Apples, Apples, Everywhere!

A couple months ago when we visited my parents, we hit during part of the apple picking season. It's been many years since I picked apples, so it was fun to climb up and load the baskets. It was quite windy that day, so at times it got a little scary! This is to prove to Dan that I climbed up the ladder (I'm on the far ladder, my sister is on the near one) and picked apples myself! Ask him why I don't have any pictures of him climbing up to pick apples! Yep, that is Joseph climbing up the ladder. Grandpa was just about to get him. So we came back with 2 large boxes full of apples and we just recently ate the last ones. I thought I would share what I did with them. A lot of them just gotten eaten raw. The kids loved to just take an apple out of the box and start chomping. And sometimes I would find a few in the box with a Joseph bite out of them! I made apple salad, apple cake, applesauce, and apple butter, none of which I got pictures of, but they were tasty. Some of the applesauce and apple butter got stored away in the freezer for later use.

Here is the start of fried apples:

Of course, we had to have apple pie:

And finally, apple muffins:

Here is the recipe for the apple butter from allrecipes. I had never made any before but the crockpot made it easy once I got the apples prepared (although I had to laugh because the recipes says it only takes 20 min. to peel, core, and chop 5 and 1/2 pounds of apples!). So this is a good recipe for a day when you'll be home all day because you have stir every so often. It sure does make the house smell good!

All-Day Apple Butter

INGREDIENTS
5 1/2 pounds apples - peeled, cored and finely chopped
4 cups sugar (I only used 2 cups as I had sweeter apples)
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONS
Place apples in a slow cooker. Combine sugar, cinnamon, cloves and salt; pour over apples and mix well. Cover and cook on high for 1 hour. Reduce heat to low; cover and cook for 9-11 hours or until thickened and dark brown, stirring occasionally (stir more frequently as it thickens to prevent sticking). Uncover and cook on low 1 hour longer. If desired, stir with a wire whisk until smooth. Spoon into freezer containers, leaving 1/2-in. headspace. Cover and refrigerate or freeze.

Big Family Humor

If you have a big family and have ever heard a question from a stranger like, "Are they all yours?" then go watch this video. A family with 7 kids made up a song to the tune of "The Twelve Days of Christmas" and it is pretty cute. We only have 4 kids and I've heard at least half of these!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xaD8xat6VDw&NR=1

The Tree! The Tree!

We had all planned to go to the Christmas tree farm on Saturday, but with the attack of the stomach flu, Mommy stayed home with the sickies and Daddy took the twins to get our tree. Here they are in front of the tree they picked out: You know Dasher and Dancer, but do you know Anne and Dominic? The twins proudly ride with our tree back to the car: Dominic loved riding behind this cool tractor:

Pause for a picture in front of the Nativity Scene:

Hot chocolate and popcorn in front of the fire. What more could you ask for?

Back home, everyone excitedly watches as Daddy brings the tree into the house:

"Well, Joseph, how does that look?"

Dominic and Anne run over to smell the tree. Mmmm!

The three nonpuking(at the moment) kids pose in front of the tree:

It hasn't been all doom and gloom over the last 6 days!

I Can See The Light

a.k.a. On the Puke Patrol
a.k.a. I Love My Washing Machine


Okay, so Friday night we went to a Christmas party hosted by friends of ours and about an hour into it, after all the kids had been playing together, Catherine puked (on their carpet, yikes!). It was a bit of a fast onset. So far I haven't heard of anyone else who was at the party getting sick, but maybe they are trying to be nice and not telling me. So we were up a lot that night and then on Saturday morning, Joseph got sick. Poor little guy, he kept wanting to eat, with disastrous results if we let him. Catherine laid around until Sunday afternoon, and then was mostly better. Just in time for Dominic to get sick Monday morning. And then Mommy on Monday evening. Boy it doesn't take long for the stomach flu to just wipe you out! Poor little Anne was the last kid to succumb, last night (in her bed, of course). Through it all Joseph has been sick off and on. Now we are waiting to see if Daddy gets it. So as of this afternoon, Catherine and Dominic are better, Anne seems to be getting better, as does Joseph. I feel much better, too, and got out of the house for a little while to get the mail today (It seemed so fresh and clean outside!). So it seems the rampage of stomach flu has nearly run its course in the Brungardt house. Anyone want to come visit?

