Sophia or Olivia?

 

The Grandbaby is pictured above with the baby doll her Granddad and I got her for Christmas. It was not long after her birthday in July that we began talking about Christmas. The doll was the one thing she told me repeatedly that she wanted for Christmas.  She has blue eyes and wanted her baby doll to have blue eyes, too. Finding that particular doll with blue eyes was not an easy job. I searched all those weeks for one and by Thanksgiving I was panicked that I would not be able to deliver the one thing she was determined to open at our house.
After numerous backorder and out of stock attempts, I finally found a doll shop who offered to sell their blue-eyed display doll. I snapped it up.
I blogged earlier that she was way more taken with a pair of binoculars my Mom got her than with the doll I worked so hard to find.
"When are you ever going to play with your new baby," I asked her recently.
"First, I have to give her a name," she told me. "I am thinking about it. Maybe Sophia or Olivia" she said and that was that.
She will be over to visit today and I will make it a point to ask her whether she has decided on a name. I will be sure to let you know what she says!

Postscript: February 2, 2013 (Groundhog Day) the grandbaby, just arrived after spending the morning at dance practice and early afternoon at a swim birthday party. I asked her as soon as she got here if she ever decided on a name for her Christmas doll. "Sofia/Sophia" was her answer. So we know what it is. Now, for figuring out how to spell it!
 

roller girl

 

I keep some close by as my hair tends to go flat (as I have mentioned here before.) I love brush rollers as they are a quick and painless remedy.  I keep a bag of them in my car.
Recently, the grandbaby decided to try them for herself. The result is pictured above. We all thought it was hysterical, but no one more than she!

Puppy love

 

Some more love to record! Baby daughter is home this weekend from T-town and grandbaby is thrilled to see her puppy, Parker.  Parker gets lots of attention on weekends when she comes here to visit.
The rest of the time, it is Bella, who is the recipient of the grandbaby's love and affection. Bella is quite tolerant of the attention she gets from the grandbaby. I often call her the grandbaby's favorite playmate here... except for the granddad, that is!

i'm an artist

 

The Grandbaby has written and doodled and drawn since she could hold a pencil.  She seldom comes over to visit that she does not do one or all of those things. She has her own drawer now where her writing and drawing supplies are kept.
"Isn't it nice to have a place to keep all of your things?" I asked her.
"Well, I am an artist," she answered. "I might need two drawers."

a rooster and a rainbow

 

I just love the picture I am sharing here. It shows my grandbaby and some of her dance classmates just after they had outside the studio to look at a gorgeous rainbow.
"We were so cold" she told me but it was " so big and so pretty we had to go see it."
Her mother forwarded me the picture at my request. She had it tagged "a rooster and a rainbow" because rooster is the grandbaby's nickname!
I think the rooster in the pink dance pants and the rainbow behind her are amazing.

Tea parties

 

pancake adventures

 

As I've said before, the grandbaby can turn anything into an adventure these days. Saturday morning pancake eating is no exception! Her granddad made an "E" pancake on the griddle for her and she consumed it in true EE style.

Angels we have heard...

I've collected paper mache angels

for some time. Mine are copies of the angels that hand upon the Christmas tree and surround the creche at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Every season people flock to see the tree and nativity on display. My display is not antique, not highly valuable (other than sentimentally) and is decidely smaller than at the Met. It is also more touchable.

Whether anyone other than the persons assigned to assemble and or/disassemble the display ever get to touch the pieces, I do not know. But at my house, the angels and nativity are very touchable.

As you can see from the photo above, the grandbaby touched and arranged and played with the angels from the time we set them out until they were packed away.

