Sunday Dinner at Grandma's

Mason loves "Corn Casserole." A chip off the old block!

Why is it that I have cats?

Today as I passed by the living room, Minnie was trying to get behind the middle blind in the bow window. Izzy was in her own bed (which Minnie likes) and no one was in Minnie's bed (which no one seems to like). I think it doesn't get as much sun. So.....I rearranged the beds and blinds and now everyone seems happy!




Who is the boss around here?

Wolf Moon

I had never heard the term "wolf moon." My friend Cindy at work said there was going to be a full moon, a wolf moon tonight. I didn't think too much about it until I saw it. It was beautiful and huge. Later that night as we were coming home, it was so bright that between the snow and the moon it almost looked like daytime.

I guess the term wolf moon dates back to Native Americans. They called the first full moon of the new year a wolf moon, something to do with wolves howling at the moon in the cold of January. If you want to learn more go here.

Bernard Wait and Nelson Bessette, my Great-Grandfathers

This is my grandfather Donald's father, Bernard Wait. I am told this picture was taken in Florida. I'm not sure what he was doing down there (or who took that picture and why they wanted to take a picture of him walking down a street) but supposedly he used to stay for periods of time at his childrens' homes (he had six children) after he retired from the railroad. He bought a Morris chair to keep at my grandfather's house and when he was staying there no one else could use that chair.

This is the chair (I think it still has the same cushions - we really need to do something about that someday). I remember this chair. It sat in the hall at my grandmother's house and now we have it in our family room. It is the chair that my father-in-law sits in all the time.


My aunt Dot said that her grandfather Bernard was not a very fun grandfather. She said she liked it better when my grandmother's father visited. She said he was more fun.

This is a picture of Nelson Bessette, my grandmother Lucy's father. He was a farmer from Chateguay, NY.

Snow squall

What happened to Spring? I know, it's the end of January, but with such mild temperatures and no snow, it was starting to almost feel like that.....until today. Right before I got out of work it starting snowing really hard. As I was walking out the door there was thunder and lightening. I should have known it would be a tricky ride home. We started out through Southwick and ended up turning around on Route 57 as the cars couldn't get up the hill and traffic going down the hill was just about stopped. We headed back towards Westfield, and as we were almost to Noble Hospital (near Zuber's) it was so icy we almost couldn't get down that little hill. We turned into Zuber's, went in and had a bagel and watched as a sander came down the hill. We headed back out through Westfield to Little River Road. There is a spot with a curvy hill - the cars couldn't get up it and were completely stopped. Luckily, a sander came down the middle of the road and we were able to get up the hill. I was never so glad to get home (6:30). As I write now (8:30), it is very windy out and 22 degrees. The ride in to work tomorrow morning should be interesting!

The music craft is done........finally!!!

Here are the Prims holding their finished (Thank Heavens) music crafts. It has been three long weeks making these musical instruments. It has been three long weeks of glitter, glue, stickers, tinsel type stuff (really ugh!), beads, feathers, and who knows what all else. BUT, we are finished making them and next week we will have our musical parade. Our next badge is Friends. I can't wait to see what craft we will being doing for that (I really do hate crafts).

William Ross Harper

This is a picture of my mother's grandfather, William Ross Harper. According to her he was not a very approachable person.

Today I was talking to my dad and we got talking about how when he and my mother were on their honeymoon, they were going to stop in to see my mother's grandfather. I asked him where this grandfather lived. My dad said he lived in Pennsylvania. I asked him where they were going on their honeymoon in Pennsylvania. He couldn't remember. Yikes. How do you not remember where you went on your honeymoon. He did remember that he borrowed his father's car to get there. According to him, they got all the way there, drove up the long driveway to his house and my mother wouldn't go in the house. I guess she really did think he was unapproachable.

My father said that he was a good man though as he took care of my Uncle Ross (my mother's younger brother) who was injured in a shooting accident which left him a quadriplegic. He set up a trust fund for Uncle Ross for life. I guess he was a pretty wealthy man.

I wish I had asked more questions before everyone got too old to remember details. I just never was too interested in things that happened years ago when I was young. That must be what my aunt Dot used to mean when she would say, "You can't put an old head on a young body." (I used to think that was such a dumb statement. Now I think I know what she means.)

Friends?

This is the first time since we have gotten Minnie that I have seen her and Izzy sleep together.

The end of an era....

Tonight Mark put an infant car seat in my car for Mason (borrowed from my friend Cindy) and so Marley's car seat had to come out. I know, it's about time. She doesn't have one in her car. So why did she still sit in a car seat in my car? Because she never minded being in it. But, it's the end of an era, and a little sad for grandma.

Do we have spoiled cats or what?

Poor Minnie. On Tuesday she had surgery - her womanly parts came out along with her fingernails. She came home on Wednesday afternoon and has hardly walked at all. Last night I fed her on the couch because I was afraid she wouldn't walk to her dish before Izzy ate it on her. It worked! She ate her whole dish right on the couch. This morning she ate on the hassock.

Usually the cats only get fed in the morning, but I want to make sure Minnie gets her strength back (I can see your eyes rolling!!) so they have been getting fed twice a day (I can't feed Minnie without feeding Izzy). Tonight Minnie was sitting in her bed in the window and I put the food on the back of the couch(yes, those are blankets on the couch - her stitches are still a little bloody). When she finished, guess who had to lick the bowl? Yeah, I'd say we have spoiled cats!