The First Fire in Our New House

Nothing like sitting in front of a crackling fire on a cold day. What's that you say? What is Joseph wearing? Why, the latest in shoe styles to go with camouflage overalls!

He can actually walk in those things. He loves to wear anyone's shoes. One day, he took off his pajamas, and thus clad in only a diaper, put on his ballcap, backwards, and then put on Daddy's shoes and walked around the room. It was too funny! Alas, I was not quick enough to take a picture.

Cutting With Scissors 101

By Dominic Brungardt, age 3

I've Been Saving The Environment. Who Knew?

Okay, everyone. I have been saving the environment and I didn't even know it!

According to Dr. Julia Edwards of the IMRG Online Green Awards 2008 online shopping can have 27 times less of a negative impact on the environment.
“The carbon emission of each item bought online and delivered to the customer is 132 grams of CO2. A staggering 27 items need to be bought on a dedicated car journey to the shops to achieve the same level of efficiency.”

Yeah, that's right. I've done almost all of my Christmas shopping online this year. Let's look at the facts. I have 4 small children and I can't take them Christmas shopping with me anymore. "What's that, Mommy?" "Oh, nothing." Nope, doesn't work anymore. Next option: I shop at night after they go to bed. Nah, we're too far out to make that very effective. Third choice: I shop on the weekends while Dan stays home with the kids. This doesn't work very well either as weekends are our family time and besides, who likes fighting all those crowds?

Now, imagine this scenario. I'm sitting at home in front of the computer, the kids are napping, I've got easy access to a can of pop, a snack, and the bathroom. I'm leisurely perusing this website and that, and with a few clicks, I've ordered my Christmas gifts and they'll be delivered to my front door. The best part is, this time of year, you can get free shipping on almost anything and sometimes you can combine that with a code for % off. And sometimes no tax, either!

Now, if you have been procrastinating on your Christmas shopping and you want to get in on this online action, don't fret! You still have a golden opportunity to score online shopping with free shipping from various stores on December 18 with guaranteed delivery before Christmas. There is a website called Free Shipping Day with the details and a list of participating stores.

Our First Snow (That Stuck!) at Our New House

On Monday we had temperatures up to 66 degrees and then on Tuesday we had this:Everyone knows you have to eat the snow to really know what it's like!

Okay, all moms with little ones know the scene. You spend many lllloooonnnggg minutes searching out all of the snowpants, boots, mittens, coats, hats, and then just as many minutes wrestling the kids into all of the aforementioned items. (At least this time, I remembered to have them all use the bathroom before this process!) Then finally, everyone is ready to go out and you send them out the door. By the time I got my winter things on and got outside, I was greeted with this:

Poor little guy, I think he enjoyed the snow for about 5 minutes. Until his little mittens came off and his hands got really cold. So Mommy carried him around for a little while and we watched Catherine gleefully making snow angels:

Then Anne tried and she did it!

The three older kids had a lot of fun in the snow. Good thing, because it is now mostly gone.

Easy Focaccia Bread

I've made this bread a couple times now and it truly is easy. You can have fresh, hot bread ready for dipping into olive oil and cracked pepper or for dipping into soup in less than an hour!

Easy Focaccia Bread

INGREDIENTS:
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon table salt
1 teaspoon white sugar
1 tablespoon active dry yeast (I used one packet and it worked fine)
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried basil
cracked black pepper
kosher salt
1 cup + 2 tablespoons water
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS:
Making by hand:1. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, salt, sugar, yeast, garlic powder, oregano, thyme, basil and a pinch of black pepper. Mix in 1 tablespoon of olive oil and water.2. When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead until smooth and elastic. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl, and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth, and let rise in a warm place for 20 minutes.

