The Jackson Family

Ugh, I can't handle it

2012-02-11T23:02:00.000-07:00

Too much teal, I gotta go change the color to something else less bright, maybe the nice soft green they've got. Otherwise I like the new layout of my blog.

BTW, thanks to everyone who's following me. It means a lot, really, especially as there are months sometimes in between my blog posts, then I blog 4 times in one day (like today). Please forgive me any typos that I have missed, I try to catch them all, but do miss a few. I just can't seem to spell "the" and "just" right on the first try unless I'm really concentrating on my typing, other words get messed up too though especially at night when I'm tired.

Now I'm gonna go watch that lady's tutorial again just to make sure I got the casting on part right, then I'm going to commence knitting. I have to admit to some excitement! ;) Have a good night, y'all!

=) Gayle

Muffins

2012-02-11T22:56:00.000-07:00

Well they look beautiful!! Exactly the way that muffins w/ blueberries are supposed to look. However, let this be a lesson to us all, LEMON YOGURT & Bananas DO NOT mesh well in the baked muffin flavor scheme. Instead they served to make me feel slightly nauseous! Dang, I knew I should have left that last banana for baby K to munch on for dinner, but no i had to use it up.

On the other hand, the muffins taste delicious when you think of the blueberries, sunflower & flax seed... they are a bit bland though. I guess I really shouldn't have shorted the recipe of the sugar either, but I was being experimental, and it got me a lovely-looking muffin that I'm not sure that I can eat anymore of them. Good thing that my boys love them though!!! Because I doubled the recipe & got 3 dozen muffins (I make mine a bit smaller, my kids don't know any different).

Now I want a tasty Blueberry muffin, but from my Nut Bread recipe... unaltered recipe. Perhaps tomorrow after Church, I'll make some more muffins, after all I do have another package of fresh blueberries needing to be used up. This time I'll follow the recipe exactly with no excessive alterations (though I do admit to putting in more blueberries & extra sliced almonds in as well as some ground flax seed, but those only add to the goodness of the recipe).

Trying something new

2012-02-11T14:27:00.000-07:00

I went looking for a way to spread out my blog a little, I wanted to have 3 columns of print, well I got them now, but somehow along the way I managed to mess up my color scheme too. Then my kids interrupted me a few times and I lost the one that was quite close to the way I had it before, now I guess I'll stick with the teal one for a little while. Still gotta bake those muffins, the batter is halfway mixed up, and I'm feeling kinda frustrated right now too so I think that I'll give the internet a rest and just crochet while listening to a book on CD for the rest of the time while baby K is sleeping (oh finally sleeping).

I feel really tired too, so if this post seems garbled, that's why. Plus my head hurts & my 3 yo son keeps showing up with miscellaneous questions & comments about why can he play outside... then there's the poppy underwear of said boy above that needs scrubbing, and 9 yo son wants to sit & read with me or make flying noises while I'm trying to listen to said CD, then 7 yo son wants to eat and play outside ONLY - no chores today okay Mom? Except, there's no way I'm cleaning ALL of their stinky bathroom by myself, you make the mess you clean it up... and your room too needs to be cleaned up, or we'll get a backhoe in here to clean it for you!

**GGGRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR** Hear the tired, frustrated, grumpy Mommy roar!!! Back to the muffins now, they are looking pretty good. I'm using a yummy Lemon Yogurt recipe I've had forever and just throwing in a lot of extras, then hoping it tastes as good as I want it too... plus am decreasing the sugar because I added extra yogurt so I could decrease the oil. And on I run.......

Trying to teach myself how to knit... again

2012-02-11T13:29:00.001-07:00

The thing is, I still remember hwo to knit & purl, but the big hang-up for me is that I jsut can't seem to recall how to cast on. Well I've been hunting around YouTube in hopes of finding someone who's posted a vid showing the same way of casting on that I learned as a child in Shelly Watson's 4-H class (at least I think her name was Watson, do you remember Amelia?). Anyhow, I'm fairly sure that this vid is the same way I learned all those years ago (coming up on 30 years ago), well apparently this link goes to a group of vids (videos/movies). I'm not talking about the casting on method the lady calls the e-loop, which while it's easy, hear that it's not very stable. Oh no, I'm talking about the long tail method (or so I've seen/heard several people refer to it). Here's another link, this lady explains it quite well especially as the other lady left a very important detail out, as in which hand holds the tail & which hand holds the working yarn, oh yeah super important stuff that!

Anyhow, once I get the hang of casting on, then I'll practice knitting & purling, maybe for a cotton dishcloth. By then I would think that I could remember what I'm doing long enough to have it emblazoned into my short-term memory & be able to do more with it than just a simple dishcloth.

In the meantime, I'll also keep on crocheting, something that I love that it doesn't take 2 needles to do. After I find my knitting needles, well then I'll give some of these tute's (tutorials) a try, then I'll post again about my results.

For now, I'm off to make Blueberry muffins w/ yogurt and maybe that last sad-looking banana & some ground flax seed as well -- YUM!!! Oh mustn't forget to put nuts or sunflower seeds in too... to me, baked goods are just so much better with the addition of nuts & seeds!!!

Have a great day y'all!

Birthday Flowers

2012-01-15T02:42:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to show off this gorgeous bouquet of flowers that my hubby gave to me... he may not have been home to pick them out personally but I think that Vernal Floral did a fantastic job of making them up. Ahh that man knows just what I like! ;)

Yellow Dress is done!!

2012-01-15T02:20:00.000-07:00

I finished the yellow under-dress for the turquoise jumper/dress that I made yesterday. So here's a few pics I took tonight. I'm happy with the way it turned out. Now I need to go catch some needed sleep.

2 hour baby jumper/dress

2012-01-14T11:07:00.001-07:00

Yep, I've been sewing again. I love it, I just can't get enough of it, it's like I'm trying to make up for the year or so where I didn't sew a stitch until I made baby K's blessing dress, then didn't sew again until June last year. Anyhow, now that I have this little shop, I want to make cute baby clothes to sell, but first I've been trying the patterns out on baby K. So, here's the latest item, a reversible baby jumper which some might call a dress [but my Mom always called these "jumpers" so I do too].

Now I sewed the whole thing together in under 2 hours, but I cut it out on another day. However it's an easy pattern to cut out, so anyhow here it is. I used this pattern,

but I lengthened and widened the pattern after I traced it off (then figured out how to make the pattern big enough for a child up to 5 years).

Then I used the two turquoise printed fabrics to make the jumper, but the bright yellow is going to be the under-dress for this dress, which can be worn as a dress on it's own. The cute orange gingham is going to be made into a little blouse for my darling baby K to go with some pants I plan to make her from a gray w/ orange stripe sweatpants-type knit I've got (sitting on my dryer waiting for it's turn to be washed). But that's another day's project.

And now for the jumper/dress. It is sooo cute, and I couldn't believe how easy it actually was to make. I have some gorgeous fine-whale corduroy I bought (at Walmart `cuz there's no where else to buy non-quilting cotton fabric around here other than the quilt shops), 3 different pieces, so this is great practice before I start working with them. Now without further ado....

Just so you know the pics of the jumper was taken last night at like 1:30 am so after dark so the colors don't show up as good. And now... on to change a couple diapers and to sew my lovely yellow under-dress for baby K. Maybe if I get to it, I'll get the orange blouse cut out. I'll be using Leila and Ben's pattern for 12-5T (but the pic on this one is so much cuter) to make the yellow under-dress as well as the orange gingham blouse. I really like this pattern (and no I don't get anything for saying so). Oh, the dress I made for my 300 fans on Facebook Giveaway is from this pattern, I used lots of shirring with I love!! Here's another look at that dress. Just look at the grin that popped out when I pulled out the camera, wasn't she such a cute model for this dress?

I just love peasant-style dresses & tops. Maybe I'll even make some for myself someday. And now off to sew some more...

Another fun one

2012-01-05T21:22:00.000-07:00

You may have noticed that lots of my posts lately include links to fun stuff I want to try sewing. Anyhow here's another one, well two actually. Links to sewing your own business card holders, the first one is super easy, makes me want to go buy some thin clear vinyl to make one for me (and maybe a couple as gifts, she don't want us selling her ideas), here's the link to that one, did I mention it's easy? ;) Like 3 steps.

Okay now the other business card holder pattern is here, when it's folded up, it looks like a cute little fabric wallet.

Now you might wonder why I'm posting these, well I'm kinda tired of packing my cards around in my pocket where they get crumpled (because I hate packing a purse around, but I think I can handle one of these little card holder thingies).
I've had this idea running through my mind about how to make one, so I had to google patterns this morning (either that or doze off on keyboard). These 2 aren't really what I want but I think I will make one of each for sewing practice (especially the one with vinyl), then try to make up my idea. It's kinda a cross between these too, but different yet. I love sewing so these will just be fun.

=) Gayle

Tuesday Jan 3rd... record posting day for me!

2012-01-05T08:32:00.000-07:00

I think I posted 4 times in a row that day?! Hmm... but I was just excited because I'd found so many fun things I just wanted to share with everyone (not that very many are interested in my blog, I know it's pretty boring lately).

Today I'm just kinda blah... then I go cough cough cough, hard as can be then I feel like crap again. I couldn't relax and get to sleep until almost 5 am this morning, I woke up at like 7:43 am so I got a bit of sleep, but I think this might be one of those days when I lay on the floor & let the kids play on or around me.
Part of my not sleeping is because hubby is gone to Kansas for 3 months, though he might get to come home for a week or so each month; and other part is because I get settled & comfortable then I start coughing like crazy until my lungs burn, my throat feels on fire & my heart is racing crazily. I feel like it's the same cold baby K has but then again it seems related to this breathing issue I have & still need to get tested for (to see do I have asthma or is it COPD), guess I should try harder to find out, but it's hard to go out in public when you feel so crappy and people look at you weird when you cough hard like that.

