Apple Picking Recipe

On Saturday we hopped in the van and headed to Woodstock, IL for some apple picking. Apple picking has become a family tradition for us now and each year we seem to bring home more and more apples. This year was no exception. After all the fun we have each year, and all the great things we can make with the apples we pick, we always can find new recipes and uses for the apples.

We have been having trouble finding orchards that don't make a carnival out of picking apples, while charging an arm and a leg for the carnival activities. The last few years we've gone to orchards that charged upwards of $4 or $5 for the kids to go and play at a special playground, ride in a tractor pulled "apple wagon" or get into a petting zoo. The worst part was that the orchard would charge for the adults to go into the playground area as well, but children could not go in unattended. Our kids had always had a great time picking apples, simply for the act of picking apples and spending time with their family. We usually bought some apple cider doughnuts and called it a great day. But since going to these orchards that tried to make apple picking an "event," we got tired of telling our kids "no" only to hear them whine about how all the other kids got to go to the playground.

So this year we searched for orchards that were actually about picking apples and found several great options within a two hour drive of home. We decided on Homestead Orchard and after lunch headed out there. We discovered a small family run orchard with many cars parking on the road outside the entrance to the orchard. This was surely a good sign and we pulled in and parked. There were no gimmicks or slides to be found anywhere! And lo and behold, not one whine from the kids.

We were given directions of which trees we could pick from and each of us was given a bag. The girls received 1/4 peck bags while Ian, Brendan and I all got peck bags. We spent about 45 minutes picking and eating apples, then went into the shop to buy them. We bought $40 worth of apples and headed back home. My only complaint would be that they didn't have any apple cider doughnuts, almost as much a part of the tradition as the actual apple picking. Zoe was the only one to mention it, so I promised her an ice cream sandwich when we got home and she brightened up considerably.

It was a great day, and now I'm gearing up for pie, cake, muffin and applesauce making.

I made my first batch of applesauce today and thought I'd share my recipe with you all. We all love it, and it is very easy!

Applesauce

Enough apples to fill up your crock pot (I used 20 small apples)
1 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon

Peel, core, and quarter apples. Place in crockpot. Pour in water. Add sugar and cinnamon. Stir apples to mix in sugar and cinnamon. Here is what my crockpot looked like after this step:


Turn crockpot to low. After two hours stir. Your apples should look something like this:


After two more hours (4 hours in crockpot) stir again. Here's what my apples looked like at this stage:


An hour and a half later (at the 5 1/2 hour mark), stir apples and begin breaking them up against the side of the crockpot. They should break apart very easily.

If you like chunky applesauce, stop here. If you like a slightly smoother texture like I do, you can take about 1 1/2 cups of the applesauce and put it in a blender. Blend until smooth like baby food. Pour back into the applesauce in the crock pot and stir together. When it is done it will look something like this:


This is absolutely delicious warm, and the way my nine year old son likes it best. you could easily make this without sugar if you want to make it healthier, and cooking it on high would be fine, but it should only take about three hours total. This applesauce freezes great! My batch made about 6 cups of applesauce. I plan on making at least one more batch in the next few weeks so that we will have plenty of applesauce for the upcoming holidays and whenever else we want to have some.

Enjoy!

Tagged

So Irish Coffeehouse has tagged me with the following rules:



So here are my seven random facts, in no particular order:

1. I graduated in the top ten in my high school class. (I know, boooorrrring!)

2. I had an appendectomy when I was 19 weeks pregnant with my first baby.

3. I love Barry Manilow, Kenny Rogers, Garth Brooks, and the Barenaked Ladies.

4. I made it to the Ohio State finals in high school track on the 3200m relay team.

5. I dropped out of accounting in college when I decided I no longer wanted to be a business major and was getting a C in the class. I was a religion major for one semester before I decided on elementary education.

6. My husband and I love going to Wisconsin for a weekend away from the kids. We've stayed in bed and breakfasts in Racine and Stoughton.

7. Every year right before Thanksgiving, our family orders four kringles from O&H Danish Bakery in Racine, Wisconsin. (We discovered them while at the B&B in #6). We eat one for Thanksgiving, one for Christmas, and the other two whenever we want. (They freeze great!) Our usual order is two almond, one cream cheese, and one cherry cheese.

I'm going to tag Alison.

Dinner

This is what we ate for dinner tonight. It probably doesn't look all that remarkable to all of you, but to me it was everything.

