Central Park in the Fall

This past week Irene and Mom came down to visit.  What a great time we had!  I love when family visits as it always makes life a little more interesting for awhile.  Of course, it also gets you out of the house doing things!  I skipped housework for the weekend and figured I'd catch up next week!  What did we do?  Well, one day we hit the second-hand stores, on Friday night I went on a shopping spree at an outlet mall with Mom, Irene and Katrina (I left one of my purchases somewhere in the mall - grrrr!), and on Saturday, Irene, Mike, me, and Juliet went to Central Park.  Every time we go to Central Park it seems we discover some new monument and area in the park.  This time we hit the Mall - an area with statutes of famous literary figures, Bethesda pool, the Alice in Wonderland statute and a perfect little park for Jules.  It was a fun day!
Here are some pictures:

                                                    Bethesda Pool - no angels here, though!

Jules, Aunty Bubs, Me 

Jules and Mike - this was by a pond where they had remote-controlled sailboats!  Very cool!

Jules loves having Aunty Bean down!

Juliet on the Alice in Wonderland statute

A monument in the little park Jules played on - I loved the inscriptions on it.  

Something I frequently need to remind myself of!

And...the love of my life!

So, I've been having this mental argument with myself on the pros and cons of having family live far away.  Pros?  When family comes and visits, we go out and do SOMETHING!  Whether it is shopping, hiking, visiting historical monuments, going to parks, etc., it is great fun to go out and do stuff together.  And since they usually stick around for a few days, there is time for long discussions about everything under the sun.  Cons?  Well, that's obvious, of course.  It would be nice to pop in and visit whenever one feels like it.  So, I'll count my blessings and thank God for the times when family comes down!  

p.s.  time to get working on some of that housework...

Sewing Skills

When it comes to sewing, my mom takes the cake!  I remember growing up wearing clothes sewed by my mom.  Mom always made our summer nightgowns -pretty flowered ones made of cotton- lots and lots of skirts, sunday dresses (I particularly remember a sunflower dress when fabric with sunflowers was all the rage), bridesmaid dresses -all 4 of them- and even part of my wedding gown (the bolero jacket).  I've a talented mom, haven't I?  Now, I can't say that I've inherited the sewing gene - I've sewed a pair of rectangle curtains and that's pretty much my claim to fame!  This past year Mom sewed nightgowns for Juliet and here are the pictures...  Thanks, Mom!

It's that Time of Year....

Halloween is around the corner, and around here a little five year old girl's anticipation is slowly rising.  I find it almost laughable how Juliet disapproves of halloween yet has a secret fascination for it as well.  Today Juliet and I went for a bike ride around the block.  As we slowly made our way past our neighbors' houses, Juliet suggested that we would decide what were "fall" decorations, and what were "halloween" decorations.  As we proceeded, Juliet would either point approvingly at scarecrows, pumpkins, wreaths, etc. or shockingly exclaim over the witches, spiders, and ghosts!  If only my neighbors knew that they were being weighed in the balances and often found wanting by a little 5 year old with strong opinions!

Summer 2013

What do you think?  Christmas card material???  Mike and Jules at their best...

River Walk in Weehawken

One of our "new" traditions is to go for a bike ride along the River Walk in Weehawken once a year.  So a few weeks ago when the weather was gorgeous, we packed up Jule's bike and headed for some fun!  It appears that Mike took all of the pictures because he isn't on any of them, but he was with us!  Jules had a wonderful time (doesn't her smile say it all???), and it was a great excuse to try out all of her new bike paraphernalia she received for her birthday back in May!

What's in a Name?

