Happy Anniversary Dad!

Thirteen years ago today my Dad had quadruple bypass surgery. He had 8 blockages that were 85-100% blocked. His cardiologist said he had no medical reason as to why he was still alive except that his heart muscle was strong. He was 58 years old. This was a defining moment in my life. It was the time when I realized that my Dad is human. That it was a good possibility that he could not be here for us. I never thought about it prior to that moment. Maybe I didn't want to. The hospital brought in Dr. George J. Magovern Jr. from Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh. They told us that he was one of the elite team. His father was a pioneer in open heart surgery and developed the sutureless mechanical heart valve. We were very fortunate to have him. The one thing I remember the most about this man was that he had the softest hands. Silly, I know but that is what I remember. One other thing I remember about the whole event was my Dad asking for his priest. It took me a while but I tracked him down. As luck would have it, he was across the street at the Geriatric Center and came immediately. Dad asked for his last rights (The Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick.) It was in that one moment that there was proof that my Dad was scared. Other than witnessing him receive this sacrament, my Dad showed bravery and strength. A truly remarkable feat. I think I'm going to stop here, I'm getting a little teary-eyed and since I've been sick for that last 3 days, I don't think I want to stuff my head up anymore.

Me and Dad in 1972.

Allison and Dad in 2006.

Have Fun!

"A daughter may outgrow your lap, but she will never outgrow your heart."

~Author Unknown

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We're #1!!!!!!!!

Pittsburgh has been rated the "Most Livable" city! This includes the 7 counties that make up the Pittsburgh area and we, up here in Butler, are one of those counties. This is the second time we have been honored with that title. The first time was back in 1985. We also are the only city that have ever held that title twice and the only city that has also been in the top 20 every year! Pretty impressive, isn't it?

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My Crush!

When was the last time that you had a crush on someone? It's been a while for me but I have one now! Are you surprised? Are you thinking this blog is getting juicy? Are you worried that Curtis will find out? Are you wondering if he reads my blog? Yes, he does and he already knows about my crush. He's not worried. He knows I love him. He also knows that I have never met this man and most likely I never will. It's a crush from afar. It's also totally innocent. It's not the physical attraction kind of crush. He's not ugly or anything but it's a different kind of crush. It's hard for me to explain but I seriously have a crush on this man! I feel kind of silly about it but none the less, it is real. It all started a couple of seasons ago. I was flipping channels on the television and came across a program on "A & E" called "Flip This House." In season one a camera crew followed around Trademark Properties in Charleston, South Carolina while they bought properties, renovated them and then sold them for a profit....thus the name "Flip This House." The man behind Trademark Properties is Richard C. Davis...a.k.a...my crush. He is founder, president and CEO of Trademark Properties. If you are still with me here, you are probably thinking that he is just another business man. No, he is not. He is a business man with a heart. I know that editing in reality shows can manipulate how someone is presented and perceived but my gut feeling is that he really is a business man with a heart.

First of all, I admire the boss that he is to his team. He himself is a hard worker and gets right in and gets his hands dirty and leads by example. I'm not saying that he does the renovations himself but he has been seen helping get the job done. He also stands behind his people and let them do what he has hired them to do. He lets them think for themselves. If they are headed for a mistake, he councils and guides them and if the mistake still happens, he handles it with respect for his employee's dignity. However, he doesn't come off as an easy boss. He has high standards and demands that from his team. Even though he has a great desire for excellence, he also posses a great sense of humor which we all know is a necessity for sanity. If I lived in the Charleston, SC area, I would be knocking on his door every day with my resume until he found something in his company for me to do.

Second, another evidence that he is a business man with a heart is some of the "flips" that he has done. Just to highlight a few:

• He did one where they bought a house, I believe, was foreclosed on but when they went to check it out. They found the previous owners were still living in it. He didn't feel right about throwing these people out of their home so he came up with a solution. He put them up in a hotel while the renovated it and then made a deal with them to rent it back from him all for an amount which they could afford. He is not in the rental business so I believe this was a first for him. I should also mention that the former owner had a car in the carport that he had always dreamt of restoring. Richard took that car and had it restored and presented it to him at the end. I think the man cried. I know I would have.