I've been married for 13 years now, and I do all the cooking. I make lots of different meals, and keep everyone fed pretty well. But the one thing I had never made was a chicken. Now, I've made countless boneless skinless chicken breasts over the years, even adapting multiple recipes calling for whole chickens or chicken thighs or drumsticks or whatever it may be to boneless skinless chicken breasts. But I've never made real, bone-in chicken.

Till now. Tonight I made this chicken and everyone loved it! I did cheat a bit and buy a chicken already cut up into it's pieces. But other than that, I did it all myself. And not only did hubby like it, but all three kids (!) enjoyed it as well. Now that's something!

Here's the recipe, if you're interested:

Garlic Roasted Chicken

3-4 lb chicken, cut up into pieces
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon olive oil
garlic salt
Italian seasoning
pepper

In a large bowl, toss chicken with lemon juice and olive oil until well coated. Place in a 13 x 9 inch pan and sprinkle with garlic salt, Italian seasoning, and pepper. Roast at 400 degrees F for 45 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

Simple, fast, and delicious. You can't beat that!

Fun Monday - What's In Your Closet?

Cassie over at RDH Mom would like to know the following:

I want to see the inside of your closet!! I want to see if your closet is as messy as mine!!! You can't organize it before you take the picture!!

So, I followed the rules closely this week and will take you on a tour of my (walk in) closet.


Here's the look from outside the door. I have to share with my husband. I get the left side, he gets the right side.



These are my clothes. I don't care which way they hang and sometimes my winter clothes mingle with my summer clothes, though I try to keep them separate, mainly so they'll be easier to find when I want them.


These are my shoes on the floor. I try to use the shoe organizer, but I have too many shoes. So they get paired up on the floor.


These are more shoes, only they are in their boxes. These are mainly my nicer shoes that don't get worn as often.


This is one of the messier parts of my closet. On the shelf at the far end of my closet. Clothes that I don't have any other space for get folded up and put up here. But I'm lazy, so after I wear them, sometimes they get loosely folded and flung back up on top of the pile.


These are my crafts and other assorted junk I have collected. I used to do a lot of cross stitching and that basket holds most of my cross stitching stuff. I keep thinking I'll do it again someday.


Shhhhhhh! Don't tell my kids, but this is where some of their gifts are hidden. Obviously they are not very good lookers and finders or I couldn't do this!


Finally, these are clothes for my daughters and a few baby gifts. Sometimes I buy a gift when I see it and love it, and save it for the right person. And when I buy something at the end of the season for one of my daughters, I have to put it in my closet, otherwise they will want to wear it immediately and bug me to no end until they do. In my closet it is basically out of sight out of mind.

Well, that's my closet. Now, go check out everyone else's closets!

Fun Monday Host

Cassie, over at RDH Mom will be hosting the next Fun Monday. Head on over to sign up!

Hosting Responsibilities

Anyone interested in hosting next week's Fun Monday? Please leave me a comment and I will get back to you as soon as possible!

Fun Monday - Sports Allegiances

I grew up and live in a family of sports fans. Every Sunday was devoted to football in the fall, and we followed the 1990 Cincinnati Reds go wire to wire. I was a three sport letterman in high school and went to sports camps in the summer and played slow pitch softball since I was in second grade. I love sports. So here are my teams, the ones I'm devoted to and would never forsake for another.



1. Ohio State Buckeyes football. Even though I now reside in Illinois, I am an Ohio girl, born and bred. My whole family lives and breathes Ohio State football. My sister and brother-in-law went to the 2003 Fiesta Bowl when the Buckeyes won the National Championship over Miami. We all love Jim Tressel and criticize anyone who doesn't wear scarlet and gray on game day. The marching band is The Best Damn Band in the Land and dotting the "i" in script Ohio rocks! Go Buckeyes!

2. The Cleveland Browns. I am forever disheartened and yet compelled to return year after year and root for the lovable, Super Bowl-less, Browns. I love the brown and orange jerseys (I wear mine many Sundays of the season), I love the Dawg pound, and I love Bernie Kosar. My hope springs eternal that one day they will get out of the playoffs and into the Super Bowl. One day.






The teams I hate:

1. Michigan. Need I say more? Really.

2. I used to hate the Denver Broncos (curse you John Elway!) because of all the years they dashed my beloved Browns hopes of a Super Bowl appearance. But I no longer have hatred for the Broncos. That is now reserved for the Baltimore Ravens, who stole my Browns out from under us and left the city of Cleveland without a team for almost four years. Luckily, the people of Cleveland would not allow this to happen to any other city and took an expansion team in 1999 over a relocated team. And because of Art Modell and the Baltimore Ravens, I can NEVER root for them to win.

That's about it!

