Temperature Fluctuations

Since when is the temperature in St. Augustine where Kyle and his family live the same as ours?

And the warmest place is Tennessee, Cole's stomping grounds?

Weird weather we're having!

Mila's Blessing Gown

During Christmas break, I asked Vanessa if she would like me to make a blessing gown for Mila. I was thrilled when she responded with a yes! I asked her to think about patterns and fabrics, and then we would go shopping for the things I would need.

I received this picture from Vanessa soon afterward, asking if this would be possible for me to make.

Found on Etsy, it was darling but very pricey. (As a seamstress myself, I understand that price. Having said that, I would not pay that much for a dress.)

I was on winter vacation, so one afternoon we met at JoAnn's and sat down at the pattern desk to see if we could find a similar pattern.

Sharp-eyed Vanessa found the very pattern the Etsy sewer used!  Then we struck gold when buying fabric - Vanessa wanted dotted swiss, and there was just enough left on the bolt to make the dress. Better yet, since it was the end of the bolt, I got it for 80% off. Total cost of the dress was $23. Not bad!

 Because Vanessa wanted a full length dress, I had to lengthen the pattern pieces.

 All cut out and ready to sew.

School began January 4, the day Mila made her arrival. Time was no longer my own, and Saturdays became my only day to sew.

 I got the bodice (sans sleeves) done the first Saturday.

 The following Saturday I added the sleeves and the skirt lining. (The skirt looks longer on the left, but it isn't. The back of the dress was open and it was sagging a bit on the hanger.)

The skirt is gathered, and when you are sewing something that tiny, it is very easy to catch the gathers and the skirt in places they should not be stitched. The solution is to pin frequently and carefully, checking both sides of the fabric to make sure you have not caught unwanted material into the gathers. It is time consuming, but much better than having to go back and rip out a seam (which can damage the fabric) and resew it.

Last Saturday's work.

This weekend, all I needed to do was to put in the zipper, make the bow, and tack it to the bodice.

 A closeup of the bow.

The finished dress! I may put a hook and eye at the top of the zipper, but will check with Vanessa first.

Next Sunday is Mila's blessing day, and I can hardly wait to see how she looks in her new dress.

How Do I Help?

I didn't know how to help a student yesterday. Something was clearly wrong. She's not a drama girl, and is usually happy and full of energy. But as I looked at her, her face was drawn and she looked to be on the verge of tears.

I called her over to my desk and asked what was wrong. Mutely she shook her head, and then spoke quietly, saying that nothing was wrong.

I could tell just looking at her face that that was not true, so I pressed a bit, asking if someone had been unkind to her (a head shake no) or if she was having trouble with an assignment. Again she shook her head.

"Is there anything I can do to help you?" I asked.

Another head shake of denial.

I paused for a moment, considering how to handle the situation. No doubt about it, this girl was upset, but I also respected her right to privacy - there was no reason I had to know her problem. So I gave her a hug and told her I was glad she was in my class and that I loved her.

She went back to her seat and got back to work, still looking dejected and unhappy.

I just couldn't let this go. My gut instinct was that she needed my help, but she'd rejected that multiple times. What more could I do? And then I had an idea. I grabbed a small piece of paper. Quickly I drew heart after heart on it -big ones, little ones, everywhere - until it was covered, and then I quietly placed it on her desk as she worked. I did not look to see her response, again trying to respect her right to privacy.

This morning, she arrived with her usual bright smile - things seemed to have blown over. She walked over to my desk and handed me a card in an envelope. It was addressed to me, and she had drawn hearts on it next to my name just like the hearts I had drawn for her.

 Inside was a thank you card.

She'd written, "Dear Mrs. I., Thank you for your calming me down when I was upset and mad. You calmed me down and got me through my day that turned out to be a great day thanks to you. Love, J. P.S. Thank you for the note. It made me smile."

I still am not sure what I did to help, but I learned that, even when you don't know what to do, something as small as a note with hearts on it can pay dividends in helping lift them up.

Slug Tag!

These are some super sweet girls.

GCD, MCM, AY, and JR.

Thoughtful, caring, kind... wonderful kids who I enjoy very much.

