Family Heirloom

My Grandma Shirley and Grandpa Curtis were married September 20, 1948 in Logan, Utah.

Grandma wore a beautiful long-sleeved ivory satin gown and a mother-of-pearl tiara with her mid-length veil.

 

On February 16, 2002, I wore my grandmother's dress when Jeff and I were married in the Raleigh, NC LDS Temple.  My mom replaced the veil with a longer one and made some minor modifications to the dress.  (I made some major modifications to my body.  Grandma was some kind of skinny.)  I was so honored to wear Grandma's wedding dress and to have both Grandma and Grandpa with us in the temple that day.

 

As soon as the reception that night was over, Grandma Shirley took the dress back to her home in Pocatello, Idaho.  A few years later, Grandma gave the dress to my cousin, Dannel, to wear for her wedding.  Dannel didn't end up wearing it and she graciously agreed to let me keep it.  My mom sent it to me last month and it was the first time I'd seen it since my wedding day.

 

A couple of weeks ago, I borrowed my friend Kari-Lynn's camera and took Chloe to my friend Jen's beautiful historic home for a very special photo shoot.  I told Chloe there was a special surprise in the box.

 

When I told her what was inside, she couldn't wait to open it.

 

 

For years Chloe has looked at my wedding pictures and referred to this dress as my "princess dress."  She was thrilled when I told her she could try it on. 

 

 Jen took the camera while I helped Chloe into the petticoat and dress.

 

When we let her look in the mirror, she couldn't stop smiling and giggling.

 

I took her to the balcony for some portraits.

 

It reminded me of the balcony at Peace College where my sister, Katy, had taken my bridal portraits nearly 12 years earlier.

 

 

 

Chloe loved seeing pictures of her mother and great-grandmother in the same wedding dress. 

 

I loved that there was a lovely chaise in Jen's daughter's bedroom.

 

 

 

 

After a while it got a little warm outside, so Chloe took off the dress and played around in the veil.

 

 

 

 

This was a very special afternoon for both of us and I'm so grateful to the kind women who made it possible.  I recognize that this wedding dress is a family heirloom and as such, it has special meaning not just to me, but to many others.  So if any of my siblings or cousins are interested in sharing it with their children, I'd be more than happy to do this all over again.

It's the Great Pumpkin Patch

This morning Miles and I met our playgroup at Stuckmeyer's pumpkin patch.  There was a chill in the air and the leaves are starting to turn colors.  It's Fall, ya'll!

Always with the finger guns.

Cutest punkin in the patch.

 

Taking my kids to the pumpkin patch every year is one of my favorite things.  It's going to be weird next year when all of them are in school.  I would go watch kids at the pumpkin patch by myself, but there's a word for people like that and it's . . . not . . . nice.  I realized the other day that most of what I do with the kids would just be plain old sad if I did them alone.  (Like yesterday when we made rainbow loom bracelets while watching reruns of Gilmore Girls. Waste of time if I'm alone.  Add kids and I'm a Fun Mom.  Winning!)

 

 

All I can do is hold on tight and enjoy the journey

 

Rick Riordan (Rye-ore-dun)

Two months ago I found out Rick Riordan was going to be at the county library and I have felt like the Lady Who Loves Surprises on SNL ever since.  Rick Riordan is one of Harrison's favorite authors and I knew that going to the event would blow my son's mind.  Jeff bought the tickets a month ago (they sold out in three hours), but we waited to tell Harrison until an hour before the event.  He was one happy kid!  He agreed to write a post all about it.

 

         Last night Mom and I went to the library to see one of my favorite authors ever! It wasn't how it was like for Chloe with Shannon Hale, because Rick Riordan is a lot more famous so there were more people. We got there and saw a huge line going all the way outside. So we just waited and talked when finally we got inside. We got to have a signed copy of The House of Hades and walked to get seats. There were at least sixty copies of all the books he's ever written and they were all signed!

Well they said they were signed when really he drew a squiggly line on each title page.

 So we sat down about an hour early while some lady at the podium blabbed on and on about how you have to stay in your seats afterward (she doesn't seem to trust kids).

When the guy finally came on stage to enormous applause, I finally got my dream. The problem was the tallest man in the history of ever was sitting directly in front of us.

Rick had a PowerPoint Presentation going and every time he showed a picture everyone would laugh. I wanted a piece of the action so I stood up in the corner the whole time. There had to be at least two hundred people there to see him so there were cheers after every sentence.

        
           So he started off by talking about him in his childhood. He had a picture of his school yearbook owned by his wife. There was a picture of a guy where his wife, Becky had written "foxy".  It wasn't him unfortunately. He showed some pictures of him in high school with crazy long hair. Then in college his hair was down to his elbows and he had a big bushy mustache.
            He told everyone about his son who was dyslexic and ADHD and how he created a bonfire in the living room by shoving cheerios into the furnace. When his son was about six, he told him about the Greek gods in modern times, fighting titans and saving the world. That's how Percy Jackson was born! When Rick first came out with the book, a Hollywood producer called and asked him if they could make a movie out of it. He accepted and let them do their work. When they let him see the script he said: "I don't think this is anything like the book". But the producers didn't care and they made the movies anyway. Rick Riordan has never watched them in his life.
            When he finished the fifth book he decided he wanted to go farther into the series so he made The Heroes of Olympus books. I thought it was really cool how he showed us his stories and am very thankful to dad for buying the tickets. [And to my mother for taking me.  I'm sure he meant to include that.]

