Holiday Craftiness

I had some grand plans about holiday crafting this year. I was going to make some autumn-themed coasters for several family members to be delivered at Thanksgiving and thought I would make something handmade for everyone for Christmas. Oh, I was going to make entirely new decorations for the house, too. Uh-huh. Can I blame those crazy thoughts on pregnancy brain? We’ll go with that.

I started out well and had several projects cut out and ready to go when I got a call from my mom that one of my great-aunts had died unexpectedly. The three of us were planning to make the drive to Pennsylvania for Thanksgiving, but Alex and I ended up making the trip about a week earlier than planned for the funeral. In the span of three days, I packed up everything we would need for the duration of the trip (including all fabrics, notions, and my sewing machine), drove 15 hours in one day to eastern Pennsylvania for my aunt’s funeral, and then drove 6 hours the next day to my mom’s house in western Pennsylvania, where we would be staying for the Thanksgiving holiday. Whew! That was quite a trip for a 4 year old and his 30 week pregnant mama! I’m glad we were able to be there for my uncle and family, though.

Since my family lives so far away, we alternate holidays between Pennsylvania and Alabama. Since this year was our Thanksgiving year, that also meant we were “doing Christmas” that week, too. I managed to get the Christmas gifts done for everyone, but had to drop my plans for the Thanksgiving gifts. Maybe next year. Using the awesome tutorial from Moonstitches, I made several owl garlands. Some were family names, but most were the basic (and short!) NOEL greeting. Sorry for the poor quality of the photo – natural light is limited these days and I never seem to remember to take photos during that 20 minutes of the day.

As part of the Christmas gift-giving this year, my grandmother got me some things I’ve been looking at for quite awhile. I’ve been waiting for them to go on clearance, but Target doesn’t seem to want to cooperate. Meet The Ducks.

I just love how the little ducks are all chatty, but the big one seems to have a look on her face that says, “These are *not* my children.” The little guys came decorated for the holidays, but I still think I need to supplement their wardrobes in some way.

There is still more crafting to be done before the actual Christmas holiday, so that’s my plan for today while Alex is at school. I guess I’d better get to it!

It’s another…

boy. Yes, we will be welcoming a new baby into our house in four short months. I would show you the ultrasound pictures, but I’ve never been very good at interpreting those things and would probably just show you a foot or something.

As several other bloggers have said lately, I feel like I’ve been lying to a lot of people by keeping this secret for so long. There was a good reason. Two actually, or at least they seemed that way in my mind. The first had to do with history. A couple of years ago, we lost a baby – just a few short weeks after we had told everyone I was pregnant. For a still unexplained reason, I went into pre-term labor at just over 20 weeks. Our baby was born prematurely and died. This time around, I really felt like I needed to keep my mouth shut as long as possible so I wouldn’t jinx anything. Completely irrational, I know, but it worked for me. Now that we’ve passed that 20 week mark with nothing but good news, I feel better about letting people know. The second reason is about other people. I have several friends who are struggling or have struggled in the past with getting pregnant. I would hate to think that anything I say might contribute to adding to their hurt. Obviously I can’t hide or control the physical, but I can certainly control what comes out of my mouth (or keyboard).

And now, if you’re still with me, a request. Do you have any suggestions for names? We’re having a hard time coming up with ideas. We want something that is unusual, but not strange. Does that make sense? I’ve been checking out the top 100 names lists from various countries and have started a list, but none of them really jumps out at us yet. We still have time, as Rod likes to point out, but this is one of those things that I like to have settled as early as possible. Can you help me out?

And there will soon be some crafting/sewing posts again. Rod was out of town last week and took my little camera with him. He left his big camera, but I just don’t feel as comfortable using that one. Now that mine is back, I can take some photos and show you what I’ve been up to!

If only it was that easy…

This weekend, Alex went to the Alzheimer’s Association Memory Walk with his grandparents. It was held at a local stadium and Alex was able to ride his bike around the track. He was quite proud to let me know that he rode three whole laps and walked another two. “That makes five, total, Mama!”

