Five Generation Photo Shoot

One might think that in order for five generations of one family to get together, the family tree would have to be very twisted.  Or a long line of teen moms.  But, we are just your average ordinary family. One of us just happens to be a very healthy determined 103 yr old.

I am the generation in the middle.  I am a grand-daughter and a grand-mother. I am a mom and a daughter. I am the middle one and it is incredible! The middle is the best, just like the stuffing in an Oreo.  That's me!

My grandma is the head of this five generation thing we've got going on. My mom is her daughter and  then me. My daughters are the 4th generation and they each have a baby boy. Five generations that branch out two ways. Pretty cool!

To celebrate the new 5th generation baby, my mom and grandma drove all the way from Wyoming to visit the new baby in San Diego.  Three week old Henry was pretty excited about meeting his great grandma and his great-great grandma. You could tell.

We had a five generation visit and photo shoot 8 months ago right after Charlie was born. Now Henry is here and we decided to do it all over again. I'm so glad we did! Luckily, both Charlie and Henry are good weather babies and the grandmas were able to travel to see them.

This photo shoot was no easy feat. First of all, the grandmas had to travel over a 1,000 miles just to be here (one way). I take that back. First, we had to plan this whole shebang! We struggled with picking a day to do this. We didn't want it too soon after Henry's birth; gotta give baby and  mama a chance to recover and get a few hours of sleep! And we had to dodge the busy social calendar of the grandmas. They had a window of opportunity to travel without missing out on some festivities at home. We also needed to schedule a date with the photographer. The hardest thing to work around was the work schedule of Katie's husband, Andrew. He was on paternity leave up until the day before the photos and he didn't know what his schedule would be. We wanted him there but we had to take a gamble and just hope he would be available for the photos. It turned out that he wasn't able to be there, but we sure tried.

We also had to pick a place to shoot these photos. This was an important thing because we wanted the pictures to be pretty, but we had requirements for the setting and since none of us are familiar enough with San Diego, we had to sort of shoot in the dark to pick a spot. This wasn't easy. And let's just not even talk about how hard it was to find a restaurant for after-photo-shoot dinner!

We all had to have something photo-worthy to wear. The grandmas had their blouses and slacks all clean and pressed and ready to go. They didn't need to shop before the trip for anything new, their closets were stocked.

Lexie and I weren't as lucky. We had to go shopping! We both needed something to wear and all of the kids needed something too. We took the kids to the mall in Escondido and we just hoped we would find something. It's a big mall with lots of stores and a nice play area.  As soon as we walked in we found a store to explore called H&M.  Neither one of us had ever shopped in an H&M store before; I vaguely remember seeing an ad for it online. This place was so awesome!  Lexie found an adorable dress that fit her perfectly. And she found some cute white jeans and a navy blue Tshirt for Charlie. I found a white sun-dress for Gracie.

On our previous shopping trip to find photo shoot clothes, we found a pair of shoes for Charlie and a blue dress for Libby at Gymboree at the Temecula Mall, but the shoes were pretty casual and they were more just because Charlie could use a new pair. And the blue dress wasn't really on my mind for the photos because I really wanted the little girls to match.

Since Charlie and Lexie were wearing blue and white, I thought Gracie and Libby could wear blue and white even if they didn't match each other. Good plan.  I didn't find anything new for myself, but I know I have something in my closet even if it isn't jumping out at me saying "Pick me!".  With little ones, our shopping trip was cut short by boredom - boredom multiplied by three!  Off we went to the play area. We only went to one store but it was a huge success. We also picked up lots of other things besides photo-shoot outfits. Score!

The day of the photo session, I found a dress in my closet that I've only worn once before. I wore it to Katie's bridal shower two years ago. I put it on and my mom came in to peek. She squinched up her face and shook her head.  Ok, that's going back on the hanger!  I tried another dress. I liked it when I bought it but then when I got it home I changed my mind and never did wear it.  My mom gave this one the nod. Eh, ok.

Then we all had to do our hair and make-up too.We spent all morning and half the afternoon getting ready!

