Lizzies first day of preschool

better late than never.... my "baby" started preschool!!!



oh, and today i had the "heart attack scare" with my grandpa... thank god it was a false alarm but what a stressful day! i kept thinking, how could it be on my watch that grandpa gets ill or worse?? my brother was on his way to the airport to meet my parents in england, when my grandpa suddenly felt dizzy and complained of arm pain. my brother called 911 and then me and then took off for england and paris.

anyway, as freaked out as i was, i am glad i spent 8 hours with my grandpa in the emergency room. we got to talk about so much and i am pretty sure he is the healthiest 98 year old in the hospital tonight. he will return tomorrow morning, back to his ancient house with all his ancient things... happy to be home. my parents return in a couple days, what a whirlwind weekend i have had... not sure if i needed the stress right now but you know what? life just is what it is! you get life lessons when you least expect it.

i had been wanting some quality time with my grandpa and i sure got it today, i am so very very thankful!

Surprise, surprise!

Well my folks are in England, their once a year tour and so i am left to watch over my 98 year old grandfather. truth be told, my younger brother lives next door to him and is a nurse, so he does a lot of the "checking in" on gramps. but shortly my brother will be joining my parents in england and then head off to france... so it will be up to me to be the only person nearby (other than his close friends) to watch over him.

i promised my parents over and over that i could handle it, that i would phone him and visit if not daily, than every other day (did i mention he lives alone????) ok, so we are a week into my parents trip, i have made my daily phone calls and grandpa seems fine (on the phone at least)... my brother leaves in a couple days so i have been gearing up for the week of daily visits.

of course, today my brother calls and said, "have you seen the paper?" and i say, "no" because i dont get the paper and he says, "well grandpa is on the front page!!!" i can honestly say, i thought something bad must have happened! like grandpa had burned down a whole row of houses or ran out into the streets in the middle of the night in his pjs or called in a bomb threat, who knows!!! i was freaking out a bit. no, my brother tells me, he was honored at some event at our local city college, he was evidently one of the first graduating class (i by the way graduated there too!!! along with my dad) but no one told us he would be attending (the event was yesterday) and he never mentioned it. his good buddy just picked him up and off they went! very cool, but i would have LOVED to attend and see him there! i guess i missed the boat on that, but like i said, my grandpa never said a thing. makes me wonder if he is really "just doing great!" when i call him, i think a home visit is in order, and quick!

congrats to grandpa wilson!

here is the whole story.

book club fizzles

well, the book club i joined recently fizzled after i read two books, attended only two meetings... of course i chose the latest book in the middle of the inevitable demise of the group. oh well! all i can say is this book was amazing, i had goose bumps as i read the ending and on through the notes regarding irene nemirovsky's real life. the story is so beautifully written, moving and dramatic with touches of humor. it is only the first two parts of a five part series, there are hints to what irene would have written had she lived and it is just beyond creepy to read her notes. i have been fascinated with world war two ever since college because for some reason i focused on early american history and just never learned much about the modern wars. i am so sad i wont be able to discuss this at a meeting because it would have been a fascinating book club choice! oh well, jen, if you end up reading this, lets get together over coffee sometime! this will definitely go on my favorite list of books... another recent addition is "around the world in 80 days" both are just brilliant!

hoping to find more of her writing translated soon.

i watched this movie this weekend up at the cabin, sometimes a movie is just so perfect, that's all i can say. lizzie watched with me and immediately recognized the peter rabbit book as one she had recently picked out at the book store, it was nice to read it together after watching such a sweet movie. rare peaceful moments.

cabin quickie

well, since it was just us girls, we had to stop at two or three thrift shops on our way up the mountain. this is something i can't do with a carload of kids and adults... well to say we scored on a few treasures is an understatement. i found at least 10 big name, high quality kid books and a dozen more with a lot of crafting potential (my favorite score is the leo book and one all about london written in 1967, a very good year!)

i also found a strawberry sheet that came in handy for the inside of elizabeths "purse" she has been begging for. a cool coconut cup and a few teeny flower glasses, i even had the willpower to put back a couple cool prints... which now i am pining for. oh well, we have enough pictures that need hanging!

some of the bounty:

ikea fabric for lizzies purse

finished purse, table top portrait

strawberry inside (don"t mind the ziggy zaggy sewing on that handle, oops! it's hard to sew with a 3 year old "helping")

we had fun with this freaky lighting

for more from the table top and photos of the bag that actually show the bag, check out flickr.

project checked off

love this, inspiration for my own picture display :

current domino magazine

now my version (picture arranging a la "winging it")

and i am thinking about my summer owls, off with bananaberry kelly in vegas

i got some really cool fabric from ikea (if you are lucky enough to find someone there to cut if for you, i have yet to so i just buy the pre cut stuff) to make lizzie her first book bag, she is asking for one, poor thing! we are off to the cabin for an all girls crafty/book reading/bag sewing/cabin cleaning weekend.

we miss you chris!

Cousin love

baby kaitlyn is growing up!

Second grade

First day of school:

emily, lizzie (who starts preschool next week) and special guest isabella

hugs from rosie at the bagel shop

yum!

meeting up with friends on the first day of school, love how involved the parents are at our school. i REALLY love that emily's new teacher has a nose ring! seriously, she might not freak out when emily puts skull and cross bones on her father's day card this year, whew!!!