Tracy Aviary (again)

I love taking pictures. I love taking pictures of my kids. My mom in her generosity has given me full rights to her nice camera so I am taking full advantage. I loved chasing the kids around Tracy Aviary and taking their pictures. I have posted about Tracy Aviary before, but its a beautiful place that we love to go. Our Ogden Nature Center pass gets us in free 1 Thursday a month which is awesome.

 

Gibson Christmas Charm Dishes

I have wanted Christmas dishes forever. Scratch that, I have really wanted Christmas china. There are lots of cutesy Christmas patterns, but true to my personality, I wanted something more formal. I knew it would probably be a couple of years until I could afford a nice set. I still don't even have regular china... maybe someday. Anyway, last week at D.I. (Deseret Industries, our local thrift store that is amazing) I showed Nic a set of 4 that I liked. Although he wasn't against me getting them, he did point out that I would not have enough settings to have anyone over. So I decided to just keep my eyes open.

 

Yesterday I went browsing DI like I love to do frequently. In all actuality I could devote an entire blog to the amazing finds I have found there.Anyway, I spotted these gorgeous dishes in the Christmas section:

Do you see that sticker price? I will come back to that.

 

These dishes are gorgeous! They are exactly what I would buy if I could buy them brand new. They have a beautiful gold ring on the outside and the perfect holly berries I have always wanted.

 

My mom has always had Christmas dishes. We would actually eat Thanksgiving dinner on them and then use them for the month of December. I have fond memories of drinking eggnog out of the holly goblets.

 

So at DI I found 19 plates, 16 bowls, and one platter. I was so thrilled! I could actually host a Christmas dinner now. I immediately hopped online when I got home to see if I could complete my set off eBay or somewhere similar. Well in doing by research I found out that this pattern has been discontinued and that they sell for about $12 per plate on eBay. A full set is around $250. The platter, gravy boat, and casserole dish are all $50-$150 a piece. So good and bad news there. They are more valuable then I thought. I paid 50 cents a piece for them and they are flawless. I only wish it was more affordable to complete my set.

 

So, if you ever see Gibson "Christmas Charm" dishes let me know! I want salad plates and what I listed above (platters, gravy boat, casserole dish, etc) In the meantime I will start planning my holiday parties to use these dishes. I am so excited!

Samantha's 1st Day of Preschool

Samantha Jo

4 Years Old

1st Year of Preschool

She tried on several outfits last week in deciding what to wear for her big first day (I don't know where she gets that from)

 Brooklyn wasn't very patient during the photo shoot

All ready to go!

Meeting Miss Kris & giving her the cookies that she helped me make

All ready to start her day

She was so excited to head in and start tracing her shapes. She wasn't sad at all to leave us. We had to make her kiss us goodbye. It does make it so much easier on me that she wants to be there and doesn't miss me. I sure miss her though!

In true blogger fashion...some of the pictures are out of order

I  love this sweet, outgoing, funny, sensitive, mature, amazing girl!

Preschool

 

Samantha starts school tomorrow. I am so excited. I am so sad.

 

I have been looking forward to Sam starting preschool, and school in general, for a lot of reasons. She is so social. She thrives with other kids. It will be so good for her to learn to not always be the boss, but also let that wonderful quality shine as she can be a great leader. I'm so excited for holidays & class parties, preparing treats, back to school shopping, learning new things! Most of all...I know she will love every minute of it.

 

Since we officially signed her up..I am now sad. I am not ready to give her up. Starting from now, the older she gets, the less time I get to spend with her. Until now, everything she knows we taught her. Now she will be learning new things that I have no part of. I feel sad that I will have to spend 5 hours a week away from her. I hate that thought. Until now, my life as a mother has had no schedule or rules. I do whatever I want...whenever I want.

 

I used to think that Moms cried when they dropped their kids off on the first day because they couldn't believe how old they were, but now I know the truth. It's because they will miss them so badly.

Trip to Logan

We tagged along with Nic to a conference he had in Logan this week.

We had fun exploring while Nic was busy each day. We visited the Bluebird Candy Factory, went to Firehouse Pizza, went to the Willow Park Zoo, saw the Logan Temple, had Aggie Ice Cream, visited  Gossner Cheese Factory,  visited the football stadium and explored campus. It was a fun week but we are anxious to get back home and in to our routine :)

Beth's Happy Day

"Because when you read a book as a child it becomes part of your identity in a way that no other reading in your whole life does..." from the movie You've Got Mail.

For year's I have been trying to find a book from one of my earliest childhood memories. I remember my mom stopping what she was doing, picking me up, and reading me this book. It makes me cry when I think of this special moment & memory with my mom.

From the book....I remembered a pretty girl, her mom, the girl helping her neighbor, some laundry, a kitten, and a Birthday cake. I kept trying to come up with a title...Jane's Birthday? No that wasn't it.

The internet is amazing...but how do you search for a book from my 3-year-old-mind memories. I would look around every couple of years when I would think about it, but recently it was nagging at me so badly. I wanted to have this book to read to my own girls. I started searching vintage books online, but I had no idea what year it would have been, title, auther, nothing. I knew it was old..for sure not an 80's book. I asked my parents & siblings and no one could guess off of my clues. But then I remembered that it was a similar shape and age to "Tie My Shoe" another book from my childhood.

Quick side story on that...my sister Jenny actually got me this book when I had Samantha and it was such a wonderful sweet gift to get.

 

So Nic suggested looking up the publisher and the "Junior Elf  Books". I googled that under images and there she was "BETH'S HAPPY DAY". I knew it as soon as I saw it. I bawled. The memories flooded back.

 

I can't tell you how happy I am that I now know what book I have pictured so many times. I ordered the only 2 copies that eBay was selling and I will continue to look for a couple more copies. I am so happy!

 

 



Happy 4th of July

We had a wonderful holiday filled with parade, BBQ, family time, and Great Grandma's Birthday party!