An Afternoon With the Fam

Sure have been enjoying the holidays with my family..

The other day, one of my sisters hosted a family celebration for little Max.

My sister sure does know how to throw a party...

The vintage baby decor came out.

A reflection of Adeline, Judy and Emma

And the stars and moon glowed.



Oh, the food was so scrumptious.

And so was the dessert (does dessert count as "food"?).

A vintage "Bambi" in the center of a raspberry adorned cheesecake.

Max was showered with so much love ...

Four generations...how cool is that?

Sweet "lunar" babe.

Christmas Past and Present

MERRY CHRISTMAS...

pics from my past ...

and ones from the present

Hope this season finds you filled with much joy and happiness...

and with family gathered round.

Two Babes

Here is my first born daughter Christmas day the day we brought her home from the hospital.



Almost twenty eight years later, little Max, Sophie's first born son, the day before he goes home from the hospital. Do you see any resemblance? I sure do.

A Day In Room 6

Sunday night, after having a most delicious dinner at our house, Mrs. Shoe's water broke.

After a few hours, Mr. and Mrs. Shoe headed to the Lucille Packard Children's Hospital and she was admitted to Room 6.

After 16 hours of hard strong labor, Krista the most wonderful delivery nurse was assigned to Room 6. She was one awesome nurse!

Check out her cool shoes...

She prepared Max's bed and the tools for the doctors...

And helped Mrs. Shoe through two and one half hours of pushing ...

At the end, a team of women doctors swooped in...

And helped deliver my seven pound seven ounce twenty inch baby grandson at ten twenty-two on the twelfth month and twentieth day of the longest night of the the year under a most special eclipse of the moon...

Life is sweet.

A White Christmas

I like to decorate our living room in shades of white...

So, I've started with this arrangement...

Since it is rainy outside

I will spend the day....

clearing , decorating ...

and ushering in the spirit of Christmas.

Quilt for the Babe

A quilt for little baby Shoe... the front:

And the back:

Completed!

Done. Finished.
Just in time to be given to the mom to be.
Here is Mrs. Shoe... cute as a button.
Oh... how I can't wait to meet that wee little babe.
Just a little more than two weeks to go.
I feel like a little kid
Anxiously awaiting the arrival of Christmas.

How about a bit of rockin'

And rolling...

So we can get that show on the road.

Our Family Tree

My parents have seven living children (six girls and one boy)

They are the grandparents of ten grandkids (four girls and six boys)

And the great grandparents of three (soon to be four) great grandchildren (one girl and three boys)

We set up this glowing Christmas tree in their family room adorned with pictures of their beloved clan.

I know I am a bit biased, but I have the best parents on the planet...

Change

How are you with change?

No..no...not that kind of change!
I am talking about "the act, process, or result of altering or modifying"
You know, when you do something different.

Yesterday, I decided on a big change.
This change is something I haven't had for at least 45 years.
I was surprised how quickly I decided to go ahead with it.

For sometimes, change can be hard.

Since this change isn't permanent.
It can be fixed if it is really bad.
Are you intrigued?
Do you want to know what happened?
First I want someone in my family to notice...
I am waiting.

Are They Up Yet?

Have you decorated for Christmas ?

Maybe, a better question is, "Do you want to decorate?"

I am in a sorry state...

For this is how far I've gotten:

A stack of ornament boxes

A bare tree in its stand (no twinkly lights yet either)

And a wreath on the front door

(which I have been growing all summer...I love succulents)

So glad it is raining...

Perfect weather to decorate.

The Domino Effect

It all started with this twin solid maple bed.


You might think this is just a plain ol' ordinary bed
Not to me. No siree.
This is one very special bed
For it is the bed I slept in as a young girl living in Palo Alto
It has an identical twin since it is part of a bunkbed set
When we moved to Los Altos my younger siblings slept in the bed
At one time or another, each of my three children slept in the bed
Since I have changed the "bedroom" into a sewing room
I needed to find a new home for the bed
It was just taking up too much space
I wanted it to go to a good family
So I asked Mr. and Mrs. Shoe
Remember the two will soon welcome a little Shoe
And the little guy would someday need a bed
When he graduates from a crib
But unfortunately no takers
They suggested I sell it on Craigslist
Little do they realize my sentimentality for this bed

My sister suggested that I move the bed into the larger bedroom
So I put Plan B into motion..
Before I could move the bed I had to first....
Empty the large bookcase in the larger bedroom
Move the large bookcase in the larger bedroom away from the wall
Then move the dresser to where the large bookcase used to be
Next take apart the bed and move it to where the dresser was
Then empty and move the small bookcase in the sewing room
Next move the large bookcase to where the small bookcase was
Then move the small bookcase next to the newly moved bed
Next move in the antique armoire given to me by another sister
And place it in the corner
Next move the doctor's cabinet from the kitchen
And place it next to the black/white enamel topped table
Move the teak drop leaf table to the opposite wall
And turn the large white IKEA armoire ninety degrees
Whew..more than a few drops of sweat on my brow
And a wee bit strain on the back
How about a peak of my sewing room now?
Drum roll please...
Tada....