Now, go check out everyone else's allegiances or share your own!

Players:

1. Tanya
2. Judysteapot
3. Hootin' Anni
4. Rayne
5. Gattina
6. Ali
7. Grace
8. Storyteller
9. HulaGirlAtHeart
10. Chrisb
11. jsi
12. Swampangel65
13. karmyn r
14. Alison
15. Jan
16. Swampy
17. {i}post
18. debs
19. sauntering soul
20. robocop
21. beedancer
22. margaret
23. tiggerlane
24. Mommywizdom
25. kitten
26.

Fun Monday - Sign Ups!

Fun Monday sign ups are done here!

The topic: Sports. More specifically, the sports team that you are rabid about. Maybe you love the Dallas Cowboys. Maybe you never miss a Cincinnati Reds game. Perhaps you follow every goal of the Fighting Illini Water Polo team. Or maybe nobody can tear you away from a Manchester United game. I want to hear about whatever sports team(s) that make you cry tears of joy when they win and tears of sorrow when they lose.

And on the flip side, I also want to hear about the teams you love to hate and why you hate them so much. You know what I mean. Like when you meet a new friend who is really cool and fun, and then you find out they root for your most hated rival team and you actually consider for a moment that you can't be friends anymore. Those teams.

That's it. And if you don't like any sports at all, I don't know what to say to you. Tell us something else you are impassioned about.

If you would like to sign up, leave me a comment with the link to your blog and I will get you signed up. Then come back Monday and make some new friends, maybe a few enemies, and get to know your fellow Fun Monday participants just a little bit better!

Fun Monday Participants

Having some trouble with Blogger, so leave a comment in the above post, and I'll list all players in this post.
Players:

1. Tanya
2. Judysteapot
3. Hootin' Anni
4. Rayne
5. Gattina
6. Ali
7. Grace
8. Storyteller
9. HulaGirlAtHeart
10. Chrisb
11. jsi
12. Swampangel65
13. karmyn r
14. Alison
15. Jan
16. Swampy
17. {i}post
18. debs
19. sauntering soul
20. robocop
21. beedancer
22. margaret
23. tiggerlane
24.

We Grow Them Big Here In Illinois

I took Zoe in for her preschool physical yesterday. It should have been taken care of this summer, but I'm a bit of a procrastinator. I wasn't worried about anything with her, but was interested in getting her dimensions, etc.

Well, let me tell you, she came in at a whopping 97th percentile in height, and 86th percentile in weight. I knew she was a big girl, but this definitely confirmed it. She actually is thinning out, because last year she was 95th percentile in both categories, if I recall correctly. I guess when both your mom and dad are 5'11", you probably aren't going to be a petite little thing.

Fun Monday

Well, I've been away from Fun Monday for quite some time now, but I'm back! Our hostess, Rayne, over at Crunchy Bits gives us the following assignment:

Almost everyone I know keeps things that others would consider junk. Twist ties, used wrapping paper, etc. What thing or things do you hang on to, and why?
Or, if you are one of those super organized and practical people and don't hang on to things like that, do you have a collection that you would like to share with us?

I had to think awhile for this one. After all, everything I keep is important, right? But as the week went by, I came up with a few things that I keep that probably drive my neatnik husband crazy, but I do have my reasons!



1. I have a plastic box filled with pantyhose and tights. I no longer wear them in the warmer months, but I will occasionally wear them in the many cold months we have here in Illinois. I have a hard time getting rid of any of them unless they are terribly holey (yes, I keep some with holes, depending on the location of the hole(s).) I even keep colors that I will probably never wear, because there may be that one time that burgundy tights are necessary and I would kick myself for throwing them out for no good reason other than the fact that they are burgundy colored.



2. I keep almost all sizes of scraps from stamping and scrapbooking. This is just one of the folders filled with pieces of cardstock and designer paper pieces. I have at least two more.



3. This empty perfume bottle. I got it (full, of course) when I was a little girl and we went to Wales on vacation. My parents bought it for me because of the name on the bottle, "Welsh Heather" I still can smell it a little bit if I sniff the top of the bottle.



4. I keep these pop tabs for a neighbor girl who is collecting them for the Ronald McDonald house. As soon as the baggy gets decently full, I give them to her and start a new baggy for them.

Well, those are a few of the things I keep around my house. Go check out everyone else's junk stuff!

Politics

I have tried to keep my blog fairly apolitical, though I am not shy to admit my political leanings. However, I just have to speak up with what I am hearing and seeing on TV in the last day or two.

