With the help of my daughter we finished this huge puzzle Saturday the 19th of March. I started it well before and worked on it for a couple of weeks. It was good to have the help of Katie at the end. It was challenging but fun. I like this scene and the shades of blue and green.
Forest Gnomes by Jeff Tift. Item no. 36510
Me and my puzzler.
Oh…the weather outside has been lovely. We even pulled out a couple patio chairs to soak up some vitamin D.
We have a busy week and weekend ahead. How is life where you are?
This past weekend we celebrated Addy’s 5th birthday on Saturday and my belated birthday on Sunday since our whole family was together. Addy loaned me her birthday crown for my celebration. She’s wearing her queenly outfit that her Granny bought her for her birthday. Her favorite color right now is yellow.
1. What’s something you never seem to have enough time for?
Being retired, I have a lot of time to do a lot of things. It’s a lie that convinces me I don’t have time. It’s an excuse. Getting my heart behind something I need to do is the struggle. The thing that is the biggest struggle for me is consistency with exercise. I should be getting my heart rate up everyday with a 30 minute cardio workout. That ‘not enough time’ excuse is really time I wasted away doing something else that isn’t as important.
I’ve done a simple exercise in the past to show just how much I can accomplish in 15-20 minutes time. Set a timer for 15 or 20 minutes and get after a task you have been putting off. You’ll be amazed at how much you can accomplish in that time. Do that once an hour for 8 hours in a day and you’ll really be impressed with your accomplishments.
2. If you could turn back time and relive just one day in your life, which day would you choose and why?
Truthfully I wouldn’t want to relive any day just as it was. I’d want to go back with what I know now and improve on the day by being totally there, relaxed, aware of what was going on around me, engaged and content.
3. Something you enjoy making that takes a long time to prepare/cook?
Blintzes or what some call crepes. First we make the blintzes and then we fill them, roll them with either savory or sweet fillings and bake them to enjoy, with a crowd.
You can see the process and recipe by clicking here.
4. A time recently where you needed/gave yourself a ‘time out’? How do you do that?
I give myself a ‘time out’ at least once a week. I choose a day that is event free and stay in my robe for most of the morning. When there isn’t a scheduled event in a day it is a most relaxing day for me even if I end up doing a project or two or three with no time limits or deadlines.
5. Something you’ve done recently that you’d describe as a ‘good time’?
This past weekend all of our kids were together and that’s always a good time. We ate together, partied together, went to church together, listened to each other commiserating with one another, laughed together, and prayed everyone back home safely.
6. Insert your own random thought here.
Our dear granddaughter Addy turned 5 this past weekend and we celebrated her with a wonderful Tea Party that her mom put together.
Addy’s mommy made the cake and in the next photo you’ll see the teapot pinata she made with Addy getting the first blows in to try and break it open for all the treats that were inside!
We enter Addy’s 5th Birthday Tea Party. Addy requested a Tea Party Theme and her Mama delivered big time!
I’ll mention it now that this post has an extraordinary amount of photos.
The Birthday girl’s brother hiding under the gift table.
Auntie Katie arrived to help with the party preparations. She was in charge of the balloons for the photo op!
Aren’t these the cutest paper tea cups and saucers?!
Jamie baked and decorated this amazing cake with layers of different flavors. Addy’s favorite color right now is yellow and she wanted yellow and pink at the party.
This is the teapot piñata (/pɪnˈjɑːtə/) that Jamie constructed. It is filled with treats that will be released once it is broken with a stick or bat.
Peanut butter and jelly mini sandwiches, rolled tortilla cheese and lunchmeat bites, bagel bites, cucumber sandwich bites, egg salad sandwich bites.
I loved this idea of bacon, lettuce and tomato bites with small cut out slices of bread.
West Coast Chicken Salad Croissant sandwiches, veggie cups and fruit cups.
Look closely and you’ll see that the strawberries have pretzel tea cup handles on them!
The birthday girl and friends table.
First we had our savory course.
After savories it was time to break the piñata open. No blindfolds for this age group.
The break open moment caught by Laura with her phone!
Time for cake and sweets!
Dan made the macarons! The lemon macarons were incredible!
Have you seen this Safari book? The animals featured are in motion. Photicular.
I wish I would have gotten a photo of the three pretty dresses that Addy will be able to twirl in from Uncle Josh and Auntie Lolo. The musical jewelry box was also a hit.
After the party was over and most guests had left mom and dad remembered they forgot to give Addy the present they bought for her. So much going on…
She was happy to have a new bike that is a better size for her.
Happy 5th birthday Addy. Baba and Gramps love you and we thank our God that you are surrounded by family and friends who love you, too. You are a quick learner and eager to help. We are thankful for all your learning experiences at Homeschool and Homeschool Co-op, Awana, Children’s church, Piano lessons. We pray that God will continue to ‘bless you and keep you, be gracious to you and make His face to shine upon you and give you peace.’
