Kids Marvel at Typewriter
In this age of devices and flat screen tv, the kids marvel at my friend V’s typewriter. She said remembers how she used to type her college term papers on it in the early 70′s.
Michael (7) was fascinated with Tin-Tin and inspired by the typewriter he saw in the movie. He asked if I could bring one out to Ohio. V had given this to Laura when L was in high school. I had it in the hall closet. Michael typed the name of each member of the family and the others were mesmerized.
What Laura and James Found While Digging in their Garden
It’s gardening season finally. Planting grass seed. Thinking about what vegetables to plant. James and Laura were preparing their garden and found this Old School original Fisher-Price Little People® girl. Wooden head. Wooden body.
I think she got transferred from my son and his wife’s house to my daughter and her husband’s house. Not by a bird but a grandchild. Will have to check and see if the same girl is living in two homes.
Awhile ago I did a post on the various generations of the Little People® I’d come across at the family’s house in Columbus.
No worries about choking hazard when these were manufactured. And here’s the crazy part. I discovered a site that identifies the Little People®.
From what I could determine she’s from late 60s early 70s. On the site she is listed as Occupation: Girl.
I think they are a match!
Here are the three generations from the October 2011 post
Anna and Her Sock Monkey Photo Shoot
Anna set up the sock monkey clan in the family room and photographed them. The most cooperative subjects you would wish for. A couple sock monkeys must have been hiding but collecting four grandchildren’s monkeys is the challenging part. Trying to get the real family for a group shot is much more difficulty. I get a kick out of the kids trying out their photography skills. Anna(9) photographed this one with the iPad. Thanks Anna for the guest blog.
Ky Started Yo-Yoing at Age Eleven
I stopped into the old fashioned/classic toy store in the neighborhood of Shadyside on Ivy Street. The cool toy store is around the corner from where we lived when we first moved to Pittsburgh. This is the same store my three kids would browse in for the longest time on the way home from school in 1989-1991.
Two floors of toy store! Filled with LEGO® and Playmobil®, knights, puppets, trucks and trains, dolls and puzzles. Everything you can wish for as a child. You might see some items you yearned for as a kid but never received.
I was buying a gift for a friend.
And while I was there, the young man came from behind the counter and started yo-yoing. I mean yo-yoing extraordinaire! His name is Ky.
There was nothing else but to stop my shopping and watch in amazement. All I had with me was the phone camera. With a phone memory too full, I had to delete pics to take a few shots. (too much phoneography for challenges?)
Wowee Wow. I don’t know how to describe it -but I was mesmerized. And then he put down the yo-yo and picked up a kendama. Yes, we have an old wooden one but I never knew what it was called. Or that it was of Japanese origin. He was smooth and skillful at both the yo-yo and kendama!
If you want to learn how to yo-yo like Ky you can head on over to Shadyside on Sunday at noon and practice how to put your yo-yo into a “sleep” so you can attempt the tricks like Ky was demonstrating. Learn “looping”. Ky will be there teaching in the Yo-Yo/Skill Toy Club at S.W. Randall’s. I think I need to return with a video camera and you can understand how you had to keep your eye on Ky and the yo-yo or Ky and the kendama. Do you have any yo-yo tricks?
The Whole Family is Getting in on this Guest Blog Thing
The number of Jelly Beans in the Jar is 528 so Gloria came in as the winner tonight as she guessed 500 and didn’t go over the total amount.
Thanks everyone for looking and guessing.
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This is a team effort. Blogging through a four year olds eyes. Could that be a stylus at the foot of the mat on the left?
I’m on the left and Maura asleep on my iPad on the right. You can see the computer hinged lid. Maybe an iPad, too.
(corrected by Maura, what is really happening in the picture she drew)
Here’s a photo I received from my DIL on Thursday. My youngest granddaughter Maura (4) drew a picture. There is another version where we have ears, and I mean EARS!!! Maybe I’l lost that one, too.
When I visit in Ohio, I sleep on a mat in Maura’s room. She gets her Hello Kitty Sleeping bag and camps out, too.
So she drew herself sleeping on the right, while old Grandma(me) is next to her on the left, BLOGGING on the computer! She always says, “you can do the blog in my room.”
It is cool that everyone wants to contribute to the effort. Thanks supportive Family!!
love,
Ma/Grandma Ruthie
Mini-Celebration in the Midst of Sadness
When we gathered in to Aunt Linda’s and Uncle Frank’s to mourn the passing of Aunt Theresa, there was lots of food to share and it kept pouring in from generous neighbors and friends and relatives.
Anna’s other Grandma, Marlene, sister of Aunt Theresa, Aunt Linda and Aunt Georgeann wanted to acknowledge the excitement and accomplishment of Anna(9) qualifying to swim Freestyle and Breaststroke in the Junior Olympics in Ohio next weekend. Marlene bought a cake- a 3 pound 12 ounce cake! (We read the label, didn’t we Aunt Linda?)
Because the occasion was the gathering in and remembering Theresa who had passed, I never took my camera out of the car.
