Economic Downturn Example

Well, actually, the tv is in the shop. But this is what we are using in the meantime. Had you kids worried for a minute though, huh? Thought you would have to get rooms ready for the parents!! :)

Jacob's Spring Concert

Jacob goes to preschool at New Life Christian School a few blocks from us and they had a concert Thursday night. Kreanna invited us and it was so much fun. They sang three songs, "He's Still Working on Me", "Say to the Lord I Love You", and then a fun one "The Skeeters and the Bed Bugs". They sang that one twice, putting baseball caps on for the last time.

Tool Shed

Just an update on the backyard progress...Phil started on the tool shed (6' x 8') already this spring. It will be nice to have a place for the lawn mower and garden tools, etc. He says we will be getting bikes to put in it too. I think that is because he has been coaxed into taking walks with me and it's not his favorite thing. Hiking, yes! Walks, no! (Makes me smile!) I tell him it will get him in shape for hiking.

Another Easter Treat

On Easter Sunday we had dinner early with Jon and family. Later in the afternoon Aleigha got so tired she got her blanket, climbed on my lap and went to sleep.
This was one of the highlights of the day for the Grammie!

Ballet Costumes 2009

I can hardly believe it is time to work on costumes and alterations again. It is fun and one of the few creative things I get to do during the year.


The theme for the Spring Performance this year is "Sleeping Beauty",(you will notice some of Princess Aurora's royal costume hanging on the door). The costume we usually use for the "Blue Bird" was too small for the three dancers who will take turns in the three perfomances. So, I dreamed up the one modeled above. All the girls really liked it when I tried it on one of the dancers yesterday. This is a costume overlay I have been working on the last couple of weeks.

One of the hardest costume accessories I have done was the last time we used the theme "Sleeping Beauty" in 2005. I was asked to make fairy wings. Actually, MANY fairy wings. Bigger ones for the big girls and little ones for the petite fairies. Well, this year Ms Laurie needed one more petite fairy wing for a little dancer who came in just under the deadline. Not good! I can't remember how to make the things! I remember making a prototype in white net and white satan and it was still there among the lilac ones, so I began ponder the idea of dyeing it.

I checked the directions on the Rit dye at the store and it called for HOT water which I realized would not work for the delicate construction. Then after I dyed eggs for Easter the idea came to me to use Easter egg dye. Unfortunately, I had none left. So-0-0, I made an emergency call to Kreanna and YES, she had some extra packages!!


I tried the purple first and it came out a lovely, bright pink with a hint of purple. Then I experimented and added a red tablet and that just made it brighter. Rinsing it under clear, running water helped make it more pastel, but it was still obviously pink. I decided to experiment one more time and made a blue dye bath, adding some of the purple to it. Thankfully, when I add the purple ribbon for the middle it will be close enough to pass and I have now been saved MANY hours of figuring those little wings out.

After yesterday's try-ons, there are many alterations to make for fittings, so it's hard to express how thankful I am this worked out. Nice to live a block from a daughter who comes to the rescue.
Just a FYI: These wings are fastened on the tutu top in such a way they stand away from the back and really are cute little "training wings" for the little girls. The top one is an original, the closest one is the dyed one. (Yes, Grammie's are just antique little girls and still like to play dress-up.)

Getting Ready for Easter Fun

I love to dye eggs! Every year on the Saturday before Easter, whether anyone is around or not, I color eggs! It is even more fun when I have someone to share it with.

Jacob didn't know about writing on eggs with the wax crayon, so it was really fun to put his name on an egg before we dyed it.

Then we had to have an Easter egg hunt. I used plastic eggs for that however. When I was growing up we always used the eggs we colored.

Green things in the back yard were only beginning to provide cover, so it wasn't a very difficult hunt for the five-year old.

Altogether a fun day. Then I had to go take a rest!!

Long-time Friends

One of the special experiences at our 50th Anniversary party, along with family and many friends, was being able to share that time with my Maid of Honor, NancyRambeau Amell. We met when we were in the third grade when we lived in Orofino, Idaho the first time. Shortly, we moved to Greer, Idaho and then, when our house burned there, we went back to Florida.

When we returned again to Orofino, I was in the seventh and eighth grade...then we moved once again to Florida. I finished the last half of my tenth grade year in Orofino and stayed with Nancy and her mother during that time, while the rest of my family went to Kooskia. a small town up the Clearwater River beyond Orofino.

Nancy was very much a part of our family. Having no siblings, she fit right in and my parents loved her. We have kept in touch over the years, usually by phone, but it had been awhile since I had actually seen her.

I was so glad she was able to come and feel very thankful for another former classmate, Patty, who drove her here from Boise, Idaho.

One of the things that comes to us as we get older is there aren't many people left who actually knew and remember your parents. It adds a certain nostalgia to a reunion with someone who, not only knew them, but also knew ME as a young girl. ( Not many left that can claim that either!)