Monday, August 29, 2011
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Couple Photos, Too
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Friday, August 26, 2011
Through Earthquake & Hurricane...
Right before 2 pm on TUESDAY we started getting frantic calls from John (still at work. He took train down on Thursday to join us). My cell phone, then Suzu's would ring, and then immediately disconnect. Crazy texts "WHERE ARE YOU?" I was driving, three children in the car, just passing Fredricksburg, so Suzanna answered him on both of our phones, reassuring him. He wanted to know if we felt the earthquake, if we were safe? Didn't even notice it, honestly. Traffic had been great all the way down to Virginia Beach. Where we were planning on staying over the weekend. Mandatory evacuation brought us home three days early.
Do you see where the children are jumping the waves? I missed the dolphins swimming mere yards from them, but you can see in the next picture how close they were to where the waves were breaking, that blog there on left is not Nessie. We saw the dolphins jumping out of the water, dozens and dozens of them Friday morning before the life guards kicked us out for dangerous riptides before the approaching hurricane...we obeyed the evacuation and are home safely.
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Gateway
Quick canvas for an 8 year old. It helped me prepare for a talk and organize my thoughts...
What is your favorite college recipe?
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Saying Good-Bye
Max & Emma leave next Tuesday for school. Grandpa John & Grandma Sandy are leaving Saturday for the ocean, so this was it. Good-bye until Christmas.
It is nice living so close to extended family, so they become a part of our lives. We know them, they know our children.
Grandma Sandy has a swath of purple in her fringe, not for Ravens, but for City Council elections, coming up in 80 days. Her campaign signs are purple. We will pull out our purple grandma t-shirts, walk the neighborhoods for her, put up signs. Emma has been designing and creating Grandma's webpage. Coding & set up. All the technical stuff. I am so impressed with my brilliant daughter!
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Another Teenager (our 4th one)
Tradition dictates you are allowed to light your own candles, maybe with some help. Sam burned his finger on one of the short-lived matches.
Then we will sing to you, both verses. He graciously served us all huge pieces of his requested Mint Chocolate Chip Chocolate NO NUTS cake.
Today we drove by the hospital he was born at, the biggest baby they had ever seen at 11' 8 oz.
The "Spider Park" no longer has the huge spider tunnel-jungle gym. Replaced by plastic, modern stuff. This looked like a sailboat in profile, scary from the top, but got easier as the kids slowly slid down...
Near the Lock House, looking out where the Susquehanna River ends, and the Chesepeake Bay begins...(wearing Thank You Uncle Bob shorts and sporting his Thank You Grandpa John watch).
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Quilt Provenance
My money-wise brother, Jack's daddy, said the quilt arrived, they love it, and asked about the stories. He said it would "add to the quilt's provenance."
Wow. Yes! I probably could have sent this along. It made me stop and think about why these fabrics appealed to me, what stories I would sit and tell nephew and his older sister if we were hanging out while their parents went on a date...boohoo for far away family. Wishing we lived much closer.
Here are the fabrics, and some excerpts of why the fabrics. They follow the order in the photo below (even though SpiderMan is upside down...)
1.Marvin the Martian: Marvin speaks with a soft, English aristocratic accent, and often speaks technobabble. He is also known for his trademark quotes "Where's the kaboom? There was supposed to be an earth-shattering kaboom!", "Isn't that lovely?", and "This makes me very angry, very angry indeed."
I remember watching Marvin on Saturday morning cartoons. He is a good model for talking about your feelings instead of bottling them up and sulking, "This makes me very angry, very angry indeed…"
2. The Flinstones: Aunt Deborah & Aunt Jennilyn loved this show and played "Flinstones" outside in the back yard. Jennilyn always wanted to be Fred or Wilma, and made Deb be Barney or Betty.
3. Sharks:Your cousin Stewart loved sharks growing up. In 3rd grade he decided he would read every non-fiction book in the public library, and started with the shelf about sharks. He still remembers trivia and details about them that amazes his family. That love for learning helped him do well in school! Find something that you love and learn all you can about it!
4. Ants @ Picnic; Skulls; Pea Pods: We live in a mortal world, moth & rust doth corrupt, but I know the Resurrection is real! It is okay that things break down as we use up our resources, and wear out our bodies doing good.
5. Frogs with Flies: animals eating is fun to watch, even if it is animals eating other animals as part of the food chain. I've eaten frog legs (when I was a waitress at a fancy country club) and they tasted like chicken. Landbecks have stories from their great grandma of catching frogs for dinner and trying to get them in the pot and cooked before they all jumped out. Sometimes it is important to know where your meat comes from, and not be grossed out, but respectful, and remember to say the blessing before thanking Heavenly Father for all the amazing creatures on the earth!
6. Poison Arrow Frogs: even though they are beautiful, some frogs are dangerous! Make sure you know more about an animal before you try and touch one!
7. Green Quilting Cutting Boards: Tools are important! Taking care of your tools, and learning how to use them safely is important. Asking before you use your mom or dad's tools is the right thing to do. You can ruin a good quilting rotary cutter if you don't use these mats. It is NOT a pizza cutter, even though it looks like one. Don't lie or be sneaky about using someone's tools. The cheese will give you away, every time. And it is better to be honest, than be sneaky.
