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Friday, October 3, 2008

Life n' stuff

Gavin finally lost a top tooth and is working on the other! He looks so cute!

So, this week, I went to counseling AND worked out with a trainer! Talk about trying to get my life on track! School is going well, I have received high marks on papers thus far and have started my field work. I am observing in a 4th grade classroom and I think that it will be a great experience.

I am working on the pie contest for the Fall Carnival and now have about 20 pies and 4 judges lined up, I am working on all of the forms and coupons for the event and have ordered some FANTASTIC ribbons!

I STILL have not finished wrangling all of those photos from summer, but I am going scrapbooking on Saturday night. I only took about 10 pics during September, so I am not getting much more behind.

Halloween is quickly approaching and I am trying to get Gavin to decide what he wants to be, he had decided on a Magic 8 Ball and I was thrilled, but the lure of the pre-made Star Wars costumes has him waffling! We will see if I give in and let him have the store bought costume! Ella is going to be a mouse and although I have not started crafting, I do have all of the materials laid out on my dining room table, ready to go.

I drug El all around town today, she was a trooper! We went to Michael's, the bank, Walmart, Lowe's, Fresh & Easy and Vons! Whew... most were quick stops, but we ran around for 3 1/2 hours! My mom is coming over later and she and I are heading to the mall to hit Gymboree with my $50 in Gymbucks and a 25% off coupon! I am so excited! (I really don't get out much people!) I plan on stopping into Bath & Body works and picking up some pretty stuff for me, and maybe visiting Gloria Jean's for a yummy coffee drink. This was my friend Gina's and my tradition, "back in the day" and it still sticks with me. I haven't been to the mall in ... oh... maybe a year (or more!). After that adventure we will come back home and have a delicious Indian feast!

Tomorrow I am going to get up early and work on some homework before Gavin's soccer game and then we are going to work on the patio! We are going to paint the table and I picked up some new chairs and then MAYBE we will get the conduit painted. Some of the plants didn't survive and we will re-plant those! Then I am off to scrapbook and on Sunday we are headed up to Apple Country! I LOVE it there and I love our annual trip! We are excited that Andy's parents are going to join us and maybe even GiGi (Great Gramma) will come too! She was in the hospital this week, but is feeling great, so we are hoping that our plan is still on!

On another front, Ella has discovered the joy of Strawberry Shortcake. She is inheriting all of my old dolls! I collected them and have quite a few, they have never had their clothing or shoes removed and the have their pets and original combs. I suspect that it won't be long before they are naked and missing pieces, but they are meant to be loved. I was a little old for the dolls when they came out, but I loved them, so I collected them. I would take them out of the box, admire them and give them a good sniff, then back into the box they would go. They have been packed away since the earthquake in 1986, when my doll cabinet fell over and the glass broke. I thought that maybe I would sell them, someday. I looked them up on line and they are selling for $35-$135, but I realized that I just loved them too much to sell them. A few weeks ago, Andy taped Strawberry Shortcake for Ella and she fell in love! They do not currently make dolls, so other than the 2 from McDonalds, she has none. I asked her, if she would like to have mine. She gasped and exclaimed in a high squeal, "Oh, Mommy! I would LOVE them!" Then, she asked, "Why do you have these? Why did you keep them all this time?". I told her that I wasn't sure. Then, with all of the wisdom of a three (and a half) year old, she replied, "You kept them all of this time, for me. Right, Mommy?" Wiping a tear from my eye, I realized that she was right, "Yes, honey. I collected them and saved them, for you. Just for you." Cool.
This is only some of them, the rest are still boxed up in my mom's basement, they are coming and Ella is earning the dolls with good behavior and helping around the house!

4 comments:

Rebecca said...

My sisters and I had TONS of Strawberry Shortcake dolls too. I think they were sold a few years ago. I didn't want to move them to AZ and my mom didn't want to house them anymore. Janet may have kept some.

We don't know what we're doing for Halloween costumes for the boys. I'm not the hand-made kind of mom, so they might be karate kids or reuse batman and ninja turtles from previous years.

Gina said...

I remember really liking Strawberry Shortcake too. I was bummed to find out they updated her though--she looks better "retro". How very cool that you have these dolls in such wonderful condition and that Ella can love the heck out of them! :-)

Tom said...

Oh my goodness, what a sweet story! My first thought when reading was that those Strawberry Shortcake dolls might be worth something on eBay! But how could they be any more valuable than your daughter's reaction?

Thanks for adding me to your blog roll.

Michal said...

look at those dolls in mint condition! how fun that you can pass them on to her.

a couple of my boys have not committed to a costume yet for halloween. since i already have 4 costumes that fit ian (all of them adorable and a 4-year old's dream), i told him he had to choose one of those. kimball is harder. he keeps asking to be strange things like "howard carter, the man who discovered king tut's tomb." yeah. like people are going to get that!