Men  have it so easy! My husband just went to his closet and randomly picked out a shirt and he was dressed. I want to be a man in my next life!

Poor Katie. She only had an hour of sleep the night before the photos, no chance of a nap, her husband just went back to work (that was always hard for me when I had a newborn), and she didn't have a thing to wear. I don't know how that girl pulled it off, but she managed to run to Target and yank something off the rack, slapped on some make-up and she looked like a magazine cover girl. She sure didn't look tired.

We had to take two cars to San Diego. We were meeting at Balboa Park for the photos. Our photographer had one certain bench picked out for us in the park. We talked him into considering another bench, closer to the parking lot and it worked out beautifully. He was able to shoot most of the photos at the nearest bench, and took other photos just a few yards away for totally different backgrounds. Balboa Park is beautiful, even more so when the photographer has his favorite spots with his favorite angles.

The photos are icing on the cake, really. The best part is that we were all able to get together for a big visit and enjoy each other's company all at the same time. It was amazing to look down the dinner table and see so many people having such a great time, and knowing they're all family.

Bedhog

Five Years (or so) Later...

We hosted an exchange student from Germany five years ago.  Wait, maybe it was six years ago. Really, it doesn't seem like very long ago at all but I guess it was. Time flies!

We'll soon be hosting again and I was thinking about what we would be doing in the next year that would interest a teenager. Our lives have changed so much in the last 5 years. When Anna was here, we had two teenage girls, I was going to college and we were fairly new to Southern California.  Now, we have two little girls and I don't work or go to school any more. Most of our activity is aimed at the interests of the preschooler and toddler. This could be torture for a teenager!

The school year of 2005-2006 was the year we took in Anna. She was originally placed with another family but it wasn't a good match between them and she needed a new host family. Katie came home and said "Can we keep her?" My kids never brought home puppy dogs or frogs and begged to keep them, but kids, they brought home one after another after another. The other strays were always local kids who stayed for night or three. Anna stayed with us for the entire school year. She had only been with the first family for a few weeks.

We've kept in touch with Anna. She sends us the best German chocolates every Christmas! Yummy!

I asked her (in a facebook chat window) what were her favorite things we did and where were her favorite places we went while she was here.

I cut and pasted her response:

Dear Mary, I thought about all of my amazing experiences:

such as

Halloween Party & Trick or Treating

the Blocks coming over for parties or we going there

going to san diego, karlsbad, oceanside

I love the beaches!

being part of a movie

visiting Hollywood and L.A.

Quoir trip to S.F.

Sea World

Shopping in Temecula and San Diego Mall (it's so colored and huge!!!)

meeting all of katies friends and hanging out with them

making music in the band room

PROM and Homecoming

dsigning customes for mvhs performances

taking photos with you and making them pretty on your p.c.

getting your FAMILY CERTIFICATE ( awesome gesture)

being part of your homepage

Homecoming Football game at mvhs

Thankgsgiving dinner and Thankgsgiving shopping

making popcorn & cookies and watching movies

DDR - dancing

my suprise birthday party at the pizza place

mexican birthday party next door: hitting that colorful ball with candy

your graduation

trip with mrs. jeffersson to plam springs and their hills

OUR TRIP

MONTANA; WYOMING and VEGAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

mvhs swim meet and volleyball

drama performances

mvhs award ceremonies

(it was very special to me that you came there, too)

you giving me rides everywhere - thx so much!!!!!!!

it was such a special year for me... I'll never forget that time- THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!

the only thing I missed was a baby shower but since your family knows so many mommies I am sure that your exchange student participate in one of thise

and... birthday party in oceanside

love, hugs&kisses Anna

Happy Father's Day!

Yeah, That's what I meant.

Libby came up to me and said, "Mom. I have butt worms"

Me: Butt worms? (heart attack) Worms coming out of your butt?

Libby: Yeah.

Gracie: No, Libby, you have butt GERMS.

Me: Oh, thank GOD!

Libby: butt worms. I mean, butt germs.

Jah, Jah, Germs.

