apple pie

We were having some friends over last night from Josh's residency program and wanted to make an apple pie to use up some of the apples we have picked. I didn't really feel like a crumble topping so I looked online for a good apple pie recipe without a crumb topping and found this one on allrecipes.com. It had almot 900 reviews and was rated 5 stars so I gave it a shot. It was absolutely delicious. The best apple pie I've ever tried. So here is the recipe and a pic of my pie. I use the store bought roll out pie dough to make it even easier but I'm sure it would be even better with a homemade crust. Just thought I'd pass it along. =) Also, I tried a hot apple cider recipe from allrecipes.com that was fantastic and here is that recipe as well. I didn't have any cheesecloth on hand or whole cloves and spice berries so I just put all of the ingredients directly into the cider and used normal clove spice and allspice. But it was still great.

Pie: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/grandma-oples-apple-pie/Detail.aspx

Cider: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/hot-apple-cider/Detail.aspx

A serious medical problem

Ok, so I went to the Y to workout yesterday and took a cross training class which kicked my butt in an embarrassing way. I forgot to eat anything that morning so I got half way through the class and my blood sugar bottomed out and I had to walk out. Everything was going black and and I was dizzy and couldn't hardly hold my head up. A lady from the class had to run to get me a bag of fruit snacks to get my sugar back up. Embarrassing! Now you Columbus ladies who always wanted me to do Leah's class know why I wouldn't do it! But this is not my serious medical problem... Today my muscles are sore and I can seriously barely move. So I was having Josh rub out my back and the kids wanted to know why I was yelling (because it hurt so bad). Seth said, "Mommy are you ok? Do you need me to get you a Diet Pepsi? Do you need a snack?" (Can you tell my sugar drops freqentlyenough that my kids are trained to get mommy a snack or a coke when I'm laying on he floor?) I told him no that I was fine and just would like a hug. So he said, "Do you need a doctor? I'll be your doctor!" And he was off. He returned a few minutes later dressed in full dctor gear complete with his scrubs and little white lab coat and doctor bag. He asked me what the problem was and I told him that my muscles were sore. He scratched his chin and said, "Hmmmm... Let me check my patient schedule..." (which he did on his little clipboard and charts). Then he examined my arm and diagnosed my "serious medical problem". Apparently, I have eaten too many Twizzlers and one got stuck in my muscle. He put on his surgical mask and announced that he was going to have to give me a shot because this was major surgery. He performed the injections and checked to make sure they didn't hurt too badly. His bedside manner was outstanding I must say. He also checked my ears and said,"Oh my goodness! You have a Twizzler stuck in there too!" He got the Twizzlers out, thank goodness, and then checked his patient chart again to see that Pinkie Pie pony was his next patient. So, while I am very proud of Seth's doctoring skills... I did learn some disturbing things this weekend. I am out of shape and will embarrass myself if I attempt to excercise with people and I eat too many Twizzlers.

September catch up

So it has been quite a while since I've posted on here. I guess it's time... We've had a busy few weeks. At the beginning of the month we went on a vacation to NY to visit my brother and his family. Let me just say, Thank God I am a parent in a time where we have DVD players in our mini vans! A 9 hour road trip with 3 kids is rough, but I can't even imagine having to do it with no form of entertainment. Here's a picture of Lilah on the road trip with her head phones for the movie, her sunglasses, and travel pillow. I think I took this during the only 20 minutes of the trip when she actually slept. =) We had a great time! The kids had soooooo much fun playing with the Newman cousins. They miss them a lot. We enjoyed lots of fun time outside and beautiful weather. We went peach and raspberry picking, played at the beach, and celebrated Lilah's 3rd birthday. Aunt Sarah helped plan a special dress-up tea party for Lilah with the theme that Lilah requested of butterflies and flowers. The kids got all dressed up and we set up the picnic table outside for the party. Unfortunately, it was at the end of a super fun and exhausting week. So Lilah was pretty much spent and had gone into child demon/meltdown mode by that time. She fussed about everything and was nasty and the party ended with Lilah getting a time-out and then being sent to bed for the afternoon. I have included a picture for your viewing pleasure. =) But overall, we had a great time and miss the fam so much.

After NY we came home and enjoyed a couple of fun days with friends from ORU for Labor day weekend. Adam and Kim and Violet came into town and Aaron and Angie came as well. We had a second little "princess" birthday celebration for Lilah that went MUCH better and she behaved much more like a princess than at her first party. It was a lot of fun and we enjoyed a cookout with friends and then the"sapphire girls" got to ditch the kids with the dads for drinks and a chance to catch up. Although we very much missed the 3 sapphires who were unable to join us. Liz and I get lots of time together now and we loved getting some time with Angie and Kim too.

The other big event this month was Seth starting preschool. He is LOVING it! I knew he would because he loves structure and people. Both are in abundance at school. He's having a blast and thinks he's being punished the 2 days a week that we don't get to go to school. He's learning about the body and has proudly displayed his macaroni/bones picture in the house for the past week. Lilah is really wanting to go to school too and misses Seth. She'll enjoy it next year when it's her turn. I just can't believe Seth is getting so big! The kids also started their first YMCA class last week where they get to do an hour of gym time (soccer, gymnastics, yoga, basketball, etc.) and then an hour of swimming. They LOVE that and Lilah feels very big to get to do that along with Seth. And I like it because I get to work out then while Isaac plays in the child watch program.