• Another property that he flipped was a house that had been empty since the woman died. It was in horrible shape. The daughter hadn't been in it or cleaned it out. It was just too difficult for her. He went in with his crew, cleaned it out and renovated it. In doing the flip, it was important to him that the daughter was proud of what he had done. It wasn't just about the money but also about the daughter being able to move on from losing her Mother.


• One last example is when he flipped a restaurant. Richard and a couple members of his team, went to lunch at a local restaurant and noticed it wasn't very busy anymore and decided they wanted to flip it as a favor to the owner to help his business. Richard used to make his deals as a young businessman in one of the booths there so there was a sentimental attachment for him. They did it in just 4 days. Truly amazing!

Lastly, I think the main reason that I have this "crush" on Richard is that he takes properties that are usually the eyesores of the neighborhood and turns them into gems. He restores beauty to once beautiful homes. Homes for one reason or another have been neglected. Homes that hold memories that are long forgotten to everyone except those who have lived in them. Some may tear them down and build new but not Richard. He breathes new life into them. If you know me, you know that I love anything old and that includes houses. They have such character. If you read my "100 Things About Me" posts a few posts ago, you know that it is my dream to move my family to an old farmhouse one day and renovate it little by little. The only difference is that I don't want to flip it but to live in with my family and create beautiful memories in it for Allison. In all honesty, there is one just down the road that has been sitting for sale for a while. It needs a lot of work and is everything I've always dreamt of owning. Unfortunately, it's not going to work out for us right now. I wish it would but I don't see it happening. So for now, I continue to try to make our townhouse a place of good memories for Allison. Thankfully we have a great landlord who lets us make it our own. Allison will always remember her pink bedroom as I remember my purple bedroom when I was a child. I just wish we had our own backyard, a garage and another bedroom. Oh, and a bigger kitchen would be awesome!

Okay, I've gotten off of subject so let's get back to my crush. I was disappointed when season one of "Flip This House" was over. There would be no more flips and no more Richard until season two. Could I wait? Of course, because there is always reruns. However, when season two was to start, I found out there would definitely be no more Richard and Trademark Properties! A & E has different people on this year. SHAME ON THEM! I was sad. Very sad...until last week. I was watching TLC and saw and advertisement for "The Real Deal" and yes, you guessed it! It's Richard C. Davis and Trademark Properties! Woooooo Hoooooo! They are back! All of them. Ginger, Dawn and the gang! It premiered on Saturday, April 21st at 9:00 pm. I am in total bliss! It also replays through the week, so you'll have to check it out! Here is the schedule.

Have Fun!

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A Couple of Funny Pics!

It's Saturday morning and before I get started Spring cleaning my living room, I thought I would stop by and share a couple of pictures.

This pic is of Miss Allison right now. She wanted to get "all fashionable" for Grandma's house later today. Look at those legs. I don't think mine were ever that thin!

A close up of her "fashionable" hair style!

This one is of last week. Emmie (my car) had been sick for a couple of weeks. Curtis and his best friend, Rudy had been working on it every evening trying to figure it out. It was raining on the evening they thought they had the answer. I think at this point it became a challenge and the rain wasn't going to stop them. I looked outside and the pic below is what I saw. Is this a total redneck thing to do or what? I guess my 9 1/2 foot patio umbrella is good for more than just shielding the sun!

By the way, they did end up fixing the problem. It was one single relay wire to the computer. It would have probably been easier to replace the wiring harness but those two figured it out which wire it was and replaced it. Thank you guys!

Have Fun!

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Let's Try This Again!

Do you feel lucky?

And the winner is...

Jolene George!

Congratulations Jolene! Please email at Kindheart110@aol.com with your choice of candles, your snail mail address and phone number and I'll place the order. My order date is on Tuesday and they ship my orders out on Thursday so you should see them around the 1st of June!
The scents are listed in my 100th post and you can click here to access it. You have to get at least 1 of the Baked Apple Pies, they are the best! The Hot Cinnamon Buns is great too and the Mango Cooler is a nice summer scent.

