Create Parent with existing children - ruby-on-rails

Question

Does anyone know how to create a new parent with existing children?
class Order < ActiveRecord::Base
has_many :jobs
accepts_nested_attributes_for :jobs
end
class Job < ActiveRecord::Base
belongs_to :quote
belongs_to :order
end
With nested variables, I can build one or more jobs (children) with a new order (parent) and the create method then automatically creates the new parent with it's new children. What I have though, is a group of existing children (jobs that were created in a quote), and I want to include them in a new parent form. When hitting submit to create the new order, I want it to create the new parent, and update the selected children with that new parent ID.
I have messy code that will do this in the create method by saving a new order (parent), then updating each of the jobs (children) with the new order_id, but is there any way to do this automatically?
The actual code is complex, so here's the crux of it.
Let's assume there is a quote with several jobs, therefore the quote_id variable in all these jobs point back to the quote and #quote.jobs = array of these jobs.
Here's what I have now:
In the Order model I added:
attr_accessor :quote_id
In the Order controller:
def new quote_id
#quote = Quote.find(quote_id)
#order = Order.new
and in the view
<%= simple_form_for #order, :html => { :class => 'form-horizontal' } do |f| %>
<%= f.input :quote_id, value: #quote.id, as: :hidden %>
<%= f.input :account_number %>
...
<table>
<thead><tr> ... column headings here ... </tr></thead>
<tbody>
<% #quote.jobs.each do |q| %>
<tr>
<td><%= q.description %></td>
<td><%= q.price %></td>
</tr>
<% end %>
<tr><%= ... add a row with the total price ... %></tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<%= f.button :submit, "Place My Order" %>
<% end $>
Then in the Order controller
def create
...
if #order.save
Quote.find(params[quote_id]).jobs.each do |job|
job.update(order_id: #order.id)
end
end
...
What I would prefer is for the job parameters to be handled as nested objects in the form so they can be automatically updated on an Order create with the order.id and perhaps a couple of other parameters. I've tried (in the controller)
#order = Order.new
#quote.jobs.each do |job|
#order.jobs << job
end
but they're not showing up in a form with the usual nested format and if that worked, I don't know if they would actually be updated.

Answer 1

Since an Order accepts nested attributes for a Job, I suppose you could just manually create and populate the nested jobs fields - as hidden fields - when you build your order form.
<% #quote.jobs.each_with_index do |job, index| %>
<input type='hidden' name='order[jobs_attributes][<% index %>][FIELDNAME]' id='order_jobs_attributes_<% index %>_FIELDNAME' value='<% job.something %>' />
<% end %>
I'm sure there's a cleaner way with simple_form/form helpers to use = f.input to build the hidden fields but I was admittedly being lazy above!