Today though I hope to have a nap then get some sewing done. I really miss sewing & plan to get a bunch done while hubby is away; plan to crochet up a bunch of my flower hair clips, say 3 or 4 of each solid color of yarn I have to be ahead a bit in case I start making a bunch of sales this winter and I can be ahead. Have been thinking of all kinds of other things to make to add to my Etsy shop inventory, and I plan to give some sneak peeks of what these are in coming days & weeks on here.

For now though, time to go take care 3rd son T as he's still not potty trained (though he'll grumpily go sit on it if I tell him to, just won't do it on his own & hides away when he goes in his diaper); have decided not to push it much right now though, just too exhausted to care much. Seriously if this stubborn kid of mine wants to have a sore bum, so be it!

=) Gayle

Christmas 2011

2012-01-03T14:50:00.000-07:00

Perhaps I should have put this post first before every other one I've written today, but my mind runs in circles sometimes.

So we had a great Christmas, sadly I neglected to think about taking any pics until AFTER everything was cleaned up! *smacks forehead* What was I thinking?? Oh yeah, nothing apparently!

We had a great Christmas though my kids thought they'd die. I told my boys ('cuz really Katelynn didn't really care) they could ONLY get into their stockings on Christmas morning but NOTHING else until after Church. LOL, thank goodness we had the early block, yup 9 am church, but the last one for a year, yay! I knew we'd not get to church otherwise, and I really wanted to go because it was only for an hour and I was pretty sure it was going to be mostly music. ;)

So stockings only, then breakfast, Church, then home to change clothes b4 opening presents... which we did quite well, all the while smelling that delicious ham cooking!! Yum!

Hope you all had a fabulous Christmas & a fun-filled New Year's Eve/Day!

=) Gayle

Something else fun I just found

2012-01-03T14:11:00.001-07:00

Have you ever wanted to learn how to do SMOCKING? Yeah? Me too. Well, I've just been reading along on Sew Homegrown, and up pops a tutorial by the blog author's Mom on SMOCKING! Yay! Here's a link you can use to check it out! I'm going to go finish reading about it, then I'm going back over to CrochetSpot to finish reading about the Magic Circle because I got distracted. ;)

I love the way little girls' dresses look so cute with smocking on them, guess it's time for me to get sewing again!!

Oh yeah, here's the rest of the story to go with the link for smocking above!

=) Gayle

Hmm....

2012-01-03T13:32:00.000-07:00

Just viewed my "public" blog. Guess I really need to update the photo of my family, since Taw (baby in pic) is almost 4, and of course my little Katelynn is no where to be seen there. Now she's going to be 13 months old this Friday! Wow, how times just flies along!

Another crochet link

2012-01-03T13:28:00.000-07:00

Have I mentioned the CrochetSpot before? No? Well It's a great place to go visit if you like to crochet as much as I do, there's always new patterns she's made up (well there's more than just one "she" I guess). But today, I like the article on how you can use the "magic circle" in more than just starting out your piece. I haven't read the whole article, but will. So you want to see it? Alright, go here to check it out! I'm on my way there right now too. ;) Plus on the main page, there's a new pattern for a sweater I want to go drool over... because I'm just not brave enough to make sweaters yet.

=) Gayle

GIVEAWAY on Fabrics and Flowers Facebook Page

2011-12-21T10:00:00.000-07:00

I hit 250 fans/likes on my Facebook page last week so am now hosting a Giveaway of 3 items. Enter to win by following the directions on Fabrics and Flowers FB page.

Anyhow, here are some pics of the items that I'm giving away:
First, this larger than usual crocheted flower hair clip.

2nd item: 12 month old baby dress (fits up to a 24 month old baby as a dress, then could be used even longer as a tunic or top). Lots more pics.

3rd item, diaper clutch in boy colors.

Family

2011-12-19T08:10:00.000-07:00

Hi all,

I spent part of my weekend in my hometown of Mt. Pleasant (Utah) helping with the celebration my siblings and I had planned for my Dad's 80th birthday. We'd had a birthday dinner for him on his birthday Dec. 16 at his home, then on Saturday we had an Open House for him to visit with all his friends and various relatives.

Anyhow, we also reminisced over our favorite "Daddy" memories; like when my Dad made his ice cream sandwiches for my sister Amelia's new in-laws just a few hours after she was married (her anniversary is coming up tomorrow, 15 years for her). Dad's ice cream sandwiches consist of a slab of ice cream between 2 slices of his heavy whole wheat bread made in his bread machine, he likes to experiment with the liquid in his bread using pickle juice, green bean [cooking] water, or sweet potatoes for examples.

I love my family, and all we've done together; and what we still continue to do together or/and for each other. The joy of family is indeed on of the true joys of life!

=) Gayle

More crocheted flowers

2011-12-05T14:39:00.001-07:00

Have been using the Eggbird Designs flower pattern to make some cute little crocheted blooms. I like using the Caron Soft yarn because it makes smaller flowers, but in some colors all I have is the heavier worsted yarn so the flowers are much bigger than I want. I've been thinking about buying more Caron yarn, but for now am just going to use what I have. I plan to make at least 2 flowers in each solid color I have, then either use them for Katelynn or sell them in my Etsy shop -- haven't decided for sure yet. But really, look at this pattern, can you imagine the nearly endless color combinations?

=) Gayle

Crochet scarf

2011-11-29T15:05:00.001-07:00

I may have mentioned on here, but I belong to Swap-bot.com (we swap all kinds of stuff with each other). Anyhow one of the most recent swaps i was part of was a scarf swap. I made a lovely red & blue scarf for my partner and the lady who had me, made me a scarf using this pattern here. She made the body of the scarf in a soft bright yellow yarn and the edging color in black. [At least I assume that she used this pattern, as my scarf looks just like the one in the pattern except for the colors.] Anyhow, I've decided to make a couple of these in different colors to match some of my favorite shirts. They're beautiful and keep my neck warm at the same time, and since I'm cold so much of the time, I like anything that keep me warm. I'll post a picture when I either get one made or remember to take off this yellow & black scarf to take a pic of it. :)

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving day!

Button Flower Pin crochet pattern

2011-11-29T14:56:00.001-07:00

I repeatedly find then lose this pattern, so have hunted around & found it yet again, now I have decided that I need to post it so that the next time I lose it again I can just come here to look at it to refresh my memory on how to make them.

Okay so I originally got this pattern from www.yarncat.com/ButtonFlowerPin.html, however it appears that this website is no more. I believe that this is the owner of the pattern here, but she doesn't display any patterns on her blog.

These are flowers that I have made using this pattern, though her pattern only shows two rows & I've added a third row of flower petals. And yeah, the date thingy is off on my camera, all is accurate except the year, these were taken in 2011.

Anyhow, in it's entireity (word for word), here is the Button Flower Pin crochet pattern, Design2004 by Catherine Lindsey.

This big flower pin works up so fast, you'll want to make on to match every outfit in your closet! Search through GRanny's button box for interesting vintage buttons. [Her example was made in vintage Red Heart Classic Brushed yarn in Ebony Sparkle.]

You'll need:
small amount of yarn/thread,
hook to match, shank button, safety pin.

The example uses worsted weight yarn, a G hook, 1/2" shank button, 1" safety pin, and is 3-1/2 inches across. (I also tend to use a G hook.)

To make:
Leaving a long tail for sewing, ch 4, sl st to form ring.
Round 1:
Ch 1, (sc in loop, ch 3) 6 times. Join with sl st to first sc (6 loops).
Round 2:
Ch 1, in each loop work (sc, ch 1, 3 dc, ch1 , sc). Do not join. (6 petals)
Round 3:
Ch 2, sl st in back stitches of second dc on first petal of Rnd 1. Ch 5 (sl st in back stitches of second dc of next petal, ch 5) 5 times. Do not join. (6 ch-5 loops)
Round 4:
In each ch-5 loop work (sl st, ch 2, 6 dc, ch 2, sl st). Fasten off, weave in end.

Using long beginning tail, sew shank button and safety pin on back of flower.

Walking and walking and..... stuff

2011-11-02T07:31:00.000-06:00

Well I wasn't wrong in my last post. Baby K was determined to keep trying until she got the walking thing down (silly me for hoping she'd fall down enough that she'd give up the walking idea for awhile, NOPE!). She now walks all over the house, though I still keep her contained out of the kitchen most of the time. She is so cute & fun to watch as she takes her little almost dancing steps down the hallway, tiny fists clenched and raised chest-high for balance. She stumbles and gets right back up, or crawls away... giggles and all.

Poor little thing though, she has caught her Daddy's cold, and while not deeply congested yet, it is still disrupting her sleep enough that she won't [fall to] sleep unless on Mama.

Other news on the home-front, I am now thoroughly sick of canning though I have promised hubby to juice out the last of the apples to make "cider." I am thinking today would be a perfect day for this, maybe I will sauce out the leftover apple pulp a bit too (if it's not raining on us). I think a bit of sugar and some spices would that apple juice a delightful fall drink too, especially if i mixed in some of the last of the pear juice too. Then to scrub out my water bath canner (used for cooking beets in) and preserve all this delicious juice in quart bottles.

Life goes on...

2011-10-13T08:38:00.000-06:00

So I realize that it's been a really long time since I've last posted (something like 4 months), but I've been busy!
Lately I have just been canning my brains out. Yesterday I hauled 84 bottles of peaches, pears, plum jelly & raspberry jam downstairs to my basement food storage room. I have also canned green beans and tomatoes. I have more tomatoes & pears to can, plus lots of apples awaiting "saucing"; I just hope that my jars hold out. I had to to go D.I. to look for more, found some but only got 28 (had just $10 on me).
Anyhow, I have also been holding 'home & hearth' together while my hubby has frequently been sent out of town for work. PLus my baby girl is cutting (& grinding *cringe*) more teeth, when this last one comes in she'll have 6 & will no longer look like a 'wild fanged beast' haha.
Speaking of my baby, since I have been called to work in the nursery at Church, she has now decided that she needs to walk. She manages only about 1 or 2 tiny steps before gravity pulls her down and off she crawls with a big smile on her face. I fear real walking isn't far away now. *sighs* Oh well, I guess I couldn't keep her my tiny baby forever.

