Lillian's Toddler Room

No more Pack & Play for Lillian. She filled that thing from END to END. Okay...time to move on. I paid $20 for a "toddler bed". This one was made out of plain white metal. PERFECT...


In yesterday's post -- I showed you my little crib-mattress-pad trick - AND my new crib-sheet-case-invention. Here's the bed, with the new dinosaur sheet -- AND a fabulous dino-pillow that is bigger than Lillian!

It's so adorable! Lilly kept dragging it out into the living room -- so she could sit on the floor and watch television.

On the opposite wall -- the twin bed has been reworked, too. With it's own dinosaur sheets, and a zebra throw wrapped around the long cushion.

Lillian and her devoted best friend, Sophie. Who shared the new bed...



Great picture, Kelcy...THANKS...

Crib Sheet Invention

At first glance -- this looks like a simple little mattress pad for a toddler bed. BUT -- OH NO IT ISN'T...

Here's the thing about toddler beds. Of course, they use a crib mattress. Which are always made out of plastic. Which means that the corners of fitted sheets keep slipping off. I cut down an old twin mattress pad -- but it wouldn't stay in place. So I decided to try sewing a couple of "bands", using some very stretchy swimsuit fabric...GENIUS!!

This picture is the underside of the mattress -- the bright orange/yellow/pink striped fabric is the lycra swimsuit fabric...

I serged two "bands" on the underside. MAGIC...the mattress pad is going to stay in place PERFECTLY...

Then I decided to use a similar tactic to make the sheet. Instead of sewing elastic around the edges, I made a giant pillowcase. I used dinosaur fabric for the TOP of the sheet -- and a double-stretchy tie-dyed t-shirt fabric for the bottom side. I squared the corners of one end -- and left the other end open...


The mattress slipped right into my giant sheet-case...

My piece of dinosaur fabric was not quite long enough -- so I fudged with a piece of yellow cotton at the top...

PERFECT!! I think crib sheetcases will be my new signature baby gift!! The key to a nice tight fit was using a stretchy fabric on the UNDERside.

geesh...I crack myself up....

WELCOME HOME GARRETT

You know about my niece Amy and her three boys...here they are, going to the Titanic exhibit...Garrett, Cale and Cash.

Last summer, I picked up Garrett at the boat dock.

Part of his adventure was to visit his Grandma at her job...

On another day -- he used his artistic talents at the GREEN DAY event...

I'm writing this blog because Garrett gave us a big scare. While away at church camp, he got sick to his stomach. And, well, to make a long story short -- he had an emergency appendectimy.

After the operation, he continued to have a high temp, and couldn't eat -- so he had to stay in the hospital. He was a very sick little boy.

BUT last night he finally got to go home...

WHEW.

It was a VERY SCARY WEEK, bud.

B-17 EVENT

On July 10th, there was a B-17 right here in Scott County, Iowa. No kidding. A fully restored, working B-17 landed at our little Mt. Joy municipal airport. There was a wonderful story in the Quad City Times -- explaining that the "flights" cost $400 (10 people per flight -- about an hour up in the air). But the inside-the-plane-ground-tour was only $5 per person. I knew this would be an excellent "Aunt Rita Adventure!". (the key to success for these deals is that I pick events I WANT TO GO TO....)



However, as the weekend developed, it just didn't work out. Mostly because these KIDS ARE SO DARN BUSY!!

i moved on to an excellent Plan B -- Lillian was here...so I put the B-17 Adventure out of my mind.

Then I heard that my sister Deena actually BOUGHT A FLIGHT for her husband Ned. ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? (Here's Ned, with granddaughter Madeline)...

On Friday, the B-17 flew over their house, and Ned wistfully remarked that it would almost be worth the $$ to take a ride on that thing. Such a piece of history...

Our father, Glenn Little, was in the Army Air Corps in WW II. He was a navigator on a B-26. So maybe that's why this event caught Deena's attention. And after Ned made his remark -- and Deena heard a commercial on her car radio. IT FELT LIKE DESTINY. She called the number from her cell phone and got lucky. There was ONE seat left on the Sunday 1:00 PM flight.

OH MY GOD. GO DEENA...!!!

She quickly informed her kids -- and they met at the Mt. Joy airfield. Ned thought they were all just going for the $5 "tour" of the plane. But NOOOOOOOO...

