Homestudio - Cora's Playground pendant

I have been following this blog for the past few months mcclanahans and their story about their little baby girl, Cora Paige, who recently lost her battle with cancer. I have really been impacted by her story and I have purchased a few things on Etsy recently to help contribute towards Cora's Playground in her memory. One Etsy vendor named Homestudio have made some Cora's Playground pendants and I purchased one last week, with all proceeds going towards the playground. It's a really pretty pendant and they have lots of others that are lovely.....flowers, sayings, some for Easter, animals. I wore my Cora's Playground pendant this weekend and to church yesterday when I was reading stories to the kids. It's a very nice-looking pendant and very good quality, and I am really happy that I ordered one.

Monday Monday

It turns out that Tank's spots on his chin are 'puppy acne'...!!! He is doing better now having been on the antibiotics and steriods a few days, and I've used the shampoo to rub in his chin and let it sit for 10 minutes then rinse off. I got the dogs both nice big stainless steel bowls this weekend, as apparently the plastic bowls we were using were part of the trouble. We also need to wash the rubber and plastic toys a lot and limit the rawhide chewies, as apparently it's the drool factor that causes the bacteria problem to get the breakouts.

I found out Friday I won a blog giveaway contest for Prairieland Herbs. They are based in Iowa and I have been ordering their shea butter and soaps for years! Donna and Maggie, mother and daughter, who own Prairieland Herbs, have a blog now and a contest every week for some product giveaways...they choose the winner on Fridays. I won three solid perfumes, that come in little tins. I picked violet, rose and lilac for my scents. I have ordered the lavender and the sandalwood before and they are really nice. Their products are made from lots of things they grow on their two acre farm, so it's a fun blog and website to check out!

It's grey and cold today. It actually snowed Saturday night. There was snow all over my car and the grass when I got up Sunday morning. I went to church and got to be the "Storybook Lady" for the four and five year olds in kids' church...we met in the "Treehouse room" and I read two stories. It was fun. There was one little boy in particular who was hanging on my every word, so that was nice. My stepdaughter Melissa and I went to the movies in the afternoon, we saw "Duplicity" with Julia Roberts and Clive Owens. It was pretty good, kind of a spy, keep you guessing kind of movie. Julia Roberts looks great. We wanted to go see "Madea Goes to Jail" but it was done playing at the theaters in town. I will have to get the DVD when it comes out. I loved "Diary of a Mad Black Woman" and "Madea's Family Reunion" and own those two movies, I think Tyler Perry hit gold when he created the Madea character!

Knitter's elbow, grey and rainy weather and life in general!

Well, my mad pace of knitting caps has done me in, I've got a really sore elbow (inner, like a tennis elbow) and I looked up on google and they actually have a term for knitters who overdo called "knitters elbow". So I got an Ace elbow flexible brace at Walgreens this week, and that seems to help, plus taking iboprofen. I cannot imagine ever giving up knitting, so I need to let it heal . It's sore in the inner elbow, the tendons or muscles there. I read if I prop my arm up under some pillows when knitting too that might help.

It's cold, wet, rainy and soggy here and has been all week. Spring is really slow in coming this year. The whole month of March has been just rain and grey. I think we've had two days this year 60 degrees or higher and that's it. It isn't inspiring to want to do much, inside or out. But today's project is going to be cleaning out an extra bedroom upstairs and moving the double bed downstairs to the basement. Tim and I have been talking about getting a treadmill and putting it upstairs and making that room a 'workout' room by getting a little tv to put in there too. He has some weights he wants to put in there as well. So I need to move a lot of stuff I have in there (I am not sure where I am going to move it to!) but it's a good time to sort and weed out I guess.

We had to take Tank to vet yesterday, he has some blister-looking things on his lip and chin, so he has to take antiobiotics, steriods and some shampoo stuff daily for awhile. I need to get them some big stainless steel bowls for their food rather than plastic ones, the vet says. So I will do that today. I guess it's some kind of infection he has so this should clear it up. Anna is okay and doesn't have it.

I have something fun I am going to do starting tomorrow. I am going to go into our kids church for the 4 and 5 year olds and read a few stories to them during part of their church time. I took some coloring pages and some boxed birthday cards for kids in to the young woman who runs the kids church, Malia. She is about 26 and a real sweetheart. We were talking, and she said "if you would ever love to come in and hang out or do crafts with us, it would be fun, I can tell you really enjoy little kids"...I said what I really like is to read outloud to them, so she said "Oh, you could be the Storybook Lady!" and what we've worked out is I am going to every few weeks and dress up a little like a princess (I have a tiara and a feather boa I can use!!) and then come in and read a few stories outloud....I have "Never Tease A Weasel" as my first one tomorrow...I read that to my stepkids and older granddaughters when they were all little and they loved it. I think it will be fun. I haven't really been doing much volunteer-wise at church for awhile, except the ladies small group I host every two weeks, and there's about 3 to 4 of us regularly in that. That has been fine. But I don't get to see all the grandkids a lot on a regular basis, so this will be a fun time to spend with an age group I really enjoy, the 4 to 5's. I will have to have a picture taken so I can post!

