New Red Wagon

The girls' great-grandparents always have the best gift ideas. This year they gifted the girls a new Radio Flyer red wagon. It is exactly what they needed! The four of us went on a nice long evening walk on Monday. A little off the subject, but, isn't this the most pleasant August weather you've ever seen in Southern California?

That nice house in the top picture is a place where a lot of tv shows, commercials and movies are made. Obviously, it is very picturesque and quaint. I'm glad we don't have to walk very far away from our own neighborhood to see such interesting properties.

Thanks for the wagon, Grandma and Grandpa!

A Gifted Weekend

My husband threw me a sweet birthday party Saturday night. My mother-in-law had both girls overnight (for the first time) so we could have as much fun as possible and not worry about waking the girls up with loud laughter or music. We played Pin the Tail on the Donkey, sang Happy Birthday, danced, ate chips and candy, all the usual birthday-party-type things. This was my first birthday party in a very long time. I don't even remember the last one I had. I even got gifts! I thought I was too old for that!
Jose brought home a cake from a local bakery. After I blew out the candle, I took my hand and grabbed a huge chunk of cake and ate it from my hand. I never got to do that before and I really enjoyed it!
Several of the gifts I received did not have a card attached so I don't know who each one is from, unfortunately. I got a really pretty vintage-inspired apron and timer (above) from my friends Kitty and Sean. My friends Jeff and Sara got me a vintage cookbook (Jeff knows me too well!). My brother James and his girlfriend Ally got me a miniature rose plant (that looks SO pretty in my kitchen window). Other gifts: bath fizz/bubbles, a yummy cranberry candle, 2 fancy journals, melamine plates/cups and matching napkin holders, Target giftcard, bath scrubby-thingy and a bottle of merlot. Oh, and my mother-in-law dropped by earlier in the day with a dozen red roses for me. Her late mother and I share the same birthday, February 20th.
Talk about a happy birthday. I felt pretty special. Sure wish we could do that more often.

Pretty Baby Things

(vintage smocked dress hand-me-down. the decoration is little pink hens)

In the middle of reorganizing some of the girls' things, I noticed Maxine has a terrible habit of growing out of fancy baby accessories before having a chance to wear them. Maybe, if there is no occasion to wear fancy things, the occasion should simply be a photoshoot? I'll have to remember that from now on. We've been given so many nice gifts and hand-me-downs, I feel they deserve a little archiving, at least. Here, I have taken some photos of special things Maxine will never or may never wear. (leather boots, a hand-me-down from a friend who got them as a gift from actress Abigail Breslin)(another vintage smocked dress from a friend. still with tags) (suede moccasins from a thoughtful Starbucks customer)These little red numbers are actually Raquel's first Christmas shoes. I bought them second-hand on ebay when she was 4 months old especially for Christmas. I have always loved them. Maxine wore them in the mall Santa picture but they were a little too big for her at the time. They are special and I will never get rid of them. I considered bronzing them but I decided bronzing is just for boring old white baby shoes, not pretty bright red ones.

Well, these are only a small part of our stash of fancy baby things. Maybe some day I will find a way to display them on the walls in the girls' room.

Jam and Another Bracelet

In a recent post I mentioned that Grandma gave me several different items and mementos when we visited over the weekend. One gift was this jar of her homemade boysenberry jam. With it, I made a sandwich for Raquel that looked so good I almost took a giant bite but I decided to behave and wait until my cheat day on Saturday to try it. I LOVE getting jam from Grandma! I'm glad she makes it so often and always has a huge stash of several flavors in her guest bedroom cupboard.

Grandma also had found the charm bracelet she wants to hand down to Maxine as a high school graduation present. I get to hold onto it for 17 more years, theoretically. It is smaller than the WWII charm bracelet she handed down to Raquel but it is still very interesting and charming. This piece was a birthday gift to her in 1973, I think from my grandpa. She'll let me know if I'm right after she sees this post. In the pictures you will see a cuckoo clock charm--its doors open when you pull the little finials. And I believe the little girl charm is by Holly Hobbie.This typewriter charm is really cute and the one that looks like a spoon is actually a banjo. My grandma is somewhat of a musician and has played many different instruments over the years. The coolest one she knows how to play? The accordion! She used to own one but I'm not sure she still has it. I better not forget to mention Grandpa also plays music. He still plays the banjo if you ask him to! I have seen pictures of my grandparents' old bluegrass band. They were wearing red checked shirts, all matching. I wish I had a picture to show you. I have gone off subject though!As you can see I will use any excuse to be a shutterbug and a Bloggy McBloggerton, ha!

A Birthday Dinner for Grandma

Grandma Emma turned 85 on February 12th. If her brother Bubs was still alive, he'd be 85, too--they were twins.

Grandma, ready to dig into her Super Nachos.