8. LOBSTER: I couldn't find a good fabric of crabs, which I like much better than lobster. When you come to the east coast to visit your family we will eat CRABS together! Spicy, wonderful seafood!
9. Spider Webs: Take time to look for spider webs! I hope you discover "Charlotte's Web" as the book, not the film, first. I hope you grow up taking spiders outside for your mom, instead of smashing them. Spiders are good, but most people rather they were outside.
10. "Run Jane, Run" fabric: "I am so glad, when Daddy comes home!" This fabric is for Grandma Jane & Grandpa Ken. They were great parents. I remember my dad playing with me, swinging, riding bikes, flying kites, playing marbles, hiking. Remember to play with your children!
11. Hot Rod Red Cars: fast cars can look cool. Learning how to fix cars is a good skill! Wear your seat belt, always. Look both ways before you cross the street, and be careful in parking lots! Once, when I was 5 years old, I crossed a street closing my eyes, running as fast as I could. Cars were honking at me, and I was scared. I thought I had missed the bus to school, so me and a friend ran to school without telling our moms. It was very dangerous and not a smart thing to do.
12. Rooster & Chickens: for all the BABCOCKS! Learn what your name means, and why a rooster is a good family symbol! My favorite animal scriptures are about us being gathered by Christ as a hen gathers her chicks.
13. Green Dragons: Because I loved "Pete's Dragon" film. The song "Candle on the Water" received an Academy Award nomination, but lost to "You Light Up My Life" from the film of the same title.
14. Flamingos: Once, sitting in a class with a group of women, I started criticizing things I thought were bad art, kitsch, specifically flamingos. I went on and on. And the lady directly across from me, calmly said, "I love flamingos!" I realized I had been rude, repented, and sent her a sorry card, with a flamingo on it. She invited me to her home, and there were flamingos everywhere. EVERYWHERE! All around the front yard, the pool, inside…I am very, very careful to be less critical. It is okay to have opinions, and to not like something, but allow others that same freedom, and be sensitive to their loves! Don't step on their toes! (I now own a small, silly, pink flamingo lamp I found at a thrift store. It made me laugh, and my friend had moved away, or I would have given it to her for her collection!)
15. "How now brown cow" is a phrase used in elocution teaching to demonstrate rounded vowel sounds. These were black & white cows, until I dyed them blue. I could have made them purple, since a purple cow has come to represent something out of the ordinary. YOU are extra-ordinary! It is okay to stand out, be different, be unusual and not blend in like all the others. Choose to not conform. Choose to not swear, or drink, or say mean things.
16. Galaxy: I bought this fabric to finish the wedding gift quilt to your parents. Stars and planets, exciting possibilities! Worlds without end! I hope you learn to love looking at the skies and appreciate the beautiful world we have to live in!
17. Artichokes; Snail; Green Fish: Babcocks lived in California for years…that is where Great Grandpa Jack is from…when we lived there, it was easy to find artichokes in the store. One of my favorite foods. When I bought one here in Maryland for the first time, overpriced and scrawny compared to CA, the cashier had never seen one in her life! You have to work hard to get to the tender heart at the center, and it is always worth it. Yes, you can buy a jar of hearts, but that feels like cheating, to me. SNAIL is for more California memories, picking the snails off the vegetables growing in our backyard. They were plentiful. Everywhere. And yes, I've eaten one of them, too, properly washed and cooked, escargot can be tasty. FISH is for Great Grandpa Harold Carlson, who was a great fisherman, and taught his son, Great Uncle Will, who taught me how to find rainbow trout & German brown's in Utah streams.
18. Jungle Animals: You could make up stories for each of these animals. This is the only fabric square repeated, since there were so many great animals in this fabric.
19. Old Computer Disc & Mouse: Keeping up with the technology is crazy-hard! I learn more from my children as they carefully explain how things work…Your Grandpa Ken used to work for IBM and brought home old computer cards, full of zeros and ones. Things have changed in my lifetime, and will continue to advance in yours. You are so blessed to be born at this time, with the great inventions and exciting improvements!
20. Pink Dog: We do not have a dog, since I am allergic to them. But if we did, it would look like "Harry, the Dirty Dog" by Gene Zion, or this cute pink one. Not Clifford. Maybe Oliver. Or "Go, Dog, Go" PD Eastman's dogs. I hope you have fun dog friends, or friends with dogs. I learned to love dogs when an Austrian Shepherd dog, named Ace, who lived across the street would come every day and bark at me. Loud barks. Scary. Until I started feeding him. Leftovers. Scraps of meat. Bacon. I started looking forward to his barks, and started seeing him as friendly greetings, instead of "I AM GOING TO EAT YOUR FACE OFF" warnings. I got brave enough to let him eat out of my hand, and looked forward to scratching his head. I miss Ace. My friend, the dog.
21. Apples: best food ever! Your Uncle John once made me an apple pie--with zucchini! It had enough cinnamon and brown sugar that I couldn't tell that it wasn't apples.