=) Gayle

Shirt refashion into toddler dress

2011-06-03T20:31:00.000-06:00

OKay, so I jsut looked at the clock, and I need to go pull the food out of the oven to feed my family a late dinner, but here's a couple of teaser photos, then I promise i'll come back & post all the photos I took (almost took as long to take the pics as it did to make the dress).

Here is what I started with, this fabric & this shirt, it was long sleeved, all I wanted was the bodice...

here is what I ended up with:

The sleeves (unintentionally) are big enough that baby can wear this in teh winter as a tunic over a long sleeved shirt.. for long time to come. :)

See ya later!

Swapping

2011-05-27T09:15:00.000-06:00

So I just joined this new website, Swap-bot, where you can join up to swap all kinds of things. I'm way excited to do this, though all I'm going to do at first is just swap some postcards with people. It's just fun to see what will come in the mail with my name on it. :) I just love getting snail mail, okay emails are fun too, but snail mail holds a special place with me... mostly perhaps because all I usually get are utility bills.

=) Gayle

Lofty Lou Giveaway over at Shwin & Shwin

2011-05-27T07:23:00.000-06:00

Go check out this fun giveaway at Shwin and Shwin. If you blog, tweet, or post at FB on your wall, that's one entry, plus another for following Stitch to my Lou's blog, plus another saying which of her fun little accessories you like.

=) Gayle

SewChristine's giveaway

2011-05-23T07:41:00.002-06:00

Go here to SewChristine get a chance to win this gorgeous bag she is giving away.

Sewing... and other stuff... :)

2011-05-19T12:51:00.000-06:00

yup, I'm blogging about more sewing. I've been thinking about doing a re-vamp of my blog someday too... if I ever get tired of sewing. LOL! Yeah that's not going to happen though. Today I'm making dresses for who else, but my sweet baby K who si sitting my my lap complaining at the moment because I won't sit closer so she can drool on the keyboard... okay and she's teething so life is extra miserable.

I've also been spending scads of time crocheting, hmm maybe I can insert a photo here and you can see what I'm talking about.

Then if you like what you see, you might maybe consider wandering over to my Etsy shop & buying a few for yourself. :) Use the coupon code: FandF15 to get 15% off your order... and then you might get another coupon in the mail to use at a later date. :) I love these flowers, they work up so quickly, and do make babies look cuter too. I gotta make a tri-color purple one to go with baby K's Easter dress (which I stashed away the day after Easter but finally found again yesterday). Here's a look at that dress:

Okay so this isn't the best pic I ever took, but you get the basic idea. I got the dress pattern from Leila and Ben's cute little shop & the sweet little pleated Mary Jane shoe pattern from Shwin and Shwin's blog. I need to add some elastic to the sleeve hems (maybe shirr them), and I did not love the length of the dress, so will either add a 3 inch ruffle to the bottom or make a skirt to be worn underneath - am leaning towards the skirt idea, because it can be worn other times too. I'll post a pic of the final finished project, maybe even on baby K.. if I can. :)

Anyhow, the reason I'm blogging today is because I'm going to make one or two of these, and maybe a cute shirred skirt or two, and then maybe a slip to go under baby K's dresses & skirts, if I have time that is & if baby K cooperates & has a nap. I have the cutest fabrics to use plus a few remnants I've had for forever.

Easter dress & matching shoes

2011-04-26T17:14:00.000-06:00

I made my sweet daughter Katelynn the cutest little dress for Easter. I used Leila and Ben's Sweet Baby dress pattern for the dress but added length to the sleeves to keep Katelynn's cute little arms from being chilled [by this extra cold weather we've been having lately]. Then for the shoes, I used this one from Shwin and Shwin, and had lots of fun making them.

Anyhow, here's a couple of pictures. I want to add about a 3-4 inch ruffle to the bottom before I take a picture of Katelynn in her dress, plus I need to put some elastic on the sleeves to make them fit better. Still I think they turned out way cute. What says you? :)

More flowers

2011-04-26T17:01:00.000-06:00

These (+ a few more) flowers are the ones that I've sent to my niece to sell in her craft booth this Saturday April 30th in Mt. Pleasant [Utah]. I think I did pretty good!

A look

2011-04-19T07:04:00.000-06:00

Here's a pic of some of the flowers I've done, because I feel like sharing today. Enjoy!

=) Gayle

butterflies & flowers

2011-04-17T13:18:00.000-06:00

So I've been crocheting up flowers for my niece Andrea's booth at Mt. Pleasant's Spring Fling (or whatever it's called), and the started thing about how fun it would be to make some butterflies too. So I went to Crochet Pattern Central's free directory & looked for butterflies, then started perusing the selection. Thus far I have fallen in love with these, and I think that after I make a bunch of flowers for Andrea, I am going to make up a few of these little cuties for my baby. Maybe even applique them on the next dress I make for her, or make little hair clippie things for her. :) The possibilities are endless.

What do you think?

MUFFINS and Substitutions and my story :)

2011-04-14T12:06:00.003-06:00

Applesauce Blueberry Muffins

I've got my first 2 dozen in the oven cooking, and will be adding to and editing this post for the next hour or so.

Okay so I started with my basic banana bread recipe, one that I frequently make into muffins instead, and decided to triple my recipe because I've got several hungry mouths who eat lots (my older boys and hubby will eat 1-1/2 dozen between them); it's a two bowl, one larger than the other recipe. However today I don't have bananas dark enough so I substituted applesauce, something I have done before often, 3-1/2 cups. Then I put in 3/4 cup of oil, nothing changed there, then I put in 3/4 cup of honey and 1/2 cup of molasses (so you should end up with 1-1/4 cup of liquid sweeteners, but can decrease honey to 1/2 cup) for the sugar, then the eggs, well all I have are the tiny eggs from my neighbor so I put in 4 of these little darlings (instead of 3 normally when I triple the recipe). This is in bowl [bigger] One, mix them all together well.

Now for Bowl Two: okay, while I was digging [in my freezer] for blueberries, I found a bag with graham cracker crumbs, along with my ground flax seed meal wheat germ. I pulled them all out with the blueberries., then I started measuring. 2-1/2 cups of graham cracker crumbs, then about 1/2 cup each of the flax seed meal & wheat germ (bought both of these from Smith's in the baking aisle, they are Bob's Red Mill). Then I added 3 cups of flour & 1 cup of rolled oats (oatmeal). Then for the leavening: I put in 4-1/2 tsp. baking powder, 1 tsp. of baking soda (recipe called for 3/4 tsp, but since I used honey I just rounded up to a full teaspoon), 1 tsp cinnamon (rounded up again from 3/4 tsp, 'cuz I like cinnamon).

With the electric mixer running in liquids bowl, dump in dry ingredients slowly, mixing carefully after each addition. Then add 2 cups of fresh or frozen blueberries, and if desired 1-2 cups of chopped nuts or sunflower seeds; I didn't because my pecans are frozen and I don't have any sunflower seeds.

Baking: well the website said that you should decrease the baking temperature by 25 degrees, but I decided to keep the temp at 350 deg Farenheit. Still am figuring out how long, as I've been cooking 2 dozen [regular-sized] muffins at a time. Normal cooking time for 1 dozen muffins is 18-20 minutes.
Okay cooking time for 2 dozen is 25-28 minutes!! I got exactly 4 dozen muffins by using my 1/4 cup ice cream scoop, I put a heaping scoop into each muffin cup.

Now... here's the original Banana Bread Recipe

1-1/2 cups flour
1-1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 [lrg] egg
1 cup mashed bananas
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup oil
1/2 tsp. lemon zest (optional)
1/2 cup chopped nuts

Mix flour, cinnamon, baking powder and soda together thoroughly. Mix egg, sugar, bananas, oil, and zest together thoroughly; add dry ingredients to wet ingredients 1/3 at a time, mixing well after each addition; fold in nuts. Bake in a greased 4x8 or 5x9 loaf pan at 350 degrees Farenheit for 20-30 minutes.

Just realized........

2011-04-14T10:05:00.001-06:00

that I have yet to post any pics of Katelynn in her blessing dress, so after I did some minor repairs, Jackson & I took some pics of our little darling in her gorgeous dress (I made it, so I get to brag I think). Now here they are!

Okay so I just realized that these pics don't really show the detail on the dress, so will have to take some up-close pics of the dress then post them. However, I think that you get the idea here.

Oh I'm feeling itchy-fingered!!! I really want to sew something today, preferably a cute little dress for my Katie-boo! But first my muffins! (see previous post)

NO Sugar Challenge for a week

2011-04-14T09:41:00.002-06:00

So I've joined my friend KayDee Johansen Owens [on Facebook] in a week-long challenge of going without sugar. We started on Sunday and I've done pretty good though I had an "OOPS" moment on Tuesday afternoon.

Anyhow we agreed that we could use honey & molasses as substitute sweeteners (besides the other artificial sweeteners), just not refined sugars.

So I've been really craving some blueberry muffins, and think I'll make some this morning, but I needed to know how much honey to use in place of each cup of sugar. After googling my question, I found this website and am posting about this because I thought there might be others around who'd be interested. :)

I have plans to do lots today, so I'd better get going on it all. Hope you all have a great day!

=) Gayle

A future project

2011-04-04T10:02:00.002-06:00

From one of my Yahoo groups, I found this link: http://www.modabakeshop.com/2009/07/angelas-diaper-bag.html; it is a tutorial to make a really cute diaper bag. It also includes a pattern to make a changing pad with leftover fabric & iron on laminate which you can buy here: http://www.thermowebonline.com/dyn_prodlist.php?k=82331. I am going to have to make this one I think, then after I don't need it anymore for Katelynn, then I'll just use is as a tote bag.

