Nathan's Dictionary

babing soup - what you wear to get wet in the sprinkler
twenteen - the number that comes directly after 18 (which, consequently, follows 15)

Remember This? Friday

Remember This? Friday

Recently I was waxing nostalgic with a friend about these. We now have the automatic one with the freezer bowl that does all the work for you but I have such fond memories of our old wooden bucket (ours was green I think), the metal bowl, the big paddle thingy in the middle and the sound of the ancient motor as it cranked our ice cream. It seems maybe once or a twice a summer Mom would get this out and she would usually make peach ice cream. We all took turns dumping the ice and the salt into the bucket and then clamored for the paddle as soon as it was done. There was always just a little salt that escaped into the ice cream and it seemed we could never quite get a first few bites without a salty taste. YUM!

DOD

Mom, I just added an "s" to David and now there's a lot of me.

Ruth and Miriam's Dance Recital

Ruth and Miriam had their final dance recital this evening (which also happens to be Tad's birthday - Happy 40th!!). They were so thrilled with their costumes, they had Grammy and Tata in the audience and they had a great time. I wasn't at all thrilled with this dance program at all but it was fun to see the girls get such a kick out of the recital experience. They got to wear real tutus and dance on a big stage - what more could they ask for? Miriam brought me tears with her performance - she is so beautiful and graceful and has come such a long way. Unfortunately I didn't video the first dance they did which was by far the best but this video does show off Miriam's graceful style a bit. She's becoming such a beautiful young lady. It was good to see Ruth really trying at something too and having something to call her own. I think dance is a keeper for both of them...now I'll have to find them a program that fits our goals for them a bit better...

Bragging on the DH

Tad's been competing in the Table Topics category of Toastmasters for the past month or so. He's successfully won two rounds of the competition and today was his big District 18 competition. He took JT and Philip to an old hotel in downtown Baltimore (Mom, it was like being at Hogwart's!) for the big event. JT told him he had nailed it immediately after the competition was over but he had to wait until that evening's award ceremony to get the offical news of First Place. Go Tad!! We're so proud of you! Unfortunately, the table topics competition ends at the District level so this is the end of the road for this season but we're looking forward to his participation in the Humorous Speech competition in the Fall which he could take all the way to the Internationals!

Remember This? Friday

I had so much fun going down Sal's Memory Lane last week I couldn't resist one more week of Retro Crafts. You just don't see the candles carved this way anymore but I think every old lady's house I entered as a child had at least one of these collecting dust on a shelf (probably still do only now there's more dust - don't know if the fear of burning them has to do with the candles being "so pretty" or the fear of a raging fire out of control as soon as all that dust goes up). Mom used to teach classes in making these cuties and I tried my own hand at it a few times but I was still a bit young to get those curls just right...