Homemade Cherry Pie

Our cherry trees are loaded this year. I only wish they weren't so tall so that I could get all the cherries at the top. This was my first attempt at a double crusted cherry pie. I must say after all the hard work of pitting the cherries, it paid off. My only mess up was that I forgot to take a picture of the pie when it came out of the oven. The only picture that mattered according to my husband. He thought it looked "awesome". I did snap a picture after 2 pieces had been cut out. Oops. Oh well. I froze 8 more cups of cherries so there will be opportunitys for more pictures. We didn't even make a dent in picking them. Jake swore they were turning ripe every time he turned to drop some in the bowl. He would say I just picked all the ripe ones here and now there is more! I posted a slideshow above for you to enjoy. It is a little bit tiny but you get the point. Also, here is a list of the things I learned while doing this process.

1. Have your children (if you have any) help with the picking process. It is very entertaining for them and less work for you. You will need your energy for number 2.
2. Pitting cherries sucks. It is the worse part of the whole process. It is extremely time consuming.
3. Wear an apron while pitting. Cherries can spray their juices pretty far and it stains your new yellow shorts.
4. Put a baking sheet under the pie in the oven while cooking. It will bubble over and cause a huge mess in your oven that was just cleaned a month ago.
5. Putting sugar on top of the crust before baking makes it even more yummy.
6. Have your spouse take your picture to capture the moment and the triumph of making your first successful double crusted pie. Having a picture of it after it has been cut just isn't the same.

Our rain gage was almost over flowing this morning at 10:30. 5 and 1/4 inches of rain when I dumped it. It rained so hard we had a river running down our driveway. I took a picture of the backyard when the storms moved out and it was very calm and a little strange feeling. It looks like we have a break now and then more is moving in tonight. Just what everyone needs...

On a side note, today the older 3 kids had dentists apts. This was Brodies first trip to the dentist as an actual patient. He did pretty well and the Dr. said that he is doing a great job brushing. Just need to throw out the binkies. Easier said then done.

Yesterday we enjoyed an afternoon at the Zoo. We left when Will got home from work. Again the highlight was the fish and the Elephants! We only stayed for about an hour and 15 minutes because it was 90 degrees and humid. Will melts if it is above 65.

MOM MEEEEE

I have waited 18 long months to hear Drew say my name. For months he has been saying Daddy and numerous other words. Finally, since his surgery on his ears, he has learned to say mommy. He says my name perfectly now and draws out the meee on mommy. I love hearing him say it. Except when I put him down for his naps and he thinks that it isn't fair and he stands in his crib and hollers for me, that breaks my heart.

Yesterday we spent the afternoon at Big Creek. Will had originally taken the kids for a drive but then he stopped at the park and beach at Big Creek and I met him with a picnic lunch. We had a great time. We played on the playground, waded in the water and played in the sand. Of course no one thought to bring swimsuits or towels. Like that would keep those boys out of the water! Jake and Tony just swam in their shorts and the little boys and Will and I just walked along the shore.

Then last night Will made us an awesome dinner. We had Panko chicken with pasta and asparagus and South Union bread. It was wonderful. He used our first ingredient from our garden...basil. It was exciting to be able to use some ingredients that we grew ourselves!

Wow! What a busy week we had. We have been busy doing stuff everyday. We went to a park almost everyday this week for picnic lunches. The kids have been having fun playing on the equipment and Brodie has decided that he really loves to swing. He never has been very interested until now. We loaded the bikes and went riding a couple days up at the cemetary. Will thinks we are crazy for going there to ride but it is very smooth riding for the kids and they really don't have to watch too much for cars. Also, with all the flooding most of the trails are closed anyway so this was a good place to go. Wednesday we spent the day at the Zoo. All 4 boys really liked that, even the older boys. The fish were the highlight of the day for all the boys. Jake and Tony would put their fingers in the water and the fish would suck on them. Very gross. Jake had a friend over for 2 nights this week and we put up the tent and they slept outside in the backyard. They had a fire in the fire pit each night. Thankfully the weather has been nice all week and they were able to spend most of their time outside. Friday we went to garage sales in the morning and then Brodie spiked a really high fever. So, we came home and he slept most of the afternoon. He was still running a fever today but so far I have been able to keep up with it using Motrin and Tylenol. Hopefully we won't have to take him in.