=) Gayle

So I've been sewing lately

2011-03-31T17:13:00.003-06:00

Perhaps you didn't know, Jackson got fired from his job a few weeks ago after he dented the fender on "his" trailer. Really a BS reason if you ask me, but of course I wasn't consulted. Anyhow.........

Sewing has always been my stress reliever (except after Mom died, then it was just my grief therapy but that's a whole other story), and after I get to sew for awhile I feel so happy & calm.

So I felt like I needed a project to keep me focused and be happy for my children. Then I remembered the Haiti Orphanage project for March that AC4C (Yahoo group), and I decided that I would make several skirts and pairs of pants for these children. Now while these children are dying from lack of proper food and clothes won't help their hunger but they will be properly clothed so they can go to school -- so making the clothes will help me because it is a service that I can provide, and at the same time get my mind off my own problems.

Well, today I completed these skirts and pants, and will be sending them in a box along with a 'sweet little dress' [originally made for my Katelynn but I can always make her more dresses], formula samples, pencil sharpeners, diaper safety pins, receiving blankets, and 3 packages of (3 each) diaper shirts. This little bit that I can do as a service for others is also a service to me too.

Now I'm going to try to insert some pictures and I hope it works.

Love ya'll,

=) Gayle

And a close-up of the "sweet little dress."

More pics of Katelynn Jackson

2011-03-09T08:13:00.002-07:00

Some more pics of Katelynn with her Daddy & brothers or by herself!

Cute little outfit given to us by Cammy Winder; Katelynn Hates clothing changes, but she looks way cute in Pink!

Cole and Joseph with Katelynn

Taw & Katelynn


One of her first really good smiles I caught on camera Later, pics of Katelynn in her blessing dress... :)

a short update

2011-03-08T15:31:00.002-07:00

Last time I posted on here, was Dec. 3rd 2010. Well 3 days later I gave birth to my mystery baby, and I got......... A GIRL!!!! Most of you who know me, already know this though, sorry I'm not more with it. We named her Katelynn Olea Jackson, and sometimes call her Katie for a nickname.

Wow!!! I can't believe that she is 3 months old already. We blessed her on this past Sunday, March 6, 2011; I made this gorgeous dress for her (lol, though the dress shed a few of the decorations during Sacrament Meeting, and part of the skirt unraveled :( easily fixed though), and now my hubby tells me that I should make these blessing outfits (some of the cute little white satin tuxedos, infant size - like I made for my last 2 sons; and blessing dresses) to sell. Hmm... maybe....

Speaking of Katelynn's blessing, my brothers' Dale & Michael came with their wives and some of their family members, as well as my Dad & his wife. I feel truly blessed because my brothers' came all this way from their homes to mine, and all on Sunday morning... we have the 9 am church schedule too!!!

Now I'm going to attempt to insert some pics of my baby girl from birth to age 3 months, though I haven't yet uploaded any of her in her blessing dress, I need to repair it first then take some pics.

Oh yeah, my sweet little guy Taw just had his 3rd birthday yesterday too. Sometimes I can't believe he's 3 YEARS OLD already!

And now for pics....

This is the little white satin tux I made for Taw 3 years ago. :) Love it!

Joseph with Katelynn, sorry the year on my camera is way off :)

Cole holding Katelynn

Katelynn, weighed in at 6 lbs 15 oz, 18-3/4 inches long; the thingy hanging off her imbilical cord stub sets off an alarm [at the doors] if someone tries to steal her

Katelynn about 6 days old

Dec 2010

2010-12-03T19:25:00.001-07:00

Hey folks,

Another 2 months have passed since I last posted, sorry. At this point I feel like I'm treading water... :) Just waiting for baby to come. Baby X is due December 20th (my sister's wedding anniversary), and while sometimes I hope that he or she comes early, I have decided that I would like to attend our currently scheduled Christmas parties, including hubby's on Dec. 15th. :) Baby X can come on Dec 16th (my Dad's b-day) and I'd be plenty happy if he was born that day... although as much as I hurt & ache all the time (especially after sitting awhile or climbing the basement stairs from my laundry room), I suppose that any day now would be okay too. I'm in my 37th week, will hit 38 weeks on next Monday December 6th.

A couple of pics of Baby X

2010-10-06T05:50:00.000-06:00

So I've promised for some time to put pics of Baby X on here, well I finally got around to doing it this morning, as it seems that my memory just isn't the same as it used to be. :) Anyhow, here's one or two from my last Ultrasound; I haven't been able to get the 3-D US yet, they keep canceling on me.

Happy Labor Day

2010-09-06T10:12:00.000-06:00

Just wanted to wish you all a Happy Labor Day!

If you are traveling, I wish you all the best, and may no cops pull you over. If you are at home, I hope you are able to accomplish all you are wanting to complete today.

=) Gayle

So glad it's a new day!

2010-09-06T10:09:00.000-06:00

The first part of church was pretty rough yesterday, between a whining Taw & noisy Joe & Cole - I took Taw out once & really scolded him, he got very solemn but no tears. One of those days when you're absolutely sure that everyone around is staring at you because of the antics of your children & you just want to crawl under the pew and hide.
After Sac. Meeting was over, I sent the other 2 boys off to their Primary classes & with Taw in hand, I was headed out the doors, when I heard someone calling me. It was my friend, who with her family had moved to central Wyoming about 3 weeks ago; they had come back to work a bit more on things around their house to try to get it sold. I visited with her for 15 to 20 minutes, before her family started asking, "Mom, when are we going? I'm hungry, etc." I then invited then to come over last night for ice cream (homemade is the way to go, I can't stand to eat commercially prepared stuff now, it just doesn't taste right).
Now my boys have been asking for Root Beer Floats for a couple of weeks, I had a 2 liter of Root Beer, so I made up some beautiful vanilla ice cream (that clear Mexican vanilla is marvelous), it is pure white!
We enjoyed our ice cream & root beer & catching up with our friends,though I don't think that their youngest [a boy] was very excited to play with my boys, whom were very happy to see him. I will miss my friend so very much, but I do have her cell phone #, plus a physical & an email address for her now. Her 2 youngest daughters are the babysitters we've been relying upon for the past 4 years and we miss them too.
My friend has always had this uncanny ability to cheer me up, and even though they will be about 4 hours drive away, I know that she is still my friend and I can still count on her too. I love ya Celia!

Muffins

2010-09-05T10:02:00.001-06:00

I love muffins! Especially homemade muffins (my sister-in-law Maren can make some good muffins).

So I thought that I would make muffins for breakfast today, I knew my kids wouldn't complain. I used my banana bread recipe, but used applesauce instead of bananas and tripled the recipe, though I don't use all the sugar it calls for. This gave me enough for 12 jumbo muffins and 24 regular muffins; I now have 7 regular muffins left and the jumbo muffins are getting 3 extra minutes in the oven. I use the jumbo muffins for Jackson's breakfasts.

Yum, I will definitely have to make Applesauce Blueberry Oatmeal Sunflower Seed Muffins again; maybe next time I'll add in some wheat germ, use wheat flour (didn't have any ground), and some flax seed. Hmm.. sounds good, doesn't it?!

Have a great Sunday! Time for me to bathe a stinky Taw & get us all on our way to church! :)

I can't believe it's September already!

2010-09-05T09:26:00.000-06:00

Where has the summer gone??

I know what I did with part of my summer, I looked at my garden & wondered why it wasn't growing or why nothing was ripening! :(

We did some trips to both the local waterslide and a couple to the Splash Park. A few of trips to the parks, and working on our yard.

Cole celebrated his 6th birthday on August 17th, just in time to start school. This year in school, Joseph is in 2nd grade & Cole is in Pre-1st -- it is a class our school district offers for those children who did okay & passed Kindergarten but just aren't ready to continue to 1st grade. It's a nice alternative for parents; I like it because he goes to school all day and isn't just repeating Kindergarten.
Cole's teacher is one of our new neighbors, she lives about a block down the street; she has told me that they will go over everything he learned in Kindergarten then will go over what he will learn in the first 2 or 3 months of 1st grade so he will be very well prepared to go on. Cole's only worry about this class was that he wouldn't be able to see his friends from Kindergarten, but Pre-1st is actually classified with 1st grade, so he'll eat lunch & have recess at the same time as his friends.

As for me & Jackson, we just keep plugging along. I've had 2 Ultrasounds with this pregnancy so far; we've already planned not to try to find out baby's gender this time (we really want a girl, but I have told myself I'm just getting another boy - we have 3). It was funny at 2nd US that baby was folded in half, even had we wanted to know gender, we couldn't have known.

I have started going on Facebook a lot lately, you can find me on there (if you want) under Gayle Peel Jackson. I recently posted a bunch of fairly new pics, including one or two of our new house. If I get time this week, I will post some pics here (if I can remember how to do it).

Ya'll have a good Sunday. My muffins just beeped so I'd better go feed my hungry horde of boys, Jackson had to go to work today, so today will be a day at Church without him (lucky me:( ).

=) Gayle

I HATE tomato worms

2010-07-19T08:54:00.000-06:00

I've killed four of these nasty creatures so far this summer. This is the first year I've ever had tomato worms, and I'm as disgusted by them now as I was when I was a kid and helping my Mom in her garden. I refused to touch them then, and I'm certainly not about to touch them now, gloves or no gloves. Instead, I scrape them off the tomato vines with a stick & smash them between 2 rocks (I have plenty of rocks). I'm hoping these 4 are the sum total I get this year. Hmm.... does anyone know if Sevin Dust works against tomato worms?

Well, I'm off to do my Visiting Teaching. Ya'll have a fine day today, and may you beat the heat.

=) Gayle

My how time flies

2010-07-08T19:32:00.000-06:00

My brother-in-law told me last weekend that I need to post something again. So, Mike, here's my post, though you may not learn anything new from this one!