 

She also played with and arranged and rearranged the nativity characters.
At one point, I walked by the children's little homework table and noticed the Baby Jesus figure was not in the manger. Upon further inspection, I found Baby Jesus in this mother's arms. Throughout the month of December and into January, I would find him rotated, among the characters and into their arms. The wisemen each had their turn and perhaps more than once. I lost count.
I didn't really quiz her about it as her intent was pretty clear.
We have a new baby in the family and at gatherings everybody gets to hold him.
I can also think of some spiritual applications she may or may not have made. What she did make, for sure, was a memory I won't soon forget.

cupcake box

 

Emma could not decide which of cupcake suited her fancy on Saturday. Her granddaddy, true to his granddaddy form, let her get two...one for then and one for later. Granted it was a special day and she may even have been entitled, based on her exemplary behavior, to a little something extra; but the man does spoil our grandbaby.

 

Cousin pictures

We took the grandbaby to have Valentine's pictures made on Saturday. The photographer, who is like family (and someone just might be) arranged appointments for us so that ours overlapped with that of my two nieces so that we were able to get photos of all of my mother's great grandchildren together.

We told her if she would be cooperative, we would take her to a cupcake/candy store nearby as a reward.
She is the oldest of the great grandchildren. The younger ones fall immediately behind her, like little stair steps. The youngest is not yet six months old.
Mama has always favored group photos. The ones we took/had taken of her grandchildren almost almost are a fiasco. I recall once when one of the children fell of the bench they were placed on for the photo. That one cried and several cousins cried along, too. Whether out of fear or sympathy or some other things, I do not know. I do know, it was and is, something of an ordeal.
I expected Saturday to be the same. It was not. The kids were so well behaved. They laughed and played between shots and coaxed smiles from each other during individual photos.
I could hardly believe how smoothly it went.
The pictures are to be posted tomorrow night. I can hardly wait to see them. If they turn out as well as the session(s) did, my Mama is going to be a very happy camper come Valentine's Day!

Grandmother's handbag

 When I was a child, I  loved to go through my Grandmother's handbag. Looking back, I am rather surprised that she let me. But she did; especially in church. I kept myself occupied and quiet looking through her pictures, counting her change, searching for gum and mints.

I love the way it smelled; her purse. I cannot describe it but if I close my eyes, even now, I can remember what it smelled like.
She would let me open her compact mirror and doodle on her notepad.
I blogged recently about a travel bag my own granddaughter uses when we travel to occupy herself. I didn't have one of those. I had my grandmother's "pocket book."
I can still recall all the things she kept in there and how they were placed. The bag itself changed from time to time but the contents never did.
It's odd the things I seem to remember.
I hope I never forget.

Fun in the car (and everywhere)

 

One of the things I most enjoy about my grandbaby is the fact that she can make fun for herself anywhere she happens to be. This includes the car.
She has a travel bag. It is packed with head phones and snacks and essentials like chapstick and mints.
We also keep it stocked with crayons and coloring books.
I recently added a lap desk to the equipment I carry around so she can occupy herself with them.

She has her own sunglasses in her bag but often prefers to wear mine. She can make an adventure out of wearing or playing with any or all of those things, as noted above.
Sometimes I think I should take a lesson from her and have more fun doing ordinary things with great flourish.
 

My candy store cowgirl

 

The picture above was taken with the camera on my phone on Saturday after our Valentine's photo session. I blogged just earlier about the session and how well it went. I blogged also about promising to take her to the cupcake/candy store is she was cooperative during the photo shoot.  That she tends to have fun everywhere she goes is the subject of yet another recent blog.
This picture captures something of all of that. She jumped astride a pink carousel in the gift shop part of the candy store and proceeded to name the horse, pretend to be riding through the countryside ala Mary Poppins.
This was after she had consumed a chocolate cupcake and some pink lemonade at a table with her cousins, inspected the giant cupid figure between the cupcake and candy counter but before she checked out the knights in armor flanking the entrance doors.
I expected her to fall asleep on the ride to my Mom's for dinner. She did not. Such excitement does not exhaust a five year old  like it does her grandparents.
She may not have needed a nap by the time we got to her Granny Carol's, but I sure did!
 

love you truly

 

 It is Valentine's month, so I am sharing a picture of true love. My grandbaby and her grandaddy have what his mother would have called a "mutual admiration society." Those two love each other beyond anything I can describe.
The best I can do for you is show you a photo taken just after the one above at a local restaurant one night last week.
In the photo, he pick croutons out of his salad, If that is not love, I don't know what is.

