Saturday's thoughts . . .

Christmas 2012

Christmas for us started with mass at 5 o'clock on Christmas Eve. Church was packed. The young grade school kids made up the choir. It was so sweet. You could hear it in their voices when they came to a line they knew really well.

We then went to an open house at Marla and Ted's, the blacksmith's sister and her husband. It was quite a house full.   Mom and 7 of 8 of her married kids and spouses were there. 13 of the 21 grand kids came, some with kids of their own, some with their spouse, or  some with their friends. It was a house full. There was food of every variety, freshly fried egg rolls, crab rangoon, tacos dips, little smokies, jello gigglers, cheese balls, delicious hand made turtles, Mom's peach pie, dips, spreads and so much more.

Marla even set up a play room for her great nieces to play in.  Here Ms. Lizzie is enjoying her picnic. Isn't this the cutest stove you've ever seen. It was made by Marla's late father in law about 20 years ago for his grand daughter Jessica.  A great time was had by all. Thanks, Marla and Ted for opening up your house.

Christmas started at our house mid afternoon on Christmas Day. I always like to set my table with the china. It's fun to make memories for the little ones.  However, this might be a memory for me. I served potato chips in a china bowl!  Now that might be a first. 

Here three of the 4 grand kids pose for a picture, while Grandpa is setting up Skype with the newest grandson in the next state over.

Grandpa and his 4 besties! (One via Skype.)

Sarah and Rusty had shirts and hats made just for the guys! These were a big hit!!

I had made outfits for Lizzie and her doll. They too were big hits. 

Lizzie and Holly liked their outfits, even if Daddy though they were a bit hippie. 

Little baby Connor got to model his birthday suit for his Christmas outfit. He is growing so fast!

Somebody downloaded this app to make a Santa pose. The kids did a great job pretending. 

I hope you all had a great Christmas! I know we sure did.

Memories I hope will last a life time

Today we picked the kids up late in the afternoon. I had cookie dough chilling in the refrigerator. 

The boys helped Grandpa burn a brush pile and chopped some stumps, while Lizzie and I baked the cookies. 

After dinner, Grandpa piped the icing on using a zip lock bag, while the 3 kids sprinkled  colored sugar over the icing.

We then had to do a taste test. I told the kids, I do hope 50 years from now, they remember the night they iced sugar cookies with Grandma and Grandpa. 

While I went to clean up the mess, they called home to ask to spend the night with us. Luckily they live less than a mile from us, so Daddy ran their pj's over. 

An hour after I tucked the little one in bed, she was still awake. She said to me, "Santa is coming tomorrow night when we sleep. He's gonna put presents under our tree." 

Now isn't this what Christmas is all about?

If I don't get back on the blog tomorrow, I want to wish all my blogging friends a very Merry Christmas. I  also must mention my oldest grandson, as he is now leaving comments on my blog!  Love you Brady.

MERRY CHRISTMAS ALL! 

I quit!

Today winter arrived with a bang!  At 3 AM it was 54, 7 AM 39, and 10 AM it was 34, shortly after that it went down to 32. Somewhere during that time the winds picked up and the snow started coming down. No one was happier than myself and 3 year old Lizzie. 

She asked to go out as soon as breakfast was over. "Grandpa can we build a snow man" she asked? Of course Grandpa had nothing better to do. Look at the snowman's eyes.  How often do you see real coal for his eyes? That's one advantage of Grandpa being a blacksmith!

Soon after this picture was taken, it was to Grandma she came for hot chocolate! Colored mini-marshmallows were a plus!

Now lets talk about me quitting! I have probably gone over board sewing dolls clothes. I didn't know they could be so much fun or so addicting. Of course all this is her Christmas present. She shall remain nameless since she might read my blog. At least I know her 11 year old brother does. The other day I got a text from him, "Grandma I like the rug you won. I saw it on your blog." I really need to watch what I let out of the bag now!

There are jammies for both, and corduroy pants with vest to match.

