Tag Archives: family

Buttons

It is a different tin, different buttons but the sound of buttons pouring out onto a wooden table is just the same.

Immediately I’m back at my Granny’s side, eagerly dumping out her tins of buttons. Running my fingers through the pile as I sort. Finding my favorites, dividing by color, talking with Granny, endlessly fascinated by the collection. Always, I am reluctant to undo my “work” and sweep them back into their circular home when the time comes, only slightly mollified by promises that they’ll be there next time.

But sometimes next time doesn’t come soon enough and I am mystified by the reluctance I see in Granny’s eyes when I mention the buttons.Buttons

Today I dumped the buttons on the table, and though the tin has spent the last year inside a moving box, the girls were drawn to the sound as if by magic. Buttons! Can we play with them? Can we pile them? These are mine! Oops- I dropped some. No- THESE are mine! Can we put them on string? Oops!

The girls and I crawled about on the floor finding buttons and the look I remember in Grannys eyes is no longer a mystery. But I’ll leave the buttons out, just for tomorrow.

It’s a small magic, that of button tins and memories, but there it is, running through the generations, connecting us in my mind like buttons on a string.

 

Relative Weirdness

On this mornings drive to school Ivy requested number 14 on the CD. Personally, I would prefer to spend my early mornings in silence but that seemed unduly harsh, even for AM me. So earlier than I’d like to be conscious I listened to My Big Sister and heard all about the boy who didn’t want to wear his sister’s hand me down coat. While normally listening to children’s music inspires visions of smashing things (like colorful CD’s) and includes songs that stick in my head torturing me for the next three years until I accidentally sing it all on my own causing me to believe that I finally have lost it. This, fortunately, was Snacktime! by Barenaked Ladies and contains music less likely than most to drive you insane.

(Skip to number 13 to hear it for yourself.)

As the song finished Ivy giggled while declaring that it was “weird” that the boy didn’t want his sisters coat. Even my AM self knew better than to debate in the relative “weirdness” of imaginary persons. Instead I told her that we were lucky because girls can wear most all the clothes boys can but boys can’t wear all the clothes girls can.

Ivy: “What do you mean?”

Me: “Well, for instance, boys don’t usually like to wear skirts and dresses.”

Ivy: ” Uncle Jim does.”

Me: “Yeah…Uncle Jim in his kilt in the snow

“…. but he calls it a kilt.”

From Ivy’s silence I decided she must not have wanted to talk about relative weirdness early in the morning either.

New Mantra

I’ve heard people wax poetic about the joys returning from vacation to their home and family.

I think they are all  liars.

Personally I seem to be half stuck in vacation mode, confused and overwhelmed by home life.  It’s all a bit – “Wait, I have to make you all lunch?” mixed with a touch of, “Where did all you weeds come from?” finished with a dab of “How could all you animals possibly have pooped this much while I was gone?”

So before I become re-mired in broken water heaters (Welcome home!),  potty training, crying, lawn mowing, cooking (Three meals a day, what is with that?) and laundry I thought I’d share a few more photos of our fantastic trip to Colorado as I repeat my new mantra…

 

 

… it was worth it. It was worth it. It was worth it…

 

A Bit of Sky

I went to Colorado and I found a bit of sky!Colorado Sky

Just in case you didn’t get the full implications of that…

I’m in Colorado!

On vacation!

With no kids!

Just me, and my mom and a pile of fishing, hiking and camping gear.

Tonight after a crazy-lot of driving we are hotel-ing it but tomorrow we are off to the mountains!

Amazing!

 

Shake It Off

How was your holiday weekend?

Were you as lucky as we were and able to turn it into a weeks vacation?

A trip with family and friends, canoeing and fishing,Canoeing

swimming, and running,three girls wading in the pond

kite flying and picnicking,

Yup, we picnicked with our Foosball table- cut the grilling operation out of the picture- everybody knows what that looks like!

Yup, we picnicked with our Foosball table- cut the grilling operation out of the picture- everybody knows what that looks like!

fireworks and all?firework

Are you still in the habit of lazy days, afternoon drinks and delicious dinners?Beautiful evening

If so, take a deep breath, savor the memory of reading in the sun and shake it off.Storm shaking

Because, if you are like me, you are home alone with kids used to constant company and entertainment and there’s nobody else around to help with dinner.