At one point in the festivities, they sat down for a break and to listen to a group sing. Alex leaned over to his grandmother and asked, “Did we find that thingy yet?” (It sounds more like “fingy” when he says it.) She had no idea what he was talking about. “What thingy, Alex?” He replied innocently, “You know, the cure.”

If only it was that easy.

Ahhh…fall!

I wish I could say that it’s obviously no longer summer, but that’s not really the case here in Northern Alabama. It’s definitely cooler at night and in the morning, but the days still get up into the mid-80’s. That’s an absolute improvement over the low 100’s we had for over three weeks in a row, but it’s not the fall/autumn that I know and love. We’re getting there, though!

In an effort to move things along, I’ve stopped wearing shorts and changed my blog theme to a fall look. I’ve been bouncing between two of them, trying to decide which I like better. Each of them requires some editing, which scares me, so I’ll probably end up sticking with the one that requires the least amount of effort on my part.

This time of year makes me crave soups, breads, and hearty foods. I’ve never been very good at making great soups, but I’m hoping to change that this year. If any of you have easy-ish recipes that you would like to share, please feel free! In the meantime, I think I’m going to start with this simple Asian Chicken Soup from Martha Stewart. It seems fairly light, so that might help balance the calendar with the actual weather outside. I’ll let you know how it turns out.

Since I don’t have any good fall photos yet, I’ll leave you with this one of Alex enjoying our last strawberry pie of the season. He really likes strawberry pie…

Happy 100th Birthday!

Today is my great-grandmother’s 100th birthday. That’s her in the middle – Hazel (or Grandma Pete as she is known to family). When I think about all the things she has seen in her time here, I almost get overwhelmed, but it doesn’t seem to be a big deal to her. I guess after 100 years, very little will surprise you. She still lives in the same town she was born in and lives in the house she and her husband built in the 1930’s. He died in 1970, which was six years before I was born, so I never had a chance to meet him. She has raised six children and has more grandchildren and great-grandchildren than I can even count. She keeps track of us all, though, which is more than I can say for myself.

In case you’re curious, she has this advice for younger generations, “Eat healthy foods, and don’t be afraid to work. Don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty.” Those are words she has lived by, too. She always has a vegetable garden in the backyard and makes a mean rhubarb pie. That’s healthy, right? I don’t know if she’s ever been to McDonalds. As for the hard work, she was the first employee at an electrical supply factory in town and worked there for 27 years. She’s never had a drivers license, though. That was one I never have understood – especially if you have ever been to Edinboro, Pennsylvania. She’s visited Japan and Korea and many states in the US, but has never had the desire to live anywhere but the town where she was born.

She likes to crochet, embroider, and sew and enjoys watching Lawrence Welk reruns on PBS. She also does the crossword puzzle in the newspaper every day. She used to go to the local senior center to play cards (canasta?), but had to take a break when she got frustrated with “the old people who cheat.”

I hope that on this birthday Grandma realizes how many people out there love and care about her. Happy birthday, Grandma!

Summer Update

I’ve been such a slacker with updates this summer. It’s not that we haven’t been doing anything, but I guess it just hasn’t been anything worthy of reporting. We did, however, make a trip to visit my family in Pennsylvania for the 4th of July holiday. It’s such a long drive, but always worth it once we get there.

This year, we took Alex to Waldameer Park and Water World, though we skipped the Water World part this time. When I was younger, my mom’s employer had a company picnic there every summer, so I have lots of fun memories of the place. It’s a small amusement park by today’s Six Flags standards, but it’s great for something local and inexpensive. They don’t charge admission to the park itself, so if you just want to get a pass for the kids and hang out for the day, Waldameer is your place. If you ever find yourself in the Erie, PA area, I highly recommend it.

It was Alex’s first time ever at an amusement park, so we didn’t really know how he would handle it. Turns out I didn’t have anything to worry about. The boy has no fear. Zero. And as long as there’s a ride on a roller coaster after the wait, he will wait in any line. He rode the merry-go-round once, bumper cars once, the Spider once, rode through the Whacky Shack one time, and rode the Ravine Flyer 3 twenty times. (I think it was really only 12 times, but my 4 year old editor is standing over my shoulder making me write twenty times.) The roller coaster was definitely his favorite.

