Bluebonnets 2011: Joanna

Mom and I took the children for Bluebonnet pictures at our usual ditch location.  They were very gorgeous this year (since we didn’t wait for them to get all dead and crunchy).
We got the most gorgeous pictures of Joanna this year.
These first three my mom took with her camera from a distance.  I cropped them, and they’re still so clear, although you may be able to tell a little in the quality.

I mean, just LOOK at her!!

Such a beauty!  Yup, some of these may even make it to ink and paper for the wall!

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It is harder to take two kids to the bluebonnets than one.  It is harder still to take three.
Sometimes people get bored.

Joanna was really fun to take pictures of.  She walked around, wasn’t scared, smiled on cue (especially with the promise of ice cream to come.)

A silly Joanna face:

Stay tuned for a post of Natalie, and then James, and then one of any combos we managed to get.  Maybe it will be later tonight, but more likely tomorrow.  If you get a hankerin’, just imagine the faces of my other two kids in the backgrounds above.  :)

My Girls

We stopped by Mom’s house on the way home from school today to take pictures in front of the blooming Azaleas.  James was at home with Matt.  I didn’t really leave him out.  Soon he will be sitting on his own, and it will be more fun to take his picture in front of things other than the ground.  He sure is cute, but he’s awfully floppy!

Natalie is so hilarious.  I just love all the talking she is doing lately.  I know I understand her better than anyone, and I find myself translating for people.  She asks questions and is so interested in things.

She also just so cuddly.  This morning I felt a person crawl into bed and snuggle up next to me.  I thought it was Joanna; it felt like a big person to me, although I should have realized as we both lay there in silence that is wasn’t her.  Joanna talks to me… a lot.  Natalie was perfectly happy just to snuggle, and it turns out she was there for AN HOUR!  I barely even noticed.

I don’t see her real grin in pictures much – this isn’t it, but I still love that squished up face.

She loves to play with Joanna and do everything she does.  She repeats what she hears her sister say and do.

Fortunately Joanna’s a pretty awesome big sister, and does not often lead her sister down rotten paths.

I love that happy face on my Joanna.

 

She is usually a pretty happy (though serious) little girl.  Yesterday she was exhausted (just a wicked combo of things), and she was rotten and cantankerous.  I don’t love those days, but I’m sure thankful that they pass, and they don’t come around too often.  When she’s had her sleep and is feeling good, she is the most joyful, sweet, helpful, reasonable little sweetheart!

I found myself going through a bin of 0-3 month baby girl clothes this afternoon (just in an effort to organize more efficiently), and I took a little stroll down memory lane.  It’s amazing all the thoughts, memories, and feelings attached to those little outfits.

I am one lucky Momma to have these two precious girls to love on, wouldn’t you say?

Oh, they are my joy! (or about two thirds of it, anyway)

We may have a few lessons in gardening to tackle this spring…

I’ll never tire of taking pictures of my children.  I just love how a camera can capture just about every expression and nuance in those little faces.

Pictures from Kim

At our little play day last week, Kim took some pictures of the kiddos out in the backyard.

I love this one of Natalie – you may notice it’s in the updated header.  Thank you, Amy, for replacing those pictures for me!

I’m loving Miss Joanna’s smiles lately (unless she’s giving me a fake one).  Isn’t she the cutest!

All three of my cuties!!

I love this one, even though Natalie’s not looking at the camera.

The biggest sibs:

This is one of my favorites:  Joanna has her huge fake cheese smile on, Caleb looks like he’s got Abby in a headlock, though she’s smiling, and Callie is just smiling so sweetly at the camera.  LOVE IT!!

These are all the big siblings.  :)  I LOVE Abby’s face here – so pretty!

And Kim actually managed to get a couple of the whole group!  Josie was not having it – her bottom lip was quivering, and she was about to melt down.  But we were smiling and dancing around, and her two big sisters were taking care of her.  I love Joanna’s little hand under her chin.  :)

We had fun posing the kids.  They humored us for a while before deciding they were done.  :)

Kim posted a few more that she took of our crew on her blog here.

Homemade, home canned Applesauce!

I started with some organic Braeburn apples… nine to be exact (don’t count; they aren’t all there).

For the first batch, I cored, sliced, and peeled them.