22. Halloween; Scarabs; Broken Hearts: More Resurrection themed fabric! Dancing skeletons can be fascinating, not scary. Bones are magnificent, amazing, how they all fit together and hold us up! Bugs, same thing. Some of the most beautiful colors I have seen are on bugs. The broken hearts are a reminder to be humble, teachable, patient with your parents and teachers.
23. Pink Elephants: Your cousin, Emmalyn, loves elephants. Her initials, EL, are the beginning of the word. She collects them. This is some of the fabric I bought when she was little. I made her overalls to wear with this. And a pillow. It is fun to have a theme, something you like to collect. Elephants also encourage me to not be afraid to talk about uncomfortable things. Ask questions, kindly, politely. Listen when people talk. But don’t' ignore them, or their concerns or problems. Better to say, "Hi!" and stop and see how they really are, not just "How are you?" as you walk away…
24. Money: Your dad knows a lot about how to be wise with money. Money is a tool, a resource. It isn't evil. People can do bad things with money, if they choose, but they can do good things, too. Paying our tithing is a good thing, and puts the Lord first, makes Him the priority. Other good things are taking care of our families, feeding the poor (paying Fast Offerings), supporting missionaries…saving for your own mission!
25. (More Jungle!)
26. Blue Music Notes: How important is music to you? Our family loves to sing, and music can make you feel happy, if you feel blue, or sad…"If you chance to meet a frown, do not let it stay, quickly turn it upside down and smile that frown away…"
27. Red Little Hearts: How many people love you? SO MANY! You are surrounded by love and hugs and kisses. I haven't even met you yet, but I love from long distance. I love your parents, your sister! Know that if there is anything we can do for you, we will. Having a huge family like us spread out makes it hard to see each other as often as we would like to, so we have to email and blog and watch videos of you. I look forward to reunions.
28. Egyptian Winged Princess: Uncle John Landbeck has a tie made of this fabric. Abraham in the Pearl of Great Price makes Egyptian artifacts make sense. She is beautiful, posed in mid-dance. Maybe this is the princess who found Baby Moses and cared for him, raising him as her own son? Egyptian women were considered equals of men, the way The Family, A Proclamation to the World counsels us to treat each other, equal partners.
29. More Music in Tan: I wanted to try and play this song on the piano…how does it sound? What is the soundtrack in your life? Do you love the Primary songs? Silly songs? Patriotic ones? Make music everywhere, not just in the bathtub/shower!
30. Hot Sauce: for Argentina. For love of spice. Great Grandma Laura went on three missions: Guatemala, Lima-Peru, and…another one. She came home and cooked spicy, hot food. Once we walked into her kitchen where she was cooking and instantly our eyes teared up. Our noses started running. She was making A-Hee, and wanted us to try it. We almost didn't dare! She liked her hot peppers! We joked that she burned off all her taste-buds on her missions, and could only taste food super spicy!
31. Geese (or ducks?) Flying: There is a chain of gas-convenience stores on the East Coast called "WAWA" which is supposed to be the sound of the goose. It still makes me laugh. Waaaah-Waaaaah. Honking noises. In the fall, when the birds head south in long V's in the air, sometimes I want to go with them. I want to see someplace new, have an adventure where it is warm. One fall, as I watched them from my front porch, while babies (your cousins) Stewart & Maxwell were taking naps, I saw some silly geese head south, then turn around and go the wrong way east, towards the river, then flip and head west, towards you in Idaho, the veer north. They looked mixed up and confused, and I laughed out loud, because I had the thought that I knew I was exactly where I needed to be, stuck in Maryland, far away from family in Utah, but being a stay-at-home mom. It is hard work, being a mom, but is the best job, ever. I took the children's old pacifiers, cut off the nipples (when the were done with them, when they got bigger), and sewed the pacifiers onto a goose flying quilt to remember that day on the porch.
32. Jogging: exercise is fun! This summer a friend in the neighborhood asked me to walk with her in the mornings. We go up and down the roads between our two houses, until we walk three miles (just under an hour). Every morning except Sunday. Same time. Same route. We talk and walk, and I look forward to it. I know we are blessed when we take care of our bodies. My goal is to be able to JOG, not just walk fast. Maybe even run, like Aunt Luanna does! Uncle John Babcock bikes. Aunt Deborah bikes. Aunt Rebecca is strong and exercises…what else do you know about your family and exercise?
33. Aliens on Red Background: I love science fiction & fantasy. So does Grandpa Ken & Grandma Jane. So do a lot of other aunts & uncles…Someday we can talk about our favorite books and the stories we love from them…Stories are important. They help us know who we are. Science fiction was so important to me, that I was thankful to find a spouse who loves to read with me. Some of my favorite memories was walking by my parents open bedroom, seeing them side by side each reading a book. Our children see us doing that, too. It is fun to read, and then talk about what you have learned, what it makes you think and feel. Maybe you will like mysteries more, or adventure books, or non-fiction like Stewart, or Church History like Uncle Roger. Just READ!