After he signed the release (it IS a 70-year-old airplane)...Ned climbed aboard and UP THEY WENT.

They have promised me pictures. I'M WAITING, PEOPLE!!

I promise a complete report....SOON...

60's Music, Girls' Night Out!

Sometimes, my spur-of-the-moment events turn out great. (I don't write about those that don't)...

As soon as I read about "Four-Play" -- I realized my sister Deb's granddaughters would be the PERFECT victims...I mean, "guests"... AND, as Ritaluck would have it -- Ally (14), who lives in Tennessee, was visiting Lexi (12) who lives here. I AM SO EXCITED...

Circa 21 is a wonderful professional dinner-theater in Rock Island, Illinois. The singing wait staff -- the "Bootleggers" -- sometimes put on shows of their own. "Four-Play" was basically a concert at the Speakeasy. Four bootleggers singing the music of Janis Joplin, Carly Simon, Carole King and Joan Baez. OMG. These are my people...


You might remember Ally and Lexi from Deb's "girls trip" to New York City. This is a picture of Lexi and Ally at the American Girl store -- December 2009...


And this is a picture of Ally and Lexi -- July 2011 -- going on an Aunt Rita Adventure...



TIME FLIES, eh?

Lexi will be in the 7th grade this year, and Ally in the 9th. Remember the 7th grade? Starting Jr. High is pretty scary. And your Freshman year in High School is always a terrifying moment.

And I have this unbelievable opportunity to spend a whole evening with these two beautiful girls....at this exciting time in their lives...

They were, without a doubt, the youngest people in the room. (if you don't count the crying infant in the first row).

As we were waiting for the concert of my beloved 60's music to begin -- it suddenly dawned on me that to these two girls -- this evening would be exactly like my Aunt Glad taking me to a concert of tunes from WW I....

What could possibly go wrong?

Happy Birthday Kelcy

Happy Birthday, Kelcy!! My youngest niece -- now a grown up woman -- with children of your own...Time FLIES -- I'm telling ya...


It seems like just yesterday, you were a newborn baby yourself. And now you are the mother of TWO. Mason and the newborn Myla. Your baby is working hard to earn the title of "fussiest baby in the family"...

One day, you'll look back on this little video and laugh. Hopefully...



As the "mother of Elliott" -- I have given you the best advice I can. Which is that you need to understand YOUR GOALS HAVE CHANGED. Moms think their goal is to get the baby to STOP CRYING.

But, with a really fussy baby, that's not a lofty enough goal, Kelcy. With a really, really cranky baby -- there is a NEW GOAL.

Which is to keep YOURSELF FROM CRYING...

Sometimes, that means you must calmly move away from the crying baby...

She'll be fine. One day soon, the crying will stop. In the blink of an eye, you'll turn around and she'll be a beautiful, well-adjusted, conversational, thinking young woman....

And I'm already looking forward to our "girls' trip" to NEW YORK CITY!!!

Language

During her most recent visit, Lilly was making language connections with lightning speed.

When asked if she wanted to take her nap "No, Grandma. No, No, No, No..."

When her father "tooted" as he walked through the room (his signature move to show affection) -- she said, while waving her hand in front of her face "Daddy -- GO AWAY."

It suddenly struck me that this is what being human is all about. Language. The ability to actually communicate your wishes...One morning, I was putting a pink diaper on her (a swim diaper, as I was out of the regular kind) she said, "No..Grandma -- too tight." And I was thinking that just a month ago, she would have been crying and I would've had no idea why...

Lillian has this quiet little breathy voice...but every syllable is suddenly clear and understandable. Besides Mommy and Daddy -- she had names for lots of people. Grandpa, Grandma, Noona, PopPop. She also says, "hungry"...."ice"... "Sophie"..."Grandpa"..."outside"...

And the sentences are coming fast and furious..."Cartoons, Grandma. Please?" "Daddy -- poop in the potty." "Sophie, follow me." It is SO ADORABLE...

One day, I had both Lilly and her much younger friend, Braden. Braden repeated the same baby gibberish three times...it sounded like, "gobblely-gook dee see lo PIE!" The three of us were sitting on the floor. Lilly looked at him, then at me. Because she so recently entered the world of language -- I figured she would understand Braden's baby talk. I said, "What did he say, Lillian?" She looked at me and said, very slowly, "gobblely-gook dee see lo PIE!". Then, she held both her hands, palms up, and shrugged her shoulders...

