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!

Provo Temple- The End of My Era

So many feelings swirling in my head this day... I don't even know where to start this post. Perhaps at the end. Today was the last shift I served as an ordinance worker in the Provo Temple. I've served for 10 years 7 months.

TODAY, 16 DECEMBER 2015

I was set apart on Amanda's birthday, May 19, 2005. I didn't realize then that I was embarking on a wonderful, healing journey.

JOANIE CIRCA 2005

I don't think I realized how much grieving I had just stuffed in a hole because life had to go on. I know that most of that healing is due to my service in the Temple. I've come to an understanding and peace on so many things that needed to be dealt with, but life was always too busy, until now! I've recorded many beautiful, sacred experiences in my journal that all happened in the Temple. Oh, I am so eternally grateful to my Heavenly Father for this great blessing.

As I've pondered on this post I remembered the first time I attended the Provo Temple.

It was the summer of 1975, my Mom and sisters, all avid genealogists, were going to attend a genealogy workshop in Provo Utah. I was so desperate to be with everyone else that I offered to come and be the resident day-care provider for all of the little cousins since I was not a genealogist! Mom flew me, Bekah and Tony from Priest River, Idaho (actually Spokane, WA to Salt Lake City via Denver with these two littles! Bekah, 22 months and Tony, 3) I came a few days early and stayed with Ann and Wayne in Elsinore.

BEKAH, JOANIE AND TONY

27 JULY 1975

ELSINORE, UT

We all met up in Provo and stayed in Helaman Halls. I was the Auntie day-care for 8 little Caraway cousins! It was lovely (if you don't count that we all got salmonella!!) but, truly, it was wonderful to be together as the Caraway girls again.

On one of the afternoons I was able to go to the  Provo Temple. I've always hungered to serve in the Temple.  My sweet Mama, always the photographer, recorded that event for me. She stood up on the balcony to get a picture of me as I left to walked up to the Temple.

And an wave for the camera.

So, after all of the photos I've posted of the Provo Temple over the last 10+ years, this is the last day I am officially an ordinance worker.

But you know what? I will be going back frequently even after I begin as an ordinance worker at the new Provo City Center Temple in March.

Tomato-y Goodness

My Daddy told stories with the best of Texans! He was born in 1897! No, that is not a typo... he was 55 when I was born.

When Baby-Jake was just toddling about some kind neighbor brought by a bushel basket of tomatoes and left them on the porch. Back then, in the rural pan-handle of Texas, folks believed raw tomatoes would poison you. (I never could work that one out!) Baby-Jake was a sickly little guy but he managed to get over to that bushel basket of ripe tomatoes and ATE THEM (dun! dun! dun!) Almost immediately he stopped being so sickly. He always credited his improvement in health to those tomatoes.

MY DADDY, BABY-JAKE AND HIS SISTER FRANK

CIRCA 1898

Thankfully, we know that tomatoes, particularly garden grown, are marvelous! And my little grandchildren totally agree with their great-Grampy!

Lasterday was our early Thanksgiving (I'd rather have ALL of our [local] children on any day than only part of them or stressed-out kids on THE day!) After dinner Fiona came up from the dungeon with a tomato and it reminded me that I have several boxes of ripening tomatoes ferreted away weeks ago when I put the garden to bed for the winter.

I had Kaia and Elise bring them up to the dining room table in hopes that I might be able to *pedal* some of them to the family. (It always amazes me at how hard it is to give away garden produce this time of year. We are all *so done with that* and just want them gone!)

Camille and I were sitting at the table visiting. I was holding my sleeping baby-boy, but when he woke up he wanted his Mama!! She was trying to send an email to a co-worker and not paying attention to Mr Chunka-Monka- who I was watching as he and his big sister, Miss Bitty, were sampling Grammie's tomatoes (THEY are not *so done with that*!)

