Welcome Fall :)

All summer, I dread fall, but usually by the time fall officially rolls around, I'm ready for all things fall.  Tonight, we began decorating our house for fall.  We don't have much, but I'm hoping to increase our fall decorations inexpensively (aka run to one of my favorite stores:  The Dollar Tree!  lol).  If you have any inexpensive decorating tips, send them my way!

One of my FAVORITE fall activities is apple picking.  We went on Sunday to North Star Orchards.  I love it there- it's close by and I get my farm fix very easily.  I nursed the baby in the van when we first arrived, so I sent Cale in with the girls to prepay for a bag.  He bought a half bushel, which means nothing to me, or meant nothing to me at the time.  Basically, a half bushel is a big ass bag of apples. We met up with Aunt Liz, Uncle Jason, our little cousin, and Aunt Elizabeth, and off we went!  We picked McIntosh's, and they were/are excellent!

I'm looking forward to a weekend of experimenting with baking treats with apples.  I've already made applesauce and had a great time doing it.  The apple sauce recipe I used was pretty good, and I remember from last year that no sugar is necessary!  The McIntosh's are sweet enough for my liking, and I've gotten so used to buying unsweetened applesauce (organic when I am not feeling too poor) that overly sweetened apple sauce grosses me out.  Naturally, my children will not touch the fantastic, homemade applesauce, but I keep on trying.

(arrg.  Emily pooped her pants again.)

Anyway, part of what is so freakin' awesome about making applesauce is this fantastic device that I borrowed from my sis in law:  It peels, slices, and cores apples!  It is easy enough for my 3 year old to use.  Molly had a fun day with her aunt making it, so when I borrowed it, I made sure to do it with Emily.  I'm hoping Aunt Elizabeth doesn't want it back until Sunday night so I can make some different treats!  Basically I need one of my own.  If you have any AWESOME apple recipes, please let me know!  I know one I want to try out is GG's apple cake.

And then there's pumpkin.  :-D   I made these cookies last week, and although they were very good, I think I'll try something else this weekend.  I wouldn't say they were as amazing as "Sally" claimed.  However, by not requiring eggs, I did enjoy a bit more raw batter than I usually would allow myself!

Anyway, that's what I"m looking forward to:  baking and fall-decorating this weekend.  This week was busy, up until tonight, and last weekend we had 2 kids' birthday parties, I had 3 masses to sing at, a playdate at triple F, and then the apple picking, so I look forward to not having anything "to do" this weekend!

Welp, I can't find any pictures of apple picking or making apple sauce...... Cale must have them... so... here's some other great pics from this week.

Emily being a goof- she's got my sunglasses on and Cale's socks on, all the way up to her knees just about:

And here are the girls just before dance practice this week!