34. Measure Twice, Cut Once: I measure three times. Just in case. I have lots and lots of measuring tapes around the house. I like to know how things will fit. I move the furniture around often, and love to see new arrangements. Sometimes, you might have an idea, and you just need to see if it will work. When I sloppily measure quickly, I make mistakes, and have to move things back, or buy new wood if I am using the saw…I once chopped off a dressers legs too short on one side because I didn't measure again. And I chopped a curtain too short because I assumed the curtain rod was the same distance from the floor at both ends of the room. Never assume. Always check. Again. It is good to be careful, and exact. If you look at this quilt, there is a poofy part where I had pinned things but didn't check the back side….I should have flipped the quilt over and looked. By the time I noticed the poof, it was way, way too late to unpick all that sewing. I hope you know my mistake is proof of my pride, being too confident. Be better than me, and double check, double measure, look again before you goof up. But if you do goof, learn from your mistake, repent, fix it if you can, and move on. (And Uncle JohnL would say, "Don't draw attention to the mistake. Nobody else will notice unless you point it out to them!"). I am thankful that we can repent and start over. Thankful for the Atonement.
35. Brown Fish: When I was thinking about you and this quilt for you, I found a pair of shorts at my favorite thrift store and cut them up. More fish. You can always have more fish. Great Grandma Laura got so sick of fish. Her husband, Harold, would come home from work and want to go fishing every night. There was fish in the fridge, fish in the freezer, fish for dinner. She was pregnant, and the smell of fish started making her feel super sick. Too much of a good thing. She didn't want any more. Her children used to gather on Pioneer Day for a Fish Fry reunion. Potluck, bring what you want, and all the Rainbow Trout fish bbq-ed. Wonderful. Your cousin Maxwell had his birthday on the 25th of July because there was no way I was going to miss that Fish Fry, and made the appointment to have him induced the next day. Silly me. The fireworks are fun, too.
36. Blue, Tropical Fish: More fish? Yes! They come in so many different colors! I used to babysit for salt water fish for a family in the neighborhood when they went on vacation. (The Tripps went tripping.) I had to check the water temperature, feed them, make sure they were alive. Big, happy Clown Fish. The whole time the family was gone, I would pray for the fish, that they wouldn't die while I was taking care of them. They never did. But being responsible for something very expensive is hard work. It is good to pray over our flocks and fields, which might be your pets and your garden now, and later your car and your job, your family and loved ones.
37. Blue Sharks: More sharks, yes. These sharks are San Jose Sharks. I didn't know that was a team. A hockey team. My dad did not watch sports on tv. He watched "Star Trek" and General Conference. He woke me up and told me to remember watching the first man on the moon landing! It really happened! Most of my sports experience has come since I've been married, watching soccer (World Cup) with Uncle Bob (he told me what to cheer for, what was a good move), watching Suzanna & Stewart run and Stewart wrestle his junior and senior year of high school. I like watching baseball games, live. But when people talk about their favorite sports team, and the games going on, I feel pretty un-informed. I don’t feel team loyal. I will cheer for everyone. Some people really care about their favorite team. I like President Uchtdorf's counsel to not let team rivalry cause contention…So these sharks are kind, getting-along, non-competitive, nice sharks. They are all on the same team. Helping each other.
38. Spider Man: "With great power, comes great responsibility." --Peter Parker's Uncle Ben. "Not everyone is meant to make a difference. But for me, the choice to lead an ordinary life is no longer an option."-Peter Parker
39. Brother Sister Sandcastle: You & Ellie, playing on the beach. Someday, you may be taller than she is, but you will always be her "little" brother. Brothers & sisters can be good friends. The way you treat each other growing up matters.
40. Thumper: He remarks that Bambi is "kinda wobbly" but is reproved by his mother who makes him repeat what his father had impressed upon him that morning, "If you can't say something nice, don't say nothing at all". This moral is now known by such names as the "Thumperian principle", "Thumper's rule" or "Thumper's law".
41. Snowmen: Snow is fun to play in! You will grow up knowing what snow is. When we lived in Iowa, snow would drift across the cornfields and pile up as high as the roof! We had to dig out of our house to get to the brown station wagon to carefully drive to Church. It was so deep, we could tunnel snow tunnels in the backyard, make "igloos" and caverns. I loved sitting in the snow tunnels, seeing the sunshine through the ice. Your Smith cousins have spent the night out in their snow forts. Great outdoor adventures!
42. You Scream, I SCREAM, We All Scream for ICE CREAM! Great Grandpa Harold would say he would rather have his children jumping on the beds than crying in their closets. He loved candy and ice cream. He could make caramel popcorn, or divinity without a recipe, just dumping in butter, sugar…Learn how to cook something that you love, so you can share it with others and make it your specialty. Your cousin, Samuel, loves ice cream so much and wanted it every day after dinner. We had to make a family rule, only on Sundays and Thursdays. Or when we have company. Some of the best Babcock reunions have included wonderful ice cream flavors…Snickers ice cream, Crème de Minthe, Mint Chocolate Chip, Dulce de Leche, Rocky Road, Cake Batter…I am drooling, and I have two more days until Thursday to wait.
Wow. Yes! I probably could have sent this along. It made me stop and think about why these fabrics appealed to me, what stories I would sit and tell nephew and his older sister if we were hanging out while their parents went on a date...boohoo for far away family. Wishing we lived much closer.
Here are the fabrics, and some excerpts of why the fabrics. They follow the order in the photo below (even though SpiderMan is upside down...)