**Edited: Jolene, I was just going over my Home Interiors stuff and found out 2 more scents will be released for May. You are going to love the first one. It's so you! It's called Americana and is only available for a limited time. It is layers of Baked Apple Pie, vanilla creme and blueberry. The second one is Snickerdoodle and it is the aroma of fresh-from-the-oven snickerdoodle cookies with fragrant notes of cinnamon and vanilla bean combined with hints of nutmeg and brown sugar. Here are the pics:

Thanks everyone for all of your comments!
This was fun for me so I'm planning on doing some more give-a-ways in the future so be sure and stop back!

Have Fun!

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A Winner Has Been Chosen but...

blogger will not let me upload the photo. I've been trying for hours and all I get is a red "X" in a square. I'll try again in the morning because I'm tired and I'm hitting the hay right now!

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How Do We Keep Our Children Safe?

Since it's my day off today, I've had the television on pretty much all morning. I've been watching/listening to the coverage of the Virginia Tech shootings. So extremely sad! There's also a bomb scare going on right now at Bethel Park High School in the South Hills of Pittsburgh. My friend's daughter attends that high school. Scary stuff!

All of this happening with our youth frightens me. How DO we keep our children safe? It's not an easy task. We have so much more to worry about with our children than our parents did with us. My Mom gives me grief sometimes because she says that Allison should be outside more than she is to run off all of her energy. I agree but I can't leave her go outside by herself. It's not like when we were young. My best friend, Susan, and I used to get on our bikes and ride half way to each other's house. We lived a little over a mile apart. We would meet at the local little store and go to the playground behind the elementary school. We would show up for dinner hours later and it was no big deal. I bet neither one of our Mothers would allow us to do that in this day and age. I don't even allow Allison to walk outside to the car unless I am with her. You just never know what or who is out there waiting to do your child harm. Maybe I sound a little overprotective. Maybe I am. I've waited this long for Allison to come into my life and I am not about to let anything happen to her. Poor child. When she goes to college, she has no idea that I am going back too...to the same one she attends. We can be roommates together in the dorm! Seriously, it's my biggest fear that harm will come to her.

I had not planned on sharing this here but with what has happened at VT, I feel it's appropriate. A few Fridays ago Allison got off the bus and immediately started crying to our babysitter. Our babysitter is a sweet 76 year old lady that lives two townhouses down and who Allison just loves. Audrey asked her what was wrong and she said that "John" (not his real name) told her that he was going to shoot her in the head and kill her. She said that she "didn't want to die" and that she wanted "to go to 1st grade." Ya, can you believe it?!? It gets better. "John" is in 6th grade! He is more than twice my daughter's age. Unbelievable! Not something I expected when we sent Allison to a Christian school. This same boy told her 3 weeks prior to this incident that he was going to staple her mouth shut! We had a discussion with Allison about that and then the next week, he told her that he wished she was dead and now this! I immediately call the principal but he was out. I spoke to the secretary and told her what happened. I told her that I would talk to the principal on Monday. Curtis ended up going in late to work on Monday and went to the school in the morning to talk to the principal. We know Allison is a fire ball but nothing she could have said could justify the death threat! As luck would have it, we both were back at the school that evening for a parent/teacher conference. He talked to us about his findings. The bus driver had heard John say this and backed up what Allison had reported to us and the principal. He had actually acted upon it to the best of his ability when it happened. The principal told us that John did admit to it but said he was just kidding. I'm sorry but we had to take it seriously. How do we know that there isn't a gun in a closet at his home that he could hide in his backpack? Our school has a security system but not metal detectors. It's scary. VERY scary! John ended up getting an in school suspension and lost his bus privileges for a week. The following week, Allison didn't say anything about the bus ride and we didn't ask. We didn't want to stir up those feelings in her again. She was genuinely afraid when it happened. Kindergartners tend to believe everything someone tells them. Anyway, I picked Allison up from school on Wednesday and the principal was at the door and asked me how the bus ride was going. I told him that she had not said anything and we didn't ask. He said that John ended up losing his bus privileges for the rest of the year. I asked if he had done something else and the principal said no. He shared with me that after more thought he felt that the additional punishment was appropriate. THANK YOU Mr. Principal! I'm so happy that it is as serious to them as it was to us.

