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Caleb up to bat

Hi all- Tried sending a short clip of Caleb at the bat to my dad via email, but even tho it's only 30 seconds it was way too big to mail, so I'll be using youtube to upload the occasional video. I'm one proud grandma when this boy's up to bat! I think the wind chill factor was like 36 degrees out there tonight. Possibly the coldest place on the planet! brrr.

A quick check in--a few pictures

There must be 50 or 60 of these handpainted bead doll heads in the bag that I got for a quarter at the thrift shop yesterday. I know they're meant for pipe cleaner dolls, but I've no idea IF I'll ever actually DO something with them.

I wanted to brag on this Jenn Murphy licensed design piece I got recently at Bayberry Cove. I am SO impressed with the quality of this! Look at all the detail; mohair rabbit, felty flowers, sitting on a pincushion, and it stands over 10 inches tall! Wowee. All that for $22. And the customer service at this online store was fab, too.  And the selection! Whoa. If you don't already have them in your favorites you should definitely go check them out!

We probably all remember the first etsy artist that we came across that made us say "wow!" For me it was KupKup. She is from Spain and the way she weaves stories of KupKup and his friend Lolo and all their adventures into her one of a kind pieces just charms me no end. For the most part it's simply snipped bits of felt and papers but it just really grabs me. I don't know why it took me almost a year but I finally bought a couple of her pieces recently.

I love them. If you look WAY back in her sold items you'll see many more of her flat paper pieces...I think they're what first got her started. My biggest excitement about the new studio is having all these talented artists' works displayed for me to appreciate and be inspired by every day. I am SO looking forward to that!

It's late and I need to call it a day. I wanted to share this real quick just in case you need a special something for a Valentines' Day card. I was cleaning this mini studio of mine yesterday ( shock!) and I came across this desk calendar sheet and I'll be darned if the day of the week is not correct for this particular year! Cool! Let me know if you end up using it on something and I'll do the same.

Cheers!

December 20

When John came up here 30+ years ago he went to work on a dairy ranch. When he left the ranch to go into real estate he took a milk crate full of old letters and cards that he'd found in a barn. I'm not sure why...he never really even went through them. He carted them around for 20 or so years til he met me, and BOY was I excited to go through them! Lots of Christmas cards and a few Easter, too,  all from the 30's through early 40's. Lots of corners nibbled by mice but lots were salvageable. The photo above is a few of them. I pull the whole stack out every year and put them out as if they were just received this year.

Miss Madison turned one month old yesterday. We plan on doing the same scrapbook layout as we did for Caleb. I'd read about it when Melissa was carrying him, and thought it was a really great idea. I suggest it to pregnant women when I remember to. So here's Madison sitting in 'the green chair' at one month old.

Still such a wee little thing! Not even 8 pounds yet.

Here's the layout we did of Caleb...seated in the same spot (same green chair!) every month til he turned one year.

OH I still remember taking most of those shots. Typically his mama would be at work and John would be getting him to smile while I took the picture. Lord, time flies. I miss that little guy! A first grandchild brings such joy that I still lack adequate words to describe. The ones that follow are pretty fabulous, too!

December 16

Made ya smile, huh? This is one of about a hundred shots we snapped last week. She was getting downright loopy by this point and it shows! Having recently scanned an old Christmas pic of my big sis and I, I noticed another pic taken that first Christmas in 1958 with my rocking chair that mom got us with Blue Chip stamps.

This is the same chair that Kadence is in above. I've probably lived in over 40 homes these past 49 years and I just keep dragging my rocking chair along with me. I won't be surprised at all to someday find myself taking pics of great-grandkids in it!

Tonight was Caleb's school holiday program.

That's him under the yellow arrow. Seems to be singing directly to us! Yes, they were all 'ringing their bells for Jesus' love'. I couldn't help but giggle when I thought back on last year's program...the big ordeal over those sheep costumes I made! Shoot...they may never get worn again!

December 10

I've been thinking for a while now that I'd like to get a nativity set. I enjoyed playing with my mom's little manger and people and animals for many hours over the course of my childhood Christmases. Did you? I hadn't planned to make it such an investment, but this went straight to the top of the list of our most valued heirlooms! Happened upon it at the local pharmacy the other day. I really must take pictures of that pharmacy while it's decked out for the holidays. Kind of mind-blowing, really. I haven't decided yet if I should just take pics through the front window at dusk after they've closed or I should go ahead and ask permission for inside shots!

