I am sorry I haven't blogged for a while been busy, as usual with the preschool kids and some other projects. Also Facebook is very addictive and I have found some friends and family that I have lost touch with.
Apples and applesauce, What a stupid conversation item. How can either of them possibly be very interesting and why would anyone what to talk about them.
Well, as you all know I love kids and sometimes I like to think like a kid and find out why they react to certain things. The week before Thanksgiving, we talked about our five senses. Of course we covered all of them. Tasted some things, went on a nature walk to gather things. We worked with shapes, textures, made telescopes, shakers, I am sure you get the idea. We also talked about mixing different substances, such as colors, and types of food,mineral etc.
On the Friday before Thanksgiving vacation we were to make applesauce. Now being a farm girl from Nebr and Utah, meaning a person who has and can preserve fruits and vegetables, make jams and jellies I knew we would need lot of apples. I have become lazy about cooking fresh,from scratch. So I hadn't been paying much attention to the apple market, Haven't been to Apple Hill for about three years . So I went to my favorite super market to get my apples. Imagine my surprise when I found so many. There were naturally the standard, Fuji, delicious,granny smith, jonathan, winesap. There was Aurora, Pinata,York, Cameo,Honey Crisp,Pink lady. And this is only a small percentage of the apples on display in that store.We get delicous apples for the lunch and breakfast menu, course, they aren't the most tasty, but some of these children do not get fruit fresh.
Now I always want to be first and the most unusual in the group, as long as I am not conspicuous. I bought a couple of fuji,red, then I bought an Aurora,yellow. I took them to school and we got all the apples from every one and made a wonderful applesauce. Part of the wonderful part was because we adults peeled the apples and then we gave our little buddies plastic knives and they cut the apples up, some of them needed help, but that is why we let them practice with plastic knives to cut playdough. The cut up apples were put into and electric skillet , sugar, small amount was added then we put cinnamon in, not a lot but enough to make it taste good. Each of the kids had an opportunity to stir the applesauce, One of the fathers was there as a volunteer, he and one of our little girls were the ones who cooked the applesauce. There were all different kinds of apples, which gave it a distinct taste. I have named this new recipe Angelina's apple sauce.
But this also prompted me to wonder about all of these apples and what was the difference , because to me there were two different kinds of apples. Eating and cooking. So this started me on a new adventure. On my way home, I stopped at the store and got three different kinds of apples. Being very curious and a bit of a scientific person I decided to do my own survey,experiment, just a curiousity thing. In light of this I have eaten and recorded several apples and am making another batch of Angelina's applesauce.
This brings me to the next part of my blog. Friends are like the apples , they are different some of them are family, which puts them into two different categories.then there are the people that you have meet and may still be friends with , friends who came into your life and then moved on and you don't see them anymore. But in your heart they are your friend. Just like athe apples, when you need a friend . You dig down to reach for that person. and if you are lucky you can merge all of these friends together to make a new set of friends , heal some old wounds and go on with your life. A new mix is formed.
About fifteen years ago, I lost a very good friend, his name was James. For years I mourned his death, that was the only thing I could remember about him. Recently, I found another way to honor my friend. I heard of a baby, who was to born on the same day as he was born. To honor my friend, I made my mind up to honor him by being glad about the new birth. I will not bore you with what I did ,But from this time forward I will honor his life in this way. I used buy balloons and send them into the sky until my friend Shane said that was littering . Thank you Shane for making me think.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
RAGGEDY ANN AND ANDY
Through the years I have made these dolls, I made them for my daughters, a friend and I made some one year for some kids that needed a comfort doll. I have enjoyed doing them and have worn out at least two sets of patterns . In case you don't know about them they are the rag dolls with yarn hair, She has a pinafore and he has a sailor type hat and overalls. These dolls have been around for probably 75 years.