Of course they both needed aprons to match. There are (fake) leather pants, skirt, and vest with a calico blouse. There are also 2 party dresses and a leopard coat. 

I found really cute shoes, tights, cowgirl boots, and even a cowgirl hat at Wally's world. I only wished I had bought the ice skates they had. Especially after I see Carla's creations. 

I leave you with my Santa pictures. Now I realize that I have a picture of the newest grand baby wrapped and under the tree, but I am missing a Santa picture with my only grand daughter. Shame on me!

Tag sales finds and more

Today, I stopped by Scruggs Lumber yard to pick up my free rug. I won it from a post on Facebook! 

Isn't it gorgeous? It looks great at my front door.

So while in town at the butt crack of dawn, I remembered a tag sale that started at 8 AM.

I found this neat pottery bowl for a buck! I think I need to scrub the old price tag residue off of it.

For 3 bucks I got this great bag of hand crocheted things. This lady liked to make triangles. The bag even had a really retro pearl collar in it in perfect shape.  Now if I can just get the musty smell out of all of it. 

One of the best things I got was this pair of shoes from the defunct Tweedies shoe factory. I collect items from this factory as my Dad, his brother, and sisters all worked there. They bring back memories of some great times when I was small and would visit the factory. The smell of leather wafted out of the open windows as you drove down Jefferson Street to it. This was  before the days of air conditioning. 

These are the smallest heels I've ever seen. The heel has a 1 on it, so I am wondering if they were a size 1? They are smaller than most "sample" sizes. I put a tissue under the clear plastic so you could get the full effect. They even have a plastic flower. Oh if they would just fit me.

I now leave you with the photo of the day. I'm thinking he will soon have to have a hair cut. Look at that hair, it's almost touching his ear.

A few days with our new grandson!

Connor made his appearance a little over 3 weeks early, following in his mother's foot steps as she did the same thing. It may be a good thing he came early, since he weighed in at 7 pounds 2 ounces. 

He was born Friday evening and here his Momma cuddles him at home on Sunday afternoon. 

One of the first things Sarah did was open a present we had brought along from Missouri. This was a quilt from his great grandmother. The lucky little guy now has quilts made by both great grandmas!

Grandpa enjoyed spoiling him . . .

  as did I!

How many newborns make a TV appearance?  It helps when your Daddy is a local weatherman.  He made the 10 o'clock news. 

I love this picture! Some how it became the screen saver on my iPod  I had nothing to do with that either, right Sarah?

Come Tuesday, Connor had a new bed. It was a portable light bed. Jaundice had set in. He spent the next 36 hours sleeping in it. But shortly after we left for Missouri on Thursday, he was set free. After many heel pricks, his blood work showed the numbers had gone down. 

I leave you with his hospital pics!  We love you to the moon and back Connor! Congratulations Sarah and Rusty!

He's here!

Connor came 3 weeks plus early. But he's fine!  7 pounds 2 ounces. 

We made a fast road trip going half way across Missouri and then half way into Oklahoma in record time.

Now we will spend a few days cooking and spoiling this little guy!

It's my baby's BIRTHDAY!

In 29 short years she has gone from this  . . . 

 . . . to this!

Happy BIRTHDAY Sarah, I love you to the moon and back. In just 3 1/2 weeks you will know what it's like to hold and love your own little one.

My auction treasure

Today we went to a mid-morning auction. We looked around and really saw only one thing we I wanted. Of course in was all the way in the back from where they were going to start. The auctioneer said it would be at least 2:30 when they would get to the area with our item in it.

We left. At home we did a joint effort in making breakfast and pot #2 of coffee. After we ate, the blacksmith went outside to cut up some downed trees. I cut out an apron. 

It was a way too warm day in Mid-Missouri for December. A couple of hours later and we were enjoying coffee on the deck. The blacksmith was cooling off and resting after his wood cutting. Not something you want to be doing in 70+ temperatures. 

At 1:30 we headed back to the auction. We really should have believed him and arrived closer to 2:30. 

