Hay rides and measuring up to the scarecrow at Carver Farms!

This is most likely one of those pictures that Owen will want to hide from any and all future lady friends!! But it’s also stinkin’ cute, and is evidence of at least ONE of our boys using the potty! I will not bore you with all the potty training methods and excitement I’ve tried that have not worked with our almost 3 year old. This is the kid who couldn’t asleep on his own or sleep through the night until this spring, at 2 1/2 years old. He’ll decide to use the potty (hopefully some day soon!!) when he’s ready just as he all of a sudden decided he would be able to sleep on his own, despite any earlier attempts to coax him sooner. Owen however, is a potty pro. I’ve tried elimination communication with both my babies- a fancy way of saying I take them to the potty when I think they need to go to save on diapers and in theory, avoid the potty training battle altogether. Obviously this didn’t work out so well with Jude who refused to use the potty after he was one year old, although it was still worth it from how much I saved on laundering my cloth diapers up until then. But I am already noticing that Owen let’s me know when he has to go much more clearly than Jude ever did and will pee just about every time I put him on the potty seat. (While smiling- it’s really cute! And at this point most of you are thinking I’m a little loopy, but that’s quite alright!:) He hasn’t pooped in his diaper since he was 6 weeks old, not because I tried really hard to train him not to, but it just happened- and I’m still amazed! This is a common practice in Asia, Africa, and other places and one of my favorite things in China (and most amusing) is seeing little ones bundled up for the dead of winter with their little bums peeking out of their split crotch pants- for easy peeing access of course! It’s not uncommon to see a mom hold her baby out over the floor of a subway or street and let the babe have at it- no one bats an eye! Of course there are more sanitary ways to practice this but over all I think it’s sad how diaper companies are convincing more and more people world wide to use diapers instead of their traditional way of pottying their children. Don’t even get me started on formula companies.

Any one else heard of this method or tried it themselves? Think I’m crazy?:) Have any funny pictures their kids will be embarrassed by in the future?!:)

Side note on our little Owie Bear- we had his 6 month check up last week and he’s in the 80% for height and weight! (Down from 95th) He was so still and quiet while the doctor checked him over and gave lots of smiles, sweet bear.

Some of the lovely squash we picked up at the farm last weekend- usually I’d just decorate with it, but this year I followed the lady at the farm’s easy instructions and baked up this yummy squash that even the Hubby approved of! To bake, cut off the top and scoop out all seeds and stringy insides, then cover the inside with a little butter and brown sugar. Put the top back on with a little space to vent, and then stick on a glass baking dish with a little water at the bottom. Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes or a little longer, depending on size of squash. Serve as is with a spoon to scoop out the tender inside. Delicious! You can do the same thing with acorn squash, and I’ve seen this with dried cranberries inside as well. What are you cooking up this month?

We tried two painting projects this week- our extension of ‘apple week’ from last week when a sick Mama just couldn’t get around to all the fun things she had planned with her 2 year old. First we tried tried the classic apple printing- cutting an apple in half to reveal the star shaped pattern the seeds make and using that to make prints with paint. That was fun until Jude felt wet paint on his hands and decided that wasn’t alright with him- so we wiped off and started our next painting project with me reminding him that it’s alright to get our hands ooey-gooey! (I have yet to convince him to finger paint with me!!) I drew a picture of a tree and then he made apples on it by dipping the end of a cork into red paint and dotting on the tree. He liked this as well, and then moved on to his watercolor paints which are his favorite these days- especially using the color green which he announced was his favorite recently.

Speaking of apples… I’m working through my last box of apples from our apple picking day and plan on making more dried apple chips, a pie to pop in the freezer for later, and a yummy apple crisp this weekend. Here’s my favorite crisp recipe- easy and delicious. I add cranberries when they are in season and it gives it a perfect tartness.

Easier Than Pie Apple Crisp

4 or 5 medium tart cooking apples
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup flour
3/4 cup old-fashioned oats
1/2 cup butter, softened
cinnamon & nutmeg

Heat oven to 375ºF. Grease bottom and sides of 8-inch square pan. Spread apples in pan. In medium bowl, stir remaining ingredients until well mixed and sprinkle over apples. Bake about 30 minutes or until topping is golden brown and apples are tender when pierced with a fork. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream!

That’s what we’ve been up to! Oh yes, and turning two rather large box fulls of apples into applesauce, pies, crisps, chips, and art. Recipes, art project ideas, and Owen weighs in for his 6 month checkup- coming this week on the bloggy! We’ve had colder than usual temps recently, getting as low as 19 degrees at night and in the 40’s mid day. It seems we might skip much of the fall weather and jump right into winter around here! I don’t mind, and although there are some outside projects I’d like to get to I am more than eager to give in to cool temps with more tea, hot chocolate, home made soups, and reading on the couch under a blanket!

I have so many memories of my Mum making play dough with various colors and scents for us and her classes at school. Last week I made some pumpkin spice play dough using the basic recipe below but adding pumpkin pie spice (my own blend- mostly cinnamon) and a little food coloring for a pumpkin orange color. Jude has had so much fun with it and it lasts for a lot longer than the store bought kind. The only thing is, it smells so good you just might want to eat it!!

*Basic play dough recipe (cooked version)

*Lots more creative play dough recipes (including some edible ones!)