Sometimes an ending is a perfect way to have a beautiful beginning...

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

A Birthday and a President

Good Morning! My family spent the night last night after we went to dinner for Mom's birthday! I did a pretty tablescape for her cake that we enjoyed after dinner. I used all white and peridot green items (August's birthstone) and framed a sweet picture of mom and wrote on pretty paper 'Happy Birthday, Nana'. She enjoyed it. I'll post a picture of it later. 
We enjoyed Mom's favorite cake, carrot cake with cream cheese frosting that my grandma makes. Yum! Today we'll be going to do some shopping with my grandma while Mom and Dad visit their in-laws on my brother's side. 
I'm drinking my coffee this morning out of a very sweet red and white cup that says 'First Lady' on it in pretty handwriting. Not that I fancy myself a 'first lady' but I see Hubby as great presidential material. I think he'd be a wonderful Commander-in-Chief, he's got natural-born leadership qualities and would just be a wonderful president. He isn't so sure, though. He can sometimes be too humble! Oh well. My sweet cup came from the Ronald Reagan library in Simi Valley. We visited in June. Bug knew we were going there and she thought it was going to be sooo boring. But she ended up loving it. We made her take a notebook with her to write down things of interest to her about our late president. She then had to come home and do a report for us. She was not thrilled. But once we started looking around at the exhibits she had a great time! We even got to tour the Air Force One they have there on display. Very fascinating! If you get a chance I highly recommend the trip. 
Oh, by the way, Bug's report turned out great, she talked about President Reagan's beginnings as an actor, him marrying Nancy, being shot and the most interesting thing to her, his love of Jelly Bellies! So, go buy a bag, munch and think about topiary elephants (also at the Reagan library!) and all things Republican! Enjoy!

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Small Town Girl

Okay, the new book I'm reading is called The Mighty Queens of Freeville by Amy Dickinson.  I'm enjoying it immensely! It's about a mom and her daughter and the small town the mom is from where they live. In this small town are all the mom's family, all of them. Now, I chose this book because it sounds a lot like where I grew up! And yes, the majority of my family lived within two miles of each other. It was great and it wasn't. I've never fully escaped. Hubby and I have lived there twice and the last time was for six years before moving to where we are now. I am definitely a small-town-girl. But I do enjoy being in New York City, not LA but NYC. Shhh, don't tell my hubby... LA is his city of choice. Anyway, Bug and I and hubby enjoyed our small town life while it lasted and didn't really want to go but we needed to be closer to hubby's job. Buglette never got to live there with us... she came along after we moved. 
My parents still live in my childhood home; the home they built when I was nine. I think if they ever want to leave my brother and I will have a complete meltdown. Neither one of us can live there right now but the thought of not having 'home' to go to would do us in. The town has changed a little over the years... more houses were built, more shops popped up, small-town politics wreaked havoc for about a year and my family came and went. My uncle is the church's pastor, my father an elder. My grandmother has lived in the same house for years and years as well. My aunts and uncles all live there except for one set. Even some of my cousins never left. As a teenager I could never get away with anything... if a relative didn't see me doing something then someone who knew me or my family did. I knew this instinctively so I kept my nose pretty clean. I can go anywhere there now and run into someone who knew me when I was little. It's a little irritating to my hubby to hear someone say my first and then maiden name! I think he got used to it the last time we lived there after, like, the tenth time someone would say, "oh, you all are part of the (insert my maiden name here) family. I think he may have even felt like his identity there was wrapped up in who my 'influential' family was. But he was a trooper.
As kids my brother and I could ride our bikes the mile and a half to the market to get ice cream and then head to the pool. Or we could walk to the golf course to take golf lessons, walking that mile. I always felt like we had a great childhood there; I certainly can't let my daughters ride to go get ice cream here, now, in the world we live in. Sad.
So, the Mighty Queens of Freeville is a lot like my childhood and a little like my present! Read it and we'll chat! Anyone out there grow up in a small town too? I want to hear your stories! I'll be telling you more! 

Monday, August 24, 2009

Normal Day at Home

So, today is a pretty normal day, no cartoon mice to visit in their kingdoms, no fair trips and animals to see, no school shopping to get done, and Hubby's even back to work after the weekend. Just the girls and I home all day doing stuff around here. The girls are out in the backyard right now playing in their playhouse and swing set so I thought I could chat with you all. 
I'm pretty proud of myself, without being computer savvy I was able to post some photos for you to see. They are out of order so I listed the story they go with at the tops of the pictures. Sorry about that!
I have been addicted to reading some fellow blogs out there, mostly about decorating and making 'old' things new again! I never knew there was such a world of blogs filled with beautiful photos and great ideas! I started at Susan Branch's website and then found a blog called Vintage Pretties and that author has listed all her favorite blogs on the left side of her page. I've been working my way through them and they are my taste as well, not all of them but most! The blogs themselves are so pretty I told Hubby I want mine to look similar to them. I have no idea how to do that but at least I got photos posted!
My parents and my grandmother are coming for a visit tomorrow for one night and two days. I'm looking forward to that. It's my mom's birthday so we'll be celebrating that and they are going to LA to visit my brother's wife's parents. Her parents are visiting LA from England on a tour. Since the early '90s our family has been having our own little 'British invasion'. My mother-in-law married a Brit in '93 and then my brother married a Brit in 2003. It's great having them both in the family... great reasons to travel! But seriously, I love them both.
Hubby is working a double tonight which means he works during the day and then teaches at night (he teaches what he does during the day in the evening) so it's just the girls and I. I always feel for him working so hard but, man, he is a natural-born teacher and loves doing it. As for us, I can read as late as I want in bed and we have quiet nights when Daddy is gone... just an easy dinner, baths, stories and turning in early! Bug starts school next week so we are in the process of getting back into that schedule. She is looking forward to being a fourth grader! I can't believe it! We ordered all of her uniform bottoms from Land's End this year and are very happy with it all! So easy to shop that way when your 15 month-old is a little, shall we say, active!! Till next time!

Sunday, August 23, 2009

A Night (Saturday night) at the Fair

So we went to the fair last night. Now, we live about an hour from LA but when we go to the fair we go to our local one in our area where there's still 4H clubs and farmers and crops. So, we love going to the fair to show our girls animals and all the fruits and veggis people have grown in their own backyards. Since we have a garden that Bug and I tend to it helps inspire her! 
Now of course, there's rides and games and all that at the fair too. We went on a Saturday night which maybe hindsight being 20/20 wasn't that great of an idea... teenagers and a different, um, shall we say 'element' were everywhere. I felt like calling America's Most Wanted and saying, "Get over here, I found... everyone!" So, when you're walking around with your two daughters and your law-enforcement hubby we stand out like a sore thumb! But we had a nice time anyway. We spent about 3 hours, had 'dinner' there and Bug even got to go on three rides (mom-approved of course, this wasn't Disneyland ya know). The best part was showing Buglette the animals! She kept trying to make the same sounds they were and when we went to the petting zoo she showed no fear! She loved it and kept laughing. We had to really watch her because she kept petting them but of course they were looking for food! 
Then we walked around the building with all the things people have made, from cakes to quilts to collections to beautiful table settings. We probably spent the most time there! I've always wanted to enter either a baked good or a table setting but just never have. 
We stayed till about ten pm and then hobbled home. Hubby and Buglette are still sleeping so we'll probably go to church tonight instead. We enjoy having that option!
Till then, enjoy your fair but, um, stay safe!