Sarah Palin, governor of Alaska for two years, was chosen as John McCain's running mate. I had personally never heard of her before the announcement. So I started investigating and listening. She has done a lot in her time as a public servant. Besides being the first woman governor in Alaska for the last two years, she served two terms as mayor of Wasilla, as well as two terms on the city council of Wasilla. She obviously has had a lot of experience running local and state governments.

Now, many of the media pundits, as well as the Democratic party, are arguing that she has very little leadership experience. I understand why they are doing this. The Republicans have been pushing the lack of experience of Barack Obama since he clinched the Dem nomination. Turnabout is fair play, right?

Except it doesn't work. Obama truly has done little when it comes to leadership. He was elected to the Senate against a non-Illinois competitor. He hasn't even served one full term. He did serve eight years in the Illinois Senate.

But the appalling thing that I have heard from the media (at least two sources yesterday) was that he has led a campaign of some hundreds of staffers. Are they kidding? He has led a campaign? So has Sarah Palin, when she sought to get elected as mayor and governor. Running a campaign with staffers who want to get you elected is not comparable to running a city or state with a multitude of citizens who may or may not agree with you leadership decisions. I really had to laugh, because anyone who thinks that simply running a campaign full of staffers who obviously agree with their candidate (otherwise why would they work on someone's campaign?) gives you the leadership skills it takes to become president is simply ludicrous.

Palin has actual credentials. Look at her resume.

The second opinion that angered me as I watched TV last night came during Jon Stewart's "The Daily Show." I flipped over to this show remembering how much fun I've had in the past watching it during election years. Newt Gingrich did a good job of pushing back Stewart's obvious leftist leanings. I also know it is Jon Stewart's job to push and rile. But then Stewart brought up Palin's oldest daughter's unplanned pregnancy. He said it was fair game because, according to Stewart, Palin announced that her daughter had made her choice, and it is to marry the baby's father and keep the child. Stewart then proceeded to say that as a father of a daughter, he finds it hypocritical that Palin wants her daughter to have a choice, but if elected with John McCain, they would get into office and take that "choice" away from his family and all other families.

Now, I didn't actually see Palin's announcement about her daughter. So I don't know if "choice" is the word she used. If it is, perhaps she should have said it was her daughter's decision. Because as we all know, pro abortion groups have co-opted the word "choice" to only mean one thing, abortion. Her daughter may never have even been considering abortion. Her choice may have been between keeping the baby and giving it up for adoption. But Stewart took it to mean that she chose not to have an abortion. Knowing how Sarah and Todd Palin feel about abortion, and teaching this to their children, her daughter was probably never even considering abortion. I find it very condescending and twisted that Stewart brought this up during his show with Gingrich and further that he assumed Bristol Palin was even considering abortion. Contrary to what many people think today, not every girl or woman who makes a mistake with an unplanned pregnancy considers abortion.

Sarah Palin is a breath of fresh air, as far as I'm concerned. And the fact that John McCain chose her for his running mate only makes me more impressed with him.

There. If you didn't know I was a Republican before this, you certainly do now.

A New Teacher

For the better part of August I've been waiting for a letter or a phone call from Zoe's speech teacher letting us know what days and times she will be attending speech class this year. I waited and waited until finally last Friday I called the Early child Learning Center where she goes to find out the information. They told me something about how the teachers don't come in until Monday and that they will be contacting me sometime next week (now this week). So Tuesday I still hadn't heard anything and decided to call again to see what was going on. This time I was told the speech teachers didn't come in until Wednesday, and that they would be calling me by the end of the week.

So today when the phone rang and my caller ID showed it was the ECLC I was relieved and a little excited to find out what Zoe's days and times would be. However, I was not prepared for what I heard. The woman on the other end of the line said politely, "Hello my name is Miss Anna _________, I'll be your child's speech teacher this year."

WHAT? That's the first thing that went through my mind. What did this woman just say? She would be my child's speech teacher. But this can't be right. Miss Jan is Zoe's teacher. She wasn't supposed to have a new teacher. So without saying all of this, I quickly stammer and say, "What was that? I thought Miss Jan was Zoe's teacher."

To which I get the polite reply, "Miss Jan took a job closer to home."

Oh. I am in shock at this point and try to compose myself. "Umm, what did you say your name was?"

"Miss Anna _________________"

But because Zoe is talking I have to ask her a third time what her name is. And, I'm not only using a line for her last name because I don't want to reveal her name on my blog, but because I still don't know what it is.

I say something completely stupid, like, "Umm, oh my daughter adored Miss Jan, but I'm sure she'll do great with you."

