goodnight, aunt doris....

this is a note to my three cousins....

the pastor asked at the funeral this morning if anyone had anything to share...and i WANTED To pretty bad (no one did) but i cannot speak at funerals. i am lucky to make it to them at all at this point....

here is what i woulda said...

sorry i didnt have the guts to say so earlier...but i have a cute little story about your mom (i think...)

on my 18th birthday i went up to grissom's and bought a dollar scratch ticket. your mom sold it to me and said (totally joking)..."now, don't tell anyone i sold you that because we aren't supposed to sell to our family in case they win big money..." (you know better than almost anyone that twinkle in her eye...)....well i up and won $50 bucks!!! haha! and your mom from that very day foreward EVERY TIME i ever saw her again said "now, steffi! if i knew you were gonna win ALL THAT MONEY i NEVER would've sold you that ticket" (as though she woulda lost her decades long job...)with just the cutest little grin and giggle. and she ALWAYS asked me if i had any of the money left too hahahaha
my BIG lotto win, first one i ever bought! :)


i also remember when your parents had that canary bird and your dad kept trying to get it to cuss and your mom would get sooooo exasperated :)

she is also one of the three people on earth i never minded calling me steffi....;)

she was a great woman and a sweet aunt and i hope you are able to find comfort in your family and friends and all of us who loved her and love you...

love
steffi

moonstone memory day (actuality)

the first annual moonstone memory day has come and gone and it was beautiful...
(minus the part where bella bloodied her head all up and we called 911....she is fine. she was fine before they got here, albeit bloddy and with a huge bump on her head)

we had a lovely lunch (seen here...corn on the cob, watermelon, chips, pickles, cake, and a big ol stick uh buttuh....i know, nutritious, right?)

we had our first little fire of the year and made smores in the evening. then, after the babies were put to bed, jonathan, bastian, and i congregated on the porch and wrote our memories on index cards, which i will affix to our new MOONSTONE MEMORY BOOK for this year's entry.... brilliant, eh?

and here they are (in no particular order....and sorry if some of it is redundant, we are three people with the same experiences haha)

*Momma's dream came true and she has a library for her family. The love of reading is one of the most important things she can teach.

*We have done REALLY well at recycling, being VERY environmentally aware and giving to charity.

*We are all now absolutely in love with all things harry potter and have shared the world of hogwarts as a family. Very magical ;) (and we went to the symphony)

*We played Boggle in a thunderstorm

*Hurricane Ike hit our family in Galveston and then came and knocked our HUGE tree branch down- but we were all safe. Miracle.

*I made tulips, and they worked!

*Bastian and i had a really funny laugh about Huck Finn

*Bastian and i went to see Barack Obama speak in Dayton. When he was elected, we stayed up late and met jonny in the street ringing our bell.

* We answered a call from the Y and changed Momma's lifestyle. WE enjoy going to the Y together too.

*We play dungeons and dragons together as a family now. Even Momma. Thank you, Jonny.

*Had a wonderful getaway with jonathan in yellow springs.

*We spent a lot of time on the internet. Connecting with friends and family, learning about the world, making creative endeavors, and having pets.

*Jonathan stayed at the same job for a whole year and provided for us greatly. We are proud of him and grateful for all he does for us.

*We had a great winter solstice/yule. Our trees were lovely and we were able to give gifts to everyone. It was nice to send a box to our crummett and bivens family in texas. And we all got lovely gifts and enjoyed being together.

*River says "Dada's Harry Potter, Momma's Ermione, Bashie Weasy, Fred is harry potter, and sisty's draco malfboy"

*Jonathan is being as artistic as much as he can.

*Jonathan has kept a 15 cent goldfish alive since january in a small glass bowl. I call him fishy, fred calls him "harry potter"

*We all had an good honest go at being vegetarians, eating healthy and buying natural or organic products.

*Jonny got employee of the month and got to go out to eat with his supervisor and the owner of his work.

*Jonathan's mom, niki, and grandma mae and papa jake came to visit and we had good times.

