Sweet Addie

All the kids were home for Thanksgiving this week and we had a wonderful time visiting, shopping, watching movies, eating and just hanging out. Today when they all started leaving one family at a time the atmosphere in the house changed very gradually ending with complete silence except for the sound of the Packer game on the TV. It's amazing how a person adjusts from one extreme to the other in a minutes time.

As I was thinking about it, I had to smile recalling what our 2 year old granddaughter Addie said right before she left.

I had given her a little sucker for her trip home and as she unwrapped it and started to lick it very slowly and carefully I teasingly asked her if I could have a taste? She replied very sweetly, "No." So I asked her again if I could please have a taste, to which she responded in her tiny, soft voice, " No, grandma, it tastes yucky," and then she smiled.:)

Now how smart is that? What a polite way of saying she didn't want to share--they learn so quickly don't they?

Hope your holiday was a fun one.

The Trivia Question is...

I wake up each morning to my clock radio playing music and the morning trivia question of the day. It just amazes me where they get the stats for some of these questions!!!

For example; What food does your husband most remind you of?

I'm thinking, must be something manly like a hamburger...? Oh no, 45% of the response was....(you'll love this one) a potato!! Excuse me, what in the heck does that mean--he's maybe a couch potato?? I don't get it...

Today the question was, The more education you receive the bigger this becomes.
Ok, maybe your income, Wrong---then it must be your brain!! Oh heavens No, that would make too much sense. Ready for this one? Your signature!

Oh ya, how did I not get that right? Your signature--are you kidding?

For one, your signature is suppose to represent more your personality isn't it? Fun, relaxed people usually have a loose larger script, while uptight people have a tighter smaller script. Or something like that anyhow...I'm not really trained to know that but seems as though I have read that somewhere...

Well, that is part of how my morning gets started; with real mind boggling questions and even more boggling answers. How fun it that:)

A Bit of This & That- Oh well...

Crazy month filled with a bit of everything, the latest being too much rain and water in our basement! Have been spending the past week moving things out of the bedrooms and office, pulling up carpet, wet vacuuming water, and trying to dry the rooms out. Tonight we are actually putting some things back, but have a ways to go. In the 32 years we have lived here, it is the 2nd time we have had an over abundance of rain in a days time and ended up with water seeping in the foundation. Oh well...

Lately I have been seeing so many talk shows about plastic surgery and all it entails. One of the show was actually pretty informative telling you how you can identify the persons who have had work done. I can't say I know of any one personally, but you can sure tell which movie stars have done overkill on their faces. One thing I did find interesting was the way you can tell if the person has had botox on their lips. Evidently, by nature your top lip is half the size of your bottom lip, so it you see someone who has a top lip equal size to their bottom one, or bigger--they have had botox! Now I find myself watching TV shows and staring at stars lips!! Crazy, I know, but I keep thinking why would you want a fat upper lip? I had a few of those as a kid playing rough and tough with my brothers and not only does it look terrible, it feels just as bad. Amazing that a person would pay to get a fat lip on purpose isn't it?

Oh well...

Apple Pickin' Time!

It is about that time again when the apples are ripe and ready to be picked. A couple of years ago my in law's apple tree had it's first abundance of apples. We were thrilled and began the process of taking the apples and making pies, crisps and bars. My mother in law said that she had been making applesauce and freezing it. I thought this was much easier than canning it so decided to give it a try. Unfortunately I didn't have the equipment to do this, so asked one of my church friends if they had anything I could borrow. She happily lent me this wonderful grinder that separated the peels and seeds while pushing out the juicy applesauce! What fun we had with this gadget...we made applesauce 'till the cows came home.' It was the great!

These past two years we have been disappointed when the tree barely produced a few apples. However, I have decided to go to the orchard and buy a bushel so we can once again make our own applesauce. It is so worth it!

Our kids are all coming home next weekend so I am hoping that we can go out and have an apple 'pickin' adventure:)

(Top photo-My daughter Kyr with grandson Connor, picking apples.)

(Bottom photo- Grand kids Caitlyn and Billy using the fun gadget.)

Missing In Blogging!

I am sorry it has been almost 2 weeks since my last post. These past 2 weeks have been a bit overwhelming. Not only has there been 2 reunions to travel to, and a family fun day we have also been in the midst of great sadness.
This past weekend my nephew died as a result of taking his own life. Tomorrow we will be traveling to his funeral to reunite with many family members and share in the loss of this young man who had always added an extra "spark" to our family. Please keep my sister and her family in your prayers along with his wife and their three small children.
I hope to be back next week.
In the meantime, hug your children.

