Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to you and those you cherish! We hope this day is filled with moments of great appreciation for all that is in your life!

And here is the great debut of Grandpa's coat, made by my Grandma as the story goes. We enjoyed Simon wearing it around Easter, and love how Norah is wearing it for Thanksgiving. We hope it will still fit her for Easter, in the spring!

Debbie made me this hat for Christmas last year, and it seemed a bit small. Given a new crochet band, it fits Norah quite well. I had just enough yarn to make a scarf! I changed the buttons , added the flower details, and added a strip of corduroy fabric to the back for a more tailored look. That strap is anchored only by buttons, so all of these added little details can be removed to return to the original condition.

Close ups of the details.

Pumpkin shortage??? Really???

Are you serious????

A trip to Dominicks, Caputos, and 2 trips to Aldi (one on delivery day) resulted in not even one can of pumpkin waiting on the shelves to be taken home and turned into pie. Seriously? I heard about a pumpkin shortage and thought, "Yeah right, ha ha, there will be cans of pumpkins. There are always cans of pumpkin." Not so much, actually, not at all.

Thanksgiving needs pumpkin pie. Eric and I need pumpkin pie. Need is truly a relative term here; I should really say we strongly desire pumpkin pie.

The plan evolved while at Caputo's when I saw pie pumpkins. So, right now two pumpkin halves are baking in my oven. I hope they cook to mush so I can make a delish pie of pumpkin. Besides, I'm sure that is how my Grandmas did it many times over. Heck, they probably even grew their own pumpkins. Perhaps we'll try that next year. The pumpkin has to somehow go from pumpkin to can, we are just skipping the cannery stage.

We'll let you know later the outcome!

A dip down on the ol' roller coaster

Receiving and recovering from a bone marrow transplant is extremely similar to a roller coaster ride. You start at the bottom with the shock of diagnosis and begin the upward climb to reach transplant day. And then you get there, thinking here we are at the top. The view at the top on transplant day is filled with some relief, because the work to get there was immense and the donor came through. But that view is guarded with unknown side effects to come and wonderment at how many dips will need to be endured.

So, here we are on one of those dips, which is just a part of the whole process. Nothing terrible, nothing great - but definitely not good or fun. When you consider Mom's medications, lack of energy, loss of appetite, need to be nourished, and her daily battle with nausea, it is no wonder that she does not feel well. Mom's energy, appetite and spirit have been greatly affected and she is working so hard to get through each day. She is now back in the hospital and we shall see what the next few days will bring. It has always amazed us at how the right fluids, nutrients, and medications can cause Mom to regain a bit of energy and some of her bright spirit. We hope to soon climb back up on that roller coaster ride and enjoy the sites along the way.

As for Thanksgiving, we are extremely grateful for the generosity of Mom's donor. It is difficult to be grateful for the icky-sickies, but without her donor we would not be here today. Life is precious, and we love Mom/Grandma so much every day!

An Aggravated Simon

Aggravation was my F.A.V.O.R.I.T.E. game growing up. My sisters and I would play over and over and over and over and well, over again. We wore the box sides completely off. We rolled the marbles around and around the box when the sides were still intact. We played backwards from home base to the starting line up. I won, alot. I still win, alot.

I found this beauty at an estate sale and scarfed it up, it is the same version as Mom and Dad's! Yep, they still have it with the pieces in the same pink bucket. I pulled it out just about a week ago and Simon now L.O.V.E.S it. I am at a loss, do I call it "Aggravation" as it is named or call it "Marbles" as I did growing up. After about 2 games, he started moving his pieces without counting! Looking and just picking up his marble and placing it in the correct spot, well, at least for dice rolls of a 1, 2, or 3. He does not like the middle spot as a shortcut. Why? Because "then I'm stuck". How ironic is it that he needs his own dice and cannot share, because that's how I was ? But he picked that up on his own.

So, who won? The smiling boy of course! And not because I let him
because he won!!!!
By rolling a 1!!!
Oh, how fun!!!
I'm sure I'll play this game a ton!!!
And now my story is done!!!

Mom & Tot

Just Jessica introduced me to this crochet Mary Jane slipper. She has been making custom order pairs like crazy (among many other things for sale - click here to browse). She describes her yarn and names her creations. I'll do my best!

I found a purple plus few hints of other colors in the yarn as well. You know, a little bit thicker yarn with a fun texture, sort of curly. I had a ball of very thin cream wool yarn wound up in the basement that made for a great second yarn to crochet with the first. It created a more variegated look, and a nice trim. I used buttons that I already had. That's my new motto that I am trying to adhere to - use what I have and be happy with it! Since we winter in the midwest, I wanted more foot cover and improvised the pattern a bit.

I used red and green yarn from my basement yarn bin, for Norah to have with her Christmas jammies. The slippers are a bit slippery on our wood floors. But we both are getting used to that affect. I did read online to add puffy paint to the bottoms to make them non-slip. I am also pondering if jammie-feet material is available and how I could crochet slippers from a non-slip base. I do love my hardware store aul to add a crochet edge to blankets. Hmmmm . . . .

