Appley Ever After

When we got back from vacation, I went out to check the garden and I noticed that there was an apple tree on top of it.

Yeah.

Apparently, while we were gone, a strong storm had come along and just kind of tipped the apple tree over (it's the tree in the foreground in the top photo of this post). There were no apparent breaks in the trunk, no roots sticking up out of the ground, just an apple tree leaning at a verrrry sharp angle toward our garden and a big lump in the ground near the base.

So, earlier in the week (before it got hotter than Hades around here) my kids wanted to play outside and they said, "Mom, can we pick some apples?" I said of course, because 1. it would keep them busy and 2. I wasn't sure of the health of the tree so I figured we should get the apples now just in case the tree didn't make it- didn't want the apples rotting and falling off- and 3. I didn't feel like picking them. It was hot.

So an hour later, I come downstairs after doing some upstairs cleaning and I look on my counter and I see this:

And the kids are just coming in with more. How many? Well, for educational value I suggested that we count the apples (gotta keep their minds sharp in the summer, you know) and there were 45 apples. And those were just the ones my 7-year-old and 5-year-old could reach. Forty. five.

And so I got to work. I peeled, cored, and chopped 18 of the apples on the first day (they look a little sketchy in the photo, but under their peels they're perfect, tasty granny smith apples), using 10 for applesauce (shown pre-applesauce in the crockpot):

And then 8 for apple fruit leather (same process as applesauce, only less sugar and I cooked it more quickly in a saucepan and then pureed it in a blender).

Mmm, tasty!!

I would show you the applesauce, but it was so unbelievably delicious that it didn't last long enough for me to get a photo. It was literally so good that my son chose it over chocolate ice cream for dessert one night! Part of the reason was that he knew the chocolate ice cream would still be there the next night. At the rate I was inhaling the applesauce however... (and incidentally, this fruit leather was awesome too. The only reason I have photos is because I made a second batch the next day!)

The third thing I made was "apple peel jelly", which I made by boiling the cores & peels in a small amount of water and then straining it and combining it with sugar and boiling it some more. Turns out apples have their own natural pectin, which is something I learned in this process. My jelly turned out more like syrup, I think because I used too much water and I didn't boil it long enough. But that's okay- I like apple syrup!

Anyway, I had a great time learning what my apples can do for me, and I think that this weekend we will have a little applefest at our house and have a peeling-coring-chopping-cooking spree. After the wonderfully fulfilling experience of enjoying my apple tree's bounty, I wanted to go out into my backyard and hug it (and help it up. Don't worry, we're going to try to gently upright it this weekend).

Have you had a chance to make some delicious dishes from your garden yet this year? Leave a comment and share!

Linking up to...

Transformation Thursday @ The Shabby Chic Cottage

Back from my adventure! (aka, family vacation)

Hey, guess what? That's me! Rappelling down from a verrry high height after completing 4 zip lines and a ropes course. Fun stuff! I just got back from family vacation and I wanted to let y'all know that I haven't dropped off the face of the earth. Just off the edge of a platform. ;-)

Anyway, I am back and I am hoping to get to some fun projects this week. I'm also trying to get back into couponing, so hopefully I'll get to work on that and have some fun deals and photos to share with you soon.

Can you believe that summer is almost halfway over? Crazy! See ya soon!

Blog Love!

A few months ago I came across this blog that I just think is tons of fun- it's called So You Think You're Crafty. It is basically an online crafting competition. They start out with 10 crafters and there are 10 weeks of crafting challenges. Each week the readers get to vote for their favorite craft/crafter and whoever gets the least amount of votes is eliminated.

All of the crafters featured are very talented, and I am always amazed at the ingenious ideas they share! This week's challenge was "Dollar Store" and this Girls Night Out serving set got my vote:

She made it from Dollar Store plates, candleholders, bowls, and wine glasses! How cute is that?

Anyway, head on over and check it out. So fun!!

Busy, Busy!

It's only the end of the second week of summer, but we have been so BUSY! My husband's younger sister came to visit us, so we spent the week having bunches of fun with her and then we went to the beach yesterday. I am well-toasted.

Anyway, I will hopefully get to posting a bit more in the next week, but I also wanted to share some fun news with everyone. In May I entered a little writing contest for the Mormon Mommy Writers blog. One of the reasons I enjoy blogging is to hone my writing skills (along with sharing fun and crafty moneysaving ideas!) and I love to find reasons to write. Well, the theme of the contest was "Totally Cliche" and the challenge was to write a short story utilizing one or more cliches (like "tall, dark, and handsome," or "it was a dark and stormy night"). I decided to go a little extreme and write a story about a writer who falls into a dreamworld full of cliches.

This week they announced the winners and I was very pleased to see my name as the first-place winner! The story will be published in an e-book along with the second- and third-place winners.

Anyway, I was thrilled and I am inspired to continue my writing journey. I will be sure to share more information about the book once it becomes available.

Have a happy and SAFE Independence Day!!

Your Old T-Shirt's Worst Nightmare!!

This instant-gratification project was inspired by this No-Sew Summer Cardi/Wrap! (aren't you proud of me? I actually remembered to bookmark the link!) But if you know me, you'll know that I'm not going to go out to the store and buy the fabric when I can just recycle an old shirt from the Goodwill outlet!

