The Good Old Days

Last night started off quite lovely.  One of my nieces, Stephanie, came to town.  It was nice to have her join us for dinner. Maria, Eric and Cordelia joined us.  We were pretty well behaved.

Stephanie had other plans with friends for the evening but since we were all gathered, we decided to play a game of Farkle.  It started out rather ordinary, but somewhere along the way things went wrong... all wrong.

Somebody, I won't say who, decided it was funny to toss a little fake poo into the Farkle Cup.  Actually, it was kind of funny... the first time.  Maria went to roll the dice and out came something more.  It looked pretty gross.  We should not have laughed,  I guess.  Soon, Mike and Eric were trying to outdo each other.  They'd each sneak out of the room and next time they had the Farkle Cup, they'd sneak a new item into it.  It got really weird very fast.  We rolled dental floss, a moustache comb and Bubba teeth, among other things.  Eeeew!  Maria and I laughed a lot but eventually we reached a point of laugh fatigue.  Mike and Eric, however, never ever have laugh fatigue.  It did not cease to make them giggle with pride!

Cordy watched Yo Gabba Gabba with some intensity, but managed some time to hug on Grandpa.

Maria looked beautiful, wearing what Eric called her pregnant Jedi outfit.  I can't wait to meet baby Jedi!

Things are the good old days, aren't they?

How to Play Sparkle

Attention Grandma Grace and Grandma Carol, you are going to be happy to see lots of Cordy pictures!  You're welcome.

Yesterday Cordelia spent the morning with me.  I can't think of a better way to spend a morning!

Cordelia asked to play Sparkle.  Cordy doesn't say "f''s" but instead substitutes "sp".  Sparkle is actually Farkle.  Do you know it?  I doubt you've played it quite the way she does.  It is a fun dice game that we used to play together on Family Game Night quite a lot before Cordy was born.  She, however, plays it a bit differently.

First, she gets all the dice out.  It is important to make sure you got them all.

Then it is time to count each of the spots.

Bode showed some interest in joining her...

...so she had to read the directions to him.

Bode never really caught on but luckily Grandpa came by to play with her.  Everything is more fun with Grandpa!

It turns out that the lid makes a great boat for the dice to ride in as well as a twirly spinning toy.

(I am sorry about the red-eye but my every attempt at correcting them made her look totally freaky.  I am not skilled in this task.)

It seems the winner then gets to stack the dice into a sweet little tower.

Grandpa had to go to work but Cordelia and I carried on.  We had snacks.  We watched Strawberry Shortcake on Netflix and Cordy helped me crochet dishcloths.

Bode wanted to help as well.  It was memorable.

I have many joyful moments in my life and much for which I am grateful.  Mornings like this are better than jewels to me.

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Monday Inspirations

Happy Monday!

I'm still speed-crocheting and it is still fun.  I really wish everyone could crochet as it is a cheap form of therapy.  I find it very calming.

I completed 2 ponchos and 3 hats this week-end so I'm making progress on the list of things I to which I committed.  These are things people have ordered for gifts for their friends and family.  I love doing it and my work schedule at Hospice is light this week so hopefully I will be able to get everyone's items to them in plenty of time.

I did take some time out to enjoy family last night.  Maria and Eric brought Cordelia and Bumblebee over for pizza night.  After pizza we enjoyed a game of Farkle.  Do any of you play Farkle?  It's quick and easy to learn but involves enough strategy to make it fun.We  made sure Cordy was having a good time as well.  She'd sit on Grandpa's lap for awhile, shaking dice for him.  She'd sit on my lap for a chair ride.  Our chairs are the kind on rollers so we'd push off from the table to roll across the floor toward the stove, then push off from the stove and roll back toward the table.  I also brought out plastic containers from my cupboard for her to stack and sort.  Yes, all this activity did make it trickier to play the game.  I lost and that must be the reason.

On another subject...

How many of you are scrapbookers?  I'm not.  However, I greatly admire those who are.  I know at least 3 of my friends who scrapbook... Nicole, Kate and Donna.  Are you guys working on anything special for Christmas?  Kate has a site of her own that I think you should check out.   This photo is direct from her site.  (I hope that is ok with you, Kate.)  She's also a budding photographer.  Check out her blog, Transformed Creativity, here.

She does some amazing things with scrapbooking and if any of you are scrapbookers or wanna-be-scrapbookers this would be a good resource.  Kate can hook you up with some cool stuff.   

This morning I saw another interesting idea.  It was a type of scrapbooking maybe even I could do.  I got it from another blog, The Blue Moss Girls.  This photo is direct from their site.  Check it out!  I don't know these people but I hope they don't mind free advertising.  It just seemed like a fun idea and there are other fun ideas on their site.  They also have an Etsy shop and you can link to it from their blog.

So, there you have it... inspiration!

Have a great Monday!