Memorial Day

My husband Bob wrote this yesterday and posted it on

Facebook. I moved me so much. I remember that

trip so well. The overwhelming sadness looking

across all those tombstones. I looked at it

through a mothers eyes. Those boys. The sacrifice.

The pride and sadness leaving me almost

breathless. I just stood among them saying

a prayer for them. To let them know,

no, they were not forgotten.

So here is what he wrote, and I think it says it all:

There are 2 holidays a year that mean the most

to me, no, not Christmas or my Birthday.

They are Memorial Day and Veterans Day.

Today is Memorial Day. A day set

aside to remember those who died

serving our country past and present.

A couple of years ago I went to the

American cemetery in Luxemburg.

It’s where General Patton is buried, along

with many of his troops

I was excited to go. It turned out to be

one of my most saddest days.

Overlooking THOUSANDS of headstones marking

the bullet ridden and blown up bodies,

of those who sacrificed their lives to keep us free.

It is only one, of many American cemeteries in

Europe. Tears flowed as I saw the names.

Up to then, they were “those who died in service” .

They never came home.

Please don’t treat this holiday as just another

3 day weekend. Take time to reflect.

Reflect on those who died in all our wars declared

or not. Do we deserve their sacrifice ?

Don’t take our freedom for granted.

Robert Tremberth

ruffles and alien green

I have been having so much fun sewing

up an outfit for my grandaughter Olivia.

I had found the cutest fabric at Joanns,

so summery with watermelon and cherries,

a pretty blue, fell in love when I saw it.

Knew it was perfect for Olivia.

So here it is, ruffles ruffles and more

ruffles. I love the double ruffles on the pants.

I'm just hoping they fit. I had her measurements

but...well...sometimes I end up a little off with

them! ha!

Don't ya love the color?

I have got a thing for fabric with cherries on it

now. I got another piece thats a soft yellow

with cherries and a piece of Mary Engelbreit

with all her fun little things on it plus cherries.

Dont know what I'm making with the fabric

yet, but then alllll the fabric I have is

in the waiting stage.

And the alien green. Well. I'm finally back on

the road. I have not really driven since Dec. '06.

Why, well between Dec. '06 and Sept. 07 I had

5 spinal surgeries. Now I'm healed, steady, pain

more or less under control and ready to venture

out on my own. As our other two cars are both

stick shifts, I really could not drive them. My

right side is a bit weak and gets very painful

very easily. So I needed a manual. And Bob

got me one! yippeeeee......Don't ya love it!

Its alien green which I think is funny as

all get out. And its not low, has a high

door frame so I don't whack my head..

I'm in love....and I'm back on the road...

yippee yippee yippee and howdy do!

I'm thankful Bob got me my Soul!

I'm thankful I am doing so much better.

I'm thankful my son David and his family are visiting next weekend.

I'm thankful I finally get to meet my new step grandson

I'm thankful David has such a wonderful little family now

I'm thankful the air conditioner just clicked on.

I'm thankful there is hershey chocolate with almonds

in the freezer..

I'm thankful for you!

bachelorette, kimoni pjs and strawberry shortcake

Wow, just finished watching the Bachelorette.

What fun! But I felt so bad for her, she seemed

to be freezing her fanny off the whole night!

Ya think she would have worn a shawl of something.

But having the guys offer their jackets was nice

too ha! Wonder if all the different colognes

gave her a headache after awhile? And

I thought that the very last guy she chose

looked an awful like the Jake from the last

show. Ya think? There was only one that gave

me a 'ew what a creep' feeling. That Craig M. I think it

was. The one who argued about putting the name

in the box. Something about him, an angry look,

just set off the ew factor. Any body else get that?

I can't wait for next week. I mean

besides loving the show, there isn't alot on I want

to watch right now. Project runway is done, Survivor

is over, I didn't get Lost but its done too. I mean so

many of my favs are done for awhile so its nice to

get something else fun to watch.

Yes, I admit, I watch ALOT of t.v. And really alot

at night. Bob is a night worker. He does 10hr nights

which are great really, but sometimes the nights are

really quiet and lonely. I do have the dogs but

when I talk to them, they just look at me like,

shhhhh, I'm sleeping here. And my sewing room is

off limits after 10. And this is

silly, but the birds cage is in there and she goes to

bed at 10. ha! Told you it was silly.

I have finally finished the kimono pj's. I love

the fabric. Was just so light and soft. Thought it

would make wonderful summertime jammies.

But man, next time I will find a better place

to take the pictures. The green walls did not

help with the photos no matter how I touched

them and messed with them I could not

get it to look right. But here they are:

Oh, ya like my new 'sewing room' plaque?