Sadly, I was so excited to do this project that I have no before pictures. Just envision a blue long-sleeve v-neck t-shirt, then imagine me doing the following:

1. Lay it out flat on table, using sharp scissors cut off sleeves, including seam.

2. Line up side seams so that you find the exact middle of the front of the shirt (the point of the v-neck). Cut along fold.

3. Try it on, decide you like it better with no seams up at the top, then do a little more cutting to remove those and eliminate any corners.

4. Look at the sleeves and start cutting those into little loops, which you stretch and hang around your neck for a matching necklace.

5. Take a couple more loops and wrap 'em around your wrist just for kicks.

Voila! You have a cool rocker-chic outfit. Pair with a white t-shirt (don't let the white t-shirt watch the "operation" you just performed on its cousin- it might run away) and a pair of jeans and you've got a whole new look! Sweet!

Ahh, the joys of instant fashion gratification...

Linking up to:

Schedules, Chore Charts, and Other Summertime Fun!

I'm not anal, I promise. Not a control freak, not born organized. And it is because I am none of those things that I need something like this:

It's our Summer Schedule!! Yay!! Here's the normal daily schedule and our Scripture of the Week (trying to get us to memorize 1 each week this summer):

I sat down with my kids and we made a list of all the things we needed/wanted to get done in a day, including chores, mealtimes, and daily activities. You can see we also have some quiet time and some one-on-one time with Mom as well (30 minutes for each older child while Little Boo is napping). This schedule is verrrrry flexible. Just a suggestion, really. I will be shocked if we get home before noon most days!! But it's a framework to work from so I don't have kids constantly saying, "What should we do noooow Mooooom???" (that's them whining)

We are already in the habit of sitting down together each morning for our morning devotional, so I've just expanded on that and now we'll have a morning meeting in which we'll go over the day's/week's activities, review Starlet's sight words to help her prepare for kindergarten, and work on our scripture memorization.

Here's the weekly schedule:

This way we can plan fun things for our week and I don't have them saying, "But you SAID we could go to the SCIENCE MUSEUM this week!!! Let's GOOO!!!" Now I can point to the weekly schedule and show them when we're going. I can also find out what kinds of things they want to do and put them on the schedule so I don't forget ("Building a robot out of boxes sounds like lots of fun! We don't have time today, but how does Friday sound?")

And then there's this (insert screeching violins here):

Yes, that is the Tross Family Summer Chore Chart!!! With leeeeetle tiny numbers:

Basically what I did is to make a chart that is me-proof. Let me explain. Every time I try to do some kind of a chore chart with my kids, they are totally into it and do great- it's ME who always screws it up!! So this is why I made this one this way:

1. It covers the ENTIRE summer- only 1 chart needed! That way, I won't forget to print them up week by week or month by month.

2. It has numbers for the dates (starts with the 23rd, which is tomorrow) so that I can't just forget about it for a few days and pretend like I didn't (yes, I do that).

3. Its squares are for coloring in, not for stickers. That way I can't run out of stickers and put the whole chore chart on hold until I remember to buy more.

4. It has a whole section for my chores too!! I need accountability also, and kids are really good at keeping parents accountable.

Here are the kids' chores, divided up by morning, afternoon, and evening:

It may seem like a lot, but some of them are kind of no-brainers. Like putting their shoes on. Kinda hard to leave the house without them, right? Where it says "dishes" it just means that they need to put their dishes in the sink.

I have chore time set apart on our daily schedule for all these to get done so we don't forget. We're also starting up with allowances again: each child will get $1.50/week for completing all of their chores. For any day that they miss 1 or more chores, they will lose $0.25.

You may be wondering what that last thing, "Blue??" means...

This is our behavior chart! I am adopting the system they use in our schools here- each child starts the day on blue, and if they have behavior issues then they move to green, yellow, and so on (no idea how they figured out that color configuration, but whatever). Starlet will be starting kindergarten so I thought she could benefit from getting used to this system. Monkey already snaps to attention the second he hears "Color change!" so it's great for him as well. For ours I just colored on a piece of card stock and we have it attached to the fridge. Each child has their own magnet that they move if they need to.

If the child stays on blue, they get to color in a space on their chart for that day and get a small treat (like an M&M), and if not then they face consequences:

Green = No coloring in, no treat

Yellow = Lose 15 minutes TV time

Orange = Lose 30 minutes TV time

Red = NO TV and time-out in room

As an added incentive for staying on blue, after they have colored in 10 squares, they get to go to the treasure box which has coupons like these:

I am also planning on putting in a few dollar bills and maybe some special treats or small toys.

After the kids reach 25 days of blue then they get a special reward, like a trip to Sweet Frog, our favorite build-your-own-sundae frozen yogurt shop, or a dinner picnic in the living room & movie.

So, that's what we'll be doing this summer!

How about you? Chore Charts? Schedules? Come on, please tell me I'm not nuts...

Nature Photo Party

(click to enlarge)

I love photography, and every once in awhile I get a great shot that I love. I noticed there was a linky party going on at Tracy's Trinkets & Treasures, so I thought it would be a nice opportunity to share this photo I took when we went camping in May. :-) Head over there to link up and share your own favorite nature shots!