Spring Front Door...Finally!

It's About Time...
Today I finally got around to taking the winter garlands off the front door.  It's finally time for spring!  I like the bird theme...I'm thinking that if I get lazy, it'll do until late summer.  And...knowing me...the odds are that it will be there at least until August. =D

Ivy and Pink Morning Glory Garlands

My Thumper Easter Wreath.

Little Blue Birds of Happiness and birds nests.

Shakers full of bird seed...in case they get hungy.

Such cute little birds.  They were from Tai Pan Trading Co...the coolest store around.

Full view.  The wreath on the left will replace Thumper after Easter.

Thanks for letting me share...if it weren't for this blog I might never get anything done in a timely manner.  Now the sun is coming back out...rats!  I could have had better light.  Oh, well, at least Spring looks like she might be hanging around for a bit.

Old Negatives!

Old negatives yield new treasures...
A few years ago we came across a crumbling envelope of old negatives.  Some were so old and bleached out that we could hardly make out the subject matter.  But one of the negatives was for the picture below...Grandpa Mel, his baby daughter Jane and little Tad...my father.

It is one of my very favorite pictures.  We had copies made and an enlargement for my dad for Father's Day.  A few days ago...I was digging in boxes, looking for my school pictures, when I found that same old envelope.  I couldn't tell who was in most of the pictures...there were a lot of "glamour shots" of teenage girls at a camp (Yellowstone, I think).  But one of the last negatives of the pile yielded a real treasure...

...Grandma Zetta and her children, taken the same day as the photo above.  This was just a few years after the Lost Plane adventures.  And she is wearing an apron...of course!  I was so grateful to find that old negative...just think, no one has seen this picture since the Depression!

I feel so blessed and happy today...almost like I was able to see Grandma Zetta again.

I miss her and Grandpa so very much.

When I was your age...Mailey and Alena!

Kindergarten Cousins...

Two sweet little girls in their Easter finery...Alena on the left, and Mailey on the right.   Kindergarten!  The word means "garden of children" in German.  And there couldn't be two prettier flowers.  I couldn't wait to turn five and go to school with the older kids on my street.  You are just starting out on an exciting adventure in the Great Big World.  There is so much to see and so much to learn.  What was kindergarten like when I was your age?  Let's find out.

Kindergarten!...

I couldn't find my kindergarten pictures, but I remember wearing a little red cardigan sweater on picture day.  The picture on the left was taken when I was five years old.  The little boy is my brother Mike, and the little girl is Patti.

The Old Alpine School and Gymnasium

This was my school in Alpine, Utah.  Alpine was a very small town when I was a little girl...maybe 500 or so people.  But it was nestled against the mountains and was very pretty with lots of little farms and orchards. My daddy also went to this school.  He lived in Fort Canyon and when he started kindergarten he rode a horse to school!  No school bus for little Tad!

A Kindergarten Day...

The Pledge of Allegience

My teacher was Miss Greenwood.  She also taught first grade.  Our school had only four classrooms so they split the younger kids. Kindergarten came in the morning and first grade in the afternoon.  When the bell rang, we lined up in front of the flag pole and followed our teacher inside.  The first thing we did was say the prayer and recite the Pledge of Allegience.  Even then we were taught to respect our flag.

We learned to count and do our ABCs.  There wasn't any pre-school then, so most of us learned these things in kindergarten.  See the funny wooden shoe?  That was how we learned to tie our shoelaces.  Kindergarten was much simpler then.  After our lesson we played with toys...the playhouse in the corner was the most popular thing for both the girls and the boys.  After the toys were put away...

...we all gathered around our teacher sitting in a circle on the floor while she read us a story.  My favorite was Peter Pan.  At some point we could hear the clank of bottles.  One of the lunch ladies would come in bringing the milk for snack time.

Nice cold bottles of milk!

In those days, school milk came in little bottles with a straw.  I have always loved milk...in school, I could never seem to get enough of it...sometimes I would drink 3 containers with my lunch.  Our snack was usually graham crackers.  After snack time came...