When I worked for IRS one of our appeals offices, a gentle giant of a man , was known to mumble about things ending with ' I'm going to rip their face off". As I said he was gentle giant who stood about 6' 8". he was always willing to lend a hand at anything from moving furniture in the office or help others work in the yard, move furniture, whatever. When he accepted a transfer from Sacramento to San Francisco, I wanted to give him something that he could always remember me by. So I made him a face ripping doll. You start with an ordinary Raggedy Andy doll, Then you make an extra face. Sew strips of velcro on the head and on the back of the extra face. Be sure to add eyes, nose, and mouth to the extra face. Presto a face ripping doll. My grandson Joe had a friend who didn't beleive there was such a thing. So I recently made him one.
Joe also works as a therapist for autistic children. One of his clients needs to learn to do buttons,he asked me about how to get one or where to get one. Now I know there are learning dolls, that have buttons to button, zippers to zip, shoe strings to tie. But from what I have observed is that clothes now days have zippers for them to learn to use, most shoes don't have strings to tie.
So out came the pattern and I have created another in the line of fun dolls for kids and adults.
I think Joe will post them on the face book for me .If not I'll try to do it. I made pockets that can really hold things, tabs that button over the pockets, belts that button and snaps that can be snapped. All of this to encourage small muscles to work better.I had a lot of fun doing this Hope you will enjoy seeing them The clothes come off too
When I worked for IRS one of our appeals offices, a gentle giant of a man , was known to mumble about things ending with ' I'm going to rip their face off". As I said he was gentle giant who stood about 6' 8". he was always willing to lend a hand at anything from moving furniture in the office or help others work in the yard, move furniture, whatever. When he accepted a transfer from Sacramento to San Francisco, I wanted to give him something that he could always remember me by. So I made him a face ripping doll. You start with an ordinary Raggedy Andy doll, Then you make an extra face. Sew strips of velcro on the head and on the back of the extra face. Be sure to add eyes, nose, and mouth to the extra face. Presto a face ripping doll. My grandson Joe had a friend who didn't beleive there was such a thing. So I recently made him one.
Joe also works as a therapist for autistic children. One of his clients needs to learn to do buttons,he asked me about how to get one or where to get one. Now I know there are learning dolls, that have buttons to button, zippers to zip, shoe strings to tie. But from what I have observed is that clothes now days have zippers for them to learn to use, most shoes don't have strings to tie.
So out came the pattern and I have created another in the line of fun dolls for kids and adults.
I think Joe will post them on the face book for me .If not I'll try to do it. I made pockets that can really hold things, tabs that button over the pockets, belts that button and snaps that can be snapped. All of this to encourage small muscles to work better.I had a lot of fun doing this Hope you will enjoy seeing them The clothes come off too
Friday, April 17, 2009
TIME OUT
My friends;
When was the last time you took some time off just to smell the roses, the lilacs, the new mown grass and view the world thru the eyes of a small child and actually played like you were a small child. If you are like me it has been a while, because it is too cold, too hot, too much to do . I will look silly. It bothers my allergies, Oh! My! the list goes on and on.
Today was my day to do just that I had reached the end of my rope, couldn't and didn't want to hang on any longer. What difference would it make if I didn't do any of those things. Would any one really notice . Then my adopted great grandson, who is five called and asked me to pick him up from school today. He called last night. I said yes and since I never break a promise especially to a child, I went to pick him up. He had the class mascot with him, This is a monkey named Bananas. He must go everywhere with the student.So he came home with us, went to McDonald's and played on the play structure, he sat on a chair as Shane and I made a lake and creek/river in the side yard. We added water to the lake and creek/river. I explained to my friend that cornmeal will kill ants, which we both dislike. So we made a cornmeal trap by an ant hill. Much less caustic than bug sprays. You cannot buy little amounts of cornmeal and since I had some in the frig, just setting there waiting for another occasion for cornmeal. Besides it makes a cool looking road. We were just two kids having fun. how wonderful it felt. Later my other friend , Hunter , my other adopted great grandson came over. We drew pictures with magic markers, ate pretzels, talked about the sand box. Ate crushed ice with a spoons.
Thank God for kids, they always seem to bring out the best in me.