I put a small crochet flower where I sewed the tie on.

This is my next project, a warm flannel blankie for my

grandaughter Olivia. She is turning 4 very soon.

And being 4 is so important don't ya know!

Its the year before kindergarten. And your so

much older than your baby brother now!

You can teach him so many new things cuz

being 4 means your a big girl!

Here is our sweet girl posing the robe

I made for her.

I'm love cutting that last thread on a project!

I love wrapping birthday presents!

I love tucking away special presents for special people

I love shopping early

I love hersheys with almonds

I love pg tips tea

I'm thankful for my new email pal Kjirsten

I'm thankful for the cool days we are still having

I'm thankful our cherry tree FINALLY has fruit

I'm thank for all the apples on our trees

I'm thankful for today

love you!

Sunday Morning

A sweet blogger, Rachel over at Sew Ambitious

gave me this sweet award! I was sooo surprised!

And to think I was going to quit blogging a few

months ago!

So I guess what goes along with this award is to

tell you a few things about myself...ahem...ok,

well, here goes....

1. I am completely head over heels in love

with my hubby Bob

2. I have 3 kids, 2 step~daughters and 2 adopted daughters.

3. I LOVE reading

4. My newest toy is my Kindle...its really neat

5. I love to sew...sewing books, anything to do with sewing

6. Am addicted to genealogy

7. Love to restore old photos

8. I have 6 of the cutest grandkids you've ever seen.

9 I have had scoliosis/flatback syndrome

10. LOVE LOVE LOVE reading all you talented

peoples blogs!

I guess that will work for a quick sum up of me~

I will pass this award on in the morning, well later

in the morning, its now just 4am...ugh.

I would like to ask for any and all prayers for my

son~in~law Greg who is on his third tour in Iraq.

He is the son~in~law anybody would be so thankful

to have. He is a firefighter in the USAF. And he

makes my daughter so happy.

Ok, am off to see if I can get back to sleep, Rachel,

thanks again for the sweet award! You made my day!

Monday monday

Monday's been here and is almost gone, so where

did the weekend go? Saturday I asked Bob to

take me out to the local thrift stores to see if

we could find any treasures. WE had a pretty

good time smooshing through all the goodies.

I was pleased with our few finds, one brand

new Carters little boy crib sheet which I

am using for the fabric. Just is too cute.

And a Disney dalmations plate that

has two little sections in it. No scratches!

So I was happy.

Sunday I was completely tuckered from all

the store hopping Saturday. Actually I think

alot of it was from the storm that was blowing

in. Weather changes wreck havoc on my back.

And cloudy dreary weather makes me ache

to the core. I just stay warm and quiet

and its ok. Sorta.

Today I worked on a pair of Kimono pj'

for the little lady getting the diaper bag.

Love the fabric, bright sunshinny yellow

flowers with bits of pink. Adorable!

Of course, it was the usual put a seam

in, pull a seam out. I can make these

simple things but always manage to

mess up someway! ha!

As I was reading my way through all

my favorite blogs today, I saw it was

game day! And I didn't know! :-{

Today was show us your yellow. How

fun! I am going to be sure to try and

get into next weeks, what ever it

might be!

I'm thankful Bob likes going thriftstore

hopping too!

I'm love a bargain!

I'm thankful for quiet days on heating pads.

I love all the wonderful blogs out there!

I'm thankful my sil's tour is 4 mo instead of 6.

I love chocolate covered raisens.

I'm thankful my daughter married such a wonderful

man

I love my family

I love you!

Finally finished!

I started this a few weeks ago for a sweet little girl

who is about to turn 2 years old. Her mama said

she is starting to get intersted in her baby dolls

so I thought she would enjoy having something

to stuff all the fun stuff that goes with babies dolls in.

Besides, a girl CANNOT have enough purses and totes.

So here it is. A diaper bag for a toddler. There are

pockets on both sides plus one large one inside.

I love love love the fabric. Its well over

15 years old. I have made clothes for cabbage patch

dolls with it. A cute little dress for a grandaughter,

and now after it has been safely stored for so long

a diaper bag for a little mama!

And a soon to be displayed sun hat!

There is a mistake with the handles. oops! But when

I took a good look at it, I decided I liked it. I think you

will be able to find it if you look at the pictures

carefully. Especially the last one.

Here is a closeup of the flower. Cute huh? The button

is a Daisy Kingdom one. I adore those buttons.