But I don't believe it completely. I'm sure Miss Anna is great, but Miss Jan was AMAZING. Not only did Zoe love her and improve dramatically in her speech, but I loved her. It's like a punch in the gut knowing Zoe won't have her this year. All summer Zoe talked about how she couldn't wait to see Miss Jan again, and as the date approached, I know she was getting more and more excited. And honestly, so was I. Miss Jan has a great energy and knew how to get the best out of my little girl.

Then I thought, I have to break the news to Zoe. I did and she had about three or four weepy minutes where she muttered, "I don't know about this." And I let her have them. But then, she brightened and I reminded her how she had liked the other speech teacher (a different one from Miss Anna) she had to go with on the few days when Miss Jan had conferences. And she thought maybe her new teacher would do fun stuff, too. And maybe even some new things. And I joined in her new found hope and happiness about her new teacher because I want her to have a great experience with Miss Anna.

But inside I didn't believe what I was selling. It will be hard to measure up to Miss Jan. But I'm going to give Miss Anna a chance. It's the only thing I can do.

First Day of School

Yesterday a new school year started. My son is a fourth grader and my daughter a first grader. Along with all the excitement of the first day we managed to snap a few pictures before we set off to school. (My youngest will be starting pre-school next week - pictures to follow!)

Dad stayed home for the big morning, which made it even more special.

I had to get in a picture, too!

And for dessert I made a brownie pencil cake. The girls helped me mix the colors into the frosting. The kids think this should become an annual tradition. I agree.

Shoe Shopping

I have a six year old daughter. She is starting first grade tomorrow and we bought her a very cute pair of white and pink slip on shoes for her to wear everyday to school. What we have not bought yet is her tennis shoes for gym days. Now, my daughter is extremely picky, and sensitive to how her shoes feel. So last night I took her out by herself to shop for a pair of tennis shoes. She wanted laceless shoes, so she doesn't have to worry about them coming untied.

Our quest started at the Children's Place where she found a very cute and sparkly pink pair that fit her quite nicely. She definitely liked them, but wasn't 100% sure of them. So I told her we could go to a few more stores and look. Fast forward to four more stores, an hour and a half later, and all we came home with were these:


Yeah, they're not gym shoes. But they were on clearance!

I guess we'll keep looking . . .

24 Excuses For Not Blogging In August

I'm sure the few readers I used to have probably no longer even check to see if I've blogged lately, as it has officially been 24 days since I last posted. So, I offer my most humble apologies and 24 excuses as to why I have neglected my blog for so long.

1. I had to make and decorate my daughter's 6th birthday cake. (Pictures to follow, soon)

2. I had to make and decorate my son's 9th birthday cake. (Ditto on the pictures)

3. I had to plan and bake brunch for about 15 people for my son's and daughter's combined birthday party.

4. I have three kids who all use the computer throughout the day, limiting my time on the darn thing.

5. This website. (If you are a stamper, you will know what I mean!)

6. My son had his first official sleepover with two neighbor boys that I organized and hovered chaperoned over.

7. The Olympics.

8. Back to school shopping responsibilities.

9. Going to the pool several times a week.

10. Having four play dates in one week, all at our house.

11. We went to a Kane County Cougars game.

12. Having three kids, home, all summer!

13. I went to Wisconsin for vacation for 5 days. (Pictures to follow soon)

14. I went to Wisconsin for vacation for 5 days.

15. I went to Wisconsin for vacation for 5 days.

16. I went to Wisconsin for vacation for 5 days.

17. I went to Wisconsin for vacation for 5 days.

18. Tori & Dean (I'm sorry, but I love it!)

19. Project Runway (I won't apologize for loving this!)

20. Spending time with the hubby.

21. The Olympics (did I mention that one already?)

22. The Wii

23. Dentist appointments

24. I'm lazy!

Hey, I didn't say they were good excuses, just that they were excuses!

An Award

Last Monday, my friend Alison over at RDH mom gave me this award! It is the Share the Magic Award.

I have to say that it is Alison who shares so much with me and so many others through her blog. I have enjoyed reading about her adoption journeys and all that she does with her family. She is both genuine and kind, and I cherish our bloggy friendship dearly.

Thanks, Alison!

