Making Apple Butter

Every year in the fall when the leaves start to turn we head to North Carolina to get Apples! Its been a family tradition for many years. For the past couple of years we
have bought our apples from "The Orchard At Altapass". Its in Spruce Pine,North
Carolina. The orchard is terraced on the side of a mountain.

You can pick your own apples or pick from many varieties of apples already picked.
We always pick a soft apple for making "apple butter"! Rome apples are a great choice because they are soft and sweet!

APPLE BUTTER

1 PECK OF ROME APPLES

4 CUPS OF SUGAR

2 CUPS OF WATER

2 TABLESPOONS OF CINNAMON

3 TEASPOONS OF NUTMEG

2 TEASPOONS OF ALLSPICE

1 TEASPOON OF GROUND CLOVES

24  FOUR OZ CANNING JARS

STEP ONE: Peel, slice, core all the apples and place in a large stock pot. Add water then all the other ingredients. Place on stove and cook for about 45 minutes over medium heat. Stirring frequently.



Cook mixture until soft enough to mash. Just like mashed potatoes!

SECOND STEP: When apples have cooked down use a hand held blender to blend mixture until smooth. You can also use a hand held mixer but it takes longer to make smooth. You want to blend until it has a very creamy texture!

Cook the mixture for another 2 hours. Make sure to stir about every 10 minutes! This is very important! Stir! Stir! Stir!

My Dad was a great help with the stirring!

THIRD STEP: While the apples are cooking for 2 hours its a good time to prepare your canning jars. Make sure you wash the jars and lids thoroughly in Hot water!
Use a large canning pot to boil the jars. Boil for about 10 minutes. You can dip the rings and seals in the hot water after you remove the jars. Place the clean jars on a
towel so they will be ready to fill. I purchased a Ball canning utensil set that had all
everything I needed. Its was a little over $5 at Wal-mart.

FOURTH STEP: When mixture is dark and thick it is ready to put in the jars.
You may have to blend again if the mixture is not smooth and creamy. There should be no liquid left in the mixture! My Dad stirred my so much I didn't have to blend again!
When you dip your spoon in the mixture it should be thick not watery!

Spoon the apple butter in the jars leaving a 1/2 inch from the top. Wipe any excess apples butter from the rim and place the flat lid on jar. Then place the ring on jar and
tighten just enough to keep water from getting the while processing.

FIFTH STEP: Place jars on rack in canning pot. The water should come to about 1/2 to 1 inch over the top of the jars. Boil  for about 10 minutes.

LAST STEP:  Remove jars from pot using tongs or Jar lifter. Place jars on a towel to cool. You will hear the jars starting to seal when you remove from the water. Let jars cool. Check to see if lids have sealed. Tighten the rings on the jars again.

SHARE AND ENJOY!!!



EASTER SURPRISE'S 2012

Easter is a very important Holiday for our Family. We always celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord and Saviour "Jesus Christ".

We also celebrate by having the Children over for a BIG dinner! Everyone brings a special dish. The little ones had "Chocolate Bunnys' for dessert! Maddie decided to take the Bunny from Sammy's basket(don't know why because she had one in hers). Of course Sammy was a little upset when he went to get his and it was gone. I got the Bunny from Maddie's basket and gave it to Sam! Problem Solved! NOT!
 Bunny from Maddie's basket wasn't solid CHOCOLATE! It had Peanut Butter in it! They looked exactly the same!! How could this be! Then I remembered I bought a "White Chocolate Bunny" for myself. It was my Birthday! Why Not! I could almost taste that White Chocolate too! I figured he wouldn't eat it all anyway so I would still get to eat some of it later:) NaNa Saved the Day!

My only regret is we didn't have a picture of Maddie eating her "Solid Chocolate Bunny"! She had it all over her hands! She came running in the kitchen and stopped when she dropped the "Chocolate Bunny" on the floor! Everyone froze and you could have heard a Pin Drop! She just looked at everyone and said "IT's NOT POOP! Ha! I guess the last time everyone looked at her like THAT it was!

After dinner we always enjoy hiding eggs for the younger ones to find. I love seeing the excitement in their eyes when they find an egg. They always have plenty of help from the adults!
I filled the eggs with Jelly Beans. I also put money in a few of the eggs. After the egg hunt they took the eggs in the house to look inside them for the surprise! Sammy came running outside and said "NaNa some of my eggs have Jelly beans and some have Money in them"! I said "Yes that's right"! He then said "But I don't want the Jelly beans"!
It didn't take him long the figure out Maddie would trade the Money for the Jelly Beans! Ha!