The first decade of my life was from 1951 until 1961. Born in East Los Angeles, moved to Montebello Gardens and then at the end of this first decade we moved up to Montebello. Warning up front that these decade posts will be a photo and information overload for many of you.
Somewhere in East Los Angeles possibly on Humphreys if my memory serves me right about the street name from our Pop. My sister Vera is telling me to shush. My brother Fred is not happy about me crying.
Yikes, I’m crying again. My little babushka is standing behind my mom. My parents good friend Zena Katkov next to her and my Uncle Paul holding my cousin Valia and then my Aunt Nina with my cousin Walter beside her. The lady sitting next to mom is a friend from San Francisco (Mrs. Hamzieff) with her son. Not sure who the lady is between her and my Aunt Nina.
These next photos are from our home in Montebello Gardens/Pico Rivera, California.
My sister Vera’s birthday party with many of our cousins on our Father’s side.
Camping in Big Bear, California with our maternal cousins.
The paternal side of our family.
Our cousin Johnny’s birthday on our Pop’s side of the family.
Maternal side of the family on Easter. Our Babushka with her grandchildren.
That’s a pigeon on my head.
Paternal cousins on another Easter.
Berry picking somewhere in southern California.
Paternal grandparents.
Our brother Tim was born and he usurped me of my title of being the youngest in our family.
My seventh birthday.
Cracking up at the way I lay my hands for photos.
I’m on the rug in front of my sister Vera, sister Kathy holding our new baby brother Tim and our brother Fred with the accordion. Love my goofy expression!
Easter 1958. We always got new clothes and shoes for Easter and Christmas.
Christmas 1958
Another photo from Christmas,1958. I’m on the left at seven years old. Our little brother Tim was 11 months old. There’s a reason I’m the only one who isn’t dressed in their Christmas clothes in this photo. I had some medical problems that I can only remember as some kind of kidney infection that I was hospitalized for. I ended up having to have a teacher come to our home for a couple months in the new year, (1959). By Valentine’s Day I still wasn’t back to school because I remember that my home school teacher brought me Valentine’s Day cards from my classmates.
Easter 1959
My birthday in 1961 and our last year in Montebello Gardens. Our next little brother, Steve is on the left barely in the photo. Cousin Vera and Johnnie on my Pop’s side of the family. Our cousin Valia, Tania and Walter on our Mom’s side of the family and my two little brothers, Tim and Steve and older brother Fred who is not quite visible.
My 5th grade photo. I sent this photo to Paul Kushnerov when he was in the service. His girlfriend at the time asked me to write him while he was serving our country in the 50’s. This little act inspired me to be more of an encourager with letters and cards. It was always a joy to receive something in the mail. Paul and Vera were married and would be our youth leaders for a time at Bethany Baptist Church in Los Angeles. Paul’s son shared this photo he found in amongst his parents keepsakes after Paul passed away a few years ago.
At the end of my first decade I was still in elementary school. We were living in Montebello and we walked to school crossing busy Whittier Blvd. There were six siblings and our parents living in a 3 bedroom, 1 bathroom home. In my next decade our family increased.
Because I skipped a grade (2nd or 3rd). I’ve always thought it was 2nd grade that I skipped but now with a little detective work I think it was third grade since I do not have a school photo for the third grade nor do I remember a teacher from the third grade. Now I’m also wondering a lot about 3rd grade. What is 3rd grade known for? 4th grade you have multiplication. From 4th grade on I was a year younger than most of my classmates.
In this first decade of my life my parents socialized mostly with our relatives or Russians who we went to church with. Both of the churches we were a part of had services in the Russian language. Our pop made friends that were non-Russian at work but not lifetime friends. Work is where he picked up most of his English. My mom became friends with an Italian lady who lived across the street named Lucille. Lucille gave me simple jobs around her home and paid me. She made the best Italian cookies. She would let me have some out of the oven, delicious! She baked them for weddings and I remember them iced green and pink and stacked on every surface of the house! When I cleaned the detached room that 2 of her sons lived in she said if I found any money under their beds I could keep it. I did find some! Maybe that was a way of getting me to clean thoroughly. My mom learned a lot of her English from Soap Operas. As the World Turns. Lucille helped her, too.
There was another friend across the street who had an Avocado tree in her backyard. We learned to really enjoy Avocado on toast in the 50’s long before the current trend.
We had a lot of Hispanic neighbors. Rosie was my next door neighbor who’s dog bit me on the mouth. Not a fan of Boxers to this day! Her mom seemed to have a pot of beans simmering on the stove most days I visited inside the home. It was an aroma I had never experienced. Rosie and her cousin betrayed our friendship one day by jumping me and beating me up and ripping my favorite blouse when we were walking to the store. Our friendship ended. Needless to say I didn’t smell beans simmering after that day until high school days with my very good and faithful Hispanic friends!
