“If you have an apple and I have an apple and we exchange these apples then you and I will still each have one apple. But if you have an idea and I ha

I made a last trip to the apple orchard before they close for the spring... and came back with a bushel of apples! I bought 2 bags of Winesap, a bag of yellow delicious and a bag of roma. Mmmmmm!


Colt loves homemade applesauce and has eaten every jar I canned in the Fall. This time around I decided to can them in quart jars rather than pints since he can eat a pint all on his own!


It took 3 days since I burn it every time I try to cook it on the stove.When I make it again in the Fall I'm going to borrow my Mom's slow cooker also so I can knock out double batches! We like ours chunky (see below), but when I make apple butter I puree it in the blender and it turns all smooth!



I ended up with 17 quart jars and 1 pint (which I gave to my neighbors Nikki & Andy) so we should have plenty to last us through the summer! I think they look so pretty all lined up. My favorite part of canning is hearing the lids pop as they seal! It gives me such a feeling of accomplishment!




This month was my cousin's prom so I was sent to get pictures of her for my Mom who had to work. She was so freakin' cute I feel the need to share with you all! Isn't she adorable!?!?!






Colt and Charlie caught some golden rainbow trout (I think that's what they told me) . We ate some several days ago and they tasted like regular trout to me.






Caitlyn turned 13 this month! I know the big 1, 3!!!!
I feel old. She's so mature for her age anyway and now she's 13. Thankfully she's not all boy crazy yet, but I seem to remember REALLY liking boys in 8th grade so we'll see where that all goes.

We had a beautiful quiet Easter. My sister was home and my Aunt Linda, Uncle Rich & Uncle David came for dinner. We had stuffed shells, salad, texas toast and a coconut bunny cake for dessert! Yum! Charlie had work, but I slipped away and took him food for lunch so he at least got a nice hot meal and some cake! Plus he'd rather work holidays b/c he makes extra pay on those days and I usually take him dinner or lunch. Holidays aren't special for him as they are for me. :(
He tried for the kids, but he jus wasn't brought up the way I was. He's damned cute so I let it slide. ;)

I am totally making myself these for my cookbook collection!!! Thank you to The Crafty Crow's Blog for finding these and posting about them. I have been looking for the perfect book ends for the books above my kitchen cupboards for 2 years now. Every time I find something I like they are too wide or heavy or not the right color... license plates are the perfect solution. I only have 1 right now (will post pictures later) b/c of course my hubby cleaned them up from the garage thinking we would never have a use for them. :(
I am going to recruit my family to save all their plates in hopes of ending up with a couple more. I usually get the yearly sticker instead of the new plate, but this year am thinking I'll have to mail in the paperwork in time to get the plate instead of driving to get the sticker the day my plate expires. :)

Warmer Weather Ahead!

Mmmmm... today is a beautiful spring type day! It's warmish and breezy and I love it!
The whole family has been sick for weeks and I am so ready to be over it. It seems to be settling in my chest now so I'm praying that it's not turning into bronchitis. :(
I have almost finished Cait's rug. I just have to weave in the bazillion ends and add a nice nonslip back to it. I ended up adding extra rows and circles to the existing rows to make it larger for her floor. The original doorstep size just looked lost when I laid it down on her floor. The pattern is from Crochet Me.


I'm also working on adding some long panels to Charlie's blanket (it was my 1st big project ever). I think it's going to take 4 of them, 2 for each side to make it wide enough to fit our bed.


Lastly I'm making yet another pair of star stitch handwarmers for my sister and then for me this time. I don't have photos yet of the project but I'm using the yarn pictured below.

Stars In My Eyes

It's been an eventful past few weeks. I've made several sets of arm warmers

This one for my Mom.


and a matching set for my devilish daughter...


an attempt at knitting (it's a dish cloth) find pattern here


A kneck warmer for my little man


a Kick ass pair of star stitch arm warmers for Sara



Besides all the craftiness flowing forth...

My Uncle had his hip replaced on January 31st and he went home from the hospital TODAY!!! Yeah Uncle David! He'll be rockin' the new hip in no time.

The kids and I have been sledding a ton, I'm always scared they'll bowl me down (and ruin the camera) so we don't have pictures :(

We've made friends with our new neighbors down the hill. They're only 18 and 21 and I was worried they were going to be so immature... but it turns out that it's nice to have someone close by to have over to hang out during the day while hubby is at work and the kids are at school or to play games and watch movies in the evenings. It makes me think back to when Charlie and I were 1st married. :)
Oh to be young and stupid again... No Thanks!

Charlie got a new tattoo about a week ago. I'm uber jealous.