The flower is my pride and joy. The first one I managed

to make that look good. Thank you all of you who have

posted tutorials on making fabric flowers. I swear I have

read darn near every last one trying to make one that

looked good. I finally pulled up a tutorial, sat here in

front of the computer and followed step by step..

and ta~da I DID IT!

A shot of the inside and the pocket. The doll is to give

you a better idea of the size, she is 10" long.

Just had to set it up with the doll and bottle and cup.

I love it so much. I think its cuz I miss having a little

girl in the house. Their stuff is just too cute.

One last shot just because. I'm really happy

it turned out so good. Now if the sun bonnet

turns out as nice, it will be great and I will

have to do my happy dance!

I decided to measure the bag, its 15 1/2" long

and 7" hi. Thats with folded top.

I'm still recovering from our lastest trip.

Can't get caught up on my sleep! ha!

But then I always have loved a good nap.

I love buttons and bows

I love freckled noses in the shade of a sun bonnet

I love tea parties that are held on my sewing basket

I love eyelet lace, the bigger the better

I love small handmade crochet flowers

I love my collection of threads

I love full bobbins

I love getting the needle threaded first attempt

I love the smell of orange blossoms

I love you!

What a nice weekend!

Just a quick note to say our trip to Reno was the best.

It was beautiful there. 70ish out with a mild breeze

that brought cool air off the surrounding mountains

that were still covered in snow. Beautiful! The casinos

and hotels there should have more windows.

One thing that really got my goat was the lack

of handicapped services. Ridiculous! We arrived

and headed straight to the brunch, we were

so hungry! I was on my scooter cuz my hips

were all froze up from the drive. We head over

and ta~da, no ramp! One small little elevator for

us that of course was out of service. So Bob carried

my scooter up while I held on to the banister and

hauled my heavy screamin' hips up 'em! Lunch was

nice. Great selection, nothing heavy, yummy deserts!

So we head on out to check out our room. ha! Elevator

still on the fritz, so we did complain to the man that

runs the elevator. He just said, "sorry about that",

watched Bob pick up my scooter, me grab the rail

again, and as we walked away he said nothing more.

I really would have appreciated his arm for balance

cuz going down is harder than up for me. That was

pretty much the way it was the whole time we

were there. I am not happy about it at all. At least

I can walk, there are so many who can't and it just

was not fair for them. I am going to send them a

note later telling them.

Enough of the complaining. I said earlier we played

a little. And a little I did. My fav was my 18cent

bet that paid off with $125!!! OH how we laughed!

We headed home Sat. Evening tuckered out.

Yesterday was my birthday and all my kids

called and I loved it. Bob got me my favorite

Cold Stone Strawberry cheesecake ice cream cake.

Its just delishhhhhh! yum yum yum. Guess I will worry

about losing weight later! ha!

I'm thankful for getting to talk with all the kids.

I'm thankful for ColdStone!

I'm thankful for brownsugar honey glazed ham.

I'm thankful for spring rainshowers.

I'm thankful I finished that diaper bag!

I'm thankful I have mastered the cloth flower!

I'm thankful for hugs.

I'm thankful for Calvin who wants to come see his mummmy *me*!

I'm thankful Tori wants to come for a visit again!

I'm thankful for all of you!

Loves you!

I love new toys!

The other day Bob came running into the house

with a package in his hand. He really caught me

off guard cuz he doesn't really hurry and any

packages that come he just sets them on the

table and says 'more ebay'. ha!

Not today!!! Nope! He surprised me with an

early birthday present!

a Kindle2!!!

I love it! I love him! I love it!

Its so darned easy to operate to. And buying books

is the easiest its ever been. Just a few clicks your

in Amazon browsing books. And LOTS of people

must purchase books by mistake because you can

immediately cancel a purchase. Which was one

of the first things I had to do. Ha! what a goof.

But its great. Got 2 books so far. One

Dean Koontz, one Stephen King. and on

Sale too! If your a reader I really recommend this.

I always have my nose in a book. And I more often

than not have 2 or 3 books going at the same

time. Nutz I know.

As my birthday and mothers day fall on the

same day this year, Bob is running away with

me to Reno tomorrow morning. Just going to

stay the one night and come home late Sat. These little

one night trips are so much fun. We don't go

party it up or anything. Just play a little,

people watch, find a yummy meal, laugh and

be silly and enjoy each others company.

Life is so good! I am blessed.

I'm thankful I learned how to make flowers!

I'm thankful its a beautiful day today!

I'm thankful Bob picked up my scripts for me this a.m.

I'm thankful I was able to catch an extra hours snooze!

I'm thankful I have such wonderful memories of family.

I'm thankful for my family.

