Daniel on the Move 2!

Daniel Clapping!

Snow!

Daniel 7 Months 1 Week (Long)

Hockey

Lunch

Daniel Playing at 6 Month

Canning Part 2

After tasting the delicious Apple Butter and going through almost a whole pint, we decided to make more! Yes, more. It is that good. Now that I realize canning is not just a hobby for Scott, but that it is turning into more of an obscession that isn't going away anytime soon, I reliquinshed and let him purchase more appropriate tools for canning such as a funnel, jar lifter, magnet lid grabber kit. He was given a large pressure cooker from his aunt in her massive moving cleaning spree that has already been put to use. The only thing left to purchase was a food mill. I figured with Daniel eating us out of house and home with the expensive baby food, I would be able to use it to make baby food, too. That and Ashlynn will be getting braces in a few years, so she may need mashed foods, too. Anyway, after much research, we purchased a lovely food mill from Bed Bath and Beyond that is 100% stainless steel and dishwasher safe. My two favorite things when it comes to cooking. Now Scott is really set to can.

Today Scott went out and picked another 18 pounds of apples off of the small apple tree and we were good to can.  We tripled the original recipe so we could have lots for us (yummy!) and a few to give to lucky friends and family members. It took a but longer this time, but it was well worth it.  Scott got to use his food mill, his pressure cooker, and his new tools! I did, too. I was around to help with the canning process this time. Things I learned - the jars are hot when they come out of the boiling water, the water is hot, too, but the apple butter cools quickly when it "spills" on the counter and you have to "clean" it up. ;) It was good and now we have 20 jars sitting on the counter. And maybe a few more pounds around our wastes...

Policeman's Ball

Scott and I attended the 2010 Policeman's Ball this year.  We purchased a new suit for him and even got his new white shirt dry cleaned. :)  I managed to fit into a dress from a highschool event so my expense was purchasing the flower for my hair!


Grandma came up and watched the kids while Scott and I had our first real night out since Daniel was born. We had a really good time. We purchased raffle tickets hoping to win a gun, a quilt, spa treatment, a Buzz Lightyear toy (that would have been for Daniel) or any of the other amazing prizes. Unfortunately, we didn't win anything. We did have fun socializing with adults, wearing clothing free of spit up and play dough, and just being a newly wed couple. All the proceeds went to benefit the Domestic Violence place and also to a fund to help officers and their families who are hurt or killed in the line of duty. So even though we didn't win anything, it still went to a good cause.

Apple Picking Time

Ah, it has finally become fall and it was time to harvest our apple tree. Daniel and I accompanied Scott outside to begin the process of weeding out the good apples from the apples the birds and worms had gotten. I got Daniel all settled in on his blanket in the shade with is toys,

Scott got me one of our new chaise lounge chairs (we got two because they were 75% off at Lowes) and I decided to let our baby chicks meander around and enjoy some fresh air and bugs.

Scott began the process while I played, but then I realized how big the tree was and how long it was taking him to accomplish this, so I decided to help. Ashlynn soon got up from her nap and came out as well. We finally had picked all of the ones we could reach, but instead of getting a ladder, I volunteered to climb the tree to pick more. That proved challenging since the tree hadn’t been pruned and all of the branches were super close together.

I was determined though and made it to a standing position and which point I realized I couldn’t reach many more apples in the tree than I could from the ground. I could however, reach more branches so I began shaking causing the apples to fall. It was raining apples!
 
Scott took Daniel and moved him out of the warzone but Ashlynn decided to stay beneath the tree. I got hit in the head about the same time she did. The good news is that 95% of the apples have been harvested and they are now awaiting their final destination: apple sauce, apple pie filling, apple butter, etc.

Canning Part 1

After picking all the apples, it was time to do something with them!  I remembered having apple butter at my grandparent's house and really enjoying it. Scott was a little reluctant, but hey, we had over 30 pounds of apples so if it didn't taste good we had plenty left over to make other stuff with.  So he chopped and measured and then put the apples on the stove to boil.  (It was during that time of boiling he installed the kid seat to my bike.) It came to mash them up and then add all the yummy deliciousness that makes the apple butter so savory. Of course, we sampled - so good! Then it had to boil on the stove for 2 hours! Craziness!

 So while that was boiling, we peeled and cored 8 more pounds of butter to make apple sauce.  Last year Scott got a cool apple peeler/corer from Bed Bath and Beyond.