My dad took us all out for an early dinner today at El Tecolote, a little Mexican restaurant right off the 101 freeway in Camarillo. Celebrating special occasions here is a tradition in my family that dates back to the 1960s when Combo #1 only set you back 75 cents. It isn't fancy by any means but it has been there a long time and holds many happy memories for my whole family.

My dinner: Combo #2: ground beef taco, cheese enchilada, chili relleno. I eated it all gone.

Dad, Debbie and I had Cadillac Margaritas and Grandpa had a Dos Equis.Grandpa had his usual Combo #1 and ate the entire thing. I've never seen him do that!Dinner delivery system: (also notice the salsa dispenser)Maxine woke up when we finished eating. She was scared of everyone, not just Grandma.

It was a long drive and Maxine slept the entire time and didn't wake up until we finished dinner. That was nice for me! Then we all went to Grandma's house to drink coffee and eat cookies and cake. Grandma had a bunch of things ready to donate to the Salvation Army but she let me pick stuff out that I wanted. I took home several LPs, some dishes and a Roomba that just needs batteries--I've been wanting one of those! She gave me another old charm bracelet to gift to Maxine when she graduates high school. She also gave my dad a handmade crib coverlet that was made by her grandmother when she was pregnant with my dad. Grandma has kept so many nice and interesting mementos.

Thanks for hauling us girls in your truck, Dad, and thank you Grandma for letting us celebrate your birthday with you in such a fun way!

Germs

When Maxine was at the worst point of her cold she was like one of those rotating sprinkler heads you connect to your hose and let water your lawn. She would bury her snot/eye booger-encrusted face in my shoulder/collar area and cause me to have to change my shirt three times in one day. I have been washing things like crazy around here trying to keep Raquel and Jose from getting sick. It's too late for me. However, just as I was going to buy some Zucol from the drug store I opened a package I got in the mail from Grandma Emma. In it was a package of Zicam! She knew about Maxine's illness and she had an extra package so she gave it to me. She knew I needed it!

Maxine is back to her old self today. She's not 100% well but she's acting like she feels really good. Something about her cold made her not want to eat baby food. I have wasted a lot of it trying to feed her and all she does is gag and heave. She used to enjoy it. I'm gonna wait a couple of days before I try again.

Here are some cute pictures of the girls when I was getting them both ready for night-night.

History in a Family Heirloom

My Grandma Emma has been "liquidating" her Earthly belongings for at least a decade now. She is going to be 85 years old in February. My grandparents have lived in the same house for nearly 60 years and were lucky enough to hold onto keepsakes and certain other items from long ago. Grandma's goal is to simplify her life by getting rid of things she has no use for. To clarify, her house is not cluttered--she has a shed, a garage, and a few closets worth of stuff and memories--her house is neatly kept.
Grandma's only sister, Eva Laura, passed away a few months ago, just before her 99th birthday. Until a few months before her passing she was an active person, unlike most 98 year olds! She traveled, gambled, went out with friends and was always making her own little crafty creations, like dolls and potholders.
Grandma's mother, Lena Looney, was alive during my lifetime. I'm told Grandma Looney adored me. I do remember her wanting my attention when I would pass her sitting in her rocking chair or her bedroom. My closest sibling, Susan, did not like her, was afraid of her as a matter of fact. She called her "The Witch". Grandma Emma has told us that Grandma Looney was not fond of Susan either. I do not know why. What could someone have against a 3-year-old girl? Anywho, I believe Grandma Looney died at the age of 98, on her own terms. That's another story.
My point is I think Grandma Emma has a lot of years left. I think she thinks so, too. She doesn't want to be bogged down with a bunch of belongings and prefers to take care of that business right now while she is able. She's been handing down a variety of items to her three sons and myself and probably others, too. I remember being a teenager and Grandma telling us grandkids to go around and put dibs on any of her household things that we wanted to inherit. We all thought it was morbid of her to talk like that. But eventually we realized she was serious and we ought to start staking claims now before someone else took what we wanted. Susan chose my grandma's beautiful old art deco vanity, one of those that has a big huge circular mirror and a cute little matching seat. It looks to be in pristine condition.
Some of Grandma's hand-me-downs have already been given to us. I've received several of them. The most recent one is the subject of this post: My grandma's charm bracelet. This dates back to the beginning of WWII, when Grandma graduated high school, the beginning of the "Golden Age of charm bracelets" which lasted until 1960 when the fad fell out of fashion. There are 21 sterling silver charms on the bracelet, each one a gift from her aunts, uncles, friends, parents, etc. I think they were graduation presents. She said each charm sold for between $5 and $25 back in those days, which was a sacrifice for anyone during those times. Each charm had special meaning. Almost every charm is inscribed or engraved with the name of the person who gave it to her. Those left blank, Grandma has no recollection of the gifter. She typed an entire page describing each charm, who gave it or why it was given. I have photographed my favorites, the most unique.
The flag charm was a gift from a Colonel Caphton (pronounced Capeton). The Colonel's wife lived in a big house up the street from my Grandma and she would stay with this woman while her husband was away during the War so she wouldn't have to be alone. I like that story.

