Grampa W and young W aren't they adorable?!!!

This year's holiday rant:

Can You BELIEVE how STUPID some people are???? It's the same kind of Ridiculous nonsense that happened (& still is) with Harry Potter! the new Movie The Golden Compass is getting the most irritatingly Stupid reviews by fundimentalist fanatics calling themselves "good Christian" etc. Most of whom have a: never READ the books & b: didnt bother to actually "WATCH" the movie! absolute TWITS!!
The movie is FICTION!!! FANTASY!! sheeeesh! these people need to get a life! And STOP trying to dictate to the rest of the world their NARROW MINDED little box version of the world.

I for myself NEVER take the word of an extremest of ANY Kind- its my RIGHT to make up my own mind and I AM REALLY TIRED of people who do NOT know what they are talking about trying to dictate what i should or should not do or believe!

As for the movie = I love fantasy and Sci Fi and even if i didnt i would go see this JUST BECAUSE idiots out there are telling me i shouldnt. defeats their purpose dont ya know!

China Trip july 2007

Auntie S and Master W - my "baby' and my dd#1's baby!
getting lots of visiting in while we can. - the kids have an offer of jobs/housing in Wisconsin!!! I want to run screaming around them saying NO!! but frankly have nothing better to offer. T hasnt been able to find steady work and L is on maternity leave - if they stay in CA she would HAVE to go back to work. T's uncle is offering her work with the family company that she can do from home or take babykins to work with her. so much better.

sigh.... am just going to have to hold on and not dissolve till after they leave after xmas. i am truly starting to hate december...... :(

another new venture/experiment

Baby William Has Arrived!!!!
Isnt he beautiful!!??!!!
7lbs 12oz and 18/5 inches long his Momma is Doing fine! she did really well with a very long labor we are very proud of her his daddy is already doing the proud papa walk , LOL!!

Tr & I have just begun a new venture- we plan on selling LOTS of different items but we are going to Start with her jewelry and both of our Photographs. should be fun especially as we get established -- our new Store is called "Spring Creek General Store" and it will feature Our "Roosevelt Road" line of Unique jewelry.
please enjoy our first offering at
www.springcreek.etsy.com

I always feel so honored that the dancers let us share their time/beauty/joy - i love to take pictures of faces they show such intensity.

dont you just LOVE the falcon? he was magnificint! this last weekend we attended a small pow wow - i love going to them - the drums get into your very blood as you watch the dancing

just some activities recently - a friends baby shower

then some pics at the HB Civil war event- first our neighbor Lois of the "FRESH" biscuits! then dd#1 while setting up tents- she is due in nov= then dd#2 taking a break later
one of the reasons we love re-enacting is the family oriented atmosphere. the little ones have such fun

fun stuff
http://www.sockamaniac.com/

dh & dd at the great wall in their band shirts
a glimpse of the near 2000 performers on the great wall- it was truly amazing. i only wish i could have gone with them

about the band shirts: amazing stuff this new fabric that is being used for sports clothes. the band spotted for 2 for each band member and chaparone- they are amazing - a quick rinse in a sink and hang dry! considering that Shanghai was about 90% humidity that was really imperative- everyone seems to have found them really comfortable.

personally i think we should make them apart of our regular uniform set up= in future trips it might be a good idea to have the kids only take these shirts! (its just a thought)

oh wow - its been awhile since i last posted!! (couldnt remember password for awhile & been BUSY!!!
dd#2 & dh made the trip to china and OHG!! what a trip - it was fabulous!! and the pix they brought back!! there is supposed to be a website set up for all the members of the band/flags and all the adults to add to. (we have 500 just on our own) admittedly MANY of them have other band kids in them so we will post them to the band's site for their parents- of the ones for we will keep for ourselves we still have at least 300+ (this is NOT counting the blurry/back of heads type pix LOL!) 1st pic is band in parade- 2nd pic is dd#2 in Tienamen Square.


