Fall is coming quickly.....

We picked our first apples a couple of days ago! The children and I walked through our wild apple orchard and filled several bags with beautiful apples.Our property has hundred of wild apple trees.We have gotten rid of alot to make better pasture but we still have soooo many.Some of them produce thousands of dime sized apples lol and others produce wonderful big apples! I can't tell you how much pleasure these trees give me.It was one of the highlights of this property when we bought it.In the spring,the blossoms are unbelievable......Pinks,light purples and white everywhere and the smell is one of my very favorite parts of spring.Now,fall is almost here and to walk through the orchard/pasture is one of my very favorite parts of fall.Yellow,green,red and two tones apples everywhere.Just beautiful!!!!!! The apples did wonderful this year.....some years they don't do as good,but this year,we should have plenty of apple pie filling canned,apples dried,bags of diced apples in the freezer,apple butter and if I have the freezer space....apple cider! We have an amish friend who will press our apples for us and one year we had 35 gallons of cider in the freezer.Delicious!

I am really looking forward to fall and all that it brings.....when the apples are ready to pick, I know that summer is saying good bye, and fall is saying hello! I am so thankful for all of the seasons and all that they bring.They all have their benefits and disadvantages,just like lots of things in life.You can't build a snowman, or cuddle up in front of a warm fire with a cup of hot chocolate, in the dead of summer.You can't feel the pleasure of diving into beautiful,fresh,cool water or drinking a cold glass of lemonade on a hot day,in the middle of winter! There is pleasure in watching my garden die off because I know that I will have less work to do soon.When the trees are getting ready to lose their leaves, we get to see all of the beautiful colors of fall!There is also pleasure in walking around my yard in the spring and searching for signs of life.I LOVE to see all of the little plants coming up and looking forward to another beautiful garden season.I am so thankful that I live in an area with all 4 seasons!

Giving children to many choices.....

can be a very bad thing.

I have always been careful not to give my children to many choices.I never could explain "why" very well, but now I finally realize why it bothers me so much.

It is good way to make a child unthankful and picky.

It is such a very important thing to start  YOUNG.I very rarely let my toddlers choose what they are going to wear,what bowl they will eat out of,which fork they will use,which kind of cereal they want.....Yes,once in a while I do, but it is rare.They need to learn to just be thankful for what is given them.A 2yo,if given a choice of which bowl he wants to eat out, of will VERY QUICKLY start demanding to eat out of that bowl.I see it all the time.....Mom gives little guy some lunch and he says "I don't want that bowl." She smiles and says "Oh you don't want that bowl? Which one do you want?" and then she happily gets the bowl that he wants,smiling all the while at his personality.Children are catered to.They must have clothes with certain textures/colors,their hot dog cut in a certain way and their shoes tied just right.TODDLERS! What a disaster and as they get older they just get worse and worse.

Yes, it is extremely cute to see our precious babies starting to develop likes and dislikes.If I know that my toddler likes a certain bowl I will try to give it to him now and then.....I try to pick the clothes for him that I know he likes and I LOVE to buy my children surprises at the store that I know they love! It isn't that I think we should never give our children what we know that they love or that they shouldn't have likes/dislikes.Having a preference is FINE......I don't make my children eat things that I know they truly and consistently don't like.They are thankful children and so I am ok with that.If they had an unthankful spirit,the rules would be totally different.

I,(Angie) have lots of preferences.....likes and dislikes.If my husband calls me and asks me what I want from Burger King I will have a preference.If he just decides to stop and get me something from Burger King without calling ,I need to be thankful for whatever he gets!There are many things in life that we will have choices in and I am so thankful for that! There are also many things in life that we will NOT have a choice in.A person who has learned to be content with whatever he has ,will be a happy no matter what the circumstance.An unthankful person is never happy.I want to raise daughters that will be happy and thankful with whatever their husbands provide.I want to raise sons who will sit down at a meal their wife has prepared and be thankful for it instead of complaining about all the little things that are not perfect.

You should be able to choose your 3yo's clothes for the day,serve him breakfast in whatever bowl you decide and order his food at McDonalds without him complaining.He should be saying "Thank you Mamma!" for all of those things rather than "I wanted McNuggets not a Big Mac!".

I am such a believer in this that I had to share it with all of my friends who I know have the same heart that I do.We want to raise up godly children.It is what we want more than anything else in this world!

Hebrews 13:5 Let your conversation be without covetousness;and be content with such things as ye have:for he hath said,I will never leave thee,nor forsake thee.

I would love for anyone with any hints on training up THANKFUL children to leave a comment and share them with me!

Pears! Pear Pandowdy......

