Thank Heaven for Little Girls

One of my favorite songs is Maurice Chevalier's rendition of Thank Heaven for Little Girls from the movie Gigi. I think of it often when I think about Our Little Princess and Her Highness. It is especially fresh in my mind today. Our Little Princess is three years old today and she is growing up in the most delightful way.

We spent the weekend in San Antonio celebrating with her.

Saturday was a cool, misty, and at times rainy day. Her birthday party was held at the Kiddie Park on Broadway near Breckenridge Park in San Antonio. The Kiddie Park has been there since 1925. The carousel has been there since 1918. The best thing about the Kiddie Park is that it's only for little kids. There are no scary rides or roller coasters, just a few rides geared for small children. I remember going there as a child. It has not changed substantially in the past 50 years.

We watched the weather and were hopeful that the rain would clear in time for the party at noon. There was a slight break, but it misted off an on most of the time we were there and it rained for short periods of time.

All three grandmothers were there. I was so busy taking pictures that I didn't get a photo of myself with the birthday girl. Katy did manage to snap this picture of me.

I know you're waiting for an update on the birthday cake. As it turned out, Omi made the cake. It was a Rapunzel doll cake from the movie Tangled. It was beautiful and, since Omi actually lives in San Antonio, it was great for me that she volunteered to take care of it. She also brought some beautiful cupcakes which made serving the little ones quick and easy. The quick and easy part turned out to be a very good thing.

 The rain/mist stopped for short periods and the kids did get to ride the rides.

Then more clouds rolled in and we decided to eat the pizza, blow out the candles, and serve the cake as quickly as possible. We almost made it too ... almost. But everybody pitched in and held the umbrellas over the kids while they ate.

Then the rain started in earnest and we grabbed the presents and headed to the cars. She had to open her gifts at home, but it was like extending the party ... and it was warm and dry.

Sunday dawned with blue skies and bright sunshine. Wouldn't you know it!

Happy Birthday, Princess! You are growing up in the most delightful way. Grams and Pop-Pop love you more than you can even imagine!

On a whole different subject, I just got a message from Katy that Her Highness took her first steps today. She's 10 months old. Look out world -- here she comes! You can tell in this photo that she was just about ready to walk this weekend.

And, by the way, doesn't my hair look terrific. My next-door neighbor's granddaughter, Kandyce, cut it for the first time. She's finishing up at the Aveda Institute in Corpus Christi. I still think of her as a little girl, but I think she has a very bright future. She's really good at cutting hair.

My Funny Valentines

When we were in Houston a couple of weeks ago we ran across an old style photo booth. We had the brilliant idea of squeezing in with the girls. It took the first three shots to get all four of us in frame. It was fun and funny! I love the eye contact between the two girls in the bottom photo. They are definitely my funny valentines.

Happy Valentine's Day! As we say in our family ... Happy Valenta's Day!

Butterflies and Baby Girls

We made an impromptu trip to Houston this weekend for a little family time. The kids had decided to get together at Nick's house and invited us so they could go out on Saturday night and we could watch the kids. Never one to pass up time with our kids or our grands, we packed up and drove up on Friday afternoon. Nick gave us a hard time because we made it a leisurely trip. We left Corpus Christi around 4 p.m. and didn't get to his house until almost 9 o'clock. We stopped for coffee at Starbucks in Victoria and we stopped for snacks at Buc-ees in Wharton.

After we got to his house we went out for dinner. He took us to Iguana Joe's, which is a Tex-Mex restaurant, in Atascocita. I had stuffed avocado which was enormous and delicious. It's an avocado stuffed with shredded chicken, battered and fried. It was served with refried beans and rice. There was enough left over that Grandad and I had the leftovers for dinner the next night.

Saturday was rainy and cool so we had to do something indoors. We chose to go the the Cockrell Butterfly Center. This butterfly pavilion is one of my favorite places on earth. It is located at the Houston Museum of Natural Science, but admission to the butterfly center is separate. It was crowded on Saturday, but not uncomfortably so.

