Thanksgiving Two-thousand-eleven

Thanksgiving is no longer looming over my shoulder, it is here and gone.  I've had mixed emotions this year, as in every year ~ nostalgia and thankfulness.  I think I am a mess. Period.

Nostalgia because Thanksgiving brings around so many different memories and feelings ~ all rolled together like the proverbial pumpkin roll.  And they are just as soft and gooey.  I cherish them with an anxious love. I embrace them as one would embrace a wayward child, knowing you may only be able to hold on for a  moment.  It all falls into that broad spectrum called, L.I.F.E. It makes me happy and sad at the same time. 

Equally, it's hard not to reflect on those things for which I am thankful, especially this time of year.  And I have many things to be thankful for.  My family is in good health.  It is growing in sweet, unexpected ways.  This year, as last year, we have a new Be`be` to be thankful for.  We are all employed at this moment in time.  We may not all be together, but our hearts are intertwined in such a way that we feel and miss each other's presence.  And I believe that's what makes it nostalgically sweet.  As I longingly look back, I assess my here and now, and I anticipate my tomorrows. 

It's this time of year, more than ever that I think of my brother and two sisters.  Without them I know for certain that I would not be half the person I am today.  Un-beknownst to them, they helped shape who I am.   And as I . . . . wait, that's a story for my other blog!  Sorry.

So, thankful I am
Thankful I'll be
Thankful for everyone
And all they mean to me!

Monday Quietness

This morning is pretty quiet. Baby Girl isn't here yet, the other two dumplings are in school and Ben is at the gym.  I've managed to have a financial meltdown while balancing my checkbook and paying my bills, I've vacuumed and mopped (with my new favorite mop), I've blogged, I've done laundry and I have had lunch ~ all.  by.  myself.

So I thought I might take a little more time and share my finds, my "doings" and just things in general.

On Saturday I went anti-quing with Heidi Jane.  We had a maa-vo-lus time.  She hit the jack pot with the bargains.  Her new name is Bargain Betty!  I love it!  I didn't hit the bargains, but I did manage to find a gem or two.

 I've been looking to buy a juicer for a while now ~ this one came in at five dollars.  Bargain Betty got hers for under four.  Hm.  Helena is already making lemonade.   And . . . . the most adorable muffin pan I've ever seen! ! !  I walked around with it for a bit before I convinced me to buy it.  I've never seen a glass one before.  Rease is waiting with bated breath for some muffins!


Then when I got home I told me:  "Self, you are going to finish a project this weekend. Period."  "Okay", I meagerly replied.  So I jumped on a bookshelf that I have had, literally, for years.  It was an unfinished pine piece.  Now it looks like this:

I painted it white (barely) scuffed it with sand paper, rubbed on some glaze and then some poly.  I like the way it turned out.  The picture is a little hard to see, but it sure beats that nasty unfinished pine. I think for now I will put it in my laundry area.  I need a place for diapers, wipes and hair doodles for the girls.  This will work for now.  Then we'll see where it moves to next!



And this morning, Goldilocks tried her hand a "arranging".  I usually keep my apples in my white milk glass fruit bowl.  But Goldilocks liked this better:

I think I will keep it for a while.  I like that you can see thru it and see my lovely pink screwdriver! 

Notice the "candle holder"?  Well, it's actually a miniature pie plate I got from the gal that lived across the street from dad.  Got two  ~ love them!

Well, Be`be` Girl is here.  Gotta run!

This Morning . . . .

After getting Goldilocks ready for school ~ which meant finding a pair of sneakers to fit her feet, because hers were MIA ~  doing her hair ~ and putting on Snow White (she was here very early this morning because Reasy Peacy had a field trip to The Smithsonian in Washington, D.C.!), I gave Baby Girl her morning bath ~ I noticed I was able to do something that I have been waiting a looooonnnng time for.  After getting her dressed, I sat her in her place for breakfast. Then my heart took flight, along with a comb and a teeny-weeny pony tail holder!  I just love the results ~ my Grand Be`be` is growing up.

Somewhere in the midst of this, I listened as Jenny descibed how their family pet had very quickly, very unexpectedly,  gone down hill.  They had to put Chessie to sleep last night.  The family was with her.  I can hardly write this without feeling a huge knot in my chest.  I am not a pet person, but I understand all too well the attachment that families have for their pets.  And Chessie had been with them for ten years. She came from here on the shore.  Jenny wanted an authentic Chesapeake Bay Retriever.  How much more so than to come from the bay area?  This silly dog drank antifreeze about five years ago.  They didn't think she would make it, and if she did pull thru chances were slim that she would be "right" or live very long.  She did, however maintain a decent level of sanity ~ tee-hee ~  and lived for five more years.  She loved her humans, and they loved her!