I hope and pray that we always have "Little One's" around to enjoy!

LETTER FROM SAMMY

Sometimes its the little things you do for your Grand kids that mean the most to them. I got a letter the other day my Grandson Sammy wrote at School. He's just learning to write so it was very special. It says "Thank you NaNa for the castle you maked for me."
We were playing about a week ago with his sister Maddie. They love to look for "Treasures". I find random items for them and they put them in treasure bags(old purses). The more treasures the better. And you have to make it equal. Which makes it really hard!! Sometime it means two of everything you find!
After we found all the "Treasures" we had to have a place to hid from "TaTa" aka Don! I made hiding places in one of the bedrooms with blankets. I thought they were good hiding places until they wanted me to get in with them!! Ha! I am so claustrophobic I cant even get under the bed!  Needless to say they convinced me to get in! I did talk them in to letting me be the lookout so I could stick my head out! Thank goodness Don came home early that day! We weren't hard to find either with all the snickering.
I didn't realize until I got the letter how much it meant to Sammy and that he thought it was a "Castle"!
These are precious times and I wouldn't take anything for them!
Sure was hard getting out of that "Castle"! Next time I will make it bigger!

Having True Joy

When picking up my 3yr old granddaughter Maddie from Preschool the other day, I was informed by the teacher that she had just returned from a Trip to the "Office"! Maddie looked at me and said "NaNa It was a BIG Problem"! Evidently she was not nice to a classmate on the playground. We went back to the playground before leaving school and she apologized to the other child and he replied "That's OK Maddie"! I thought how quick children are to forgive one another! In the car on the way home we had a discussion about what happened and what she should have done. Maddie quickly replied "Even when I do something wrong God still Loves Me"! I coulnt help but think how she didn't even have to think about it. She just knows that God loves her! That is JOY!
Have you ever wondered why we have not been able to find the miraculous, fulfilling JOY the Bible talks about? Maybe we are looking for JOY in all the wrong places.
If you believe JOY comes from a college education, a spotless home,or well-behaved children you have it all wrong. If you think that losing 27.5 pounds or marrying the person of your dreams, or having a passport with far-away places will give you a money back guarantee to a perfect JOY.... then again you are wrong!
There is only ONE PLACE and one place only......"In His Presence is Fullness of JOY!"
How can you do this?? Well it's not difficult. You choose to make it a priority to spend time reading your Bible everyday. You can listen to a Worship CD in your car or at home to start the day. If you are very BOLD you can lift your hands in the air as an act of surrender while you worship(Just not while driving:)! Spend time in prayer just you and Jesus. You have the best friend ever to walk through the day with you. What is the name of your new BFF? You can simply call this friend JOY!
Today read Psalms 16

Devotion from Youversion Bible app.

Favorite Food List

As a parent I remember how hard it was to get my son Matt to try different foods! He was a very picky eater. Most of the time if we didn't have something he liked for dinner he would just ask for a "Peanut Butter Sandwich". Rather than go through the Drama every nite of Forcing him to eat green veggies I gave in(by the way I don't like those little green mushy peas! To this day I gag when I look at them).
Now that Matt is a father of two he is faced with the same problem. All though he does eat better now! How can you make your children eat food you will not eat?
When My Daughter-in-law Crystal showed me Sammy's list today I started thinking how many times we tried to trick him to get him to try new things. We would put a Big Gob of green baby food on a spoon, smile and say "Ummm this is good"!  Have you ever tasted baby food? It is NOT good!
He was only fooled into trying it once!! It came right back out! After that his little mouth was sealed! We couldn't get him to try anything else.
Sammy is 6 now and his list of Favorite food has 7 foods on it! Wow that's good! He is adding a food every year! I love that "Carrots made the Number 5 spot! That's right in case you couldn't tell that it Carr-etts! It was confirmed by Mom! The C is silent!
I can't wait to see Maddie's list! I'm sure her list will have at least 5 different fruit on it :)

Disappearing Socks

It's always been a mystery to me how you can put 5 "pairs" of socks in the Dryer and only get 4 1/2 back!
Where do the socks go? And why is it only "New" socks that get lost! Like the special pair that you got for Christmas and Love to wear because they are soft and warm!
Put them in the Dryer and only one comes back!!
A friend told me once to put all the socks in a mesh bag and dry them together! What? A bag of Socks! Do you wash them all together too?  I can't imagine saying " I have to go home to wash a "load" of  socks!  How many socks would you have to wash to make a load? And you would have to wash Whites in one load and Colored in another!  That's a lot of work for SOCKS!! I do know that the other half of the lost sock usually ends up tucked in a corner of the sock drawer hoping for the return of the lost one! When the sock doesn't return, eventually, the odd socks are finally retired and thrown out! Just another one of "Life's Unsolved  Mysteries"!
Please share your thoughts and suggestions on this important topic! Have a Good one? :)