*WE have paid our bills as on time as humanly possible, paid off the car, and have bought lots of groceries every week.

*Jonathan has kept a steady job for nearly 14 months now and has walked to work 99% of the time in snow, heat, rain, and even a huge storm.

*A dog came to our house, we kept it for the night, called the owner, and they gave us a reward.

*We got a fence put up, planted lots of flowers and tress, recycle like crazy, and have turned one and a half compost heaps. We have smores over campfires, try and buy wooden toys for the kids, drink lots of water, and eat soy so that maybe some animals will live.

*River learned to go potty right after he turned 3. He's getting to be a big boy.

*Steffani is learning to sew and is having a good hobby making dresses and pajamas.

*Bashie joined boy scouts, steffani learned to play dungeons and dragons and like it, fred eats more than he used to and talks in complete sentences, bella is a beautiful girl and is growing up very fast.

*Our family has read and seen almost all the harry potter books and films. Fred likes to "ride broom" and "catchasnitch"

*We welcomed grandma camille to our home for bella's first birthday. IT was a lovely visit and we are glad she came.

*It was a lovely year of watching the seasons pass in our new Home and our new state. We made it throught the winter, and the soggy spring, and the confetti fall...

*We had lovely visits with grandma mae and papa jake. Papa sure fixed us a good fence and fixed our house all up. It is great to spend time with grandma mae. She is special.

*Pirates returned on the news

*Blue hippo is adopted.

*Jonny gets employee of the month

*Bashie has a garden.

*Own our car

*Lincoln turns 200

*Finished lemony snicket saga

*Saw a bunny

*Guitar Hero

*WE go to the YMCA

*Fire crackers on july 4

*Momma stop smoking

*Momma sews

*My gameboy advance

*Fred go potty

*Swine flu

*Cousin niki, dirk, kelsey, bailey, and teague came for cousin chad's wedding. We threw a neat surprise birthday party for niki. Niki is now one of momma's best friends.

*WE paid off the lumina. NO MORE YKS (loan lender for car)

*We decorated our house on 4th of july. It was our statement about our dislike of the way bush ran the country unconstitutionally. It was fun and courageous.

*We worked together and transformed the two front rooms into lovely, cozy family spaces. We got new carpet and also made the bathroom beautiful. Lovely Home from a YUCKY house....

(there are sooooooooooo many more memories....this was a lovely activity....(that last lovely was facetious...i had meant the rest of them))

NEVER give up....never ever ever ever ever give up

i have been trying and meaning and attempting to make bella play dresses for weeks, if not a month. failed attempt after failed attempt after botched pattern after mess after bobbin thread tears, i have now made four dresses in the past 24 hours...they are amazingly flawed. that has taught me a lot about myself...i don't mind flaws, as long as i am getting it "done"....that is a FAR cry from being a perfectionist, i think.... (i mean, they are pretty friggin flawed....but they exist) it was the fourth one before i had half a clue what i was doing....

to make the first one,i took apart a dress that bella already had with a seam ripper. then took the parts of the dress, then traced them on brown paper and cut them out and tried to make a dress out of an old sundress i had...just to use the material for practice. the back didn't work, so i used the bodice of the old sundress to make a panel for the back. it can actually be worn either frontways or backwards...yay.










the second, i REALLY had the "gathering thing" down, and then tried to sew the gathering INSIDE and it didnt come out so great...all i will have to do is create a sash with ties sometime when i feel like sitting back down and sewing, and this dress, the yellow/brown flowers, will be the least flawed of all...



(nice job, dad, photobombing your one year old...great!)

the third one is my favorite so far though (i love the yellow/brown flowered material best though)...it is greenish and yellowish flowers. it looks VERY good on....






the last one is a batik and is actually the first material i bought when i started buying material to make her "play dresses"....it is ok...not pretty, just exotic...


i have material left of each to make matching bloomers/diaper covers....i am just too tired now (was up till after 1 with that first masterpiece there)....

more to come, i'm sure....