The Apple Orchard

Doing the maze all by herself

I think I mentioned that we went to the apple orchard, but I never actually blogged about the whole trip.     October is always so busy, that I like to get the fall season started with an apple orchard trip in September.  This is, of course, not the best time for apples, as a lot of them aren't ready until October or November, but it's warm enough and there are enough varieties to still make it a fun day.  We went to Arrowhead Orchard again this year.  We went last year and it was during their 50th Anniversary celebration.  Miss Olivia was wearing her apple hat and got her picture in the paper.  This year we weren't celebrities, but we had more fun (no rain this year!)  I like Arrowhead for a few reasons, first, it's much closer than Beckwith's Orchard, which we went to for a few years.  Second, it's become much more "touristy" and has a corn maze, train ride, hay bale mountain and play area as well as a hay ride thorough the apple orchard to see the orchard, bee hives and stops at the pumpkin patch where the kids can pick a pumpkin.  I also like them because they supply Plain Local Schools (our school district) with apples for their lunch and breakfast programs.  It's cool to see exactly where you food comes from before it ends up on your tray--beside other items that are more processed.  I like supporting a farm that supports local produce in my kids' school.

Ellie and Vince on the train ride (it went through the corn maze)

Caden won't admit it, but he had fun.  Ellie and Vince WILL admit it, they had fun.  And even Olivia had a good time.  She did the kiddie hay bale maze all by herself!  I think the only one that didn't have fun was poor Nana--we made her pay for everything!  (Despite that, Nana had fun.  She ended up with cider--how can THAT not be fun?!?!)

Olivia, Caden and I on the hayride--beautiful blue September sky

I love going to the apple orchard.  It's such a great FALL activity.  I like being outside with the kids, unplugged from all devices, and watching them play.  

The boys.

Being Creative

Yesterday I said I was going to blog about Being Creative--another item on my Celebrating Autumn list.  I know that was I did doesn't actually count as creativity- some would argue it's the opposite- but it's crafty and doing a craft was on the list.  Making something (like my applesauce from Friday) was also on the list so I figure I covered this one on a few levels.  As I mentioned before, I went to Target and got a few activities to do with the kids.  I bought each big kid a foam craft to do and a packet of luminaries.  When they got home from school I showed them what I got and Ellie was on it faster than you can say Boo (or Whoo or Eek, depending on which craft you want to talk about.)  I had to force Caden to do his, but I think he kind of had fun.  Vince liked his too.  Ellie was by far the most enthusiastic, but that was to be expected.  She did the luminaries almost totally alone, Vince may have been allowed to do one.  They were all really easy kits, just

Turning My Home Into A Haven

I'm having so much fun doing all the items that I found on the "How To Celebrate the Autumn Equinox" page that I found!  Of the 11 items, I've done 7 already.  This weekend I completed #9 Turn Your Home Into A Haven.  When I first read this one, I immediately thought of two areas of my house in which this could apply.  First, my downstairs bathroom.  We have done nothing with it since we moved in.  We rarely use it, but now we're starting to send the boys downstairs to shower at night.  So, I thought it might be fun to decorate it.  I don't want to do much, just a few things on the walls, a new bath mat and some fresh towels.  The other option was to clean the unfinished side of our basement.  That's where I do laundry and where we store all of our decorations, kitchen appliances that we don't use regularly (the griddle) and all kinds of other stuff that never found a home anywhere else.  It was cleaned out the summer we lost Meg and got the laundry chute, but that was before Olivia was born.  It was overdue. It was beyond messy.  Let's just say you couldn't walk from one end to the other in a straight line.  Of the two I was all set to do the bathroom.  That one was fun.  I got to go shopping and get some cute things and be a little creative with making the boring bathroom into a boys bathroom.  Then we looked at a house.

Recipe Friday: Applesauce

Last weekend we went to the apple orchard and I got TONS of apples.  I'm finally getting around to making applesauce (and apple pie is soon to come).  I thought it would be a great recipe to share because it's so easy, and it's a great fall activity.  So here are the basics:

Applesauce

Ingredients:

Apples 

Apple Cider

Directions:

Peel, core and slice the apples.  This is a cinch if you have an apple peeler/corer/slicer like this one.  I

Getting Crafty

One of the things on my "Celebrate Fall To Do List" is to craft fall.  I got an email from The Honest Company and they had a link to their Pinterest page.  SUCH CUTE ideas!  Check it out!  I think I'm going to pick one to do on Halloween.  I always feel like Halloween is a bust.  Canton does trick or treat the Sunday afternoon before Halloween (Lame, Canton.  Really Lame.)  So the actual day is really pretty blah.  Usually the kids have school and it's just another

The PSA Post

I intended to do this post Monday, but time got away from me--imagine that!  It's just a quick Public Service Announcement on two things.  One green and one not quite so green, but still a little relevant.  First, I got an email from AEP about replacing your "energy-hog" refrigerator  or freezer.  There're offering a $60 bonus to replace with a more energy efficient one.  Here's the actual email:

CASH IN ON A SPECIAL $60 OFFER DURING ENERGY AWARENESS MONTH

October is an ideal time to learn about saving energy during the nation's Energy Awareness Month. But this year, AEP Ohio is offering something extra when you recycle your old refrigerator or freezer - a special $60 incentive.

Starting October 1st and lasting through December 24th, AEP Ohio has raised the incentive from the normal $50 to $60 for customers who sign up to have their outdated, energy-wasting refrigerators or freezers picked up and hauled to a recycling plant.

If the temporary increase isn't enough, recycling refrigerators and freezers alone creates many benefits such as saving $150 a year on electrical costs, and keeping CO2 from the environment. 

Signing up is just a click away!

The second PSA isn't really for the public.  It's for Penelope.  I tweeted about her yesterday, but I want to put her on here as well because I really want

It's October First!

It's finally here!  I've been thinking about it all day, and I think October first is my favorite day of the year.  It's better than a birthday, better than Christmas or Easter, better than the first day of summer.  It's all about beginnings, not like Christmas, which I always feel is kind of a let-down because there's so much prep and anticipation that when it's here, it always just feels like it's slipping away.  Easter's a bust because the best part is over minutes after we wake up.  But October first means fall, decorations, and the beginning of Halloween.  (October first is WAY better than Halloween.  Halloween is just usually the day I can't wait to be over so I can take the decorations down because I'm sick of them after a month.)  So I'm all decorated, (well, mostly.  I ran out of tape so I still have a few little things to put up) and the kids are all excited.  Hazel visited us this morning (The older kids INSIST it's Mom, but she continues to try to deny it.)

Everyone in their October First Outfits. Caden says he doesn't smile that much.

Olivia's October First Outfit

The Classy Corner.  My sister made me the Halloween sign this year.  Thanks  Jen!