Out of every experience there is a lesson. One of the lessons that I learned out of this is that I will act upon the first comment the next time. If I had acted when he said that he was going to staple her mouth shut, I would have spared Allison the fear and insecurity that she experienced.

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100th Post, a List and a Give-A-Way!

This is it! I made it to my 100th post! Happy! Happy! Joy! Joy! In honor of my 100th post, I decided to share a list. I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed making it.

100 Random Things About Me!

1. I am a Mom. I have one daughter, Allison.
2. My lifelong wish was to be a Mom.
3. I want to be remembered as being a great Mom. Nothing else really matters to me.
4. I love that Curtis makes me laugh.
5. I knew after our first date that Curtis and I would be together for a long time.
6. I love our little family.
7. I am blessed.
8. I wish I was a stay at home Mom.
9. I am a middle child. I have an older sister and younger brother.
10. I was born in Greensburg, Pennsylvania.
11. My middle name is Louise.
12. My confirmation name is Christine.
13. I am Roman Catholic.
14. It drives me nuts when people sneak out of church before the priest finishes Mass and walks down the isle.
15. I am Italian from my Dad and Polish & Slovak from my Mom.
16. I was a surprise to my parents.
17. I have blue eyes but my ¼ of my right eye is brown.
18. My right eye has perfect vision but my left eye requires a corrective lense.
19. I’m 5 feet 3 ¾ inches tall.
20. I wish I had thicker hair.
21. My favorite season is fall.
22. My favorite holiday is Christmas.
23. I love making Allison’s Halloween costumes.
24. I love Target.
25. I despise going to Wal-Mart.
26. I am very sentimental.
27. I love traditions.
28. It is important to me to leave a legacy for Allison.
29. I love to scrapbook but it’s hard for me to make the time.
30. I have to sleep with one leg out from under the covers.
31. I wish there were more hours in the day.
32. I always feel behind in what I want to do.
33. I take on more than is humanly possible.
34. It’s hard for me to say no to family and friends. Although Allison would tell you different!
35. I have an odd sense of humor but Curtis gets me.
36. I try to put 110% effort into everything I do.
37. I love to decorate.
38. I love using color in my home.
39. I never finish decorating a room. I have this need to keep changing things.
40. I will not use an item in decorating my home unless I feel it’s a perfect fit.
41. I favor casual & country decorating but I love the cottage style and I’m hoping to implement more of it into my home.
42. I have about 10 decorating projects I in my head that I want to do.
43. I still have my wisdom teeth but I was born with only bottom ones.
44. My favorite city is San Francisco.
45. My dream would be to move my family to an old farmhouse and fix it up.
46. My favorite movie is Gone with the Wind.
47. My favorite food is Halupki (stuffed cabbage rolls).
48. I love potatoes.
49. My favorite dessert is a tie between cheesecake and tiramisu.
50. I don’t like the texture of coconut but I love the taste.
51. My favorite ice cream is French vanilla.
52. My favorite candy is Reese’s peanut butter cups.
53. My favorite beverage is Pepsi.
54. I drink my coffee with 1 pack of sweetener.
55. I only drink coffee at work.
56. I have worked for the same place for 14 ½ years.
57. I like my job but I don’t like the 1-hour drive to and from work.
58. I like my quiet time in the car to and from work.
59. I love to throw parties although Allison’s birthday party is the only one we throw.
60. We need a bigger home!
61. I love Desperate Housewives and Grey’s Anatomy.
62. I’m a bargain shopper.
63. I don’t have a favorite color. My favorite colors are pink, purple, green and yellow.
64. I collect pink and green depression glass.
65. I love antiques and vintage items.
66. I love second hand stores, antique shops, flea markets, yard sales, consignment stores, Salvation Army stores and Goodwill stores.
67. I love using old glassware and dishes for every day.
68. I love candles.
69. I love country music.
70. My favorite flowers are yellow roses and lilacs.
71. I follow the rules.
72. I’m a magazine junkie.
73. My favorite magazine is probably Family Fun. It has the best doable ideas.
74. I love to shop online.
75. I love to cook but I don’t like to decide what to make for dinner.
76. I love that Curtis brags about my cooking to his friends.
77. I love that Curtis and I don’t fight. We get mad at each other but we don’t fight.
78. I make a mean pot roast.
79. I love watching the cooking shows on the Food Network.
80. My favorites cooks/chefs on Food Network are Rachael Ray, Giada De Laurentiis, Paula Deen, Sandra Lee, and Ina Garten.
81. I love to bake and I’m trying to learn how to be a better baker.
82. I love photos of family and friends. I have them framed in every room of my home.
83. I usually always travel with a camera. Sometimes two.
84. I stink at videotaping. I never think to take the camcorder with us.
85. I’m a barefoot girl.
86. I miss having a kitty in the house.
87. I miss hanging out with my good girlfriends.
88. I only use a black pen. I don’t think I own any blue.
89. I throw change in the bottom of my purse and when it gets too heavy to carry, I’ll clean it out and put it into our Disney Fund jar.
90. I hate to iron therefore I try not to buy any clothes that need ironing.
91. I worry too much.
92. Although, I have gotten better, I have a habit of over-thinking things.
93. I try not to sweat the small stuff.
94. I’m a list maker.
95. My word for 2007 is Simplify and I’m trying to do that in my life and home.
96. I love to organize.
97. I love being silly with Allison.
98. I love to laugh until it hurts.
99. I was a member of “The Fonz” fan club.

