Happy Birthday Dad!!

Today is my Dad's 60th birthday, and I wanted to take a few minutes to tell you about him.

My Dad is the kind of dad who...

Takes his little girl around the neighborhood to sell Girl Scout cookies, and doesn’t get mad when he realizes that she has only been pretending to knock on all the doors….

Dad reading Luke 2 on Christmas morning (a holiday tradition in our family) 1979

Pays for a full box of fund-raiser candy bars that his little girl carelessly left in the hot car to melt….

Reads aloud the first few “Little House” books to his small daughter when he has spare time…

Once used the lawn mower to create a little softball diamond in the front yard, for his silly little girl to practice hitting…

Thinks it’s funny to drive his teen aged daughter around the “loop” in the min-van with classical music blaring, and with his hat on backwards…

Writes his daughter letters telling her about life back at home, filling her in on all the latest news, cheering her up when she feels low…sometimes even drawing silly illustrations on the envelopes….

Drives to her apartment to dispose of a mouse that has gotten stuck in a “live trap” when his daughter calls him late at night, terrified of all the squeaking and refusing to touch the mouse or the trap herself…

When he’s worried about his young daughter (who has just moved out of state), sends her a check with an official looking letter that says she has won the “Family Lottery”….

Upon seeing his 20 year old daughter’s tattoo (of the Superman ‘S’ emblem), says, “You know what that “S” stand for? It stands for Stupid.” Note: All these years later, I can’t say that I disagree. Ah, the folly of youth….

Doesn’t complain when the pantry got raided by the daughter who had her own apartment…

Always is kind and supportive of his wife, and together they set a wonderful example of how truly good a marriage can be….

Continues to be supportive and thoughtful even after his little girl grows up and starts a family of her own…

Ready to "give me away" 2007

Happy Birthday Dad! Thanks for all you have done and continue to do. You are a wonderful father, Grandpa and friend. I love you!

Sock and Glove

So, I recently stumbled upon a reference to this book, and immediately felt that I needed it. My husband of course just wonders when I'll have time for another project.

Do not fear - I will find the time! I bought the book on eBay, and got it in the mail this week. Already I can't wait to get started. The little critters on these pages are just too adorable for words. And, since socks and gloves aren't terribly expensive... this will be a fun and frugal craft that I can enjoy.

I feel that I must start with the adorable dog featured on the cover, but then I think I need to make the lamb and the elephant too.... and then maybe the little bunny. And I think that Miyako Kanamori has at least one more book along the same lines, so eventually I may have to track that down also.

This book isn't new, so I may be one of the last crafty gals to discover it. I'm wondering... have you tried making any of these? I'd love to see what others have done, or hear if you have any pointers...

Eventually, I'll take pictures of the little sock and glove animals I end up with, and share them here. Hopefully, there's a special little boy I know who will fall in love with them. If not, I might have to just make them for friends or even put a couple in my cubicle at the office.

Regardless of where they end up, I do look forward to working on them.

Little People are Awesome!

I just love Little People toys (by Fisher Price). I always have. Back when I was a youngster, the little people were even littler. They were really just a head on top of a little chunk of wood (later the bodies were made of plastic, but looked the same. I never had any of these toys while I was a child, but I do remember playing with them at a friend’s house. Oh what fun!

Those lucky little armless folks had a tiny, magical world all their own. They rode the bus to school, they went to the airport and worked on the farm. They had a part time job at McDonald’s and loved the circus. They visited Sesame Street and went camping. They had a nice house and also a castle. They drove every sort of car and truck.

They did it, or had it all!

These days the Little People are bigger. They are all plastic and “cuter” than their primitive ancestors. At first I didn’t like the new version. I missed the older, smaller toys of the 70s. The new ones were too bulky, too colorful, too detailed….
But then they began to grow on me. Once we became parents, I started scoping out the Fisher Price aisle at the toy store. Gradually, I began to adore those chubby little faces and all of their updated vehicles, houses and accessories. My hope, of course, was for our little guy to enjoy playing with them too. So, with that goal in mind I began to pick them up when I found them at garage sales or cheap on eBay. Recently I found the farm - complete with two farmers, fences and a pile of little animals (for just $4). Little W has also received a few as gifts.

Now I have a nice little collection.

Oh, wait a minute. I meant to say Willie has a nice little collection. I love playing with them…no, that’s not right… HE loves playing with them.

