Purple Flurp

In case you hadn't noticed, we are reaching the end of canning season and that means that with the first big freeze, my dear friend, Pauline, will be sending me that text I wait for every year, "Come and get 'em!" Of course I mean her beautiful concord grapes!

Over the last few days, I have juiced 4 gallons of grape juice and last night I finally gave up on the possibility of making jelly anytime soon and I quickly processed them in half-gallon jars for storage until I am ready.

The Dog Walker was close by during this operation, working on his Midterm for his Race in Society class. As I was pouring off the last couple of jars, out of the blue, he said, while still hunched over his reading materials, "Remember Purple Flurp?" Funny he should mention that because a few days ago, when I was juicing the first batch, Drama Queen asked me the same question.

Now if you are a fan of the old-time Jimmy Neutron movie, you would understand that reference, but at our house, as a young boy with Autism, Dog Walker wanted to be just like Jimmy Neutron, so we created our own version of Purple Flurp to satisfy his cravings.

Back to our original conversation...

"Do you want to make Purple Flurp?" I asked as I tossed the flat metal canning lids into a pan of steaming water. He looked up at me and grinned, pencil paused for a moment, "Do you?" I couldn't help but want to please this amazing son of mine, with all of his hard work even in the most difficult circumstances. "Run up to my room and see if you can find a can of Sprite while I finish up these jars and then we will make some."

He was back in a moment with a can of Sprite Zero and I had him reach up to the highest shelf and reach down the fancy blue glasses. After filling them with ice, I put about 3 tablespoons of pure concord grape juice in each one. Then the Dog Walker filled them the rest of the way with the soda.

Ahhhh... Purple Flurp!

National Honor Society

With all the craziness, it seems like we have been missing a few important things, so tonight I went back and looked through the pics on my phone just to make sure. A few weeks ago, Sport got all dressed up and the two of us headed to the high school so he could be inducted into the National Honor Society.

If you remember, Sport was an officer in 9th grade when he was in the NJHS or the middle school version of NHS. He loves hanging out with the smart and motivated people, particularly the girls, and service has always been part of our lives, so NHS was a great spot for him.

I am so proud of him for his hard work and good choices!

Guest Blog - Update on Twizzler by Teach

Life has been so busy and crazy here as we count down the days until Crafty leaves for her mission to the Philippines on October 30. But I didn't want to lose track of the fact that our sweet baby grandson has been in the NICU and now that he is finally home, he is still on oxygen and he still has some battles to fight.


Teach wrote this part for you.

Twizzler was born after 18 hours of labor on October 5, 2019 @ 1:47 PM. He weighs 8 lbs 7 oz and 20 inches long. We are enraptured by his long fingers and mysterious hair color. (Sometimes it looks brown, sometimes red, sometimes blond!) Twizlet is still getting used to her baby brother, but was tenderly gentle when she met him. He is awake more often than not, and smells like heaven. We are so blessed to be his parents. 


Teach has some beautiful pictures, but I want to share the ones I took today. I swear he is smiling in the second one!

Build A Better Utah

This weekend has been so busy and part of that craziness was because of the Build a Better Utah service project. For us it started earlier in the week when we papered our neighborhood with fliers advertising the food drive that was chosen as the activity by our girl scout service unit.

Then on Friday, Drama Queen loaded her truck and I loaded my car with the Girl Scouts and we drove the entire neighborhood gathering little bags and boxes full of food set out for us on many porches. By the time we were finished, we had a good-sized pile of food in the back of the truck.

Then on Saturday afternoon, Crafty and I took five of our girl scouts over to the St. Andrew's Food pantry to drop all of those good things off. They will do so much good for families in need! I love teaching my kids to serve and protect their community and I'm so glad the Girl Scouts feels the same way!