GG Meets Her New Grandbabies

My mother-in-law, henceforth to be known as GG, finally got to meet her first great grandson, Ian. Six months old now and she'd never had an opportunity to see him in person nor hold him. I am happy to report that void has been filled. Last Sunday we ventured over to Don & Kellie's to visit them all, but especially so that GG could meet (and hold) The Twins. I know that GG enjoyed herself and so did I.
I am a very lucky woman as I won the Mother-in-Law stakes. I know that many women have troubled relationships with their husband's mothers, but that has never been true for me. I have adored my mother-in-law from the very first time I met her. She has treated me with nothing but love and kindness from the very start, way back in 1967. I love her with all my heart.

Beautiful but tired Kellie. (Can you imagine how exhausting it must be to handle all those middle of the night feedings---for twins? Makes me tired just thinking of it.)

And since I am now a mother-in-law I would like to state that I have also been exceedingly lucky with the choices my children have made for spouses. Chris is wonderful and Kellie is divine. I couldn't be happier with the wonderful people my children have brought into our family. I know, I know, all this sweetness is unlike me....but sometimes you just have to say it out loud for the world to hear! When you're as lucky as I have been, you better be grateful. And I am, I am.

And here is Chris, he of the kind heart, "gigantic cranium" and wacky humor. He's not too hard on the eyes, either!

Raspberry Season

At the Edmonds Summer Market today were some perfect raspberries. Now, I am tired today. Really, really tired. My darling Annie and family left for home at 8 this morning and I will admit that the two weeks they were here were wonderful, delightful, precious....and tiring. I love my daughter, my son-in-law and my Alex and my Ian, but I'm tired. A good tired but----well----tired. Do not, Dear Reader, think this is just whining. It is not, I promise. I'm just explaining why I walked past the booth with the perfect raspberries several times without buying any. I tried to ignore the siren song they were quietly singing. I tried not to see how red and plump and juicy they looked. I tried really, really hard not to smell that delectable perfect raspberry aroma. I finally just had to admit that I was going to go buy three half flats and that I was going to go to the grocery store and get pectin and sugar and more jars. I had to make raspberry jam. I had to!

So I went to the grocery store and bought what I needed. And went to the EAF Hen party and had a fine time with my friends, sippin' wine, chatting and eating some amazing food. Then I walked home. I put off making the raspberry jam because I was tired. I asked Nonie to come eat left overs with me. She did. We did. I still didn't make the jam.

Nonie went home to let me go to bed early. I tried. I really did. But there on the counter were three half flats of perfect raspberries....singing the "oh, we would make such perfect jam if only some lazy soul would get up and make some jam!" So I did.

I got eleven pints of jam from the three half flats.

And I made some really, really, REALLY perfect raspberry jam. I did. And won't I be glad in November!

Sigh.

Feeding the Ducks

Today we went to visit Auntie Pumpkin who lives on a lovely little lake near here. She has as dock and we came prepared with bread. The ducks were mightily glad to see us! Ian stayed home with Daddy, but Emma and Alex had a great time.
There was the one moment of total disrespect from my child, but everyone else was very well behaved.
We had a lovely visit. Thank you, Auntie Pumpkin!

Something

Something

by Mary Oliver

from Why I Wake Early

Something fashioned

this yellow-white lace mass

that the sea has brought to the shore

and left----

like popcorn stuck to itself,

or a string of lace rolled up tight,

or a handful of fingerling shells pasted together,

each with a tear where something

escaped into the sea. I brought it home

out of the uncombed morning and consulted

among my books. I do not know

what to call this sharpest desire

to discover a name,

but there it is, suddenly, clearly

illustrated on the page, offering my heart

another singular

moment of happiness: to know that it is

the egg case of an ocean shell,

the whelk,

which, in its proper season,

spews forth its progeny in such

glutenous and faintly

glimmering fashion, each one

chewing and tearing itself free

while what is left rides to shore, one more

sweet-as-honey answer for the wanderer

whose tongue is agile, whose mind,

in the world's riotous plenty,

wants syntax, connections, lists,

and most of all names to set beside the multitudinous

starts, flowers, sea creatures, rocks, trees.

The egg case of the whelk

sits on my shelf in front of, as it happens, Blake.

Sometimes I dream

that everything in the world is here, in my room,

in a great closet, named and orderly,

and I am here too, in front of it,

hardly able to see for the flash and the brightness----

and sometimes I am that madcap person clapping my hands and singing;

and sometimes I am that quiet person down on my knees.

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

My whelk egg case sits on the window ledge in my breakfast room, sand still
clinging to parts of it. I brought it all the way from from Florida last spring.
It is one of my most special treasures.

Edmonds Saturday Market

I love waking up on a Saturday morning in the summer here in Edmonds because I know that right out my front door is the Market. It's a cornucopia of delights and today was no exception. I bought sweet peas, fresh chevre, lettuces (two kinds), salad onions, vine ripened tomatoes, blueberries, strawberries, raspberries and cherries. All of it was delicious. All was grown locally. It was goooooooooood!

LK Ludwig nominated me for this and I am passing it on to some of my favorite blogs, in no particular order.