Saddling Up For School!

You can tell school shopping is at a max right now as the stores are filled with parents and their kids trying on clothes and shoes. It's always interesting to hear stressed parents buying for their children..."Well, I'm not going to buy it if you aren't going to wear it..." Or one of my favorites-"It's this or nothing, make up your mind!" Great way to give choices :) -but looking back I guess I kinda remember those moments. ~sigh~

Watching kids try on shoes the other day made me remember my shoes for the first day of school. Back in the late 50's I got Saddle shoes! You know, those white and black laced leather shoes. I got to wondering where that name came from so looked it up. Evidently the Saddle shoe became popular in the 1950's. They were a sporty shoe like the loafer, and came about before the sneakers were popular. They have a black section across the top middle, resembling a saddle; hence the name Saddle shoes! How about that?

It would be late summer when my shoes would arrive via mail order from either Sears or Alden's catalog. What an exciting event that was when the mailman dropped off a box too big to fit in the mail box! The shoes were so wonderful; bright white with the black under the white laces and the new smell of leather. Usually my shoes were a little big as my mom said I needed them to have room to grow so they would last the year. Consequently tissue was crumpled up and stuffed in the toe so my foot wouldn't slide up and down in the heal. Even so, I usually ended up with a blister on my heal after the first day of school and had to wear a Bandade for a few days after that. After a few months the shoes were looking a little worn so out would come the shoe polish to paint them white again to try to make them look spiffy!

It's interesting to read that Saddle shoes were a sporty shoe as I wore them with my dresses too as seen in the picture with five of my siblings. (I'm the youngest girl:)

Guess they were as versatile as you could make them just as shoes are today.

I will always associate Saddle shoes with school shoes as it is tucked back in my memory from special days now long gone.

Interesting isn't it?

Ni-Ni Baby

Now that my daughter Kyrstin has a house I am able to start giving her the many "things" that have been stored here at home. This week I ran across a box containing all of her dolls. After being stored for some 20 years now, they looked a little rough so I decided to clean them up before giving them back to her.

I scrubbed up their faces nice and clean, washed their clothing, mended any rips and tears, combed their hair and tied new ribbons in their hair where the old ones had disappeared years ago. Thank goodness Kinsey helped me as it turned into an all day job!

The most significant change concerned Kyr's "Ni-Ni" baby. She got this her first Christmas when she was 9 months old, and from that point on it- along with her "ni-ni "blanket, was tucked under her arm at bedtime and carried around during the day when she needed it. Needless to say, this little soft stuffed, pink, terry cloth dolly saw it's share of the washing machine and the wear and tear of being loved to death! By the time Kyrstin started finding other things to occupy her time, Ni-Ni Baby was without her glued on blue eyes, painted nose, stitched mouth and yellow yarn hair. Her pink body was faded, pilled, irregular in shape with her head flopping loosely from the stuffing being packed down. She had been repaired so many times I was at a loss of what else I could do to save her, so she was quietly, gently and loving tucked away with the rest of her fellow sister dolls; Blue Baby, Marlena, Delta, Sibyl, Edwin, Amanda and Leonora.

Well, this week Ni-Ni Baby became a challenge, but we got her to looking almost like her "ole self! Kinsey painted on new eyes, mouth and nose, and I worked on her hair and body; washing, stitching and stuffing her.

When all was done, I sat down and wrote Kyrstin a letter on behalf of the baby doll that was her faithful friend all of those years ago.

Here is the letter Kyrstin received today when we presented her the dolly that has been waiting to be loved again:)

Well, her I am,

all washed, stitched and clean.

Your mom and sis helped me

become as I use to be!

You loved me to pieces

till hair and face was gone;

But never did I mind;

'Cuz your arms had held me long.

With new hair in place,

my bib is trimmed too;

a smile and a nose,

blue eyes to see you...

The years have gone by,

past your childhood life.

But I stayed the same

as you became a wife!

But now it is time
to join you again.

A family you have,

it will be like "back when"...

Your chubby arms held me,

we were playmates, best friends.

You, me and Ni-Ni,

snuggling till nights end.

Except now I am fragile-

Perhaps I should sit

safe by your pillow

so you won't forget..

.

How special our time was...

Those precious years gone.

Now again I am with you,

Where I truly belong...

Your best friend, "Ni-Ni Baby"