Uh-oh. I’m afraid my secret is out. Willie does like playing with his Little People…he just doesn’t like them quite as much as Mommy does...at least not YET.

but he will!

{this moment}

Inspired by SouleMama to share one moment.... via a single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember…”

Sunny Days

I’m preoccupied by Big Bird and his friends from Sesame Street these days. Even though it’s still a few months away, we’ve started to plan our Little One’s next birthday party. He’s so crazy about Cookie Monster, and Elmo, and Oscar and the rest – that the theme just fell into place.

In the evenings, we read him stories about Grover and Zoe and Bert & Ernie. We watch Little Guy playing with his “Elmo Shout” toy or hugging his “Tickle me Cookie Monster”. We watch “Elmo’s World” on DVD.

We’ll hang streamers and balloons. I’ll make his birthday cake. It will probably be bigger than we really need. It probably won’t turn out just the way I hope for. It will probably taste far better than it looks. I know that my little sweetie will love it no matter how it turns out though, and that is all that matters to me.

Today it is overcast and dreary outside. But inside (my head), I’m humming the theme from Sesame Street, and thinking about how much fun my little guy will be having on his birthday, and I'm smiling as I hum to myself...

Sunny day...
sweepin' the clouds away,
on my way to where the air is sweet...

Can you tell me how to get,
how to get to Sesame Street?
Come and play,
everything's a-okay.

Friendly neighbors there,
that's where we meet
Can you tell me how to get,
how to get to Sesame Street?
It's a magic carpet ride...
every door will open wideto happy people like you,
happy people like,what a beautiful
Sunny day...sweepin' the clouds away,

on my way to where the air is sweet...
Can you tell me how to get,
how to get to Sesame Street...?
how to get to Sesame Street...
how to get to Sesame Street...

A Fabulous Weekend!

If you were to ask me to describe a perfect Mother’s Day weekend, I would tell you about the one I just had. It was perfectly wonderful.

Curious? Okay, since you’ve asked so nicely…. I’ll tell you all about it!

Saturday, I drove the two hours to my Mom’s (with Little Guy in tow). We had a lovely time catching up with my parents. Mom and I exchanged gifts (I gave her two of my first crochet attempts and she gave me a stack of books and other fun goodies). My brother had also come up for a visit, and we were able to have a really nice time catching up with each other.

Mom & I on our way to the banquet

Saturday evening Mom and I went to a lovely Mother/Daughter banquet at a sweet little church (my Dad and brother baby-sat Will). We had been invited by Gayle - a dear family friend, and we were thrilled to accept her kind invitation. We had a really wonderful evening with Gayle, her two daughters and two granddaughters. It’s always fun to catch up with old friends, and this event was no exception. We had a lovely dinner, followed by a very uplifting service. The theme for the evening was “Once Upon an Apron”. As you may remember - I do so love aprons, so of course I thought that was a brilliant theme. The little church was decorated with aprons of every design and color. I was the lucky recipient of one of the table decorations – an adorable little dish soap bottle which wears its own little apron! The programs were paper aprons and the big prize for the evening was a lovely hand-made apron (which my Mom won!). I didn’t get pictures of her new apron, but you can see my goodies below. Mom and I both had a really wonderful time – both with each other and also with the ladies we were lucky enough to see there.

Sunday, Willie and I headed back home early. We were welcomed by my wonderful husband, who had spread the table with a pile of gifts, a lovely jar of flowers and a stack of cards (one from him, one from Willie and also a few that had come in the mail). Once I’d oooh’d and ahhh’d over all of the thoughtful cards and lovely gifts, it was time to get on the road again.

We loaded up and drove another couple of hours to see Dan’s Mom and Grandma. They are both lovely ladies, and it’s a tradition to get together with them for brunch on Mother’s day. We had a tasty meal, and a nice visit with family. After eating, we all went to Grandma’s house for dessert and more fellowship. Our nephew surprised me with a lovely potted flower (Wasn't that sweet?) After a nice long visit, we piled back in our car and headed home.

I won’t lie to you. Willie and I both slept most of the way back home (Dan, thankfully, was wide awake!) We were so very tired! But, it was the good kind of tired – the kind that comes over you after you’ve had two wonderful days full of love, family, friendship and pure happiness.

more pictures of my weekend's goodies:

It was a very happy Mother's Day (weekend) indeed!

