Garrett's 1st Craft Show!

These past few weeks have been a bit chaotic for the Iowa Jacksons! Thankfully things are starting to slow down to a much more manageable pace.

Last weekend Garrett & I traveled to Kansas City for our annual crafting weekend we share with women from the Jackson/Orton families. He traveled MUCH better than I expected. NO Meltdowns! We stopped for lunch at the Iowa Welcome Center in Lamoni, IA. It’s not only a welcome center, but also has a great gift shop and a Maid Rite restaurant on site. I definitely recommend stopping by if you are near the IA/MO border on I-35! I let Garrett run around outside before heading out again. He enjoyed “petting” the metal cows on display.It was such a beautiful weekend! We spent Saturday at the Maple Leaf Festival in Baldwin, Kansas. The weather was perfect, and the crafting was very good for this small Midwest town. I regret that I didn't take any pictures of the beautiful leaves on the trees. I did get to do more looking than I anticipated, as Grandma Jackson preferred to push Garrett in the stroller.

He wasn’t very interested in the crafting, but was a VERY good baby! No fussing whatsoever! I think his favorite part was the pulled pork slider he enjoyed for lunch...or was it the nap after lunch??

Saturday evening we enjoyed Aunt Ginger’s delicious soups, along with a tasty carrot cake served up to celebrate Aunt Pat’s upcoming 70th birthday!

The fun evening became a bit scary, as Garrett woke up with a high fever. Grandma Jackson sprung into action and took care of her youngest grandson by rocking and soothing him to sleep. Aunt Ginger and Cousin Cheryl also helped out by making a late-evening run to pick up some ibuprofen. (After returning home to Iowa, Garrett saw his doctor and it turns out that his bout of fevers over the weekend was the result of an ear infection. After a few more days at home with Daddy and Mama, Garrett is happily back to daycare today to play with his friends.)

Grandma also enjoyed feeding Garrett...

Garrett enjoyed some play time with his cousin Colt. The two boys are still not too sure about each other…but I can see them getting into lots of mischief together in years to come! Below is Garrett, Grandma Jackson, Colt and his Grandma Peterson (our Aunt Ginger).

Garrett did VERY well on the ride home! I rewarded his good behavior with a pull-behind puppy we found at the Gordman's store in Des Moines. Below, he is trying to pull his puppy up onto the fireplace hearth.
After experiencing my first crafting weekend of the season I'm starting to feel some Christmas cheer coming on...I know it's early, but when I see the Christmas decorations for sale at the crafter's booths we walked by, and ornaments and decorations going up in the stores, I can't help but hum a little "We Wish You a Merry Christmas"!

Caramel Corn

Lately Steve has been asking for one of his favorite fall treats: Caramel Corn! I always enjoy fixing my first batch of the year because it's usually around the first of fall. Though it's over 80 degrees today, it still feels fall-like as the pretty golden leaves are falling from our trees outside.

My favorite recipe is taken from the Scott County Kansas Centennial cookbook that my mom gave me years ago (aka "the red cookbook"). It is made in the microwave using a paper grocery sack. There are times when I have to change it up and prepare it in the oven due to the fact that it can be hard to find a paper grocery sack. But after our trip to the apple orchard last week, our pie was wrapped in 2 plain brown paper sacks, so I was able to make 2 batches!



Microwave Caramel Corn
1 c. packed brown sugar
1/4 c. Karo light corn syrup
1 stick butter or margarine
salt
1/2 t. baking soda
4 qts popped corn

I like to use my Whirley-Pop to pop the popcorn on the stove. Air-popped corn works too. Place popped corn in a brown paper grocery sack and salt to taste. Combine everything except the soda and popcorn in a 1 1/2 quart bowl. Put in microwave and bring to a boil (about 3 minutes) and then continue cooking for an additional 2 minutes. Remove from microwave and stir in soda. Pour syrup over popcorn and stir. Close bag and shake (this is an important step - it helps break up the corn). Place bag in microwave and cook on high for 1 1/2 minutes. Remove and shake then cook another 1 1/2 minutes, remove and shake. Cook 30 seconds more. Tear bag open and separate the kernels. Let cool and enjoy!

Where's Garrett?

Garrett blends in with our front yard when he's wearing his cammo gear!

Garrett's Pumpkin

(see post below)

Applefest 2010

Today we enjoyed a fun outing to the local apple orchard's Applefest weekend. There are lots of games and activities for kids, apples, cider, and other fun apple goodies. Our favorite part was the wagon ride to the pumpkin patch - Garrett especially liked the tractor that pulled the wagon.

Garrett wasn't too thrilled to have his picture taken...there was too much going on around him that he wanted to be a part of.
Daddy & Garrett in the kids play area.
Garrett had fun checking out the goats in the petting zoo area.Here we are on the wagon. We attempted a self-portrait, and I have no idea what happened here...we're all looking different directions!
Down at the pumpkin patch...
Looking for just the right pumpkin.
Isn't he the cutest??
The top 4 picks...
...I think Garrett wanted to get them all, but we decided on the one Daddy is holding.
After a quick lunch under a shade tree, we headed for home. Garrett's still asleep after our fun outing, so I'm going to start baking the apple pie I picked up at the orchard. Can't wait to enjoy it with cinnamon ice cream tonight!!

(AUNT GINGER: I picked up some Caramel Apple Muffin Mix for our upcoming Ladies Weekend! YUM!)

Saturday

Watch out for this little buckaroo!

Garrett went to his first rodeo on Saturday...and of course, he's wearing his Wranglers (too bad the western cut Wranglers are too big)!
Garrett's ready to go at the back door! He really enjoyed the rodeo. I left the camera in the car (gasp!), so I didn't get any pics at the event. We were sitting in the front row close to the chutes, so the broncs came VERY close to us as they made their way back to the chutes. It was exciting!
Garrett in his new winter jammies. We had our first freeze of the season last night, so we broke out Garrett's fleece pj's. They were a little too big...
...so he did lots of slipping & sliding on our floors. But he seemed to enjoy them!
I caught him playing with one of his favorite toys: his KU Jayhawk that plays the fight song. He likes to "march" along with the beat.

Pacifier Note: Daddy pointed out that Garrett has his paci in every picture of this blog entry. I'd like to say that he's not attached to it...but he does seem to seek out his pacifiers when he's tired. It was nap time when we were ready to leave for the rodeo, and bedtime for the pj pics, hence the plug that conceals his cute little grin.

Using a Spoon...Continued

Well, it turns out I might have gotten a bit too excited about Garrett using a spoon. We found out yesterday (1 day after his great spoon accomplishment at home) that at daycare he was given a cup of yogurt and a spoon. Instead of using the spoon like a good boy, like he did for mommy...he took the yogurt cup and dumped it on his head!

He's a toddler...need I say more??

Tomorrow we are off to Garrett's 1st rodeo! I hope to have pictures to post soon.