Me: Bathtime, let's go wash those germs off your butt. (and check for worms)

Tea Kettle Explosion

My teakettle exploded! Really!  Isn't that just bizarre?  It must be because I googled and googled and could not find another incident like this. Mishaps and accidents, sure, but bomb-like explosions? No.

I use my tea kettle almost daily. I like to have a hot drink before I go to bed, and I often use it for hot water for oatmeal, soup, and other instant convenient foods.  Or just to bump up a strong cup of coffee.  I use it often!  But we don't use it so often that it has had an abnormal life. It's a tea kettle for Pete's sake!

Keith bought it for me for Christmas in 2004. He got it at Sams Club and it has a lifetime guarantee.  Oddly, they don't sell them anymore.  I found the listing on Sams Club though and so I printed it. We no longer have the box nor the receipt. Really, who keeps a receipt for a tea kettle?  It's not like it would ever explode or anything!

Keith filled the tea kettle about 3/4 full and we sat in the living room watching tv waiting for the whistle. We heard a little noise; I thought it was the neighbors bumping their trash can as they took it out to the curb. A minute later we were shocked to hear a loud explosion in our kitchen! We both whipped our heads around and saw a cloud of vapor billowing in all directions.  We were very confused!

We bolted to the kitchen and found the tea kettle was in pieces all over the place and the entire kitchen was drenched in boiling water.  We picked up the pieces and mopped the ceiling and floor, gave the cupboards and counters a wipe-down and were in utter awe about the whole thing. We both took pictures with our phones of the mayhem. It was ridiculous! 

The bottom of the tea kettle is triple-ply.  The inner ply must have developed a gap allowing water to get in between the layers of the kettle bottom.  And that water must have come to a super hot boil and blew the inner ply into the kettle.  The lid blew off the kettle and with such force that it broke the very sturdy handle right off and continued to fly up and crashed into the ceiling. The whistling spout lid flew off and came apart flying all over the kitchen as well.  The handle flew too. Of course the water must have come out of the kettle in an Old Faithful sort of way.  The kettle wasn't on the stove, so the force of the explosion must have sent it into the air for a short flight too. 

Had anyone been in the kitchen, they would have been burned very badly. Boiling water was everywhere.  We were very fortunate that this accident did not occur in the daytime when the kitchen is a very busy place. If any of the kids had been burned, I wouldn't hesitate for a minute to explode in the same manner.  Really, this mama bear would have been a force to be reckoned with.  But, as it happened, no one was injured. We were lucky.

Rambling

It's been 2 weeks since Henry was born. Seems like just the other day.  He's so cute!  I just love being his Grandma.  I took the girls with me to San Diego to go see him last week and we just had a short visit. Really short, like 20 minutes.  Luckily, Henry convinced his parents to come visit and spend the night so we could all get some good quality time together. Yay! Baby snuggles!

While we were in San Diego for our short visit, we also went to Sea World.  Fun! I got us season passes so that we could go back several times. It'll be nice to have them and add another good excuse to go visit Henry. 

I weaned Libby. It was hard at first, but it's a lot better now. She's been weaned for 3 weeks.  She got the stomach flu and she was sick, so her dad told her it was because she was too big for boo-boo.  Boy, she was no longer interested!  That's all it took to motivate her.  She doesn't like to puke.  She asked him, "I'm too big? Am I three?"  He said yes.  I'm not sure he understood what she was asking.  So, she decided it must be her birthday and she is three years old now.  So be it.  We celebrated her third birthday at almost 32 months old instead of 36 months old. Mere details.  She is convinced now that she is three years old and will tell anyone who asks that indeed she is "Fwee Yeez Ode."

Since weaning, Libby has been eating a lot and trying new foods.  She's been adventurous with eating which is great.  She's really learning!  She discovered a new sensation. I told her it's called "Hunger", time for food.  She said, "Mom, why is my tummy making that noise?"  Poor girl.  I think she's allergic to dairy products though, because she is still having tummy issues and there's just no way she could have a stomach flu for 3 weeks now. Yuck. I just took dairy off her menu, we'll see if that helps. 

