Ack! Gak!

I'm probably the biggest kid you know! I love to make things! I love big machines! I want to know how things work!! So perhaps that is part of why I enjoy my grandkids so much... I get to be a kid with them.

On Monday, Grammie-day, Fiona and I tried our hand at making Gak. I'd read about it on Pinterest and it sounded pretty straight-forward and easy. The ingredients were easy to get at my neighborhood Ream's on my way to pick up the kiddies.

But the reality of our first experiment...  should be classed as a Pinterest-Fail. The recipe I found made it sound like all you had to do was add all the stuff together and you got great gobs of gooey gak. Not so! We got something much firmer and more flubber-like! The only way I could get it to slime and stretch was by heating it in the microwave. But, not to worry, Miss Bitty and I (plus Auntie Ann who had stopped by for a quick visit) managed to have some fun with it anyway. We could roll it out and cut it. But it would break apart and wouldn't squish back together again.

So today, after some more research online about WHY borax and white glue make gak/slime, I determined that I would give it another try. I'd also pinned a recipe for bouncy balls made in a similar way.

Erm... it was fun for about NO MINUTES! It congealed too quickly to be a cohesive ball when I rolled it in my hands. AND when I tried my microwave trick it really killed it! All I got for my efforts was a photo-bombing dog and pink hands. Bah!

Now here is the funny part... all of this was inspired because my niece posted on Facebook that she's made play-doh. So when I had my second fail I pulled out a box of Jell-O because I just knew that's what she'd said her recipe was. Fortunately, after some sleuthing, I found that her recipe was made with Kool-Aid (well, it's kind of the same!) But I didn't have Kool-Aid on hand so I needed to make a trip to the store.

While I was browsing the glue aisle at Walmart I saw the Elmer's clear glue... HA! I'd give that gak one last (well, maybe not... maybe I'll keep doing it!) try using the knowledge I'd gathered in my research. I found some odd dude who talked about adding the borax solution A LITTLE AT A TIME until you reach the level of sliminess you want.

I'm still not totally happy with the results. I think I got impatient and added a little too much borax solution so this is a bit firmer than I'd like. But, BUT I did play with a ball of it for, erm, a long time!

So here are some pointers for anyone who'd like to learn from my experiments.

• Use Steve Spangler's instructions but use clear glue if you want a transparent Gak. Although you can get a bottle of white glue for 44 cents at Walmart if you don't mind opaque!
• Unless you want a whole boat load of slime/gak only make half a recipe. A 4 oz bottle of clear Elmer's made over a cup of Gak.
• Add the borax solution s-l-o-w-l-y, a little at a time- don't use more than half to begin with.
• Manipulate the slime with your hands for several minutes before deciding if you want your slime to turn into flubber! I added a little more and it got too stiff REAL FAST. T t still breaks instead of stretching if I try to stretch it too fast, but it will squish back together right away.
• Next time I will also use less food coloring. Yikes... at least I stayed in the same color family with the pink and purple.

Makin' Bread

First off, I just want to say how grateful I am that Camille and Kevin let me have these Grammie-days! Usually I have Miss Bitty and Chunka-Monka every other Monday... We both look forward to these days.

Keeping my Mama, the original Grammy, in mind I try to think of the wonderful things we used to do when I was a little! My Mama was 39 when I was born; I was her 3rd family: after raising first, her brothers and then my sisters 8-10 when I was born. I truly was her little shadow and if we were going to cook something? Well, she couldn't possible do it without me!

After Chunka-Monka, the King-of-Snuggles, was down for his afternoon nap Miss Bitty and I had a job to do! Grammie's been NEEDING some cinnamon swirl bread!

I remembered that recently I'd discovered that my 3-step step-stool made a perfect perch for Bitty-helpers (It also doubles as a highchair!) so I brought it up from the furnace room.

After Miss Bitty was safely on her perch with her apron on, tied in front (Grammie, too), I got out the Bosch and recipe box. I found the recipe and handed it to her while absentmindedly saying, "First we need to read the recipe!" What a smart little girl!