Yesterday during recess they came over to chat with me. They also issued an invitation.

"Why don't you come play tag with us?" one of them asked while the other three girls nodded and agreed that that would be fun. Quite touched at being included in their game, still I demurred, stating that I was WAY too slow to run with them.

And that's when a hilarious but innocent comment was made.

AY piped up. "That's okay! We'll slow down and play slug tag! That way you can keep up with us!"

Oh. My. Goodness! I about choked at that but was able to hold my laughter inside.

I shooed them off to go play their game, still hiding my smile. But I won't forget four sweet girls who wanted to include their teacher in their game. Even at my age, it is nice to be wanted.

FaceTime!

I love being able to not only talk to family members, but to see their faces when I do. FaceTime lets me do that whenever I want. Talking to them like that reminds me of the old Jetsons cartoons from the 1960s. The Jetsons family had futuristic technology, one of which was a videophone.

 The problem was that Jane Jetson was not always looking her best when the videophone rang!

Not to worry - Jane kept a mask of her face close by and put it on when she was unkempt. (There's some truth to that - when FaceTiming, you are who you are!)

Every Monday at 4:30, I read with Braden and Addie. We are working our way through Winnie the Pooh and they are loving it!

Braden even got his copy of the book out and they read along or take turns with me in reading the story. I so look forward to our Monday afternoons together!

Titan is a little young to sit through FaceTime and be read to, but we can still chat a bit!

 Those eyes!!

And I love it when Cambria blows me kisses when we've finished.

When I grew up, calling someone outside of your town was long distance and costly. It is so nice to have a cell phone and just be able to see my family whenever I wish.

O'Boy! My Dad's Circus Pony

Saturday I was at my mom's apartment helping her put away her Christmas things. As I opened a cupboard, I saw an old cigar box.

Not really a surprise, since my father smoked cigars and then saved the boxes and used them for storing things. Knowing that, I wondered what was inside and why she was saving it. So, I opened the lid.

Old photos! And right on top was this one.

A picture of O'Boy, the circus pony my grandfather Martin bought straight from the circus for his kids!

"That's your dad's cousin, Betty Jean," my mother told me when I showed her what I'd found.

I shuffled through the pictures in the cigar box and there were all kinds of photos of my father's family that I had never seen. I was most interested, though, in those of O'Boy.

 Like this one of my dad galloping past the camera in 1936.

 Or my grandfather, Robert Martin, showing off one of O'Boy's circus tricks.

That's my father in the front handing O'Boy something.

As my father told the story, his dad surprised the family some time in 1936 by buying a circus pony and bringing it home unannounced. When my dad saw him, he cried, "Oh, boy!" in excitement, and that became the pony's name.

I have very little more information beyond that, and had only seen one picture of O'Boy, so I was very excited about finding these in that old cigar box tucked away in my mother's apartment.

I credit O'Boy with my own love of circus horses and ponies, and my horse collection features quite a few.

Dad and the Tri State Tornado of 1925

My father talked throughout his life of the Tri-State Tornado of 1925 and how it hit his home in East St. Louis. The story went that a bad storm had blown up and he had been sent upstairs to close a window. Suddenly that window blew in on him and his grandmother screamed  for him to run to the basement. His mother, my grandmother (Wilma Martin), was at work and it took her hours to get home and find out how her son and family had fared as the roads were blocked by all the debris from the tornado.

I've often wondered, though, if Dad might have been mistaken and actually in a different storm.  Some things just didn't add up. Recently I found some pictures of the damage to his home while helping my mother put away her Christmas decorations.

They were in an old cigar box in a storage cubby.

My guess would be that that upstairs window is the one that blew in on him.

Although it could have been one of these, too. Scary to think of him having a window blow in on him!

Here's why I don't think the tornado that hit his home was the Tri State Tornado:

1) It took place on March 18, 1925, and my father was born July 19, 1923. He would not have been two yet and it is doubtful he would have had the capability to close a window or that someone would even send him upstairs to do it.

2) The tornado's path does not include St. Louis. It touched down at Annapolis, Missouri (100 miles southeast of St. Louis) and then went northeast, coming absolutely nowhere near St. Louis. 