Speaking of being beat up there was a day that I angered someone at school who let everyone know they were going to beat me up when we got off the bus after school. There was more than one school bus stop in our neighborhood of ‘The Jardines’ and at the last minute I jumped off the bus at the stop before our stop and ran home avoiding the fight.
We would watch TV as a family. Shows like Art Linkletter, Micky Mouse Club, I remember Chucko the Birthday Clown (popular in L.A.) because I went on the show for Victor Katkov’s birthday party. I would like to have footage from that show. I ended up winning a prize on the show, too. Can’t remember what it was. Other L.A. based shows like Engineer Bill were popular, too. “On the green light you go, on the red light you stop because no engineer would ever run a red light” They used that to get kids to drink a glass of milk. Sheriff John was another popular show and here’s his birthday song!
We were able to go to Disneyland shortly after it opened. We also would get in our jammies and load up in the car to go to the Drive-in to see all the latest Disney releases. Bambie was sooo sad. I couldn’t keep my eyes open for the sad parts. Falling asleep in the car on the way home was a regular occurrence. Knott’s Berry Farm was another experience we enjoyed. If my memory serves me right the first time I ever ate in a restaurant was at Knott’s Berry Farm’s Chicken Dinner restaurant.
Many families that we knew had a story about one of their kids falling out of a car from leaning on the door or from the door opening going round a corner. No seat belts and no car seats in those days.
This post is an ‘all about me’ historical post and if you made it all the way to the end congratulations. Maybe my grandkids will enjoy reading about their Baba in the future when I’m not around to answer all the questions.
Happy Birthday to me and I thank the God who loves me and called me, Jesus who saved me from my sins and the Holy Spirit who indwells me, Three in One, that I have made it to my 7th decade 8th decade and to my 71st year. Thank you to Anneliese for noticing I’ve entered my 8th decade!!
Thank you to Auntie Lolo for most of these photos that capture the love we have of being together!
Auntie Lolo has been in our neck of the woods since Valentine’s day.
Our Grands are not afraid of the ‘elements’, embracing the outdoors in all kinds of weather.
Still enjoying the Igloo that daddy built for them.
Uncle Joshie arrived for the long weekend!
We celebrated Uncles arrival with Swedish Pancakes for breakfast!
Even though he was full already, Uncle Joshie bit into the huge sandwich Addy and JJ made for him from their Deli stand.
Craft time commenced…
Me and my buddy.
Fun times with these cheerio books.
Planning what to plant in the garden. Our daughter-in-law asked each of us to choose something we’d like her to plant in the garden this year. I think Uncle Joshie picked a variety of pepper, JJ wants watermelon.
Our beautiful gardening daughter-in-law and our grands.
The guys soaking up some more time together in the office before Josh flew home on Monday evening.
Good times packed to the gills!
There is no Wednesday Hodgepodge this week because Jo From This Side of the Pond is soaking up some family time, too!
The skies on Sunday got more interesting as the day progressed. This first shot was on our way to church.
After church our crew came home to our place for a chaotic meal prep for the seven of us. We pulled together Eggs Benedict, hash browns with a trio of berries besides. Delicious.
The decision was made to go out to dinner on Sunday to the Mexican restaurant in Chewelah. These next photos are of the clouds we saw on our way.
Hope you all had a good long weekend. Ours was good and busy from morning to night. We are going into several days of very cold weather here. Brrr….
…our Eastside kids drove over the pass to stay with and celebrate with our Westside kids. Our daughter-in-love Laura got so many great photos of their time together, celebrating 3 birthdays, enjoying the zoo, jumping at the Flying Squirrel and sitting around tables enjoying meals together. Addy and JJ were spoiled royally with time and fun with their Uncles and Aunties. Photo overload coming your way. Be forewarned!
First comes her birthday…
Then comes his birthday.
Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle.
Sunday January 16th dinner out to celebrate all the birthdays with our kids’ aunt (my sister) and uncle who live on the westside.
Third birthday in January is his. A quick visit to Uncle’s office on his day to wish him a happy birthday.
Birthday dinner on his day prepared by the eastside kids.
Bedtime story with uncle.
None of the Eastsiders have stairs in our homes so JJ had a new skill to develop while staying with Uncle and Auntie. Big sister was ready to help.
Our sons…
The Flying Squirrel.
We are so thankful to God that our kids love each other and enjoy spending time together. We don’t take that for granted. At the end of this full week together our daughter Katie and Andrew flew to Alaska for a weekend with friends to enjoy their friends’ new vacation home.
January was a full busy month for all our kids. Oh and our son-in-law started a new job, too, in January.