Throwback Thursday - Dot...

This is a picture of my grandmother with my aunt Dot in the baby carriage in front of the house they lived in in Brattleboro, VT. My grandfather worked for the Western Union there. The year was probably 1925 as my aunt was born in September 1924 and this picture looked like it was taken in the Spring.

My aunt has been battling Alzheimer's for many years now and is just not herself in so many ways but this past Sunday we were sitting in church, and hearing her sing nearly brought me to tears. She used to sing for the Bethany Hour (our church radio broadcast) with Emilio DiLorenzo for years and she had such a nice alto harmony with him. I haven't actually heard her sing in church for awhile but this Sunday her voice was very strong and so much like the old "Dot".

Grafton, VT

Today we made a cheese run to Grafton, VT - to the Grafton Village Cheese Company. They have quite a bit more snow up there but the roads were clear and it was a great day for a ride.






The covered bridge next to the cheese factory looked pretty with the snow.




We had a picnic of sorts in the car with cheese, french bread and Sarsaparilla.

After that we headed to Bellows Falls for a shopping trip to the scrapbook store.

Fun day!

New jumper and new Mother Goose DVDs

My friend from work, Cindy, lent me a jumper type thing for Mason. He has one at home so he knew exactly what to do in it. It was so funny to watch. Today our new Mother Goose DVDs came in the mail. Quite a few years ago now my friend Cindy lent me a Mother Goose VHS tape. She thought Marley would like it. We all liked it, especially Big Baba. It is done with real people dressed up in nursery rhyme costumes singing and dancing out the nursery rhymes - bright colors, catchy music. Well, when Cindy's little granddaughter came along I returned the tape to her. Big Baba really missed watching it. When Mason came along we decided to see if we could get the same thing on the Internet. They were available on DVD and they came today. Mason loved them. Really, for at least the first half hour he jumped in his jumper watching the TV. It was so cute!

This was the old VHS tape -



This is what the new DVDs look like. If you ever come across them, little kids (and Big Babas) love them.

Bickford's

Paul is finally feeling better and tonight he had a hankering for an apple pancake at Bickford's. Bickford's is in a different location now. It used to be on Riverdale St. in West Springfield, but now it is in the old Abdow's Big Boy restaurant in Westfield. We actually go way back with both restaurants. Quite a few years ago now, before Kris and Toby moved to Ohio, we used to meet every Tuesday night at Bickford's on Riverdale St. They had buy one pancake meal, get one free. Sometimes Paul's parents would meet us there too. Mark used to come when he was around (I think he was still in college). We also used to take the kids there when they were young. Paul ALWAYS, ONLY got the big apple. He has never had anything different at Bickford's. (He's weird like that, he has only ever had tacos at Taco Bell)

As far as Abdow's goes, we used to go to the one on Riverdale St. (that is now torn down) when the kids were young, probably elementary age. Sometimes we got the soup and salad bar (it was kind of a new phenomenon then, a salad bar) and sometimes we got a Big Boy hamburger. They also had the best strawberry pie. It was always a treat to go to either place. How weird that Bickford's is now in the Abdow's building in Westfield. Actually, the new Bickford's looks a lot like the old Abdow's. There is a long cushioned seat along one side of the building. I can remember when it was so crowded and people used to sit there until their number was called (tonight there were hardly any people there). A couple of things have changed. They switched the Men's Room and the Women's Room. It seemed funny going into the old Men's Room. Also, the glass cases at the front of the restaurant that used to hold all of the Abdow's pies - cream pies and strawberry pies, just holds some decorations. We hadn't been there in a long time and tonight it brought back a lot of good memories. Just thought I'd share.

Just a little addition, I took these pictures on my way to work this morning. The sun was shining through the clouds and it just looked pretty. I guess taking a picture every day last year is still with me!

Sunday Afternoon

What a freezing cold day! Yesterday I asked Paul what we should have for Sunday dinner and he suggested cooking hamburgs outside. He said he would cook. Last night, in the middle of the night, he got some kind of stomach flu. The kids were all warned but decided to come over today anyhow (Paul stayed in the bedroom all afternoon). Poor Toby cooked the hamburgs outside. It was about 23 degrees. I felt a little guilty about it, but he was cool with it (literally)!!



Mason is eating baby food now. Today's entry was corn casserole. As soon as he sees the spoon his mouth opens. Just like a little bird.



Mark and Janelle did their Wii Fit Plus avatars. I know this picture is not the greatest but there we all are. Back row l to r Marley, Mason, Toby. Front row l to r Paul, Deb, Janelle, Kristen, Mark.



We did hula hoops - Toby is the reigning high scorer. It looks easier than it is.

I think Paul is feeling a little better tonight. I sure hope I don't get it!

Happy New Year!

I can't believe it is 2010! It seems like just yesterday the world was buzzing about Y2K. Last night after we brought Marley home I was flipping, looking for something to watch. I really didn't want to watch any ball dropping or New Year's celebrating, and then I saw the Twilight Zone Marathon. 46 hours of Twilight Zone shows. I remember watching these shows on Friday nights when I was a kid. I loved them. I remember wishing they were longer than 1/2 hour. We watched them last night and turned them back on this morning. We were thinking of going away for a couple of days. Paul wanted to go to an old tavern inn in Vermont for one night (until we found out it was $225 a night). Actually, what I think we both needed was a day to do nothing......except watch the Twilight Zone marathon.