Mike and I spent the night thinking of a name for our house. My dear sister Ange came up with one for her house, and I was overcome with envy at her inspiration. I simply had to name our place, too. In the past I had occasionally thought that it would be nice to have a set name for our house (so romantic and Anne of Green Gableish), but I pursued the idea rather halfheartedly. But Ange proved to be the impetus, so while Mike and I sat outside tonight on our adirondack chairs, enjoying the cool breeze and drinking refreshing beverages, we contemplated an appropriate name for our home. Now, naming a house seems like a piece of cake, right? It's harder than you think!!! After looking around outside for awhile, Mike commented, "You know, we are the only house on our street with a flag!" Hmmmm. Pause. Me- "You want to name our house the 'Flapping Flag?' That sounds really great!" Other ideas? Cuddles Place, Whispering Pine Place, Amorous Abode (Mike's idea), and a whole host of other ones that I can't recall! Any suggestions???

Hospital Stays

Well, this blog has been silent for quite some time. Right now, with all the extra time that I have I've been writing blog posts in my head before I fall asleep at night! Mike and I have been in the hospital for the last eight days with Juliet and I've been thinking about the whole hospital experience. At first I felt keenly disappointed that we would miss out on our planned Disney trip scheduled for this week. Disney was Juliet's pick for her Make a Wish. She was so excited about the whole trip and to spend the week in the hospital instead of making memories with her seemed a rather big let down. I was looking forward to seeing Juliet's eyes light up when she saw the rides, the "resort" we were going to stay at (Give Kids the World), the swimming pool, etc. But God has reasons for everything, and knowing that makes it easier to accept a change of plans! For some reason, God saw fit to have us miss our trip and spend it in the hospital instead (we do plan on re-scheduling for some time next year, so don't feel too sorry for us!). Although Juliet has not always been feeling that great, we are still having TONS of family time together. Yesterday I discovered an adorable library in the hospital. It's this tiny, tucked away room, decorated cheerily, and stuffed with books. Well, once I found that, I happily spent half an hour on my hands and knees looking for books to read to Juliet. Yesterday I read 13 books to her and it was such a welcome break from doing "crafts" with Jules. I confess I'm not really a craft momma. You know, the moms that post these amazing pictures of the crafts they do with their children. The cute little turkey made of painted popsicle sticks, cotton balls and who knows what else.... The truth is, when I do a craft with Jules, it's out of a sense of obligation. That's it. Sheer obligation! It's the old -I really should do this because Jules is asking me to - sort of obligation. But that's me. So when I find something I enjoy doing with Jules it's a bonus. This particularly applies to when you are in the hospital and you have limited resources! Discovering the library cheered me considerably yesterday; I think I'll find excuses to look for more books tomorrow. But back to the hospital experience. What are some of the essentials? I have to have good books to read! A couple of days ago I completed a biography on L.M. Montgomery titled Gift of Wings. It was so interesting! I love a good biography! What made me curious about this biography was that although Maud had a very difficult life, particularly near the end of her life, she wrote cheerful, happy books. It made me wonder how a woman could write such inspiring stories while dealing with depression in herself and her husband, a generally unhappy marriage, and an extremely difficult son (her oldest son, Stuart). I had to conclude that though she wrote some of my favorite books (The Blue Castle comes to mind) essentially her own worldview let her down. The Gospel was old fashioned and science was the answer to man's questions (so she thought). Other reading? I started Edith Schaeffer's book Hidden Art. The basic premise of the book is that Christians have "some talent which is unfulfilled in some hidden area of his being - a talent which could be expressed and developed." The chapters deal with the hidden talents of music, drawing, gardening, interior decorating, food, clothing, etc. From what I've read so far her goal is to inspire Christians to embrace and develop the hidden talents they have - even if it is in seemingly small ways. For example, if you love to sketch and draw but have limited time, you could make home-made cards for family. As I continue to read I plan on trying to discover what "hidden talents" I could further develop and to also challenge myself to FIND time to do so. So books are essential for hospital stays! Anyway, it's getting late and my thin, hard mattress draped in white sheets is calling me by name... Oh, and a night filled with IV beepings, having to wake up and give Jules her dose of tylenol, and other events that naturally pop up in the middle of the night... So this girl needs some sleep...(a terribly elusive thing in hospitals).