I got this wonderful photo from one of my stamp club friends, Kris. Kris told me that her daughter, Jen, used my Mardi Gras mask template to make the cupcake decorations for adorable Lillian’s party. Speaking of “Adorable Lillian”, take a look at the next photo:

Isn’t she beautiful? She looks like a Fairy Princess and I think I’m a little bit jealous. What fun it must have been to get all dressed up and painted for what looks like a magical party. My hat’s off to Jen for doing such a great job and creating something so special for her little girl. You’re a talented and loving mom.

To my little girl, I’m sorry… I thought kool-aid and hot dogs were special. I think 30 years ago it was. And while it may not have been magical, you have to admit the back yard obstical course was pretty fun.

I’m really happy that Kris and Jen shared these photos with me, and allowed me to share them with you. It isn’t often that I get to see what people are using my templates for. I always get a thrill when I see one of the projects and this time was no exception. Who knew my little template would be part of something so grand. I feel a bit like a proud momma.

Perhaps I was  wrong to besmirch the awesomeness of his facial hair. According to whatthephoto.com  “This is the beard most of us wish we could have”, and that was good enough to make him a finalist in their contest. Way to go Grizzly, er, I mean, Boy!

My daughter made me a quilt! Isn’t it beautiful?

And check out the detail! Kitties! I talked with her on the phone last night and she said something about “cats” and “obsession” but I’ve decided that I didn’t hear any of that. I just heard, “Merry Christmas, Mom. I love you.”

It started out with me having to keep one side of my desk cleared. Abbey would be content to curl up beside my work area and accept the occasional ear scratch. Bit by bit she moved closer to, and into my work area. One day she decided she needed to curl up on the keyboard. We fought the keyboard battle for a week or more before she decided it was time to win this war once and for all. The only reason I am writing to you now is that she had to take a potty break. Soon, I and my computer will once again be held captive. If you don’t hear from me in a week, send chocolate.

STRAY CAT
by Francis Witham

Oh, what unhappy twist of fate
Has brought you homeless to my gate?
The gate where once another stood
To beg for shelter, warmth, and food
For from that day I ceased to be
The master of my destiny.

While he, with purr and velvet paw
Became within my house the law.
He scratched the furniture and shed
And claimed the middle of my bed.

He ruled in arrogance and pride
And broke my heart the day he died.
So if you really think, oh Cat,
I’d willingly relive all that
Because you come forlorn and thin
Well…don’t just stand there…Come on in!

My daughter, Princess Shannon, has just completed her first quilt. The picture doesn’t do it justice, it is gorgeous. I’m not sure what made her decide that she could make a quilt or what possessed her to take on a queen size version as her first project. She is pretty gutsy. And very talented.

The quilt was made as a gift for her brother, The Boy.  That really makes this mother’s heart swell with pride.  Now I just need to find a way to break the news to Abbey. She thinks that the quilt, like all other new items that come into the house, is for her. Since The Boy lives in an apartment Shannon thought it might be better to mail it to our house and I made The Boy spread it out on the guest bed so that I could take a picture of it. I tried to convince him that he should leave it here but he wasn’t hearing a word of that.

A while back I told you the story of how I’d lost contact with part of my family. I’d recently met up again with one of my missing nieces and was hopeful it was a new beginning for us. Well, things didn’t pan out with Little Munchkin.

You never know what the future will bring, do you? In my case it brought a happy and unexpected surprise. Little Muchkin has a big sister, First Munchkin, and this update is about her.

Out of the blue I’ve gotten a few email forwards from First Munchkin. You know the type, humor links that seem to get sent to just about everyone on a mailing list. When these showed up in my inbox I’d write back saying something like, thanks – that was funny, and then I wouldn’t hear anything more. Another one showed up this week and I’d finally had enough of sitting here wondering if they had been sent by mistake or if she was trying to talk to me. So, with my heart in my hand I wrote and asked her what her meaning was. My happy surprise was that she actually wrote back to me. It was a warm and friendly email in which she expressed an interest to be a family again. Our family isn’t known for maintaining strong correspondence links but we are going to give it our best shots and see if we can’t stay in touch long enough to get to know each other again. Who knows what the future will bring…

BTW, I’ve been told that she isn’t so much of a munchkin anymore… she is 6 feet tall! I can remember when I was in jr. high I wanted to be 6 feet tall. I’m not sure why but the idea got in my head one day and just wouldn’t go away. I never made it past 5’8″. I’ve heard that we get our height from our mother’s father. Dad was over 6 feet. Thinking of First Munchkin makes me think of him for this reason. I wonder if she knows her height is a connection to him. I guess I have something to write in my next email to her.

Last night my friends Billie and Larry came over for dinner. I’d been promising Billie that I’d make Chicken & Dumplings for her and decided now that the temperatures were topping 110 it was the perfect time to have a big, hot pot of noodles on the stove all day.

Chicken & Dumplings had come up in a conversation a few times when we were with our mutual friend, Chris. Billie had never heard of the Southern style of dumplings, which are big fat noodles. I understood. Having been a New England girl most of my life the only dumplings I knew were more like biscuits.  It was deprived life. Everyone should know the pleasure of a pot full of Southern Dumplings.

While Billie and Larry were here they taught Recliner Man and I how to play Cribbage. I lost every single hand but I think I did pretty well for a beginner. In the end winning didn’t matter because we had fun. Or maybe it was because we had wine and Coconut Rum punch. Well, either way, it was a fun night.

On their way out Larry summed the night up perfectly. “Good time, good food, good friends!”

I had some new visitors to the back yard this morning. There were two of these birds that swooped in.

They are bigger than my usual House Finches and have thicker beaks.

A search through my bird book and photos on the internet tell me that they are Abert’s Towhees.

What I read said that they have “one of the smallest total distributions of any U.S. birds species, the Abert’s Towhee is much sought after by birders who must travel to the desert Southwest to observe it.” How lucky am I to have just stepped outside and seen them?

They were very interested in Abbey. They kept flying closer to chirp at her and she kept slinking closer and closer to me. She loves to watch the birds but once they start to scold her she rushes for safety. She would much rather sit under the chair and make scary faces at the lizards.