Memorial Day

Gracious me! Where has the time gone?! I have an ongoing swirl of blog posts swimming in my head and then I realize I haven't actually sat down and written any of them. So in an attempt to update here, I checked my camera to see what I have been up to lately and this is what I found:

That's me with my awesome daughter-in-law and the ever adorable

Bailey and Norah.

Picnicking on the back lawn over Memorial Day weekend.

It was a spontaneous get-together made possible by

our living close enough that they can jump in the car and be here

in about two hours. I am a lucky Mom--and Nana!

Spencer and Adrianna came with them and we all had a good time.

These pictures are courtesy of Scott--I usually avoid being in pictures by being the

one behind the camera but in another spontaneous gesture, he grabbed the

camera and started snapping away.

 So here we are for posterity...

Sitting in the grass in Connecticut warmed by the sunshine and  the love of family.

The View From My Window

Spring has arrived in all her glory...

...and here is my Monday Morning sink in all her glory.

I decided to record the moment before I spiffed it up for my blog picture.

Those are the Sunday dinner dishes--Sunday is not so much a day of rest for some of us.

Maybe a little more so if  we leave the dishes for Monday.

Five-OH MY GOODNESS!

Gentle Reader,
Hello! How have you been? Just the usual around here...

I got old. 

Well, older.

This was a very thoughtful gift from my husband....

and all of you who contributed to make an old

woman cry at each turn of the page.

Truly, your kind thoughts touched my heart and made me laugh and cry and remember

so many good things about all of the people and places that have been a part of 

these past joyous 50 years of mortal existence.

It makes me truly happy that these associations can be eternal.

And a word to the wise: if the 90's craze of Glamour Shots makes a comeback...

Just say no.

This picture will haunt me unto the end of my days. 

But my sweet husband loves it, so there you have it.

Full Disclosure- Part 2

When little Miriam was born, I got to spend two enjoyable weeks with Shanna and family. I was in Nana heaven with a fun little two year old and a sweet little newborn to love on. It was also so fun to spend the day with Shanna and, for a week of that time, Siara too. It's the great blessing of motherhood to get to the point where your children become your friends. We discussed matters great and small and swapped recipes and helpful hints. Sometimes we were reduced to giggling like little girls when something struck us especially funny. Siara cut our hair and styled it for us and we did our nails and tried each others' makeup. Luckily for Austin, he was at work for most of that time.

Seeing Shanna with her little ones, and reassuring her that she would figure out how to handle the doubling of her motherly responsibilities, reminded me of my promise of more "posts from the trenches"...


So here is another Day in the Life of Mama Gale, word for word, from my journal:

For this episode, I was the mother of six little darlins.
The baby in this entry is played by Shayla.
9-26-94 (Mon.)
"I ran errands this morning. Let me elaborate:
Scott had a science project to get to school--something involving one of my baking sheets, rocks, dirt, water and a hair dryer and a little flour. For snow-he explained. Seth was asleep and the baby was hungry. Andy took the van because there was plywood in the back. We have  a huge dumpster in the driveway because we are putting on a new roof, and it rained last night and there is roofing debris and supplies everywhere. SO I had to get the baby down our steep driveway without slipping on gravel or tripping over shingles in the rain. I got Scott and his masterpiece to school and then came home and dressed and fed Spencer, Seth and the baby and then went to the fabric store to get lace for Shanna's dress. Then we went to Target to get diapers and a pair of shoes for Seth. Something i can get on his feet without a prybar! When we got out of the car, Spencer shut the door and Seth wanted to do it. I had already locked it and just wanted to go in the store--Seth did not--he began to whimper, then blubber, then wail at the top of his lungs. I patiently led him toward the store and said 'You can close the door next time--it was Spencer's turn.' Once he gets worked up I just have to wait it out so we trooped through the store with Seth expressing his unhappiness very loudly. I tried shoes on his feet while he was sprawled on the floor kicking and bawling.Soon after that, he decided his life could go on  and cheered up. Then he wanted to point out every item in the store and say 'Mom! Look!' and then refuse to move on until I said, 'Yes. I see."

 When we got through that and back to the car I noticed it was low on gas. I still had to pick up Andy's dry cleaning so I stopped to get gas. When I flipped the lever to open the door to the gas cap, it opened--but when I let go, it shut--I could not get it to stay open. Finally I jammed my keys under the lever and leaped toward the little door to grab it before the keys slipped out. I got the boys food and drinks at McDonald's because I realized I wouldn't have time to fix lunch before my presidency meeting. We were pulling into the street when Spencer informed me he needed to go potty. If he brings up the fact that he needs to go--it is a lost cause--he doesn't mention it until he's close to disaster. I got a diaper from under the seat and had him sit on it--we could at least save Dad's leather seats. After I got the drycleaning and we were headed home, Seth said 'Oops'. I looked back and saw his orange drink tipped over in the space behind the arm rest--so we got Dad's leather seats after all.

