More than just a hair dryer . . . . .

If you are a mom, grandma, neighbor, pre-school teacher, kindergarten teacher etc - you may have had to deal with kids writing on walls and doors and other surfaces which were not meant to have crayon on them!  I encountered this and after scrubbing paint of a couple of places, I googled it on the internet - duhhhhh.  So simple to remove, plug in your hair dryer - put it on hot and blow very close to the crayon, it will melt and easily wipe off in its entirety with a piece of tissue!  You've gotta love the internet!

Self Expression

Allowing our children to "find their own voice" was (is) challenging even to the best of parents.  Bringham Young's advice to "teach correct principles and they will govern themselves" however simplistic it sounds, is not always easy to do.  Don't we just want to nudge, push, correct, and insist so that our children will always find the "right" voice?  When my children were all still at home and "The Simpson's" was a highlight on TV, their mother was adamant that they not watch it.  I felt it was a program in which children did not respect their parents, talked back to them, made fun of them and were vulgar.  Some how this was all supposed to be funny.  Down the road, did they always obey me?  No, although I don't think they ate a steady diet of  Bart, some of them did snack on it.  Yesterday, while setting the table for dinner, I grabbed a hot pad out of the drawer to slap on the table prior to placing a hot dish on it.  I started to grin, then smile, then laugh.  One of my sons had found "their voice" while in middle school CTE class and machine embroidered good old Bart on the hot pad - just for their mom!  They did all turn out to be very wonderful children - each with a voice of his/her own!

"Dill Pickles" - A Legacy

Dill pickles may seem a rather odd "legacy" but the melding of Mark and Debbie into one family brought with it, oddly enough, a legacy of great dill pickles!  Both of our mothers made fabulous dill pickles - loved by all their children and grandchildren.  When we were married, I noted that both of them virtually had the same recipe.  Grandma McBeth's dill pickles had one ingredient that Grandma Christiansen's did not. Grandma Christiansen's recipe however also had one ingredient that Grandma McBeth's did not.  Just as the bible states, "and the twain shall be as one,"  speaking of husband and wife; I took it to heart and my mothers' dill pickle receipes became "one."  Our children love the pickles and put in requests for home canned dill pickles. So canning season 2011 begins with dill pickles and here are the first jars.  It is my hope that the vines stay healthy, the weather stays warm and the cucumbers abundant!  Below is the combined dill pickle receipe I use.  It is easy, fun and good eating! Some legacy!

1 quart apple cider vineger
1 quart water
1 cup rock salt
1/2 tsp. powdered alum

Boil this mixture and pour over quart wide mouth jars of cucumbers, dill, 1 clove of garlic per quart and 1/2 to 1 hot pepper (depending on your palate!)

Put on lids and bands, process for 5 minutes!

Pickles need to age for at least 1 month before eating!

For best results use small cucumbers, no longer than 4 inches.