Making in bread maker:1. Pour water and 1 tablespoon of olive oil into bread maker pan. Add salt, sugar, garlic powder, oregano, thyme, basil and a pinch of black pepper. Make a well in the center and pour 1 tablespoon active dry yeast or bread maker yeast into it.2. Turn on the dough only cycle on your bread maker. Check the dough on the first kneading cycle to see if you need to add more water because it’s too dry or add more flour because it’s too sticky. Add sparingly until the dough is the right consistency.

For both methods:3. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Punch dough down; place on greased baking sheet. Pat into a 1/2 inch thick rectangle. Make dimples on the top by pushing your fingers down into the dough. Brush top with olive oil. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese, cracked black pepper, and a good pinch of Kosher salt.4. Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes, or until golden brown. Serve warm with a side of high quality olive oil and cracked black pepper for dipping.

I found this recipe going from one blog to another and ending up here:
http://mywoodenspoon.com/2008/11/14/easy-focaccia-bread/

Does This Mean Anything?

The other day at breakfast the kids and I had this conversation:

Mommy: "Catherine, what is your favorite color?"

Catherine: "Blue!"

Mommy: "Anne, what is your favorite color?"

Anne: "Red!"

Mommy: "Dominic, what is your favorite color?"

Dominic: "Dark Black!"

(okaaaaayyy, where did that come from?)

What Do You Do With A Giant Gift Bag?

Why crawl in it of course! Oh, this is fun, Mom.

They actually all took turns crawling into the big bag:

And this was the result:

Oh, the fun has to end sometime. I guess we won't be reusing that gift bag! My grandma would roll over in her grave if she knew.

More Pictures From Thanksgiving

Any one for a little fried turkey? Dan's mom and brother came Thanksgiving morning, as well as my brother, the priest. My sister and her husband welcomed a new baby boy, Matthew George, into their family the day before Thanksgiving (congrats!), so my parents cancelled their Thanksgiving dinner and went to Dallas. So we got to have my brother come to our house.

After the big feast and naps all around, it was time for a ride in the pull-behind and a walk around the place. I won't tell you whether Uncle Joe and Fr. Brian got a ride, too. It is rated up to 1000 pounds. :) This was my brother's first time to see our place, so he got the full tour.

Back inside, we prepared for a blessing of our house:

Fr. Brian blessed our house (with an extra sprinkling of holy water on the kids, heh, heh) while we all walked along.

Blessing the basement:

It Was a Close Call

We finally decided to get a new dining table. The old one that Dan got in his bachelor days was getting small (3ft by 5ft) and it seemed like there was never enough room. One more kid and we'd really outgrow it (not that I'm announcing anything, grandmas!).

Well, it was supposed to be delivered on Nov. 18th and then they called to say it was going to be delayed a week. For the next week we were on pins and needles, hoping it would come in time for Thanksgiving. So last Tues. (2 days before Thanksgiving), the kids got to experience the novelty of eating breakfast and lunch on the floor. Hooray, it's a picnic!

The table was supposed to come at 1:00. Well, they kept calling and saying they were running behind schedule and I was beginning to think it wasn't going to get here. Finally, at 4:00pm, our new table arrived!

Our first meal on our new table:

And here is the table stretched out to its full length for Thanksgiving dinner. I think it groaned a little under all that food!

Pictures From Catherine's Birthday

Here is Catherine's Princess Castle birthday cake. I actually checked the cake pan out at the library. Isn't that neat? They have a whole rack full of cake pans that people have donated. The birthday girl loves her crazy candles:

Now the birthday girl gets a little crazy herself:

On Thanksgiving evening, Dan's brother (Catherine's godfather) and his family stopped by and brought Catherine a big package. What could be inside?

Oh, it must be something girlie, look at all the little girls gathered around!

Wow, Cinderella riding in a carriage drawn by a white horse! It plays music and the part Cinderella sits in spins around.

Later, Catherine opened her presents from us and she was very excited to get a yo-yo of her very own.

Catherine sure had a special birthday, starting on Wed. getting a package from her godmother and cards in the mail to her actual birthday on Thanksgiving, to another birthday party on Sat. with a cousin who is exactly one year older than Catherine, to my parents stopping by on Sunday on their way back from Dallas. What fun and excitement!