Easter: GG's house

Down by the pond.  Walking with Uncle Drew.  Learning about bream fish from Uncle Tommy.  Having a pond-dipped shoe removed by Granddaddy.  Hereafter he will be seen in his only remaining footwear: galoshes.

 

Hunting eggs with help from GG and Mimi.

Telling Daddy not to look so he could hide an egg in the planter.  

Owen liked looking for eggs, but he LOVED hiding them even more.  This is him feeling quite proud and bossy as he watched us wander the yard like chickens.

Family photo by Owen.  Scott called for everyone to do an Owen smile, but I'm the only one who knew what he meant.  So that's nine people pleasantly smiling and then us two lunatics.

Back inside, Owen suggested he open an online store to sell all the great loot he was gifted.  He piled everything in the middle of the room and had us buyers raise our hand if we wanted something.  Online store?  I have no idea where he got that one.

Tradition.  Passing out on the drive home.

Back with the rest of Easter tomorrow.  Hope all of you had a wonderful holiday weekend!

Happy Easter!

I'll leave it to you to figure out Owen's contribution to his Easter ensemble.  I hemmed his pants myself - my first act of tailoring!  

Phlorida Photos

And these are the things Owen felt required documentation:

First Field Trip

Do you think I could have convinced the chief to move the fire truck so it wasn't half in shadow?  

You know, just for the sake of photographic integrity.

Owen loved that one of the firemen had kid artwork on his locker.

The kids thought the most mundane things were fascinating- like that they had an oven and a potty and beds inside the firehouse.  Owen is bragging about the substantial height of his own bed in the second photo.  And no, it's not really that tall.  I suspect he's inherited my tendency to exaggerate under the pressure of storytelling for an audience.  We're not liars, just really socially awkward.

But you can believe everything I type on here.  

Swear.

Florida photos tomorrow!

Back from Florida

Owen and I just flew in last night from Orlando, where we had a great visit with Rebecca, Joe and Jennifer.  We've got a busy day today, but I'll get back soon with the rundown! 

Space...LEGO...space

Again?

Can't seem to keep a wireless connection for more than a few minutes, so I'm typing this as fast as I can!

(connection lost)

Nope... not fast enough.  Scott says it's the router now.

(connection lost)

Excuse me while I go punch an innocent pillow.

Hodge Podge

My mind is all over the place today, so I'll just go for it and give you a glimpse.

• I didn't quite finish my craft project, but I know you've been distracted for days since that cliffhanger of a Friday post so I'll have mercy on you. Remember this post from back in the fall?  Owen proudly displayed his artwork on our sheet metal wall for months... until someone brushed against it and it fell to the floor, where Greta spotted it and seized the opportunity to upchuck her Purina all over it.  Bleck.  But I've been trying to view problems more as opportunities (I may have watched a self-help program on PBS or something), so it came to me that I could trace his drawing onto cotton with a fabric pen and then embroider it.  That way I can put the barf art in the garbage where it belongs.  I'll let you know when it's finally done!
• That's also a peek at our landscaping plans.  The guy was supposed to be here to start about 5 1/2 hours ago.  Does that happen to you guys a lot too, or do I have Please wipe your feet tattooed on my face?  Problems = opportunities.  Problems = opportunities.

• We went to the creek for a picnic after church yesterday with a group of our friends.  Such a stinkin' wonderful day.  Thanks for sharing it with us guys!  

• Owen kept bringing me flowers and I kept sticking them in my hair.  Then I made him take a picture so I could see if I really looked like Buttercup.  Umm... yea, I flatter myself.  Quick!  What's your favorite Princess Bride quote?
• Owen went for his 4-month eye check-up this morning, and he now has 20/20 vision!  The doctor seemed quite surprised that his left eye improved so quickly.  He's got 2 more months of wearing a patch for an hour a day and 3 more months in glasses just to make sure it 'sticks', and then hopefully we can begin storing his specs in the dress-up bin.
• Special love to all of you who have family members in the hospital or recovering.  Spring Break was rough on many of you!

Happy Weekend!

What I'll be working on this weekend.  This project was inspired by Greta barf.  Explanation (and hopefully a finished product) on Monday!  Take care.

Found it

1942, Papa was 19 and headed to war in the Pacific.  I love how proud my great-grandfather looks, but I also can't help but feel the more poignant reason they took this picture.

Fun fact about my great-grandfather (yell at me if I'm getting this wrong Mom!):  He loved toying around with concrete and dynamite.  

And in C.A.'s world, there existed a symbiosis between these substances.  He made stuff by pouring concrete into molds, enjoyed it for a while, got bored with it, blew it up.  I never knew him, but I'll always imagine him as a character from a John Irving novel.

So glad he didn't blow these up.  I think about half a dozen of these bench ends remain in the family. We've hired a landscaper (who starts Monday!) to clean up the 1+ acre of woods behind our house and put in a few walking paths.  I can't wait to give this bench its proper place once the project is finished.  

Not that I'll be the one moving this thing.  Holy toast it's heavy.  

Small change, big sentiment

The horse print in our breakfast nook now has some company.

I did some digging through the family archives over Christmas in Texas and found lots of great stuff from my Swanson side of the family.  I knew my Papa was the consummate entrepreneur, but I'd never realized he inherited the trait from his dad, C.A Swanson.  This is a cardboard sign advertising my great grandpa's painting services; three of them miraculously survived years in garage and attic storage (so there's one for each of you too Jenn and Beck!).  I also found letterhead for C.A.'s roofing business, and it's framed and waiting for a home.  

The horse picture is from At Home in Homewood - where I like to fall down the rabbit hole when I find myself with time to piddle.  And the sunburst sculpture is from a junk shop on Lake Martin.  The lady who checked me out seemed to feel guilty for taking $1.00 from me and made some sort of encouraging comment about how maybe I could fix it up with spray paint.  But I've since seen it listed on eBay and Etsy for 50-200 times what I paid for it. Makes me giddier than nitrous oxide.

I know I've got a great picture of Papa and C.A. posing in C.A.'s rose garden before Papa left for the war, but you'll have to be satisfied with this gratuitous fake-smile shot of Owen while I work on tracking it down.