binocs

 

The things kids take to is always interesting to watch. I stress, sometimes, over what to get her that she will enjoy. She had her heart set on a particular doll we had seen that was sold out and back ordered every where I tried to buy it. In the end, I bought a display doll, as it was the only one I could find. She played with it for about 15 minutes on Christmas Eve. If she has played with it since, I am not aware of it.
What she has played with, and I mean a lot, is a pair of binoculars her Granny and Pop Buzz for her for Christmas. Above she is dog watching. Our little maltipoos are her favorite subjects to view at the present.
She branched out to rabbits and squirrels in the back yard and beyond at my urging. This weekend, I am going to encourage bird watching. Long ago and far away, her dad and I participated in the Audubon bird count project in pursuit  of a Cub Scout merit badge. I was disappointed when he abandoned that particular hobby so imagine how thrilled I was when his child began to show such interest in her new binoculars.
I could have saved my money on the doll, perhaps. But a couple of great grandparents hit it out of the park when they selected binoculars for this little girl.

trip gear

 

My middle sister turns 50 in a few weeks. The baby sister and I were having discussion regarding what an appropriate gift would be when we settled on a trip. The trip we three took to Rome and Venice last year was amazing. But it was very fast paced.We walked over hard, uneven surfaces many hours and miles on that trip. The middle sister who planned the trip worked long hours making sure we fit as much into the time we had as possible. She warned that the pace would be fast, the schedule grueling but the result worth it. And so it was!
As fantastic as it was to see the wonders of ancient Bella Roma and the beauty of Venetia, some of my favorite parts were the times as we were falling asleep when we visited about the days' events and those to come on the morrow.
The three of us had not been along for any extended period of time for years. Maybe since we were children.
I was amazed at how much alike we are. Our habits nd preferences are more similar than I ever realized. I had to travel to a foriegn country with them to realize it.
Our daily schedules and responsibilities have prevented me, or perhaps distracted me, from enjoying these fantastic sisters of mine as I ought.
So we are about to venture off on another Sisters trip. This one is to be a road trip. Slower paced than the last and decidely less exotic but hopefully no less memorable.
Fortunately, a thoughtful friend of mine gave me a Christmas gift that will fit the trip perfectly. I can hardly wait to use it.

Progress Notes

It occurred to me this morning that perhaps the reason my resolutions don't make it out of January is that I forget to check my progress on them. They are just kind of abandoned for what is familiar and routine somewhere before I turn the calendar to the February page.
So I might just use this page to log my progress.
It would a form of accountability...which I can use from time to time!

this little girl

 

Makes my heart sing. Every day of my life. The end.

Consanguinity and Affinity

About this time last week I got a friend request from a cousin who lives in Kansas.
He told me that he planned to visit soon. I was thrilled when his "soon" turned out to be this weekend.
 He and I are not first cousins but we really didn't know or care growing up.
His Dad and my Mom are first cousins. His grandmother and my grandparent were next door neighbors when we were children. His grandmother, being  my great-aunt, and an especial favorite of mine suffered a daily visit from me. When her grandchildren visited, they were automatic playmates for me and my sisters.
During the earliest part of our childhoods, his grandparents/my great aunt and uncle had a grocery store. It was the old fashioned kind with a candy counter and a meat market. The proprietors lived in the back of the store so when we visited, we come go back and forth, essentially at will, between the store and the house. Our great grandmother lived just outside the side entrance to the store. My grandparents lived on the other side. It was a happy arrangement for a brood of cousins.
Our circumstances were enhanced by the fact that there were shade trees and swings behind the houses and store. A creek divided our family properties and that of others. The land sloped downward to the creek, offering big rocks and trees to climb. A rather large area where bamboo grew right up to the creek bank made a perfect spot to build forts and play hide and seek.
We trekked these areas yesterday when my cousin drove in from Kansas for a visit.
The bamboo spot that we called "the canes" remain, though now more overgrown. The houses are gone and also the store but there were iris bulbs along a fence line between them.

