Softball Noli

Noli has elected to play softball this year (yay! I was growing tired of soccer :p ) Her team is named the Ponytail Express (cute, huh?!!) and purple is their color! Her dad is the team dad and one of the coaches so I know that makes her little softball heart sing!

This past Saturday was her first game so, of course, her proud parents and grandparents were there to clap and yell encouragement.... and take pictures.....

Up at bat

She's got a pretty good swing

Look closely and you can see that one of our dad coaches has just the word Express on his shirt. 

No Ponytail in sight. You'll see the reason for pointing this out in a minute.... :p

Tebowing?

Maybe, but probably just checking out the dirt

In the dugout, waiting for her turn at bat

and being a goofball LOL!

Get that elbow up!

Pretty good swing....

But didn't connect with the ball

Love these bronze statues!

Similar ones are all around at libraries, town centers and such.

We're the Visitors....

Look closely and you'll see that this coach dad is on the other team (the Kittens). The coaches' shirts had a pink paw print with "Kittens" written below it. Oh my, on that burly guy :)

(I think our dads were pretty smart to just have "Express" on their shirts!)

Hey, hey, we're one up!

But note the two outs.....

And the final score!

The Ponytail Express WINS!!

It was a good game and all played well!

But, of course, the best part is the snack!

She always knows when somebody's taking a pic

and she was up against me and her other grandfather

This is how she poses a lot....

little smarty pants

Caught her giggling anyway!

Now we're off to grab a little lunch before taking our sweetie back to mommy. All in all, a pretty terrific day!

~ sharing Softball Noli over at Miss Jenny's for AlphabeThursday where we are studying the letter S
~ and sharing all the pink uniforms, helmets and shoes over at How Sweet the Sound for Pink Saturday
~ and sharing over at Grandma's Briefs for GRAND Social


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Swimming in the Ocean Blue

Oh, I love it when I'm asked to crochet something special for someone! When they find something I have in my shop, or that I've done before, and tweek it a bit for their own needs. When they want something but in a different color or size, or paired with something else. You know, something special just for them.

Well, that happened with some fish.... I had made a play set that had several sea creatures in it, including said fish, and I was contacted about making those fish for a crib mobile that the customer was making for her nursery. She sent me pictures of her nursery colors -- a wonderful ocean blue, a lighter blue, grey, and navy for good measure!

These are her fish, swimming in the ocean blue 

A school of fish, looking at you!

 Oh, fish poetry!!

After they were done, I asked if she would send me a photo so I could see how her mobile turned out... and she did and gave me permission to use them here.

Didn't it turn out cute?

I love the way she painted the bobbers to match!

and the midnight blue for the wall is perfect for a fish theme!

Click on the pic to make it bigger and check out that cute sign...

What a lucky baby to have such a talented mom!

~ sharing the blues in this cute fish mobile over at Smiling Sally's for Blue Monday

~ and sharing at Grandma's Briefs for Grand Social

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A Special Quilt

I have several quilts made by two aunts -- one my mother's sister and the other my father's sister. Aunt Annie (my father's sister) made this one.... and her sister (my Aunt Florence) left it to me in her will.

The pattern is called Sunbonnet Sue

The cute girls remind me of Holly Hobby!

I love this quilt with its hand embroidery on each Sunbonnet Sue and the different dresses which I know were from fabric left from sewing.

It's all hand quilted -- not a machine stitch on it.

It's really big -- here, it's on a king-size bed and has an overlap on the sides of one full row of Sunbonnet Sue's. When my daughter graduated to a twin bed, I used the quilt even though it was pretty big!

Now I have given it to that daughter (who is now 30) and she has put it on my granddaughter's bed. It's a double size bed so the quilt fits much better and makes a wonderful bedspread. Noli knows that she must keep it nice -- no food allowed!

Before I gave it to my daughter, I took pictures of each of the squares. I just couldn't let go of that quilt, or at least the memory of it!

It's a four generation quilt! Five if you count Oliver... 

Even though I miss looking at it, I'm thrilled that Noli loves it and that it's getting some good use. I have told her about my Aunt Annie and what a sweetheart she was. How she told me stories and showed me how to catch frogs in the backyard pond.... and then we had frog legs for dinner! Yes, it tasted like chicken!

I loved to visit my Aunt Annie and Aunt Florence (sisters, sharing a home). Aunt Annie always had a lap to sit in and stories to tell. Aunt Florence was a teacher and I remember going with her to school. They could both cook up a storm and it was fun eating different food.

There were two different times that we were visiting and I had come down with mumps one time and pink eye the other. I got to stay with Aunt Annie and Aunt Florence while my parents continued their vacation -- oh the fun! Sick or not, I had a great time! I remember the little girl from across the street looking in the screen door at me.... but I couldn't play with her because she had not had the mumps. But the next door neighbor boy had had them so I could play with him. But all he wanted to play was trucks. I wished I could have played with the little girl instead!


~ sharing the Sunbonnet Sue quilt over at Miss Jenny's for Alphabe-Thursday where we are studying the letter Q.
~ sharing at Grandma's Briefs for Grand Social


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Play Plants for a Special Someone

The countdown is on! Spring is actually on its way, no matter what the weather says. We don't get a lot of winter weather here in Texas but we sure had a huge drop in temps recently.... 60 degrees in one night! Eighty degrees one day, and 20 and below the next!