We came home long enough to haul the baby up the driveway, change Spencer's clothes, change Seth's diaper, change the baby and re-dress her (spit-up) and nurse her and change my clothes (spit-up) and head out for YW presidency meeting. I hauled the baby back down the driveway and loaded them all into the car. I somehow managed to get through pres. mtg. with Shayla fussing, the boys wrestling and fighting over who could sit in Shayla's seat while I was holding her etc. The meeting got over in time for me to pick up the older kids from school. They all had to squeeze in--luckily Scott decided to walk home.

I'm teaching Joy School tomorrow."

Good Friday

Meet the newest member of the Gale family:

Miriam JoAnn

8 lbs. 3 oz.

Born in a birthing center with the

gentle attendance of midwives.

When Shanna called to tell me she was in labor, I jumped in my car and started driving.

I drove through eight states and through the night and through some

snarly traffic jams until I got to the birthing center.

Just a few minutes after Miriam made her grand entrance into the world.

Which was just a few minutes after midnight.

Which was Good Friday.

A very good Friday. 

I hurried to wash my hands and held that sweet little granddaughter. 

She was calm and alert and quietly looked around.

After her inspection, she was pronounced perfect and she nursed and fell asleep.

So we all decided to take a little nap. The midwife pulled out a couch bed for me, and 

everyone else settled in for a snooze. That little baby slept for so long we all crashed until the sun came up.

We bundled up that little bundle of joy and took her home to meet her big brother.

Who had spent the night in the care of his Keaton grandparents.

He said "Hi baby sister!"

Miss Miriam showing us some graceful ballerina moves.

(Isn't a baby stretching just the cutest!?)

Getting to know Aunt Siara

On her blessing day, I dressed Miriam in the blessing gown that I made for 

her mama when she was my little baby girl.

Mother and Daughter

Mason wasn't pleased with all the picture taking...

...but he warmed up to it a little later!

Welcome to the family, little one.

Going Back in Time

Today we are going to take a magical journey back in time. We will pretend that all of these posts were completed and rolled out whilst the events were still current. We will also try to accomplish this in spite of the keyboard glitches I discovered after I left my laptop with those two hooligans I call sons during my trip to welcome a new grandbaby. It is an interesting challenge to type with a sticky "h" and a persnickety "backspace" key. Nevertheless, I shall persevere.

An Anniversary of Epic Proportions
Well, that may be a little over-exaggerated, but it was the 30 year mark so that is certainly an
accomplishment worth celebrating. We enjoyed a week-end trip into New York City and took in
a couple of Broadway shows. Andy took Friday off so we had some extra time to spend in Times Square in the ticket line. We got our Wicked tickets in advance but we decided to try our luck for same day tickets to an extra show--just for fun.

We agreed on Spider-man: Turn Off the Dark

The aerial acrobatics were amazing, the music was loud and the costumes and set very

"comic book"--bright, bold and colorful. Entertaining but not my vision of a musical.

But then, I am old so what do I know?

We enjoyed a delicious Italian dinner~thanks to a great recommendation by a 

friend who is a long-time New Yorker. 

The next morning, we enjoyed a lovely brunch at the 

Waldorf Astoria...

It was fancy and delicious.

We walked out into the rain so I had

to take a picture of this:

Because I like irony and juxtaposition and stuff.

We went to the matinee of Wicked.

I think we are just about the last people on earth to see that show.

It pretty much lives up to all the hype. 

I was surprised to find myself tearing up at the end--

--and so did this guy:

We wrapped up our adventure with the tasty fried food at the Carnegie Deli.

And then we headed for home.

Together--

just as we have been doing for

the past 30 years.

Heading home together.

Love this song...

Birthday Girl

Today is Siara's Birthday. I always seem to be lamenting that times goes so quickly. It seems especially so when I look back at pictures of my children. I have many happy memories of the time they were growing up, so I think I did really try to live in the moments--those moments just flew by so fast!

 

Siara in her Baptism Dress.

 I sewed a white dress for each

daughter for their baptism. As per tradition, there are

8 buttons down the front of the lace collar.

Doesn't she look like a little angel?

Just a cute picture of her as a gap-toothed little girl:

And a few moments later as a beautiful bride:

Happy Birthday Siara!