Our apples are note exactly round so they corer isn't too effective, but it does an excellent job at peeling.  We had quite the system going. 

Ashlynn would hand Scott the apple, he would put it on the machine and peel it, I would take it off and core it, then I would put the finished product in a big bowl of water and lemon juice so it wouldn't brown. We did that for about 45 minutes until all of the apples were ready.

Then the apples were drained and put into pots to boil.  We had to stir them at first until the juices started to come out, then they simmered in their own juice.
 
That's about the time I had to go to work, so Scott had the joy of canning everything by himself. He didn't have all the right tools so it made it a little challenging, but h managed. When I got home in the morning there were about 10 cans on the counter of apple stuff.  I am a HUGE fan of the apple butter. It is soooo good! I've been giving it to Ashlynn on toast at night for dessert. Yummy!

Daniel's New Ride

I vaguely remember riding on the back of my Mom's bike growing up and thought it would be great fun and exercise for me to get one for Daniel. After searching Amazon and other sights, when we came upon one at Walmart I pounced! It was a good price and I wouldn't have to wait for it to be shipped. Of course, it is not safe for him to ride without a helmet, so that was the next purchase. For whatever reason, I couldn't find a helmet for 6 month olds. The youngest they had anywhere I looked was 3 years. Oh well, Daniel has a large head! We tried it on him at the store and figured we could make it work. He tolerates it very well, actually. When we got home I put it on him again and he as pretty happy!
 The next chore was attaching the carrier to my bike. I thought it would be an easy task, but alas, it wasn't. First of all, all of the instructions were in metric so we really had to think instead of just go at it. The rest of the instructions were not very clear, but after a few tries, we got it! Daniel got to briefly test it out. Of course, the one day we did it, it had to rain. It hadn't rained in weeks!

A few days later, while Scott was at work, Ashlynn was at school, and I was supposed to be sleeping after working the night before, Daniel and I tried out the whole thing.  After I got him bundled up, helmet on, strapped in and off on the road, I was exhausted. I realized that I had overly bundled him because it had drastically warmed up since I had gotten home that morning.  I also remembered that all of the bolts and such were only hand snugged.  Plus the carrier was way too close to my seat so I was sitting on the handle bar. We called it quits pretty quick. Oh well, I found out it worked and it was ready to go camping!

We Have Eggs!!!!!

Since June we have been dealing with baby chicks, our dog eating our chickens, the neighbor dogs eating our chickens, and Ashlynn falling in love with chickens only to have them killed. Our chickens have done nothing but eat, annoy the dog, annoy me, and poop on stuff. I was beginning to think we would never reap rewards from the obnoxious fowl residing on our property until last night. Scott went out to feed the chickens and all the sudden started hollering for me to “Come quick!” I had a feeling it was an egg, so I turned off the water for Daniel’s bath, grabbed him, and the camera, but by the time I made it outside, a chicken had jumped down and broken the egg.
  There was still an egg in one of the laying boxes  and Scott was so happy.
 I must admit, I was rather relieved. They were finally starting to earn their keep.

Pillow

I (Rachel) got a creative streak going on and bought some fabric and ribbon. After driving home from Pocatello on day and Ashlynn fell asleep and looked so uncomfortable hunched over, I decided to make her a pillow to keep in the car. She got to help me pick out the fabric and then proceeded to ask Scott and me every day when I was going to make it. I got smart and finally hid the fabric where she couldn’t see it. When I finally got time, I cut it out and even added some ribbon along the edges to make it super girly and cute. Then the moment arrived to give it to her. She LOVED it. When Scott jokingly took it away from her, she almost cried. Needless to say she wants to use it every time she is in the car.

Daniel Sitting Up - 5 Months

Leaps and Bounds

Daniel is developing incredibly fast now it seems.  I know I've been at work for the past seven days and haven't been able to see him all that much, but still. He is changing rapidly! I use to have to force him on his tummy for tummy time and as soon as he could, he would roll back over onto his back. Now I put him down on his back and in a flash he's on his tummy! I'm not sure what happens next, but he's soon fussing.  I believe he is frustrated that he isn't crawling or able to anything else. Today, I put him in his swing while I ate lunch and watch as he turned over on his belly! Crazy! I'm glad I was there. He is no longer allowed in his swing unless he is thoroughly restrained!  He is also getting talented at moving around. I'm not sure how he does it, but he's a mover.