The entrance to the butterfly center is the Brown Hall of Entomology which has a lot of interactive exhibits designed for kids. The photo on the bottom left in the collage above is picture of pink katydids which are part of that exhibit. They look like flowers. They are behind glass and the glass was damp and foggy so it's not a very good picture. They were so beautiful. You can also watch butterflies emerging from chrysalis and flapping their wings to dry ... very interesting for the little ones.

Right inside the door is a photo op with a giant caterpillar where you can pose for a picture. The lighting in this hall makes it look like everyone has red hair. Some of us do actually have red hair, but not all of us.

The butterfly center is a three-story glass pavilion built around a central waterfall. If you go, dress in layers. It's very warm and humid inside which made me happy since I'm always cold. But everyone didn't agree with me.

It was a fun way to spend a rainy afternoon. As you can see, Our Little Princess was able to get a very close look at the butterflies. Even Grandad got in on the fun when a butterfly hitched a ride on his cap. You have to look closely at the button on top of the cap. Once he landed there, he stayed the entire time. We had to shoo him away before we could leave the exhibit.

Next stop was Katz's Deli and Bar on Westheimer, one of our favorite places to eat in Houston and only a short distance from the museum district. Katz's is a New York style deli with delicious food and beverages. Several of us enjoyed their Holy Mary which is a large Bloody Mary made with Absolut Peppar Vodka. Delicious!

After our late lunch, we headed back to Nick's house where Katy, Travis, and Nick headed out for a night at the movies and Grams and Grandad settled in for an evening with the grands.

It's hard to believe how much the girls have grown since we last saw them New Year's Day. Her Highness has three teeth now and she smiles all the time. Our Little Princess is getting taller and taller. They both enjoyed playing with Uncle Nick's dogs, Baily and Ralphie. Her Highness and Baily are very good friends. We had to watch them constantly or they were licking and kissing each other all the time. It's a good thing Baily is such a little mama dog. She is completely tolerant of the baby pulling her ears or leaning on her or whatever. She would even stand still and let Her Highness grab hold of her fur and pull herself to a standing position.

The main point of the weekend was for Katy and Travis to get some rest. Unfortunately, Her Highness didn't sleep well away from home. Katy was up until three o'clock with her both nights. Next time, Grams and Grandad will go to their house to stay with the girls so they can go away for a weekend and get some sleep.

I'm enjoying a day off today. I've put a pork butt in the crock pot, using the Pioneer Woman's recipe for Spicy Dr. Pepper Shredded Pork. I'll let you know how it is later. I've also cleaned my oven, by which I mean that I turned on the self-cleaning feature and ignored it all morning ... so much better than the old way with the stinky foam. I'll be spending the remainder of the day sewing for my Etsy shop. After today, I'm working the rest of the week.

2011

As 2011 dwindles down to mere hours, I thought I would take a minute and look back over the year that was. I'm going try to just hit the high spots.

Grandad had yet another cardiac ablation last January. It has taken all year, but the good news is that finally, after so many procedures I've just about lost count, his heart has healed. He's feeling tons better. Now we just have to work on his stamina and endurance. Our kids got us new bicycles for Christmas, so we'll start with those and move on to walking.

Grandad assembling the new wagon while OLP strikes a pose. He would not have been able to do this a year ago.

In April we welcomed the newest member of our growing family, June Frances. Named after two of her great grandmothers, she came into the world on Monday, April 11, while I ate lunch. Seriously, I left the labor unit and went downstairs to get a sandwich for me and for Travis. While I was gone, Katy delivered her without the benefit of an epidural. It seems the doctor "missed" when he injected the medication.

Katy with June Frances ... Her Highness ... Kid Destructo ... can't really settle on the nickname

In June our daughter-in-law, Marie, received the sacrament of confirmation. We spent the weekend in Houston to witness to this beautiful ceremony. It was held in a beautiful new church in the Diocese of Houston where the ministers dressed in traditional Philippine vestments. We were delighted to see Marie finish this step in her faith formation.