That's one of the wonderful things about being the Grammie... most things amuse me rather than aggravate me! Chunka, with only his two little teeth, was making a good job of demolishing eating tomatoes! 

(Those CHEEKS! I DIE!)

When Camille noticed she wanted me to get photos of his tomato-y goodness... all down the front of him...

And all down the front of Mama! (She texted me later and told me he needed a bath because he smelled like tomatoes! Imagine that?)

He thoroughly enjoyed his Thanksgiving feast of first yams and then tomatoes for dessert! (Grammie had some of Suzi's wonderful salad for dessert!)

As Camille and I talked about how precious he was with his tomato-eating we remembered that last year, almost to the day, Miss Bitty did the same thing at Grammie's house.

MISS BITTY, 19 NOVEMBER 2014

She has her tomato in one hand and her [banned and illegal] Kinder toy in the other. (Stuart and Stephanie smuggled brought it back to me last fall when they returned from Europe.)

I can hardly believe that the little girl who speaks paragraphs to us today was this tiny girl just one year ago.

I was quite certain I'd blogged about this day, when Miss Bitty was alternately gnawing on the tomato AND the fingernail file! But I could find no trace of it. I even had to dig... dig DEEP, to find these photos. That's what I get for taking photos with my iPad instead of my iPhone. Fortunately I hadn't deleted them!

Lord, Be Thou My Helper

Today as I was pondering on the scriptures Psalms 30:10-11 jumped off the page at me and I knew that it would need to be this week's #ponderizing scripture!

My mind has been on the trials of this world that we all must face and how taxing that can be. My prayers go out to them in their grief and struggling.

Fortunately, my trials are very small; for which I am very grateful.

This year I have spent much time in prayer pleading for relief from the years of grief. And as always happens, Heavenly Father was just waiting for me to ASK to have this burden lifted and has been quick to grant my plea.

As I pondered this completed graphic formed in my mind. I may not be able to do much... but I stand as witness that our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ never leave us to *go it alone*!! They will reach out to comfort, strengthen, uplift and guide us.

They want us to be successful in our journey back to them!!

I share here, as well, last week's ponderizing scripture.

October Pondering

The first Sunday in October I introduced my first of many ponderizing scriptures. Even before we learned this new word I've been someone who loves to ponder, and memorize, scriptures. They feed my soul, lift my spirits and strengthen my faith. And in recent years, since I started making graphics, I've created other photo/scripture combos.

So, without further ado, I will share the remainder of this month's images.

This has always been one of my favorite scriptures. I love that Christ is the center of the plan of salvation and the prophets have taught of Him since the beginning.

PHOTO TAKEN IN MALAD CITY, IDAHO 10 OCTOBER 2015

This is a new scripture to me. Sister Ashton shared this hidden gem in our Temple prayer meeting. I immediately saw this photo and scripture coming together just as you see it here. Oh, how I love the word of God!

PHOTO TAKEN IN MY GARDEN 25 AUGUST 2013

THE VINE ENCIRCLED THE FRUIT AS IT GREW!

This is another of my favorite scriptures. I'm so grateful that the Lord's has made my weakness strong in Him: because of my dyslexia I've learned to memorize... usually memorized words and numbers will stay straight. But even more I am so grateful that HIS grace makes the difference. HIS grace lifts and strengthens me even, and maybe most especially, when I am weak HE will lift me in a very real and tangible way.

SUNSET OVER HUNTER'S VALLEY, SPRINGVILLE, UTAH

 21 OCTOBER 2015

** This is the first scripture image I created from June 2010

Sewing Lessons

One of my favorite things is sewing! I started when I was 8 years old and have never stopped! I realize not everyone likes/wants to sew... but I love it.

It is a great pleasure for me to teach this skill to my daughters, granddaughters, and, yes, even a son or two!!

Miss Roxie just turned 9 this month so prior to her birthday I asked her if she would like to do sewing lessons with Grammie! I received a very enthusiastic *YES* from this little sunshine girl. That made choosing a birthday gift a no-brainer!

