Tag: family time

apple pie tree

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Every fall we make a trip to a local apple orchard.  It was busier this year than ever before, a hustle of bustle, so maybe next year we will hunt for someplace more obscure.  The introvert in me was a bit bewildered.  I barely pulled myself together to get out the door that morning, having had a night of insomnia and only a few hours sleep.  But my sweet nephew E was in town, and I wanted to take him and my kids to do something fun, so we pulled ourselves together.  No pretty outfits and not much fanfare, but I did manage to grab a library book we had called “Apple Pie Tree” and coloring sheets/crayons.  Why not squeeze in a bit of school (said every homeschooling mom ever)?

The kids hunted for apples, we sat in a quiet place between rows of trees after picking  a few and learned about the parts of an apple.  We looked around for a few more apples, only picking enough for the children to be able to carry.  I have no hopes of canning up applesauce as I have done in years past.  We explored the orchard, visiting the ducks and sheep and goats, the peacocks and playgrounds.  Rainey treated them to a tractor hayride, which was the delight of all.  Then we spread out our blanket again and had a picnic before heading home.  I read to them from our apple tree book, and as always, little munchers are rapt listeners.  After we were home and children were resting/napping, I peeled and cored and sliced and made a gluten-free apple pie using the recipe from the back of the library book.  Simple ingredients and a heavenly smell.

You can read about our visit to the apple orchard with friends last year here.

settling into winter

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We’ve been happily busy with lots of THIS lately.  My older brother + his sweet family have been in town, and we’re so enjoying having the opportunity to be with them.  I’m loving the chance to get to know my nephew a bit and it is precious to me to see all the cousins play together and build little bonds.  I know from my own childhood years how special cousin relationships can be!  It’s like having extra siblings.  And I’m thankful for more time getting to know my sister-in-law and reconnecting.  Our hearts are full!

The leaves are mostly off the trees, a cold front moved in with a wild gust last night, and we’re settling into winter slowly.  Things can begin to look dark + barren, like the black-eyed susan stalks, shooting their bald heads into iron sky.  All can seem lost, empty.  Yet hidden within that flower’s cone are all the seeds for next year’s flower, each cone containing dozens of potentially viable seeds.  All this glory and beauty and light bottled up in that dark little bumpy-looking ball, just waiting for the right conditions in which to burst forth.  The same stalks that wave cheery yellow wildflowers in the summer, we pass by, or even trample underfoot in these winter months, assuming it’s all dead anyway.  Winter is full of promise and waiting and hope in small, hidden places.  There is all manner of beauty in those barren places, if we’ll look.  There is all manner of potential.

“I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in His word I hope.” (Psalm 130:5)