October Book Review: Princess Academy

 

October's book for our Mommy and Me Book Club was Princess Academy by Shannon Hale.  This book is slightly above Chloe's reading level, but Santa's elves had a very special reason for sending it to her this month.  (More on that later.)  The best piece of advice I can give anyone who wants to do their own Mommy and Me Book Club is to choose books that are on your child's reading level.  (You can find the reading level or recommended age of the reader on the back cover of the book, the inside cover, or online.)  If you choose a book too far above your child's reading level, they may get frustrated and give up and hate you and throw the book in your face.

 

Princess Academy is a Newberry Honor Book by the amazing Shannon Hale.  The short description on the inside cover reads:

 

While attending a strict academy for potential princesses with the other girls from her mountain village, fourteen-year-old Miri discovers unexpected talents and connections to her homeland.

 

Based on the title of the book and that description, you may be thinking this book sounds a bit . . . fluffy.  This is not a fluffy book.  I read it a few years ago and immediately wanted my daughter and every daughter everywhere to read it.  I even tried getting Harrison to read it, but duh.  It's called Princess Academy. 

 

 

This is the first fantasy novel Chloe had ever read and between the difficult names and the unusual settings, she had a hard time following it.  So, we read the first chapter together.  She said it helped her understand it a lot better to hear it read aloud, so I borrowed the audio book from the library.  Chloe listened to the CD's as she read along in her book and was able to understand all of it just fine.  The books we've read for our book club, thus far, have pretty much been G-rated.  I'd say Princess Academy is more PG-rated, because of some thematic elements and moments of peril.

A few weeks ago I saw a flyer at the library announcing that Shannon Hale was coming to St. Louis for a book signing!  After doing a few backflips, I decided that would have to be our book club meeting.  So last night we drove to the library and waited and waited and waited to meet her.

A few years ago, My Awesome Friend Wendy gave me a copy of Austenland and told me I had to read it.  I loved it!  It was the first chick-lit book I'd ever read that didn't fill me with self-loathing.  I went to the library and looked up other books by Shannon Hale.  She also had a series of young adult novels called the Books of Bayern.  I tore threw those in a week and also picked up The Book of a Thousand Days (my personal favorite) and Princess Academy.  I love her writing.  Her books are imaginative, smart, fun, and funny and always keep me interested.  I've read a lot of children's books with my kids and I know how rare that is.

Last night Mrs. Hale told us about her new book, Ever After High, and then answered questions from the audience of mostly young girls.  She was so delightful and hilarious!  If only she knew how much we would be best friends.  Chloe was brave enough to ask Hale a question.  She asked how long it takes to write a book.  Anywhere from months to years, said Hale.  Then she talked specifically about how long it took to write a few of her books.  Interesting. 

Here's Shannon Hale rapping.  (That's not a euphemism.  She's really rapping.)

Then she signed our book! 

Then we made up a new best friends secret handshake and took a picture.

As a special treat, I got Chloe a copy of Ever After High (Which should be on her reading level.  Yay!) and Shannon Hale signed that one, too.  Clearly she doesn't know Chloe at all, but maybe this inscription will inspire Chloe.  My daughter could probably stand to be a little more rebellious.  I'm so grateful for authors like Hale who give young girls such strong role models to read about.

Butterfly House of Blues

Last week I found out that the preschool that everyone assured me Miles would get into from the waiting list was filled and the waiting list was super long and never, never, never would my son go to preschool.  It was quite a blow.  I know I can teach him what he needs to know to be prepared for kindergarten, but we were both so looking forward to preschool.  Now we are left to stare at each other all day.

I realized I'd spent the last month just winging it until he went to preschool.  As that is no longer an option, I'm going to have to step up my game.  No more video game/Taco Bell filled afternoons for us.  We're going to get out of the house and learn and grow and stuff, even if it kills me.  (Which it might, because I'm really out of shape after all those video game/Taco Bell filled afternoons.)

So on Tuesday I took my baby to the Butterfly House in Faust Park.  This bench gets my vote for most adorable/least comfortable bench, ever.

Miles liked looking at the pictures of all the butterflies and finding them in the garden.  Hey! Behind you!  It's a blue morpho!

So . . . that's gross.

So . . . that's gorgeous.

After seeing everything gross and gorgeous in the butterfly house and climbing on a giant centipede, he spent an hour on the playground with his New Best Friend. 

 

I know that taking a kid out of the house for the afternoon doesn't seem like a big deal, but I've never been great at field trips.  I am pretty good at schedules and plans.  Do any of you Fun Moms have a plan that might help me enjoy our preschool-less days a little more?  I could really use your wisdom.

Geneology--He Is Doing It!

It may be hard to see from this picture, but every one of the leaves on this family tree contains a name, date, and birthplace of one of Harrison's ancestors.  As an extra credit project for school, the students in his class were asked to make a family tree that (if possible) went back all the way to their grandparents.  Harrison decided that was for chumps and he went back to his fourth great-grandparents.  Booyah!  The amazing thing is, he could have gone even further back.  He had a great time talking to his grandparents on the phone and learning about his ancestors.  For real.  I've never seen him so excited about a school project.  He loved learning where his ancestors came from (Germany, England, Denmark, and Sweden, primarily) and how he fit into that big family picture.  I loved that all of the information we needed was easy to access on Family Search.

An article in the New York Times last March talked about a study conducted regarding children's ability to overcome challenges and live happy lives.  What they found was that "the more children knew about their family’s history, the stronger their sense of control over their lives, the higher their self-esteem and the more successfully they believed their families functioned."  I'm grateful to be able to tell my children stories of their family history, because my parents shared those stories with me.  (That's probably why I'm, like, SUPER confident, too.)