Our Family

These were taken on Sunday. We had Emma's baby blessing at home with family and friends around. It was a special day for us all. (I'll post pictures of our friends but I need to get permission first).

Emma is Smiling!

3 Generations

Oh my gosh! Aren't we gorgeous!? This is my mother Iva, myself, my daughter Tansy and lil' Emma. She is seven weeks now.

My mother and I are bibliophiles - only I love the classics and mom is more inclined to a good mystery. We have a weakness for used book stores. We both appreciate old children books - early 1900's. I found the complete collection of Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle (1940's) by Betty MacDonald! (I just had to share that - when it comes to books I am a bit of a braggart).

Speaking of books...the one displayed in the background beside the white teapot (which I found at a thrift shop for $3 btw) belonged to my maternal Grandmother . It is over 100 years old. Betty Zane by Zane Grey. I remember reading this very copy in my youth. It isn't for reading anymore. It is much too fragile and old. I think my mother is a tiny envious that it has been displayed on my bookshelf and not her own...wink wink.

We also love love love to go to garage sales and thrift stores. I think I inherited this from her. It is truly horrible when we get together to go thrifting - we both blow our budgets shamefully! Yes, yes - budgets have been blown - blown shamefully.

I'ts a Girl!

I have been wanting to post for several weeks but things have gotten in the way. Where to begin, where to begin!

Let's go back to August 30th - moving day. Jim got me up at 4:00 IN THE MORNING to do some last minute cleaning and packing before we were to be completely out of the house by 7:00. We were all moved into our new place before noon. I went to work on unpacking all the rest of the day and didn't get to bed until 11:00 p.m. It was a long day.

August 31 began at about 9:30 a.m...

...and so did some contractions.

I found that if I laid down they went away and I knew that I had overdone it but I just couldn't stay down. I'd get up to unpack something and a contraction would remind me that I needed to sit down and relax again. By 4:30 those pesky contractions were coming regardless of what I was or was not doing. I went in to the hospital. At 36 weeks I was in labor, my doctor shook his finger at me for over exerting myself with the move and off I went to have a baby in a much bigger hospital that had a NICU - just in case.

At 9:30 p.m. Emma Mary was delivered by the nurses - all 5 pounds 6 ounces of her . Once my water broke she exploded into the world in less than 90 seconds. The doctor arrived just in time to deliver my ... placenta.

Emma didn't cry (I didn't hear her cry for 3 days) but she was healthy and perfect. They took her off to NICU while I wolfed down a turkey sandwich. 3 days later we brought her home...

...to boxes. She's okay with it though. She's such a good baby and we are all enraptured by her. She gets lots and lots of kisses (her forehead and cheeks are chapped because of them). She's okay with that as well.

Summer Reading Favorites

Have you ever heard of Clara Dillingham Pierson? Well, let me introduce you to this delightful author! I have fallen in love with her quaint little nature stories for young children. Liam and I have been reading them on-line together. He always wants me to read 'one more'.

Clara Pierson wrote several books for her kindergarten class around the turn of the 20th century. I couldn't find much more about her except that she taught in Michigan. Right now, we are reading Among the Meadow People and it is enchanting. Not only do we learn about the secret lives of insects and animals that live in the meadow but each story has a character building moral.

We read them on-line for free at www.mainlesson.com otherwise known as The Baldwin Project. However, I have enjoyed this book so much that I am buying it as well as Among The Forest People, Among the Night People, Among the Farmyard People and Among the Pond People.

I hope you give Clara Pierson's books a tickle. I don't think you will be disappointed if you enjoy nature stories.

bumble anne bags is open!

We've done it! We've made the bags! We've created a website! We've designed our logo! We're open for business! Tansy and I are so excited.

Our bags are affordable and 'bumbly-fun'! We try to make our bags out of recycled material and I hunt for vintage fabrics, buttons, and other accessories (what a chore - NOT). Everything we make is machine washable and original!

We hope you take a look at our website and tell your friends about us!

Flowers in the Garden of Life

"Only that which has character is truly beautiful." Gari Melchers

This is my 9 year old (actually he was 8 when I took this picture) wonder boy. He is an big brother or a pest depending on which sibling you ask, a soccer goalie and an artist. He is also my heart.

I was reading somewhere that children are like flowers in the garden of life. I thought it was a swell analogy and it has changed the way I look at my children. So often I don't 'see' them growing in this family garden. I am not paying attention to who the are, who they are becoming. I don't take the time to sit and enjoy what God has planted here. I get distracted by the monotony that plagues a mother - the cleaning, cooking, laundry, correcting, worrying and so on.

Over dinner we decided what type of flower we each were. We agreed that the baby, Liam (who is 5) was a ‘dandelion‘. Tansy was a 'sweet pea'. When it came to Tristan, Tansy piped in, "He's a stinkweed." But he is my ‘sunflower’ hands down. Daddy was unanimously deemed a 'snapdragon' and I took the title of ‘lily‘.

Word Collecting

Since I was very young I have been collecting words. I think it started around the time Anne of Green Gables came out on the CBC. I had never heard language play that way and I was enchanted. We had taped the made-for-TV movie and I would sit in giddy anticipation with scribbler and pen ready to capture those words that charmed me so. From that day forward a love affair began and it has never waned.

Some people collect leaves and press them between pages. I collect words. When I read a book I will write down word combinations in my ‘word collection’ journal. My daughter collects words as well and we compare our finds now and again. I would be very curious to meet anyone with the same hobby. Let me share a few:

Butterfly summer
Magically spun
Gentle corner
Stung with cold
A long ago Queen
Cheery charm
Petal-strewn
Surrounded with tradition
Friendly arrangements
Soft spoken advice
Weedy chaos
Fabric-by-mail
The enchanted realm of childhood

Don’t they sound like playful blog headings? These words paint pictures in my mind that inspire me to write. I am not the most talented writer but I love to do it. As a goal I am going to write under these headings to help sharpen my skills as a writer and to try to inspire my daughter to do the same.

Mother ~ Daughter Adventure

For a two years now I have been thinking about trying my hand at a small business making bags and aprons. I have been inspired by the creative efforts of Soulemama. I had initially planned to partner with a friend but as the years have passed we have taken different paths. For a few months I have been sewing totes and enjoying my creative efforts.

Little did I know but someone was watching. She was always asking about the bags.

"Momma, may I have a bag?"
"Momma, are you making bags again?"
"Oh, I like that bag! Can I have it?"

Then it hit me. "Why don't we do this together?!" I asked her if she'd like to be my partner.

"Can I be the President?"
"Yes, we can both be the President."
"Can I design bags?"
"Absolutely."

Tansy was somewhat interested. So together we brainstormed business names. I came up with a name that I have been quite fond of for years but she thought it was too 'sweet'. She wanted something more 'spunky'. We have Decided to call our little business
bumble-anne bags.
Tansy became more interested. We are presently working on the Logo.

We also came up with a business plan and the more we discussed it the more excited we became. Now she is thrilled about our new business venture and we chat away like girlfriends about it.

This is such a wonderful opportunity to create a memory with my daughter. I'll keep you posted on our little adventure together!