However, there were numerous tornados across the midwest that day the Tri State hit. Maybe it was one of those? So, I did a little research.

I found a site that lists tornados that have hit St. Louis. The Tri State (1925) isn't even there. In fact, there were no tornadoes recorded in St. Louis or the St. Louis area between May, 1909 and September, 1927.

I think my father might have been in the one that hit September 29, 1927.  He would have been four years old, just old enough to be asked to go close a window. And, look at the tree and brush in those pictures - that looks more like foliage that's had time to grow, not just-sprouting springtime leaves.

The next recorded St. Louis area tornado was September 1, 1931; it's possible that that may have been it, too. Dad would have been eight, an even more reasonable age to ask a child to close a window. Again, the foliage would match up with the season and date, too.

We'll never know for sure, but I think we can, without a doubt, rule out the Tri State Tornado as one possibility. 

Dr. Seuss Explains Pregnancy

I saw this meme online and felt it captured the rhythm, innocence, and wit of Dr. Seuss quite well!

Flap! Flap! Flap! Flap! Flap! Flap! Flap!

The Flap! Flap! Flap! Flap! Flap! Flap! Flap! tradition began with Trinity. When she was about three, she loved it when, after finishing a song on my player piano, I would rewind the music roll so fast it flapped at the end and we would cry together, "Flap! Flap! Flap! Flap! Flap! Flap! Flap!"

Since then, Trin's littler cousins have continued the tradition. In fact, neither Cambria nor Ian ask me to play the piano; instead, they come and query, "Flap, flap?" (A heart melter, for sure!)

Today, Curt, Vanessa, Ian, and Mila came over to spend some time, and naturally Ian asked for some flapping.
Jingle Bells is one of our favorite piano rolls to play! He started dancing, and Boompa grabbed the camera.

Of course, one song is not enough...

That player piano is one of the best Grammy toys ever!

I Love to See the Temple!

Serving Tuesday evenings in the temple has been quite an experience and I absolutely love being able to serve. To have a temple within an hour's drive is a huge blessing.

I try to snap a picture when we arrive, but we are often hustling and short of time because we need to get changed and into an instruction room for prayer meeting. My evening photos are much more leisurely; I can wander the grounds, look for angles, do some close ups, etc.

As time passes though, I have come to think that the temple is at its most beautiful at night.

See what I mean?

I sent this picture to Addie last night. During our service last night, Craig and I did family sealings, and the woman I proxied for was name Adeline. As I told Kyle and Ashley in my text, I was thinking of Addie in the temple all evening!

2015 Christmas/2016 New Year Letter

I am just today sending out our family Christmas letter! Things were just too hectic in December and early January to write it.

Happy New Year!

Another busy year has passed for us. Craig’s mother was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer over the summer but is mostly symptom free and doing very well. The Indianapolis Temple was dedicated and Craig and I are serving there weekly. We saw all our kids this summer and have our health and each other - we call ourselves blessed. Here’s a quick update:

Craig: Enjoying year two of retirement. Still serves as patriarch for our church and, more recently, as an ordinance worker in the Indianapolis Temple.

Lynn: Also serving in the temple, and still teaching, grandmothering, sewing, and horsing around!

Sarah, Todd, JC, & Trinity: JC played football and basketball on the freshman team, while Trinity (7th grade) played volleyball and learned the harp. Sarah took a new job with the Aurora Public Schools writing/implementing a new health curriculum for K-12, while Todd climbed Mt. Elbert, the tallest mountain in the contiguous states!

Jessica, Andrew, Cambria, & Titan: Titan joined the family in August and is a real sweetie with a smile a mile wide. Cambria (almost 2) has a ton of personality bottled up in that little body and zips around on her toes most of the day. Andrew is completing his rotations for his doctorate in Physical Therapy and will graduate in May. Jessica is staying home with the kids with plans to return to her career as a dental hygienist once a week or so in the future. 