Of course she had to accompany me on a trip to the dungeon to get the canned milk and pour it into the measuring cup to heat up. When it came time for the flour measuring we had a couple of spills, which is to be expected. Then she would pick up a little flour off the counter and then dust her hands onto the floor and just chortle! What a magical sound!

And every successful baker HAS to have a rolling pin! When Spencer's family was here at Christmas I devised these 1" PVC pipe rolling pins for all of the squishy play (read- Play-Doh).

YOU NOTICE HARLEY, HER EVERY FAITHFUL COMPANION, IS RIGHT THERE TO OBSERVE!

After we'd mixed the cinnamon, sugar and butter for the swirly part I asked Miss Bitty if she'd like to taste it. Ahhh, a taste-explosion in her little-girl mouth! AND another implement for dough manipulation!

Then she needed to spread on the yumminess! Notice that this is not the first trip from bowl to dough!

I asked her if she wanted to eat her dough. She quickly assented and popped the whole gaggy-blob in her mouth. Needless to say, it didn't stay there very long before she realized it was not going to go down. We took it out (read- Grammie caught it!) and cut it into smaller pieces just right for tasting.

Have you ever seen such a darling little taster??

When it was time for her and brother to return home we took one of our unbaked-loaves (on the heated seat!) to bake at her very-own house.

I'm so grateful that I have such a wonderful role-model as my dear Mama! I absolutely love this life of mine!

A Very Blessed Christmas

My Christmas was wonderfully happy and chocked full of family... which is what made it so happy. In a week's time I got to see most of my children and their families: it just doesn't get any better than that.

Bekah, Curtis, Caden and Brock came to Utah for Curt's grandma's funeral and we got to visit with them on the Monday and Tuesday before Christmas. It was heaven! First thing I had to get a pix with my *little* boys! I guess I'm just their little Grammie!

We had such a lovely time.

Bekah said it best in her weekly letter to Tadhg-

We were able to visit with Camille and Stuart and all their little ones at Grammie's house for dinner on Monday and Tuesday! That was the best part, being able to visit and get my baby fix. I was able to hold and rock baby Emmy for a long time and got some baby squeezes in on chunky Liam! Stu put Emmy and Fiona through the paces of his kiddy circus act.

Boxing day, or as it is known at my house- Dia del Boxeo, was a wonderful success. Spencer, Deborah, Riley and Annabelle arrived early that morning for a week-long stay.

My family is always so good helping me remember that I want to get a family photo before people start leaving. I almost like this one better than the first!

Annabelle came prepared to play in the snow. Her daddy chose just the right Christmas gift accessories for this beautiful little girl.

Riley and Chief spent a lot of time romping in the snow too.

The sibs got together frequently for fun activities. This day Deb, Spencer and Stuart had a trek up Hobble Creek canyon.

The next day the three couples went to the Payson Temple together while I had Grammie duties! When I saw these three precious faces sitting at my counter it took me instantly back to when their parents were lined up just so.

The next day they all went to the Zoo without Grammie... too cold for Grammie!

Teeny-belle, as her Daddy calls her, got to know her Grammie again. It usually takes a few days for her to warm up to her long-distance Grammie.

Fortunately, Riley knows his Grammie loves him and has no worries about crawling into bed with me in the middle of the night after a bad dream. Sweet Harley did his doggy-therapy-duties several nights for Riley snuggled up with him in bed for the whole night. Harley's good that way... he always know who needs his love. (Although Harley would never let me catch him in a photo op!)

This wonderful Christmas season started with taquitos for the Flynns and then again on Boxing day and ended with our traditional waffles with strawberries and whipped cream at midnight on New Year's Eve (even though we started early as soon as the waffles started coming off the irons at 11:45!)

It is the best Christmas I've had in decades! And I am very, very grateful for that rich and wonderful blessing!