Awesome apple pie

I made an awesome apple pie today with Ryan. I wanted to share my recipe finds with you.

This is where I found the pie crust recipe. It was the first pie crust (for an apple pie) that didn't taste like cardboard. Yay! I don't have a big food processor and just used my Kitchen Aid mixer.

Apple pie filling is pretty easy to make, but I used the apple pie recipe featured on McDougal's website (it's down the page a little). McDougal's is where we pick our apples. The only thing I changed was how I cut up my apples. Thin sliced cooks down too much for me. I don't like apple sauce pie, so I cut my apples a little thick.

Enjoy!

Timmy!

This afternoon, we tried to put both kids down for a nap at the same time. Tim protested. He threw out everything in his crib. His beloved blanket, his bear, Duke, pillow, sippy cup and even his diaper. Yes, his diaper. He took it off and threw it out of the crib. I would have never known had he not been screaming "mama," which made me want to go check on him. When I got there, I was shocked to see a bare-bottomed kiddo in his crib. I took a photo and sent it to Adam on his phone. He noticed Tim was missing a sock at first, not that he was missing his diaper.

Websites

Here are two websites that I go to often, for two very different reasons.

The first is Letter of the Week. My mom told me about it and we've started the three year old curriculum for Ryan. We're only on letter B, but he seems to be very excited about "school work." I hope it lasts! There's ideas for things to do with younger and older kids and I love it! I wanted to do some preschool stuff with him this year. Workbooks don't excite him as much as reading, field trips and arts and crafts do. This site has some great ideas for all of those things and even more. I had considered doing an expensive preschool reading program, but then my mom found this. I've also discovered some of the books on that expensive program at the library and get them there. I didn't think Ryan would be interested in a book about art (i.e. sculptures or paintings) but he really loves looking at the different types of art.

The second site I find myself going to a lot lately is the People of Walmart site. I laugh every day because of them and because I have seen the same types of people during my time at Walmart. I'm sure these people are seen in many places, but it seems like they all go to Wally World at some point. I am also amazed at how many people glue things to their car... not something I would ever think of doing.

I just thought I'd share a few of my favorite things with you guys.

Enjoy!

Iowa was fantastic!

I loved being back in the Midwest this past weekend. It was so nice to see Elizabeth and spend four days with her family. I felt right at home. I love her parents, John and Mary Jane, who made me feel just like a part of the family. While I missed the kiddos and Adam, I really did enjoy myself and had a blast. There were a lot of late nights, but it was well worth it.

Elizabeth's wedding was so beautiful. They had a brass band play and it suited her so much. So much of the wedding showed her personality. She and Chris are so happy! I am so happy for them. God really blessed them in finding each other.

Oh, and the only thing I missed having in the Midwest was biscuits and gravy...

Here are my two favorite photos of the trip..
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