100. I LOVE blogs!

If you have made it this far, thank you! I also want to thank all of you out in blogland who take the time out of your day to stop by and see what is going on in my life. Since I am celebrating my 100th post, I am going to go along with blog tradition and offer a give-a-way to my readers. All you have to do is leave a comment on this post. I will print out all of the comments on Wednesday and have Allison pick a winner. The winner will receive a collection of Home Interiors candles. You can see all the wonderful new scents here. Once Allison picks a winner, the winner will get to pick 5 Petite Jar Candles of their choice. They can be all the same scent or 5 different ones. It's the winner's choice. Each candle has an approximate burn time of 48 hours. The current scents are: Baked Apple Pie, Dulce de Leche, Caribbean Splash, Iced Lemon, Apple Limeade, Strawberry Shortcake, Plum Crazy, Passion Fruit & Papaya, Spiced Cider, Ruby Red Punch, Pineapple Ginger, Caramel Pear, Raspberry Lemonade, White Peach Nectar, Hot Cinnamon Buns, Maraschino Delight, Mango Cooler, Icing, Apple Pie a la Mode & Strawberry Shake. I'll order them the following Tuesday and have Home Interiors ship them directly to you. This is fun! I can't wait to see who wins! I know there are some lurkers out there so be sure to come out of lurkdom and post a comment by Wednesday.

Good Luck!

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Easter Recap!

Before I start with my Easter recap, I wanted to let everyone know to keep reading because my next post will be my 100th post! If you have been reading my blog, you probably thought it should have been a couple posts ago. However, I went through my posts and found there were 2 started and never actually posted so deleting those put us 2 steps back. I have a great give-a-way so you won't want to miss the celebration!

If you have been reading my blog, you have probably figured out that I like to cook and bake. So of course I will start my Easter post with what I made to take to my parents' house. This dessert is one I came up with myself. I searched and searched for a new recipe I could try but didn't fine one I liked completely so this is a combination of a couple. I'm calling it Easter Dessert because it's colorful with Easter egg colors. I've shared 2 pictures below. One to show the layers in the dish and then one cut to show all the pretty colors.

Cindi's Easter Dessert

1st Layer:
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1 / 2 cup melted butter
2/3 cup light brown sugar

~Mix all ingredients together.
~Press onto bottom of 9 x 13 glass baking dish.
~Bake for 12-15 minutes at 350 degrees.
~Let cool before filling.

2nd Layer:
2 small boxes of chocolate pudding or one large box
3 ½-4 cups cold milk (3 ½ cups will make it stiffer and 4 cups make it the texture of pudding. It’s your choice)

~Make pudding and layer it on top of graham cracker crust.