Gas Goes Down

As I drove my daughter to craft camp the last two days, I noticed that gas prices have dipped below $4! (Of course we filled the tank up on Sunday, when it was $4.06.) I have had a lot of discussions with people about the gas prices of late. Of course, I don't like high gas prices any more than the next person. And seeing a charge of over $80 just to fill up the tank on my minivan sucks. But I'm so tired of the "oil companies gouging us" argument. I'm sure I'll take a bunch of crap for typing that, but the price of oil has gone up. The oil companies don't control that. They have to buy oil, process it into gasoline, and then resell it to us. Have you checked out the price of gas in other countries? It's scary. Yes, in this time of economic insecurity it sucks that gas (and nearly everything else) is rising in cost. My family has less money for extras (yes, I realize I'm writing this post way too close to the one about where we bought a Wii) and I shop at discount stores and the sales to get the best deals for our tight budget.

But just two weeks ago I was in Ohio visiting family, and gas there was $3.85, after we had paid $4.16 in Illinois to fill the tank up to get there. What's the difference? I am guessing taxes. Why aren't we yelling at our government, local, state and federal for all the taxes they levy on gasoline? Hell, I have heard Wisconsin is putting out ads (though I haven't seen them) suggesting residents of Illinois cross the border to buy their school supplies there because of the lower sales tax. I had never thought about it, but we will be in Delavan the week before school starts. It's not a bad idea, when cutting coupons and saving every penny is a major goal of mine.

Do high gas prices impact my life? Yes. But so does the high price of milk, bread, and cereal. For now, I'm going to be happy that gas is under $4 in my neighborhood, and hope it stays that way.

More Yummy Muffins

I have been on a kick recently to make a lot more things from scratch. My most recent foray has been into muffins. My family loves muffins. My kids use them to fill their hungry bellies when they don't eat very much of the rest fo the dinner I've made, and they eat the leftovers for breakfast or a snack the next day. So I like that I control what is going into the muffins. No artificial ingredients, no preservatives, and I can sneak in some healthy stuff. For example, in this recipe I'll substitute 1/2 cup whole wheat flour for the same amount of all purpose flour. these really are tasty and anyone who likes cinnamon would enjoy these. If you like nuts, add about 1/2 cup to the batter before baking. I made these Monday because I had leftover buttermilk from some pancakes we had over the weekend.


Cinnamon Muffins

▪ 2 cups all purpose flour
▪ 2 teaspoons baking powder
▪ ½ teaspoon baking soda
▪ ½ teaspoon salt
▪ 1 teaspoon cinnamon
▪ ½ cup sugar
▪ ½ cup brown sugar
▪ 1 egg
▪ 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
▪ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
▪ ¾ cup buttermilk
▪ Topping:
▪ ¼ cup brown sugar
▪ ½ teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400 ºF. Grease and flour 12 muffin cups or line with paper liners.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. In a large bowl, whisk together the sugars and egg until smooth. Beat in vegetable oil and vanilla. Working in 5 additions and beginning and ending with the flour mixture, alternate adding the flour mixture and the buttermilk to the sugar mixture, stirring until just combined.

In a small bowl, stir together the remaining brown sugar and cinnamon to make the filling and topping.

Fill each muffin cup about 1/2 full. Sprinkle with a scant 1/2 teaspoon of the brown sugar topping mixture into each cup. Evenly divide remaining batter on top and sprinkle evenly with remaining topping mixture. Bake for 15-18 minutes, or until tester comes out clean. Transfer to wire rack to cool completely.

Yield: 12 muffins

Enjoy!

Wii have a Wii

Ok, not a lot of time to post so I'm going to keep this short.

Last week the kids (all three of them) were in Ohio for the week. They were happy as clams because they were spending the week with my parents and their eight cousins.

I was a happy mom because I had the week off. First week off in nine years. It was a fun week. I had coffee with a girlfriend, had a scrapbooking night with a bunch of ladies and spent my week not having to clean and reclean the downstairs of my house. I decided to get all my hair chopped off on Wednesday, and donated the hair to Locks of Love.

But on Tuesday night, Brendan and I decided to buy a Wii. We've been discussing it, and not having the kids around was the perfect excuse to go out and get one. We only have Wii sports, but for now it's enough. The kids are thrilled (and incredulous that we actually bought a Wii!)

So today Ian downloaded the Nintendo channel and we discovered that he can do DS downloads right from the Wii! He downloaded Wall-E today. It's cool since in the past we had to go to Toys R Us or Gamestop to use that feature of his Nintendo DS. Now right from the comfort of our family room, virtually anytime he wants, he can try a sample of a new game. Pretty nifty, in my opinion.

Now, I just have to figure out how to get the bathrooms clean while still getting in my Wii playing time!

Fun Monday - Birthdays!

This week, Penny over at Dungarees Ablaze has given us our FM assignment, which is this:

Let’s hear about your favorite “Birthday”, it needn’t be your actual birthday just a "birthday" celebration. You can use one you planned, one you attended, one you crashed, just a fun time for this FUN MONDAY.