Charlie is growing like crazy!  He has a mouthful of teeth, just needs some chompers in the back.  He's starting to eat table food now too. He can stand on his own, and doesn't seem like he's too far from walking.  Although, I doubt he will ever walk. I predict that he will go straight to running and never slow down. He got his first haircut and left a big pile of hair on the floor of the salon.  He is 9 months old now and the same size as his Aunt Libby.

Gracie is growing leaps and bounds too. I helped her get her shoes off after school one day and low and behold, she had a blister on her toe. I asked her if her shoes are too tight and she said she thinks so.  They were a size 11 and I replaced them with some size 13s. Lordy!  She's going to graduate from preschool in a week or so. Seems like we just started the program and she's all done  now!  I'm going to keep her in preschool for the summer just to make the transition to Kindergarten a little easier. A little structure is good for her.

My husband is out of school for the summer. Yay!  I have a ton of things for him to do at home and he can't do them if he's always working. He will teach college classes, but at least he will be home during the day to work on his list. Poor guy thought he was going to get some vacation time - haha.  No way, he's got husband duty!

We had our Disneyland outing this month. The girls wore their Jessie outfits without boots. They've both outgrown their cowgirl boots and I did go looking for more, but didn't find any in the stores. Guess they are a fall item, not a spring item.  The wore Jessie the cowgirl costumes with pink sandals.  Oh well, they were still very cute!  And we had a wonderful time in Disneyland.

I think Libby has a milk allergy.  Not my favorite kind of thought to have bouncing around  in my head, but I can't seem to shake it.  I will see if I can have her tested and find out for sure. Until then, I'm trying to justify my fears and I keep hoping I'm wrong.  I mostly give her juice to drink. It seems that juice is frowned upon by the new social rules of parenting. Ugh, really?  Lots of moms brag about how they do not give their kids juice like they are saving them from certain doom. I've heard some say it has no nutritional value and it's just empty calories.  Nothing but colored sugar water.  No, that's kool-aid and soda-pop!  This is juice, it comes from fruit.  Why is fruit good for kids and juice isn't? Makes no sense to me, so I just let people give me the stink-eye and I pour my kid another cup of juice.

We didn't get the house.  I'm still bummed out about it. We were supposed to move in April or May.  Sigh. But, it turns out that the family who lives there gets to keep their home. The dad was able to hang onto his job. I know, that is a very good thing!  But, I'm disappointed that we didn't get to move into that incredible home.  We're keeping our eyes out for something else, but I don't really have my hopes up that something will come along that we love as much. Good thing this house isn't a bad one; we do have a good place to live in a nice neighborhood and plenty of space for the whole family.  That must be why finding a new house is so hard.

I'm making a quilt on my serger.  It is turning out to be the worst quilt ever.  Very crooked. I can't seem to get my corners lined up or very many of my lines straight. I cut the squares so perfectly and promptly sewed them into irregular trapazoids.  Oh well, it'll just be my crooked quilt.

Gracie graduates soon. Her preschool class is supposed to wear orange to the graduation. Orange? There isn't anything orange in this house (except in the halloween box) and I didn't see anything orange in the store.  I did find some wild orange and yellow fabric at Walmart, so I bought a couple of yards and some solid orange too.  I'll have to make a graduation dress for her.  I'm thinking I'll make the same pattern that I made for her Little Mermaid dress, but I can't remember which pattern I used for that one. I know I altered the pattern quite a bit.  I might just grab a pattern out of my stash and get started.  She will have an orange dress for graduation!

That should be about enough rambling for now.  I keep thinking "I should blog about that!" and then I never get to the blog with my thoughts. I will try to be a better blogger over the summer, but the month of May is just too darn busy to sit down and have uninterrupted typing time.  Even a few minutes is hard to come by.  I should take my laptop and run away once in a while, but I'm afraid the poor thing couldn't handle very many outings. My laptop is in delicate condition because it's old and lived a tough life already.

Hitting the publish post button now....