Then I threw ‘em in my big pot.

I composted the cores and any bruised parts, but we hung on to the peels. Matt and I thought they were yummy! He’s been eating them in salads the last couple of days.

I cooked the apples on the stove with a little water, until they were very soft. Then I used my blender to puree them.

There are no pictures of me canning because I quickly discovered it was not only a two-handed job, but a two-person job as well! I had to call Matt in from outside, have him plop the kids down in front of Cinderella, and come help me! Even though I started this whole process during nap time, it lasted much longer than the naps did. :)

Basically I added the hot applesauce to hot jars (that time I heated them in the dishwasher, since I don’t have a pot big enough), fit the lids on and lowered them into the water bath canner (aka: giant pot with rack inside). I had no idea how much sauce the apples would make or if it would even work, so as you can see, I didn’t fill the canner to capacity.

After the water got to boiling, the jars boiled for 20 minutes, cooled for five, and then I could pull them out!

I had to leave them on the counter for 12-24 hours before checking the seal. Fortunately I slept during some of that. :)

Look what I did!!

Isn’t it so pretty?!

The first attempt was Saturday, and Sunday at bedtime (while Matt was thankfully taking care of the kids), I did another batch, this time leaving the peels ON. Oh, my, it was so much less work, and look:

You can’t even tell there are peels in there! I ran it through the blender as well (although I could have made it a little more “chunky-style” with a potato masher or something instead). There are teeny little pieces of peel, but I think they’ll only be inappropriate for the very very youngest of eaters. These jars will be perfect for us, and James will sure enjoy the ultra-smooth ones from Saturday! (in a few months)

I did ten apples this time, and had enough for four jars, two of these trays for the freezer, and another little container for the fridge to eat today. (Plus whatever I licked off the spatulas and bowls) :)

I didn’t add any sugar or anything, but it’s so sweet and delicious! Wahoo! I was a little more calm for the second batch, and was able to do it by myself. I heated the jars in the water bath canner this time, which meant I they were right there at my fingertips. I am happy to say that so far all the jars have sealed!

I have a few more big apples left. We’ll save some to eat (they’re so delish!), but I’ll probably do a few more jars and maybe some more for the freezer as well. The freezer applesauce is perfect for putting in the girls’ hot oatmeal to flavor it and cool it off.

Apples are one “baby food” that I have often purchased instead of making. Peeling the apples is very time consuming, and big ‘ol jars of applesauce at Kroger are quite inexpensive. This stuff is organic though, and so so sweet and good that I might be done buying applesauce… maybe. :)

Friends and Family this Week

Even though there was no school this week, we found plenty to keep us busy!  I sure hope we have plenty of weeks like this over the summer.  My girls need distractions!

On Wednesday Amy and Kim (and their kids) came over to play for a bit.

Joanna loves to hold Josie!

Those are the only two pictures I took that day!  Kim brought her camera and took a bunch outside of the sibs and the group, so I’m excited to see those, and will post when I get them!

That night the girls ended up in t-shirts and pants for bed, and they reverse-matched.  I had to take a picture.  Aren’t they cute?

Cousin Heather and friend Jackie stopped back by for a visit on Friday before their flight out.  :(

Joanna and Natalie are texting each other.  Bah ha ha ha ha!

I guess overexposed is the best word for this shot (??), but I just love it!  It’s so glowy, and I’m pretty sure I couldn’t do it again on purpose.  :)

Here they are less glowy:

Just a couple sweet shots of Joanna when we were outside for James’ 5 month photo shoot.

The girls were drawing with sidewalk chalk – yay!

Mom was home Monday and Tuesday, and we had lunch with her (translation: she cooked for us!).  Tuesday night was Enchilada night.  On Wednesday we played with friends.  On Thursday Ray came over, but he brought his mom too, and we had a play day.  Friday I was so exhausted.  I loved having a reason to keep the house picked up and clean (beyond my usual reasons that clearly don’t result in me actually keeping the house picked up and clean).  Friday I let things slide though; I was so tired!  I wanted a nap badly, and I was very tempted to drink a Diet Coke that was lurking in the fridge.  I didn’t though.  I may have eaten many many many a few bites of cookie dough though.  :)

I was very thankful when Matt let me sleep in this morning.  It felt so good!