Moving Day

My daughter and her family have moved again. They've moved out of the tiny little place they've been in since they were married.  Since Barry came, they've been looking for a new place.  There just wasn't room in that place for a crawling baby.  

So, they've moved out of a slummy little motel apartment, to a trailer on top of a hill with no trees and a  hill drive, muddy when wet.  

But, there's ROOM there.  Room to live, to play, to stretch out, to put things away. A place where everything they owned wasn't lined up against the wall in boxes.  

So, we helped them move, just after the second snowstorm of the season, and therefore the coldest and snowiest weekend of the winter.  

Well, it might not have been the COLDEST, but it was cold enough. 

Moving in. 

Zane's things in the middle bedroom. They changed it up and Barry is in that room now, but Zane's things are still the same in the end bedroom.  

 Unpacking. 

The Kitchen.

Zane

Putting together the table, a REAL table to eat on.  

 Barry was quite content to play while the business of moving was going on. 

 

Look! He's reaching for toys!

The living room.  Tidied up.

But, not the bedroom.  Not today.   

I didn't help with the moving, I watched the boys while the men loaded and unloaded.  Lorene was working, and then I made supper, while the unpacking was going on. 

Barry 5 Months

It is frightening how fast these little guys grow up!  I have to remember when they are exhausting me, so sit down and squeeze them tight. 

Barry is sitting pretty well when put there. If he reaches to grab for things he tips over and starts to play with his feet instead. I love it when babies fold themselves in half and suck on their toes. 

He still has his charming smile. Barry doesn't laugh much, unless he is tickled, and I don't believe in tickling. 

He would much rather be standing or being walked around to see what is going on.  

I'm enjoying having him staying immobile a little longer than most of the babies I have been involved with.  Two of my kids, and Zane were nearly crawling, and able to get into a sitting position  about this time.  Barry just sits where he is plopped, and stays there until he tips over, and then he will roll back and forth a bit, but he really isn't interested in much moving.   He is starting to really stretch for things, so it won't be too long until he tries to move himself along. 

 He kept himself occupied one afternoon with me chewing on this snake, it was pretty wet, ick.

Remembering

When I got the letter from my Aunt Wanda, I was afraid to open it.  "Oh, no, it's too soon, I'm not ready for a family picture without Michelle."

But, it wasn't a family picture, it was these.  Photos that show the passage of time.   

The tent, the color of our hair, how much younger we cousins looked, one that is no longer here, one that has grown up.

This is 1999, I think.  

It is lovely to have photos that remind us of the time. 

The Girl in the Yellow Coat

Photos by Me

Edits by Lynette

February 4, 2012

16 Years

What can I say?  The subject is beautiful and does a nice editing job, as well.

Valentine's Day

We don't do much for Valentine's Day.  Often the best celebrations are the simplest ones.  Long ago, I started the tradition of making a special supper on Valentine's Day.  We use Jim's mother's rose china, with stemmed glassware, and my rose silver plated "silver ware".  I make some sort of special dessert, usually one chocolate and one not, since I have one kid who isn't a huge chocolate lover, and one that is. (like me)  The rest eat anything sweet. 

This year with Valentine's Day on Tuesday, the day  we have the boys from 3 to 10 pm, I couldn't do as much as I normally do. Carrying a very heavy 5 month old wherever you go, is limiting. (I should have someone take a photo of him slung under my arm, hanging on my hip.)  

I wanted to continue the tradition, so I threw the 'having a clean house' program out of the window, and had Zane help me decorate the cupcakes.  He used all the sprinkles in the little bottle. Obviously to him, if you have the sprinkles you use them.    

We even had a cherub.

I set the table with the rose dishes, even with a three year old.  I did use my sturdier stemmed glasses.  

I remember mom letting us use her goblets when we were younger.  We didn't use them everyday, but often enough that there is only one left.  I have a lovely memory, even if I don't have the glasses.  I let my kids use mine, and I don't have a complete set of anything anymore, but it matters more to me that the kids loved to use them. 

I did not have time to fold the napkins into fancy shapes.  I did not have time to clean up the kitchen, the living room, or the bathroom.  I should say, I did not have the desire, or the oomph to do these things. I did clean off the table and put the food away, (we had steak).  

And a very big thank you to my husband who took Zane outside for an hour while I cooked supper.

That is the best Valentine's gift I've ever had. 

10,000 Hits Continued

When I started the previous post, I had every attention of highlighting a few special blog posts over the last two and a half years, and writing some special words about them.  What evolved was different that I expected and those special posts didn't seem to fit in.  

I'm going to do that here.

