10 memories of springtime from my childhood

(Me among spring bulb flowers in 1965 and then 10 years later in 1975. The first one at home, the second at the park.)

1. Watching the spring bulb flowers emerge from the cold ground and burst into color and fragrance. My very favorites are Hyacinths. (I have been known to detour from my rushed, planned out route inside the grocery store just to swing through the floral dept and breathe in a big fragrant dose of potted brightly colored Hyacinths!)

2. Being able to run outside to play without having to first bundle up in 5 layers of clothing and coats, mittens, hats etc.

3. Seeing adorable baby bunnies and chicks, and other birds. I always wished we could raise baby chicks. Mom said absolutely not-They grow much too quickly. (Now that I'm a Mom, I have allowed my E. to breed her bunnies several years in the spring.)

4. Being able to wear white shoes again. Who can resist a new pair of white patent leather shoes? I think I may have even tried to sneak wearing mine to bed when I got a new pair. I didn't want to take them off. I'm sure they stayed next to the bed so I could open my eyes and see them first thing in the morning!

5. Taking my bike out for a spin up and down the street after it being banished to the garage all winter.

(1970-Me with my oldest nephew at my Aunt and Uncle's house in Michigan for Easter. He seemed like a little brother since only 6 years divided us. By the way, I loved those t-strap suede Hush Puppy shoes!! Big yarn tied in my hair!)

6. Going to Aunt B's and Uncle J's house and Grandma and Grandpa's house each Easter Sunday. They lived on the same street, which was pretty convenient. As a kid it seemed like a long ride in the back seat to get to their town in Michigan from our house in Ohio. The Easter Bunny would include a new stuffed animal in my candy basket and leave it by my bed so I would find it first thing when I woke up. The new animal usually went in the car with me that day. (In the photo above you can see me holding a rabbit. I still have her. Touching the pink velvet inside her ears still reminds me of that Easter's car ride.)

I had fun playing with my cousins and eating too much candy. We had to save room in our tummies because there were always plenty of good things to eat for dinner. Chairs were gathered from all around the house and pressed into service as we squeezed around the huge table .

( my ink and water color paint art)

7. The arrival of the first fat Robin birds in the yard and watching them take things from the dormant garden to fashion their nests.

8. Springtime break from school meant that when we returned to school it would be a more tolerable amount of time until the school year ended!!

9. Warm rain showers and the smell of the dirt after a quick down pour. The air feels so invigorating!! Jumping in puddles up and down the street and searching for the biggest and deepest puddle.

10. I had a great friend named Joan who lived next door. We would sit on the split rail fence that divided our two yards and play hand clapping rhyme games..."Miss Mary Mack, Mack, Mack..." and others. We even made up lots of them. When it was springtime, there was a Pussy Willow bush by the fence and we would pick off the soft, fuzzy buds in between hand clapping games-- and then get yelled at by her Mom or mine without fail! Here is where you insert an all-knowing Mom voice = "Are you girls picking at that bush??!" It was too tempting. We couldn't help ourselves.
(I just saw a bush for sale in the garden section of the store the other day when my kids were in tow. I shared this story with them and they thoroughly enjoyed hearing about Mommy getting yelled at for acting mischievously!!!!)

Happy Easter

Me -- looking pretty dorky!! What an ugly chair...glad they got rid of that one before my conscious memories started taking hold! But look! There is milk glass to my right. You can't go wrong growing up with milk glass. It almost (almost) makes up for the ugly chair!!

Me -at age 3- looking kinda apprehensive about something. A bug? A mouse? A Mom with a camera always in front of her squinted eye? In my family we refer to the usual posed pictures of holidays or traditions as "child abuse photos"!! On Friday as my kids dyed Easter eggs I hid, for just a short bit, in my bedroom to be away from the arguing, sibling rivalry and general noise. N. came in to my sanctuary (I mean, bedroom) multiple times..."They got to do more eggs than me!"... "They won't let me use the cup with blue in it!"

Then the zinger of all..."Mom! Aren't you going to come out and take child abuse photos??!"

My response-"Why would I want to document the precious memory of you all arguing and yelling?"

After a minute of listening to more noise as he returned to the egg dying party with his sisters, I got up off my bed and went to get the camera. Some day, (I said inside my frazzled mom brain), I would live to regret not taking child abuse photos of this day. A normal, yet loud, holiday, traditional moment in their lives. The noise was partnered with the sound of a mom with a camera shutter clicking away!!

Crazy Quilt

Do you like the crazy quilt I made? This is only one portion of it. It is actually a table centerpiece quilt which measures about 14" x 14". I made it yesterday while watching my Dark Shadows videos.

(I love to go to a local resale game/movie store to buy their 99 cent videos!! No one else but me is still thrilled with videos instead of DVD's, I must be their best 99 cent customer. Each video has 4 or 5 episodes of my favorite blast from the past - Barnabas Collins, the vampire!)

Anyway,back to my quilt... I think I am going to do fancy top stitch embroidery along each seam as I have not yet put on the backing fabric. I bought the fabric last year but never got around to putting it together. I drew 10 different quilt pattern ideas and had each of the kids vote for their 3 favorites by placing an x next to their choices on the paper. It ended in a 3 way tie - so I was the tie breaker and put my x next to the crazy quilt idea.

It is in the middle of our Easter day table and our Easter tree complete with miniature ornaments (thrifted from our new local Goodwill) sits atop.

Our glazed spiral sliced ham smells very yummy so I have to go... until next post. Good-Bye and a JOYOUS EASTER to you.

Happy Easter!

It did indeed continue snowing and we woke up to a heavy dusting of snow this Easter 2007! My girls did not want to get all dressed up -"It's too cold for a dress or skirt, Mom!"
I tell them that it was so fun to dress them up in frilly dresses and ruffly socks and party shoes until they were about 5 or 6 years old... then they started to protest. They say, "Oh, get over it , Mom!!" I love to embarrass them in the stores if we happen to pass the little girls' department. [I can't help myself!] I pick out tiny little precious dresses and beg them to let me buy one for them. If we are in the shoe department, I pick out the tiniest patent leather party shoes or sandals and say, "Here! I found your size!" They pretend they don't know me, every time, without fail. I just don't understand it. Isn't it a Mom's job to be embarrassing to her teenager and pre-teen? Of course, the ironic thing is I always pick out sizes that are smaller than what my babies came home from the hospital wearing!!The picture above is me at age 2. Mom made sure I had little crinoline slips to make my dresses more poofy and twirly when I would spin around. This was one of my many Polly Flinders -smocked front- dresses that Mom no doubt had purchased off the clearance rack in a size too big knowing I would fit in it at some point. She was good at that... and so it was always like a shopping spree in my own closet as I grew up, knowing there was always something new to look forward to in my wardrobe. I always loved putting bonnets like this on my 2 girls when they were little, as well.