201 Prep work

A Magpie Original! Katie brought this home from school last week. I absolutely ADORE it!Holidays end up being multi-day experiences when you have kids. Especially when you have grandparents that live far away! The Easter Bunny wore brown ... umm, the UPS lady brought an Easter package from Grammy on Friday. And Grammy, being the quick thinker that she is, declared the package to be a Good Friday present, so Katie was able to tear into it as soon as we got back from our egg-dye buying trip.Grammy always knows just what Katie would like! Notice the dollar bills folded up with chocolate. It is like every woman's dream come true!

Connor's basket was, of course, baby friendly. However, he ripped straight into the chocolate. And I am pretty sure he ended up eating all of his peanut butter cups and all of his sisters.

And then we had to dye the eggs. I did not hear about the silk-tie method until too late, or we definitely would have tried that. I have seen many different blog posts about it, but why not go to the craft master Martha for official instructions! And because they are gorgeous, here is another link to Our Best Bites.

I started my boring old-fashioned Easter Eggs by hard-boiling 18 eggs.

We lost two in the boiling process ...

We lost two more in the egg dying process, as well.

Katie chose the PAAS Tie Dye kit (strictly for the fact it came with glitter). It is probably the easiest kit for kids. You get a bunch of plastic bags, put in the dry egg and a few drops of egg dye. Smear the egg around in the ink in the bag and VOILA! Tie Dye Egg. You just sprinkle the glitter on while it is wet. Of course Katie managed to let two eggs slip from her grasp. It was inevitable, and I only got a little mad at the first one. By the second one I had decided it really didn't matter anyway.

I couldn't resist a little Easter Egg Love! And back into the carton to await their fate. And according to Chip, that fate is to be put outside the night before so that the Easter Bunny can hide them when he comes to fill the basket. What kind of crap is that?? Apparently we have just decided that we aren't going to even pretend we are going to eat the eggs. And that led to a discussion about what Easter was like as a child. In my house, we placed the empty Easter basket by the front door and when we woke up it would be overflowing with candy. We usually got some kind of bunny themed product. Maybe a stuffed animal, and of course one time we got the fuzzy bunny bank! Did everyone get the bunny bank? I remember mine fondly :) We would get dressed up, take pictures by the azaleas or on the hill. And then we would head over to my grandparents house to eat and have the Easter Egg Hunt.

Katie's egg hunt won't be as flower filled and glamorous as those of my youth. You wonder where I am going to hide her eggs?? Well, if you had been paying attention you could have figured it out ...

169 A Week in the Weird

Of course I could not leave my hair alone ... I had to lighten it a bit more (and try to repair whatever I did to it with the highlights). I am getting used to it, but it still looks way too brassy to me. I am trying to get used to wearing my hair down, but I do LOVE that I can still pull it back in a ponytail if I need to. And believe me, with my munchkin man around I do need to pull my hair out of the way sometimes! Although he is just as happy to yank a scrunchie out of my hair as he is to grab my hair and pull.

We also did a bit more cleaning. It is a good thing I have such an enthusiastic helper!! Well, until he decided that licking the sponge was the thing to do ... On Wednesday, Katie had her school fieldtrip to the Pink Palace to go to the Sharpe Planetarium. IT WAS SO TINY! I guess I was just spoiled growing up in Atlanta because we had the Fernbank Science Center and I remember the planetarium being HUGE (I just looked it up and it happens to be one of the largest in the United States) ! Although technically, the planetarium actually refers to the aparatus that projects the stars onto the ceiling, not the actual room. So, I did learn something new!! Being a small group, it was much more personal. The class was allowed to ask questions and respond to several themselves. Katie's sugar was out of whack, and she was pouty because I did not understand something she was trying to tell me. She said she wanted to "go to the places with the blocks" and then she elaborated "with the plane". And I was at a total loss for a few minutes until I finally figured out she was talking about the Childrens Museum of Memphis. In front of the museum there are huge letter blocks that spell CMOM ... She stayed pouty for quite a while! In fact, she stayed pouty for the rest of the day. I went in the gift shop after they got loaded back onto the bus, and she was unsatisfied with what I brought home to her. And then she decided to be sassy ... It was NOT a good day!