I just think this one is the prettiest. It's a flower on a platform of mother of pearl. None of the other hearts are anything like it.

There is a charm in the first photo that was replicated from Grandma's high school class ring. She grew up in Fort Worth, Texas. I would love to visit there some day. Maybe on my "dream-roadtrip"! And maybe Grandma would go with me. We've only been talking about doing that for, I don't know, 20 years now. Ha!

Included with the bracelet were four other unattached charms/pendants. One from "Daddy" her dad, one from a "Harvey" she doesn't remember, one that looks like a four-leaf clover with Catholic Saints on each petal and one photo pendant with a picture of me and Susan when we were very little. Grandma's wish is that Raquel gets this charm bracelet when she graduates high school 13 years from now (gosh, that doesn't sound very far away). She has another bracelet that is meant for Maxine but I haven't seen it yet. I really appreciate knowing my family history and especially having meaningful items from the past that show what kind of family my girls and I came from. Thank you Grandma! Love you much!

Memories Aren't Just Dreams

Have you ever seen old films of yourself as a toddler or even as a newborn? Well, for Christmas I received a dvd created by my dad that was made up of 30-year-old footage from his old Super 8 camera. I guess the technology to transfer film to dvd has become more common since my days in film class in college. The good thing is that the films have not lost their beautiful, gritty graininess, a trait of old home movies that video could only hope to replicate.

The first part of the movie is of Christmas time 1977, when my mom was very young and very pregnant with me. My late Grandma Betty (known as Grandmama to her grandkids) was decorating a Christmas tree with my mom and dad. My dad was making goofy faces, something he has always done. They didn't have a tripod so the camera got passed between Mom and Dad so everyone got a chance to be on film. There is also footage of my parents shoveling snow into their little blue pick-up on the side of a road, some place where it had snowed a lot. And then it goes to my dad's parents' house, where the Christmas tree, complete with running train and wind-up monkey crashing cymbals, was decorated to the hilt and the room overflowed with presents wrapped in oldtime-y paper, lustrous ribbons and festive bells.

Watching my newborn self flail my lanky arms about was surreal. I wondered what I was thinking. Being that I was the first born of my dad's three kids, little me is in the rest of the movie, growing up, getting a little sister and then a little brother. The movie stops when I am about 3 years old.

Thanks, Dad, for the most thoughtful gift I've ever received! I am treasuring it.

Raquel's First Tailgate and Maxine's Shoes

Raquel and Jose went to the Rose Bowl last weekend to tailgate with friends for the USC vs. UCLA football game. Jose bought Raquel a UCLA cheerleader outfit on sale but it was WAY too big for our petite daughter, so she just wore the top. Daddy brought her tent to the tailgate so she could have her own little space. Since Maxine and I weren't there I have to thank our friend Kendra for taking lots of pictures of the event. Thank you!

What Maxine looks like today:

As I said in the previous post, Maxine recently received a huge wardrobe boost. Most of the clothes she got fit her right now and then we got some for the next 6 months as well. I put all the baby shoes in the drawer under her crib. This includes a lot of Raquel's old shoes that I thought were salvagable and hand-me-downs from a few friends. Some of them have never been worn. Look!

Here's my favorite hand-me-down bonnet:

Thanks for checking in!

Busy Day but Have Some Pics, Won't You?

Monday is a good day for us to accomplish at-home tasks together. Having Jose to help me by putting things in the basement and moving furniture around is so nice--it feels like we really get a lot done and our home is the better for it. When I'm home alone with the girls I only accomplish small feats like putting clothes away or unpacking one large box and finding places to put it's contents. I think it's kinda fun to unpack and figure out where to put things.

Here are the latest pictures of Maxine. She is extremely vocal lately, taking after her big sister Raquel. She was talking so much yesterday that we kept commenting about it and it was fun listening to her. Yesterday we also went to a new friend's house in Glendale to meet them and to pick up some baby hand-me-downs including this swing here:

Raquel had a hand-me-down swing, too, but she never liked it so we got rid of it before Maxine came along. Last night we let Maxine try her new swing and she liked it so much she stayed in it for almost 2 hours. It is a REALLY nice one and it was REALLY nice of our new friends to give it to us. And all I could do was give them a box of homemade cookies. It doesn't compare to what they gave us, which is also a few big boxes of baby girl clothes (that are adorable and from nice stores), socks and 6 pairs of the cutest little shoes. We're very thankful.