Service projects and Cookin' with the Kids

We have a Humanitarian Service evening coming up in Relief Society.  If you are not Mormon, that is the ladies organization of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (or Mormons). We will be making receiving blankets and baby booties, binding a couple of quilts, making file folder games, and love bears. I am busy making invitations for the evening, which includes a guest speaker and refreshments. It's a good thing they don't have to be done today, because my hands aren't working well today. I sewed myself a jumper yesterday and then cut out three more, and that was too much in one day, I guess. My hands are getting worse and worse. I have carpal tunnel, which I can't afford to do anything about, and  rheumatoid arthritis, so I have good days and bad. Actually, no good days anymore, but some OK days.

I have decided that it's time to teach the grandchildren to cook. Last night we made these cute little Sugar Cookie Tarts. I found the recipe and great photos on a blog I really like called LDS Craft Project. Its written by a great gal from California and has some really fun stuff! She used a tool from Pampered Chef to make the tart cups, but I didn't have one, so I made my own tool out of what I had on hand. I found a wooden bead just the right size to make the indentations in the cups. I had a piece of dowel that was a little to big for the hole in the bead, so I whittled it down to fit, and !Voila! I had a very technical tool the kids and I call the "masher". We had a lot of fun, and we have enough supplies to do it again tonight!

They were so-o-o-o good! They are filled with a mixture of cream cheese, Cool Whip and powdered sugar,
and we had fresh blackberries, just picked, and kiwi and bananas. Yum!

I got an idea from an article in Family Fun Magazine for making a "license" for cooking. You make it kind of like a driver's license, with their photo on the front and everything. They will be like learner's permits. I'll put a list of things they need to learn on the back, with a check box beside each item. Then we can check it off when they learn it. Some of the items will be how to peel fruit and vegetables, how to fry hamburger, how to measure properly....those kinds of things. And we'll choose together five different kinds of cookies for them to learn to make, too. Also very important...How To Clean Up! The kids are 10 and 11, so they will be able to do things that younger kids couldn't. You just adjust your list to the age of the child. I think they'll really have fun.

 I know that one of the cookie recipes will be my mom's Krispy Cookies. The recipe is at least 35 or 40 years old, and has always been a favorite of everyone who tastes it. You'll get it here next time! That's it for today, but I want to leave you with this little message....If you see a turtle on top of a fence post, you can be certain he didn't get there by himself. A proud turtle would tell you what a good climber he is, but a humble turtle would praise the grace of God that put him there. Until next time, Gramma G.

Recovering Slowly

Wow! Time sure flies when you're really busy! I didn't realize that so much time had gone by since my last post! Between doctor's appointments and tests and everything else, I have not had the time nor, sadly, the inclination to write. And now they have found some nodes on my husband's thyroid and he had to have a fine-needle biopsy to find out if they are cancerous. They stuck him with 9 needles, 3 on the right side of the neck, and 4 on the left side, plus 2 more to get some stuff from one of the lymph nodes on the left side. This was last Thursday, and his neck is still sore! We haven't heard the results yet, and probably won't until mid-week. Then they want to get his thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) up, because its a little low, before they do surgery to remove parts of the thyroid. I thought we were pretty much in the clear, but I guess that's what I get for thinking!

But there is some good news, too. He was finally approved for disability, so we will be getting a check every month starting in September. It won't be a lot, but it will pay the bills and let us help the kids with rent or utilities or whatever they want to use it for, and still have gas money and a little for fun. Very little, but a movie once a month or dinner would be nice.

I have been spending a lot of time doing arts crafts with my grandkids this summer, and I will be posting some photos of projects. We are in the middle of making a calendar right now, and when we get done, I will post photos of that, too. It seems to have turned into a yearly tradition, usually for moms and dads, but this one is for me!

These were Father's Day projects. Do you remember making these when you were young?

The blue one on the bottom was made by my just-turned-five grandson.
I don't know why all the eyeballs, but that was what he wanted.

They made Mother's Day gifts in school, but Dad's usually get left out because school is out when Father's Day comes around. Although my kindergartner did do something. They took photos all dressed up like Dad. They were so cute! This is my adorable grandson, Cyric.

