Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Frodo is back!

I don't know why but this guy seems to show up all over the house.  Look closely, he's there, Frodo, that is. Unfortunately I didn't locate him until after we had over 45 teenagers and their leaders over for a Sunday night fireside.

When I came home from work the other night, I noticed Frodo's head was placed on top of Cole's face (third from the left).  Cole isn't here to defend himself (he's in Japan, don't you know) but don't worry, his little brother came to his rescue and put Frodo on the culprit's head (second from left), Truman.
 One time he showed up on the inside of they boys' toilet lid.  No one knew he was there until they had to take a tinkle. I must admit, potty humor plus Frodo gives me the giggles.  Simple pleasures.
It still makes me laugh.  I can't help it. 

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

What is he going to call you?

One of the most often asked question I get since Emily had Winston last December 22nd is,
"What is he going to call you?"
"Mrs. Tipton," I usually reply or "Aunt Tracy."  Some people think its' funny, others, well, I don't know what they think.  This is the product of having my own daughter at 21 (almost 22) and then she in turn has her own child at 21.  There, you can do the math now on my age. 

I figure he'll call me what he calls me.  My nephew was the first grandchild on both sides and once he started talking, he couldn't pronounce Grandma, so Bama came out and it stuck.  Both grandmas were and still are called Bama and Kelly is well over 30.  Whatever Winston calls me will be his choice, as long as it's not....grandma!

I mean, can you stand it?

Monday, August 29, 2011

My feet hurt.

I am a master of copying other people's stuff.  Recently we went up to Prescott for my nephew's baptism.  His mom, my sister-in-law, had painted this wall treatment on her fireplace surround.  Then, I found out my other sister-in-law had just painted the same thing on her entry way and dining room.  I had to try it.  Below are the results.
It got quite wonky in places but the pattern is forgiving and hopefully only I can tell.

Climbing up and down the ladder to reach the 10 foot high walls kind of killed my feet, a lot.  I'm pretty sure my neck and back will never be the same.  Pretty sure.

But, it turned out nice and only cost me $3 for a special 1/4 inch paint brush from Hobby Lobby.  If I had been more patient, I could have found a coupon and gotten it even cheaper!  I used old paint that was gummy and dried almost before I could put it on the wall.  That wasn't fun.  I had grand ideas of going around the corner to the left of the picture over the den but once I got started, I nixed that crazy idea real fast!

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

You dress like an old lady.

A week ago, the day before school started, I went to the dollar movies with Truman and his friend, Cameron.  They were going to meet a couple of girls there so I invited myself to go with.  Two hours in an air conditioned, theatre isn't so bad.  The two girls came in after the movie had already started and sat in front of me...the boys joined them.  When the movie was over we all walked out together.  One of the girls said,
 "Look you two have the same pants on." 
I realized she was talking about me and her friend.  Then the sweet girl said,
"That means either you dress like an old lady or she (meaning me) dresses like a teenager!" 
Honest, actual quote here.  I couldn't leave it alone and said
"Did you just call me an old lady?"
the same time as her friend, my pants twin, said,
"We just shop at the same store!"  in a very embarrassed tone.
Ah youth.  Word to the wise, Down East Basic clothing store sells pants to teenagers and old ladies!  Buyer beware.

Monday, August 8, 2011

Shrinky Dinks

Quinn and a friend making Shrinky Dinks....I don't have any pictures of the actual "dinks" because they got really small when they shrunk.  Go figure.  I loved making Shrinky Dinks with my childhood best friend, Kristine, when we were kids.  I keep trying to make my kids love it as much as I did.  Today's fun lasted maybe a total of 15 minutes, hopefully the memory will last a lot longer than that!

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Tradition!

Through the years we've had a pretty big tradition with birthdays.  We celebrate them for at least a week with multiple cakes and parties.  We have a family party, friends party and usually some type of acknowledgement at school.  Really, the celebrations seem to go on forever, at least for me!

One tradition we have that can never be missed is my husband's birthday drawings.  Usually they come to life late at night ergo the bizarre look of some.  However, I don't think we can blame the late hour solely on the strange content of the well wishing pages.  Rick, my husband, could possibly be more in control of the content than he admits. 
It's tradition to hang the fliers from our kitchen chandelier of the morning of the birthday for all to behold for the rest of the birthday week, sometimes even longer.  I've saved each and every one through the years for each child thinking that maybe someday I'll put a special birthday book together for the kids. 

Not only are the drawings, special, the written content is, well, special too.  I'm pretty sure the creator of these gets as much, if not more, joy out of them when re-reading them.

What's your birthday tradition?

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Hearty women.

Ruth Hoteling Shaut, Margaret Jubar Hoteling, Adelia Jubar Woods, Patrician Ann Shaut
circa 1936
St. Johnsville, New York.

My mother is the little girl in the picture.  Those who know her know she hasn't changed much, in height, that is.  Her mother is to the left and her mother's mother is in the middle.  Her mother's grandma is on the right, behind my mom.  She was full Mohawk Indian.  Cool right?!  A four generation picture.  My mother's grandmother was a triplet.  That's when multiple pregnancies happened spontaneously and they were hardly successful.  But all three girls lived and had long lives.  Love the car in the background.