Nick & Marie at her confirmation

At the end of June, we traveled to North Carolina for the wedding of my niece, Andrea in Charlotte. We went a couple of days early and visited the Biltmore Estate in Asheville. I had long wanted to visit the Biltmore Estate and it did not disappoint. I was amazed at its size and grandeur. The gardens were spectacular! Well worth the trip.

Andrea & Louis

Grandad and I have made a concerted effort to enjoy living in Corpus Christi. We saw the 4th of July fireworks over Corpus Christi Bay, we attended the annual free performance of Handel's Messiah, Katy, Travis and I walked across the Harbor Bridge, we've attended several local theater performances, and we took Our Little Princess to the Texas State Aquarium. Corpus Christi really is a great place to live so we've decided to embrace living here.

Our Little Princess at the Texas State Aquarium

Late summer was a time for reunions. In August we gathered with members of the Morgan Avenue Baptist Church Youth Group from the 1970s. It was great to reconnect with old friends ... so much better than a high school reunion. In September we gathered with the Skelton Family for our second annual reunion. Getting to know these cousins has really been a blessing. It's kind of funny how alike we are even though we haven't seen each other for years.

Around the first of October I launched my Etsy shop. It's been more successful than I expected. I've sold all but one of the dresses I started with and I have an order for quite a few more. Stock is very low right now, but I expect to have more dresses for sale soon.

I've been working hard to de-clutter and reorganize my house. It's a much bigger job than I expected, but we had a fairly successful garage sale earlier this month and hope to have another one in the next couple of months. We also packed up quite of few boxes of "stuff" that our kids left here when they moved out and delivered them to their houses. I reclaimed both of their closets and am in the process of organizing my sewing and crafts utilizing the newly reclaimed space.

We have been blessed with good health for our children and grandchildren. It's been a tough year for some of our dear friends. We have two friends who have children who have serious illness. My good friend Sandy's 6-year-old grandson Liam is now in hospice care. And my friend and neighbor Deanna's 16-year-old grandson Jack has had relapse of Hodgkin's Lymphoma. He's already beat it once and is now fighting it for the second time. Both of these families are on our hearts and minds daily.

Christmas was wonderful and we're ending the year with Grams and Pop-Pop's Rockin' Toddler New Year's Eve. It's the first year and will hopefully become a family tradition. We're keeping the kids this weekend while their parents enjoy a weekend without kids, culminating in New Year's Eve celebrations. We've had a lot of fun so far. The weather has been perfect. We've toured the neighborhood in the new wagon we got the girls for Christmas. Today we went to the park for playtime. And we finished up tonight with a trip over the Corpus Christi Harbor Bridge. Our Little Princess has named it "the rainbow bridge." We'll take them to church and breakfast tomorrow morning. Sometime tomorrow afternoon, we'll meet Katy and Travis in Three Rivers and make the exchange.

New Year's Eve with Our Little Princess and Her Highness

I mentioned "the rainbow bridge" above. It is Our Little Princess' favorite Christmas thing in Corpus Christi. It was lit with a partnership between the Texas Department of Transportation, the City of Corpus Christi, the Port of Corpus Christi Authority and American Bank. It is spectacular. Every night Our Little Princess asks Grandad if we can drive across the rainbow bridge. I took a few photos with my cell phone. They don't do it justice, but you'll get the idea.The entire show takes about 15 minutes to watch.

Corpus Christi Harbor Bridge - Our Little Princess' Rainbow Bridge

It's about 11:10 p.m. and both girls are finally sleeping, almost time to pop the cork on the bubbly and toast the new year. There are fireworks going off very nearby even though there is a burn ban in almost every county in Texas. Burn ban or not, if they wake up our babies I'm going out to kick some serious butt.

Here's wishing you a Happy New Year, a safe and fun celebration tonight, and a prosperous, healthy, and happy 2012.

Things To Do and Fruit Loops

Grams is feeling the pressure of my Christmas to-do list. I am determined to finish my gift shopping today. That leaves tomorrow for finishing Our Little Princess' Christmas dress and buying groceries. Then on Wednesday, I'll wrap gifts in a marathon session. I'm turning the cleaning over to Grandad for the next few days. I'm lucky that way. He's ready and willing to help. I simply have to direct him.

Now that you know that I really don't have time to blog, I just thought I'd show you my little Fruit Loops.

I can't wait for them to arrive on Friday. Christmas is going to be so much fun!

What I Want To Be

Grams and Grandad enjoyed a short visit from Our Little Princess and Her Highness this weekend. Their parents celebrated Travis' birthday by spending a weekend sans children. Bonus for us! We loved having the girls. We make the exchange in Three Rivers. It's only a little more than a one hour drive for all of us. We got them on Saturday morning and returned them on Sunday afternoon.

Our Little Princess will be 3 years old in February. She's beginning to go through that shy stage where it takes her a while to warm up to anyone that she hasn't seen in a while or meets for the first time. But after a few minutes she definitely comes out of her shell. Her Highness is seven months old and is now crawling and pulling herself up into a standing position. I think she will be walking in very short order and when she does, big sister better look out. There will be no stopping her.

A couple of hours after they returned home on Sunday evening, we received an email with this video. It was so cute that I had to share it. Our Little Princess is wearing parts of the Tinkerbell costume that I made her for Halloween.

If you listen all the way to the end, you'll hear her tell her dad "I'm on TV."

Liver and Peas ... Like Mother, Like Daughter

Her Highness is five months old now and is eating baby food. As instructed by their pediatrician, they introduce one new food at a time over a period of several days before adding a new one.  This allows time for any food allergies or sensitivities to show up and be isolated quickly and easily. So far, so good.

When we were there a couple of weekends ago, it was time to introduce a new food. And the new food of the week was peas. Katy was cooking dinner so she handed me the container and asked if I would mind feeding Her Highness. She's not quite sitting up without support yet, so we put her in the Bebepod chair and set her on top of the dining room table. I'll get back to this story in a minute, but first let me give you a little background.

Flashback about 30 years to Katy at about the same age, sitting in another infant seat on another dining room table with her dad feeding her. She's been eating for a while now. As a matter of fact, back then, we started feeding babies cereal at about six weeks old. But on this day, she was about four or five months old. She had already been eating different kinds of cereals, fruits, and vegetables. We had recently introduced baby food meats, chicken, beef, pork, all ground to complete mush, with limited success. She ate them less than enthusiastically. But on this night her dad had decided that she should try liver. Yep, that's right, they actually make baby food liver. GROSS!

(As an aside here, let me just tell you that Grams doesn't eat liver. I don't like the taste and the texture is yucky. Because of my distaste for liver, I would never offer it to anyone, but especially not to my precious baby girl.)

Dad took the spoon, dipped it into the baby food jar, and gave Katy a bite. She took it on her tongue and closed her mouth. He turned around and gave me a self-satisfied look as he said "See I told you she would like it."  Just about the time he turned back around to give her another bite, Katy opened her mouth and stuck her tongue out. The spoonful of liver was still sitting atop her tongue. She proceeded to scrape her tongue across her top gums, pushing all the liver off and out of her mouth where it then plopped onto her bib. She then closed her mouth and with great determination refused to take another bite. I had to retreat to the kitchen because I was laughing hysterically and trying not to say "I told you so."

Now, back to Her Highness perched atop the dining room table in her chair. I dip my spoon into the container of baby food peas and give HH her first taste of peas. And, you guessed it, she spit it right out. I tried again, and she took it tentatively before spitting it out again. On the third bite I could tell that she was tasting it and testing it and she swallowed it. But I don't think she really liked it.

Parenting has changed a lot in the thirty or so years since Grams and Grandad were starting out with babies. Parents today seem so much more knowledgeable than we were. And there are so many more gadgets and goodies. Our granddaughters eat organic and often homemade food. We'd never even heard of organic food and, in our day, only the most fanatical moms made their own baby food.

What are the biggest changes you've seen in parenting babies?

Eating Soup With Chopsticks

Last time the entire family was together we were in Houston at Nick & Marie's house. They have a lovely home that has plenty of room for everyone. We usually cook in their fabulous gourmet kitchen. On this particular day, the guys had been golfing and the girls had been shopping all day. No one felt like cooking, so we went out to dinner. The kids chose an Asian restaurant that specializes in sushi. We were all tired, but Our Little Princess and Her Highness were exhausted. Not a problem for HH, she just took a nap in her car seat. OLP was almost falling asleep at the table, but she was determined to eat. Needless to say, the sushi didn't appeal to her. I don't really eat sushi either, so I ordered a meal which came with miso soup. She wanted the soup which was fine with me.

If I had to eat all my meals using chopsticks, I would undoubtedly be much thinner. In fact, I might starve to death. But both of my children and their spouses eat with them quite skillfully. OLP was determined to use them too AND she was tired and grumpy so we just let her do what she wanted in order to avoid a meltdown. Did you know that you can eat soup with chopsticks? Well, more specifically, with one chopstick. It also helps to have a spoon. Please allow Our Little Princess to demonstrate.

First, wear your new dress that Grams made for you, especially if it fits in with the Asian theme of the restaurant. Then you'll need one bowl of Miso soup, one chopstick, and a spoon.

Second, dip your spoon in and fill it with soup. Use your chopstick to push the soup onto your spoon. Be sure to concentrate!

Third, keep one eye on Mommy. She'll sneak her fork in and try to eat your mushrooms while you're not looking. If you're alert, you can block her with your chopstick while still eating with your spoon.

Fourth, be sure to use the proper technique. Bring both the spoon and the chopstick to your mouth for each bite. Be careful not to stick the chopstick into your nose.

Try not to fall asleep until after you've eaten all your soup.

A Day At The Zoo

Last weekend, Grams and Grandad joined Our Little Princess and Her Highness, along with their parents, for a day at the San Antonio Zoo. We started early, before it got too hot and only stayed until early afternoon. Our Little Princess enjoyed showing Grandad all the animals.

I especially like the butterfly pavilion. The butterflies are so colorful and delicate and sometimes if you stand very still, a butterfly will land right in the palm of your hand. We tried, but didn't have any luck this time.

There are so many interactive exhibits and things to do. Our Little Princess fed the birds, went fishing, played in a babbling brook, got a close up look at a snake, played with other kids, and climbed on the lion sculpture.

It may be fall on the calendar, but in South Texas it's still the season of blooms. The beautiful flora was everywhere around the zoo.

Her Highness was along for the ride and she really seemed to enjoy it. We hardly heard a peep out of her. She seems to love being outdoors in the fresh air. The children's area even had a frog waterbed where she could roll around and stretch out for a while. Of course, her big sister had to get in on that fun too.

And no outing is complete without a little snack, so we stopped for popsicle and to cool off a little bit before finishing up.

I highly recommend spending a day with your grandchildren at your local zoo. There is little to compare to a wild family adventure at the zoo.

Meet Baby Houdini and Check Out My New Etsy Shop

Those of you who have been reading for a while will remember the conundrum I went through in finding a bloggie name for Her Highness. Well, it seems I may have been premature in choosing "Her Highness." I believe "Baby Houdini" might have been a more apt choice. Here is the evidence.

This is not just a naked baby. If you look closely you will see that she's holding her diaper in her hand. That's right. At five months old she has learned to remove her own diaper. Pretty much as soon as you put it on, she starts picking at the velcro closures in the front. As soon as she gets it open, off it comes. I won't be surprised when I walk in and find that her parents have had to resort to duct tape to keep her diaper on.

You may have noticed that Grams Made It has a new design. It's been redesigned to match my new Etsy shop banner. There will be a few more changes over the next few days as I add some widgets and links related to my new Etsy shop. As of today, my Etsy shop is officially open for business. Find it at http://www.Etsy.com/shop/GramsMadeIt. I've only got three items listed so far, but more will be added tomorrow evening. It takes longer than I expected to add each one. I hope I get faster with practice.

I'd love to know what you think about my new look and about the items in my shop.

Summer Recap

It has been a long hot summer here in South Texas. I mean it ... really long and really hot. We've broken records this summer for heat and drought and there hasn't been any sign of a break in the weather yet. Although, our local weather guys are reporting that we should not have any more days over 100 degrees this summer. For the past couple of days its been a little bit cooler in the mornings, although the fires in central Texas have sent enough smoke our direction so that it's not pleasant to sit outside.

I thought it might be fun to celebrate the end of summer with a little photo recap.

In June we traveled to Houston where we spent an evening at Minute Maid Park watching the Astros lose to the Braves. But the evening ended with fireworks so it was fun. We were also honored to be there when our beautiful daughter-in-law, Marie, received the sacrament of confirmation that Sunday evening.

Early in the summer, while the rest of her family went camping, we had a week-long visit from Her Highness. We've seen her several times this summer, and she's really growing fast. Her mom reports that she's teething really hard right now. So even more changes are in store. I'm planning to hold her as much as possible this weekend.

Then we spent several days in North Carolina where we visited the Biltmore Estate and attended the wedding of Andrea and Louis. Andrea is my sister Jan's daughter. It was a beautiful wedding and we were so glad we made the trip. Bylinda, my other sister, traveled with us. We especially enjoyed the two days we spent in Asheville where both the mountains and the weather were absolutely lovely.

In August we visited Katy and Travis in San Antonio and attended a long anticipated reunion with my high school church youth group. It was a day to remember spent renewing old friendships and reminiscing. I had not seen most of them since the mid 1970s. And, of course, a trip to San Antonio naturally means spending quality time with the Grands and their parents. (By the way, Our Little Princess snapped the photo of Grams and Travis. Is it possible we have a budding Annie Leibovitz?)

When we returned from that visit we brought Our Little Princess home for a week of Grams Camp. We had so much fun just spending time together. We played with the water hose, we went to the mall, we spent an entire day at the Texas State Aquarium. It was so much fun that we're planning to make Grams Camp an annual tradition.

Now that summer is winding down, I've gone back to work as a substitute teacher; so summer is over in practice although not in reality. I've worked the past five working days in a row. I will admit that getting up at 6:30 a.m. has been a bit of an adjustment for me. My natural body rhythm is more along the lines of going to bed at midnight and sleeping until 8:30 or 9 a.m. Last week was really tough, but I'm doing better this week. Thank God for coffee!

We have several events coming up in the next few weeks. The annual family golf tournament will be held this weekend in Navasota, which means we'll be traveling to Nick & Marie's house on Friday where Katy, Travis and the grands will join us for the weekend. The men will golf on Saturday while we have a girls day out. I can't wait!

The next few weeks are going to be really busy for us. We'll be traveling to Tyler for the Skelton Family Reunion coming up on September 17 and then in October we'll go to Corn Hill for the Annual Valenta Fall Family Gathering. It is, hands down, my favorite family event. Every October the descendents of Adolph and Louise Valenta gather in Corn Hill for a day of family fellowship. I'll tell you more about it later.

I've been sewing like crazy and am just about ready to launch my Etsy shop, which will also be called Grams Made It. I'm finishing up some behind the scenes details like a separate bank account and photographing my creations. I expect to launch next week. Watch this space for a formal announcement and sneak preview.

I'm sending positive thoughts and prayers for all those in danger from the terrible fires that are burning across Texas. It truly is horrible and resources are stretched to the limit. KRIS TV, our local NBC affiliate, will hold a benefit on Thursday.  Details are available on their web site. Please do what you can to help. I'll have more information on how everyone can help in my next post.

Updates on Grandad, the Grand-Girls, and Etsy

It's Sunday afternoon. Grandad is playing "Words With Friends" on his new HTC Evo Shift phone while relaxing in his recliner. We both made the switch to smart phones this summer and we're both addicted to "Words With Friends." If you play, hit me up for a game. My name is "v2valenta."  I've just finished watching The American President on television. It's one of my all-time favorite movies. I've seen it many times and I still love it.

Grandad is finishing up his last week of wearing a 30-day heart monitor to verify that he is no longer going into atrial fibrillation. He is still experiencing symptoms several times a week which include tightness in his chest, shortness of breath, profuse sweating, and extreme fatigue. However, several months ago when he last wore a monitor, he did not go into a-fib a single time during that 30 day period, in spite of experiencing those same symptoms. The electrophysiologist believes that these symptoms may be caused by another problem that has not yet been detected. So, on September 13, Grandad will have a nuclear stress test to see if they can find anything else.

The granddaughters are growing like crazy. Her Highness is big enough for her baby doorway jumper and she loves it. She started day care this week for the first time when her dad went back to teaching high school English after a summer of taking care of the girls. She did not seem to take right to day care and had a rough few days. You may remember that I told you she wants to be held all the time. This is still the case, and the day care ladies said she cried a large part of the day. But by the end of the week she was doing better and seemed to be adjusting.

Our Little Princess is also getting big really fast. She's big enough now to enjoy arts and crafts. She loves going to day care and spending time with all the other kids. She made the necklace that she's wearing here.

I've been busy sewing. I have an entry in the WholePort Creativity Expo. Voting is a two-step process. First you have to "like" WholePort on Facebook. Then you have to look at the entries and vote for mine by clicking "like" on the picture. Here's what my entry looks like. I would really appreciate your vote. The ten winners will each get a $50 certificate for craft supplies from WholePort. Voting is open through the end of the month.

I also made this kimono-style dress for Our Little Princess. I'm very proud of it. I think it's one of the best I've done so far.

 

I took two outfits for each of the girls when I visited them a couple of weeks ago. But, since I didn't take photos of the other two, I'll have to show them to you another day. I've asked Katy to send me photos of both of them.

And I have some fairly big news to share with you. For several years now, friends and family have been encouraging me to sell my homemade items. So I've been thinking about it for a while now and I've decided to take the plunge. I'm going to open an Etsy shop. I'm working on getting some stock made and I'm hoping to open it around Labor Day. I wasn't really planning to announce it yet, but Katy told all our Facebook friends yesterday, so I thought I would let my readers know today. I'll be starting out with dresses and clothing for little girls and the summer-weight cotton baby blankets that I've been making for years. I'm hoping to eventually add some items for little boys. You are also likely to see a variety of other crafty items like wreaths and such from time to time. Basically, whatever I feel like making. 

School starts tomorrow, so I'll be back to my substitute teaching gig, probably by the end of the week. The best part of substitute teaching is that I'll have lots of down time. I will be the first to admit that it's been a long summer with no income from me. It's still a few years until I'll be old enough to start drawing on my retirement. If I can get a little income from sewing and crafting, which I love to do, maybe next summer will go a little easier. 

Watch this space for an official announcement about the opening of my Etsy shop. It won't be more than a couple of weeks.

It's still unbearably hot and dry here in South Texas. We don't really expect a change in the weather until around the first of October. We've got a very busy autumn coming up with family reunions on both sides of the family, the family golf tournament and our annual Valenta wive's day out. I'll keep you informed. I hope you've had a great summer and that your fall is cool and colorful.