I took my plethora of JoAnn coupons to Juanita's (you know! JoAnn's in Spanish! Bwahahaha) and put together a little sewing box for her complete with: 2 pairs of scissors, hem gauge, seam ripper (aka un-sewer), tape measure, pins, and then...

I made her a cute flower pincushion to match the happy gerbara daisy sewing box.

I started by telling her how I took 4-H lessons at Mary Greiner's house (where she always had something smelly cooking on the stove!). I'm so glad for all of the advances in sewing paraphernalia in the past 55 years. Instead of  *pulling a thread* to get a cut on the straight of the grain I whipped out my cutting mat and rotary cutter and showed her how to cheat that time-consuming process! Mary's first project was always an apron!

We talked about measurements and how addition and FRACTIONS are so important to the process. She very adeptly added the hem and seam allowance to the finished length, cut (with a learning curve) her apron body and sash with the rotary cutter.

This little cutie shows great aptitude for sewing. It took very little instruction to teach her how to use the sewing machine to run a double row of gathering threads, then pull the threads to make the fabric gather and distribute them evenly.

Today's lesson took us to having the waistband sewn onto the apron and then Mommy arrived. Roxie really wanted to finish her apron TODAY! (I so get that... it took me years to be able to enjoy the process and not just the finished garment!)

We folded the fabric neatly and returned it to her box, along with the extra fabric and some needles in case she feels the need to create before next week's lesson.

THIS! THIS!! is one of the very great pleasures of being a Grammie... Roxie's Grammie,

Lucky Grammie!

Ponderize- I love the Lord

I've always been blessed with a believing heart and most of the time obedience is easy for me. I realize the great truth that the Lord will bless me when I obey His commandments.

Today in General Conference Elder Devin Durrant gave us two challenges... tonight I want to talk about the second one (but the first one is excellent advice also).

He introduced his made up word-

(And anyone who knows me knows I love made up words!)

So in that spirit of obedience I accept the challenge! I want my *packets of light* to increase. I want my confidence to wax strong. I want to enjoy the blessings of having a closer relationship with my Heavenly Father and His son, Jesus Christ.

And why have I chosen this scripture over all the thousands there are to choose from? As part of my commitment to increase my spiritual strength I will go back to my paper scriptures instead of my electronic scriptures. So tonight I opened my scriptures at random and found these words- already loved and highlighted from an early time.

Prayer has always been a great comfort to me and I bear testimony that the Lord hears and answers our prayers...

Do we always get what WE WANT? Thank goodness, no. The Lord, in His wisdom, guides us down the path He wants us to tread... carrying us when necessary.

Grammie's Helper

This fall I have the blessing of having Fiona and Liam come to my house every other Monday. I can't even begin to describe how much I enjoy this time with these sweet babies. There is just something magical about have being with grandchildren one on one... but to have them at my house is even sweeter.

I bought a flat of strawberries at Ream's on Saturday evening and put the directly into the fridge. This morning I noticed that a couple of the boxes had a *hairy* strawberry in it and needed my attention. After putting Liam down for his morning nap Miss Bitty and I tackle the job of strawberry washing.

Call me silly, but I don't just rinse my strawberries. I like to  put them into a sink of water and swish them around. *Nona* helped me put them into the cold water... some got the dump and others got to go in one at a time. Of course there was a liberal amount of tasting.

This little girl (who JUST turned two) speaks in complete sentences, just like a big person. It always blows me away that we have conversations!

When we'd fished all of the washed strawberries out of the left sink and into the waiting colander I pointed out to Miss Nona how dirty the water was and that is why we wash them.

Without missing a beat she said, "Looks like they pooped in the water!" Bwahahaha!

Since all I planned on doing with this flat of berries was to freeze them for *Grammie's Shake-its* our job was soon completed. Such a happy day.