A RED BEARD

I visited my younger son and his family last weekend and was very surprised to see he has grown a beard.

This is my son last summer at a family reunion.

And here he is with a beard. He looks so different! In a good way.

A red beard. He can't understand why he has a red beard, but has decided to embrace it (I guess). I looked it up on Wikipedia, and it turns out if you get the red hair gene from both parents, you have red hair. If you just get one red hair gene, you can have a red beard, but another color on your head.

Here is my son with his son. Time will tell if he got the red hair gene. 

Cupcakes

I had a lovely day with my granddaughter this week. She was out of school due to strep throat. She really felt fine, but couldn't go back to school until 24 hours after she started the antibiotic. 

So we made cupcakes.

She had such a good time decorating them.

And I had a good time taking pictures.

She was so cute in her apron.

I love when I can take pictures and she is totally absorbed in something.

When I was a child, we called the leftover batter or icing "licklock". She thought that was hilarious, but enjoyed the licklock anyway.

The Fisher Price Cash Register Repost

(I am reposting this blog that I posted way back in February of 2014, because it garnered 22,711 views. Does that mean it went viral? I haven't been writing blogs for awhile - since last August, in fact. Maybe I'll begin again. The baby in these pictures is now 5, and has a little brother, who particularly loves the Jack in the Box.) 

Way back in 1975, for my oldest son's first Christmas, we bought this Fisher Price cash register. Over the years it has been a favorite toy for my two little boys, and then all four grandkids. I'm sure I have pictures of all of them playing with it, but here are some of my youngest grandson from last summer.

Amazingly, the cash register still has the three little coins it came with.

Love his little chubby fingers. 

I love his little suspenders. 

He was determined to eat this apple while playing. 

Behind the cash register in this picture is the jack-in-the-box that was also bought in 1975 and has proved to be very popular.

POLAR VORTEX 2014

LAST WEEK WE HAD WHAT THEY'RE CALLING THE POLAR VORTEX COME THROUGH INDIANA. ON SUNDAY, IT SNOWED A WET, HEAVY, DRIFTING SNOW ALL DAY. I THINK WE GOT AROUND 12 INCHES. THIS PICTURE IS A VIEW OF THE STREET IN FRONT OF MY HOUSE.

IT WAS A GREAT OPPORTUNITY FOR SOME SNOW PICTURES.

AND IT WAS PRETTY. I SPENT A LOT OF TIME LOOKING OUT THE WINDOWS AND TAKING PICTURES.
THE ONLY PROBLEM WAS I LOST POWER ON SUNDAY FROM ABOUT 1:30 PM TILL 8:30 PM. NO POWER MEANS NO LIGHTS, NO TV, NO RADIO, NO APPLIANCES WORK. NOT TO MENTION THE FURNACE. IT IS AN ANXIOUS FEELING TO SIT AND LISTEN TO THE SOUND OF SILENCE ALL AROUND YOU. I ALSO LOST MY INTERNET AND CABLE CONNECTION FOR THREE DAYS. IT WAS QUITE ANNOYING.

BUT THESE SQUIRRELS DIDN'T CARE. THEY WERE NOT HAPPY UNTIL THE BIRDFEEDERS WERE EMPTY, ALTHOUGH I MADE IT AS HARD FOR THEM AS I COULD. THEY COULD TWIST THEIR RODENT BODIES INTO THE MOST AMAZING SHAPES!

HERE IS A CLOSE-UP OF ONE OF THE DETERMINED FELLOWS. REALLY COULDN'T BLAME THEM MUCH. DID I MENTION IT WAS 15 BELOW ZERO ON MONDAY??!! BRUTAL!

The Gingerbread House

One day Avery and I built a gingerbread house. She thought that was the greatest thing. A few years ago I really got into making gingerbread houses from scratch, but this one came in a box. 

Avery just loved to sit and look at it.

I must admit I was surprised when she asked, "Grandma, is it okay if I eat the gingerbread house?" I said yes, of course (since I'm her grandma) and she had the best time picking the candy off. I love that she looks a little guilty in this picture!