Kyle, Ashley, Braden, Adelaide, Corinne, & Whitney: Kyle took a new job in IT for Safariland, a company that sells protective equipment for law enforcement. Ashley is busy teaching the kids and serving anyone who is in need. Braden (8) was baptized in September and we were lucky enough to be able to be with him for that. Addie (6) loves to read and to dance. Corinne (4) enjoys dressing as a princess and is learning to play the violin. Whitney (almost 2) does a great job of keeping up with her siblings. (No easy task!)

Lisa: Lisa continues teaching 4th grade and is well loved by her students. (The feeling is mutual - try going to Target with her sometime and listen to the cries of , “It’s Miss I!!” from across the aisles.) She bought a home in southwest Lafayette, and, along with Millie (who has her own doggie door to the backyard - heaven!), is enjoying her own place.

Curt, Vanessa, & Ian: Mila Jo joined the family at 4:20 AM on January 4, 2016 - welcome! Ian (almost 2) is a happy-go-lucky guy who loves trains (especially Thomas). Vanessa keeps busy with her photography and graphics work. Curt received his MBA from Purdue and is currently job hunting. The family bought a home across town and so we get to see them often.

Cole, Emily, & Julie: Cole is working in Nashville at IEBA (International Entertainment Buyers Association) and gets to travel and meet interesting folks. Emily resigned from her job as a social worker in order to be home with Julie full time. Julie (almost 2) has a remarkable grasp of language and chatters away. Unless she spies Millie, and then all she says is “MILLIEMILLIEMILLIEMILLIE...” Another animal lover in the family!

"More Ian!"

"More Ian!!"

That's what Ian said to Boompa while looking at pictures on his phone yesterday. Craig was trying to entertain him without resorting to Thomas the Train videos (which Ian had requested), but he had run out of current ones and was showing Ian baby pictures of himself. Ian did not recognize that that baby actually was "more Ian"!

Because I have been ill (diverticulitis, cold and sore throat) for the past week, I have tried to keep away from the family,  Mila especially - I don't want to make her sick. But yesterday I had a gift from Sarah and some magazines to give them and was invited in when I stopped by. Craig came, too! It was good to be together again!

 Lucky Craig - he could hold the baby and snuggle!

 Lucky Vanessa and Curt - an outfit from Aunt Sarah! (I love those gold shoes!)

Lucky Ian to have a new baby sister! (Photo by Vanessa.)

 Lucky Mila, to have so many people who love her! (Photo by Vanessa.)

We chatted for a while, played with Ian, and just enjoyed being a family. Ian has learned how to say "Grammy"...  er, sort of. That /gr/ sound is difficult for toddlers. And so, just like Corinne did, he calls me "Dammy." Too funny!

It was a lovely visit, and Ian had so much fun that this happened when I announced it was time for Boompa and me to go home.

Ian wasn't happy about that.

I am having trouble getting the link to work - click the above sentence for a video.

Poor guy! And the feeling was mutual - I would have loved some "more Ian" myself!

Superhero on the Shelf

Most kids in my classroom participate in the Elf on a Shelf tradition where every morning an elf appears in a different (and often funny) spot in their home during the month of December. The idea behind it is to encourage them to be good while waiting for Santa Claus to come Christmas Eve.

Frankly, I find it pretty creepy.

Judging by the images I found online as I tried to find one for my blog, it's more of a parent toy for a lot of folks! Yikes!!

Yesterday, I had my own Elf on a Shelf experience.

 Only I got Superhero on a Shelf!

One of my students was giving a PowerPoint presentation and this was the flash drive she put it on!

Ian Goes Riding

Yesterday, Ian's other grandparents took him to an indoor kiddie play place to give his parents a bit of a break. Baby Mila is a sweet baby, but any newborn is stressful and the parents can quickly become sleep deprived and need a bit of down time. So Nancy and Paul whisked Ian off for an evening of fun.

 I must say, I approve of their choice of activity! (Even if Ian looks a bit unsure.)

With some reassurance from Uncle Ryan, he soon was riding high!

Going into Hyperspace

I posted this picture on my Instagram feed this morning, and Madeline Roberts, one of my former students, piped up and said, "It's like going into hyperspace!"

 She's right! I hadn't thought of that, Star Wars fan that I am!

