Baking with Kate

Kate and I made Apple Fritter Cups this morning.  She was so excited to help.

This recipe is vegan, she could safely lick the spoon.  I don't ever stop my kids from licking the spoon of non-vegan baked goods though!

The Apple Fritter Cups are similar to the apple muffins I usually make, but these have a maple glaze over the top and they don't have nuts in them.  They are good, but I think pecans would make them better.  I sprinkled some chopped pecans over the top after I tried one, but I wish I had thought to put them in the batter.  The recipe came from the Everyday Happy Herbivore cookbook.

Sweet Berry Farm - Apple and Peach Picking

This morning, Tom, Collin, Reagan, Katelyn, and I went to Sweet Berry Farm to pick apples.  The weather couldn't have been better.  The sun was shining, the sky was blue, and it was a nice, comfortable temperature.  Supposedly, it was about sixty-five degrees, but it felt warmer in the sun.

The last time we went apple picking, Collin and Reagan were really little.  That time, we went to a place that had huge apple trees and we had to use long poles to get the apples.  Here are a few pictures from that adventure in October of 2007 (by the way, it was about ninety degrees on that October day!!!):

That's ten year old Tyler picking apples.

Collin was three.

Reagan was about nineteen months.  Funny to see her in that hat; I still have it and Kate wears it often.

Sweet Berry Farm is much better for young kids because they can reach the apples to pick them on their own.

 Tom spotted a perfect apple pretty high up, and Collin was happy to reach for it.

 Sweet Berry Farm allows (and actually encourages) you to eat while you pick.  I love that!

After we filled our bag of apples, we decided to pick peaches.

  

Soon after we got home, I made a Walnut Apple Peach Crisp with Cinnamon Brown Sugar Crumble, and it is just about ready.

Soccer - Collin and Reagan

The other day, I realized that between Tyler, Collin, and Reagan, we have had twelve consecutive years of soccer in our house!

Here are a few pictures from Collin's game this morning:

Reagan played today too:

Here's to MANY more years of town recreational soccer!!!

Letter Aa Activities

I was excited to see this apple mask on the paper grocery bags at Whole Foods this week.  I use my own bags, but I always ask for a paper bag for any meats I buy.  I cut the mask out and taped a popsicle stick on the back.  Kate thought it was funny for me to have an apple face, but she wanted no part of trying it herself.

 Kate is a HUGE fan of these peg stacking letters.  We have a few different alphabet toys, but this is her absolute favorite and she plays with them quite a bit.  It's funny to me because Collin and Reagan hardly played with any of the peg stacking toys.  We paid special attention to the letter A this week.

 Kate enjoys using the Do A Dot markers, so I printed this page for her to dot all of the letters.

She really didn't have any interest in this tactile A.  She said it was pink and pretty and that she was "done".

The play dough has been out a lot!  She was very excited about adding toothpicks to her dough!

She put all but one of those toothpicks in by herself.  She would put them in and take them out and put them back in; LOVED it!

Yes, she does have clothes, but NO she does not like to wear any of them!

I made baked apples with a pie crust topping for a treat.  The recipe came from American Girl magazine.  It is really easy:

- core apples
- stuff each apple with a little butter, cinnamon, and brown sugar
- top with pie dough weaved as shown
- bake in foil muffin cups in 400 degree oven for 10-15 minutes

If I make these again, I'll add more brown sugar and cinnamon.  Also, I would like to bake the apples longer.  Maybe if I covered the dough after the fifteen minutes, that would work out.  They were pretty good though.

So far, our letter Aa fun has been a success!

Birthday Videos

I took this short video of Kate yesterday.  I love it and want to make sure I have it here for future reference.

I also like this birthday song from this morning.  The cha cha cha (Reagan followed by Katelyn) is priceless.

Just a reminder that you will not be able to open the videos in email.  You have to actually log in to the blog to see them.

Kate's Birthday Celebration

We had a nice birthday celebration for Kate at Grandma Susan's house.  It was just right for Kate, and she seemed to have a great time.

 A toy phone for Great Grandpa, and a toy phone for Kate.  I think they were texting each other just like the teenagers do -- sitting in the same room, but still have to text each other.

 I wish I had brought my camera instead of relying on my phone.  Kate is too quick for my phone and my pictures are a bit blurry, and the flash on her hair -- YIKES, harsh.  Oh well.  One of her gifts was a toy purse, and she enjoyed putting lipstick on everyone!  Too cute.

Thank you, Grandma, for hosting this party and doing all of the work!  We had a great time, and Katelyn's birthday was very special.