A John Deere Taggie

My DIL asked me to make a John Deere taggie blanket for her new niece.


I tried to make it a little girly, so I incorporated some pink ribbon with the green. And a little pink camo on the back!



I did a fancy stitch in pink around the edge, and put her name on it too.



Babies just love these things! Enjoy, Hadley Jo!
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Book Review--One Breathe Away

I love to read! I remember my love for reading really sparked when I was in fourth grade--many moons ago. I had just changed schools, and my new teacher(Love You, Mrs. Heideman!) dressed fashionably and READ ALOUD TO US EVERY SINGLE DAY!! That had never happened in my world before!! Then my aunt, who was a teacher, asked me to read a new book and give my opinion of it for her librarian. And I was hooked!!!

As an adult I read when my kids napped, and sometimes into the wee hours of the night because that's when I had time. I now belong to a book club that meets once a month. It dawned on me that I have never shared my love for reading on my blog, thus this post. I am going to try to post a review a couple of times a month.

Our latest book club book was One Breath Away by Heather Gudenkauf.



The story takes place in a small Iowa town in the dead of winter. It is one of those snowy frigid days, a spring snowstorm, that we are familiar with in Iowa. Snow was drifting, and closing the roads when a gunman entered the school in Broken Branch, Iowa. The townspeople are ushered to the local restaurant to wait and speculate who the gunman is, and what does he want. Among them is Will Thwaite, a local farmer, left in charge of his two grandchildren, wondering if he had failed his daughter again. Augie Baker, Will's granddaughter risks her life to save her little brother, against the wishes of the police. Mrs. Oliver, veteran teacher, does her best to shelter her third graders as she tries to figure out who the gunman is and how to save them all. She tells the story from different points of view and keeps the reader wondering just who the gunman is. I figured out who the gunman was part way through, but most in my book club didn't. I would give this book Four Stars!

I have had the pleasure of meeting Heather as her niece was in my classroom this year, and another niece was my colleague. Unfortunately my photos are on my school computer.

I have also read The Weight of Silence which was very good.

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Camping Fun!

We enjoy camping as much as we possibly can. We went out the first time the end of April. The three oldest grandsons spent one night with us. They enjoyed fishing.....


Digging through their tackle boxes.....


Roasting marshmallows.....


Restringing fishing poles....


And riding scooters.


A good time was had by all!
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On My Design Wall

I started these blocks quite some time ago. They were a block of the month at one of my local quilt stores. They should have been done in February. I finally finished my last block which I had a lot of trouble with! It started with not having enough fabric in my packet from the quilt store. After trying to cut the pieces and thinking I screwed up, I went back in, and they told me they had messed up. (Could have saved me a LOT of frustration!). Then I sewed it together, but it just didn't want to fit right.


The roof gave me a lot of stress! after some remeasuring and recutting, then renewing I finally got it!


I also have a small Christmas table runner up there. still trying to decide what to do with it...borders? And the individual squares are what Clara does when I sew. She thinks she is making her own quilt! Maybe someday she will.

I love summer days that give me time to sew!
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A Pinterest Hit!!

I pin a LOT on Pinterest, and I do try to cook some of the recipes and do some of the crafts,etc. Sometimes they just aren't all they are cracked up to be. Recently, however, I tried a new recipe, and we just can't get enough of them!!

They really don't have a name, but the Sweet Teeth Goodies calls them
Crack-tastic Crackers.

Simple and cheap ingredients:




1 – 1 1/4 cup canola oil (you decide how much you want to use)

1 packet Ranch dressing mix

2-3 Tbs. red pepper flakes

4 sleeves of Saltine crackers

1) Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl for a good long while (5-10 minutes), to really get the crackers coated.

2) Lay them out on a cookie sheet and drizzle the yummy, ranchy, peppery oil that’s in the bottom of the bowl, over the top of the crackers. Bake at 250 degrees for 15-20 minutes, stirring them around about halfway through.



3) Let them cool and store in a big ol’ baggie. Or a few little baggies.

That’s it! So very easy and a great snack for a game or party.

I have two batches in the oven right now!!

You can follow me on Pinterest and check out my great pins!


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