• my very own Jen
• Dneese from Oz, otherwise know as grrl+dog
• Mary Ann Moss of Dispatch from LA fame
• Maryam in Marrakesh
• The One, the Only Pioneer Woman!
• Wendy from Theatre of Dreams
• The amazing Ann Wood

and last, but certainly not least,

• Julia Rothman of Book by Its Cover

The Rules:

1. Put the logo on your blog
2. Add a link to the person who awarded you
3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs
4. Add links to those blogs on yours
5. Leave a message for your nominees on their blogs

Quiet Moment

The Twins at two days of age, July 8th. Abigail is on the left and Olivia's on the right.

Annie holding her daughter Alex and her niece, Emma.
Annie and the two pink princesses. Please notice the dainty fork work.

Emma making pancakes for Grandpa "Johnny".

Alex explores the echos that live in garages on a walk back to Gramma's from the beach.

It's quiet. Everyone is asleep--even the cats. I have three grandchildren in the house, my daughter Annie and her husband, my DH and the two aforementioned cats. And it's quiet.....I love having everyone here but I'm no longer used to the noise that small children make. I live in a small house and it's bursting at the seams right now---bursting with those I love the most, but bursting all the same! These quiet moments are to be appreciated and enjoyed, while I wait for the next day and the wonderful, noisy chaos that will be.

Ian enjoying his bath. Granty reads The Mole Sisters to Emma.

And, finally, Gramma.....playing cats (like dolls only more purrfectly delightful) with Emma and Granty.

Stop the Presses! 1st Photos of The Twins!!!!

Here are a few of the first photos of the amazing, the spectacular, the divine Twins! This first photo is of Olivia. She is the youngest and seems the calmer of the two. (Yes, it's a bit early to start describing their personalities, but usually if someone is fussing, it isn't Olivia!)

And here is Abigail....ta dum!!

Abigail has more hair than Olivia. She weighed in at 5 pounds point 2 ounces, is 17 inches long and is the elder by one whole minute. Olivia weighed in at 4 pounds 11 ounces and is 17 1/4 inches.

And here is the BIG SISTER wth Abigail and Daddy.

That's Grammy Carolynne with Dad, Emma and Abigail.

Gramma U and Nabby.

Welcome Abigail & Olivia!

Our family was blessed with the safe delivery of twin daughters to my son and daughter-in-law today. Abigail and Olivia were in a hurry and decided that since Mommy and Daddy had taken themselves, and big sister Emma, off to Eastern Washington to Grandpa Johnny's (Emma's name for Grandpa Connie!) cabin for the 4th of July weekend and that it would be very inconvenient for everyone if they made their entrance on the "wrong" side of the mountains, that it seemed like the perfect idea! The were delivered in mid-afternoon via C-Section. Mama is doing well, although she is understandably exhausted. Daddy is exhausted, too. As are the grandparents on both sides, the Granties, the Aunties and everyone remotely connected to this six week early arrival!

I was at my cabin so before I could head over the mountains to Yakima (the locale for the debut of the Twins), I had to get back to Edmonds and drop off Granty Nonie (who would have come, too, had she not been slated for jury duty this very week!), grab a few things (like my blood pressure pills!) and then head east. I didn't arrive until about six PM this evening, but got to see both the girls and let them know that now that Gramma Unger has arrived, all is well and they can relax, work on getting big enough to make the trip to the West side of the Mountains and to get ready for the barrage of photos that will be taken of them---soon. Alas, I have no photos yet to share with you, Dear Reader. Let me assure you that they are adorable and look much like their elder sister. Nabby is sporting a black eye, thanks to Olivia, who apparently kicked her sister in the face....jockeying for position, no doubt. At any rate, they are perfect, they are adored already and they are a most highly anticipated and welcome addition to our family!

Baby Girl Twins!

Twice the sugar
and twice the spice
two baby girls
are twice as Nice!

Double the giggles
and double the grins
Doubles the joy of
Baby Girl Twins!
Copyright 2005

Christine Michaels

Welcome, little ones. I love you.

Independence Day Parade

I attended the Independence Day Parade in Arlington, Washington. Arlington is a small town located in Snohomish County, north of Everett. I feel right at home in Arlington as it reminds me of the small town where I grew up (Sumner, Washington). I haven't been to an Independence Day parade for several years and I really enjoyed this one. It started on the stroke of five and ended just at six o'clock, and within that hour were some wonderful moments of small town American life that, I am sure, were played out all over the US on this July 4th. I'm going to share a few of mine with you.

Arlington boasts of a really good hardware store and one of my favorite outings on a Saturday at the cabin is to go into town and check out the aisles at the store, which seem to have everything you can think of and some you would never would. As evidenced by the following photo, they even have a great old truck! And then there was the OxyClean Man! I've seen him before, in local parades, and he's very funny. His favorite line is, "Oh! A camera! I liiiiiike that!"
And then there is the The Great Stilly Duck Dash. Every year the Rotary Club of Arlington sells tickets and the proceeds support a number of worthy causes....scholarships and youth projects. There are a number of rubber ducks, all with a number, and they are launched into the Stillaguamish River near Lincoln Park and then cross the finish line at Haller Park downstream. There are some serious money prizes, but mostly it's just fun to be a part of the Duck Dash. Good cause and good fun!
And the rainbow caterpillar went by, with many striped legs....
I love farm machinery! Tractors are about the best part of the Arlington parade. Lots and lots and lots of tractors....John Deere tractors and International Harvester tractors and others whose names I've already forgotten. Beautiful tractors that make grinding noises when the gears are changed and rumble with diesel engines revving....The lady on the tractor below looks very noble and "Rosie the Riveter" to me. I love her flag bedecked tractor and her attitude.
John Deere green.....