Maddie Can Count

When I woke up this morning I planned my entire day! Only problem was everything took longer than I planned! I was running late for everything. One of the things I had planned on doing today was grocery shopping.
I love my Grandchildren very much but I try not to take them grocery shopping if at all possible. Today I broke that rule! I had planned to pick up Sammy from School and take him to Publix and then pick up Maddie from Preschool.
Well Sam had other plans. He was really hungry and thirsty when I picked him up so we went home first. Then He wanted to have some "alone time" for just 5 minutes! Well, long story short, we ended up picking up Maddie and then going Grocery shopping.
I thought "I can do this"! I have a list! I will move quickly and we will be in and out!
OK first we had to find a "Big Green" shopping cart that has two seats. The cart is so big you can't turn it around when going down the isle!!  Next we have to stop by the bakery and get a them a free cookie to eat! The kids know right where to go so don't even try to go to another part of the store first!
We are moving fast through the store trying to get everything on my list while they are eating and getting along with each other. Things are going really well until I get to the check out! Why is it that kids will be "Angels" until you get to the check out! Things started going down hill fast! All of a sudden the "Big Green Buggy" isn't big enough for both of them! I get to the car and put both kids in their seat and strap them in. While I'm loading the grocery's in the back it sounds like "World War III" in the back seat! As soon as I get in the car I ask "What is going on in here"? Sammy immediately says "Number one: Sissy tried to HIT me! Number two: Sissy tried to SCRATCH me! Number three: Sissy Tried to SQUEEZE my neck!
I looked back and Said "Maddie what do you have to say about all of this"?  She looked at Sammy and said "Sammy you forgot to say NUMBER FOUR"!

SANTA SAMMY

Its funny how sometimes things will happen to make you remember things that you had forgotten all about.  Today I was looking through a suitcase that I have full of memories and pictures. I found this picture of My Grandson Sammy taken when he was only a couple of months old. I found a "Santa Suit" at Wal-mart and I thought how cute it would be to have his picture made in it. I made arrangements with his Mom and Dad to let me take Sammy to JC Penny's to have pictures made. They would meet us there after they got off from work. I was so excited to be taking him to have his first Professional Pictures taken!  I didn't realize that I would have to change His clothes for different poses. I was the one who packed his bag for the pictures and I packed plenty of clothes but NO DIAPERS!! Well You can guess what happened! Can you believe that the Portrait Studio didn't have any spare diapers!!! What?? I would have to go buy some diapers while we were waiting for Mom and Dad. To my surprise JC Penny's doesn't sell diapers! How did I know? We were at a BIG MALL and you would think a MALL would have a store that sold diapers! NO!  So I went back to JC Penny and started wondering around the infant department until I spotted a young couple with a baby! I explained my situation to them and they laughed and gave me a diaper. I offered to pay them for it but they just laughed and said no! So thanked them and we went back to get the pictures made. Turns out they were the cutest pictures ever! So glad I didn't decide to leave and not get them taken! And So glad JC Penny has an infant dept. You can meet the nicest people there!

Grandmas at Church

I was thinking about all the Great Sundays I've had over the years at Church with the Grands. There is something special about being a Grandma at Church. It's like being a member of a "Special Club"!  My Grandson Sammy was born on a Thursday so I was so excited to see everyone that Sunday! Everyone was waiting to congratulate me. Of course I had plenty of pictures and everyone else had a chance to pull out their pictures too! It's almost like contest! Put a bunch of Grandmas together and let someone pull out some pictures! Here you go with the competition!
I was Choir Director at my Church and every week I would take a picture of Sammy and tape it to my music stand in the choir room so when everyone came in they could admire his picture. Of course I would always RUN to get him after church so I could parade him around!
One Sunday his Mom and Dad were sitting on the front row with him in church. I usually sat there when I was finished leading the singing. All I had to do was look at his Mom and smile BIG and she handed him to me to hold during church. When It came time for me to go back up to lead singing again I handed him back to his Mom.
Little did I know I forgot to take the "Bib Cloth" off my shoulder!! I couldn't figure out why everyone was laughing! My Son finally came up and got the bib cloth off my shoulder!  Guess EVERYONE knew I was a Grandma then!