Check out the cutie Spring Countdown up there.... there's hope for warmer weather!

But we have a ways to go before the flowers are blooming... so I have crocheted ones to look at right now! I've shared these potted flowers with you before -- it's a cute play set with flowers that "grow." You can plant a seed, grow a seedling and then the flower blooms!

A bit before Christmas I made a special order for a sweet little girl who asked Santa for some "play plants" and these potted growing flowers fit the bill!

Her special flower colors were purple and pink!

Here's her whole set with a cute swirly storage bag

And here she is!

Her mama sent me this picture and said that I could post it.

Isn't she adorable with her "play plant" : )

Then it turns out that her cousin came to play...

and this set was ordered for her!

Are you wondering about that green flower? Well, her favorite color is green, green and more green! So a green flower was a must, along with a green bag with those cutie swirls! Her birthday is sometime around St. Patrick's Day, so the green is super duper special! 

Proving of course that flowers come in all sorts of colors!

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

sharing these cutie potted play plants over at Miss Jenny's for Alphabe-Thursday where we are studying the letter P

Oh, and you can find the play set in my shop!


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Mr. Nobody

As I was thinking of what I could write about for the letter N, "Mr. Nobody" jumped into my head! Hmmm, where on earth was Mr. Nobody?

He's in a wonderful children's poetry book -- The Golden Book of Poetry, edited by Jane Werner and illustrated by Gertrude Elliott. This was my absolute favorite book as a child! It was kept at my aunt's house -- I had various toys and books there since I stayed with her a lot when I needed to be babysat or just to visit.

"MR. NOBODY"

Anonymous

I know a funny little man,

As quite as a mouse,

Who does the mischief that is done

In everybody's house!

There's no one ever sees his face,

And yet we all agree

That every plate we break was cracked

By Mr. Nobody.

Tis he who always tears out books,

Who leaves the door ajar,

He pulls the buttons from our shirts,

And scatters pins afar;

That squeaking door will always squeak,

For prithee, don't you see,

We leave the oiling to be done

By Mr. Nobody.

The finger marks upon the door

By none of us are made;

We never leave the blinds unclosed,

To let the curtains fade.

The ink we never spill; the boots

That lying round you see

Are not our boots, --- they all belong

To Mr. Nobody.

Hmmm, wonder why that particular poem jumped into my head? I just wonder.....

The book has all kinds of poems, short and long, familiar and not so much. Poems like "Little Orphant Annie" by James Whitcomb Riley (this one scared me with its chorus!)

"Er, the Gobble-uns 'll git you

Ef you

Don't

Watch 

Out!"

and "The Walrus and the Carpenter" by Lewis Carroll,

and this one also by the infamous Anonymous:

"I'M GLAD"

I'm glad the sky is painted blue,

And the earth is painted green,

With such a lot of nice fresh air

All sandwiched in between.

It has beautiful illustrations like this from "The Road to Raffydiddle" by Margaret Plew Meigs

It told about the "fiddler with his fiddle" and all the people who came to dance. I never tired of matching up the people in the poem with the people in the picture! Do you see the fiddler?

  

I'm so glad I kept this book! Even though it's falling apart now, it will always be a part of my childhood and visits with my aunt..... and Mr. Nobody!

sharing Mr. Nobody over at Miss Jenny's for Alphabe-Thursday where we are studying the letter N

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Moose, Meese and Moosie

According to the Urban Dictionary, the plural of moose is meese and I absolutely agree!

"The real plural of moose. Many people, including the dictionary and English teachers, will attempt to tell you that "meese" is not correct. However, please consider the following: 

One goose = goose 

One moose = moose 

Two+ goose = geese 

Two+ moose = meese? 

Yes, meese is grammatically correct. Don't let them fool you.

Look at that wild flock of meese!"

(source - Wikipedia)

mom and dad meese

(source - Wikipedia)

what could be cuter than a baby moosie?

or is that mooselet  :p

When I was little, I had an imaginary friend named Moosie. Moosie went everywhere with me and I carried him by his tail. His long tail. He looked like a monkey, but his name was Moosie. I know this because I drew a picture of Moosie and Me and Moosie was definitely quite monkey-ish. 

You'll just have to believe me on this -- I had the drawing in my buffet but for the life of me I cannot now find it. Of course, if you could see inside the drawers of my buffet, you would understand why I cannot find it.

In any case, on one our trips to Colorado we decided to pick up some moose memories and start a collection of sorts.

This is my favorite. He's made of glass and is on a wooden base 

that's covered in something to make it shiny

There was information on the artist in the shop where we bought it

and it explained his process....

but of course I don't have that anymore

This is neat -- an etched granite tile

A cute moose couple

and guess who picked it out?

Yup, hubby!

Couldn't be a trip to Vail without buying a mug!

This one is big, and great for hot chocolate...

lots of space for marshmallows!

Chocolate Mousse  :)

I cross stitched him a bunch of years ago

and he hangs in my kitchen

This cutie ice skater was a gift.

He comes out at Christmas and helps decorate

Last but not least, Moosie!

He's a Gund and is actually named Moosie on his tag!

He's also Oliver's love....

I have to watch very carefully if Mr. Oliver is around lest we have something going on that we don't want to talk about in mixed company, if you get my drift.  :D

So Moosie stays where Oliver can't get him.....

sharing my meese over at Miss Jenny's for Alphabe-Thursday where we are studying the letter M

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