I think that I posted that we bought & moved into our first home back in Feb & March. I still feel like I am in limbo as our garage is full of boxes and the basement has little in it, other than the laundry room. Jackson did get the basement all framed in while I was at the BYU LDS Women's Conference (thanks for asking me to come with you, by the way Amelia & Sylvia) in April.

Something that many of you may not know is that I am currently expecting my 4th baby. This is very expected and wanted child though the early week of pg weren't easy and I began to experience many health problems that I'd not had in that combination before.

I will have to continue this at a later date. My husband and children jsut came home & the middle boy is mad because he didn't get what he wanted for dinner.

We moved!!

2010-03-17T11:35:00.000-06:00

So we finally got moved into our new house, but I still have soem things to get from the old place. Our view to the north has changed somewhat too, instead of seeing a cow herd & a cemetary, we now see a mule pasture and mountains.

I do have pictures of our new house (and of us doing the paint job) but until I find the cords to hook up the camera to download the pics... well you get the idea. Our garage is about half full of boxes, the living room & kitchen are also both piled high as are the couches and along the walls in the entry way.

This morning I finished hooking up the computer; I had to have a man from the phone company come out here yesterday to figure out what was going on with my phone line and internet... everything works great now. He said he wasn't going to charge me for the extra services needed because he totally spaced off the appointment I had made with him for last Saturday -- that was awfully nice to hear.

Well, it's time for me to get some food into Cole so he can get onto the Kindergarten bus; I think that I will microwave a couple of potatoes for Taw & I -- my Visiting Teaching companion/Relief Society President brought us over dinner on Monday night and also gave me a HUGE bag of potatoes (red skinned, yellow fleshed sweet-tasting potatoes when baked).

=) Gayle

New tires

2010-03-05T15:11:00.000-07:00

Yeeehaw!!! I got new tires on my suburban today, and boy did it need them. I think that the ones that were on it must have been the original tires... anyhow the tires were cracked down in the treads and while there was stilll some tread on teh tires, there wasn't much. In the snowstorm of this morning, I was sliding all over the road... but the snow has moved East, the sun is out & the sky is blue. The snow is melting too, thank goodness.

I've been taking pics of our new house, I didn't do any before pics but I got some in-between & after shots. However these won't be posted today as I'm jsut taking a short break from packing to check email & rest my[ sore & aching] feet (especially the left foot). So the house is all painted inside except for the bathrooms, and it looks so big, bright & cheery -- if any of you come to visit, don't look too close or you might see our drips & spills.

Well, back to the packing... it sure is going slowly. We've lived here for nearly 9 years, long enough to accumulate quite the collection of stuff!

=) Gayle

Be it known unto all peoples,

2010-02-23T14:51:00.000-07:00

Andrew & Gayle Jackson now own their 1st home ever!!!

So if you want to see a slideshow of the place, go here: http://premier1.utah.remax.com/PropertySearch/ListingDetail.aspx?view=photos&lid=76134672 and check it out! Happily, we won't be keeping that hideous gray interior flat paint but will painting it a lovely pale yellow color.

You are all invited to come visit us, though we'll have more room available after we get the basement finished & the garage emptied out. I think it will take us about a month (hopefully less though) to clean & paint the new house, then pack up and clean the old place. We will really miss our current neighborhood but we won't miss the thefts & vandalism not occuring here, not to mention the drug deals that happen in the cemetary behind us -- looking out my kitchen window at our [new] neighbor's mules will be a good change.

Jackson is thrilled that the house comes with a garage & a fridge with an ice maker; I'm very happy I get to paint it yellow, there's a pantry & a basement, and that the laundry room is big enough that I can also use it as my sewing room.

I went to Ace Hardware's website and found this color swatch thing where you can pick a living room, then color the walls to your liking (http://ace.swatchbox.com/colorsforyourlife/main.asp) -- I picked Sunkissed as the main wall "body" color and the effect of it with white trim is so lovely, so if you go check out this website thingy you can get an idea of what our walls will look like.

And now, I'm going to go drag those boxes [I collected this morning] out of my Suburban and start stuffing them full, because I plan to start hauling things over to the new house tomorrow.

=) Gayle

The Joys of being sick

2010-02-18T12:24:00.000-07:00

Actually I have yet to discover any joy from being sick, although...

Some people might say:

At least you get to stay home with your kids for once -- but I get to stay at home with my kids all the time.
It gives you a chance to ignore the housework -- I frequently ignore my housework, any recent visitor here can testify to that.
You can wear your pajamas all day if you want -- I do that too sometimes, so that's nothing new here either.
People will forgive you for typos -- true enough.

I'm feeling just sick enough that my mind isn't functioning very well (okay, when does my mind function properly anyhow? It's just a fact of life of being a SAHM!) and I can't seem to remember to do things that I need to... and why I'm even posting right now is a mystery to me too when I could me emailing Holley & writing that paper out for Deputy Chase. Maybe if I listen to the KSL 5 Noon News, my brain will wake up.
An hour ago, I started cooking supper... it's a 2 hour Vegetable Beef Stew -- supper is at 5 pm... oh well at least the beef stew meat chunks will be well cooked.

Anyhow, tiem to go... life calls... Just because you're a sick Mommy doesn't mean that you can really not do the work to take care of your family, if you do skip it then your house will start looking like mine.

=) Gayle

I do regret that I won't be able to attend my Quilting Guild meeting tonight but I'd prefer not to make any of them sick and besides I think my bed sounds better today.

Oh I jsut remembered why I feel extra tired & sick... Taw (boy#3) cried most of the night because he was so constipated -- I got to give him an enema at 11 pm and he'd passed most of the blockage [I think] by midnight but he still woke up & cried whenever he was asleep and I put him in his crib. I spent hte night in my rocker recliner holding him except for: when I was changing his diaper or when he was throwing up on the floor from crying so much -- I finally gave him some Benadryl around 4 am to stop him from throwing up (did you know that Benadryl stops vomiting & nausea?) and I was able to put him into his crib at 5 am and I crawled into my bed a few minutes later. Dh woke me up around 6:30 am to talk to me, then I was able to go back to sleep until 8:30-ish am when Taw woke me up (he was hanging over the end of his crib talking at me, he has quite the chatty personality at times).
After I finish that witness paper for Deputy Chase, I plan to sleep as much as I can until my boys (1 & 2) get home from school.

ciao....

Pioneer Woman Cooks

2010-02-18T11:42:00.000-07:00

So recently I found this website called The Pioneer Woman; it is about her life & loves. One of which is cooking, so I went to see what kinds of recipes she has, and discovered this recipe for Chicken Spaghetti (see it here: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/06/chicken_spaghet/). Next week when I feel more like myself & less like death warmed over, I'm going to make this. If it's as yummy as it looks & sounds like, then I'm going to make an extra for my freezer.

She also posted a delicious-looking pound cake recipe the day after my birthday. I love pound cakes with their moist buttery flavors, eaten alone warm with milk, or with sliced strawberries & cream, or homemade ice cream (which reminds me, I found a recipe for Meyer Lemon & Strawberry ice cream at Tasty Kitchen and I plan to try it soon too).

Anyhow, now it's time to go get boy #2 ready to go to school. May you all enjoy a fine day! Hopefully ya'll aren't sick like me either.

=) Gayle

2010-02-11T06:30:00.001-07:00

So I've been crocheting a lot lately, and not just the everyday humdrum stuff. No indeed, I've been making flowers, both roses & big cosmos-type kind (well actually like the kind we all learned how to draw first as a child). Yesterday, I also made a hair scrunchie & was working on attaching flowers to a thin plastic headband. Anyhow, so while Crochet Pattern Central remains my favorite source for all things crocheted, here are a few links to some of the above things I've been working on (I did find them all through Crochet Pattern Central though).
http://amysodyssey.wordpress.com/2009/11/09/sweet-spring-flowers-crochet-tutorial/
http://naidascrochet.tripod.com/patterns/scrunchies.html
http://naidascrochet.tripod.com/patterns/1.html
http://nezumiworld.blogspot.com/2009/02/rose-brooch.html
http://www.planetjune.com/blog/free-crochet-patterns/basic-rose/

So go get out your hooks & have some fun!!
=) Gayle

one of my favorite websites

2010-02-05T06:30:00.000-07:00

I just visited another of my favorite websites, Crochet Pattern Central (www.crochetpatterncentral.com) where you can find another any kind of crochet-realted pattern you desire. This morning I was looking for a super easy mini-heart pattern. Sure enough I found one too. I have been thinkign about making heart pins for all the little girls in both my sons' school classes; at any rate I'd better get cracking, because there's about 20-24 girls total (+ the teachers).

Now if I could just get my elbow to stop hurting so much....

a belated update on MIL

2010-02-05T06:25:00.000-07:00

So here's how it goes: On Monday Jan 25 (my dh's b-day), MIL had a stroke which blinded her & made her heart race uncontrollably, by Friday she'd recovered enough that she recognized her children and had a pacemaker installed. Also on Friday afternoon, she was released from the hospital because her only medical insurance comes from Medicare and our illustrious President has decreed that the elderly are not top priority when it comes to hospital stays & medical care. MIL is now recovering at her daughter Pam's house in NE Oregon; Dh talked to her yesterday and she's doing as well as can be expected.

If you were one of those who had been praying for her, we greatly appreciate you and your prayers.
=) Gayle

About Jackson's Mom + one other thing

2010-01-27T12:36:00.000-07:00

So this morning Jackson (my Dh) called me to say that he'd talked to both of his brothers in the know about his mom. She was sitting up and was coherent, had enough vision back that she could recognize her sons & daughter with her, she could recite the names of her grandchildren & their ages - though she was still in the ICU. According to the MRI (of which she got to have 2 of yesterday because during the first time, the MRI techs discovered they'd left part of the machine back in Boise, ID - a 3 hour drive away), she definitely had a stroke, and she was discovered to have some serious heart problems too. This morning she was to be flown to Kennewick, WA to a heart & stroke specialist (hospital) where she would have a pace maker installed, then she would be moved to a hospital in Walla Walla, WA; apparently Jackson's sister Pam lives not too far from there.

