Henrie; my Aunt Laura's sister and her husband, Laverne and Jack; Uncle Dennis and two of my cousin Steven's boys; my parents; and us!  So technically we were all family... in one way or another!  We had a blast getting out and enjoying the beautiful area we live in.  It was such a perfect day to be out.  It smelled so good out in the trees.  I could have stayed there all day!  After a quick trip up to Pole Haven to check out the sights, we headed back to the corrals to meet up with the rest of the ward that had been on horses (over 40 horses!).  We enjoyed a quick barbequed hot dog, some salads and desserts and then we headed home to get back for the time we told our babysitter we'd be back by!  Amazingly, both kids were sound asleep, they'd both eaten a good lunch and she'd even taken them to the park (brownie points for her!).  When Emma got up, I went in to get her and she looked at me and asked where the babysitter was.  Guess she didn't miss us 'too' much!  I love it when they can have as good a day as we did!

Old Chief
The 'gang' on quads!
Heading down...
 Another view of Old Chief
My mom and dad
Lennard and me on top of Pole Haven

The rest of the afternoon was spent getting projects done around the house.  We finally got the fence posts cut to the correct height.  We also got the shed Tyvek'ed.  Unfortunately, while we were working on the shed, Ben got his index finger stuck under a hinge as Lennard was tightening it!  It took a good chunk of skin of and squished it pretty good.  He certainly wasn't very happy and I was sick to my stomach thinking about how bad it must be throbbing.  Poor boy.  He sat with Lennard quite a while and then I managed to get him in to pajamas and in to bed (with a good dose of Tylenol).  It's been a good day and I'm completely exhausted now.

Monday, September 10, 2012

Peaches

I took the kids this morning and we went in to Lethbridge to can peaches at Mindy's house.  We had Mindy, Shauna, Melissa, Trisha, Sister Oler and me all doing peaches!  It was quite the production.  Thankfully, it was a pretty good weather (until later in the afternoon), so we were able to set up outside on Mindy's deck.  We had four propane burners going and two big tables set up for peeling, cutting and packing all the peaches.  A bunch of them had to leave just before noon, so it slowed down a bit, but we got a lot done.  I had to leave by about 2:30 and they were still going strong.  (They ended up processing the last bunch at 10:30 that night!).  We did over 20 cases of peaches! 


I didn't get many pictures, but here's one of the final product!

(Thanks to Shauna posting some pictures on her blog, I was able to 'steal' them to post here!)

 Melissa, Sister Oler's sister-in-law (can't remember her name), Sister Oler, Trisha, Mindy, Me and Brother Oler.  Emma is in there too!  Of course, Shauna was there too, but she took the photo!
Mindy and me filling jars.

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

He's 2!

Ben turned two today!  He was so excited for the balloons I put up that I think we could have skipped presents altogether!  He and Emma played with them for most of the day!
 

At two years old, Ben is 28 pounds and about 35 1/2 incles tall (he doesn't stand still long enough to really get an accurate measurement!).  He says (or attempts to say) just about anything!  The words we hear most frequently are:  up, open it, sorry, thank you, welcome, milk, truck, airplane, daddy, grandpa, etc

Favorite food:  noodles
Favorite drink:  (apple) juice, milk
Favorite TV show(s):  Doodlebops, Word World
Favorite toy:  trucks
Favorite song:  Popcorn Popping
Favorite snack:  Popcorn Twists

 We had the grandparents over for dinner (nice and simple) and then had cake and ice cream. 
 


Ben loved his construction themed cake and balloon. 



The presents continued on with the theme with him getting a tool set complete with hard hat from Grandma & Grandpa Murray and a ride on dump truck from Grandpa Nichols.  He got some small tractors/cars from us, as well as some new cars and a play car ramp.  Emma had a hard time understanding that it wasn't 'her' birthday and there were lots of tears throughout the night.  Ben thoroughly enjoyed himself. 

Happy Birthday, baby boy!


On a side note...

Emma loved all of Ben's presents!

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

The Keg

We went out to dinner tonight at the Keg in Lethbridge with my parents and Lennard's dad.  Mindy watched the kids for us so that we could enjoy a night out to celebrate our anniversary (again).  It was such a nice evening.  I didn't get any pictures, but the food was amazing!  Lennard shocked my mom by ordering the 'Keg-size' steak.  I think it was 22 ounces or something silly.  It was huge!  I had my regular filet mignon... so good!!!

Saturday, September 1, 2012

Camping

We went 'camping' this weekend!  Yes, I had to clarify the whole camping thing, because when we were first married we would always laugh at people saying they were going camping and then seeing their fully equipped campers.  "That's not camping," we would always say.  Well, now that we are one of those people... I just have to laugh.  No, it's not putting up the tent and sleeping on the ground and freezing all night long - it's way better!!!  I love that the furnace kicks in and I don't have to have fifteen layers of clothes on to attempt to stay warm!  I love that I can put the kids to bed (in their own beds) and - even when they don't go to sleep until 9:30 - I can still use the rest of the trailer to sit and read (and listen to their giggles and conversations with each other).  Yes, there's an actual couch to sit on instead of freezing outside in a folding camp chair getting eaten alive by bugs!  Now, having said all that... I did enjoy the times Lennard and I went camping.  It was an adventure and we had a lot of fun.  There truly is something 'special' about rolling out of bed in the middle of the night, searching for a flashlight and racing to a freezing pit toilet to do your business! 

Having said all that, for our big adventure we went camping at the airport!  Lennard's dad was going to be arriving sometime Friday night, so we didn't want to go too far out of the way.  The kids thought it was a grand adventure, especially when we pulled out their new PowerWheels jeep (from insurance)!  Ben took to it right away and drove all around the airport.  It was so cute to watch the two of them going for a drive. 

There was a fire ban on, so we couldn't have a fire, but we made italian sausages and corn on the cob in the trailer and then had potato salad and macaroni salad as well.  Lennard's dad arrived just before dinner, so he and my parents were able to enjoy dinner with us too.

The kids had a blast going in and out of the trailer and having free run of the airport to do whatever they want.  Ben fell out of the trailer once (that was enough).  We're definitely going to have to figure out a latch for the screen door so that he can't push it open again.  He's pretty bruised, but thankfully he didn't break anything!

After a short night - we've definitely got to put some memory foam on our bed (such tough campers aren't we?!) - we had a pancake breakfast, and then Lennard and I took the opportunity to go for a flight out around Milk River and back.  I started learning how to read the maps and figure out where we were just by looking for landmarks.  It was a good flight and gives me a little more confidence for next year when we fly to the Maritimes!