It didn’t seem like a time to take photos. But of course when the cake came out and Marlene was videoing our singing Happy Junior Olympics to you, I felt compelled to take a photo and slipped out the trusty old iPhone and took one shot. This is it. Of course we are so proud of Anna. On the left standing up and smiling is her Mom, Erika. And cousin Shannon, in the red on the right was very gracious. Lots of love and affection over this past week.
Watching the Box in a Box*
Here are two views of the grandchildren watching”the box” while sitting in a box. A portion of one was in the Lost in the Details yesterday.
Thanks to a wonderful fellow blogger, S - Another Day in Paradise - who wrote this comment on yesterday’s Weekly Photo Challenge and inspired today’s post. ( she is originally from England, now South Africa and Florida)
*“Wonderful selection of photos, Ruth. I absolutely love the “Watching TV in a box.” In England, the TV is often called “The box,” so you could have titled it “Watching the box in a box.”
Raggedy Duo in Public Domain But Does Anyone Play With Them Nowadays?
Never used nowadays lately but had to look it up to be sure I spelled it correctly.
While in Ohio this past weekend, I was helping sort through some toys in the playroom. Matchbox cars here, a duffel bag of puppets, strollers and baby dolls and a whole tub of action figures like Batman and Star Wars light sabers. A box of wooden blocks.
The grandchildren are growing up and many of the younger toys aren’t being played with and room needs to be made for new ventures.
These Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls were gifts from Great Aunt Bobbie when Anna(9) was born. They looked exactly the same way they have smiled at me for all these years. No change in expression. Just grinning. They looked almost brand new.
I took them upstairs and set them up in my father’s old oak rocker which is now in Mark’s office. They didn’t object to being photographed. I started thinking about rag dolls and how they aren’t trendy and I wondered if people are still buying them. These are lovingly handmade in Kansas City and I think of them as classics. Nostalgia sets in. (more…)
Michael, 7, Master LEGO® Builder
Sunday afternoon, Michael, 7, asked me if I would photograph his LEGO® vehicle and put it on the blog.
Now how can any grandma resist that invitation? Michael loves to create, construct and play with LEGO®. We just don’t like stepping on them.
(I pronounced him the “master” LEGO® builder although there might be an official designation with a credential he’d have to earn from LEGO® U)
The close-up of the vehicle. In the background? When I looked at the photo on the computer screen I noticed my father’s rocking chair in my son Mark’s office.
Here is the first photo, when Michael called down to me and asked me if I would photograph his STAR WARS LEGO® vehicle and put it on the blog.
I said, sure.
Then he came down the stairs and put on the finishing touches so I could shoot it. It tickles me how the grandchildren know all about the blog.
Friday night, four year old Maura told me I could bring my computer to her room and blog before bed. (That’s Maura on the bottom right with a hockey stick, climbing up the stairs.)
Anna’s Self Portrait at the Swim Meet
You know how Anna (9) likes to borrow her mom’s iPhone and take photos?
She was the photographer of the pick up truck full of legs post in case you missed it.
So I said I would put her photo on the blog but I needed her to explain how she took the photo and I would add that information on the post.
See the second photo. She drew the little symbol- to turn the camera so it faces inward? I photographed her iPhone sketch.
That was how she explained it. Oh yes, she said told me she had mirror goggles. I like how she thinks about composing a photograph.
She enjoyed being guest blogger so much. I think we need to get her a camera!
You Have to be 8 to Take the Cake Decorating Class
When I got to Ohio Friday evening, Anna(9) was out with a friend, taking a cake decorating class for kids.
When she got home, she put some finishing touches on her Kitty Cat Cake while her younger sister Maura watched intently.
Then Anna put the lid of the cake carrier on the cake to protect it and left the kitchen
There Perfect!
Maura licked the frosting knife.
What the Kids Like Best on Christmas
Maura finds the exterior box of the pressure cooker a great toy!
I Finally Met Domo
Hanging from a college student’s book bag. I asked if I could photograph the little creature with his mouth wide open. She told me it was Domo!
Domo?
So I looked up Domo and learned about him and realize I am really behind the times in not having met him before. He’s been around awhile.
And I just met him now. And a quote from Wikipedia “Domo’s favorite food is nikujaga, a Japanese meat and potato stew, and he has a strong dislike for apples because of an unexplained mystery in his DNA” You can check him out in stop animation features on Youtube, too.
And the urban dictionary says ”Domo-kun is a small brown open-mouthed monster (hatched from an egg) who lives with a wise old rabbit underground and really, really likes TV. Domo-kun is the mascot of NHK’s BS2″
There are book bags and plush toys and I have never noticed him until a couple of weeks ago and that open mouth caught my eye.
City Rooftop Horsey
I’m sure there’s a great story behind the placement of this molded plastic creature, dangling from a wire frame atop a building!
You might remember, depending on how long you have been following the blog, that my friend Sally said that things come in threes.
And the day before that there was the horse of a different color. The post the day before that one was The Old Gray Mare (or stallion).