Check out the plentiful areas for storage
And the unimpeded space to cut, create and sew...
Just need to hook up the tune machine and the television
If you come by for a visit you'll hear some humming
And see some smokin' machines
And don't be a bit surprised if it is difficult to pry me outta here

It Finally Turned

The maple tree outside my front door
Has finally turned ablaze in red/orange.
Heavy rain is predicted
So I expect the tenaciously clinging leaves will be battered by the drops
And the branches will be bare by week's end.
My metal rake is standing on the sidelines
Ready to be put to work.

When we moved in 24 years ago, this tree had been heavily pruned and the top of the branches were just above the gutters on the house.

This is also the tree I had to climb (while 6 months pregnant) to reach a two year old son who had climbed up the tree and onto the roof.

I happened to see his little legs dangling off the roof . A bit scary.

The Suitcase

Love the handle..they just don't make cases like this anymore.

The inside looks just as good as the outside considering how much it was used!

This is no ordinary suitcase.

This one is special.

My mother purchased a set of three before she was married...

Each providing good service for my family

Carrying all sorts of things.

Can you imagine the places it has been during its 63 years.....

on my parent's honeymoon

on the many business trips taken by my father

and on family vacations

One day my mother put the three cases out on the front porch

To be collected by the Goodwill
I happened to stop by for a visit

And saved just the one.

Oh how I wish I had retrieved all three!

It sits high on a shelf...in a special regal spot...

And now contains precious items from my past.

A Pat On The Back

I am giving myself a pat on the back.
You see, I got myself off the couch

After working all day

And got my bod over to the pool

Did you hear that?

I donned a swimsuit at 8:30 PM

Dashed from the warm locker room

100 feet of nice chilly 48 degrees cold

And slid into the pool

(must I remind you... this is an outdoor pool)

The first 25 yards were a bit shocking to the system

But the remaining 1475 felt good

Don't you think I deserve a pat on the back?

Well, I think I do....

Thank you very much

Did You See The Game?

The invasion of the Beavers

What a gorgeous evening sky!

What a fun Saturday night at the Stanford stadium.

That is, unless you are an Oregon State fan.
Those beavers just couldn't gnaw into any kind of a groove.

I sat next to this brave fan..

Who dressed as beaver and

Sat in a sea of Cardinal red.
Oh those Cardinals ...
Boy did they shine...

In spite of a day of cloudy skies and rainy weather.

Thirty eight zip.
And what better way to celebrate the night...

Than to dance to the tunes of the band and with a tree.

Pic courtesy of my sistah.

These are random people ...I have no clue who they are. Just wanted a pic of the adorable tree.

10 Favorites The Day After

What a wonderful turkey day.

Here are my top 10 faves ...

The No. 1 favorite is being with my family. No question about it. They are THE BEST.

No. 2 is the turkey. This is the one and only day I love to eat turkey... like off the bone. The turkey sandwiches I eat all year long where the meat is processed and sliced thin doesn't really count.

No. 3 is the jello. I grew up eating jello, especially for our Sunday dinner. Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners are pretty much the only time I eat jello now. Love the layered jello with lots of fruit and decadent stuff mixed in.

No. 4 is the dessert. Pumpkin pie is the numero uno dessert for Thanksgiving. It would not quite be Thanksgiving without pumpkin pie. It was scrumptious. We had a bonus dessert from my oldest sister...a spice bundt cake. The two together were out of this world.

No. 5 is the stuffing...a most particular recipe prepared by my brother. Cornbread with sausage and all sorts delish ingredients. Mmmmm good.

No. 6 is the homemade parker house rolls. We make rolls from scratch in my family. The only true way to have rolls. My most favorite recipe is found in the Lion House Cookbook. I've tried them all, and I like this one the best. Check out the rolls from last night here.

No. 7 is the yams. My mother makes the perfect yams...or are they sweet potatoes? Not sure what the difference is. But they were scrumptious.

No. 8 is the autumnal (first time I heard that word was from Martha Stewart) colors. My sister picked up flowers from the farmer's market and I picked foilage from my backyard. Put the two together and produced this.

No. 9 is eating the leftovers. Had this for lunch....was almost as good as last night.

No. 10 Getting up early in the am to join the crowds to take advantage of the door buster deals. Went to Walmart...that crazy suffocating place...to see if I could pick up a tv for 98 bucks. They were long gone. I guess I saved myself some $.

T - Day Decor

T-Day decorations are up at the Z household.

Made these "Amish" Pilgrims 15 years ago and they join us every year at this time.

Mr. and Mrs. Pilgrim adorning the fireplace mantel.

Two medicine brown bottles were fetched at an antique store in SF.

Got the heart shaped bottle from an estate...it is from "Paul Masson Winery"

which has been gone for over 20 years (so it is OLD).

Now all we need is the turkey!