Quick Note: Thanks to all who made my weekend so wonderful. In addition to what I've noted above, I was also blessed to receive the sweetest Mother's Day email from Zoe. :)

Some of us...

Some of us are blessed to be raised under the loving care of a dedicated mother.

Some of us also know the gracious love of a Grandmother… or maybe a few Grandmothers.

Some of us are lucky to marry a wonderful man who also has a wonderful mother.

Some of us get to be mothers ourselves.


I am so very thankful to have been blessed in each of these ways.

No matter if you are a mother yourself, or not.... no doubt your life has been touched by a mother (yours or someone else's). So, this Mother's Day (if you can) tell those special ladies in your life how much you appreciate them.

I want to wish a very special Happy Mother's Day to my Mom and all the other Mothers in my life. It is my sincere pleasure to know and love each of you.

All images via Bing!

Market Day

We had the pleasure of visiting an enormous outdoor flea market over the weekend. The booths and tables were scattered across a pretty large area, so we spent a lot of time walking and looking. Here are a few snippets of what we saw there:

and since you are wondering what we came away with...

We found a boatload of children's books (most are Sesame Street - a current favorite of our little guy). A few cookbooks and misc ones are in there too. I have to admit I'm a bit of a book-o-holic. "My name is Christy, and I am addicted to buying cheap books!"

We also found these two oldies. One is a home economics text book from the 1920s/30s. The other is a 1926 edition of Washington Irving's Sketch Book. Both are in pretty great shape for $1 a piece!

We love to snap up vintage toys too (we put them away for when they are age appropriate for Little Guy). I found the Lincoln Logs for $4 and Dan found the Peanuts View Finder (with a bunch of reels from the 70's) for $7. We were very excited about both of these discoveries.

THEN, I came across what was maybe my favorite find of the day. Some vintage fabric pieces in all these wonderful prints. Aren't they fun? I'm no pro, but I think the teal one with little flowers is feed sack. Not sure how to tell, so I'm going to hold on to that one until I can figure it out. The rest will be incorporated into some future project as yet unknown.

So, weren't we Lucky? What a fun FUN day (even if we did get bogged down in big ruts of fresh mud - Note that an "all terrain stroller" is not always so "all terrain").

Early Riser

I have a 27 pound alarm clock. This clock of mine is sometimes moody, sometimes giggly, sometimes playful, usually cuddly and always hungry.

Lucky for me, I’ve pretty much always been a morning person. I say “lucky” because it just so happens, that our little guy doesn’t like to sleep. At all. This is especially evident in the wee small hours of the morning. Without fail Willie wakes up between 4 and 4:30 am, raring to go. (In case you are wondering – it doesn’t matter when we put him to sleep. He always wakes up at the same time. Believe me, we’ve tried.)

So, when I hear that tell-tale “MOMMY! MOMMY!”, I go to his room. He is always standing at the side of his crib, blankie clutched in one hand. He always looks up at me smiling and says, “Hi”. It’s a simple little moment, but it melts my heart a little each day.

We head to the kitchen, with only the glow of the nightlights showing us the way. He has a snack (also referred to in our house as “first breakfast”) pretty much as soon as he gets up. This is usually something like crackers and juice. He then plays with his toys, looks at books, colors or builds with his blocks while I watch on, tiredly clutching some morning caffeine.

Shortly after we wave ‘bye bye’ to Daddy; it is time for “second breakfast”. This tends to be a more typical morning meal. Hot cereal, muffins, sausage and eggs – that sort of thing.

I’m not going to lie to you. Sometimes I don’t want to get up at 4am. Sometimes I wish my little man understood how good it feels to roll over and go back to sleep. Sometimes I wish he’d let my husband entertain him in the mornings (Dan has tried – Will must have his Mommy in the mornings – and won’t settle for anything else). Sometimes I just wish that my little alarm clock had a snooze button.

But, no matter how tired I feel; I treasure those mornings spent with my little sweetie. It’s like we have our own quiet little world. The night is still dark. We snuggle and sometimes we quietly sing songs. We watch cartoons, cuddled on the sofa; or listen to the radio over graham crackers and milk.

I know that at some point when he’s older, Will is going to start sleeping later. Maybe someday I’ll have to beg and pester him to get out of bed.

But it didn’t happen today, and it probably won’t happen tomorrow. For now, I’ll just enjoy my early morning wake up calls, and all of the wonderful times they bring.