I don't remember when I discovered the 'Stats' button on my posting page, but it is fun to look at and see where my viewers are from and what they are looking at.  

A while back I was looking at my most viewed posts of all time and was astonished at what ended up in the top five list.  

1. We Have a Baby

I'm not surprised at this one, a new baby is always welcome news. 

This post was far and away the most popular post ever, having at this moment twice as many views as the next on the list. 

2. Changing of the Guard

I'm also not really surprised at this one, since it is another life changing event in our lives, when our daughter was married. 

These next three are pretty evenly matched for page views and I don't know why people liked them.  I like them, I like them enough I want to remember that they were in the top five, because I don't expect them to stay there.  There will be other things in my life that will attract more attention.

3. Gramma and Boy

This one has a little bit about my views on raising kids. 

4. Home Is Where My Heart Is.

I love this post.  It was one of the posts that I 'felt' when I wrote it.  It is the kind of writing I wish I could do all the time and get money for. It's the kind that satisfies something in me deep down inside and I know I can write the way I want to. 

5. Champion at Last

I'm so pleased this post is in the current top five.  I'm not sure why it is.  It is a story of accomplishment, achievement, perseverance and hard work.  It's a story of support and victory.  It is also just of story of my daughter's achievement not some earth shattering event.  This is why I like it, because she's mine.

10,000 Hits

I've been waiting to write this post for awhile.  I noticed awhile ago that I was over 9,000 hits on my blog.  I get about 20 a day, and this doesn't count activity from my house, since my daughter uses it as a vehicle to other blogs. I'm not sure why this 10,000 is a magic number, but it makes me feel good to have this many people taking the time to breeze through here in the last year and a half. (ahem...excuse me...make that TWO years and a half, where HAS the time gone.)

Blogging is a fascinating thing.  I blog mostly because there is the pressing need inside me to record my life. I love the photo aspect because my visual memory is somehow faulty and without the photographs I don't remember events and specific incidents. I also want my faraway family to see what we are doing with our life, since individual attention in this matter has flown out the window.

I also like the attention.  I always have been needy in that aspect.  This blog gives it to me in a way that I hope places less burden on my family and friends to provide it. Sometimes I would like to know who across this wide world is peeking into our life, but I wouldn't know them anyway, so that doesn't really matter.

I would like to be able to blog with great, inspiring words, or with humorous insights on life that would take my blog soaring around the world with lots of notice, I think, maybe....but maybe not.  Truthfully, I'm not ready for that.  It comes with pressure and responsibility.  It would mean being someone I'm not right now.  So, for good or bad, my blog is what it is because of who I am right now, at this moment.

It is a waste of my time and everyone else's to try to be like someone else.  Just being a better me, is work enough.

This Post is for Zane

For those of you who are diligent followers of my blog, you already know that Zane just LOVES his trains.  Well, he and I have a very different take on what playing with trains is all about.  I love to make a big complicated track that he can run several trains on.  He likes a big complicated track that he can run several trains on in different directions so they crash.  

 I love these trains too, and the things I love I want to photograph.  So, I got down on the floor to see what I could get. 

Long may the batteries last!

Great Aunts and Woodpiles.

We were lucky enough to have a very special Auntie come to visit our house for a few days.  I guess I should say a very special sister, and sister-in-law, too, depending on the age and generation bracket you fall into in our household.

We had the BEST time. Cooking and talking and laughing and working outside. 

Not everyone has relatives that like to come help with outside clean-up, but we have one and we appreciate the help. After this is family company.

Jim started cleaning up the wood pile behind our shop that has been a PILE for several years and was infested with termites.  Now, something HAD to be done about that, so Jim has been working on piling and sorting about putting out termite killer. With his sister here they really went at it and got the wood part of the mess cleaned up back there.  We would like to get our place a lot tidier than it is, but it will take a while.  It is much easier to clean up in the summer, but there are a lot of other things that need done then, too. 

And, it is always nice to come home and see the new family members and how much the not as new ones have grown.  

Nothing like Auntie love!

Simple Pleasures # 2

"I believe the nicest and sweetest days are not those on which anything very splendid or wonderful or exciting happens but just those that bring simple little pleasures, following one another softly, like pearls slipping off a string." L.M. Montgomery

I was looking for this quote online because I couldn't remember it in its entirety. It is nice that people put just what I am looking for on their blog. (To see the blog, click on the quote.)

I want to appreciate these days in which nothing very exciting happens.  This recorded day was one such day.

Gramma and two boys.

Grampa and two boys.

4 month old Barry can grab and chew.

And enjoy the fireplace.

We don't always have TIME for those special days when we are just enjoying ourselves and those around us, so I want to enjoy them when I do.