1.Marvin the Martian: Marvin speaks with a soft, English aristocratic accent, and often speaks technobabble. He is also known for his trademark quotes "Where's the kaboom? There was supposed to be an earth-shattering kaboom!", "Isn't that lovely?", and "This makes me very angry, very angry indeed."
I remember watching Marvin on Saturday morning cartoons. He is a good model for talking about your feelings instead of bottling them up and sulking, "This makes me very angry, very angry indeed…"
2. The Flinstones: Aunt Deborah & Aunt Jennilyn loved this show and played "Flinstones" outside in the back yard. Jennilyn always wanted to be Fred or Wilma, and made Deb be Barney or Betty.
3. Sharks:Your cousin Stewart loved sharks growing up. In 3rd grade he decided he would read every non-fiction book in the public library, and started with the shelf about sharks. He still remembers trivia and details about them that amazes his family. That love for learning helped him do well in school! Find something that you love and learn all you can about it!
4. Ants @ Picnic; Skulls; Pea Pods: We live in a mortal world, moth & rust doth corrupt, but I know the Resurrection is real! It is okay that things break down as we use up our resources, and wear out our bodies doing good.
5. Frogs with Flies: animals eating is fun to watch, even if it is animals eating other animals as part of the food chain. I've eaten frog legs (when I was a waitress at a fancy country club) and they tasted like chicken. Landbecks have stories from their great grandma of catching frogs for dinner and trying to get them in the pot and cooked before they all jumped out. Sometimes it is important to know where your meat comes from, and not be grossed out, but respectful, and remember to say the blessing before thanking Heavenly Father for all the amazing creatures on the earth!
6. Poison Arrow Frogs: even though they are beautiful, some frogs are dangerous! Make sure you know more about an animal before you try and touch one!
7. Green Quilting Cutting Boards: Tools are important! Taking care of your tools, and learning how to use them safely is important. Asking before you use your mom or dad's tools is the right thing to do. You can ruin a good quilting rotary cutter if you don't use these mats. It is NOT a pizza cutter, even though it looks like one. Don't lie or be sneaky about using someone's tools. The cheese will give you away, every time. And it is better to be honest, than be sneaky.
8. LOBSTER: I couldn't find a good fabric of crabs, which I like much better than lobster. When you come to the east coast to visit your family we will eat CRABS together! Spicy, wonderful seafood!
9. Spider Webs: Take time to look for spider webs! I hope you discover "Charlotte's Web" as the book, not the film, first. I hope you grow up taking spiders outside for your mom, instead of smashing them. Spiders are good, but most people rather they were outside.
10. "Run Jane, Run" fabric: "I am so glad, when Daddy comes home!" This fabric is for Grandma Jane & Grandpa Ken. They were great parents. I remember my dad playing with me, swinging, riding bikes, flying kites, playing marbles, hiking. Remember to play with your children!
11. Hot Rod Red Cars: fast cars can look cool. Learning how to fix cars is a good skill! Wear your seat belt, always. Look both ways before you cross the street, and be careful in parking lots! Once, when I was 5 years old, I crossed a street closing my eyes, running as fast as I could. Cars were honking at me, and I was scared. I thought I had missed the bus to school, so me and a friend ran to school without telling our moms. It was very dangerous and not a smart thing to do.
12. Rooster & Chickens: for all the BABCOCKS! Learn what your name means, and why a rooster is a good family symbol! My favorite animal scriptures are about us being gathered by Christ as a hen gathers her chicks.
13. Green Dragons: Because I loved "Pete's Dragon" film. The song "Candle on the Water" received an Academy Award nomination, but lost to "You Light Up My Life" from the film of the same title.
14. Flamingos: Once, sitting in a class with a group of women, I started criticizing things I thought were bad art, kitsch, specifically flamingos. I went on and on. And the lady directly across from me, calmly said, "I love flamingos!" I realized I had been rude, repented, and sent her a sorry card, with a flamingo on it. She invited me to her home, and there were flamingos everywhere. EVERYWHERE! All around the front yard, the pool, inside…I am very, very careful to be less critical. It is okay to have opinions, and to not like something, but allow others that same freedom, and be sensitive to their loves! Don't step on their toes! (I now own a small, silly, pink flamingo lamp I found at a thrift store. It made me laugh, and my friend had moved away, or I would have given it to her for her collection!)
15. "How now brown cow" is a phrase used in elocution teaching to demonstrate rounded vowel sounds. These were black & white cows, until I dyed them blue. I could have made them purple, since a purple cow has come to represent something out of the ordinary. YOU are extra-ordinary! It is okay to stand out, be different, be unusual and not blend in like all the others. Choose to not conform. Choose to not swear, or drink, or say mean things.
16. Galaxy: I bought this fabric to finish the wedding gift quilt to your parents. Stars and planets, exciting possibilities! Worlds without end! I hope you learn to love looking at the skies and appreciate the beautiful world we have to live in!