...Nap Time!

We spread out our mats and lay down for a little rest.  This was the hardest part of the day for me.  I was a wiggly worm!  I don't know how long we were supposed to lay there, but it seemed like hours!  I just couldn't hold still that long.  Miss Greenwood would watch for the least wiggly child...and that child would be chosen to be the "Wake-up Fairy."  The wake-up fairy was given a magic wand and he or she would touch each child on the head with the wand and say "wake-up."  I dearly wanted to be the wake-up fairy...but since I was so wiggly I only got to do it once!

Recess!

Merry-go-round!

Out in the school yard we had a merry-go-round.  We held on tight and spun around and around until we were dizzy!  Our old school yard was paved in asphalt which was crumbly and full of gravel.  If I ever took a tumble off the merry-go-round I would spend some time in the school nurse's office having gravel picked out of my scraped knees.  Another fun...but dangerous...playground item was...

..."Tricky Bars"

Also known as a Jungle Gym...we spent many recesses hanging upside down on the highest bars.  We wore dresses to school in those days...so we had to hold onto our skirts with one hand or...be sure to wear clean underwear!  I had a pair of...

...culottes that I wore on "Tricky Bars" days.  No one was going to sing "I see London, I see France..." when I hung upside down.   There were swings....of course...and a weedy old tennis court, used mostly for rollerskating.  There was no padding under anything...you played at your own risk.

This was Kindergarten 1960...
When school was over, I would walk home with my friends or just dawdle along by myself.  Sometimes I would stop by Grandma Zetta's house to see if she had any cookies.  Sometimes she did, but most of the time she would shoo me out the door and tell me to "get on home!"  I was never in any hurry to "get on home."  There were too many things to explore on the way!  I hope you are having fun in your kindergarten classes.  I am so proud of my two smart girls...Alena and Mailey!

Love,

Grandma Shirley

My Favorite Little Golden Book

I learned to read from this book!

Let the Easter Crafting Begin!

Last Day of February...
Tomorrow March is here at last!  In February, it doesn't seem like spring will ever come.  But March gives me hope!  I am still trying to get the snowmen off the front door garland...but it keeps snowing and blowing.  I have the cutest Easter wreath from Disney.  It's all pink and pretty with Thumper at the center.  I can't wait to dig it out of the storeroom and get some Spring in (my front) steps.

The bunny card to the left is one of my favorite graphics.  I've had it for a few years now...this year I think he will feature in a few projects.  I finished a couple of things last weekend to share.

Re-Purposed Mini Muffin Tin...

It's quite small...only 7" by 9".

Birds and nests are a few of my most favorite things.

Tin Sign w/Vintage Postcard...

Quick and easy project...got frame from Pick Your Plum last Halloween.

Large Oval Gift Box....

This will be filled with Easter treats for a fund-raiser.

Thank you for letting me share my first Easter projects for 2012.  I have a lot more ideas running around like toddlers inside my head.  I hope to share those as well...when they've settled down long enough to be created. =D

Note:  I just noticed that this is my 100th post!  I cannot believe it!  I only started the blog in August.

 Thank you, everyone for encouraging me!

When I Was Your Age...McKenzie & Macy!

 





















Harrington Elementary...
The two little beauties above are, McKenzie, on the left, and Macy.  Kenzie is in the fifth grade and Macy is in third.

In third, fourth and fifth grades, I attended Harrington Elementary in American Fork, Utah.  "Old Hairy Legs" we called it.  I liked going to school there...the teachers and principal were nice.  Mr. Durrant, my fourth grade teacher, was the nicest man in the world.  We (the girls) cried on the last day of school, we loved him so much.

Fifth Grade...

This is me in fifth grade.  My favorite subject was writing and I loved to write stories.  Reading and vocabulary were also things I was very good at.  I once called a little girl who was teasing me "obnoxious and abhorrent."  I was sometimes bored when the work was too easy.  My teacher, probably to give me something to do, would have me read aloud to the class whatever book we were on, like "Where the Red Fern Grows."