One of my most memorable birthdays was my 18th birthday. My birthday is December 30th, so even though my parents did an awesome job of keeping it separate from Christmas, I rarely got to celebrate with my friends on my actual birthday, just too busy a time for many people.

The day of my 18th birthday did not start well. Our basement flooded overnight the night before. I am the youngest, and therefore was the only one home with my parents. Guess what had to be done? Yes, I had to help clean the basement up, on MY 18th birthday.

After a long day of cleaning up, we were going to go out to dinner to celebrate my birthday. It is a long standing tradition in my family to take the birthday girl or boy to the restaurant of their choosing. My parents were lobbying for a pizza joint called the Rocking U. I just didn't feel like going there, and said, "No, I want to go somewhere else."

A little while later my mom got off the phone and announced that Ken and Jenni, my good friend Leah's parents and also friends of my parents, called, and that we were going to meet them at the Rocking U, and we'd go out to my restaurant another night.

Now, this should have been a HUGE tipoff to me. My parents had NEVER, EVER, in my life blown off my birthday, or my brothers' or sister's for that matter (excepting my sister's 16th, but that's another story for another time!). But, I had no idea. I just sulked as I called my boyfriend and told him we were going to the Rocking U for dinner. I mean after all, it was MY 18th BIRTHDAY, I had just spent the entire day cleaning up the basement, and now my parents were making me share my birthday dinner with Ken and Jenni at a restaurant I didn't want to go to!

I didn't complain to my mom and dad, although I'm sure they saw the sulking. My parents left ahead of me and the plan was for me to meet them there with my boyfriend. Derrick picked me up and let me tell you I gave him an earful about my parent's choices!

You can see where this is going, can't you? Well, in my 18 year old self-important haze, I didn't see it coming at all.

When we got to the restaurant we walked in the back and into a party room where there waiting were several of my friends. They all shout surprise and I collapsed onto the floor crying. I had no idea my parents had planned me a party and I was just about ready to chalk up my 18th birthday as my worst ever! What shocked me even more was who was there. It wasn't just my good friends, but some of the kids I considered "cool". Eric, and many of the other boys, who were my teammates in cross country, April and Heidi, popular girls who I played basketball with, Jason, my good childhood friend, as well as Carrie, Leah, and Allyson, my three best friends. There were others there, too. My mom had managed to invite all the different people who I spent most of my time with, who I cared about, who I cherished.

I think what made it so memorable was the horrible thoughts I was having about my parents were completely erased when I walked in that door that night. And I was truly surprised at some of the guests. If my mom had asked me who I wanted to invite to a party, some of those names wouldn't have been on there, not because I didn't like the person, but because I wouldn't have thought they would have wanted to come to a party for me. I knew my social place in high school, and I wasn't unpopular, but I wouldn't have put myself in the "popular" group, that's for sure! So to see some of those kids there, made me feel happy. Not because that meant I was popular, but because the friendships we had formed were important to them, too. I guess when it comes to judging others, it goes both ways.

Anyways! My 18th birthday was indeed a memorable and happy one for me. Now go check out everyone else's birthday plans!

Creating Stuff

Today has been a very creative day at the McKillip house. This morning I took these:

They are tart Michigan cherries that I paid and arm and a leg for at the farmer's market yesterday (and well worth it!).

And I turned it into this:

This is a cherry crumb pie. I've never made one before (made lots of pies, just not this kind) and can't wait until dinner to have it for dessert tonight. My daughters helped me by pulling all of the stems out of the cherries so I could just stand and pit (and pit and pit!). They say they are going to taste the pie tonight - we'll see!

In case you couldn't see it well enough in the last picture, here's a close up of the crumb topping:

I stopped at the grocery store last night after Bunco specifically to buy some vanilla ice cream to enjoy with this pie tonight. I am soooooo excited.

Then this afternoon the kids and I built this contraption out of Legos:

I strung some yarn from the stairs to the drying rack in our living room and we have spent lots of time enjoying sending Lego men on a trip across the entryway. (My son attached the man on the bottom of the tram.)

Here's a little video of the tram in action:



Not sure what we'll create next but I'm sure it won't be long before we figure it out!

Summer Revelations

In the past, if I wanted to go grocery shopping for my weekly trip, I would rather gnaw my arm off than take my three kids with me. I planned it around their being in school or other activities. I often shopped at night after they'd gone to bed. If I couldn't do that, and I absolutely had to go to the store with all three of them, I'd usually only get the necessities and either bring snacks or bribe them with a doughnut.

But this summer is different. My kids are older and I have realized I don't want to give up "my time" in the evening after the kids go to bed. I have taken them with me several times now, and it usually goes pretty well. Now, they do get a little silly sometimes, but mostly because they are just keeping themselves occupied by having fun with each other. That's not to say that their behavior is always appropriate, twice today they had to all stand next to the cart with their hands on the cart so they wouldn't be jumping around in front of other people and generally making me frazzled while I looked for dishwasher detergent. But when I think of their behavior, they're not being rude or mean, disrespectful or even difficult. They rarely complain when I say "no" to their requests (they're used to it, I must say it often!) and they usually keep up with me in the store. They're mainly just unaware of how their behavior affects the other patrons of the store, which I see as immaturity, not mischief. And I do correct them and have them apologize if they are obstructing someone's path or doing something else that causes problems. It actually is a pretty good trip now when we go to the store.

And despite the fact that I could probably get it done so much faster without them, I don't really mind it that much anymore. Except for one thing. I cannot leave the store without a few things that were not on my list and I probably wouldn't buy if they weren't with me. Last week it was a package of Little Debbie's Swiss Rolls and Nutty Bars. This week it was Pepperidge Farm Brown Sugar and Cinnamon Mini Bagels. But, if that is the only roadblock I face each week, I think I'll choose going with the kids during the day instead of by myself at night.

Happy Independence Day!

What's a holiday without special treats? Last year I made red, white and blue ice cream pops with the kids. This year I stumbled upon a cookie idea and yesterday the kids and I made them.


It is super simple. All you need is sugar cookie dough (we bought a tube at the grocery store), red and blue food coloring, sugar and nesting star cookie cutters. I had each child knead a part of the dough with either blue or red food coloring, and left one part of the dough plain. After kneading the color in, the dough was quite mushy, so I wrapped it in wax paper and froze it for about 20 minutes. when it was firm enough to work with, I rolled it out on a floured cloth and let the kids cut out which colors they wanted. I had to help getting the inside star out, but otherwise they did it themselves. The final touch was a sprinkling of sugar over the top before each cookie went into the oven. (This was definitely my kids favorite part!)


After 8 minutes in the oven we had perfect little cookies to celebrate the 4th of July with. Now I just have to ration them so that they'll last until tomorrow!

Cupcakes and Cousins

Last week my sister, Leanne, came from Ohio with her three kids and our mom for their annual visit. Ever since I moved out here in 2000, she's come every summer with her girls to visit. And it is such a blessing as my kids have gotten to know her kids well, and we get some well deserved sister time.


Leanne has three girls, ranging in age from 12 to 8. I have one boy, almost 9, and two girls, 6 and 4. Amazingly, they all pretty much get along great. Ian and my niece S get along great, or they don't. There's no in between. One year we saw them laughing and playing with each other one minute, and then literally rolling on the ground wrestling the next minute! But they always have fun, and despite being outrageously outnumbered, Ian finds ways to have fun with a bunch of girls. (I think it helps that he has two sisters.)

We had a fun week with two visits to the pool, playing on the "new" backyard playset my husband and father-in-law put together, going to the DuPage Children's Museum, making s'mores with our s'more maker and being treated to dinner out at TGIFriday's by our mom.

Every night the kids got a snack before bed, and being a cool and fun aunt, I wanted some yummy choices. One night it was the s'mores, another night it was ice cream, but on the first night I made special cupcakes for everyone. I always like to make at least one fun treat for their visit and this year was no exception. As I was searching for ideas on the internet I came across directions for making frog cupcakes. As soon as I saw it I knew that was what I was going to make. My niece, S, loves frogs. So it was a no-brainer. They turned out absolutely adorable and everyone was happy to gobble one down.


I guess now I need to start looking for fun snack ideas for next year!

What Was I Thinking?

Why did I vacuum the carpet underneath the kitchen table and then decide to make 4th of July sugar cookies with my kids?

Hot Summer Fun

So what are a bunch of kids to do on a hot summer day to cool off? Ask their mom to put up the Slip-N-Slide that their Grandpa bought them.






What you can't see in the pictures and video is that the attachment for the hose was missing. Of course by the time I figured this out the slip-n-slide was completely set up and tacked down. After a quick call to the hubby for direction, we decided that the sprinkler set near the slip and slide would have the same effect as hooking up the hose directly to the thing. (We did not have the receipt and my kids really wanted to jump on and slide.)

It was a great way to cool off on a hot day. I'm sure we'll be using it again soon.