So she's doing much better, but she will still be hospitalized for an undetermined amount of time. Thanks to those of you who are praying for her. I called the Vernal LDS Temple yesterday and had her name put on the prayer roll; I think that I might take a few minutes to call a few of the other temples for the same reason.

Oh one other thing, last night when Jackson called his sister Cindy to tell her how their Mom was doing, she told him that her daughter Alicia had just given birth to a baby boy about half an hour previously. Just one other reason to keep January 26th in our minds.

=) Gayle

Birthdays & other stuff

2010-01-26T12:50:00.000-07:00

So yesterday was my hubby's birthday, and what a day it was... but more about that later! He got his requested dinner: "shake & bake" (the homemade kind) pork chops, rice, peas & carrots + German chocolate cake with Coconut Pecan frosting, yum yum!! It's been a while since I made a German chocolate cake, but it turned out marvelously delicious (even with my sweetened chocolate substitutes) and it's even better today, though I think that I should have cooked the frosting a bit longer.

Now today is my Mom's birthday, she would have been 78. I find that I really really miss her today, and well much more so over the past few weeks than I have in the last couple of years. For those who didn't already know, Mom died over 5 years ago (Thanksgiving-time 2004).
Today is also the day Dh's nephew got married, so Happy Anniversary to Jon & Heather MacLee!

So for the other stuff: well yesterday morning, Dh got a call from one of his siblings telling him that his Mom 'had one of her spells' and was being taken to the hospital in Baker City (MIL & Dh's 3 Db's live in eastern OR). There were various other phone calls throughout the day but the news we received late last night is that the doctors think that Ila must have had a stroke but they are puzzled because she is blind and quite aggressive (she keeps ripping out her IV's and won't let the nurses help her); also that she kept asking where her Mom and sister were (both of whom are many years ago dead), and she didn't recognize any of her children. There was a MRI scheduled for today to see if they could figure out what is going on. My theory is that she had a stroke.
*I just got off the phone with Dh, he said that he called his brother about an hour ago, she was having the MRI right then, and had earlier recognized [her daughter] Pam, so that is a bit of good news.
I would ask any of you who are LDS and have a temple near, would you please call to put "Ila Jackson and family" on the prayer roll? Thanks.

Now it's well past time for me to get some lunch, and feed Taw as well. Cole has gone off to school an hour ago (his first day back since he became sick), and there's so much I need to do thi afternoon.

=) Gayle

Monday Jan 18

2010-01-18T13:34:00.000-07:00

It's snowing a bit outside, really nothing too heavy, but just enough to make the roads & sidewalks slick. It is nice to see a fresh coat of white over the dingy gray left from the last snow storm, though.

My brother Chris called last night to wish me a belated 'Happy Birthday,' which reminds me that this is my brother-in-law William's birthday today (he's 36), and a week from today will be my husband's birthday; he will be 34 (& I'm 35). William & I joke sometimes about how we're the same age for a week.

So all of my boys are sick now, Cole seems to have caught the cold from Joseph. However, I'm not surprised by that as Joseph refuses to cough directly into the crook of his elbow, instead he coughs over his elbow; I fully expect to get his cold soemtime this week as he coughed & sneezed all over me last night at dinner. I just hope that if I get sick, it's after Thursday as I really want to go to my Quilting Guild on Thursday evening.

For now though, it's time to put together a late lunch (and maybe a crockpot stew for dinner with some home-made dinner rolls or bread) then go do something productive as I just feel like having a nap while sitting here.

=) Gayle

Life with the Jackson crowd

2010-01-16T15:32:00.000-07:00

My hubby will get home today fter being gone for 3 days - his employers sent him (& another guy) to New Mexico with an "emergency" load of sand. I'm so happy, I really hate it when he's gone overnight or longer; plus our children always act out more when he's gone.

Speaking of things that children do, this morning my oldest son came in my room demanding that he should get some "Adivel." When I asked him why he thought he needed Advil, he said, "For my cough Mommy!" I laughed & sent him on his way; then later on he came & told me that he was sure that he had a cancer and "You'd better give me that Adivel or I might die!" (He's very dramatic.) I just laughed at him again, and told him that he just has a cold and he'd be better in a few days. In the meantime, the other 2 boys seem to have gotten the cold from their brother, and I have this feeling that I might be next to get sick... and I don't want it! Waaaaaahh!

I celebrated my 35th birthday on Jan 12; actually it wasn't much of a celebration because my older boys fought almost continually from the time they got home from school until dinner-time and my Dh showed up 2 hours after he called to say he was on his way home- I finally gave up on making my cake because if I was measuring something and one screeched, I would do the wrong measurement; I didn't make the ice cream either. Truth be told, I wasn't feeling like celebrating anyways, and it wasn't because I was now 35 instead of 34, I just didn't want to -- plus I kept thinking about my 16th birthday & what a disaster that day was.
However, I got a lovely visit the day before (Jan 11) from the Relief Society Presidency, my friend Rinty in England mailed me a package with some lovely gifts, my sister Amelia called me that day, and I received a nice birthday card from my Dad & step-Mom the day after my birthday -- so it wasn't all a loss.

I think I'll go sew for awhile now. May you all enjoy the remainder of your Saturday afternoon on this the 16th day of January!

=) Gayle

How time flies when we're not paying attention!!

2010-01-02T20:30:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that it's been a month already since I last posted on here, but it has. It seemed like Christmas would never come and now not only is it past, but we're 2 days into the new year -- Hello 2010! -- not to mention a new decade. Oh my, only 10 days to my burthday too, hmm... I never thought turnign 35 would come so quickly, it was just a few days ago (seems like) that I was turning 25 and getting married in March!

I suppose that if I hadn't needed a phone number for a fellow Quilt Guild member, I might not have come on Blogger for more days yet. Oh well, at least I'm visiting once a month or so, which is more than I can say for my MySpace account (don't have anything on Facebook yet).

Part of my reason for not having visited here more often is because I have recently begun selling my hand-crafted goodies at a shop in downtown Vernal (Over The Picket Fence), and certain of those items are selling almost faster than I can make them. One of the pictures I posted recently (a flag with hearts instead of stars) is one of the items I put up for sale.

I am extremely happy to report that we seem to have eradicated our mouse problem though for a couple of weeks there, I didn't think we were going to ever get rid of those stinky little beasties!

Perhaps I shouldn't say so, but I'm so happy to have Christmas over with this year, my boys [older] have been acting up so badly. Monday they go back to school and I hope they settle down & behave much better for their teachers.

Well, my stomach aches (I think I may have gotten food poisoning from the Chinese buffet place Jackson & I ate lunch at earlier today while out on our "date"), so I think that I shall 'call' it a day & go lay down, besides my littlest guy is doing his lay-on-the-floor-while-playing-with-a-truck routine that he typically only does when he's very tired. The other two boys having been sent to bed half an hour ago, and my dear hubby retired closer to an hour ago, he's not feeling so well of the belly either (it's kinda strange really, as I usually don't get food poisoning from places we eat at, or if I do, well never before today have I gotten sick before my husband). So...

Good night ya'll and may ye of you enjoy a good year during 2010!
=) Gayle

Send a free postcard to the troops overseas

2009-12-02T06:41:00.001-07:00

Send a free postcard to the troops overseas

Things I've sewn & quilted

2009-11-30T10:40:00.001-07:00

So I just posted about a fabric giveaway from the Sweet Home Quilt Co. and I started thinking about all the things that I've sewn or quilted over the past several years... anyhow I remembered that I have a few pictures on my computer so I thought that I would share them, that is if I can figure out how to post pictures with my text.

This is an autumn wall hanging, I bought a quilting magazine just for this one pattern, and I had a great time making it... I, of course, put my own touches on it by using different colors for the leave stems & not adding the suggested buttons on the flower centers.

This little flag is from a book called (I think) Fat Quarter Friendly. It was a pattern that I looked at every time I opened the pattern book, and finally I felt brave enough to try making it. I didn't quilt the stripes in wavy lines as the pattern suggests because I like to "stitch in the ditch" but otherwise I made this quilt exactly.

This is a pic of my oldest son Joseph, but the orange fleece jacket is what I made. One year for Halloween, both my older boys decided they wanted to be "Deer Hunters;" so I made each of them an orange fleece hooded zip-front jacket using the Children's Kwik Sew pattern book. They wore those jackets everywhere for a year or longer afterwards.

This is a darling little dress that I made for a friend's daughter. I figured that if I wasn't going to get a daughter at that point in time, then I would just fulfill my baby-girl-dress-making craving by sewing for another baby girl. Many thanks to Shane & Cammy Winder for letting me use their daughter Alana (sp?) as the recipient of my sewing. ;)

This is my son Taw in the blessing outfit I made for my 2nd son Cole, a miniature satin Tuxedo. As you can see, it kind of drowns him and he's not any too happy about wearing it. When Cole wore it, I had to skip putting fastenings and pinned him into the top; I think that Cole was about 11-12 lbs. when he wore it, and Taw couldn't have been more than 8 lbs. on this day. Below are pics of the outfit I made for Taw, his Blessing Outfit is completely white, and Cole's has pale blue lapels & a matching stripe down the outside of the pants.

Taw's Blessing Tuxedo is also different from Cole's in that the jacket has buttons on the front and the shirt part has buttons sewn in the lace, and the pants have a white satin ribbon sewn down the outside (I think). I made one almost identical to Taw's (but without the buttons) for my neice's son, he is 3 days younger than Taw.
I've been thinking about trying to sell some of these; I've gotten really good at making these lovely little suits; any takers?