When was the last time you took some time off just to smell the roses, the lilacs, the new mown grass and view the world thru the eyes of a small child and actually played like you were a small child. If you are like me it has been a while, because it is too cold, too hot, too much to do . I will look silly. It bothers my allergies, Oh! My! the list goes on and on.
Today was my day to do just that I had reached the end of my rope, couldn't and didn't want to hang on any longer. What difference would it make if I didn't do any of those things. Would any one really notice . Then my adopted great grandson, who is five called and asked me to pick him up from school today. He called last night. I said yes and since I never break a promise especially to a child, I went to pick him up. He had the class mascot with him, This is a monkey named Bananas. He must go everywhere with the student.So he came home with us, went to McDonald's and played on the play structure, he sat on a chair as Shane and I made a lake and creek/river in the side yard. We added water to the lake and creek/river. I explained to my friend that cornmeal will kill ants, which we both dislike. So we made a cornmeal trap by an ant hill. Much less caustic than bug sprays. You cannot buy little amounts of cornmeal and since I had some in the frig, just setting there waiting for another occasion for cornmeal. Besides it makes a cool looking road. We were just two kids having fun. how wonderful it felt. Later my other friend , Hunter , my other adopted great grandson came over. We drew pictures with magic markers, ate pretzels, talked about the sand box. Ate crushed ice with a spoons.
Thank God for kids, they always seem to bring out the best in me.
Sunday, April 5, 2009
OFFICAL FOOD TESTOR
In my branch of the family, I am the official testor of all new types of food, snack, main menues, new drinks, juice, soda, tea. I have been the go to person for the grandkids. In fact my kids have often used me to test or encourage their children's eating habits. This is a very honorable job and one I have taken great care to ensure that I never lead them astray. Of course when we were throwing newspapers during the nine years that I did this and they visited we sometimes had some strange things for breakfast. but be that it as it was. We always went to the store to check out new main menu things.
But when Shea posted the picture of the sweet potato and how the boys loved them, I had to think if we had ever tried them. I quickly did a survey among the grandkids and they informed me we had not done them as fries , I felt duty bound to try them. So I bought some frozen ones and have now tried them. they are delicious. I would definitely give them a two thumbs up .
See you never know how your blog may change the world, even if it only a small corner at a time
But when Shea posted the picture of the sweet potato and how the boys loved them, I had to think if we had ever tried them. I quickly did a survey among the grandkids and they informed me we had not done them as fries , I felt duty bound to try them. So I bought some frozen ones and have now tried them. they are delicious. I would definitely give them a two thumbs up .
See you never know how your blog may change the world, even if it only a small corner at a time
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
medals and memories
I hope you will bear with me while I wander down memory lane. When I saw Shea's blog about the boys and their surgery. I felt so bad for all of them. I remember when James, my youngest was five. He had been a sickly child all the time and he had Pneumonia. something we had been warned that could be very serious for him. The doctor decide it was time for him to have his tonsils out. Of course with a family the size of ours, five of our own and two nieces that needed a home there was always something going on. We were temporarily living in Ogden because we were in the process of moving to Fresno. Now two of my daughters also had problems with their tonsils ,as did one of my nieces. My doctor was already aware of these problems and said we should take them all in at once. Because I only wanted my kids to be well, I agreed. Never thinking about what that would involve. My mother in law, who was a little intimated by me and my kids said she would go to the hospital with me. Her son would go to work and the other three kids who were in school, they were in Junior High.
Well, the day came, I picked up grandma, with the four kids and we went to the hospital.St Benedicts in Ogden. They had a room with 4 beds and we were set.
It was a long day, but my best memory of all that was my dear sweet mother in law who helped all of the kids with ice, hugs, kisses what ever they needed. Finally around 6:00 pm , she said quietly. "would you mind if I went home? " She was in her sixties, had been up and going with us since 5:30 or 6:00 that morning. we were about to go home so I called her son and he came to take her home.Next day she came over on the bus and stayed with the kids while I took Tammie back to the hospital for a check up.