On Saturday we celebrated Jacob's 7th birthday!
Monday was SUPER busy!! Connor had his check up with the opthalmologist. Connor was MISERABLE! He hates to be confined and I had to keep him in a tiny waiting room while his eyes dilated, and then I had to hold him in my lap and restrain him so that the doctor could look into his eyes. He did good for a few minutes, then he was done. He just wanted to get as far from the doc as possible. Even dangling my cell phone would not make him look to the side. But, eventually we were all done, and everything looks good!On the way home we stopped in the new Joann's. We had picked up a sippy cup to buy, one of those with the liquid and glitter that sloshes around. Connor dropped it and it busted open ... well, at least we know it wouldn't have lasted at home! I did end up buying a huge St. Patty's Day hat and a chocolate bar to share with Connor. I am sure that SOME of the chocolate made it into his mouth ...And I took my new running shoes on their maiden voyage! I even RAN in them! Oh, not very far or for very long, but I did run! I did two laps around the track behind my house. Not in a row of course!! It didn't help that it was 75 degrees. AND HUMID! It is so sad that I am this out of shape. How can I not still have all the muscle tone from high school!? Surely, it could have stuck around for 14 years without any help from me ... Is that so much to ask? To have the body of a 17 year old after having two kids and sitting on my rear for 14 years?? It just ain't fair I tell ya!!

And I am sure that I have mentioned that katie has a style all her own before, but her most recent outfit takes the cake! A Valentine's skirt with hearts all over it, a polka dot tank top, and LEGWARMERS ON HER ARMS!! I tried to talk her out of it, but she was determined to go play with her friends in this outfit. Who am I to stifle her creativity??

I will say that when Chip left for work she was still across the street, so he stopped in the road and she ran to his window to give him a kiss. I had Pretty Woman flashbacks ... I need to go back and watch that movie. It is just such a BAD outfit!! And it kills me that it is so ADORABLE on her!!

At least she can never say that I dressed her like this ... And I am pretty sure that is another home haircut ... Mom, how could you stand me being so CUTE!!??

154 Old Pictures Part 4

 

My grandfather was in the 58th Field Artillery Armored Battalion during World War II. I would love to be able to tell you stories of his time in the military, but I heard very few growing up. I think like most, he made a conscious effort to put his time at war behind him. He died when I was in Fourth Grade, so I will never be able to ask him about these pictures. I do have a chronology of the 58th movements during the war that my brother found.
a summary from that chronology: "The 58th traveled in 12 countries with four armies, seven corps, 19 divisions and had 417 days of combat at close of hostilities in ETO and EMA. The 58th participated in eight campaigns, Algeria-French Morocco, Tunisia, Siciliy with 2 Arrowheads, Normandy with Arrowhead, Northern France, Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace, and Central Europe. The Battalion lost 56 men killed in action, 143 wounded in action, 24 men missing in action and POW's 30 M-7's, the 105's (priests) and 6 forward observer tanks (Sherman's) were lost."
This also lists their landing at 0630 on Omaha "Red" Beach on June 6, 1944. If I remember what I have been told correctly, they were the 3rd wave on Normandy that day. My grandfather kept a one dollar bill and a two dollar bill on which he wrote down the dates and times of all landings. He also kept a small notebook in which he wrote to my grandmother most nights. I am a little scared to read his words. I am afraid that I will somehow ruin the book. I am afraid the papers will crumble in my hands. But, the next time I am home that is going to be one of my priorities. I want to hold tight to the pieces that are left.
I do remember one story. My grandfather was in charge of the radio. He was the one who had to climb trees and buildings in order to get a signal. One time, he had shimmied up a tree, and was braced there with his equipment by his leather strap, when "zing" he was under fire. Lucky for him, the shooter wasn't very good. His strap was shot, and he dropped to the ground. Lucky for him, and lucky for me!! I am sure there are all kind of parts I am missing to that story. Like what happened to the shooter??
And, like I said, he passed away when I was very young. I may have the story totally wrong. Mom, you need to write these things down for us!!!
That is one of the reasons I am keeping this blog, so that no one can ever say they did not know me. They may be bored senseless, but this is me. Hopefully my grandchildren, and great grandchildren will be able to find these words one day, and they will not only know more about me but more about the generations before me. That is one thing that has been impressed upon me so deeply by my grandfather's pictures, time passes too swiftly. Already there are names and dates lost to me, even though they are captured in a photo. As much as I love photography, I realize that more is required than an image. There needs to be facts and feelings associated with the pictures I take. I want the images I capture to be truly timeless!

153 Old Pictures Part 3

My Grandfather was a tree surgeon with Davey Tree for many, many years. I know he was recognized for 40 years of service, but I am not sure if he still continued to work. Once again, these pictures are mostly undated, and there is very little information. The first several are from when Davey Tree worked on the Ohio Valley AT&T line. And on the back of some of the later "up in a tree" pictures is the date 1941. I am not even positive that all of these pictures are from Davey Tree, but I have tried to match faces with those I knew to be Davey pictures.