Things are Changing, I'm Re-Arranging

This just happens to be my favorite room in the house. This little room is chock full of memories and good times. When my girls were still living at home this was Laci's bedroom. Later, after she got married and moved out, this room changed into a toy room/office. I had a family home daycare for almost 5 years. When I first opened my daycare I painted fun stuff on all the walls. This was our room. It has been a cheerful and playful room for over a dozen kids, if you include the grand kids. This room hosted playtime, movie time, learning time, and nap time, just to name a few. The colors were bright and cheerful for stimulation for the little ones, and they LOVED it!

This is our "family tree". My grandson Braeden used his little hands to paint the sun above the tree. The sweet little butterfly has a footprint of one of my special little babies. She was born at 27 weeks. She came to me on the day she turned 4 months old, such a tiny little thing with a HUGE opinion! She is a very well adjusted little girl that has caught up to her birth age. All of the other kids that were left in my care have their hands and feet in the leaves of the family tree, with the age they were at the time we added them. The base of the tree has most of my grand kids hands and feet on the flowers and leaves. (I totally missed putting the twins on the wall!)I couldn't resist "carving" the hub's and my initials in the tree!
This rainbow is another favorite of mine.

I am a seeker of rainbows after the storm! Mr. Moonand Ms. Sunshine have had this wall as their home. Things are changing, and I'm re-arranging. I do have to say, I'm gonna miss these walls! But ...I'm excited for the change. I'll be posting soon, with the new look!

Headlines

Have you ever made front page headlines of the Los Angeles Times and the Glendale News Press?

I have, along with my brothers and our Grandma. In fact, these headlines, and this newspaper is 45 years old. We were walking with our Grandma down Brand Blvd on our way to the dentist. A woman driving down the street blacked out and her car went out of control and hit Grandma, Tom, and me . My other brother Mike, was running ahead and was not hit. This woman was pregnant and was having spells where she would black out. She was not supposed to be driving! Grandma had major bruising on her legs. Tom and I spent the good part of the month in Children's Hospital. Luckily, we had some major injuries, but nothing that time wouldn't heal. So, that's what I was doing 45 years ago, on this day!

Superbowl Sunday

For Superbowl Sunday we went to Ryan and Terri's house. This was the first time we have been there since they moved in. They have a very nice 5 bedroom home. It's the perfect size for their family of 5. The kids all have their own room and Terri has a room for her office, perfect! This poster was perfect too, what a fun party decoration. Christie, Terri's friend made it for them, so fun. They had lots of friends and family over to watch the game, Ryan is a huge Colts fan. Terri's brother John, barbecued awesome chicken wings. He had two kinds, the Jerk Wings were my favorite, so yummy!!! The table was filled to edges with all kinds of food .
I couldn't pass up the chance to take a few pictures of the girls. Kelsea and Allie.
Same girls, all giggles.
Allie and Mackenzi, sober....

...and with shy smiles.

What a fun day we had.

Thanks Ryan and Terri for the invite!

Rain

There is an old song that says something about... "It never rains in Southern California, but girl they don't warn ya, it pours, man it pours!" We have had a nice beginning to the rainy season. We need the rain desperately! The planter in our front yard is flooded. It's hard to see in this blurry photo though. For many years I have had an awesome rain gauge. Several years ago my last one had served us well and met the trash can. I have been looking for the same kind for several years since. On our last trip to visit my parents we went to town to the nursery, yeah...they had it! I was so excited for the rain to come. When it rains I empty the gauge every morning at 7am. This was our reading this morning!

I love the rain....and my new rain gauge!