But I really wasn't going into hyperspace, as much fun as that sounds. I stayed home today because I have diverticulitis and feel ill, but I still had to head out to Hershey and write sub plans.

Look at the curved trails the snowflakes are leaving! (They were HUGE flakes.) But they're not bouncing off the pavement (yes, that's a road there; it's the access lane to the school), they're being blown about by the wind.

 The snow was coming down heavily as I drove and strong winds made the snow fly sideways at times.

Usually when I am at school at night or by myself, I pull my car up on the sidewalk and drive up to the door for safety's sake. (It's a rural school out in the middle of nowhere.)

 Knowing our custodian would have to shovel the walks, and that tire tracks would make it more difficult for her, I parked in the lot and then hiked up to the door, carefully avoiding icy patches I knew were under the snow.

In that wind, those footprints weren't going to last long!

 You can see the snow really blowing in this photo. The lights aren't that big or powerful - it's the effect of all that snow whipping in front of them, reflecting their light.

I finished my sub plans and headed home, stopping at the Family Express at 300 and Old 25 to gas up the car before the snow got too deep.

A county snow plow was taking a break while I was filling my tank. He pulled out and headed back into the storm just before I finished.

Frankly, I think TSC missed the call on this one - we should have had a two hour delay.

Sewing!

I love to sew, and sewing for my children and grandchildren is the best. Currently in the works are Mila's blessing dress (the pattern Vanessa picked is SOOOOO cute!) and holiday pillowcases for the quads.

The pillowcases are so fun to make. I started a little over a year ago, and made them for JC, Trinity, Braden, Addie, and Corinne (and then, when her siblings asked if I might include Whitney with theirs, I added her to the sewing list.) I do each holiday except for New Year's Day, and skip that only because I haven't been able to find fabric for the occasion without liquor bottles on it!

Originally  I thought to make the pillowcases during each grandchild's two year old year, but last fall reconsidered and decided I would do them during their three year old year. Well, after a chat with Jessica at Christmas, I discovered that Cambria is using a pillow now, so I have changed my mind and am going back to making the pillowcases for the two year old grandchildren.

So... here we go! It's going to be a busy year since the quads all turn two this year. I only need to make Whitney's birthday and Thanksgiving ones to complete her set, which means I will just be making three per holiday. But I can't wait - I love this tradition!

 Today I sewed Julie and Cambria's birthday pillowcases. 

I also got the extra table set up and put Mila's pattern and fabric for her blessing gown along with fabric for more pillowcases. I will be making Titan's quiet book later this year and will need every inch of space on those tables.

I know better than to stitch over pins but did so anyway... Good thing I have spare machine needles on hand.

And thus begins the 2016 "sewing year"!

The Beached Whale

Hey, kids! Remember this? I saw this picture posted on a Facebook page dedicated to Urbana history. Memories flooded back; I am sure many in my family will remember these two!

(Photo from Urbana Free Library archives and dated 1977.)

The bear and beached whale at Lincoln Square Mall!

These sculptures were near the entrance of the east wing, and there wasn't a child who did not love them. 

Deemed safety hazards as time passed (note that there are no mats around the sculptures and how high that girl has climbed), they were eventually moved to other places. The beached whale was taken to a spot by Crystal Lake Pool in 1981. Safety mats were put next to it, and it was in a nice, shady spot, so it was a place to go and play during the adult swim time.

(The Beached Whale was sculpted by William M. McVey of the Cleveland Art Institute and weighed five tons. It was installed at Lincoln Square Mall in 1965. After being moved to the pool, it eventually deteriorated due to exposure to the weather and was removed. Source: explorecu.org)

Welcome, Mila!

Mila Jo Isenbarger came into the world this morning at 4:20 AM.

 She weighed 6 pounds, 14 ounces and was 20 inches long.

Craig and I got a text at 3:00 this morning inviting us to come to the hospital and await the birth there.

Mama, Daddy, and baby.

 Ian meets his little sister for the first time.

Like any good grandmother, I made sure she has appropriate toys, starting with a pink stuffed pony.

Welcome, sweet Mila!