We also made a quick trip to Ohio for the kids to spend some time with Nina and Papa while Josh and I attended the memorial service for our friend's sweet baby, Eva Genelle. It was very important to us to be there with Dan and Jessica to celebrate Eva's powerful little life. We feel very blessed to have had the opportunity to participate in Eva's life while Jessica was pregnant and then for a few weeks after Eva was born before we had to move to Michigan. I have posted a picture of one of the moments I got to cuddle Eva for myself when Jessica gave me the lucky job of holding Eva while she made a plate of food for herself. Jessica shared at the service about the significance of the butterfly symbol that she chose for Eva. It was very moving and I will, from this time on, forever think of precious Eva Genelle everytime I see the beauty of a butterfly. If you are not already on the site, I encourage everyone to check out the caringbridge site for the Clearfield family. It tells Eva's story and Jessica writes beautifully in a way that captures your heart. Please also continue to keep them in your prayers as the noise of everything is fading and life is settling in and they are needing an extra dose of strength and peace to handle the day to day right now.

That's all the big stuff this month for us. I will try to post a bit more regularly now. =)

pictures from last week

We've had a fun, busy week. We went to NY to visit my brother and his family. The kids had a BLAST with the Newman cousins and we loved getting to see Ben and Sarah. Ben happedned to be on a vacation as well, which meant we actually got to see him even though he's a first year ER resident. =) We went peach and raspberry picking, went to the beach at a fun park, had a cousin birthday party for Lilah's 3rd birthday and just hung out. Lots of fun. When we got home some friends from ORU came into town to visit so we had several days of fun time with college friends as well. We celebrated Lilah's birthday again with the second generation "sapphire girls" since this is actually the week of her birthday. Now we're recouping, getting unpacked, and have a busy week ahead with doctor's appointments and preschool orientation. Here's the link for the pics.

http://picasaweb.google.com/tojuls0/DropBox?authkey=Gv1sRgCMmI2eC7z-yzfw&feat=directlink

fun, busy week

We are wrapping up a very fun and busy week. I left on Sunday for my parents' house with the kids so that we could meet up with our good friends, the Rosses. I told Seth and Lilah that we were going to go to Nina and Papa's house to see Brenna and Ava two days before we left. Seth was awake and waking up Lilah every morning at 6am until we saw them because he was so excited. It was like Christmas at our house! Erin and the girls came in and we all had so much fun. The kids bounced on the moon bounce, rode bikes, drove the power wheels Jeep, made sand castles and splashed in the lake, picked apples, played on the swingset, and played with toys. In the evening we let them each make their own individual pizza with their own toppings, which they thought was pretty fun. We sat on the deck and ate our pizza and watched the sun set over the lake. The we went down to the patio and roasted marshmallows for smores, popped popcorn on the fire and ate popscicles. Needless to say, the kids were a disaster. At one point we found little Lila hugging a pizza to her chest. =) We're glad we ate outside. Since it was clearly a bath night for all the kiddos, we let them play in the hot tub for a little while before bed. They thought the lights, bubbles, and waterfall were pretty exciting. Erin and I were on the edge of our seats the whole time because my Lilah seemed determine to drown herself. She could touch in the hot tub, but kept going under and just loved it. She'd be drowning under the surface with a smile on her face the whole time and then when we could pull her up she'd just be giggling. Lilah is wild and that's just all there is to it. I am terrified of the teenage years I think. We put the kids to bed and enjoyed some grown-up, mommy conversation for a while. lol... The next morning we all got up and had waffles and played some more before the Rosses had to head home. The kids had so much fun and Erin and I are already planning some more get togethers. Anybody want to meet us at Cedar Point sometime soon??? =) We spent a couple more days at mom and dad's because Josh was busy with a presentation. Now we are home and looking forward to a fun weekend as a family with Josh. I got my house put back together today and did several loads of laundry to get ready for our next big adventure next week. We are going to Rochester, NY to visit my brother's family and to see my newest niece, Emalyn Rose. We are very excited about the visit because we are all missing the Newman cousins a whole bunch. I can't wait to give all my nieces and nephew big hugs! And we're really looking forward to catching up with Ben and Sarah as well. I hear Lilah awake from her nap asking permission to come downstairs. Time to go!

Diva

Last night I went to a Children's Place outlet with my friend, Liz, and stocked up on clothes for the kids at super cheap prices. yay! I got a cute little dress with sparkly butterflies and kind of a chic, bohemian style for Lilah. So she found it in the bag this morning and insisted on wearing it right away. She loves it. I helped her put it on and we fixed her hair and she accessorized with jewelry. Then she walks into the living room and says, "Mom, I'm all dressed and pretty now. Will you turn on my music so I can dance?" (She is referring to the On Demand Beyonce music videos that she likes to dance and sing to). I obliged because I thought it was cute and watched my 2 year old in her sparkly dress "drop it like it's hot" for the next 5 minutes to Beyonce. I think I have a diva on my hands. ???

How do I explain that?

So the other day we were at a McDonald's playplace with my parents and the kids were playing. Seth was running around and making this horrid, loud, screeching, siren noise. I went over to him and told him to stop making that loud siren noise. He said, "Mom! It's not a siren!" So I said I don't care what it is, just stop because it was an irritating noise for everyone in the playplace. Seth responded loudly by saying in front of EVERYONE else in the playplace, "Mom! I can't stop! It's my mating call!" I don't even want to know what the grandfather with his 4 year old grandaughter thought of this announcement. In an additional note, one day earlier we were at a restaurant and Isaac was "talking" loudly and making lots of noise. Seth asked then if that was Isaac's mating call. I should have known at that point that it was on Seth's mind and would turn into an embarrassing moment sooner or later. As a backstory for this incident, my brother started working with Seth several months ago to make obnoxious noises and call it his mating call. He even trained Seth to hoot specifically at women when they walked into a room. In the past, it never manifasted itself beyond Dan and Seth hooting at Aunt Lauren. But now it's getting embarrassing. Thank you Uncle Dan! I will add this to the long list of awful and inappropriate things one of my brothers has taught my children.