Last night he ate a whole container of baby food carrots, most of a normal serving of rice cereal and then nursed for 10 minutes after that! Man, was he a mess.  He's outgrown his little tub that fits in the sink, so he got his first bath in the big bath tub.  He loved it! He was kicking and smiling. He was so happy.  Then he gulped his normal 5 oz bottle with rice cereal then got pretty vocal once it was all gone. I got him a little more and he happily guzzled that down until he fell asleep.  I thought for sure he'd sleep through the night. Nope. He was up twice totally starving!

Today he was constantly on the go. He at more carrots and cereal for dinner. I had to wake him up so he could get a full belly before I turned in. He gulped it down and is now sleeping peacefully once more.  He's such a good baby.

Blog Update In Progress

I am about 6 weeks behind in blogging so I'm getting busy to catch up! I am backdating, so you'll need to check out side bar for July and August.

New Goat

So we (Scott) decided it would be a great idea to get a dairy goat so we could all drink it, be healthier, save trips to the store for milk, etc. So he looked and looked and found one on Craig’s list. We put the carrier in the back of the Commander and off we all went to check it out. Well, she looked cute, seemed healthy, but wasn’t horribly tame. After the people spent about 10 minutes trying to catch her (which should have been a sign) we got her loaded up and took her home. Jacques seems to like his new girlfriend a lot. It’s kind of cute actually. head butts her occasionally just to make sure she knows he is boss, but other than that, they get along great. Her name is Isabelle but we call her Izzy sometimes, especially when we yell at her when she gets loose. Thankfully she stays on our property. I think she thinks it’s a game…

Anyway, she isn't producing yet. First we need to tame her. Then we'll breed her and I'll get to try my luck at delivering goat kids.  I'm pretty good at delivering human babies.  It can't be that much different, can it?

Eastern Idaho State Fair

I love the fair. So does Scott and Ashlynn. I think we all have different ideas about what the fair is all about though. I think the fair is all about eating foods that are fried or exotic enough that you only want to eat them once a year at the fair, petting animals, and looking at all the strange people who attend the fair. Scott seems to enjoy the venders and exhibits as well as the rides , food, and animals. Ashlynn is all about the rides with breaks for food. We compromise and wander around for a bit. I eat, Scott looks at stuff, and Ashlynn is more or less patiently waiting to go ride the rides.

The animals are fun for all including Daniel. He saw all sorts of animals for the first time: turkeys, lambs, pigs, miniature horses (which are different from regular horses that he has already seen), rabbits, and other random assorted breeds of fowl. I changed a diaper in the pig barn. I figured no one would notice the smell, or at least if they did, they’d blame it on porky.

Then it was time eat again. I had a tasty barbeque roast beef sandwich and Scott had a sirloin burger. Ashlynn got part of each. Then it was off to the rides! Ashlynn is tall enough to ride the kid rides by herself, but she still likes having her Dad tag along on the “scarier” ones.

Next year I’m taking a chair so I can watch in comfort. Daniel was pretty happy though in his stroller, feet kicked back, smiling at everyone. Lots of elderly people commented on how cute he was.

Time flew by and before we knew it, it was time for us to go home. Oh to be a kid again and be pushed around, able to sleep whenever.

Daniel Laughing

First Day of School

At the same time Daniel was hitting his milestone, Ashlynn was hitting her own. The first day of kindergarten snuck up on us, too. The week before we went shopping for glue sticks and crayons, a very cute Animal Planet backpack, a giraffe print pencil case, and other miscellaneous items that kindergarteners need nowadays. We also picked out a very cute outfit for her to wear on her first day. Somehow, I found an outfit with horses on it that I liked and Ashlynn was persuaded to get. 

The big day arrived. We had rehearsed her getting ready the night before so when her alarm went off, she jumped up and started getting ready. Scott and I had made a turkey sausage breakfast casserole the night before that we enjoyed on her special day. I braided her hair and we did everything to make her feel special and secure. Then it was picture time!

