"K" is for Kindergarten, Knitting, and ????

Welcome to another Alphabe-Thursday hosted by Mrs. Matlock. Our assignment this week is the letter "K" so skip on over to Mrs. M's blog to view other "students" who submitted "K" papers for your entertainment and for Mrs. M's approval.

Kindergarten

This first photo is of a book that my mother saved from my kindergarten year. I seemed to have mastered my 8's but not my 9's. I must have learned how to make my 9's properly somewhere along the line because I taught school for 31 years!

Knitting

My mother is 95 years old and she can't see too well anymore. However, when she was younger (in her 60's, 70's, and 80's) she would knit almost all day long! She knit sooooo many things that I can't even list everything on a blog. Since it is almost Easter, I thought that I would include her rabbits and a cute elephant that she won 3rd place for at the Arizona State Fair.

Katy Keene

Since I had paper dolls in my last blog, I thought that I would include my Katy Keene paper dolls in this blog and get extra points from Mrs. Matlock for a double "K" photo! Only kidding, Mrs. M.!

~~~Karen~~~
my best "K" by far

Here is a photo of my daughter, Karen, as a baby. She had the most beautiful blue eyes then and she continues to impress people with her eyes today.

Karen and Joe pose happily for their engagement photo.

Karen on her wedding day in 2006. I feel closer to Karen now then I ever have. I can honestly say that she is not only my beloved daughter, but she is my friend as well. We talk on the phone several times a day and giggle about the antics of my two precious grandchildren, Brandt Joseph and Lillian Sarah.

Kitchens

Here is the kitchen in my daughter's dollhouse. I like the spice rack, clock, bread, mops and watermelon. The Coke bottle isn't the right scale but at least it belongs in the kitchen!

This is a favorite photo of my grandma, Rose, as she stirs sugo (Italian sauce) in her kitchen in Rockford, IL. I remember eating many meals in this tiny kitchen when I was younger, and I hold on to so many memories of my grandmother baking and cooking so many delicious things on this old stove.
In keeping with this kitchen theme, here is my mother's kitchen bible from 1938. You can see that she used it quite a bit.
Here is my first cookbook. I'm sure that I made some dishes following the simple recipes in this kitchen cookbook, but to this day, I HATE to cook. My grandmother taught my mom and aunts how to make delicious Italian food, and my aunts apparently shared this knowledge with my cousins. My cousins love to cook and they are great cooks...I must have missed the cooking gene somewhere along the line. I'm so thankful that my husband loves to cook and experiment with recipes. My daughter likes to cook and bake and she often calls my husband if she has any questions about a recipe. When Karen was a child, she went screaming out the back door to her dad saying, "You've got to stop her; she's trying to make chocolate chip cookies". Of course she was talking about me!

Well that wraps up my "K" assignment. Visit other "K" stories and enjoy your day.
This is linked back to Alphabe-Thursday for the letter "K".
I apologize if some of these photos look familiar as I have used a few of them before in other posts~~~~~~~~

"Calgon" take me away!!!!!!!!

Yesterday during my yard sale jaunts I came upon this colorful glass/cup for a quarter! At first I was drawn to the colors and then I read the words on the glass. I bought it for my daughter, Karen, who has many sleepless nights because my baby granddaughter, Lillian, seems to have sleep issues! Since Karen is nursing the baby, she won't be able to make use of the this glass for several more months. In the meantime, Karen can fill this cup with juice, milk, or water and "pretend" she is drinking the wine that can transport her to a place where sleep is a reality and not just a dream!

"J" is for jaunty, Jane, and Judy

Our assignment this week from Mrs. Matlock is the letter "J". I found some items that bring back such fond memories of my childhood when I would play with my paper dolls (cut outs) for hours on end with my cousin, Rosalie, and my neighbor, Joann. Unfortunately the paper dolls in this post are not the ones from my childhood...I bought these from a neighbor who saved her mom's vintage collection. I remember having Katy Keene and Elaine Stewart which I dearly loved. I had others which included several bride cut outs and so many more that I can't recall right now. We would build elaborate two story affairs with the fancy folders that the paper dolls came in. Oh, we had so much fun!

My first photo is of Judy Garland dressed for a night on the town. I really enjoy looking at the vintage fashions from these paper dolls. What fun we had using our imaginations placing the dolls in make-believe situations and "talking" for them!Next I have Jane Powell dressed in a beautiful blue gown and a simpler, fashionable gray dress.

Here is Judy Garland with hats that match her cute 1930's or 1940's attire.
Jane Powell models an evening gown and a casual dress both adorned with flowers.
Judy Garland is ready for the beach in these two snappy outfits.
Jane Powell is ready for the ranch and gardening in these two ensembles.
Another former child star is Jane Withers. Here she is in an Asian inspired pantsuit.
Jane Withers models a child's blue dress from her era.
I couldn't resist my jaunty jewelry holder with vintage baubles hanging from the "arms".
Take the time to visit other students who have submitted "J" assignment papers to Mrs. Matlock.
This post links back to Alphabe-Thursday for the letter "J".

"I" is for a cherished tradition!