3rd Layer:
1-8 oz. Container of Cool Whip
6 cups of miniature colored marshmallows (just under 1 bag)

~Mix cool whip and marshmallows together and layer on top of pudding mixture.
~Sprinkle with graham cracker crumbs and chill overnight. Chilling it overnight makes the marshmallows soft and yummy.

This next picture is of the letter the Easter bunny left Allison on Easter morning. It was on the coffee table along with 1 single pink egg. She came downstairs and was a little frustrated that he only left her "1 egg! Just 1 egg!" and no basket. We read the letter together and started the search for the eggs with clues in them. It was too fun and she did a pretty good job reading the clues.
Look at the smile on that face! She was just SO excited! Before she even found the basket, she wanted to make sure that I took a picture of her with her basket. She makes me so proud! She is such a little scrapbooker!
She was so funny about this DVD. We had just seen it advertised the day before on television and she commented that she wanted it. When she pulled it out of her basket she said, "The Easter bunny must have been watching me yesterday!"
The Easter bunny brought her a TY kitty this year in her basket. He usually brings her the Easter bear but "he" couldn't find it this year. The kitty was a bigger hit anyway. I am so glad that I captured this moment. When she "cuddles" with her two Rosies and pink kitty she rubs her cheek on them and she immediately did this with her new kitty. Too sweet!

The goods.

This last picture is for Stephanie. Allison immediately pulls the tags off of all of her TY beanies as soon as she get them. This drives Stephanie nuts so I had to take a picture of it just to torment her. Sorry Steph!

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Allison's 1st Recipe!

Thanks to Allison, you get a bonus post for the day!

She asked me if she could have a snack. I told her not until she has breakfast. Her answer to this was "I hate breakfast"...this would explain my trouble in getting her to eat hers every morning. It's not fun! After a few times of asking again for a snack and me saying after she has her breakfast, she suggested that we make something special. She said it will be called "Angel Breakfast." Hmm, now she has my attention. She told me that I would have to help because the stove part is for grown ups. She is very creative. Just remember that when she becomes the Rachael Ray of her time, it all started with her "Angel Breakfast" and saw it here first.

Allison’s Angel Breakfast

Ingredients:
· 1 egg
· ¼ cup milk
· 2 slices of wheat bread (no seeds)
· peanut butter
· blueberry jelly (or your favorite)
· syrup
· powdered sugar
· butter (for skillet)

Directions:
· Beat 1 egg in large bowl. Add milk and beat both together. Set aside.
· Make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
· Dip the sandwich quickly (so it doesn’t get soggy) into the egg and milk mixture. Be sure to dip both sides.
· Melt a little butter in skillet on medium high heat.
· After the butter is melted and the skillet is hot, place sandwich into the skillet and brown well on both sides.
· Remove from skillet and place on plate.
· Drizzle with syrup and sprinkle with powdered sugar.
· Enjoy!

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Something is NOT right!

Something is not right about this picture! A bunny flag with snow everywhere? How am I supposed to make bunny tracks outside with flour leading up to our house tonight? I'll have to come up with another idea. Hmm, maybe I can fill a spray bottle with water and food coloring and spray pink bunny tracks on the snow.

Speaking of the Easter bunny, does your or did your Easter bunny hide the baskets or leave them out in the open? My bunny always hid mine. Curtis' bunny left his on the kitchen table. Allison's bunny has always hid hers but this year the bunny is doing something new. Since she is now able to read, he is leaving clues in plastic eggs. The first egg will be on the coffee table and it will lead her to the next one and then the next one and so on and so forth until she finds her basket. I can't wait until tomorrow morning!

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Vintage Easter!

This is me at 5 years & 4 months old at my Ba Ba's house on Easter Sunday. Just 5 months younger than what Allison is now. You don't see a resemblance, do you?

It's actually amazing that I found this picture of just me. Most of the pictures from my childhood are of me and my sister, Alesia together. Oh, and we are usually in matching dresses. Did your Mother do that too? UGH!!

You know, when I look at this photo, the first thing that comes to mind is "I remember that basket!" And the second thing is "Hmm, it seemed so much BIGGER back then!"

