Things VoVo used to say

In Portuguese a grandmother is Avo and a mother is mae. When Mark was little he couldn't say Avo so he used VoVo. It caught on.

My mae used to tell me to enjoy my children while they are small because it is the best part of your life. I am so lucky to get to do this twice.

My mae used to say that she had never stolen anything and she would admit "stealing" little plant cuttings from here and there. Chrisy teased me about the little cuttings I took from her mother's geraniums but now I have a reminder of Shirley (Miss Dale-that's what my mom called her friend). I talk to Shirley and Miss Dale it makes me feel better. Shirley the hot pink above and Miss Dale in the blue pot. Thank you Mae for giving me so much.

When Michele came to visit my mom...she reminisced about VoVo. The way she would make ringlets in her sister's hair with her fingers. All those memories with so many grandchildren. Eleven grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Things We Listen To

This post is for Becky. She just started listening to Wait Wait Don't Tell Me. I have to share more National Public Radio jewels...

http://www.thisamericanlife.org/ This American Life

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=2100834 Car Talk (Click and Clack)

http://www.scpr.org/programs/prairie-home-companion/ Prairie Home Companion

http://www.scpr.org/programs/wait-wait-dont-tell-me/ Wait Wait.....Don't Tell Me

Check these and so many other programs out at your local public radio station.

Bedtime

Lee just brought my hot black coffee and the clicker. No the coffee doesn't keep me up. With constant exhaustion comes sleep without effort. From sun up to sun down we work.

Lee goes up and gets the babies to bed and I relax or do homework. Holly can already say "story time." We call him St. Lee for a reason. Then late at night we watch our netflix...it took us forever to discover netflix but now we are hooked. We have watched The Two Fat Ladies, Rosemary&Thyme, Clatterford, and now we are watching Mad About You. In between the series we have watched downloadable series like As Times Goes On... pure joy


It's a little date night. Go have yourself a date night....

International Quilt Festival Long Beach

Fabric, felt, sugar skulls and notions galore. Uncle Sean and Aunt Heidi. Long arms. And Rascoe's chicken.
Perfect afternoon.

Sunday Visting

VoVo's health is declining. My oldest brother and his family came to say goodbye. We hadn't seen my nieces since September 2007 so it was a very nice surprise and VoVo enjoyed the visit.

The girls were reminiscing in English and VoVo commented in Portuguese. Funny stories and good times. We were all amazed.

Thank you for making the long trip down to visit.

This weekend

2009 has been a year of mixed blessing. Since February our family has just had so much...it really is just how life happens and in our sorrow we seek joy daily. VoVo isn't doing well. I think she is tired. It has been a life of hard work and sacrifice.
When I saw her on Wednesday night she was already in bed. Her first words were, "I care for you all." That did me in...my mother has been waiting to say goodbye to my siblings. Joe is the only one that has come to be with us. He is the one that we lean on. He cared for our mother the longest and probably knows her the best. Each of our relationships with our parents is different. My mother would say that we have five fingers on our hands and they are all different. She was really referring to her five children but it applies here, too. It is a small thing to say that I am estranged from my siblings. I am in awe of the families that pull together in crisis.

Our lives are in slow motion. Thursday started with a memorial service for Lee's friend Ray. Friday started with a visit to plan a memorial service for VoVo. I know if I wait it will only be harder. I have to have a clear mind when making all the necessary decisions.

In the middle there was the circus on Thursday night. Thanks to Jenny, we attended the circus at the Honda Center. Our seats were wonderful. We really are trying to keep things normal as possible for the little ones.

Holly and Jacob both loved the circus...they were so well behaved. http://www.ringling.com/ The circus really isn't about the animals any more.

There were elephants, tigers, horses, zebras, and dogs but most of the acts were related to acrobats, magic (some of it not so appropriate for little kids-scary), and clowns. All in all a good show. Thanks, again, Jenny.

Holly was focused. Mix blessings indeed. This morning we will visit VoVo then head to the International Quilt Festival in Long Beach. Every distraction is a blessing. http://www.quilts.com/home/

Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers.

Saturday Musing

Our Saturday started with a drive to Los Angeles for the Renegade Craft Fair. http://www.renegadecraft.com/los-angeles?site=la

An indie fair extraordinaire.

The fair was amazing. We are always rejuvenated by creative people. The venue, the California Market Center, was large enough to have space to roam without anxiety. The crafts were inspiring and the people watching even better. Look at the view from the Penthouse on the 13th Floor. Our lucky number.

Everyone was so nice. Lee loved this dress. The dress were like flight attendant uniforms but from the days when we called them "stewardess".

Check out Tara's designs at http://www.taratothet.etsy.com

Lots for everyone to see and enjoy.

Views all around. Well worth the trip.

Time to leave LA, but our adventure isn't over.

This weekend started 2009 Southern California Quilter's Run. It is the first time we have tried to participate. A list of forty-two shops to visit.

We really enjoyed visiting all the different quilt shops. We are going to try to get some more shops in today.

http://www.quiltersrun.com/qr/index.html Can you guess this year's theme? Carnival...that is right. I'll post more about the different shops we visited tomorrow. The run really is like a scavenger hunt and even Jacob had fun. Each shop has it's own personality but all are staffed with the sweetest people. Some of the shops are decked out for the holidays and others have Halloween inspiration. Regardless of the medium, creative people are definitely our people. We never tire of creative influences.

The day ended with fireworks at Downtown Disney. And lots of red tail lights all the way home on the 91 freeway.

Jacob's Giant Cupcake

This is Jacob's cupcake.. it takes two cake mix boxes. So the top is white cake (Mark's favorite) and the bottom is chocolate cake (Jacob's).

Jacob got to practice cracking eggs, mixing with the new pink mixer, and measuring. The frosting is all his art work, too.

Spondylitis

I am often asked why I walk the way I do. At work we call it the affliction. Our battle cry is "stand tall."

http://www.spondylitis.org/About/as.aspx

July 4th

I know... I am so far behind. However, I would like to share our crafty activities. Lee painted our $1 thrift store shelf red. Doesn't it look amazing? Jacob and Holly made stepping stones. We've tried to make the stones regularly. Mark and Nicholas have a stepping stone I had made for my mother back in 1995. The tradition started up again with July 4th in 2003.