a fairy tale....or is it?

years ago there was a beautiful little girl born into this world. she was full of spunk, creativity, giggles and love. lots of love! 

as time passed a brother joined this little girl and then a boy cousin. the three were good friends and compatriots in all things wee children did. they had adventures and fought imaginary foes. they ran around in their own imaginary world and played their own made up games. they even did the more mundane things of a child's life such as learning to ride bikes together, dying easter eggs and trick and treating 

and then as things do, things changed, unfortunately drastically and not in good way.  the three friends were forced to go on solitary adventures. the young brother went on a journey that forever changed him and his out look on life. the young cousin's adventure was a bit tamer but still had him growing up with out the comfort of his fellow compatriots. and the little girl? her adventure had her go through trials and tribulations. she traveled through dark valleys and she strolled along beautiful seashores.  all the while thinking that she had been forgotten by her childhood companions. 

*now with most fairy tales, we need a happy ending and i think this one has one. 

years passed and the little girl grew up to be a wonderful woman. still full of spunk, creativity and love. she had quite a few scars that she carried but she was strong and vibrant and still full of giggles. one day the young woman was able to be reunited with one of her young friends. the cousin. he was older and wiser and still a willing compatriot to all things young people do. 

i know a rather bland fairy tale. it is a brief and washed over version of what happened to our niece, nephew and our oldest boy. we are very lucky that we have been able to reconnect to our niece. she holds a very special place in my heart. can you tell?  

she has been working on crafting many wonderful things. 

from duck (duct) tape accessories

 to friendship bracelets 

and now she has begun on the adventure of quilling. 

i have been suggesting (translate that to lovingly nagging) her to start a blog. hopefully this little post will be the final push....i mean gentle reminder....(grin) to give it a try. when she gets her blog set up i'll let you all know about it and put the link on here.

Cheers!

in this house

do you ever have moments when you walk down memory lane? last night i found myself awake at 1:30 in the morn. what to do? i thought i could work on trying to finish up a few gifts, but didn't really want to turn on the lights. so i grabbed my laptop and went for a little jaunt.

in this house i can remember

taffy pulls in the kitchen with my mother and oldest cousin
listening to the radio while i played right below those two front windows on the porch
my father's garden that his boss told him shouldn't be as grand as it was
badminton games played in the street between my mum and her neighbor friend, mary
mary's first husband, shot, being a exceptionally tall man, at least to a wee girl, being very kind to us kids
stubbing my big toes till they bled due to the way i walked (hip dysplasia)
trying to hide my leg braces from my mum in, an oh so clever place of, the closet
eating my lunch of sardines, white bread and ketchup while sitting on the floor at the coffee table in the living room and watching match game after i had come home from kindergarten
playing with my sister and the other neighborhood children in the street
of walking down to the corner house, (a total of two houses away) after waking from my nap to let my mum know i was up and not being afraid or concerned
the hardwood floors in the house
the man next door keeping bees and always having to be quiet when you walked by his fences so as not to disturb them
seeing my first ghost
my mum winning a 10 foot stuffed dog that rode home on the top of our small car and sat in the corner of our bedroom
my mum making the three wise men from old wall paper samples
the back porch catching on fire because of a hot coal from a barbecue and thinking my dad such a brave man because he put out the fire
going for walks in the evening with the whole family

these memories were gathered in a period of about 5 years, from the age of 2 to about 7. amazing what we can remember. what can you remember from one of your childhood homes.

cheers!

popping memories

has everyone gotten all they're holiday shopping done? have you been able to get all the decorating done? i'm actually glad to say that i'm done with both of those things. i, of course, have not, as yet, gotten any presents wrapped and under our wee tree. it's too tempting and too dangerous for the wee folk of the house. they have a hard time keeping their little hands off the ornaments and other holiday decorations. i know if i put presents out now they would be having small fits to open them and see what was inside.

for some reason the other morning i begin to think of past christmases. in particular when we lived in monterey, ca. the area in which we lived and i grew up had a large italian influence. there were many large multi-generational italian families. it was wonderful. around the beginning of december i would start to hear certain school mates talk about cookie night. being 11 years old, i wasn't quite sure what this was, but i was greatly intrigued. i soon learned that many italian mothers and grandmothers would gather together on one night and spend the whole night baking cookies. they literally would bake the entire night. it always sound like such fun, such camaraderie. i imagined these older women dressed in their mourning weaves, yes many of them wore black all the time, with aprons on, mixing and measuring and baking like crazy. all the while exchanging the latest family gossip, nibbling on treats and drinking coffee (or stronger stuff). after preparing all these cookies they would exchange a certain amount with each other and make packages up for the less fortune family members to give as a holiday gift. as i grew up i would still hear of these magical baking nights but never was invited to attend. funny how certain memories just sort of pop in your head.

cheers!