One other thing that I noticed about this photo is that the date, my name and other pertinent information is documented on the back. THIS IS AWESOME! I would have never known how old I was in this photo if it wasn't that my Aunt Stella took the time to write it on the back. Most of my pictures from childhood do not have this info on the back. Mostly because my Mom had 3 kids and probably didn't have the time. There are some that just have the year so that helps but it would be so nice to know when all of them are from. I have to admit that I do not have anything written on the back of all the photos of Allison. I know! Shame on me! I do, however, have them in chronological order in albums. I have doubles of every picture of Allison that I have. One set I keep for scrapbooking and the other set goes into these albums for her. I do this because she may want to do something with them someday and I want her to have an untouched set. I'm actually a little obsessive with this process. If my sister takes pictures of her at a get together or holiday and I have pictures of the same event, I will not put mine in the album until my sister gives me her doubles and I can mix them in with mine so they are chronological. If you are thinking I'm odd, you are right. I guess this obsession comes from not having very many pictures of myself from my childhood. There are some baby pictures of me and then they don't start up again until later. It wasn't until I was 5 months pregnant and my Aunt Edith died did I even see pictures of myself from that time. My Mom found them when they were cleaning out her things. I remember my Mom showing them to me and I just cried. It must have been the hormones. I was so glad to finally have photos from that time in my life so I could compare them with the child I was about to have. They are priceless to me. I guess the lesson learned here is that I need to go back and put dates and other pertinent information on the back of all of the photos that I have for Allison. It's my job to document her history. It will be a big job since I have over 3000 photos of her to date! I better get busy!

Have Fun!

“All photographs are there to remind us of what we forget. In this -- as in other ways -- they are the opposite of paintings. Paintings record what the painter remembers. Because each one of us forgets different things, a photo more than a painting may change its meaning according to who is looking at it.”
~John Berger

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Classmate Treats & A Moment with Grandma!

Allison is staying home sick from school today so I have a little time to update my blog. She has my cold that I've had since last Monday. Actually I think mine was a combination of a cold an a sinus infection from my allergies. I love that Spring is starting but the change in temperatures and all that new growth out there is killer on me! I feel like I carry around a box of tissues with me all the time.

On Saturday Allison and I put together her Easter treats for her classmates. We started with pink, green, purple and blue plastic cups that I found at Wal-Mart.

Then we added green Easter grass. The treats consisted of a plastic colored egg filled with an Easter themed eraser, a bag of Life Savers Gummi Treats in the shapes of bunnies and chicks, Smarties, an Easter pencil that I found at Target and then topped the cups off with jelly beans.
We dropped the whole cup in a cellophane bag, tied the top off with bright colored curling ribbon, added a tag and we were done! VERY easy and Allison loves them! I hope her classmates love them too!

We had a wedding shower to go to for Curtis' second cousin over in Ohio on Saturday night. Actually it was more like a family get together but neither Curtis or I were feeling well so we decided not to go. Curtis' Mom called and asked if she could take Allison with her and then spend the night. I hesitated for a brief moment and she said "I'll be responsible." It wasn't that I didn't trust her but my thought was that she'll miss C.C.D. and church in the morning. The shower was from 6:30-8:30 pm and by the time they got home it would be after ten. Allison needs her sleep and I was thinking that it would be too late for her. Grandma never asks to take her anywhere and always helps us when we need her to watch her or pick her up from early dismissal from school so I told her that it would be fine. Allison was SO excited and told Grandma on the phone that she may be hungry so she should bring some snacks in the Blazer with her. Bossy little thing! Anyway, since we haven't had a good picture of the two of them in years, I took the opportunity of taking some pictures. This is the only one that came out good and we love it! Can you tell how much she loves her Grandma? We were standing in the parking lot waving to them as they were backing out and BAM! Grandma backed into the street light that is on the other side of our parking lot! Curtis and I just stood there and she put it in 1st and kept on going. She never stopped as the pole stood there swaying! She never got out to see if there was damage. She just drove off and left us dumbfounded that we just let her drive away with the most precious thing in our life. Our daughter! WAIT! Didn't she tell me on the phone that she would be responsible? LOL! They made it there and back just fine and we laughed about it later on the phone.

Have Fun!

"Grandmothers are just antique little girls."

~Author Unknown

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