Moving On

We're moving.  We've been in this house for 8 1/2 years.  That may or may not sound like a long time, depending on your lifestyle.  For us, it has been a long time.  It is the longest time we have been in one house.  My husband's job is the type of position that in order to 'move up' you need to move to another location.  And we have moved a lot.  This will be our 14th move since we married.  But this time it's not a move for a job change.  We're looking for a lifestyle change.  We are less than a decade away from retirement, we have several grandchildren, and we're ready for that 'place on the lake'.  So we put our house on the market, thinking it would maybe sell in a few months, but it sold within a week, and we have not been able to find the place we want to buy.  So, we're moving up to the ranch until we find the perfect place.  So now we'll have to move twice!  Not the perfect situation, but it can't be helped.

But as I sit here, looking at the piles of books, cd's, games, the mazes of packed boxes, I feel just a little sad.  A lot of memories were made in this particular house, simply because E. grew up here and two weddings happened here, and all 6 grandchildren were born here.  (Not really born in the house, but, you know...)  My husband and I have spent hundreds of summer evenings sitting on the deck, dreaming about our future.  The boys spent hours with their buds, hanging out down in the 'man cave'.   E. and her friends spent many summer afternoons splashing in the pool out in the back yard.  And where else would you find those swings?

   They hang from a 2 x 10 that has grown into the two oak trees - there is no way they will come down.

          And the infamous 'Nerf Wars' - I hope we find a house with a 'run-around' kitchen again :)

This is one of the grands when he was first born:

And here he is, three years later, instigating a nerf war.  They all grow so fast!

 

Thank heavens his Dad has someone to play with, hehe!

I guess I can be just grateful that I have taken literally thousands of photos over the past 8 years and saved them all on disks.  Life does go on and things have to change.  Change is good.

Thanksgiving 2013

Thanksgiving.  It's all about family.  And specifically in our family, it's all about the littles!  I look forward to seeing all of them and my kids look forward to seeing all of their nieces and nephews together.  There is nothing better than cousins getting together for holidays.  When I was a child, I remember holidays with my cousins - I had something like 35 cousins, last time I counted.  And we didn't see each other sometimes for half a year or longer, but it didn't matter how long - we just picked up where we left off.  There was never an uncomfortable, get-to-know-each-other-again period.  That's the beauty of cousins.  It's like siblings, only without the baggage :)  My older four children didn't have cousins to hang out with when they were growing up.  They see the value of keeping their own children in touch with their cousins, though, and that is a blessing.  I haven't posted pics of my family in a long time, so I thought I would post some today.

Sugar works for Goldfish crackers :)

He loves his 'Scout'.

I keep one cupboard in the dining room empty for the Littles to play in.  They call it "The Mousehole"  :)

Lighting the candles on E's "Birthday Pie"

Yeah, this is me cutting the pie, E., the birthday girl, my oldest daughter with the video camera, and my oldest son, along with several of the Littles at the table, waiting for pie.  All five of my kids were here with their families, but the rest of them were too camera-shy, I guess.

"I want this one"

"Mmmm!"

Getting sleepy with Papa John.

Switching over to Uncle's lap.

I hope yours was a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday.  Take a peek at my food blog I just started -
Tasteful Regards at tastefulregards.blogspot.com.  I posted my instructions for turkey soup.  It's very cold and snowy here in MN and I'm in the mood for lots of comfort food, how about you?

Stay Warm!
Marie

Warm Wishes

Here is a 'warm fuzzy' for you on this chilly Monday morning.  This is Olive.  We adopted her from the shelter several months ago and she is such a blessing.  She's one of those rare social cats that greets everyone who comes to the door and hasn't met a single person she doesn't like.  Nothing seems to faze her, not dogs, vacuum cleaners, kitchen appliances, small children, whatever.  Just having her around makes a person feel relaxed.  I think I'll make this my desktop background.  

 Happy Monday!

Marie

November Skies

What is it about November skies that makes them so beautiful?  Nearly every sunrise and sunset this past month has been breathtakingly beautiful and photo-worthy.

I have many, many photos of the sunrise while waiting for the bus, and my guess is people grow weary of my posting the same scene over and over.  But to me, it is so fresh and new every day that I can't help myself.  

It takes my breath away every time.

I am so grateful for the gift of a beautiful sunrise.  And the benefit of being able to walk my daughter to the bus stop every morning, no matter what the weather.  It's all good.

Beautiful Jewel

This morning as I was paying bills at my kitchen table, I looked up and saw a flash of brilliant blue.  

An Indigo Bunting!  I rarely get to see one of these.  I grabbed my phone from the table and snapped a couple of photos.  They are not the best quality photos - a bit blurry.  But if I had gone to get my Nikon, it would have been too late, because within seconds, he was gone.

Nevertheless, my day is made :)

Marie

Mending My Ways

I have to confess I get a lot of satisfaction out of mending.  I have a hate-hate relationship with machines (I hate them and they seem to hate me, because they consistently break down when I use them).  So I don't like to sew new things with the sewing machine.  But I do like to do needlework.  And that includes mending and hemming, along with craftwork, such as cross-stitching.  Yesterday I decided to take care of a little project that's been nagging at me for a while.  The curtain by the patio door needed hemming.  A certain little kitty had apparently noticed a stray thread and decided to remove it for me, and the whole hem came along with it.  My mother taught me how to do a blind hem when I was a child, and it has come in handy.  The sewing machine, of course, has a blind hem stitch on it, but my hand stitch is better, I believe.

This is one of the other panels, viewing from the front side.  You can clearly see the factory hem stitches.

This is the panel I just hemmed, viewing from the front side.  The stitches are not so easily seen.  My mom taught me well.  :)

This is how I do it.  I put in a piece of white thread so you could see it against the dark background. I just barely catch a few threads on the panel and then again on the hem, using a single thread.  It goes fairly quickly, and I think the finished results are worth the effort.

Mending is becoming a lost art, I think.  But I look at it as a form of recycling.  I've found a lot of items at the thrift shop that just need a little TLC with a needle and thread and they're as good as new.  Not only that, but it makes them original :)  

If you're not comfortable with stitching and mending, I found this cute and fun book with tons of ideas.  It's eye candy for someone like me who loves to stitch!

Marie

My new favorite photo.

Joy.  Exuberance.  Exhilaration.  Zest.  Abandon.  

I am so grateful to have the chance to experience this all through her eyes again.

I don't intend to miss one minute.

Marie