We’re going to Japan…probably

Rod is scheduled to go to Japan for work in May and I’m trying my best to tag along. It looks like things will all work out, but I’m trying not to get too excited. It’s not working very well. I keep thinking about all the amazing things there are to see and do in Tokyo. And the food. And the fabric. That’s where I lose control of my excitement level.

I’m the kind of traveler who likes to have things planned before I go. I like to know which sites I’m going to see and where everything is before I get there. I might not stick to that plan once I get to my destination, but I like to have as much research done as I can before I get there. I think that helps me manage my excitement – I feel like I’m doing something before the trip even begins. Is anyone else like this or am I just weird?

I’m getting concerned, though, because I’m having trouble finding shopping information for fabric/sewing type stores. Have any of you been to Tokyo? Any thoughts on must-see sites/stores/restaurants? I’ll most likely be on my own for a good bit of the trip, since Rod will be working and all, so I’ll be looking for all kinds of things to keep myself occupied.

I’m off to read more guidebooks….

Do they come any better than this?

Look at what my amazingly generous husband brought back for me from his trip to San Jose! He picked out the most adorable books and picked up some of my other favorite things – pens and notebooks! That green notebook says “Notebooks for pretty girls. All tiny things are pretty.” So cute!

The books have some incredible projects in them and I just need to figure out which one to try first. Hmmm…maybe I’ll take one of those notebooks and pens and make a list. I’ll post some photos of the insides of the books in the gallery just as soon as I can figure out how to make the photos look halfway decent.

The weather here has been great. It was 85 degrees today with very little humidity. Usually when we see temperatures that high, they come with 90% percent humidity and make you want to hide in a freezer somewhere. Today, though, we were able to get out and enjoy it. Rod, Alex, and I went on a photo safari to Big Spring Park. I made a list for each of us of the things we needed to “shoot” – animal, tree, building, flower, etc. We had a great time. The results are posted in the Expedition gallery, if you’re interested.

Hope everyone is enjoying the weekend!

I heart Charlie and Lola

I absolutely love Charlie and Lola. The characters started out in books by Lauren Child and became an animated series at some point in time. In their native England, Charlie and Lola are on the BBC, but here in the US they are on Playhouse Disney. Charlie is the older brother and Lola is the younger sister. Charlie narrates and Lola causes the trouble. I don’t know what it is about this show/book that I like so much. It’s funny, but it’s intelligent humor – even for pre-schoolers. The lessons are all very important, but the author doesn’t beat the kids over the head with them. Everything is very subtle. And the artwork is incredible. If you aren’t a regular viewer of Playhouse Disney, you can check out some clips and even a webisode at the official Charlie and Lola website. If you love them as much as we do in this house and you’re interested in some Charlie and Lola swag, the good folks at Pink Milk have lots of really cool stuff — and they will ship outside the UK. They are the only source I’ve been able to find that will ship anything outside of Europe.

This commercial break is over. We now return you to your regular programming….

“There will be no demand for such a contraption as that.”

The other day Rod and I were talking about something. I don’t remember what it was, but whatever it was reminded me of something my grandfather had told me one time. I didn’t remember all of the details, but I was pretty sure he told me that his grandfather had invented the adding machine. Rod said he believed me, but I don’t know that he really did.

The next day I called my grandfather to check my facts. I told him what I remembered and I think he was impressed that I’d been paying attention way back then. Turns out I was right. His grandfather, my great-great-grandfather, A. I. Loop of North East, PA, did indeed invent the adding machine. Some banker in Erie stopped the progress, though, with the declaration, “There will be no demand for such a contraption as that.” Hmpf!

My grandfather even has a newspaper clipping with a photo, which he sent me a copy of.

Grandpa told me he and his brothers and sisters used to play with it when they were little kids. His mom donated it to the Henry Ford museum along with some sort of horse-drawn hay rake that one of her relatives invented. I have to say that wasn’t on my must-see list of places in the United States, but I might have to add it now! The accountant in me is incredibly proud to know that one of my relatives had a hand in making the beans easier to count…