17. Artichokes; Snail; Green Fish: Babcocks lived in California for years…that is where Great Grandpa Jack is from…when we lived there, it was easy to find artichokes in the store. One of my favorite foods. When I bought one here in Maryland for the first time, overpriced and scrawny compared to CA, the cashier had never seen one in her life! You have to work hard to get to the tender heart at the center, and it is always worth it. Yes, you can buy a jar of hearts, but that feels like cheating, to me. SNAIL is for more California memories, picking the snails off the vegetables growing in our backyard. They were plentiful. Everywhere. And yes, I've eaten one of them, too, properly washed and cooked, escargot can be tasty. FISH is for Great Grandpa Harold Carlson, who was a great fisherman, and taught his son, Great Uncle Will, who taught me how to find rainbow trout & German brown's in Utah streams.
18. Jungle Animals: You could make up stories for each of these animals. This is the only fabric square repeated, since there were so many great animals in this fabric.
19. Old Computer Disc & Mouse: Keeping up with the technology is crazy-hard! I learn more from my children as they carefully explain how things work…Your Grandpa Ken used to work for IBM and brought home old computer cards, full of zeros and ones. Things have changed in my lifetime, and will continue to advance in yours. You are so blessed to be born at this time, with the great inventions and exciting improvements!
20. Pink Dog: We do not have a dog, since I am allergic to them. But if we did, it would look like "Harry, the Dirty Dog" by Gene Zion, or this cute pink one. Not Clifford. Maybe Oliver. Or "Go, Dog, Go" PD Eastman's dogs. I hope you have fun dog friends, or friends with dogs. I learned to love dogs when an Austrian Shepherd dog, named Ace, who lived across the street would come every day and bark at me. Loud barks. Scary. Until I started feeding him. Leftovers. Scraps of meat. Bacon. I started looking forward to his barks, and started seeing him as friendly greetings, instead of "I AM GOING TO EAT YOUR FACE OFF" warnings. I got brave enough to let him eat out of my hand, and looked forward to scratching his head. I miss Ace. My friend, the dog.
21. Apples: best food ever! Your Uncle John once made me an apple pie--with zucchini! It had enough cinnamon and brown sugar that I couldn't tell that it wasn't apples.
22. Halloween; Scarabs; Broken Hearts: More Resurrection themed fabric! Dancing skeletons can be fascinating, not scary. Bones are magnificent, amazing, how they all fit together and hold us up! Bugs, same thing. Some of the most beautiful colors I have seen are on bugs. The broken hearts are a reminder to be humble, teachable, patient with your parents and teachers.
23. Pink Elephants: Your cousin, Emmalyn, loves elephants. Her initials, EL, are the beginning of the word. She collects them. This is some of the fabric I bought when she was little. I made her overalls to wear with this. And a pillow. It is fun to have a theme, something you like to collect. Elephants also encourage me to not be afraid to talk about uncomfortable things. Ask questions, kindly, politely. Listen when people talk. But don’t' ignore them, or their concerns or problems. Better to say, "Hi!" and stop and see how they really are, not just "How are you?" as you walk away…
24. Money: Your dad knows a lot about how to be wise with money. Money is a tool, a resource. It isn't evil. People can do bad things with money, if they choose, but they can do good things, too. Paying our tithing is a good thing, and puts the Lord first, makes Him the priority. Other good things are taking care of our families, feeding the poor (paying Fast Offerings), supporting missionaries…saving for your own mission!
25. (More Jungle!)
26. Blue Music Notes: How important is music to you? Our family loves to sing, and music can make you feel happy, if you feel blue, or sad…"If you chance to meet a frown, do not let it stay, quickly turn it upside down and smile that frown away…"
27. Red Little Hearts: How many people love you? SO MANY! You are surrounded by love and hugs and kisses. I haven't even met you yet, but I love from long distance. I love your parents, your sister! Know that if there is anything we can do for you, we will. Having a huge family like us spread out makes it hard to see each other as often as we would like to, so we have to email and blog and watch videos of you. I look forward to reunions.
28. Egyptian Winged Princess: Uncle John Landbeck has a tie made of this fabric. Abraham in the Pearl of Great Price makes Egyptian artifacts make sense. She is beautiful, posed in mid-dance. Maybe this is the princess who found Baby Moses and cared for him, raising him as her own son? Egyptian women were considered equals of men, the way The Family, A Proclamation to the World counsels us to treat each other, equal partners.
29. More Music in Tan: I wanted to try and play this song on the piano…how does it sound? What is the soundtrack in your life? Do you love the Primary songs? Silly songs? Patriotic ones? Make music everywhere, not just in the bathtub/shower!
30. Hot Sauce: for Argentina. For love of spice. Great Grandma Laura went on three missions: Guatemala, Lima-Peru, and…another one. She came home and cooked spicy, hot food. Once we walked into her kitchen where she was cooking and instantly our eyes teared up. Our noses started running. She was making A-Hee, and wanted us to try it. We almost didn't dare! She liked her hot peppers! We joked that she burned off all her taste-buds on her missions, and could only taste food super spicy!