And now we say hello to February, a month filled with more love to enjoy!
My sisters in a field of daffodils in Mount Vernon, Washington State. We enjoyed a sister weekend back in March of 2016. I think it’s high time we had another sister weekend!!
It’s Wednesday and that means it’s time for Wednesday Hodgepodge! Thank you Jo for the questions and the link-up!
1. It’s National Popcorn Day-my favorite! Are you a fan?
Yes
Sweet or salty?
Both. Give me some good Garrett Chicago Blend, cheddar and caramel!
A good or great movie you’ve seen recently (at home or in a theater, either one)?
We haven’t watched many movies recently. I can’t remember the last time I was in a theater. We did watch ‘The Blind Side’ recently and it was good.
Some ‘great’ movies we’ve watched in the past: Fiddler on the Roof, Sound of Music, Lord of the Rings.
2. What’s something you didn’t realize was going to take so much of your time as an adult?
Preparing all the things for the Tax man! We are now at a stage of life that this is not daunting anymore.
3. Your favorite yellow something?
Daffodils, the flower that makes me smile because it heralds Spring!
4. Why do you write?
I write to bring clarity to my jumbled thoughts. Things become clearer to me as I write. My thoughts can be so unorganized but when I write them out they make better sense. Writing out prayers is a good exercise for me.
5. Share a favorite memory associated with snow.
Christmas 2020 we had snow that was just right for building a snowman. Our whole family enjoyed creating Ami the Amish Snowman!
6. Insert your own random thought here.
Happy Birthday to our firstborn son! He is God’s unique creation. He’s a great son, husband, brother, uncle, friend and boss. A great encourager who is giving, kind, dependable and hardworking. We are so thankful to God that He gave you to us and that He saved you and continues to lead and guide you. We love you Joshie!
It’s time for a new year of Wednesday Hodgepodge! Thank you Joyce for coming up with the brain teasers each week.
1. Share one happy moment/memory from the holiday season.
Seeing each of the three vehicles filled with our most precious cargo pull into our driveway on Christmas day!
2. Let’s be reasonable with our expectations going into this new year, k? What is one thing you’d like to accomplish/improve/complete/do in 2022?
I’d like to stick to completing a 30 minute cardio workout most days in 2022. Shoveling off the back deck with Dear on Monday qualifies as a cardio workout! Snowshoeing out my back door is on the agenda this week. After wrapping up this post I’m happy to report I blazed a snowshoe trail in our back acres on Tuesday.
3. Every January 1st (since 1976) Lake Superior University has published a list of words they’d like to see banished from the Queen’s English. Words may be banished due to misuse, overuse or just general uselessness (go here to read more about how the words are chosen). Here are the words/phrases they’d like to see banished in 2022-
wait, what?-no worries-at the end of the day-that being said-asking for a friend-circle back-deep dive-a new normal-you’re on mute-supply chain
Which of these words/phrases do you use regularly?
‘No worries’ is the one phrase I’ve used most regularly, the others more randomly. I do say, ‘did you mute your phone’ to Dear before the church service begins.
Which of these words would you most like to see banished from everyday speech and why?
‘A new normal’ is a phrase that strikes me negatively mostly because much that comes with this phrase are things that shouldn’t be normal, in my opinion.
Is there a word/phrase not on the list you’d like to add? (I misunderstood this question the first time around and added a phrase I like, oops) Here’s one I’d like banished.
‘Pandemic of the unvaccinated’ is the phrase I’d like to see banished because it is false from it’s root up.
4. Best thing you ate in the month of December?
Our traditional Christmas dinner. Prime Rib, roasted veggies, creamed corn and Yorkshire Pudding.
5. January 5th is National Bird Day.
Are you a bird lover?
Yes!
What’s your favorite bird to see in the wild?
Eagle is by far the favorite with hawks coming in at second. I have a strong desire to see an owl in the wild and if I ever do it might win the favorite spot!
Choose a phrase from the list that follows and tell us how it relates to your life currently…eat like a bird, bird’s eye view, early bird, bird-brained, free as a bird, a little bird told me, or kill two birds with one stone.
‘Early bird’ is a phrase that relates to my life currently. Sleeping in has escaped me. I’m up before dark these days. Our pop was always early instead of late and I’m a chip off the old block when it comes to arriving at a scheduled event early, too!
6. Insert your own random thought here.
It looks like 2022 will not be a drought year in our parts! As of Tuesday morning January 4th we have about 20 inches of snow accumulated in our yard. More snow is on the way with temperatures that will not allow the snow to melt for awhile.
Only Joseph is still above the snow. We’ll see if he gets completely covered tonight!
To all my hodgepodging friends, I hope 2022 is a year filled with good things that draw you closer to the God who created you!
The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b. 