The 3rd pic is a welcome at one of the hotels- they stayed in and performed in Shanghai (at the children's museum) then visited Suzhou and the silk factory where many had A LOT of fun shopping!! then flew to Beijing- in Beijing they went to Tienamen Square and the forbidden city and performed in the 'parade' (their parade set up is a bit different than ours but our kids Wowed them!!!) then a sit-down performance that apparently knocked the socks off the audience - this one was definately on the china national tv. Apparently our band was voted #1 of all the Olympic Music Festival's entries (Go PSHS Spirit of the Sands Band!!!)


when the went to the great wall for their performance there, it turned out the were not going to perform at the base of the 'wall" the performed ON the Great Wall!!! all 14 groups (about 2000 performers) they were stretched between 4 Towers! absolutely awesome-- as the #1 band, ours was directly in front of the dignitaries!! afterwards they had lunch on the roof of a nearby restaurant that had an incredible view of the wall. then they got to go SHOPPING again!!!
DD says she had SUCH fun with the bargaining and would just about want to LIVE in Silk Alley!!! LOL!!! (she did bring back some DELIGHTFUL goodies.

well things have been seriously busy recently. its less than 3 weeks till dd and dh leave for china- i may 'just' survive this (i think) we survived the move and i love the new house !! dont you just love our new security door?? i love being able to leave the regular door open and still have privacy!

we are still (slowly) unpacking a few boxes at a time (it seems like forever to get done. :( oh well its got to be done. i had no idea i had so much 'stuff'!

the biggest news around here is Letha is expecting!!!she is due in november. we dont know if its a boy or girl yet. the biggest surprise tho is even tho she was showing when she thought she was less than 3 months (i showed with both girls at 2+ mo since we are both very short waisted) - turns out she is already 16 weeks~ and no morning sickness. thank goodness she was NOT like me in that!! she did scare the crew at work last week tho... tried to pass out on them... now the know the news!! LOL!! oh my! am still not to sure about being called grandma- and mom is certainly not so sure about great grandma!

We are waiting to find out if the house next door might be coming available- the kids lease is up and they need a house... keep your fingers crossed they can get it!! :o)

craftwork- not much time for a lot but am looking at making a baby quilt for the new one and for a friends upcoming grandbaby. am also looking at making a christening gown... not sure what it will look like yet...... i have not done much sewing with really delicate fabrics - i would love to do an heirloom type gown tho.... we will see.

Have discovered a really neat blog- involves cooking! and canning!! yea!!
Its called Mom's Cafe home cooking; promises to be interesting reading;

http://momskitchencooking.blogspot.com/

The most exciting things have been happening :

We MOVED! i put that in capitals because we were moving w/about 3 weeks notice and moved 2 households into one AND 2o + yrs of 'stuff' without the time to sort/toss that we should have. yikes!! but we survived and love the new house~~ but OMG the reality of going back to paying regular rent!! ACCK!!! its like loosing one whole paycheck a month. oh well back to the real world.

THe china trip!! they took the passports last nite to get the visa's OH MY its getting close now and i think some moms are starting to have panic attacks - i do understand. this is the third time a family member has gone on one of these and i STILL have a problem with "my baby!!! going so far away!! LOL!! sigh........................
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If you live in the Palm Springs AREA or near enough to visit the band will be having their SEND OFF CONCERT (i know its not july- but most of the snow birds are leaving and we want a good audience for the kids) i know that most people think - high school band = iiiish! must i?= but these kids are GOOD!! the Dallas Brass was one of our guest groups and the kids got to perform with them- the DB were DELIGHTED with them!! and our kids play all over the valley- a lot of them are pursuing professional music as careers !!!!

any way off my soap box (grin) The concert is FREE so if you are nearby on May 23rd 2007 come on in and enjoy the music (its at the Palm Springs High School Auditorium) its an 1100 seat auditorium with amazing accoustics!!
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my mom and i are genealogists and do quite a bit of research- just by chance(?) we connected with a GREAT AUNT we didnt even know was Still ALIVE!! its amazing all the family information she has and is sharing that we Knew NOTHING about! turns out my gr gr grandfather and his kids were musicians like my grandmother (they even made their own instraments!!) have you EVER seen a harpguitar!??! see pic above!! very very neat. AND in researching Them discovered that a modern harpguitarist might even be a Very distant relative to the two men in the pic (& to me too!) very very cool
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i also got a quick note from a long not heard from friend from high school!! :o)
am hoping to hear from her again!! Diane if you read this PLEASE let me know :o)
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and to top it all off my 15yr old Turned into an OFFICIAL TEENAGER this week!! ACCKKK!! (she went prom dress shopping with a friend!!! ROFL!!!) fun but a bit scary at times!!

just came across a new site with video's on using the knitting looms. i have little problems with them but its hard to explain to someone sometimes - the videos are quite nice
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pclJ7gUvEAY&mode=related&search=

I am considering trying to sell some of my civil war reenacting pictures as both ATC's and Postcards. am not sure if there would be much of a market tho.
one of my thoughts was the different ladies books of the civil war period and pictures of actual dresses of the time would be a wonderful way to study the clothing styles colors and trims.