Picking Up From School

I usually get to pick my two youngest Grandchildren up from School and Daycare at least once a week.
You can learn a lot just from talking to a 6yr old and a 3yr old in the car. They can't run away when you are talking to them!
Just last week I asked Sammy on the way home if he had a good week. He said almost. Just one day bad! Of course I asked what happened to make THAT Day bad?  He said, " I was just minding my own business when the teacher asked "Who was TALKING in the class"? EVERY SINGLE PERSON in the class pointed their finger at ME"! That was a BAD day! I said I guess it was especially if he had been the one that was talking! No Comment! Ha!
Now Maddie who is 3yrs.old doesn't like to tell too much about what happens in her class. She may tell on herself!
I was talking to her today and she asked me when we could go to see the "Christmas Lights" again. I tried to explain that Christmas only comes once a year and she would have to wait awhile to go again. She asked if "Awhile" was tomorrow? So I tried to think of a way to tell here how long it would be. I finally told her that she had to wait until she had her Birthday and she was 4yrs old. She immediately said with excitement "Then I can DRIVE"!  I said No it wouldn't be that long! She didn't say anything for a few minutes. When Sissy is quiet she is thinking! She finally said, "Well Daddy and Mommy probably wont let me Drive so can I use Your Car?? Ha! See what I'm in for!

SUMMER VBS

We started every summer for as long as I can remember with "Vacation Bible School".
All the kids loved going. I didn't work in the summer so Our Daughters boys used to stay with us in the summer. Her boys were under 3 yrs. old when Don and I got married.
They loved coming and staying with "Pappy" and "Nanny"!
One summer the boys wanted to stay with us for the week and go to VBS at our Church.
VBS was during the day back then. I got all the kids up and we ate breakfast. We were running a Little late. It wasn't easy to get 7 kids up, dressed and ready to go!
Everyone filed out the door and into the Van.  I yelled out "Everyone Buckle Up" and we were headed down the road.  About halfway to the church I heard a little voice behind my seat say "Nanny I forgot My PANTS"!!  I looked up in the rear view mirror and saw my Sweet little Grandson sitting there with his Shirt, Shoes and Socks on! NO PANTS!  He was so worried he was going to get left behind.  So when all the others started running to the car he followed them.  I turned the van around and went back to get some pants for him. The rest of the week when we got in the Van I didn't yell Buckle Up! I Yelled "Everyone Have Pants On"?

My Big Yellow School Bus

The first few years Don and I were married I drove a School Bus. Back then the School District let us bring our buses home with us. Since most of the morning routes started before daylight it was safer.
Almost every time the Grands would come over to see us they would have to play "Bus Driver" before going home!
For some reason small children are fascinated with "Big Yellow Buses"!  All the kids wanted to ride with me whenever  I drove.
The school that I picked up on my afternoon route was near where one of our Grandsons lived. He wasn't old enough to go to school yet. My bus would go right passed his house coming and going. Usually when he heard me go by the first time he was waiting in the window for me the second time! He would always wave to me and I would wave back!
One day I called his Mom and told her that I was finishing early and If she would let me I would stop by after I finished taking the kids home and let him ride with me to my house.  Well, he was so excited that he couldn't even take a nap! I drove past the first time and he knew I was coming back again so he started getting ready! Second time passed the house and all the kids on the bus were pointing up at his window and laughing!!! I looked up and he was standing on his bed "Butt Naked" looking out the window waving at me!!! He wasn't concerned that he didn't have his clothes on yet!! He knew I was coming back to get him!!
And I did! Too bad we didn't have cell phone cameras back then!  But that's OK!  I still have that picture in my mind! 

Very First Day as a Grandmother

Don and I were married in March 1989 in Summerville at Azalea Park. It was a beautiful day and the park was in full bloom. We had a small ceremony with just Family and a few close friends. After the ceremony we were going to have a small reception at the church we were attending so our church family and others could join us.
Don already had 3 Grandchildren at this time. They were all very young. The oldest was 3yrs old.
As we were getting in the car to ride to the church one of the Grandchildren came running over and wanted to ride with us to the church.
I remember Don looking at me not sure what to do. I smiled and then he opened the door to the "Mini Van" and a smiling Grandchild jumped in!  I was their "Nanny" from that minute on. After that we didn't go to many places when one or more of the Grands weren't with us!  It became sort of a joke every Sunday when we pulled up at Church and opened the doors to the van everyone would count the kids that jumped out!
Thank the Lord for "Mini Vans"!  Those were the "Good Ole Days!" 