Shortly after 2:30 the item I was interested in came up for auction. The auctioneer took the first lady's bid at $15. I am waving my hand and he doesn't see me. I almost have a heart attack before someone tells him about me. Then a bidding war took over, $10 at a time. I finally won.

This Singer model 99, manufactured in February 1931 is now mine!  Would you believe it's a hand crank model????  My friend Phil will refurbish it for me. I can hardly wait to get my granddaughter to try it out with me. 

This little princess went to town

This is a story about a little 3 year old that went to town with her Grandpa and Grandma, who both had eye doctor appointments. 

It turned into a 2 hour office visit. With both of us having our eyes dilated and checked, it took awhile. Did I mention how good this little girl was. She never asked,  "are we done yet?" or "can we go now?" She not only entertained us, but others in the office too. 

So after the appointment we told her we would treat her to brunch at Mel's. It's a local diner and the food is always good. 

Nothing doing, but she wanted to sit with her Grandpa!

Her mind was made up before we arrived. She knew she wanted bacon, eggs, a Minnie Mouse pancake, and MILK. After all, this wasn't her first trip to Mel's. She cleaned her plate and drank two glasses of milk. 

My lunch was delicious, BBQ pork sandwich with sweet potato fries. I also had a side order of baked turnips. The waitress gave me the recipe when I ordered them. She said you boil the turnips, drain them, add 2 kinds of cheese, and diced fried bacon. Bake and serve. Oh they were delicious!

Just another fun day with the little princess.

Life is good.

More auction goodies

Crawling out of bed at 7:30 for an auction didn't seem like a good thing this morning. But after we arrived there shortly before 8:30, I knew it might be worth our time. 

It's always a social thing, time to see old friends. Of course people watching can be fun too, good most of the time. 

Today I found this 8 gallon Buckeye crock. The Buckeye pottery company was in business in Ohio from 1882 until 1938.  What a steal for $37.50!  It will hold plenty of turnip kraut next time. By the way, we canned 23 pints yesterday. 

Currently E-Bay lists these Buckeye crocks; a 6 gallon for $99, an 8 gallon for $499 (slightly different from ours) and a 10 gallon for $242.  I'm pretty proud of mine!

I also grabbed this 1953 Landwehr Dairy calendar. I have several things from this local dairy. My mother worked there in the late 50's. It's a shame this wasn't a year older, then it would have been the same age as me!

This vintage aluminum dish pan with handles was only one dollar. It will be great to take to the garden to put vegetables in. 

I did give up on a Singer Featherweight machine after $225, of course another $10 and the other bidder bought it. 

Another great day in the country.

Life is good!

A day of giving thanks

We missed these 2 and 8/9's guys not being with us today. We did a little face-timing with them, and a few phone calls. They both had the traditional thanksgiving food at their TV stations. It would have been nice if we all could have been together.

Our first chore of the day was to get some blackberry jelly made. I also made 48 pecan and pumpkin pies for dessert.

I once again used my Beistle vintage honeycomb decorations. 

Someone sure enjoyed the pumpkin pies. Grandpa helped her out with a little extra whipped cream!

Hope you all had a blessed day.

The end of deer camp . . .with success!

The end of deer camp is always bittersweet. It's good family time, good food, and always nice when the guys score on the hunt. 

Friday night in camp, Alex got cozy in Grandpa's cot for just a little while. 

Brady and his great aunt Larraine compare iPhone/iPod notes. 

This is the stove that keeps the cabin toasty warm, some times too warm!

Friday night the chief cook Pat, made chicken and dumplings.

Lizzie wanted to be the chief bottle washer!

Saturday night we were all tired. One little boy was sick. It was a fine meal of BBQ pork steaks, turnip greens, french fries and a short game of cards. The guys all went home to sleep. 

Sunday came . . . the day crawled by . . . not much activity, until about 4:15

Alex, the eight year old, scored his first deer! That face tells it all. 

Success, it's a good thing!