I can't resist a few more!

Twins

New twins pictures! Cindy Lou Who x two!

These little grandgirls are growing so fast! They are 16 months old already!

I think they look a lot like their Grandpa Tim!

I love the picture with the frowny look! I can so relate!! :-)

Thank you Imogen!

The very kind and lovely Imogen put together a Polyvore of outfits that work well with my A body shape (smaller on the top, larger on the bottom, or also called the 'pear' shape). Check out the lovely outfits and ideas she put together for me on her blog!
Thank you, Imogen!

Happy Birthday Mr. Tank!

Wow! Tank is one today! He's the smiley one on the right! And Anna was five on March 11th....I was trying to find some kids party hats to put on the dogs and take pictures this week, but didn't see any at the Dollar Tree when I went over there Wednesday. I'll keep looking. We got the dogs some big rawhide chewy bones for their birthdays. I got Tim some jeans he wanted (he just couldn't give me any ideas except a new hunting rifle and I wasn't going to run out and get that!) and we are going out for Italian dinner tonight to celebrate his birthday too, which was also March 11th. Tim isn't as big of a reader as I am, he probably reads a few novels a year where I have at least three books going at once. He's just tough to figure out what to get for a present. He did need some new jeans for work so that's what I went with. He still has the Bass Pro gift card I gave him last year to use too!

My Grandma Phyllis

This is my paternal grandmother, Phyllis. She died at age 45 when I was almost 2 years old, in 1959. These are pictures of her before she became ill with rheumatoid arthritis in her mid 30's. I don't remember her at all. I wish I did, because I think I look a lot like her. One thing my dad told me about her was that she did loved clothes and accessories! She owned her own beauty shop, sold Merle Norman cosmetics, was the first woman president of the Saddle Club in Cut Bank, Montana, loved to ride horses, and paint with oil colors. My mother said she had strong opinions. If Phyllis didn't like you, that was it. But to those she loved, she was generous to a fault. When I was born, I was the first grandchild on my dad's side. Apparently, my grandma Phyllis bought me so many toys and clothes and things like rocking horses and high chairs and bath tubs that my parents had to tell her to stop because their tiny house had no more room. She's a mystery to me. She's one person I really wish I would have been able to know. Once, I saw a picture of her wearing a red skirt suit with leopard faux fur trim on the collar and cuffs and buttons of the jacket. My kind of suit! I actually have one of her half-slips. It's a Vanity Fair brand, I believe, a mocha colored slip with brown lace overlay. Beautiful. And, I have one of her purses. I'll have to take a picture. It's gorgeous. Black and wine-colored velvet, a doctor's bag type purse. In perfect condition. I've used it a few times, but not often, as it's so pretty. I should use it more, especially in the winter. I have already lived five years longer than my grandma Phyllis. I think about her now and then, the grandma I never knew.

There's a few pictures of me with her. This is one of them. You can see how she changed when she got sick with the RA. My dad said she was on different medications that would make her bloated, maybe steriod type medications. She had trouble putting on her nylons and clothes because her joints hurt so much. I think about how difficult that must have been. Now, in 2009, there are probably a lot of medications that would be of more help to her living a more comfortable life. But 50 years ago or so, not so much.

Ready for a new week!

We had snow this weekend, and although the streets are clear right now, I have snow on my car and it's super cold outside, in the low 30's, which is really cold for us this time of year! We really have had a lot of snow this year. Tim and I went over to my mom and stepdad's Saturday, as it's Fritz's birthday tomorrow and Tim's on Wednesday, so we went out to lunch at a Mexican restaurant by their house. It was snowing like crazy driving up there, but by the time we left the snow melted. Very cold outside though. I've been knitting this weekend, making some baby hats for a friend who is due any day with a baby girl. She lives in California, so I am trying to get the hats done soon to send. The problem is, I have been knitting so much lately, my right arm is sore, so I need to rest it for awhile.

Tim's 56th birthday is Wednesday. I cannot think for the life of me what to get him! Last year I got him a Bass Pro gift card, but he still hasn't used it yet! He usually likes anything to do with fishing or hunting, so I go the gift card route with Cabelas or the like. I got him some new clothes for Christmas so he doesn't need clothes. He is a tough one to buy presents for. Anna will be five also on March 11th and Tank will be one on March 13th!

Wordless Wednesday

A Dream Getaway!

Grangeville Idaho Home on Acreage For Sale By Owner.

Tim and I have friends who live near Grangeville, Idaho, and we've been there once. It's a fisherman's paradise with Snake and Salmon Rivers to name a few, and also a hunter's dream. Tim would love nothing more than to retire in this area. I was looking at real estate in the area and found this listing....I could handle living in this house, even if there isn't a mall nearby!! :-)