Sunday Dinners

Don is working today so I'm spending the day alone. Its nice to have some "Me" time. I was thinking today about all the wonderful times we have had over the years with Our "Sunday Dinners".  We had dinner at home every Sunday after church mainly because it was too expensive to take 9 people out to lunch. It also gave us a chance to spend time with the older kids who were always busy! There wasn't a Sunday that we didn't have some "extras" too! Friends, girlfriends,etc...
I was remembering one particular Sunday afternoon we  finished eating we all gathered in the living room. One of the youngest Grandsons was playing on the floor in the middle of the room. Everyone else was talking and laughing, like we always do when we get together, not even paying attention to him.  All of a sudden he yells out  S**t(the dreaded S word)! Now I know I have been guilty of saying it a time or too when the kids were babies and I was up to my elbows in it!  But this was a 3yr old!!!
You could have heard a pin drop! He didn't even realize he had done anything wrong. His Dad jumped up and was getting ready to spank him when My Husband came to the rescue! He said he must have heard SOMEONE say that!
Pretty soon everyone was confessing that MAYBE they had "slipped" up in front of him a few times!
Out of the mouths of Babes!!! Ha!!
Always be careful what you say in front of the Little Ones! You may here it coming right back to you!!

NaNa's Dailey Blog: Friday "Date Nite" with Sammy and Maddie

NaNa's Dailey Blog: Friday "Date Nite" with Sammy and Maddie: When Don and I first got married Friday nite was our Date nite! It was the only chance to be alone and have adult conversation! Over the yea...

Friday "Date Nite" with Sammy and Maddie

When Don and I first got married Friday nite was our Date nite! It was the only chance to be alone and have adult conversation! Over the years as the kids started getting older Friday was babysitting nite for the Grandchildren. We have shared many precious memories over the past years with some of our Grands that are grown now!
Last nite we took our two youngest Grandchildren Sammy who is 6yrs old and Maddie his sister who is 3yrs old to see a movie. This was the first time we took both of them together to a show. Its hard  to find something that they both will like. We went to the 4pm matinee since it was cheaper! It only cost $7 for each child ticket and $6.50 for each of us (we got the senior discount). I smuggled in drink boxes and snacks for the kids in my purse. Then  for Us we splurged for a bucket of popcorn and a drink to share. Also got some M&Ms for all of us to share. All for $15!
The 4pm matinee was a good call!  There was only one other family in the theater with us for the entire movie! So that was nice. I was glad they were showing movie previews because it took us awhile to Convince Maddie she would be more comfortable in a "Booster Seat". Once she was settled and happy
Sammy decided he would be more comfortable in a "Booster Seat" too!
Finally everyone is seated and "Comfortable"! Lights out! Passed out snacks and movie starts!  I look over at Maddie and she is picking through her M&Ms and holding each one up to see if its a GREEN one. She had to eat the green ones first.
I have to say that I was surprised the movie held their attention the whole 1hr. 45min!! I had to go the the bathroom twice!
Movie was a success!!! So we decided to take them to Chick-fil-A for dinner! WRONG move!!
Friday nite must be Grandparent and Grands nite!! Almost needed a leash to keep track of who's with who!
Needless to say we ate fast!
On the way home Maddie was arguing with me and I was trying to explain to her that arguing is "Talking Back" and that can get you in trouble! Well Big Brother Sammy defends her by Saying "NaNa its OK! Sissy doesn't know what she is saying because her BRAIN isn't all the way BUILT yet!!! Ha! Wonder how old you are when you BRAIN is BUILT??  Maddie doesn't know it but Sammy is a GREAT Brother!

I started thinking when we got back home how much fun we have with! Sometimes we are exhausted when they go home! BUT 5 minutes later I miss them!

I am excited to be posting my daily thoughts about being a christian wife, mother and grandmother! I dont expect anyone to be interested in my life personaly but maybe we can share our thoughts!

This is all new to me so here goes........

I believe its true when people say God gives us Grandkids as a way to make up for the mistakes we made with our own children!  You suddenly become wiser as you get older!

If you dont believe me ask you Children. Now they want our advise! Not that they listen anyway!lol! But they are parents now and things are different.

My Grandchildren have been the Joy of my life!  They amaze me every time I see them how smart and wonderful they are. 

My husband Don an I have a "blended" family!  We have a total of 7 children and 14 grands!

So  I will be Posting my thoughts and events of our family!

Stay tuned.......