So much for having a translator...

My favorite words...as she is getting into her new little bed one night, she gave me a big bear hug and said, "Me happy, Grandma."

Me, too, Lillian. Me, too...

Lillian's Baby Room

I FORGOT to post these pictures of Lillian's room once it was "complete". I love the way the fabric wall turned out. Bits and pieces I pasted up, using fabric starch...Lillian was quite content in the Pack 'N Play for the first two years...

It's a small room. On the opposite wall, there is a twin bed. The plaid bedskirt is from the very first bedspread I bought for our house in Pine Grove Pennsylvania. In 1973. wow...

The black & white tile on the floor is a project my cousin Jackie helped me make. It's a simple 4'x8' sheet of masonite. We put on black & white peel 'n stick tiles. It was so I'd have a hard surface for my roller chair (when this room was my office)...

There is always a little rack of "clothes" when Lilly comes to visit.

Coming into the room -- a wall of oddities. Most of them are clocks.

This little room has come full circle. When we moved into this house, in July 1981 -- it was Elliott's nursery. After he moved upstairs, it became my sewing room. When I opened my fabric store, and we bought a "computer" -- the little room became a shared office. (yes, John and I shared something). When Ross moved out, John took over that large upstairs bedroom for his office -- and I turned this little room back into a sewing/embroidery room. Then, Lillian came along and it turned BACK INTO A NURSERY...

AND -- even as I'm writing this post -- it has already undergone another big change. No more Pack 'n play for Lillian. She's moving into her own little bed...and I'm changing it up to appeal to her DINOSAUR phase...

Pictures to follow...

60's Music

I am a lucky, lucky woman. In the "GO" section of the newspaper, I read about a night of 60's music that would be happening at the Speakeasy in Rock Island, Illinois. FOR TWO NIGHTS ONLY.

Four women would be singing the music of Janis Joplin, Carole King, Carley Simon and Joan Baez. ARE YOU KIDDING ME??

WHO CAN I TAKE??

Certainly I must have a great niece or nephew who could join me for an evening of "Me and Bobbie McGee"...along with a bit of "You're so vain"...

WHO WOULDN'T LOVE THAT??



Oh, yeah...this is gonna be good...

*****

I went to Four-Play with two very special guests on Tuesday night, July 19. As soon as I download some pictures -- you will read more about it...

But i wanted to say that the second performance happens tonight -- July 21. The Speakeasy doors open at 6:00 and the show starts at 7:00. Tickets are $12 at the door -- and YOU SHOULD GO. I loved it, loved it, loved it...

Madeline and Avery

My nephew Chad and his wife Becky have two beautiful daughters -- Madeline and Avery. During a recent visit, Grandma Deena made pizza for lunch. Avery is quite the picky eater...(yes, that is both sarcasm and an understatement)...

Chad did everything he could do to entice her to eat her lunch...but nothing seemed to be working...

I was enjoying newborn Myla...and Avery's sister Madeline seemed to be taking cover...(she LOVED her pizza lunch!)

Then I noticed Madeline's t-shirt. It cracked me up. Can you read it? The words say:

"WILL TRADE SISTER FOR TRACTOR"...

(JUST KIDDING, AVERY...I think...)

Don't worry, Chad & Becky. Elliott only ate toothpaste and Kool-Aid until he was four years old. And -- hey -- look how he turned out...

Wait a minute...

Jackie's Book Ends

Remember Linda's gift for her sister Jackie? The lucite shoes she turned into bookends??


Jackie sent pictures of how she's using Linda's beautiful shoe bookends:



OF COURSE she would have the perfect set of bookshelves...

And I love the Aloe Vera plant!!

GOOD JOB, girls. Thanks for sharing your art, Linda -- and then -- sending the pictures, Jackie!!

We miss you, too...

A Medical Miracle

When I got back from Reno -- I went to the nursing home to see how Valerie was doing. I'm sitting at the foot of her bed when a nurse walked into the room. Seeing me, she smiled and said, "Are you the Mom?" ARE YOU KIDDING ME?? Valerie is 58 years old...

I said, "No...I am her suicidal friend. I'm going to shoot myself -- and it will be all your fault. I AM ONLY FOUR YEARS OLDER THAN SHE IS..."