Isn't he cute?

Well, I will close for now. I promise not to be such a slacker in the future. Keep up the good work and remember, things can always get worse. Benjamin Franklin said, "If a man could have half of his wishes, he would double his trouble." I think I'll stick with what I have. Until next time, Gramma G.

Camping Again

WE went camping again last weekend, this time with my oldest daughter and her family. They live in Elko, Nevada, and we met them sorta halfway, in Lakeview, Oregon. We found a nice campground there and enjoyed a good weekend.

Have you ever made a sit-upon?  If you're a girl scout, you probably have. Its newspaper sheet folded into strips that are woven together to make something you can "sit upon" while camping and hiking so you don't sit directly on the dirt. We made ours from blank newsprint sheets and just a few strips of newspaper. Another of our projects was rubber stamps, which we then used to decorate the sit-upons! Then we made rope from jute and used it to tie the sit-upons around the waist, so they didn't have to worry about how to carry them everywhere!

Aren't they cute? The little guy in the red shirt is my youngest grandson. He really liked the watermelon. Can you Tell? He started with a spoon, but it was obviously taking too long! 

In the sit-upon photo, you can also see the "green" bags we made from recycled chip bags. The boys got backpacks and the girls got tote bags. Grandma got one, too! All-in-all, I had 13 different craft projects to do with the kids in the four days we were there, and we managed to do them all! Plus I tried out one that I found on YouTube. It was a hat made from drink boxes. (On the video they were beer boxes but ours were a Dr. Pepper box and a Mountain Dew box.) We had Grandpa model it for us. It was a little small, so Hal, a 10-yr-old grandson, wound up with it.

With all the other fun, the kids were kept pretty busy and out of everyone's hair. A good time was had by all and I think we may make this a summer tradition.

Well, I better get back to work. Talk at ya later, Gramma G.

Family Camping

My family loves to camp. We go every chance we get, which is not often enough. We went to Howard's Prairie Lake for Memorial Day, and boy was it cold!!! We got there at about 3pm and set up camp and it was chilly, but not too bad. We woke up the next morning to big, fluffy snowflakes floating lazily down, and it was really cold all day. My youngest daughter and her two little boys left early Saturday morning, because her oldest has asthma really bad and he was having trouble breathing. The rest of us were there for 3 days and it rained or snowed most of the time except for about 4 hours Saturday morning, which allowed me to do some camp crafts with the kids. Then it started again that afternoon.

We are a motley-looking crew, are we not? We did try a little fishing, but it was too cold and the fish weren't biting. We had good food, though! We planned a wonderful menu for the weekend, and if it had been better weather, the kids would have learned a lot about camp cooking, but under the circumstances, it was just easier for us adults to do the cooking.

The tall guy in the front right of the photo is my youngest (and tallest) son, Andy, and he is really into camping and outdoors stuff. He and I did most of the cooking. We used to camp a lot when he was a kid, and he just really gained a love for all things outdoors. He probably takes his family camping more than any of my other kids.

We were supposed to stay until Monday, but we wound up coming home on Sunday. I don't mind camping in the cold when I'm prepared for it, but we definitely were not prepared. No one, even the kids, was having fun. We spent most of our time huddled around the campfire drinking hot chocolate just to keep warm, so we decided to come home and enjoy the last day of the holiday vegging in front of the TV, watching movies. It is a really beautiful place, though, and we will go there again. We will just wait until its later in the year to go that high in the mountains.

Is that the face of pure enjoyment, or what?

Well, that's it for today. I will be back again soon. Remember...don't put all your eggs in one basket. Sometimes Mother Nature throws you a curve ball, so be ready to catch it with game plan B.  Love to all, Gramma G.

Heart Attack!