Some Late Leaf Gathering

The day after Christmas was cool, but sunny. I decided it would be a perfect day to get the leaves raked in the backyard. We had a pretty good snow right after Thanksgiving and the leaves were late in falling this year, so I didn't have a chance to get it done before then. 

It felt good to get out there and rake, to scrape the surface of the earth and get a whiff of wet dirt. 

I also got the ladder out to clean the gutters, and suddenly had some helpers. Ethan had never climbed a ladder before so he was very cautious. Then Sam came out (the fireman) and climbed right up on the roof. Ethan soon followed. They were up there surveying the neighborhood for quite a while. Having some "man time", I suppose.

Here are a few of the giant bags of leaves I raked. Is it just me, or do they seem to have personalities?

Christmas 2013

Christmas 2013 has come and gone by now. I like to take a lot of pictures of the festivities, but I'm also very busy during the festivities. Here are a few of the kids that I thought were cute.

Every year I make Avery a simple little Christmas dress to wear. This one has Christmas candy sprinkled over it, with some rows of rick-rack across the yoke. She wore leggings underneath, and boots. It looked cute and she seemed comfortable in it.

Nolan was our youngest child this year. He still doesn't quite understand what's going on. He loves to open presents, but he does it very slowly, strip by strip, and once he gets it open he wants to play with that toy immediately.

Every year Uncle John and Aunt Cecilia buy cute Christmas pajamas for all of the kids, including the cousins in Indiana and the cousins in Arizona. At the end of the day on Christmas the kids put on their striped pj's and kind of awkwardly posed for some pictures.

Avery received a Kindle Fire for Christmas and is totally absorbed in it. She looks so cute in her striped pjs!

This picture was taken through my sunroof as we drove around Monument Circle downtown one night. Pretty!

Thanksgiving 2013

 "Take care of all your memories ... For you cannot relive them."   Bob Dylan

Mom and Dad hosted Thanksgiving dinner again this year at 968 Audubon. Here is the pretty dinner table set for 10.

Lovely hors d'oeuvres!

Flowers from Patsy and Jim were gorgeous!

Turkey Lurkey attended.

Sam - no doubt smiling at something Nolan was doing. Nolan was the only child this year, so we all enjoyed watching him.

This is me taking a rest from the kitchen. And Gavin never left that spot on the couch all day.

Nolan with his Mommy and Daddy.

Nolan played with his Thomas Trains on the coffee table most of the day.

Nolan enjoyed moving the footstool wherever he wanted it.

I wish I had gotten some group pictures that day. Here's who attended this year: Mom and Dad, Sam and Gavin, Nate, Jess and Nolan, Andrew and Mike, and myself. A lovely time was had by all!

Ethan and Avery had bad coughs and fevers and stayed home with Heather. They were missed!

My Shop On Etsy

Have you heard of the online shop called Etsy? I have set one up called Life Ephemera. I love that word - ephemera. I am selling some of the things I have collected over the years. I am just listing items I can put in a box and ship easily. I have sold one thing so far! It was a cute brown and cream colored mug set that said You and Me on them. I sent them to California! 

So, if you'd like to visit my shop, just click on the Etsy sign above. It will take you directly to my shop and you can see what it's all about. 

Me and Mr. Riley

 Have I mentioned I am working? It's supposed to be part-time, but so far it has been full time. I am working in Greenfield, Indiana, with the Riley Festival organization. After much preparation, the festival was held last weekend. The festival is held in honor of James Whitcomb Riley, the great American poet, who was born in Greenfield, Indiana. It is a three-day event, with two parades, entertainment, craft and food vendors. 

Here is a self portrait of myself and Mr. Riley in the office.

The drive to Greenfield in the morning through the country is a pretty one. I snapped this picture of a cornfield in the morning sun on the drive in one day.

Praying mantis are the neatest things. They are like tiny prehistoric insects. I love to find them in the Fall.

At one of the parades, school children place bouquets of flowers at Mr. Riley's statue in front of the courthouse.

I wandered into an old building one day and discovered a ballroom on the third floor. Loved this sign on the bathroom door.

I happened to see this old light fixture in the hallway.

This picture doesn't do justice to this magnificent stained glass window.

And that's what's been happening in my world lately.