This morning we got up and went down to the downtown Des Moines Farmer's Market. It was crazy crowded but we had a lot of fun and scored on lots of fresh local produce as well as cheese and bread. I don't know how much the kids enjoy it but Will and I really like going down there. Then we hit a few sales before coming home.

I have posted a few Zoo pics. Enjoy your weekend.

Happy Father's Day to all you Dad's out there. The kids and I spent our weekend in Colo with Will's parents so that Will could have a day of peace and quiet. We were gone approximately 24 hours. Long enough for Will to get some good video game and movie time in as well as accomplishing a few projects off the to do list. Today Will, Joel and the two older boys went to a movie together and then Jen and I made dinner for everyone when they returned. We played a round of cards and followed it with dessert. It was a good weekend.

It will be an interesting week for me since Tony came back home with me today. For 2 weeks I have had only 3 children. Now they are all home. Hopefully the weather cooperates and we can get outside alot. Will has been working from home since Wednesday due to all the flooding downtown. I think he is going to try and go back in to the office tomorrow. I will have to post some flood pictures later that Will and I took while driving around Saturday. It is truly an amazing site. There is just so much water it makes you sad seeing how much damage it has caused and how things are so displaced. It is going to be tough to clean up after all this rain. I am so thankful we are not having any issues. We have been very lucky.

HE FINALLY DID IT!!!

After much abuse, Jake finally conceded to having his hair cut. They cut 4 inches off. He says he hates it but I think he is ok with it now that it is over. I think it looks pretty good and actually makes him look younger. Here are the before and after pics.

We had a nice busy weekend. Friday I went to garage sales and came home with all sorts of fun stuff. One of the best bargains of the day was a hole Rubbermaid bin full of Legos for $3.00. I have no idea who was more excited Tony or Dad. They spent a majority of the night playing and sorting them all. There was alot of people in the bin so Tony was pumped cause he likes the people and all the accessories most of all.

Saturday Will cut down our big pine tree in the back yard. Last year it had developed some disease and 6 weeks ago it was half dead and now it is completely dead. We don't own a chainsaw so Will cut down the entire tree with a hand saw. Needless to say his hands are not looking so good. He tore them up pretty bad. Now, we have to have a huge bonfire to get rid of all the branches. I wish I had taken a picture of when he did it but of course I didn't.

Also on Saturday Tony had his last baseball game. He did great. He got a double and almost pulled the team ahead, but they lost 9-8. He received the game ball though and was told he was the most improved player on the team. He was pretty excited about that. A nice way to end his season.

Jake spent the week up at Grandma Mary's. He and Jen did all sorts of projects. He came home Saturday and Tony went tonight to spend the week. Both kids will start band lessons. This week starts for Jake and next week for Tony. Other than that once a week, our summer is pretty open now.

Drew had his 18month apt. on Thursday. He weighs a whooping 29# and is 33 1/2inches long. Big Boy! He is doing great and talking up a storm. Brodie has been killin' me with 5:30am wakings. Today we bought some room darkening shades so I am hoping to get them up tomorrow and see if that helps him sleep past sunrise. Crossing my fingers...

You know you have a good garage sale when...

this is what is parked at the end of your driveway!! A bus! I love it. We had a great garage sale and got rid of most of what we had left. I am glad to say it is over and I have already started boxing things up and just made a trip to Goodwill today. Will is really itching to have his garage back, even though all he really does is park there. I guess he has some projects he would like to do...we'll see.

We have kept extremely busy since Summer break started. Jake is up at Will's parents house this week helping them. He learned to drive the riding lawn mower and is really pumped to do our yard now! Tony and the little boys and I have been busy doing different projects around the house and running errands. We went on a picnic at the park yesterday. Monday Tony had a baseball game and we all went and it was his best game ever! He caught 2 popflys in left field and hit the ball and got on base both times at bat. It was amazing. I am just so proud and impressed with how much he has improved this year.

Well, both of my babies are sleeping and Tony is doing chores so I am off to join him. I included a picture of Drew's new buzz cut and me shopvacing Brodie after I gave him a haircut. Jen, Will's sister walked in right in the middle and thought it was picture worthy! The last pic is Will and the boys with their new do's! Have a great week.