First Day of Fall

Happy 1st day of Fall!  To celebrate this wonderful (in my opinion) season, we made an apple pie this morning using apples we picked on Thursday at Royal Oaks.

**kids are all still in their jammies....love mornings like this!**

We also finished up an apple craft that we started on Thursday:

1. The kids painted 2 large apples that I cut out of construction paper (Meredith chose to make a green apple and Caleb chose red). 
2. After they dried completely, I punched holes around the edges and the kids laced yarn through the holes to keep both sides together.
3. Just before lacing up the entire apple, they stuffed some tissue paper inside their apple to make it "puffy".
4. They finished lacing and we tied the yarn to close it.
5. We stapled a stem and leaves, and looped a yarn through the top so we could hang them up (or wear them as necklaces, which Meredith suggested).

Happy Autumn to you!  

4th of July Fun

The kids helped me make some treats to share with their cousins at Grandma's and Grandpa's tomorrow.

First up, Rice Krispy Treat wands (idea inspired by here)...

 Next, slice and bake sugar cookies with red and blue sprinkles...

 Finally, Do-A-Dot flags...this was really easy, and the kids love using these "paints"...go here for the free flag download!

Family Baking Night

We couldn't bring home all those freshly picked apples and not bake anything....so tonight, the whole family (minus Shane, who had already gone to bed) worked together to make apple pie!

The kids love to help in the kitchen....they are always eager to pour, stir, scoop, roll, pat, etc.  Tonight's assignment called for all of that, and more.  They did indeed pour and stir and scoop and roll and pat.  They also played with flour and made a big mess.  Good times had by all. =)

Mommy and her little helpers...

Rolling out the dough for the crust...

Out of the oven...

So fun (and yummy!)... 
What a wonderful way to end a wonderful weekend with my wonderful family.

Lollipop Cookies

The kids (and I) had a lot of fun making these "Lollipop Cookies" today. I actually made the cookie dough last night, so it was ready to be rolled and twirled and baked today. We got this idea from the Entrusted With a Child's Heart blog (she calls them "Playdoh Lollipops", we have been calling them "Lollipop Cookies"). Whatever you call them, I definitely recommend making them with your kiddos! Click here for the recipe/directions.

Meredith tried to bounce the balls of dough. =)


Smooshing the colors together...

Rolling out the dough...

Meredith's idea of rolling the dough was to literally roll it across the table. She had a great time with this part!

The nice thing about sugar cookie dough is that when it breaks, you can just squish it back together and start over!


Very focused...the "twirling" was Caleb's favorite part...


This is what Meredith did when I told her to twirl it. Not bad. =)

Time to plug the sticks in!


Ready to go into the oven!


Watching them bake. Thrilling.


Yummy!

"Empty Tomb" Rolls

Caleb and I made these "Empty Tomb" Rolls together last year for the first time, after we received the recipe from a friend....it was a great (and yummy) way to illustrate the empty tomb of Christ. We made them again today (and included Meredith), so I guess you could say it has become a tradition! (Thanks to my friend Lisa and her mom for the great recipe!)

Working hard to dip the marshmallows into melted butter and a yummy sugar-cinnamon mixture....



Before baking:
Inside each "roll" is one of the large marshmallows that we previously coated.


After baking:


When you bite into the roll, you realize that the marshmallow is gone. The roll is empty!

This was a great activity to supplement the learning that was already going on around here about Easter. And, it made for a yummy afternoon snack as well. =)

And, just for an extra dose of sweetness...

Rainbow Tye-Dyed Cupcakes

So, this was what our cupcakes were supposed to look like.


(photo found online, when I googled photo of rainbow cupcake)

Aren't they pretty?
And perfect?
And don't they look just like the rainbows they are supposed to be?

Ahhh, I like things that are pretty.
And perfect.
And look like what they are supposed to be.

But, I suppose that cupcakes (and life) don't always turn out so perfect.

Alas, this is what our rainbow tye-dyed cupcakes turned out like!
(This is a photo of the inside of the cupcake...the outside had no color definition at all!)


Not sure what "went wrong". Poor Blue and Purple...they are virtually nowhere to be found.

Although, the most interesting thing to me is that we started with the purple batter on the bottom and red was on the top...for some reason, the colors flipped themselves around during the baking process.

My oven is magic.

Oh well, the kiddos had fun mixing the colors and watching them turn into cupcakes.

They are always entranced with the mixer. It's apparently better entertainment than TV.


Working on those fine motor skills by squeezing out the color drops.


Little Miss did a great job of putting the cupcake wrappers in the pan.

And taking them out.

And putting them back in again.


The best part was for sure mixing the colors. Caleb loved to see the batter transform as he stirred. We also got to witness how certain colors blend to create other colors (red+blue=purple; red+yellow=orange).


Look at how pretty the colors are!


Voila.

Rainbow tie-dyed cupcakes.