by oh amanda on April 30, 2008
My Great-Great Aunt Nell & 11 of my cousins in some form or fashion. 1953.
This is one of those pictures that my great-uncles sends out to his kids every day (!). When it’s our “branch” of the tree, he sends it to us, too. He hasn’t sent one in awhile and I realized he probably has my old email address. So, I logged in and forwarded all his old emails to myself. There were no new ones, but I’m pretty sure I’ve never shown this one before.
The house is the one my great-aunt lived in when she met her husband. They continued to live there for 3 years in an upstairs apartment. They even brought their first son home there (my dad’s cousin). The house is gone now because it burned to the ground several years ago.
I love this picture. It’s so cool to see so many of your family in one place–especially as kids. My dad wasn’t born yet, so these kids would all be his “big” cousins. And assembling 11 kids for a picture–you can just see half of them talking and not paying attention. It wasn’t wordless there either! I love it!
(for more ww click here and here)
by oh amanda on April 29, 2008
I think I do one of these a season. I really should have done this last week because this week was a little more like watching paint dry than watching our FINAL! FIVE! TOP! FINALISTS! BEST! TALENT! EVER!
I’ll keep it short and sweet…
Jason: Boring.
David: (see rant below)
Brooke: Self-Conscious.
David: Great.
Syesha: Broadwaaaay.
NOW. Let’s get onto the 2 most important things of the night:
1. Paula is a stinkin’ moron. Is she on drugs? Is she just NOT there? What in the world? Thanks to my tivo, I usually watch Paula on fast-forward because I can’t stand to hear a word she says. But before I watched, I accidentally read a live blogging post that said “Paula needs to lay off the sauce!”, so I had to listen. And seriously, I couldn’t have been more articulate myself. (Did you see how nice Simon was to her? He was trying to cover it up!)
2. David Cook and I have the same hairdo. Oh my good lord. I noticed it last week. But I’m feeling more and more self-conscious about it.
You can’t see it as well, but I’ve got the same long hair goin’ on in the back…see the flip on the right? Do not even think about calling it a mullet or a rat tail. My dh gets slapped for that. So, is it bad that I look like a boy? Or is it bad that he looks like a girl? What should I do? Bows? Ribbons? Glitter?
ACK! Whaddya think?
(oh, more ai at boomama‘s)
by oh amanda on April 29, 2008
At the spur of the moment I decided to take Lydia to storytime at a mom & pop bookstore near us. It’s a cute old house that’s been turned into a kids’ bookstore dream. They had every kids’ book you can imagine. Every cool educational toy, science kit and cute stuffed animal. The lady that did storytime was actually a good reader, we sang songs and even made a craft from our book (which was a sweet little book about a penguin called, Lost and Found
.) I was in love. (Oh, and Lydia liked it, too.)
One of the best parts was the furniture. Everything was by Haba. Which I have known of, but to see so much of it in one place was…well, addicting. You’ll see why in just a minute.
Here’s the first little chair Lydia read a book in today. (I don’t remember what she read, because I was looking at the parenting books, mainly 1-2-3 Magic for Christian Parents
. Anyone read it?)
Why yes, that is a giant helicopter on a cushion big enough for 2 kids to sit on!
Then we kept walking and discovered this!
Lydia immediately dubbed it the “p-incess tent” and we read The Story of Cherry the Pig
inside.
Next, we found this delicious bean bag chair nestled in between 2 bookshelves and a giant window overlooking a leafy tree.
I think we read Spot Loves His Grandpa
and Katy Duck, Big Sister
here.
Now that we’re home and I’ve scoured Haba’s website, I’ve discovered this is a must-have for me Lydia.
It’s called the Dream Gondola for goodness sakes! Who hasn’t wanted to be in a gondola once in their lives?
And our new baby MUST have this:
Is that the cutest?! When it’s done being a crib, you can turn it on it’s side and it looks just like the front of a little boat–suitable for climbing in…and reading.
I’m sure we’ll be back to storytime next week. I’m always a sucker for good books and cute furniture!
by oh amanda on April 29, 2008
by oh amanda on April 28, 2008
Lydia is in her bed. She’s supposed to be sleeping. You know, as in the daily nap that 2 year olds (and their parents) desperately need? Well, she’s apparently forgotten how important this nap is and is singing and laughing and talking. At least she’s not crying.
Guess what? We’re officially closing on our house on Friday! Woo-hoo! I cannot cannot cannot wait! And that means I get to go Bham and eat Taziki’s and O’Carr’s and Don Pepe’s! And even more importantly, see my psuedo-parents and hopefully, bee! (Who just in case you haven’t heard about it yet, I’m hosting a baby swap with…)
I just updated my bloglines. I read 176 blogs. Is that too many? Granted, I only comment on a handful of them. Anyway, I just put them all into yummy folders. I feel very organized. So, if you’re needing some new blogs to read, you can check out my feeds. (There’s also a link on my sidebar.)
My friend Yancy is in town again. Her mama, daddy & hubby are, too. They’re all at the Orange Conference this week. So, we’ll get to party orange-style this week!
Last night at our community Bible study Les led worship. Then I did the little devotion. We used to do that EVERY Sunday and EVERY Wednesday at church. I’m not saying I missed it, but it was definitely fun!
My mom/bro/sil/bff‘s ministry, Square Peg had a big silent auction last weekend. (I bid on and won a facial! YES!) There was some stuff left over so Mandi & I are going to put it on ebay. I’ll be posting a link soon. You’ll want to play, I promise!
The baby is moving. I think. I don’t know, it just feels different. But it’s kinda making me feel sick. I even had a dream I was nauseated the other night. Or maybe I was just really nauseas. Is that normal?
[alternate title for this post:
You Know It's Monday When I Post Something Like This...]
by oh amanda on April 28, 2008
My mom (1 1/2), my grandmother, my great-grandmother.
June 1958.
Mama & me in the hospital when I was born.
May 1977.
Me & Lydia, my firstborn.
January 2006.
These are the 3 pictures that define motherhood. My great-grandmother affected my grandmother, who raised my mom, who poured into me and I’m now molding Lydia’s life.
My great-grandmother and grandmother were distant mothers. They didn’t nurture and cherish their children like they shoulda/woulda/coulda. My mom made a purposeful decision to make motherhood her crowning achievement. She poured life and love and purpose into me (and my brother) so I am able to do the same for my children.
But looking at these pictures I see something else, I see individual women who were dependent on the women before them. My mom may have turned the tide of her mother’s attitudes, but without it Mama may not have become the mother she is today. Grandma may have been the insecure woman she was because of my Great-Grandmother. But what about her mother? What adversaries did my Great-Great-Grandmother have to overcome? How hard was it for her to nurture her children in the way she wanted?
I know what I was feeling in that last picture. I think I can see and hear Mama’s heart in the second picture. I’d love to know Grandma & Great-Grandma’s heart in that first picture. Were their hearts full when they looked at their daughters, the way mine is full when I look at Lydia? What was it like to be a mother then?
Motherhood is like a secret club. It’s a club you can research and see and view, but you will never understand it completely until you are in it. I’m grateful for (if not intrigued by) the women that came before me. The long line of mothers that God put in my life to make me who I am. I pray that God will give me the wisdom to learn from them, their mistakes and triumphs, so Lydia can be the better mother–standing on all our shoulders.
(see more mom pictures at 5minutesformom.com)
(and don’t forget about our baby swap!)