Val made a joke about it...and I tried NOT to let it bother me...but -- really??

Fast Forward...

A week later, Lillian was at our house. She spent an evening with my nephew Toby and his pregnant wife, Brenda. The next day, Lilly was sitting on my lap, and she patted my stomach and said, "Baby, Grandma? Baby?"

UGH...

So now, when something stressful happens, I say, "BE CAREFUL PEOPLE...I am a pregnant woman who also happens to be the mother of a 58-year old...and I can't take much more..."

Here's my favorite mother-daughter picture:

Let me tell you -- this thing is NOT OVER...ugh...

Midwest Ya Ya's at QSC

Gheesh...sorry there wasn't a new post yesterday. I do try to post every day except Sunday. BUT -- Lilly was here for a couple of days -- and I'm telling you -- I AM TOO OLD AND TOO FAT to be totally in charge of a two-year old!! Anyway -- I didn't even turn on this computer for three days. I am sorry...

Here's the post I THOUGHT was going up yesterday...

****************

On Friday night, July 1, Mary and I were presenting our program at the QSC in Reno, Nevada. Here we are with Vickie Hundert, the producer of the Quilting, Stitches and Craft shows.

It was a great audience...they enjoyed some wine and cheese before the show started..

In the future -- this may be a new requirement. Think about it. What if EVERY AUDIENCE got a little tipsy right before we started to Ya Ya..??


Kaye Wood introduced us -- and she also brought up Vi -- who was having her birthday on that day. If you're reading this blog, Vi -- HAPPY BIRTHDAY AGAIN. I hope you won big at the Blackjack tables that night...

AND HERE'S OUR SPECIAL GUEST. Karen actually reads this blog!! So I gave her a job. she took some GREAT PICTURES of our Reno Ya Ya event. This pic of the three of us is one of my favorites.


We have a lot in common. Our husbands are both smokers. (meat, not Marlboros)...more about that in a later post!!

Val's Fourth of July Dress

The GOOD NEWS is that Valerie has been approved for 20 days of nursing home "care". yippee kayee...

And, hey, come to think about it -- there is NO BAD NEWS. Val has a great attitude, and she is appreciative of the help.

I got back from Reno on July 2, and decided I would make a "Fourth of July" nursing home dress for Valerie.

Remember -- my "STASH" of t-shirts. This is gonna be fun...

I started off with a sleeveless red/white & blue striped t-shirt. I used the top of it -- but then cut the rest in strips to make the SKIRT.

Here's Val -- with the dress laying on top of her. Can you see the best feature? The middle section of the skirt is another t-shirt with one of the 7 Dwarfs. It says,

"I'm right. You're Wrong. Any questions?"

Then, I added the blue star pockets...and a white piece at the bottom, to make it the right length.

PERFECT. And Val was the HIT OF THE HOME on July 4th...

Titanic Exhibit

No matter what part of the country you live in -- there is ALWAYS something interesting going on. Right now, in Davenport, Iowa, at the Putnam Museum -- there is a Titanic Artifact exhibit.

My niece Amy was taking her three boys -- and she invited her Mom and me to join them. Here's my only picture of the whole group...I know, it's fuzzy...but you can sens the smiles, right?

This is a way better picture of Amy and her boys -- Cale, Garrett and Cash...

The upper floor, where the exhibit is, was painted to look like the outside of the Titanic...

Because I wasn't allowed to take pictures inside the exhibit -- I had to wait until we got through..

The boys had to go to their usual Putnam favorite-places. This tree had just enough viewing spots -- although you can barely see Amy peeking through her knothole...

They did a great job with the exhibit -- and the actual artifacts that came up from the sunken Titanic were awesome.

Here's the part I loved...when you enter the exhibit, they hand you a "boarding pass" -- with a Titanic passenger name. At the end of the exhibit, every name is written up on the wall. The columns are "First Class", "Second Class", "Third Class" and "Crew". ..and you have to search for your name to see if they survived or went down with the ship.

The exhibit did a great job of telling the stories of many of the passengers...who they were, and why they were on the ship. Some of them boarded at the last minute, or transferred from another ship. Many people who intended to cross the ocean on the Titanic either missed the boat or changed their plans at the last minute.

As I sat on the bench, searching for my "passenger's" identity, I was once again struck by one of the credos of my life...

"Most days, you can't tell your good luck from your bad."