Speaking of pictures, I had two of the three grands over today for a Christmas card photo shoot. If I may say so myself, we've got a whole lotta cute goin' on up here!

Monday ~ no mural, but something a lot better!

 

Grandbaby #3. Madison Kathleen. Born at 2pm today and weighs 6 lb 12 oz. 19.5 inches long. Set of lungs like I've never heard on a newborn. I hardly got to see her mama at all, as she was hung up in recovery with a new nurse they were training. You can see by the bubbles Miss Madison is workin' up that she was getting hungry by the time Melissa was wheeled into their room, so I had John snap this pic of us before I passed her on to Melissa and we all left them in privacy to give a go at nursing. I'll take more pics and share again soon. I knew we had well-wishers here in blogland so thought I'd share the news asap. I'll post again soon.                        

Life. here. today.

John and I are convinced we are the luckiest people we know. In large part because of our grandchildren. Our beautiful 2yo Kadence now lives 5 blocks down from us, and Caleb and soon-to-be Madison live 5 blocks up from us. We get to be a daily part of their lives and it honestly feels like the most important roles we've ever chosen. Yesterday was Caleb's last soccer game in what seemed a very short season

Kadence and her mom came to watch. Look at this little girl soak it all up like a sponge.

I kept her one day last week and MAN she is such a little mimic! I'm scheduled to keep her four days this week when her mom goes to work and I half-joked to John I'm going to teach her how to play the piano the first week. She really does seem that bright.

I found myself taking lots of tight shots at the game, and then realized how fabulously beautiful our surroundings are here. I think we sometimes just take it for granted but really, look at this natural forest and smog-free sky

This man is the happiest I've known him to be in the 13 years since meeting him.

He's finally starting to 'get it', and in my experience that can't be said about very many 50-something men, you know? I'm so glad. For him and for all of us.

Here's a shot I snapped of Melissa and Travis. Was hoping to show her out-of-town family the size of her tummy, but she hardly looks nine months pregnant here at all! I'll try again soon.

Wow. A lot sure can change in one short year. I don't even want to think about these two this time last year. I choose to live in the 'now' and today I am very happy for them. I worried that Melissa would be bored out of her mind when she went on pregnancy disability the first week of September, but she immediately got busy making a life for herself. She became Caleb's teacher's right-hand mom; working in the class almost daily. Is the co-leader of a C's cub scout pack, attends MOPS (mothers of preschoolers) through the church, and is talking about joining the church after the baby comes. That's some really WOW stuff. A complete 180 as they say. I try very hard to avoid personal personal stuff on this blog, but I felt like sharing a little bit just as a reminder to "Never say never!".

Here's my answers to this week's Friday Fiver

1. What is sweet? My life. My husband. My grandchildren.  Those new shooter desserts for $1.99 at Applebee's. Perfect!

2. What hours do you work? I have absolutely no schedule so it's hard to say. I think I'd be more productive if I did have a schedule. Although when I'm watching a grandchild so their mom can work it's childcare all day and crafting all night.

3. When do you relax? When I first wake up. Over coffee I sit and watch my recorded shows.

4. How did you learn about the birds and the bees? Every other Friday night our family would drive about 40 minutes away to play bridge all night at my parent's best friends' house. Apparently all the way there and back I'd grill them with natural curiousity about all sorts of things that were on my mind, and sex was for sure one of the topics. I was five years old when I started asking.

5. Friday fill-in:  The good vibes flow___ all around me.

Another graduation post

Even I, devoted grandma that I am, said; "What?! Another graduation? For heaven's sake didn't we just have a big 'do' for preschool graduation?" But of course, ceremonies for Kindergartener's are expected. Last night the school had a big Honors ceremony, which also included graduation processions for the Kindergarteners and the four 8th graders who are going on to HS. (Yes, I said 4). Here is the entire student body:

 

The front row are the Kindergarteners. The highlight of the evening (for us, anyway) was those 12 standing up and reciting 26 bible verses, being prompted only by the letters a to z.

I can not watch them without tearing up a bit. They're just still so sweet and pure. Then all of the children cleared the stage and the little ones put on their caps and gowns and marched back in to the tunes of Pomp and Circumstance

The teacher is talking about how 'they were her favorite class ever'

And then she said nice things about each one individually

They would then walk over to the principal for their diploma (and a nice hug)

And that was that!

Silly little boy. I just love him to pieces.

I do realize what an awful awful blogger I am lately. Not only with posts here, but comments on my fellow bloggers' sites. Sorry. Trying so hard to scratch things off my to-do list. For instance, John left our real estate office back in January, and I am just this week finally emptying it out. Have been carting stuff from our house, our storage, Melissa's house, and starting tomorrow I'm doing a 3-day tag sale in the office. By Monday morning what hasn't sold is being carted off... to the dump...the thrift shop...I don't care! Am just O*V*E*R all the shtuff. Kind of 'over' paying  a $900 monthly mortgage on that office, too! Maybe now that we're emptying it and cleaning it someone will come along and want to occupy it.

I was thinkin it might be time for a Caleb update. For those of you who haven't known me long, Caleb is our grandson who is turning 6 next month. He and I (yes, just the two of us!) have been planning for quite a while now to go to Disneyland for his birthday. I got 'The Unofficial Guide to Disneyland" and you oughta see me studying it and taking notes...more so than I think I ever did for any college class! Oh I just think we're going to have THEE best time! Anyway, here's some recent photos. First is his formal Kindergarten photo.

I've had this sitting on top of the scanner for almost a month now. Have been fighting the urge to photoshop that precious big-eared head and move it more centered over his collar, but I realize how insane that sounds and besides, who can resist that genuinely sweet smile?

Here's a pic Melissa shared with me tonight. I'm glad that Travis is so good about sharing his passion for fishing with this boy, 'cause he sure loves it, too. As soon as I saw this picture I thought of the very similar ones taken of me and both of my sisters at various times many years ago. I know my Dad will enjoy seeing this;

 

Caleb is continuing to be a s*t*a*r in t-ball. He 'bout got standing ovations for two out of his three ups tonight. Reminded me I got some good photos at last week's game.

Seriously, look at this face and remember that he is five;

I adore his intensity.

Can you believe that woman in the background...just casually cleaning her glasses....completely unaware that a STAR is being born right there at her feet? hmph. She's clearly without a clue. ;-) This stance is a fairly recent development in Caleb's ball-hitting routine. Melissa calls it his Happy Gilmore routine. How he kinda had to dance up to the golf ball? I noticed tonight when C tried NOT to do it he hit the pole, but when left to do his little jig he 'bout hit it out of the park.  I say let the boy do what he needs to do!

I notice he usually does this, too. Checks to make sure it was "good enough" before he drops the bat and runs.

Here he's running from third to home

But then he notices his buddy is running behind him (the last hitter, so they're all coming in) and he not only stops to pick up the ball, he waits to run along with Gage.

That's his mother burying her face in her hands "My son is such a Nerd!" and that's Papa John to her left thinking "GOD I love that boy!"  I told her tonight that Caleb reminds me very much of our dear departed cat Rocky. He was so big and scrappy but he had no idea he could be mean or feared. Our much smaller cat Natasha used to kick his butt routinely. He just didn't know how to be menacing or bullying. Oh, and yes; it's still frickin FREEZING HERE. Jackets and blankets clear into June. Crazy.

So, there ya go. I have two swaps (which I really am excited about!) due by the end of next week, and I'm way behind on SO MANY THINGS, but hopefully my actions/lack thereof makes more sense having seen a glimpse here of what I devote a large part of my waking hours to.

Now I have to make a bunch of signs on the computer for the tag sale. "Don't go past this door."  "Golf balls, $3/sleeve" "CD's $2.50 each". Looking forward to having it behind me next week and workin on ART!

This photo, taken at one of Caleb's recent soccer game, just takes my breath away. These little darlin's are just barely five years old, yet I can so clearly see the men that they will become all too soon. They  will go to separate schools for the next 9 years (Caleb's in a private Christian school) but I imagine their lives will weave in an out of each other's through t-ball, soccer, karate, etc, until they ultimately reunite in sports at Eureka High School, where I expect they'll both be all-stars. Caleb is as strong in soccer as he was in t-ball and is in golf. More soccer pics here.