So when I said you deserve a medal, I really meant it because it is hard to deal with things like tonsils. Been there done that. glad the boys are well
Well, the day came, I picked up grandma, with the four kids and we went to the hospital.St Benedicts in Ogden. They had a room with 4 beds and we were set.
It was a long day, but my best memory of all that was my dear sweet mother in law who helped all of the kids with ice, hugs, kisses what ever they needed. Finally around 6:00 pm , she said quietly. "would you mind if I went home? " She was in her sixties, had been up and going with us since 5:30 or 6:00 that morning. we were about to go home so I called her son and he came to take her home.Next day she came over on the bus and stayed with the kids while I took Tammie back to the hospital for a check up.
So when I said you deserve a medal, I really meant it because it is hard to deal with things like tonsils. Been there done that. glad the boys are well
Saturday, January 24, 2009
QUILTS AND SCHOOL
Quilts are such a fulfilling hobby. It is like you have a blank canvas and a whole pallette of colors to work with. I have often envied artists who have painted even the smallest picture. They have used their imagination to create something. I have two pictures hanging in my bedroom. One is on a large piece of cardboard, painted by a young friend who used various elements to create this picture. I find it very pleasing at times because it shows that he has great potential but is struggling to tell the world what he feels, it also has a piece of tire on it. He calls it his, Hit the road piece. The other picture is of my youngest daughter drawn by her husband. the love expressed in that picture shines for everyone to see. Well ,to me my quilts are my canvasses of life. I am finishing up some tops that I have made in the last five years. It is hard to quilt them on the frame with a sewing machine because you do not have the control that you have with a regular machine. I have done four quilts now. Two were just scrolling around on the fabric. then I made one for my daughter that has oriental motif. It has bridges. I choose the material because that is how her and her husband feel their lives are. Bridges between their past life and the future .
The one I am doing now is pinwheels. It is a little like learning to color inside the lines in a coloring book. the first few rows have squiggly lines but now I am getting better at controlling the machine. I will try to post a picture of this latest quilt.
Going to work with my kids , as I call them is also like having a blank canvas and being able to help them become good people. In the four months since we started with this new class, I have seen such great strides of growth with them. Not only have they grown physically and mentally
but they are developing skills ,such as cutting, coloring, eating meals without spills. The list goes
on and on as I am sure that those of you who are just starting on this process giving birth,raising
children are well aware of.
I personally enjoy seeing the videos that you all post. It is wonderful seeing the family growing .
You should all be very proud of yourselves and your families. I know I am.
I have started school again. I am taking a class on being a teacher's aide. It at a adult education school. It is a new class, so we are guinea pigs so to speak. But then I always like to be first in line. Also going to start learning conversational Spanish with a friend of mine. Then I can talk with the kids better. It is hard on me not to be able to understand a child and unable to have them understand me. Course there again that is my desire to be first in line .
Well, I have rambled on long enough. Time to go back to the quilt frame. Write if you get work, Stop by if you are in the area, the latch key is out.
The one I am doing now is pinwheels. It is a little like learning to color inside the lines in a coloring book. the first few rows have squiggly lines but now I am getting better at controlling the machine. I will try to post a picture of this latest quilt.
Going to work with my kids , as I call them is also like having a blank canvas and being able to help them become good people. In the four months since we started with this new class, I have seen such great strides of growth with them. Not only have they grown physically and mentally
but they are developing skills ,such as cutting, coloring, eating meals without spills. The list goes
on and on as I am sure that those of you who are just starting on this process giving birth,raising
children are well aware of.
I personally enjoy seeing the videos that you all post. It is wonderful seeing the family growing .
You should all be very proud of yourselves and your families. I know I am.
I have started school again. I am taking a class on being a teacher's aide. It at a adult education school. It is a new class, so we are guinea pigs so to speak. But then I always like to be first in line. Also going to start learning conversational Spanish with a friend of mine. Then I can talk with the kids better. It is hard on me not to be able to understand a child and unable to have them understand me. Course there again that is my desire to be first in line .
Well, I have rambled on long enough. Time to go back to the quilt frame. Write if you get work, Stop by if you are in the area, the latch key is out.
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