The vacations over – Trip shaking -just shake it off!

 

Perfection Pending

Four Generations of Baseball Players

It was a baseball game of four generations, our ages spanned 86 years, and our abilities were just as varied.

baseball game

The youngest spent a lot of time exuberantly running the wrong direction and shrieking excitedly.

The oldest spent a lot of time laughing from the pitchers mound.

We lost outfielders, changed positions at random, stole bases and laughed until it was time to come in for dinner.Clara batting

It was the most fun I’ve had playing baseball since Great Gramps last big birthday party!

Happy Birthday Great Gramps!

 

I’m linking up with Northwest Frame of Mind tonight and her 1 Day 1 World project. The game took place between 5:00-6:00 this week, click over to see what else was happening around the world in the five o’clock hour!

 

 

A Difference of Opinion

I was visiting my grandparents and it was hot.

Eighty degrees hot.

For those of you who don’t think that sounds hot, I will hazard a guess that you didn’t just come off a winter whose temps dipped to -40, (yes that’s Fahrenheit) followed by a cold, late spring. Let me just tell you, us Wisconsinites hit 50 and pulled out shorts and tank tops because it was so nice. We aren’t yet acclimated to hot. And the 80 degree, still, humid weather was airless and hot.

So, on such a nice, warm evening Aunt Carol thought Grandma would like to go for a ride on the four-wheel “mule.”

Concerned about the evening turning chilly, Grandma was all for bundling up to go out. (Please remember the -40 winter and late spring!) Carol was able to convince her to merely bring along her knit hat rather than wear it and so as we loaded up and headed out into the field, it was sitting on the seat between them close at hand.

Slowly cruising through the hay field, we watched the bobolinks fly up off their nests and then float back down. We occasionally stopped to pull patches of blooming yellow rocket out of the green field. We headed into the woods to admire all the wildflowers and, we sweated.

We sweated in that way that happens when it’s so humid that it seems to be impossible to muster a drip of sweat. Instead skin turns unreasonably sticky. The air was too damp to allow even another drop of moisture to evaporate off your skin, bringing it’s cooling relief.

But, it was a beautiful night, the company was wonderful and the bit of a breeze as we moved along was a welcome relief. I sat, took a few pictures and tried to ignore the stickiness of the evening. Soon I heard Grandma’s voice float back to me:

“You were right, it is quite mild.”

 

Now, I believe that one should treat the matriarch of the family with respect, even if their opinion differs from yours. Not to mention disagreeing with the woman who raised eight children is bound to be a losing proposition (just ask my dad how that turns out.) But love and respect aside, my hair was curling, my legs were stuck to the inside of my jeans and I just couldn’t stop myself from hollering back,

“HOT grandma, it’s called HOT!”

A Babysitting Adventure

Jane, Clara and I packed in a whirlwind of activity for a last minute babysitting adventure for my nephew Jonas.  We headed down the driveway as I double checked that we had all the important stuff.

Two kids? Check (Ivy and John had to stay home and go to school and work.)

The blankets? Check

Wallet? Check

Necessities accounted for, I turned to the back seat and my babysitting assistants…

Me:”Ok girls, are you ready for an adventure!?”

Clara: “Yeah it’s going to be excellent!”

Me: “Oh yeah? How come?”

Clara: “Because Ivy’s not coming so she can’t hit me and Jane is too far away so she can’t hit me either!!!”

And she was right, it was pretty excellent.

A full load!
Isn’t he cute?
The queen surveys a new territory.
“old” plants
The climber!
All smiles!
Dog handler in training

 

Jonas, being the ridiculously smiley, happy, and quiet baby that he is, was a pretty easy going customer even if he did make my two girls seem like crazy, loud hooligans in comparison.

I can’t wait for him to start talking and running, I suspect that there is a whole lot of noise and trouble just waiting to come out.

And if not, well, we can always babysit again and my girls can teach him how it’s done!