Homecoming Week

Orin and I have had a busy time so far at my parent's house. We left Wednesday morning around 8:00 and decided to stop by my mom's work on our way through. The ladies oohed and aahed over the babe. Then dad met us for lunch at Jimmy Johns. After supper at church, mom and I went shopping. I found Ryan a few things, and I got a sweater for family pictures coming up in October. Then we went to Target and got a bunch of random things. Grandma bought Orin some sippy cups, socks, and new shoes! They are actually the first pair he has had that actually stay on his feet.

Thursday, my grandma and I spent the morning picking apples at the local apple orchard. We brought home 2.5 5 gallon buckets full of apples for $15. We got a good deal because they were windfalls on the ground, but they weren't bruised or damaged. Then we spent the rest of the day canning applesauce. We ran out of time to get one bucket done, so we left that for later.

I got to see Becky because she was in town for a wedding. We met at Fazoli's, and she got to meet Orin for the first time. She gave him a Cubbies outfit- She's from Illinois. Ryan said we should burn it. haha! It was so good to see you Becky Jean!

Thursday night was spent at the homecoming parade and coronation. I was on picture duty while mom was on Orin duty. It worked out well, and I got lots of good pics for Molls.

On Friday, Grandma and I spent the morning making the rest of the applesauce. We ended up with 14 pints and 5 quarts of sauce. It was quite the process, but it actually wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Grandma has a peeler, corer, and slicer so we only spent a few seconds on each apple getting it ready to cook. That made the process much faster! We threw the apples in a pot with a little water and cooked them until they were mushy. Because we didn't feel like stirring for several hours (to get chunky applesauce), we threw the mushy apples in the food processor and made smooth sauce. It sped up the process significantly!! I loved listening to the jars pop while seeing all our hard work sitting on the counter in jars ready to by stored away for winter. What a great feeling!

Friday night, I took Orin to the football game. He did okay, but he's just at a tough age to sit still. He wants to go, go, go! But we made it till halftime when the homecoming court paraded out to be introduced. I took a few pictures, and then we were out of there.

Ryan surprised us by showing up for the weekend. I had just put Orin to bed, and then Ry said to get him up because he was within 10 minutes of the house. We really enjoyed seeing him and loved being able to spend time with him when originally we thought we wouldn't see him all week.

Saturday, we all went to Molls volleyball tournament. They aren't that great of a team, but it was good to be able to see a few games. That night, we had Gramps in for pizza while we watched the Hawks crush Penn St. I only cheer on the Hawks when they aren't playing State. Both teams won yesterday, so it was a good day!

We have big plans for the rest of the week. My mom is off tomorrow and Wednesday to spend some time with her little man. And I have plans to can pears. We were given two huge boxes of pears, so I hope they turn out. I'll keep you posted!

I'll leave you with some pictures from the weekend's events: