Category Archives: Special

Backyard Campout

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I do not like the cold. I’m not the biggest fan of bugs or wildlife (i.e. opossums and raccoons). Despite these facts since my children and their father along with their cousins and their fathers enjoy camping out, I gladly play along. Our backyard is wooded and provides a great place to camp. You have all the convenience and goodness of indoor plumbing while still feeling like you roughed it (a little).  So, every year or so we plan a night of camping.

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When your s’more catches fire

A few weeks ago, we had our family campout. We roasted hot dogs. We made s’mores. (Try making s’mores with Town House crackers instead of the graham. I’ve heard it’s life changing). We let the children shoot paintballs. We talked and laughed and had a great time. When it was super late, I went inside with the baby and we enjoyed the great indoors while all the rest enjoyed the other.

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Baby Boy making “fire”

 

One of my favorite parts of our tradition is making breakfast for everyone the next morning. I love this little campout tradition and hope they all want to do it for a long time.

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Food for the masses

Little Things

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Sometimes it’s the little things that you cherish the most.

My Granny has been gone now for 12 years. I still think about her just about every day.

She was funny. I don’t think she always meant to be; but something about the way she was brutally honest made me laugh.

She had the most amazing and greenest thumb I’ve ever see. My niece still has a plant that is thriving from my Granny’s house.  (She’s given me shoots from it several times and I’ve killed them every time)

She was a hard worker. In her life she had more heartache than I can imagine. As a young girl, she was sent to be a house maid for a family because her parents had gotten a divorce (in the 1930s-can you imagine?) She lost two husbands, one to cancer and one to suicide. She was a single parent for many years.

She was beyond creative. She made clothes and quilts and pillows. I’m convinced there isn’t anything she couldn’t have made. While my sister has the quilts and such, I have a few little things that she made that I cherish.

This is a chair she made out of tin can. A. Tin. Can! I can only imagine how sharp it was and how very difficult it was to make. She even sewed that little cushion for it. I would never have the patience or the creativity to make this. I think that me thinking of her making it is my favorite part.

Here’s another one. It is woven and curled. How did she do that? The little cushion is just a piece of fabric, stuffing, and cardboard.

I keep these two little chairs that my Granny made in my china cabinet. I always think that I’d love to find a place in my house where I can show them off and have a chance to tell people about that great little lady who I loved so much who made them. They may just be little things, but they mean so very much to me.