31. Geese (or ducks?) Flying: There is a chain of gas-convenience stores on the East Coast called "WAWA" which is supposed to be the sound of the goose. It still makes me laugh. Waaaah-Waaaaah. Honking noises. In the fall, when the birds head south in long V's in the air, sometimes I want to go with them. I want to see someplace new, have an adventure where it is warm. One fall, as I watched them from my front porch, while babies (your cousins) Stewart & Maxwell were taking naps, I saw some silly geese head south, then turn around and go the wrong way east, towards the river, then flip and head west, towards you in Idaho, the veer north. They looked mixed up and confused, and I laughed out loud, because I had the thought that I knew I was exactly where I needed to be, stuck in Maryland, far away from family in Utah, but being a stay-at-home mom. It is hard work, being a mom, but is the best job, ever. I took the children's old pacifiers, cut off the nipples (when the were done with them, when they got bigger), and sewed the pacifiers onto a goose flying quilt to remember that day on the porch.
32. Jogging: exercise is fun! This summer a friend in the neighborhood asked me to walk with her in the mornings. We go up and down the roads between our two houses, until we walk three miles (just under an hour). Every morning except Sunday. Same time. Same route. We talk and walk, and I look forward to it. I know we are blessed when we take care of our bodies. My goal is to be able to JOG, not just walk fast. Maybe even run, like Aunt Luanna does! Uncle John Babcock bikes. Aunt Deborah bikes. Aunt Rebecca is strong and exercises…what else do you know about your family and exercise?
33. Aliens on Red Background: I love science fiction & fantasy. So does Grandpa Ken & Grandma Jane. So do a lot of other aunts & uncles…Someday we can talk about our favorite books and the stories we love from them…Stories are important. They help us know who we are. Science fiction was so important to me, that I was thankful to find a spouse who loves to read with me. Some of my favorite memories was walking by my parents open bedroom, seeing them side by side each reading a book. Our children see us doing that, too. It is fun to read, and then talk about what you have learned, what it makes you think and feel. Maybe you will like mysteries more, or adventure books, or non-fiction like Stewart, or Church History like Uncle Roger. Just READ!
34. Measure Twice, Cut Once: I measure three times. Just in case. I have lots and lots of measuring tapes around the house. I like to know how things will fit. I move the furniture around often, and love to see new arrangements. Sometimes, you might have an idea, and you just need to see if it will work. When I sloppily measure quickly, I make mistakes, and have to move things back, or buy new wood if I am using the saw…I once chopped off a dressers legs too short on one side because I didn't measure again. And I chopped a curtain too short because I assumed the curtain rod was the same distance from the floor at both ends of the room. Never assume. Always check. Again. It is good to be careful, and exact. If you look at this quilt, there is a poofy part where I had pinned things but didn't check the back side….I should have flipped the quilt over and looked. By the time I noticed the poof, it was way, way too late to unpick all that sewing. I hope you know my mistake is proof of my pride, being too confident. Be better than me, and double check, double measure, look again before you goof up. But if you do goof, learn from your mistake, repent, fix it if you can, and move on. (And Uncle JohnL would say, "Don't draw attention to the mistake. Nobody else will notice unless you point it out to them!"). I am thankful that we can repent and start over. Thankful for the Atonement.
35. Brown Fish: When I was thinking about you and this quilt for you, I found a pair of shorts at my favorite thrift store and cut them up. More fish. You can always have more fish. Great Grandma Laura got so sick of fish. Her husband, Harold, would come home from work and want to go fishing every night. There was fish in the fridge, fish in the freezer, fish for dinner. She was pregnant, and the smell of fish started making her feel super sick. Too much of a good thing. She didn't want any more. Her children used to gather on Pioneer Day for a Fish Fry reunion. Potluck, bring what you want, and all the Rainbow Trout fish bbq-ed. Wonderful. Your cousin Maxwell had his birthday on the 25th of July because there was no way I was going to miss that Fish Fry, and made the appointment to have him induced the next day. Silly me. The fireworks are fun, too.
36. Blue, Tropical Fish: More fish? Yes! They come in so many different colors! I used to babysit for salt water fish for a family in the neighborhood when they went on vacation. (The Tripps went tripping.) I had to check the water temperature, feed them, make sure they were alive. Big, happy Clown Fish. The whole time the family was gone, I would pray for the fish, that they wouldn't die while I was taking care of them. They never did. But being responsible for something very expensive is hard work. It is good to pray over our flocks and fields, which might be your pets and your garden now, and later your car and your job, your family and loved ones.
37. Blue Sharks: More sharks, yes. These sharks are San Jose Sharks. I didn't know that was a team. A hockey team. My dad did not watch sports on tv. He watched "Star Trek" and General Conference. He woke me up and told me to remember watching the first man on the moon landing! It really happened! Most of my sports experience has come since I've been married, watching soccer (World Cup) with Uncle Bob (he told me what to cheer for, what was a good move), watching Suzanna & Stewart run and Stewart wrestle his junior and senior year of high school. I like watching baseball games, live. But when people talk about their favorite sports team, and the games going on, I feel pretty un-informed. I don’t feel team loyal. I will cheer for everyone. Some people really care about their favorite team. I like President Uchtdorf's counsel to not let team rivalry cause contention…So these sharks are kind, getting-along, non-competitive, nice sharks. They are all on the same team. Helping each other.