We also walked around the site of the property where his grandparents moved after they retired as grocers and moved across the highway and up the hill.
We were happy to find blackberry brambles in the spot where we remember picking them. We agreed that the jelly made from them remains unequalled. I found several surviving rose bushes and collected a fistful of rosehips from them to take with me as a souvenir.
Before he left we drove to the church where he remembered going to Vacation Bible School and then to the cemetery to pay our respects to people who contributed significantly to both our memories.

lunch date

 

The little mister pictured aboved iscurrently living close to my work while his new house some distance away is being built. What that means is that any time my schedule allows for it, he is my lunch date.
No matter what a particular day brings, knowing that I am going to kiss those sweet cheeks, see that precious smile and hear his cooing and laughter gets me through.
I have always thought that if we could bottle and sell baby love it would be a runaway best seller. Based on the impact that spending time with Piercebaby has on his great aunt, I am all the more certain of it!

 

The (unintentional) grinch's mountain

I am a big fan of Pinterest, as is my daughter. I use it much as I did angry birds... to pass time. My daughter, though, actually makes the things she places on her pin boards.
 Her pin projects, like much else that she does, tend to be quite successful. The one pictured below, not so much so, at least in her opinion.
 In the picture, even my darling grandbaby looks sad about the cookie tower her auntie called an "epic" failure.
The original intent was to make an elegant cookie tower take it to a Christmas dinner the baby daughter was invited to.  It did not turn out as she planned. Several attempts to rehabilitate the project were not to her satisfaction.
As it sat there, abandonedon the kitchen counter, I was reminded of  the tree from the Charlie Brown Christmas inspection.
I wondered if it could not still be salvaged.

 Maybe because I had been watching some of the old classic cartoons, I decided the cookie tree looked like the Grinch's mountain. Every year, we  have some theme for the girls' annual Chistmas tea. Standing there looking at the cookie tower, leaning not unlike the tower in Pisa, the idea of a Grinch tea came to me.
Baby daughter had already made a Grinch punch from a recipe that either came from Pinterest or ought to be on there.  It was an epic success. (Did I mention that most things she does are?!)
I am calling the cookie tower a success, too! It made a perfect Grinch Party centerpiece.






 

W

Cleaning up and out!

I am taking a short break from doing some cleaning out. I am inspired, I suppose, by the New Year and an overwhelming need to unclutter for its sake.
I started where it was most needed: closets. In particular, my craft room closet where I have stashed things for months, but for Christmas and for going through. The going through time has come.
There is a pile of greeting cards as tall as I am sitting here with me. i am not sure why I've kept so many for so long. Some are sentimental. Some are just plain gorgeous. Only a handful will remain in my possession this time tomorrow.
I am donating the pretty and otherwise appropriate card fronts to the church's Sunday School craft room. The others, simply, must go into the paper recycle bins. There is no help for it.
Oh, and magazines are next.

out with my darling

 

On Wednesday nights when my grandbaby spends the night with us, we try to plan some special thing to do. Sometimes we stay at home and work on some project of her choice. Sometimes we watch a movie. Sometimes we go out. Her favorite place of late has been the Cracker Barrel.
When I asked her why she always wants to eat there she said it is because:
there are so many things to look at
there are a lot of things to play with
the macoroni in cheese there is good,
granddad likes it, too.
So there you have it, when we go out for dinner on evenings like the one pictured above, it's to the Cracker Barrel we go, for now.
 

A teddy bear for Christmas

It's been a while since I got a teddy bear for Christmas but I did this year. Both my sisters did, too! Mother gave us all three bears created from a quilt her mother and grandmother made for her.
They are 70 years old, she told us. Well, at least parts of them are. To get three teddy bears from a single baby quilt, especially one so well worn, some extension fabric had to be used.
Mother explained that among her earliest memories is cuddling with the quilt. That she did not just have a big ole' bear made for herself  is just like her. The sentiment is not lost on me.
I appreciate the sacrifice and I know the other two do, also.