So, with all this transpiring in a matter of minutes I decided in a matter of seconds that I would bake some pumpkin bread when I put Baby Girl down for her morning nap.  She's good about AM naps! I can usually count on a two hour time frame ~ now that's what I'm talkin' 'bout!

As I'm cleaning up from mixing my bread, I notice out the window the second graders making their yearly trek through Downtown Hebron.  They visit the bank, the post office, and Town Hall. It's important to know about the heart beat of the town that houses your school.  The cool thing is, they were able to use "Shoe Leather Express"!  School is only a couple blocks down from the hub-bub of Hebron.  And it is a beautiful fall morning!

Can I just say that: "I love fall days like this."?  The sky is overcast, the leaves ~what's left of them ~  are vibrant yellows, reds and golds.  The wind is lilting along, as if it too knows today is a perfectly wonderful fall day and it needs to take it's time to enjoy the journey.  It's the type of day that settles my spirit. Calms me from the inside out.  Makes me feel very domesticated and nostalgic.  I think of days gone by, days at hand, and days yet to come.  I think of people that have entered, stayed, and left my life.  I. Think. Of. Life.

Well, Be`be` is rustling.  I think she smells the pumpkin bread!  Better go ~ she's not one to wait! ! !

Thank You, Liam!

Everyone knows how "challenging" toddlers can be.  It doesn't  matter how many times you say "No!", "Stop!", "Get down!".  You may as well be talking to yourself.  I know there are other "challenging" younin's out there, I've seen one for sure on Christie's blog.  I remember thinking:  "I'm soooo glad I don't have a pantry with a 'built in' ladder!"  That'll teach me not to be so comfortable in my "short" adventures with Baby Girl.  But I was grateful she wasn't scaling to unspeakable heights.  Baby Girl climbs ~ short distances ~ but on this particular climb I might have opted for unspeakable heights. How do I lock away my stove?  Anyone?  Please?    It makes me fearful of things to come.

So thank you Liam for connecting your kindred spirits in the world of "high stakes" climbs!

And. . . . Mama of  Liam . . . . . H. E. L. P. ! ! ! ! !

My Poetry

"Pitter-patter"

The pitter-patter, pitter-patter
Of tiny feet and "baby chatter"
Comes my way in a scurry
The pitter-patter, in such a hurry.

The noise stops right in front of me.
I look down and at my knee
I see staring up into my face
The pitter-patter ~ she's found her place.

And as she smiles, her eyes so bright,
A little fire in my heart she lights.
I feel there's no other love so true,
As a baby smiling up at you.

Then as quickly as she scurried,
From my knees she then hurried
Back to her world full of wonder,
Leaving me there, yet to ponder.

I stand there listening to her feet,
Pitter-pattering to the beat
Of life's adventurous, melodic song
Just the sound ~ it rights all wrong.

So as I hear those little sounds
That pitter-patter across the ground.
And chatters made for no special reason,
I know these days too, are but a season.

Crickett

Helloooo Nooovemmmber ! ! !

Well, October has packed up, lock, stock and barrel, and headed on out of Dodge.  However, I, we, somebody, did manage to get a few pics of the kiddos ~ big and little ~ for Halloween.

This is my boy.
He wanted to go
as a "Nerd".
Everyone thought
he looked liked Buddy
Holly! I thought  he
looked like Mark B. on
DWTS!  No one knew
who he was, but they
sure knew who Buddy
Holly was!  What a strange
bunch of kids!

The girls were a little easier to identify:






Rease ~ a Witch ~ hey, where's her hat?!

Baby Girl ~ a Raven's cheerleader ~ pom-poms?

Skyler ~ a Princess fairy ~ um, wings?

Goldilocks ~ a Soccer ref ~ all there ~ type A personality.

Then we have Mama.  Don't ask  . . . .  don't know. 

I do know ~ Ben gave her the coat many moons ago for
Christmas because she simply had to have it.  She pulled
it out of the closet to keep from freezing to death last night!

In her defense, it was cold, and she does look spiffy in it!






I am glad that day is O.V.E.R!

Now that November has arrived, I am able to justly set my sights on Thanksgiving.