I was able to get 2 bushels of pears this year! I have frozen a bunch,will dry a bunch and also tried this new recipe which we LOVED! We had it for breakfast last weekend served with fresh cream that was flavored with maple syrup and vanilla.DELICIOUS!!!!!!!!!

Pear pandowdy......


12 pears peeled and sliced
3/4 cup sweetener of choice (we used sucanat)
1/2 cup butter
2 TB lemon juice
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg

TOPPING

3 cups flour
3/4 cup sweetener
1 TB baking powder
1 tsp salt
3/4 cup butter
3/4 cup water

In saucepan,combine first 6 ingredients.Cook and stir over medium heat until for 5 minutes or until pear slices are tender.Pour into 9x13 baking pan or other large oven proof dish.In a bowl,combine flour,sweetener,b powder and salt.Cut in butter then stir in water.Sprinkle over pear mixture.Sprinkle with sugar if you want to make it extra pretty :). Bake at 375 for aprox 1/2 hour....Maybe longer :) Check before removing from oven to make sure center is done.....Serve with sweetened cream or ice cream for extra goodness! :)

Victory!

Today was sewing day.Grandma comes down and us girls (my dd's,Grandma and I) sit down and crochet/knit/cross stitch and have a nice peaceful time.

lol

The way it usually goes is that Grandma and girls crochet while I *attempt* to crochet and at the same time, nurse a baby,tell little boys that if they are going to sit with me that they have to be still,tell boys to quit flipping around the living room,tell boys that I don't want to hear gun shot imitations right now,tell boys to quit wrestling,tell boys to sit in one spot and stay there,tell boys to be SILENT AND FOLD YOUR HANDS!

lol JK.....but is sure is tempting sometimes! :) Actually I do occasionally tell them to be silent and fold their hands when they really need to calm down but it doesn't go like described above lol.

So today Mamma is smart and has boys sitting on a blanket to STAY there with Tuesday's activity pack.They had toy educational computers,new books,a few special toys and PLAYDOUGH. (what was I thinking?).So,apparently I should have them  sit on a dishtowel instead of a blanket because they can do quite a bit of running/wrestling/tag playing etc. on a blanket and they did a real good job at getting playdough everywhere....Like pea size pieces and smaller.:)

So I am attempting to work on a quilt square while all of this is going on and my irritation and frustration starts building up....You know ,that attitude that equals saying ..."Can't I ever have any peace and quiet for one moment?" I am not actually THINKING those words, but it's that ugly attitude. I feel the sigh start coming on....You know "Poor me,I have all of these noisy,hyper,loud,energetic,LOUD boys that keep interupting me."

Then out of the blue ,(Thank you Lord), it hit me that there is no reason to get irritated.This can be taken care of without acting like this.So we got everything cleaned up and I got the boys reading books and eventually my 3yo fell asleep and all went well.

It didn't hit me till tonight while sitting in the living room having coffee with my dh that:

"Hey,the outcome was the same."

I told him that the outcome was the same.We got through the ordeal without bad attitudes from Mamma and the outcome was the same! No one suffered.My bad attitude would have benefited NOTHING.My dh corrected me though and told me that no,the outcome was totally different.Meaning,so much BETTER.SO much was accomplished by keeping a good attitude and not getting angry.

Everyone gained and Mamma didn't have to go througha guilt trip for being irritated with her precious children.

Wow! Thank you Lord!

Fruit syrup OR Apple/cinnamon syrup

This recipe was requested by a dear MOMYS friend and so I am posting it for her BUT this isn't really a recipe! :) It is just a "throw in a little of this and a little of that" kind of recipe.:)

Making fruit syrup is EASY and not necessarily healthy :).I comfort myself with the fact that it is MUCH healthier than Mrs.Butterworths.:)

Start with ANY kind of fruit juice.In this recipe we are going to make APPLE/CINNAMON syrup.

SO juice your apples.If you do not have a juicer this is a pain.You have to steam your apples until soft and then dump everything into a pillow case and let drain.....After it cooks you can squeeze and squeeze.This is how I did it before I got my juicers.Now I am stepping up in the world and have a STEAM juicer AND a fresh fruit juicer! :) I rarely use them but when I *DO* need them they sure make life easier.

SO lets say you end up with 1 gallon of juice (and yes,you can just buy some apple juice if you want to).

In a sauce pan put your juice and then................time to add a ton of sugar :) Now you can add any kind of sugar you want....Sucanat,white sugar,brown sugar,maple syrup,corn syrup,Rapadura.......anything you like.