this is an example of one of my bits & pieces
its a suplice (sp?) bodice & sleeves ca 1859

since MOST people either cannot afford to collect those books and the few books that have a 'collection' in them are limited at best. my thought is to offer cards of everything i have photos of with data on the back (what data i have that is) like regular trading cards they would be very easy reference materials.

i am struggling to learn how to manipulate photos and its really hard with out lessons. but i have made a beginning.. i started with photos of pictures from godey's ladies books- its neat to see them cleaned up- i want to continue cleaning the images but am not doing well with that part- is frustrating!!!

here is one i started with.

as you can see i was able to remove the worst of the yellowing from age, brightened and sharpened the focus. the process affected the colors some. and a couple i even removed the color for a b&w image. i wonder if others would enjoy the results.

one thing have not learned how to do is remove age spots, stains or tears. that will come next (I hope).

some of the pages i have are fairly badly damaged. but they are beautiful even so. it would be really cool to see them at their best tho.

I have been having way too much fun with a new program that makes kaleidoscope images from my photos. i have decided that they make Great Digitally altered Photo ATC's and PostCards!!!

Sometimes you can see the original other times you cant even begin too. that part of the interest

here is an example - what do you think?

I am soooooo computer challenged.... i just now figured out how to access comments i was supposed to moderate-- sheeeeeesh how embarrassing- my apologies to EVERYONE!!!!!!!
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The Price of Children
This is just too good not to pass on to all.It's really really nice.

The government recently calculated the cost of raising a child from birth to 18 and came up with $160,140 for a middle income family. Talk about sticker shock! That doesn't even touch college tuition. But $160,140 isn't so bad if you break it down. It translates into: * $8,896.66 a year, * $741.38 a mo nth, or * $171.08 a week. * That's a mere $24.24 a day! * Just over a dollar an hour.
Still, you might think the best financial advice is don't have children if you want to be "rich." Actually, it is just the opposite. What do you get for your $160,140?

* Naming rights. First, middle, and last! * Glimpses of God every day. * Giggles under the covers every night. * More love than your heart can hold. * Butterfly kisses and Velcro hugs. * Endless wonder over rocks, ants, clouds, and warm cookies. * A hand to hold, usually covered with jelly or chocolate. * A partner for blowing bubbles, flying kites * Someone to laugh yourself silly with, no matter what the boss said or how your stocks performed that day. For $160,140, you never have to grow up.

You get to: * finger-paint, * carve pumpkins, * play hide-and-seek, * catch lightning bugs, and * never stop believing in Santa Claus. You have an excuse to: * keep reading the Adventures of Piglet and Pooh, * watching Saturday morning cartoons, * going to Disney movies, and * wishing on stars. * You get to frame rainbows, hearts, and flowers under refrigerator magnets and collect spray painted noodle wreaths for Christmas, hand prints set in clay on Mother's Day, and cards with backward letters for Father's Day.

For $160,140, there is no greater bang for your buck. You get to be a hero just for: * retrieving a Frisbee off the garage roof, * taking the training wheels off a bike, * removing a splinter, * filling a wading pool, * coaxing a wad of gum out of bangs, and coaching a baseball team that never wins but always gets treated to ice cream regardless. You get a front row seat to history to witness the: * first step, * first word, * first bra, * first date, and * first time behind the wheel.

You get to be immortal. You get another branch added to your family tree, and if you're lucky, a long list of limbs in your obituary called grandchildren and great grandchildren.

You get an education in psychology, nursing, criminal justice, communications, and human sexuality that no college can match.

In the eyes of a child, you rank right up there under God. You have all the power to heal a boo-boo, scare away the monsters under the bed, patch a broken heart, police a slumber party, ground them forever, and love them without limits, so one day they will, like you, love without counting the cost.

That is quite a deal for the price!!!!!!! Love & enjoy your children & grandchildren

AHHHH@!! have survived the holidays :o) sort of anyway... getting back into the daily routine. have discovered a new craft form. they are called ATC's (Artists Trading Cards) and are delightful! i love and collect trading cards anyway and now people make art trading cards whoohee! sounds like fun to me. i am especially intrigued by Photo Trading Cards. in going thru my stored photos (you know the kind- subject good but picture not quite 'right'? well believe me when you crop a photo to a trading card size it gives the pic a whole new perspective
as an example


an ok picture but not the effect i was aiming for.
but cropped


well you get the idea-- it makes one concentrate on essentials and i like that
i also like the fact if one makes these on certain themes they could easily be fundraiser items for kids at school and scouts etc, maybe even for any kind of group= after all trading cards are Fun!

most of the yahoo groups are all about trading = i am not ready for that level of work yet but later would like to try.
should be fun