My husband, Chuck, has been having some problems breathing for a while now. I actually wondered if it could be tied to the mold in this old house, but the doctor said no. He started having some pain in his neck and pressure behind his left eye, and then he started seeing double. Add that to the breathing problem and I wound up taking him to the emergency room late on April 4th. He was admitted to the hospital at about 4 am on April 5th because the tests they did showed he had been having a series of mini-strokes. Some old, some not-so-old. On April 6th, while still in the hospital, he began having chest pains. I am proud to say I calmly called the nurse, who then rushed right in to check on him. She called for help, they did an EKG right then and there, and called the doctor, who happened to be in the hospital. This all took place in Medford, Oregon, at the Rogue Valley Medical Center, where they have doctors called hospitalists, (never heard that term before) whose sole practice is there in the hospital, on-call at all times. Anyway, they upped his oxygen, did another EKG and decided he needed to see a heart surgeon. Oh, yeah, one of the lines on his first EKG was almost flat!

They also did CT scans again, an MRI, and I don't remember what all, but the crux of the matter was that two of the three major arteries to his heart were 95% blocked and he had to have two stents put in. They were successful and he is doing much better in the heart department, but I think he is still having the mini-strokes. He got really confused yesterday and couldn't tell me what he was talking about. He got kind of clammy, too, which is another sign. They did an MRI of his brain yesterday morning to check out the stroke thing, so now we're waiting for results. I just hope I don't have to take him back to the ER.

Every day since he's been home has been like a roller coaster. Ups and downs and loopdy-loops! The first couple of days were fine. We spent a lot of time going through cook books, looking for low-sodium recipes that sounded appetizing. The problem is they sound good, but they either don't taste the way they sound, or they take such exotic ingredients that we can't find them or afford them! He is feeling like his throat's been cut, he said. He had to give up cigarettes, Dr. Pepper, salt, fried foods, fats, yadda yadda yadda. All the things he likes and all at the same time!! But I'm really proud of him. He is trying really hard and being really good. He wants to be around to see our grandchildren grow up.

So that's life in our house right now. We are trying to be positive and keep our heads up and always look at the bright side. Most days we succeed, too. We're grateful for each other and for our family, and hope to be around to enjoy them for many years to come.

Now I'm going to show you some of my earlier scrapbook pages. (My kids have all the really early ones...the ones with my own artwork and pictures cut from wrapping paper and birthday cards to decorate the pages.)

 All my first scrapbooks were 81/2 x 11 because that's what we had then. When I decided to make my scrapbooks 12x12, I had to decide whether to leave my old books alone or to redo the pages. Well, they were glued really well and didn't come apart, so I had to find a way to just make them into 12x112 pages, because I wanted all my books to be the same size. The first four pictures are the first four of my children to get married. You can see that they were 8 1/2 x 11, but I added elements to them to bump up the size. Some worked better than others, but I think they all turned out OK.

This was my youngest daughter's wedding, and you can tell that she got married after I started making 12x12 books.

So that's the news and the reason for the lapse in posts this time. The way things are right now, I won't have time to do much in the way of crafting, but I will keep you posted on what's going on with Chuck. This has all put me in a mood to ponder life and love and  what it all means, and I remembered this little poem.

Love puts the fun in together...

                the sad in apart...

                the hope in tomorrow...

                The joy in a heart.

I hope you all have joy in your hearts and appreciate your loved ones while you have them, because you never know when they'll be gone. Have a good night and keep those socks all matched. Gramma G

E Reader!

My oldest daughter, who was just visiting last week, bought me an e-reader. First. she bought the LookBook at Wal*Mart, but when we got it home, she tried it out and didn't like it much. She took that one back bought a AmazonKindle from Best Buy. We tried it out, and didn't like it much either. They were both OK, but navigation was not as easy as I need it to be. I plan to download the LDS scriptures on it and use it at church. That is really my only reason for wanting one, although I will probably put books on it, too, to read in the car. Anyway, back to navigation....it was not easy to get from one book of the bible to another and back again fast and easy. I knew that the class would be on to the next scripture reference before I even got  to the first one! So now, we have ordered one from Wal*Mart.com called the Kyros Touchscreen Entertainment Tablet, made by Coby. Its powered by the Android Market, and I'm not sure what that means, but I know its good. It means it works like an Android phone, with a touchsrcreen and easy navigation between screens, and it also means I can download from any of the e-reader stores out there, and not just from one. The Kindle can only get books from Amazon, and some others only get books from Barnes and Noble, etc. There are a lot of markets out there and I want to have access to them all! Its supposed to be here either Tuesday or Wednesday, so I'll let you know if I like it. I'm really excited about getting it. My eyes are getting so bad that I have to have the large print scriptures, and they are so heavy and my hands and wrists are getting so bad, that they hurt when I hold my scriptures. I seem to be falling apart all over!!!

