A Joyous June

Jenni is 3 years 11 months, Joshua is 1 year 5 months

Visiting Eric

 We went to visit Eric while he had been out of state working for a couple of weeks. June is the month he finished traveling like crazy! What a wonderful month for that reason alone.

Ballet Workshop

Jenni spent the first two weeks of June in a ballet workshop. She had such a wonderful time meeting new friends and a new ballet teacher for the summer.

Sibling Love

Father's Day

Jenni and I made triple chocolate cupcakes with buttercream frosting for E's Father's Day celebration. The kids decorated a bunny and a puppy at our local craft store to give to Eric for his special day.

Eric's Quarter Century Birthday :)

 Eric's only request for his birthday was a homemade apple pie. Easy enough :)

Apple Pie Recipe:
2 cups fresh sliced apples (I use Green Granny Smith)
2 t. lemon juice
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 T. flour
1/2 t. cinnamon
1/4 t. salt
1/4 t. nutmeg
2 T. butter

In bowl #1 add the apples and lemon juice. In bowl #2 combine the white sugar, brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, salt, and nutmeg. Combine the two bowls, mix thoroughly. Pour into crust bottom. Cut the 2 T. butter into 1/2 inch cubes, dot on top of mixture. Put top crust on, over the apple mixture. Slit for steam (or try a lattice top - see below). Use an egg wash on top of the top crust (see below) and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Bake at 425 degrees for 40 minutes, or until done.

Pie Crust Recipe:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, very cold, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
6 to 8 T. ice water (or more if necessary)

1. Combine flour, salt, and sugar in a food processor; pulse to mix. Add butter and pulse 6 to 8 times, until mixture resembles coarse meal, with pea size pieces of butter. Add ice water 1 T. at a time, pulsing until mixture just begins to clump together. If you pinch some of the crumbly dough and it holds together, it's ready. If the dough doesn't hold together, add a little more water and pulse again.

2. Remove dough from machine and place in a mound on a clean surface. Gently shape into 2 discs. Knead the dough just enough to form the discs, do not over-knead. You should be able to see little bits of butter in the dough. These small chunks of butter are what will allow the resulting crust to be flaky. Sprinkle a little flour around the discs. Wrap each disc in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour, and up to 2 days.

3. Remove one crust disk from the refrigerator. Let sit at room temperature 5-10 minutes in order to soften just enough to make rolling out a bit easier. Roll out with a rolling pin on a lightly floured surface to a 12-inch circle; about 1/8 of an inch thick. As you roll out the dough, check if the dough is sticking to the surface below. If necessary, add a few sprinkles of flour under the dough to keep the dough from sticking. Carefully place onto a greased 9-inch pie plate. Gently press the pie dough down that it lines the bottom and sides of the pie plate. Use a pair of kitchen scissors to trim the dough to within 1/2 inch of the edge of the pie dish.

4. Add filling to the pie.

5. Roll out second disk of dough, as before. Cut the dough into even strips, 1/2-inch to 3/4-inch wide, depending on how thick you want your lattice strips. Lay out parallel strips of the pie dough on top of the filling, with about 1/2-inch to 3/4-inch space between them. Weave the remaining strips of dough over and under the strips to complete the lattice top. Fold the edge of the top piece of dough over and under the edge of the bottom piece of dough, pressing together. Flute edges using thumb and forefinger or press with a fork.

Egg Wash for top of lattice crust:
1 egg + 1 T. water

Mix egg and water together and brush over the top of the unbaked lattice crust. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.

Swim Lessons

Jenni took swim lessons every day for two weeks. The schedule worked out great for her and she learned a lot! We did small group lessons this time around. I think we might try private lessons this winter for her to get even more focused quality time.

Adventure Week 2011 - The Great Race!

Adventure Week was for 4 year olds-5th graders. The children's pastor allowed Jenni J to be part of Adventure Week since her 4th birthday was just a few weeks shy - we were so thankful! What a wonderful experience she had playing games, making crafts, experiencing live theatrical productions, and most importantly - learning more about Jesus! Jenni had a BLAST!

Sweet Snapshots

 We love our little ones!