Ashlynn’s nerves started getting to her, although she would not admit it. We all loaded into the car and headed off to school. Scott and I walked her into her classroom, helped her find her name on the table, made sure her teacher new she was there, and just like that, Ashlynn was in kindergarten.
Since I worked the night before, I went to bed, so Scott got to pick her up. The teacher gave each student a little goody bag that had a bookmark, pencil, and eraser in it. She was so excited. Scott and I decided to finish the day by going out to eat. First though, we made a stop by the river to see the ducks. While we were sitting on the rocks we saw an otterish looking animal, almost got decapitated by land gulls, Ashlynn sat in duck droppings, and I got bitten by a duck. All in all, it was a great time. :) Then it was off to Chili’s.We had an enjoyable dinner (even though Daniel got bored and needed to be walked around with just as my food arrived) and then headed home. What a day.

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Ashlynn’s Birthday Party

We celebrated Ashlynn’s 5th birthday once she returned home from her summer visit with her mom.

Scott set up the slip n’ slide and the little pool and I baked cupcakes for the kids to ice. The night before I made up goodie bags with play dough, pixie sticks, and other random assorted candies. Ashlynn had told me she wanted strawberry cupcakes with purple icing. You can’t find purple icing in a container, so I called up Mom and got the recipe for the delicious butter cream icing she made when I was growing up. Then my grade school lessons came into play and I combined red and blue food coloring and voila! Purple icing! Yum!


Ashlynn had a lot of fun with her cousins and friends. Daniel seemed to have fun, too.
She got lots of neat stuff. Scott and I did learn that we should probably start assembling her presents before giving them to her – that way we do it on our own time and she isn’t staring at a box wondering what it really is.

Solid Food

My, how fast time has flown by. Daniel is already four months and ready to experience (semi) solid food. I felt the need to experiment with him in the high chair to make sure he was up to sitting upright.
He was.

Then came the moment of truth. I stripped him down to his diaper not knowing what the adventure would entail and strapped him in.
 He was actually quite happy about the whole thing. He must have sense that he was going to be getting yummy goodness spoonfed to him by his Momma.  Scott videoed the event and then took over the feeding so I could take pictures. Then Ashlynn wanted a turn. Daniel didn’t care who was feeding him as long as he was getting fed! He wanted to “help” so he would grab the spoon and help move it towards his mouth. His coordination skills are still developing, so most of the time he missed his mouth. Instead he got his ear, his chin, his neck, his cheeks, but that was to be expected.

He was so proud of himself when we were finished with the bowl. Then it was BATHTIME!

Yellowstone Bear World

Doris Ann and Jere, my great aunt and uncle, came out to visit and meet the newest member of the family. While they were here, we took a drive up to Yellowstone Bear World, the place where bears that can no longer be in the wild due to human contact now live. It reminded me of the movie “Jurassic Park” as we drove through and were very close to lots of different deadly animals. Scott and Jere were up front, Doris Ann and Daniel were in the middle, and Ashlynn and I were in the back. Daniel thought it was pretty cool to be able to see Momma while riding in the car. 

The outer part of the park had mountain goats, buffalo, and deer.

  They must have been able to read because they all knew where they should be and were all residing near their exhibit sign.

Then we entered the bear section and low and behold, a bear came walking by the car! It was way fun. We even had a bear “altercation” right in front of the car. I think one snuck into another’s territory without permission. That was pretty cool.


Included in admission to the park was admission to the petting zoo and the amusement park.
  Ashlynn was the only kid at their little park so she got to ride all the rides as much as she wanted. Scott went on some, too. Doris Ann held the little man while I took pictures.
Then it was off to the petting zoo part. Doris Ann and Jere watched Daniel as Scott, Ashlynn, and I went through.
I tried convincing Ashlynn that we really didn’t need to go in since we have our own petting zoo, but I was informed that we didn’t have deer and fawns, so we went in. One silly deer took it upon herself to bathe me from my hand to my elbow. One little fawn snuck up on Scott while he was filming Ashlynn trying to pet another one. We also were introduced to feather footed chickens (of which we now have 2).


After exiting the petting zoo, we headed to the bathroom to scrub. Ashlynn rode another ride or two while Daniel ate, then Doris Ann and Jere got both of the kiddos a shirt to remember the day by. Ashlynn got a pink one with 3 bears on it. She told me the big one was Daddy, the next big one was me, and the little pink one was her. She got it because it reminded her of our family. She did apologize that Daniel wasn’t on it. Had there been one with 4 bears, she would have gotten that one.

It was a great day.