Okay, here's the last of the ABC book photos.



I told you the uncles would have their day!



I actually got three W's on this page! The more aliteration, the better.

X marks the spot!

This is the granson I made the book for. His name is Cyric.

I got these cute little zebras from Google images and then adjusted for what I wanted.

Well, that's the end of that! And the end of this post, too!  Oops! Not quite.  When you havce the book all done, you can take it to a copy place or to Office Depot or Staples and have them bind it if you want it done professionally. Or ir you have your own binding system, then go for it! You can also put it together with notebook rings, ribbon or torn fabric strips. You can decorate the binding, too, with ribbons and torn fabric strips and embroidery floss, buttons, etc. Just have fun!
Hope you have enjoyed this little project (although not really so little), and yes, it was a lot of work, but my grandsons love it, and that makes it all worthwhile. Keep matchin' up those socks, and I'll see you soon.  Gramma G

Whew!

Well, the rest of the family left today. Kristen has been busy cleaning and I have been surfing the Internet for jobs. Peace and quiet reign once again. Until the kids get home from school. I am still trying to find a legitimate way to earn money on the Internet, and having a hard time of it. My son that was here has found something that might be what I need, and if so, maybe things will get a little better. If I can earn enough money then maybe my husband can stay home and fill his time any way he wants to. We'll work on it.

I think Spring has finally sprung! We are having gorgeous weather here in southern Oregon. Today it's in the low 70's and beautiful. I hope it will stay this way for a while. I want to explore and walk and go to the local parks, etc. etc. etc. The trees are starting to bloom with tiny pink and white blossoms and I need to go to the library and check out a book on the trees of this area. I got one on wild flowers, and so if I get one on trees I will be armed and ready. I love to collect wild flowers. I need to start a new book. I dry a sample and put it in a book, along with the name and when and where I found it. My old book got ruined when we had a flood, so its time to start a new one. I will enlist the aid of the grandchildren as I teach them the proper ways of collecting wildflowers and keeping them for others to see. I love to introduce children to nature. They are so amazed, as am I, at the beauty and oddities that abound in the outdoors. Maybe we'll paint a few water colors this summer, too.

OK. Here is the next installation of the ABC book photos. We're almost done! And the patterns are coming along, too. I have most of them drawn up now, and I just have to make the PDFs, so you can access them online. Working hard, now that the house is back to normal.



I collect sheep paraphernalia, so there had to be lambs in the book somewhere. The first book I did had "Lambs in Leggings." The lambs were at a gym exercising in their leggings and headbands.

We had just been to Disneyland.



The first "O" pages I did were cute. There were  "octagon" windows through which you see the "ocean".



We like postcards, and the little grandson receiving this particular book calls everyone a pickle, so.....

I think "Q" is the hardest one to come up with cute ideas for.



I got these drawings from the dictionary.

Well, that's all for now. Next post will have the rest of the pages. I hope you like them and are inspired to come up with ideas for your own pages. The more personal for the child, the better. They feel really special when their book reflects their own interests.
I heard something really good at church last Sunday. The young man giving the talk in Sacrament meeting said "This life is for testing, not for resting." I don't do a lot of resting, but I'm not sure I'll pass any testing, either, so I better work on that, soon. Keep smilin' and matchin' those socks! Gramma G.



Another day in the life.....

As a grandmother, with no job, life should be slow and soothing, even kind of boring. NOT! My life is anything but boring. My son is visiting right now and life has really been spiced up. He enjoys playing with the kids because he's really a big kid at heart. He gets them riled up and then they all get in trouble, including him! My daughter and her family will be here tomorrow and she has a little one that just learned how to walk. We will be going through the house tomorrow and putting up the breakables. And the plants! It's going to be so much fun, watching him learn to control those little legs and motate.