Friday Giveaways

2009-11-30T09:42:00.000-07:00

Now before you get all excited, I'm not the one who is doing the Friday Giveaways (someday I might though). No indeed! It is the Sweet Home Quilt Co. and you should definitely go here (Sweet Home Quilt Co.) to check out the fabulous piece of fabric she is giving away this month! I really doubt that I'll win, but I can certainly hope & dream & wish for it, right??

Now granted, my sewing & quilting has nearly come to a standstill these past several months but I still enjoy looking at & petting fabric and thinking of what fun things could be made from them.

=) Gayle

A comment on US Military

2009-11-18T11:37:00.000-07:00

Sometime last week I came across this website called Any Soldier. On it you can request the names & addresses of members of US Military. I do recommend that before you send any letter [or package should you desire to do so], that you read all the FAQ's and comments provided on the website. Then request an address or two (allowed 2 a day up to 10 a month per household), and let our US Servicemen & women know that you support them in what they are doing. I plan to send off a copy of the Vernal Express newspaper form last week (because it was Veteran's Day) with the letters I mail this week.

I mention this because my ward (Maeser 3rd Ward, Maeser Utah LDS Stake) is going to do a Humanitarian project where we write to several and even send some packages to some of the more needy squads.

Anyhow, go check it out, maybe you can find someone to write to as well. Granted, they would really like to get a package, but from my own experience (based on my husband's say so), many of these soldiers would jsut be happy to get a letter from someone too. You see, not all of the soldiers in the US Military have someone back home who is interested in writing to them. Can't you provide a bit of support from "back home," especially as the calendar heads into the "Giving Season?"

=) Gayle

In the throes of yet another...

2009-11-18T10:50:00.002-07:00

...miscarriage!
Yup, this makes for two in a row. I don't know if my body just can't handle being pregnant anymore or if Heavenly Father is trying to renege on his promise to me of 2 daughters... but right now it doesn't matter too much. What does matter is that I have recognized the need of my body for a rest, so today or tomorrow I'm going to go fetch a packet [from the pharnacy] of birth control pills. I'll take The Pill for 2 months then again start trying to conceive in January sometime between my bday & Dh's bday (mine's Jan 12, his Jan 25).

...mouse war!
Actually it's the same one, and while we haven't seen any lie mice for a long time, we still see dead ones on the floors in odd spots. However the smell is still around in various rooms (my boys' room just recently started smelling mouse-y), so I know that the stinky little beasts are still around.

...cold spell!
The funy thing is, at least it's funny to me, that the sun shines on while it's not above 35 degrees Farentheit. So my boys see that the sun is shining and think that it's warm enough to go play without a coat... off they run out the door & not 2 minutes later, they are back shivering.

Being a Mom means to me...

2009-11-05T15:32:00.000-07:00

...very moist kisses, sticky fingers, smelly diapers, mountains of laundry waiting to be washed, piles of dirty dishes, crumbs on freshly vacuumed floors, clothes strewn everywhere, begging for unnecessary items when we go to the grocery store, complaining, fights, whining about having to do chores, having the TV most mornings tuned to a PBS channel, demands for snacks 10 minutes after a meal is over, insisting, "but Mommy, I don't like that!" at dinner-time and watching said child flop over sideways in an effort to ignore his plate, soft voices saying "I love you Mommy," and knowing that I have charge of these precious little ones (sometimes a HUGE burden), but also knowing that I can turn to our Heavenly Father in prayer when I need help... also means that come Sunday I can put them in Primary and Nursery so I can also get some spiritual renewal from my own church classes.

You might be wondering why this topic, well a few minutes ago I was reading the weekly newspaper and there's a story in there about a young couple who've been married about 8 years, and are wanting to adopt a child. I have children, though for the longest two years I really thought I wasn't going to be able to have any, and while I may not understand their pain in discovering they can't have children, I do think that I can understand the desire for one.
Go read their story for yourself at www.joshandsavannahadopt.blogspot.com, and if you feel like it, perhaps you could leave them an encouraging message.

=) Gayle

Handmade Soap & other bits of non-wisdom

2009-11-04T08:29:00.008-07:00

So I have been looking through the blogs listed on the blogs that I'm following (confusing thought wasn't that?), and I just realized that the one blog that I have spent the most time on in the last hour has been one where she sells her handmade soaps. I think that I have been sufficiently tempted and I think I shall also cave in and buy her Honey of a deal for the holidays! on the Honey Oat and Goat milk soap - the pic looks just lovely, a creamy white oval with the honey and oats in the center.

However, this isn't the only place where I have been looking at handmade soaps. Deep Creek Soap Crafters is another, though I first met up with them during this summer at the Ashley Valley Farmer's Market. I recently went up to their house (they live a few miles from me up on Dry Fork Canyon Road) to buy a chunk of the best-ever-smelling soap, Pumpkin Spice; it reminds me of when my mom would make pumpkin pies in the fall. It was my intention to cut it in half and give a portion to my sister-in-law when we were staying with them during our Deer Hunting Expedition, but... well I forgot to take it with me. [However, I will rectify this come Thanksgiving time.] Anyhow, I have also bought a chunk of their 'Love Spell' soap as well as a tub of their 'Love Spell' body butter -- it smells heavenly, though my hubby doesn't like it much for some reason. *shrugs* Oh well, his loss not mine! I shall keep wearing it... besides it certainly keeps my skin feeling moist.

Anyhow, the reason for this post is that I was considering making a few purchases today from Save on Scents, including getting a few of their "sniffies" and then a big vat of peppermint oil to help keep the mice beasties away (my tiny 5 ml. bottle being empty). I have also toyed with the idea of making my own soaps and lotions, especially now that I don't have to make them from scratch, but I can buy the bases and add my own scents; it would be fun to experience at least.
I might even go pay another visit to FragranceNet.com and enjoy a look at Elizabeth Arden's 'Sunflowers' products to see what all they have. I only recall seeing hand lotion and body butter, but I think they had something else too.

Speaking of fragrance though, now is the time to change a smelly diaper.

=) Gayle

Did you know...? The continuing mouse saga

2009-11-03T14:04:00.002-07:00

Did you know that mice naturally avoid mint? I have been putting peppermint oil on cotton balls in my drawers, and have been thinking about buying some seeds to grow fresh mint.
I've got to remember to buy some peppermint oil this week after payday. I found this great website [Save On Scents] where you can buy bulk essential oils for a relatively small price. Peppermint oil is about $20 for 16 oz, now that's my kind of pricing, especially since my small bottle of peppermint oil emptied while I was working on the first set of drawers, in the kitchen.

You might wonder why this subject is on my mind just now, well a few mintes ago I turned from my kitchen to step into the dining area to grab my book and nearly stepped on a mouse. As I was on my way to go change Taw's diaper, I quickly dropped an empty dirty food container on it, then slid a folded sheet of paper under it, and scooped up the whole thing; it is waiting for me in the boys' bathroom while I decide what I'm going to do with it (probably drown it like I did with mouse #2).

Anyhow, I just realized that while I have no more peppermint oil [for now], I do have this powerful-smelling peppermint foot lotion, so I think that I will pull out the stove & squirt some next to the small electrical box where I found the beginnings of a hole yesterday during my cleaning. Then, well, I'll go deal with the mouse.

Mice: 0, Mom: 3

=) Gayle

Taking a break today...

2009-11-03T11:30:00.000-07:00

For the last 3 days I have been working in or cleaning up mice droppings. Both all day on Saturday and on Monday, I have been working hard to get my house cleaned and all the mice droppings I can find vacuumed up so we a) don't smell them anymore and b) so the mice don't feel the need to come back to frequent that area. I didn't know that if you just sweep or vacuum up the mice droppings but don't wash or mop the area, then mice will come back to that area. So I have been scrubbing with bleach water the floor behind my stove, all the drawers in my kitchen & dining area, and all over my utility room -- I realize that this doesn't sound like much, but I have also been cleaning the contents of the drawers too. Lots of vacuuming, sneezing, moping, scrubbing, sneezing, coughing, verbally & mentally cursing those smelly little beasts, well you get the picture. Now I did say I've been working in this crap for 3 days, so on Sunday...
I realize that most of us don't usually do much cleaning on Sundays but we skipped church to "get the ox out of the mire" -- or in other words, SERVICE: we were helping Jackson's sister clean out her storage units.
Why you might ask? Because Jackson's brother-in-law hasn't been working for several weeks and they can't afford to keep paying $400/month to store every toy and piece of clothing their kids wore & played with, not to mention the 100+ boxes of books & magazines that will never be read again; did I tell ya about the 2 pallets of 6 gallon buckets full of food storage they're hanging onto until they really need them (no time like the present I think, but I guess they are waiting for the Millenium to come before they use any of it. [I see food storage as something you acquire and then you use it as you need it -- I tend to use most of mine in the winter, but this economy would be a good reason to use it if you or your spouse's income has been reduced or eliminated. I'll probably post about food storage another time, it's one of my peeves.]

So after having had showers every night for the past 3, and no I don't usually shower every day just because my skin becomes so dry, and then waking the next morning being so badly congested that I feel like a walking kleenex box with all the tissues hanging out of my pockets just so I can blow my nose at any given moment.

Tomorrow... well it'll be back to the smelly mess. I probably will spend some time today vacuuming my floors and around the furniture in my living room. I also need to re-arrange my family/toy/woodstove room to accomodate the kindling box, woodbox & coal buckets, plus my hubby's stationary bike (a worthless item in our house).

=) Gayle

How does one add a button to the blog layout?

2009-10-30T13:20:00.000-06:00

Anyone?? I suppose I should go through layout, but I admit to being aptly confused about the whole thing. *sighs* Oh well, I guess I jsut keep looking through all the gadgets; unless of course somone wants to help me out??

=) Gayle

Joseph's Birthday

2009-10-29T09:06:00.003-06:00

Howdy ya'll!!