38. Spider Man: "With great power, comes great responsibility." --Peter Parker's Uncle Ben. "Not everyone is meant to make a difference. But for me, the choice to lead an ordinary life is no longer an option."-Peter Parker
39. Brother Sister Sandcastle: You & Ellie, playing on the beach. Someday, you may be taller than she is, but you will always be her "little" brother. Brothers & sisters can be good friends. The way you treat each other growing up matters.
40. Thumper: He remarks that Bambi is "kinda wobbly" but is reproved by his mother who makes him repeat what his father had impressed upon him that morning, "If you can't say something nice, don't say nothing at all". This moral is now known by such names as the "Thumperian principle", "Thumper's rule" or "Thumper's law".
41. Snowmen: Snow is fun to play in! You will grow up knowing what snow is. When we lived in Iowa, snow would drift across the cornfields and pile up as high as the roof! We had to dig out of our house to get to the brown station wagon to carefully drive to Church. It was so deep, we could tunnel snow tunnels in the backyard, make "igloos" and caverns. I loved sitting in the snow tunnels, seeing the sunshine through the ice. Your Smith cousins have spent the night out in their snow forts. Great outdoor adventures!
42. You Scream, I SCREAM, We All Scream for ICE CREAM! Great Grandpa Harold would say he would rather have his children jumping on the beds than crying in their closets. He loved candy and ice cream. He could make caramel popcorn, or divinity without a recipe, just dumping in butter, sugar…Learn how to cook something that you love, so you can share it with others and make it your specialty. Your cousin, Samuel, loves ice cream so much and wanted it every day after dinner. We had to make a family rule, only on Sundays and Thursdays. Or when we have company. Some of the best Babcock reunions have included wonderful ice cream flavors…Snickers ice cream, Crème de Minthe, Mint Chocolate Chip, Dulce de Leche, Rocky Road, Cake Batter…I am drooling, and I have two more days until Thursday to wait.
Sunday, August 14, 2011
"I SPY" is in the mail!
Friday, August 12, 2011
Better Than Barbie
This cute black netting shirt was in a love bag from Tauna from Sue. Under scraps of feedsacks, doilies, glitter paint. Love the exposed zipper in back. Fit Em perfectly, over her Shade modesty undershirt. And I realized, all that early practice playing dolls, dressing them, was NOTHING compared to having beautiful daughters to dress up!
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Con-tempt vs. Con-tent
All week long looking at the previous post, I would mis-read it and see "contempt." Not a good word. Not a good feeling. I don't want to feel that prideful, gross feeling.
"We should not hold the people of the world in contempt. But where the world would try to shame us for our standards, we must disregard that scorn and view such derision with contempt." -Neal A. Maxwell
I drove by a trailer this morning where a little girl used to live that I babysat 15 years ago. She is probably a mom herself by now. She was fascinated with my soft-stuffed nativity set and would play with it under our Christmas tree, carrying the pieces around the house with her, and eventually bringing them back. One day, after she left, I noticed Baby Jesus was missing. I looked around, and then called her mom and asked if she had mistakenly taken it home with her. Never found him. As I drove by, I thought I should really let that one go, forgive her. And not think, "She stole Baby Jesus" when I pass that way...
"Content makes poor men rich; discontent makes rich men poor". -Benjamin Franklin
I used to think content meant a bad thing. You are satisfied, no incentive to change, laid back-lazy, not active. I have recently seen that word in a new context of relationships: content with what you have, thankful, not looking for anyone else, happy where you are. "Content" is a good word, in that sense. Content, as in peaceful, calm. That is the goal.
"Being 'contented' ought to mean in English, as it does in French, being pleased. Being content with an attic ought not to mean being unable to move from it and resigned to living in it; it ought to mean appreciating all there is in such a position". --Gilbert K. Chesterton
"Everything has its wonders, even darkness and silence, and I learn, whatever state I may be in, therein to be content." -Helen Keller
"We should not hold the people of the world in contempt. But where the world would try to shame us for our standards, we must disregard that scorn and view such derision with contempt." -Neal A. Maxwell
I drove by a trailer this morning where a little girl used to live that I babysat 15 years ago. She is probably a mom herself by now. She was fascinated with my soft-stuffed nativity set and would play with it under our Christmas tree, carrying the pieces around the house with her, and eventually bringing them back. One day, after she left, I noticed Baby Jesus was missing. I looked around, and then called her mom and asked if she had mistakenly taken it home with her. Never found him. As I drove by, I thought I should really let that one go, forgive her. And not think, "She stole Baby Jesus" when I pass that way...
"Content makes poor men rich; discontent makes rich men poor". -Benjamin Franklin
I used to think content meant a bad thing. You are satisfied, no incentive to change, laid back-lazy, not active. I have recently seen that word in a new context of relationships: content with what you have, thankful, not looking for anyone else, happy where you are. "Content" is a good word, in that sense. Content, as in peaceful, calm. That is the goal.
"Being 'contented' ought to mean in English, as it does in French, being pleased. Being content with an attic ought not to mean being unable to move from it and resigned to living in it; it ought to mean appreciating all there is in such a position". --Gilbert K. Chesterton
"Everything has its wonders, even darkness and silence, and I learn, whatever state I may be in, therein to be content." -Helen Keller
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