Best Ever Apple Pie

Well, that is what the Recipe calls it anyway!  :)  I ran around all morning yesterday at MOPS talking to the ladies and checking things so I didn't get to make an Apple Pie as part of our activity.  So... I brought the ingredients home and made it there.  It was so much fun making it with Grace while Hannah slept.  I didn't even bother changing either of us out of  PJs -- which added to the fun!   

Grace had never sliced apples with a knife on a cutting board.  She commented that she was "very grown up now."  I tried to keep up with her by peeling lots of apples, but she was quick and skilled...  she ate a few slices in the process. 

I LOVED the smell of the pie as it cooked.  I always try to duplicate that smell with candles throughout the year, but it isn't the same as the fresh apples baking with cinnamon in the oven!  It smells really yummy....It looks really yummy... I hope it tastes really yummy.  We will dig into it when Danny gets home from church tonight. 

Yes, I have vanilla ice cream to go with it! 

Lookin' Good

Grace left for Cubbies tonight all decked out in her uniform/vest and her Cubbies bag that I made for her (she picked out the fabric)!  She was just adorable!  She loves taking all of her things in her bag, and it keeps it all together during the week so we know where all of the pieces are.  I had to attach her first patch this week.  She knows her verse and is ready to go!

Can’t wait to hear about it when she returns!

God’s protection

Have you ever had one of those experiences that just blow you away because you have seen the protective hand of God?  Sunday night was one of those times for Danny and me.  We were driving home from a date (the last before baby comes) and were talking about how pretty the stars were.  I was halfway turned around in the car looking at a star out my window.  When I faced front I saw a deer in the field beside me and told Danny.  He immediately slowed down and then saw 2 deer frozen in the middle of the road!  He SLAMMED on his brakes and swerved to the left.  Our car just clipped the hind end of one of the deer!  We knew the Hand of the Lord was protecting us because it could have been much worse. 

We immediately praised the Lord for His protection – if we really hit them or if the air bags went off  -- we would have been headed right to the hospital because that would have been bad for me and baby!  He was definitely watching over His children. 

We stopped at a store to look at the damage to the car, and to our surprise there was NONE! No scratch, no ding, no bump, not even a crack!  Thank you, Lord!  Danny’s little Dodge Neon (his teenage boy car) took it like a man!   We may have left a year’s worth of tread on the road, but we don’t care…. God protected us!

Apple Pickin'

Today is a GORGEOUS day in Iowa, and we had planned since Friday to go Apple Picking.  We are so glad that we waited until today to do that because the weather was perfect.  The only bummer of the morning was that I realized when I got to the Orchard that I forgot the battery for my camera!  I had charged it this weekend but left it in the charger! AH!  Thankfully, Robin was with us and she had her camera.  We used that!  YEAH!

In the wagon... ready to go!

It was so great to have Aunty Boo with us!  

Petting a cow... this is as close to the animals as we got today!

 Grace down the lane of the Corn Maze!

The first pick of the day....Apples!

Hannah loved picking apples, but she liked finding the rotten ones from the ground more! 

Our goofy girls!

Aww...I still love him after 10 years of marriage!  

As we were leaving Grace asked, "Mommy, can we come back here again next year?"  

"YES! WE WILL!!!" was my answer!  

We had a blast even though we only really picked apples.  There is SO MUCH MORE TO DO THERE!

Zoo with Boo...hey, that rhymes!

Yesterday was a beautiful fall day here in Iowa – we had a blue sky, warm sun, crisp air, and a light breeze… just beautiful!   We decided to go to the Zoo since we didn’t know how wet it would be out at the Apple Orchard.  We will try that adventure on Monday with Robin – if Baby Boy is not born yet!  J

The Zoo wasn’t crowded at all… there were a few places that got congested, but that was because of a few school groups that were there.  Most of them were well-behaved, but a few of them needed a little more structure! (In my stern teacher’s voice I had to tell a few to stop running, and some others needed to be asked to be careful on the stairs so this pregnant momma wouldn’t fall!)

Grace loved showing Robin all of the special features of the zoo… the lions, giraffes, moneys, and SNAKES AND FROGS!  We all know that those are NOT Robin’s favorites, but it was fun to see her TRY to be brave!