Gift for a new baby

Some friends of ours from church recently had a baby. Welcome, little man!

Front

Back

First attempt...

at french-braiding the little one's hair:

I need some practice, but it's challenging with a wiggly little girl! :)

What we've been up to (and pictures for the grandparents!)

One day a week for the last 3 weeks, we've driven north to check out some of Georgia's lakes (the temperature and humidity are also a little lower!). We went to Lake Hartwell, Rabun Lake, and Lake Russell. A load of pics following mainly to satisfy the grandparents- ha!

33 weeks

My hunky hubband

35 weeks

Canning

After talking about it for a few months, I decided to teach myself how to can jam/jelly/preserves. I got a book from the library, bought the supplies from Wal-mart (a water-bath canner, jars, jar lifter, funnel, and pectin), and went to work. The strawberry jelly came out great! All of my jars but one sealed (which of course we ate right away), and it didn't take too long. It took me a few hours of constant stirring, watching, slicing, and cleaning, but it was very doable even with a toddler clinging to my leg.

Cleaning the jars

Mama's helper

Yummy!

Sorry there aren't any pics between cutting fruit and filled jars--it's pretty fast-paced so this novice didn't have time to take any shots!

Very satisfying :)