There was the steed left by a cowboy in an Arlington neighborhood alley, just like the one Chicago John rode as a kid.
And here is the latest one I caught yesterday as I sat in traffic in East Liberty and happened to see it up on the roof.
“Found” rocking horses or rocking horse heads in the city are a theme without my even realizing. Maybe someone is going around the city and placing them for me to find!
Here are the aforementioned horse sightings in the city cause let’s face it- who has time to return to old blogposts?
Maura Clare is 4 on November 17th
Four is a great age to be.
You’ve seen her pop bubble wrap. Eat cake. Pose with Murphy the Airedale. Run with her siblings across the lawn, carrying an Easter basket or a doll, wearing a red hat. Gardening!
It’s been a fast four years!
And the most recent shot below
Wind Up Toys
Sunday morning. Breakfast at Joan’s. A cadre of colorful windup toys in her kitchen… I asked if I could photograph them. I can’t remember a specific windup toy I had as a child but these all felt familiar and provided a relaxing and fun time as she wound them up and they executed their motion while I tried to photograph them.
Guess they are making a big comeback. I am going to get some for me the grandkids so I they can play with these adorable windup toys.
Camera Flash Must Have Awakened This Doll
Last week when I was in Columbus visiting the family, I noticed my youngest granddaughter Maura’s baby dolls all lined up on the ottoman in the family room.
There wasn’t much available light and the auto flash went off on the iPhone as I shot the picture.
It wasn’t until I looked on the screen, that I noticed the middle doll’s expression on her face! I ‘d just been trying to capture the tidy line-up of little doll bodies. 
Aunt LInda Teaches Anna How to Dip Strawberries in Chocolate
And Maura is taking good notes!
Shot last May in Columbus, the night before Anna’s Communion Party.
Popping Bubble Wrap
Lots of people enjoy the satisfaction of popping bubble wrap. Even the virtual kind. On one listing for a computer game it’s called the ultimate time waster. There are apps with popping bubble wrap games. Some people find it a stress reliever and like hearing the pop. Lately I have been receiving packages with a different kind of plastic with air trapped inside and they aren’t nearly as fun, just half heartedly filled with air and don’t make a good POP! More of a fizzle.
You don’t have to explain the rules to this activity. Here’s Maura on Aunt Linda’s back porch, concentrating on the task. A detailed post of various methods of popping bubble wrap has been published over at 1000 Awesome Things( #840) so check it out here. There’s a photo of someone jumping on a big sheet of it! And there are various size bubbles.
Maura was popping the bubbles one at a time and it was fascinating to watch her take her time. It seems a skill that’s a natural one. Pick it up. Squeeze. Pop!
and Jack has found another use for bubble wrap
Happy 7th Birthday
Seven years ago I was in Florida watching Anna while Erika and Mark went to the hospital. Happy Birthday Michael Joseph! He just lost his first tooth and is starting First Grade on Wednesday so your last day of summer vacation you don’t have to go to school. Bet you’ll find time to build something with your new Star Wars Lego today.
Blogging from Aunt Mary’s computer in NYC at 3 AM so when you wake up you can see your birthday post. Love, FF Ruthie
29, For Real!
Happy Birthday Laura Christine.
On the left, lounging at the beach in Bibione, Italy as a toddler.
Center- A baby blessing/birth stats I cross stitched in 1983. The town is spelled incorrectly- missing the first C- Eschenbach!
Photo on the right and below as a bride are from 6 months after the wedding in Columbus OH with husband James.
Bubble Blowing Champ, Model Railroad Men, Pickle the Mini-Dachshund, Sheep and a Storm at the State Fair
This is what the sky looked like as we made our way down the midway to the van.
Then the rain started. We’d been at the Ohio State Fair about two hours. The photos are not enhanced, that’s the color of the sky!
A deluge. The view from the van shows the lightning. Shortly after four in the afternoon. It got dark as night. When we got home, the power was out so we
went to eat dinner at House of Japan. Thanks to the Kroger booth people at the fair for sheltering me and the kids while Erika ran and got the van and the nice State Trooper who guided us to the van as the wind blew and the rain fell. No hail today, thank goodness. We got pretty wet and it came up fast but all is well.
The first photo of the fair is a small combo at the entrance gate playing Life is a Cabaret. They were good musicians and set the mood.
As we listened to the music we saw this gentleman approach the exit.
His name is John and he blew an eleven inch bubble to win the bubble gum machine and the trophy. He was a good sport and allowed me to photograph him.
The nice woman with the mini-dachshund, Pickle ( 1 yr), let the children pet the sheep and Michael had fun feeding one. Thanks Carrie.
William , originally from Wheeling, was one of the men running the Model Railroad display.
And that is Dave in the PETA shirt in the Sheep Pavilion.
I asked one of the men how they judge the sheep in the competition. He said, they’re choosing the ones who will look best on the table. Some of you know that two out of my three kids are veg, but the one said to me, “Ma, ask that man if you can photograph his shirt!”
Thanks for graciously allowing me to post your photos on the blog today. It was good to talk with everyone we met.
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