Well, it's Joseph birthday today... though to be technical he won't be officially 7 until 6:22 pm.
We're not having a party for him with all of his friends, this Mom is too sick to pull it off this year with this cold I've got (I'll be lucky to get the boys' costumes finished), but we are having a family party after a fashion.
For now though, it's time to get into my clothes for the day & get the grapes washed & collect the cheese sticks -- for Joseph's birthday treat. I figure these kids get plenty of sugary stuff this time of year, so I'm going to snip several pounds of grapes into small bunches, then also offer string cheese sticks as well -- Western Family 5/$1 at Davis Jubilee this week.

Lots to do, so I'm off. Later today I will make him a White Chocolate cake and Lasagna as per his request.

Taw needs his morning "ba" too and some fever reducer too going by his wails.

=) Gayle

Dollar Stretcher e-books sale

2009-10-28T15:04:00.003-06:00

Now many of you probably know by now that I like doing frugal thrifty things... plus that sort of thing is almost a necessity nowadays with the economy the way it is.
Anyhow as I was reading my daily email from Living On A Dime, I noticed that they were posting about a sale that Dollar Stretcher is having on their e-book collection for just $12.50 (normally $19.95), so I thought I would post about it for those few people who read my blog to check out. I prefer real books over e-books, mainly because I'm running out of space on my old desktop (and I don't ever remember to buy CD's when I'm at the store) and also because I like to read stuff like this when we're camping, or late at night when I can't sleep -- times when I'd rather not fire up this old beast, plus I'm too poor to print off dozens of pages.

For now, I'm going to take my baby and go lay down. Maybe I can stop coughing so hard long enough to sleep for a few minutes before my 2 busy boys get home from school & start demanding to go to the Maeser Elementary Halloween Carnival tonight, something I'm just not up to doing today... didn't get their costumes completed yet either.

Gayle

What's with all this wind??!!

2009-10-28T11:48:00.003-06:00

I just got home from town, and walking across the Kmart parking lot, the wind nearly blew me off my feet.
I have been sitting here watching the wind blow my tarps all over my garden & knock stuff over in my neighbor's yard.
If the wind wasn't enough, it's cold too! Really really cold! Like the actual temperature is at freezing (32*F), but the windchill has got to be more like 5 or 10 degrees colder... hmm I'll just check on http://www.accuweather.com/ all you have to do is type in your zipcode & it gives you accurate weather info.

Anyhow, it's nice to be inside, though my windows are leaky (there's a good draft blowing through next to me) and we need to get the storm windows put up, and while my Dh offered to put them in before he left for work, well the permanent windows need to be washed. So as soon as I remember where I put the Windex, I'll be washing windows. Until then though, I think I might take Taw & go lay down -- 4 hours of sleep just wasn't enough, plus I think that my cold is getting worse.

"Baby, it's cold outside!"

2009-10-27T09:04:00.004-06:00

I'm sitting at the computer over by the window, and my fingers are chilled.
The Today Show is playing in the background, and every so often they break for the weather -- KSL Weather keeps saying that it's going to snow here today. The weather pattern they show indicates that the Uintah Basin is going to be right down the middle of the snow coming (it's already snowing in SLC), plus we get to have more snow tomorrow -- not a good thing when your spouse's job is driving! Our high today for Vernal is 50*F and the low for tonight is supposed to be 26*F -- now I live in Maeser, so our low will be 3 or 4 degrees colder than Vernal.
LOL, the funny thing is that when I was listening to the radio (98.5), they said that the high today wasn't going to be above 40 degrees -- both the radio & TV agree that it's going to be windy though.

I guess it's time to get dressed (I'm still in my flannel jammies), and get outside -- to hang the extension cord to plug in the dog house light, to get the cases of "free" water [from my brother Glen] out of the back of our white truck, to gather up hoses & garden tools & anything else I've forgotten about, and most of all to get some wood so I can get the fire going again.

Back in the house, I'll be getting some apples cooking to make applesauce, and of course continuing in my battle against the never-ending laundry pile.

=) Gayle

Just thinkin...

2009-10-23T14:56:00.004-06:00

Hi Ya'll!

I'm sitting at the computer in my brother's kitchen typing away. I had to check my bank balance to see if the check i wrote a couple of days ago had cleared yet, it hasn't. so I DECIDED TO SEe if I could remember my password to my blog here, apparently I did since here i be...

So for now I'm just thinkin' about all the events of the past weeks, between the continuous constipation/diarrhea battle of my youngest son Taw to the deer I killed on opening morning [of the Utah Deer Hunt] Oct 17th to the miscarriage I had a few weeks ago... *sighs* Speaking of the diarrhea, I need to go quickly change a diaper now. I'll be back another time to apply a few more not-so deep thoughts.

=) Gayle

Check out this cute onesie

2009-10-12T13:08:00.003-06:00

http://crapivemade.blogspot.com/2009...ie-onesie.html
I got the link from a message board I go to: www.friendsandfamilies.com.

I think that if I can find a long sleeved white knit onesie then I'm going to make one of these for Taw. Maybe even make a few for gifts as as few of my friends have just have baby boys. I could make onesies with Sunbonnet Sue on the front, like with the dishtowels I made & sold at the Farmer's Market (Vernal, UT) this summer.
If I get really ambitious, I might even post pics of the things I made & sold at the Farmer's Market too... but don't get too hopeful yet. I still have plenty of canning & procrastinating left to do to keep me busy.

=) Gayle

life sure can be a pain

2008-11-24T20:04:00.003-07:00

In fact in more ways than one, especially when you have sudden sharp unexplained pains.

You see, for several weeks now I have had moderate to severe pain around my kidneys, especially the right one. I have had blood & urine tests, but they didn't pick up anything abnormal. So my Doctor referred me to a Urologist, I will be seeing one in Price (UT) on December 1st for a consult. It will be interesting to see what s/he says... I don't even care so much if it's not a quick fix as long as I can finally get some answers about why I have had this pain.
Last year on March 17, I had a very bad bladder infection which quickly became an extremely severe kidney infection (if one can believe the ER doc) in my right kidney. In late April, I was still experiencing some residual pain around my kidney so I got to have a CT scan in early May, the result of that was that the lymph nodes around the kidney were inflamed -- the Dr told me that given time, between 4 to 10 weeks, they would heal & be okay. By the end of May, I felt completely better. But now this... *sighs* So it's life.

Just thinkin'

2008-10-20T16:53:00.000-06:00

I was just thinking that perhaps after having not posted anything in sooo long that I shouldn't have posted abuot those stupid bugs. LOL, oh well.

It's beautiful this afternoon, and relatively quiet with both Joseph & Cole off to their little 4-H group (their little friend Nash's sister is their leader). Taw is just rolling and scooting around the floor & talking with lots of "ah aaahhhh yah" in several pitches & tones -- he found a squished milk jug that didn't get in the garbage and is pushing it around the floor. He does talk now though just "mum mum" and "dada dada," he's a very good baby and rarely cries unless very tired, very hungry or very smelly -- or if those teeth coming in are especially painful.

Speaking of the little guy, he truly is a miracle baby for us, and I am continually amazed at how well he is doing considering his poor start in this life -- very grateful for all the prayers, comments & love given to us on his behalf. If you want to read the latest on him (I don't want to post it twice), just go to www.carepages.com (register) and view his page by requesting "TawCharlesJackson". I hope to have new pics posted of him there soon too, and here too eventually.

Box Elder bugs

2008-10-20T15:34:00.000-06:00

Ugh, that time of year again. The box elder bugs are out in droves and in everything (including my hair when I walk outside) and crawling through all little cracks in walls, and around windows. Oh well, at least the rain stopped and we have sun -- though it's kinda hazy now.

However, the leaves on the trees are pretty and my boys are happy to play outside -- their most preferred thing to do next to watching TV all day of course.

c-ya...

May 6

2008-05-06T11:39:00.000-06:00

Hi everyone!

I have 3 main interests or loves. They are my Family, my religion, and the things i enjoy making.

My Family: I've been married for 8 years to a wonderful man, and we have 3 boys. Joseph is 5, and he'll be 6 in October -- he's very excited about going to Kindergarten this fall. Cole is 3, and he'll be 4 in August -- he's my little helper, though he's being especially stubborn about toilet training. Then there's Taw, our little miracle baby; he was born 3 weeks early on March 07 with a birth defect that nearly killed him but thanks to the quick actions of the Doctors at Primary Children's Medical Center (Salt Lake City, UT) he is doing ever so much better now, though he will need one more surgery.
Our Family lives near Vernal in Maeser (Utah), we are only 30 miles from the western border of Colorado on Hwy 40.

My Religion: I am, actually the whole family is, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or LDS. Our religion is also known as Mormons. I love Jesus Christ and am so very grateful for the Atonement, and for all that our Church stands for. It is a very family oriented religion but our foundation is Jesus Christ.
When you become an adult, you are often asked to serve in "callings;" so my current callings are Visiting Teaching Supervisor and Humanitarian Aid Specialist.

The things I enjoy making are mostly due to my love of sewing, quilting & crocheting. I have many, many unfinished quilts (UFO's), though I have completed a few mini-quilts which are scattered around my living room. I really love to sew, so the quilting just gives me one more excuse to use my sewing machines (not that I really need an excuse). I do make clothing as well, though mostly just children's. I recently completed a beautiful miniature White Satin Tuxedo which I used for Taw's Baby Blessing on Sunday May 4th. I have also been making baby dresses, our friends in Craig, CO have been the recipients of those. I have been contemplating making Blessing/Christening Dresses and Boys' outfits for sale. Anyone interested?
As for the crocheting, well all I make anymore are hot pads [using the pattern that Mom learned on her & Dad's mission to Nauvoo IL] and occasionally dishcloths from cotton yarn. I have also made baby & large afghans, but I like the projects that don't require quite so much time to complete.

=) Gayle