I was a champion jacks player...in my mind!

Two of the most popular games at Harrington were tether ball and foursquare.  I wasn't the best at any sport...but I held my own at recess!  Another reason why Mr. Johnson had to keep me busy was...

...Batman! 

I was totally crazy about him!

I spent a lot of my time doodling bat symbols on my papers.  It was such a cheesy show!  What was I thinking?  When I was wasn't drooling over Bruce Wayne, I was at my friend Carrie's house for 4-H and dancing to...

...The Beatles!

I wanted to be British so bad that I faked an English accent and pretended I was an exchange student.  This only annoyed my real...American...family!  Carrie had all their albums...and a real stereo console in her living room.  We hadn't had a working record player for some time.  One day, my friends and I performed a lip-sync to "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" for our classmates.

Third Grade...

This is my fourth grade picture.  I couldn't find any of my third grade ones...even after a day spent digging through many dusty boxes of photos and keepsakes.  I hope they turn up some day.

We moved from Alpine to American Fork the year I started third grade.  After a long summer playing outside in the sun, my skin was as dark and pretty as yours, Macy.  On the first day of school..I had my hair in braids that day...a little girl asked me if I was an Indian. Since I do have some Native American blood...I told her I was.  I spent my first day at a new school being popular for the first time in my life...I enjoyed being so exotic and interesting.  Too bad it didn't last. =D 

Favorite Books...

All-time Favorites...Little House on the Prairie

I was always in the highest reading group and had been reading chapter books since second grade...where my favorite series was...

...The Boxcar Children

I loved the idea of children fending for themselves and living in a train car.  For the longest time I wanted a caboose for a playhouse.  In third grade I discovered...

...Classics Illustrated. 

These comic books made the great books of literature fun to read.  My favorites were "Oliver Twist" and "The Time Machine."  In third grade I got the brilliant idea to write a script for a third grade production of Oliver Twist...too bad Mrs. Mortensen wouldn't cooperate with my scheme.  I had it all written and cast too!

A Sad Day in November...

John F. Kennedy was President of the United States.  When I saw him on television, I thought he was the most handsome man.  I knew nothing about politics...but I liked him very much.

November 22, 1963 was a normal school day.  When we went for lunch, all was well.  After lunch, I entered the school room.  The cute boy, Jon, sat at his desk listening to his transistor radio surrounded by a bunch of kids.  The substitute teacher was writing on the board..."Lyndon Baines Johnson."  Something was very wrong.  The teacher then informed us that President Kennedy had been killed.  The news was everywhere.  It seemed like the whole world was turned upside down.

The sight of the pretty widow and her two little children was so sad it made me cry.

This was a little of my life when I was your age.  I had many more adventures...some real, some imaginary. When you are my age, Mckenzie and Macy, what stories will you tell?

I love you,

Grandma Shirley

Post Script:  Just a day or two after this was posted...the news came out that Davy Jones had died from a heart attack.  How sad to lose a childhood hero. 

Daisy, Daisy!

What's in a Name?

After we lost Jack, our golden retriever, I sadly took the name letters down from the shelf in the mud room...leaving an empty space on the shelf and in our hearts.  Then Daisy came!  She is so bright and pretty...

...and always in motion.  As sunny as a daisy in springtime is our baby.  This week I felt it was time for Daisy to take her place upon the high shelf.  So with some paper mache letters from Hobby Lobby, October Afternoon paper and 3Dimensional daisy stickers...our mud room is now a brighter and sunnier space. 

Close-up of D and A

Close-up of I S Y. 

The letters look so bright and vintage-y.

Not a great pic...there are no windows in this room off the garage.

But I was able to find a cute daisy cannister to help brighten things up.

This is just a short post...still working on the next posts for my granddaughters.  They are coming down tonight for a quick (un-expected) stay...a cousin on their Dad's side is getting married tomorrow.  Gotta go get a few things ready.