Kuddos to Jessica for passing on the pattern!!!!

As for names? I'm not coming up with any.

Happy Vertical Day

It is that wonderful day and that wonderful time when all the numbers are vertical!

It is 11:11 on 11/11, and there is no better way than to spend that time making a wish, saying a little prayer, and thinking of someone special.

Don't know or remember what vertical day is? Well, refresh your memory here and here. So I made my annual carefully timed phone call to my Aunt Cindy in CA when the time on our clocks showed all numbers vertical. A short while ago I proposed a tea party on another blog. So, here I am spending my vertical minute on vertical day with a virtual tea party with whoever took me up on my offer! Notice the vertical stripes on my mug. Gotta pay attention to the details.

So this year, special thoughts and plenty of prayers went to

Sue - for continued recovery and less neuropathy
K - for her itty-bitties to cling onto her from the inside so K can stay pregnant as long as possible
Mom - for 100% acceptance of her new bone marrow, and continued recovery
Noah - a baby boy in our church dealing with medical concerns
Jo - for continued hand and wrist recovery and strength so she can return to work and resume normal daily activities

And of course to Cindy, my biggest Vertical Day fan and celebrator!! Yes, celebrator is a verb as in, a person who celebrates. Cindy is a h.u.g.e. celebrator of Vertical Day!!

11/11 was Veteran's Day long before Vertical Day ever appeared. Special thanks to all veterans who give so much to ensure our freeedoms!

Please Stay Tuned . . .

Remember this? When Simon debuted his Grandpa's coat on Palm Sunday. The story goes that my Dad's mom made this coat. It is quaint and classic with a vintage flare and lots of histroy and I love it!

Well, stay tuned because it is Norah's turn and it will be showcased for Thanksgiving. A few girlish touches will be added and accessories worn will turn this boys coat into a little ladies coat. The girly touches will not ruin the coat and will be easily removed to return it to it's original state. This is one of the few items passed down the generations that both of my children can wear and I love it! So Norah Noel, with a name from Grandpa will be warmed with style by Grandpa's jacket this fall!

Now let's just hope she does not grow so much that it is too small for Easter!

Remember this?

Simon at around 20 months.

Norah at around 20 months.

Favorite Places and Spaces

Something enticing about hiding behind the plants.

Very often we will find Norah sitting on Simon's bed in this very spot reading a book.

Halloween Happenings

Simon's preschool class at his Halloween parade and party. Daddy and Norah enjoyed the sights and celebration this year! Each year I say that Halloween becomes more fun and that this year's costume is my favorite.

Carving pumpkins on Halloween Eve! We ate "candy corn pizza" before and almost carved in the dark due to a power outage. But the lights came back. Oh, wait, you've never had candy corn pizza?!?! It's quite tasty. Make a pizza crust (we used a Jiffy box mix), put white cheese in the center, make a ring with cheddar cheese mixed with pizza sauze, then an outer ring of just cheddar. Bake and slice into triangles that look like candy corn! Yummy!

Norah dug right into her pumpkin and could not get enough!

They just sat there and stared at the jack-o-lanterns. Mes-mer-ized!

We then put the jack-o-lanterns on the porch table facing inside our house. We turned off all of our lights and just watched our jack-o-lanterns blink at us! I felt as calm and peaceful as when you sit down to look at your Christmas tree once it is all decorated, topped, and lighted.

They both L.O.V.E.D their costumes and wanted to wear them as long as possible. Norah cried everytime we had to take it off of her! At first she called it a "bee", but we convinced her it was a "bug".

I picked up my yellow crayon, tipped him over, and colored myself a smiley face!

Resting at our usual rock down the block. We cannot walk by this spot without resting.
On our way to Marsy and Mable's house (two of the four dachshunds that live on the kitty corner from us) . Yep, we had to go to their house because we watch the dogs walk by our house. We didn't trick or treat at anyone else's house along this side of the block. I guess because we didn't know them, Simon did not want to go get a treat. Every year we give treats to get treats from our lovely neighbors. This year we gave out leaf spritz cookies and halloween rice krispie bars.

We saw some friends along the way! Check out the bee and the baby honey-pot in the background.

After trick-or-treating we had a firepit, chili, hot dogs, and hot beverages in our driveway. A few neighbors stopped by and we extended the halloween fun into the evening!

This year we had tons of fun preparing for Halloween! We hope you enjoyed this rite of passage that truly bridges the end of warm days into the early holiday season! From our pumpkin heads to yours . . . . Happy Halloween!

Our Fairy Tale Family

Last night, Simon declared that Norah was the tortoise. Because she eats her dinner very slowly. She truly is our poky-little puppy when it comes to eating, which may be her favorite activity. But according to Simon, she is the tortoise. This is what he declared after that:

"Daddy is the hare."

When questioned what Mommy is, he said:

"Mommy is the big bad wolf."

When questioned what Simon is, he said:

"I am a little pig, the one in the brick house."

He made all of these comments without a moment of hesitation. Quickly and honestly stated.