As I contemplate their visit, I think back to when my kids were little. I really enjoyed them when they were babies, with their darling chubbiness and their engaging smiles. They were so helpless and really needed me. Now they're all grown with children of their own, and I'm only needed when they want a babysitter. I guess that's the way life is supposed to be, but I think it's kind of sad.

Enough of that! On to more ABC pages. I think I might put a whole bunch of them in this post. Just post the photos and let you see what they look like. I am working on making PDF patterns, and I will post a link for those later. So, here goes.....



This is what you see when you turn to the F page.



This is what you see when you pull on the tabs!

There is plenty of room for more grandparents.

The top wings are on brads so they can move.

When I did these titles, my QuicKutz was in storage.

My kids favorite aunt and uncle, Debbie and Jim King.

I tell you, I had a ball making these books. Personalizing them was the best part. My family lives scattered about in Tennessee, Utah, Arizona, Nevada, California and Oregon, so the young ones don't know the whole family. This is one way to give them pictures that they will actually look at and enjoy, and as their moms "read" the book to them, they can tell them who each face belongs to, so they at least know what they look like, even if they don't know them.

More ABC pages next time. Keep your head up and your socks matched. Love ya, Gramma G.

I'm working on it!

The front is kind of plain.

 I've been talking for a long time about building a website. Well, it's finally happening. My son is helping me to create my website and I'n so excited! It will have patterns and projects galore. And there will be links from this blog to the patterns, and maybe to some of the projucts, too. I'm not sure.  Its still a work in progress. There is a lot more work to designing a website than there is in designing a website. So many things that I didn't even know had to be done or COULD be done. And it's going to take some time, for sure. Until its up and running, I'm going to go back to the ABC book and also show you some scrapbook pages. Eventtually, all the patterns for the ABC book will be on the website, too. (I finally figured out how to creat a PDF file.)



The faces on the berries are the aunts.

I'm going to show you the photos of the ABC book, starting way back at the beginning. There will be two or three in each post. I hope you enjoy them. I sure had fun making them, trying to come up with things that you wouldn't find in your run-of-the-mill ABC book. This particular one was made for a grandson.



Under the flaps are stickers of butterflies.

I love to make books and especially fun bools. I do a lot of the drawings myself, so they may not be what you want, but these pictures are just ideas and guides. I encourage you to make the book fit the child. If they like bugs, use bug stickers instead of butterflies, or maybe dad is a cop. Use cops instead of crayons. Use your imagination. You are the one who knows your child best.  And don't worry, the uncles get their 15 minutes of fame, too, later in the book.

Well, that's it for tonight. I know its short, but I have to go to bed. Tomorrow I have to make curtains for two bedrooms, sheers for the living room, finish a pioneer dress and apron, and repair a bonnet. And the kids are out of school for Spring Break! Pretty full day.

My middle son just arrived! I thought he wouldn't be here until tomorrow but it wasn't as long a drive as he thought it would be! See ya later! Keep those socks a matchin'! Gramma G.



Life is a Rollercoaster!

With all of its ups and downs, life is still better than the alternative, but I could do without so much drama. Those of you out there who have big families.....do they get along?  How do you handle it when they don't? I have a hard time dealing with my family when they fight. My youngest daughter is a daddy's girl and the rest of the kids hate it. It causes a lot of friction and I don't know what to do about it. I fight with him about it but it doesn't change, and I don't blame my other kids for their feelings. And the youngest takes advantage of it, too, and that makes everything worse!

So I've spent the last 24 hours wondering if its all worth it. In my heart I know it is, but motherhood is a bummer sometimes. And so is wife hood. Oh, well, enough of that.

Today is my grandson's birthday and we're having a big spaghetti dinner and cake and ice cream afterwards. He is 11 years old and a very sweet boy. (Most of the time. He is after all, a boy!) The spankings have already begun! One here and one there, all day long. Poor kid. But he is enjoying it, too. Don't take what I said earlier wrong.....I love my family very much. And I love being here for these special days. If I could have the grands without their parents, I might just do it.

Well, this is a short posting, but I have to go wrap presents and cook dinner. Later, Gramma G.