A Saturday with Nothing on the Calendar...

...is the perfect kind of day to dive into a project.

A project like...say...making applesauce.

Now what made me think of that?  ;-)

Oh, maybe because today we turned two bushels of Golden Delicious apples into 28 quarts of applesauce, canned and ready to be stored on the cellar shelves--28 quarts AND five bowls of applesauce, I should say.  Each of the kids got a bowl for supper, because when you spend all day making applesauce, you've just got to enjoy some of it warm and fresh, and not store it all away for winter.  :)

Before we began the project this morning, I happened to pull out a Christmas CD to listen to, which is not really unusual for me because I listen to Christmas music, off and on, all year round.  After all, I'm thankful all 12 months of the year that Jesus came to earth as a baby, so why only think about and celebrate that in one month?  :)

At any rate, as soon as they heard the Barlow Girls singing "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year," Josiah and David got excited and pulled out the construction paper to make a ring chain from now until Christmas, prompting Tobin to also make a ring chain for a Christmas countdown, but he inexplicably chose black and white as his colors.  ;-)  It was fun to hear the boys reminisce about Christmases past and dream about Christmases future; they even talked about that CD we were listening to, Josiah commenting something about it being a part of Christmas joy for him, how just hearing it brings warm, happy feelings.  And THAT brings warm, happy feelings to me.  :)

 Moriah was old enough to help this year, and she had fun trotting down the stairs to the garage to carry apples up to the kitchen...

 ...and putting them in the dishpan at the sink.  :)

 Then she supervised me as I washed them.  ;-)

 And she did a helpful taste test.

 I think she approves of these apples.  Whew!  ;-)

 The boys, of course, all took turns cranking the handle of the food mill, as well as carrying up apples and bringing empty jars up from the cellar; they were truly helpful, and best of all, worked with good attitudes.  Such a gift to a mother's heart!

 Moriah tried to help by turning the handle, but mostly just looked cute.  ;-)

 I had only gotten two bushels of apples when we were at the orchard this week because I didn't want to get more than I could handle and have some go to waste.  Now that I've successfully taken care of the first two bushels, I'm ready to get more.  Clearly 28 quarts of applesauce is not NEARLY enough to last us all year!  ;-)

 The eczema on my hands has flared up recently, so I wore surgical gloves, left over from my dad's medical practice, to protect them.  Being in and out of water like hands need to be when making applesauce is horrible for my skin!

 David wanted to use the timer to take a picture of himself, so here is his selfie.  :)

Some days, I get to the end of them and feel like, "Did I actually accomplish anything today?  Maybe I just spun my wheels all day long and didn't really DO anything!"  But on days like today, how satisfying it is to be able to look at the jars of applesauce lined up on my kitchen counter and know that today I DID SOMETHING!!  ;-)