You can go with a thicker syrup which would be 1 part juice to 1 part sugar or you can go with a thinner syrup of 3 parts juice and 1 part sugar or anywhere in between.You will HAVE to have alot of sugar to get that syrup texture instead of juice.You don't really want to pour apple juice on your pancakes.So remember,the sugar is not for the sweetness but the texture! :)

SO just get everything boiling and skim off any foam.If you want to, you can add spices.For apple syrup you can add cinnamon,cloves and nutmeg. For a recipe that calls for 1 gallon juice I would probably add about a TB each of cinnamon and nutmeg and 1/2-1 tsp of cloves.Taste it though and add whatever you think.Boil really good for about 10 minutes then bottle and can :) I always hot water bath mine for 10 minutes.A cinnamon stick in each pint of syrup is soooooooooo pretty! You won't want to put your jars away! :) I wish I had a picture to post but I didn't make any apple syrup this year yet!

What happens when the cows get fed around here.

rm

I went out to the barn today to find this! We just recently decided to let the chickens free range again as there isn't much in the garden they can hurt.Well ,it didn't take them long to find that the cows still get grain.:) Cows,chickens,ducks and turkeys at dinner together :).I just love these pictures! Aren't Jersey cows teh most beautiful in the world? :)

Do you make others feel like a burden?

Philippians 2:3-5

"Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory;but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.

Look not every man on his own things,but every man also on the things of others.

Let this mind be in you,which was also in Christ Jesus:"

I think these verses are HUGE for Christians and just society period.This *is* Christianity, and even though only Christians *really* understand the depth of it, think how society would be if *everyone* considered themselves first.That *is* what is happening in the world but thankfully,at this point,there are still many,many,many loving,caring,good hearted NON christians.They are getting fewer and fewer though.Especially in the younger generations!

The attitude taught in the above verses is one that my dh and I are really,really,passionate about instilling into our children.Think of all the areas it applies to.If you are considering *others* above yourself you will :

Show up to work on time and do a good job.
Be thankful for whatever food you are served.
Be thankful PERIOD.
Forgive.
Speak kindly.
Be honest.
Not be judgmental.

The list goes on and on.......As mothers,we have so many things we want to instill in our children.If we can instill the attitude of dying to self we have instilled one of the most important things.This will effect every part of their adult lives from their career to marriage.A selfish person is a terrible thing.

The area of selfLESSness that I wanted to talk about in this post is making others feel like a burden.Do you? It is so easy.I have always been big on doing favors for others without letting them know how they are inconveniencing me.(If they are)If I ask for help and I can sense that the person isn't *truly* happy to help,but is complaining inwardly,I would rather not have the help.No one wants to feel like a burden.It is a miserable feeling! When my dh asks me "Can you do me a favor?" I always say "Sure!". I feel like if I say "What?" first that I am saying "Well,let me know what it is first and I will decide if I feel like doing it." I like to let him know that I am willing and happy to help him with *whatever* he needs help with.It is not conditional.I know he will not ask anything unreasonable of me and if for some reason ,what he asks is impossible for me to do because of circumstance, I can tell him that and he will understand.He knew that I had a willing heart though.Now we may not be able to reply with a "Sure!" to just anybody's request of a favor because some people *are* unreasonable and there are also some things that we just don't have the time to do.I think we can always reply with a happy "I would surely love to help you if it is possible for me.....What do you need?"If we *do* decide to help someone,it should be done without sighs and complaining.It should be done joyfully.Not that you have to necessarily love what they are asking you to do,but love that you have the opportunity to help.Also remember that Christians should be doing everything "as unto CHRIST".

Another thing I have been thinking about recently.......The same thing but a step further.When someone comes to your house or calls to ask you a favor and you say "Sure!" do you then hang up the phone/shut the door and let out a big sigh in front of your children and begin to complain about it? I am really feeling convicted about that lately and feeling like it is hypocrisy.It does not seem right for my children to see me smile happily at my neighbor and tell him "Sure we can help!" and then as soon as they are out of sight they see my smile vanish and the complaints start.Not only that but how would you feel if the tables were turned?YOU needed help and your neighbor happily agreed.How would you feel if you knew that your happy,willing to help neighbor was griping and complaining behind your back? We are to treat others the way WE would like to be treated.

Do our husbands feel that we are always happy to serve them?Do they feel they could ask a favor and that we are always glad to help if possible?
Do our children feel that they are a joy to us?Do we sigh and complain about our jobs and make them feel like they are burdening us?

I am really going to be concentrating on this and making sure that I am *truly* Christlike in this area.I have much work to do.*Especially* with my children.I need to do my job with joy and thankfulness.If Christ were here (and HE IS!) I wouldn't be giving impatient sighs because I have to correct a child yet *again*.I desired children so much and he has granted me the desires of my heart! I should be THANKFUL that I have them to train! Thankful that I have them to correct! A burden is something that we would like to be FREE of! Lord please keep me from portraying that attitude that my children are a burden!