Love You!

thinking about Mothers day

I've been thinking about mothers day alot

this year. Thinking how proud I am of our

daughters, their being such good mommies.

I get so tickled watching them with the kids.

Sometimes hiding how hard I actually

am laughing when the grandkids do

something and I think, ohhhhh man,

you so deserveyour kid doing

that too YOU!

Oh the other hand. I miss my mom something

terrible. I admit after this length of time,

some 15 years she's been gone, there are

days where she does not come to mind.

But she's right here with me. Laughing with me

when I realize I have her hands. Her knees.

Like to craft like her. Look like her. Sound like her.

There's days when I swear its her

talking and not me. I love it. But when those

days happen underneath it all, I get sad.

I miss my mom. I still want to call her and

tell her things. Sometimes I will actually catch

myself heading to the phone. So I will have a small

talk with her, knowing she saw and heard

it all anyways. I believe in angels.

And I believe my mom is one.

Here are a few pictures from long ago when my

mom was just a girl and growing into a woman.

Here is my mom, Barbara, and her grandma,

Charlotte Its in L.A. County, Cal. 1932.

Isn't it just the sweetest little picture?

Next is my mom leaning onthe handlebars

of her bicycle with her little brother

Jimmy sitting behind her. Thats her mom,

Clara, standing behind the both of them,

probably making sure they behaved for the

picture. I think this was about 1936.

Mom was such a beautiful young woman.

She was a teen in this picture. Just around

the time she met dad. Yes her eyes were as

blue as could be. When she was this age,

she like to roller skate. In fact she did for

years. I remember her taking me to the

rink with her when I was small. She loved that

time for herself. I can see her in my mind

skating, turning, one leg up. I remember

even then thinking momma's pretty!

I think she is so cute here. She is married and

expecting her first baby! My sister, Teri.

They were living in Culver City then. Her cute

little smile here, I think it makes her look so

happy. Boy little did she know what she had in

store for herelf with 2 daughers in her future! ha!

I'm thankful there is a special day for mothers!

I'm thankful I was blessed with my 2 boys and a girl!

I'm thankful that I was blessed with 2 step daughters.

I'm thankful that we were able to adopt 2 daughters!

I'm thankful we made it through unscathed with all

those daughters!

I'm thankful my rosebushes have an overabundance

of blooms on them this year!

I'm thankful Bob is growing 'salsa' out back this

year!

I'm thankful I like salsa

I'm thankful I make a good salsa.

I'm thankful Bob likes to grow 'salsa'

Love to you all!

Mini reunion

Yesterday we drove out to Tracey for a

'mini~reunion' of sorts. Most of Bob's

elderly aunts and uncles were in

attendance including a few cousins and his mom.

Its always so much fun to gather 'round with

them all. So much laughter, family stories,

a little singing by Uncle Paul, and of course

all the munchy food one could want in one day.

I remembered to bring my laptop along

too. I have the family tree downloaded

on to it also, and what better time than

a family reunion to fill in alot of blanks,

correct a few, just a few, errors and share

what wonderful info I have found on the family.

Or at least this branch!

It was great! I love genealogy. Its a passion.

And sometimes I call it my little addiction.

ha! And what goes along with genealogy

are photos. OH the old photos. Treasures.

Just priceless. I'm a bit of a beast when

it comes to how people care for their photos.

No, not the digital ones silly. Those old

wonderful black and whites. The ecru ones.

The ones that might have just babys sweet

cheeks pinked lightly. Those photos!

Now hear me and hear me well. If you

have them stored in one of those old

albums that have the sticky pages get

them out. You know, you put them on

the page, they stick and you flap back over

the clear top on them? Well they have acid

in them and will eat up them photos. Make

them nasty looking. And sometimes they

do not like to get unstuck from them.

bad bad bad. Ok, got that off my chest.

I managed to collect a new 'old' picture

which I have yet to scan and get posted

in Ancestry. Its cute too. Its the aunts and

uncles as kids. Love it.

One of the aunts came in from Pheonix, one

from So. Cal. the rest were in the area. Of

course the frailest lived the farthest away.

She is so spunky! Kept elbowing her sister

and smartin' off. Just had us rollin'. What

a fun day.

Besides that, not alot going on. Still working

on the little girl diaper bag. Man this is

taking a while! ha! One of my favorite

bloggers is back, hi Kjristen. yippee.

I'm thankful for family reunions!

for old family photos.

I'm thankful for books.

for my love of reading.

for my kindle!

for clean linen candles

for sweet smelling fabric softner.

I'm thankful for all of you!

have YOU done your family

tree?????