Welcome to another letter assignment from Mrs. Matlock at Alphabe-Thursday. Our current lesson is on the letter "I" which touches my heart in many ways. I'm Sicilian (Italian) and I was raised in a close-knit Italian family in a close-knit Italian community in Rockford, IL. I went to the same Catholic elementary school as my mother, and my entire Italian family (aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins, etc.) attended the same Catholic church which was the hub of the beloved Italian community.The letter "I" happens to coincide with an Italian tradition that is celebrated every March 19! The patron saint of Sicily is St. Joseph (San Giuseppe) who is honored every March 19. Celebrating St. Joseph's Day goes back to the Middle Ages when Sicily was in the middle of a severe drought. The Italian people prayed to God through St. Joseph asking for rain so that the crops could be planted. The rain did come and the people promised to have a feast (festa) to show their gratitude for a successful planting season.
As a child I remember going to several tables/altars honoring St. Joseph. There was much celebrating with tons of traditional Italian foods placed on three tiers of tables which was symbolic of the Holy Trinity. A statue of St. Joseph holding the baby Jesus was placed on one table along with lighted votive candles, vases of wheat, flowers, breads and sweets. No meats were ever prepared or served because St. Joseph's day falls in the middle of the Lenten season. Many of the vegetable dishes were prepared with bread crumbs symbolizing the sawdust of St. Joseph's profession.
There is a story in our family that tells of my Uncle Pat, who was always a timid little boy, wanting to go visit St. Joseph altars with some family friends. My grandparents agreed to let him go as long as he kept up with the rest of the group. Apparently everyone was having a wonderful time at the altars and somehow my uncle was separated from the main group. He wasn't worried as he could follow other groups visiting altars he hadn't seen yet. Unfortunately he followed a group that went into a house that was having a wake for a loved one instead of an altar celebration! Back then the Italians kept the body of their deceased relative in the home until the day of the burial! Needless to say my uncle was a bit freaked out by the whole thing and didn't visit another altar until early adulthood. Here is a vintage photo of my Uncle Pat (as an adult) standing in front of a St. Joseph altar.
My daughter was born on March 19, and the first words out of my mother's mouth were, "She was born on St. Joseph's Day, how nice"!

I hope you all enjoyed this Italian cultural lesson and please visit other participants here.

This is linked back to Alphabe-Thursday for the letter "I".

"H" is a pet peeve and a lot more!

Welcome to another Alphabe-Thursday hosted by our teacher, Mrs. Matlock. She is a no-nonsense teacher who expects the very best from her participating pupils and her class seems to be growing in popularity each week. This week our assignment is the letter "H".

I remember years ago when I was in college, I was asked to make a list of my pet peeves and one came to my mind instantly. This pet peeve has been with me all these years...I can't stand hard butter!
It makes me crazy to try to spread hard butter on anything. Bread shreds and crackers crumble! In fact the only one who ever uses real butter in our house is my husband. I mainly use Smart Balance
or I Can't Believe It's Not Butter. I hate hard butter!

One of my favorite things that starts with "H" is this lovely pink rose heart that adorns the green wardrobe from last week's post.

I really like hankies and I have a bazillion of them. The following photos are just 3 samples that I hurriedly picked out from my flickr list.


I think that I found this hanger at a yard sale but I can't be sure. Maybe I found it at an antique store...my memory brain cells seem to be flying out of my head at a very rapid rate lately!
These hangers definitely came from an estate sale...I like the bows and the colors on them.
More hangers from another estate sale. I'm a sucker for polka dots and I like the color combination on these hangers.
This baptismal gown is an heirloom dating from 1914. My mother was baptized in this gown in 1914, I was baptized in it in 1948, my daughter in 1980 and my grandson in 2007. I hope that my daughter has my granddaughter, Lillian Sarah, baptized soon or Lily won't fit in this gown! The story goes that a relative of my grandmother made this gown for my mother right after her birth in 1914. My mom made the slip under the gown from her wedding slip, and she bought the hat for me when I was baptized.
These are the heirloom shoes that my mother bought for me to be baptized in. Of course they have been used on my daughter, my grandson and they will be used by my granddaughter.
This heirloom watch has been in our family since my grandmother got married in 1913. It has a chain and has been worn by my mother in 1943, me in 1978, and my daughter in 2006. This photo shows the watch in my mother's hand as she prepared to pin it to my daughter's wedding gown. I have photos of all of us wearing this heirloom at our respective weddings. Hopefully my granddaughter will want to carry on the sentiment and tradition of this heirloom when she gets married. Time will tell as she is only 4 months old!!!!
This is linked back to Alphabe-Thursday for the letter "H".
Thanks for visiting.

"G" is for diapers ??!!!!!

Well we have another letter assignment due this Thursday and the letter happens to be "G". Please visit our teacher, Mrs. Matlock, to find other bloggers participating in the letter "G" theme this week. I'm sure you will find many interesting entries for this letter!

I really labored over the "G" letter and I'm sure I lost some sleep deciding what to do about this assignment. I lamented my lack of creativity to my daughter who instantly came up with the diaper idea. You see my daughter has decided to do the "green" thing and help our environment by using only cloth diapers on my 4 month old granddaughter, Lillian Sarah. In fact my daughter has become somewhat addicted to the whole cloth diaper thing! While visiting my daughter today, she got a package with 10 new cloth diapers in it. She was sooooo excited and happy about receiving the diapers that my husband and I just had to tease her about it. Don't get me wrong, I fully support and encourage Karen's determination in this endeavor; it's just that cloth diapers have changed over the past 30 years since she was a baby. When I used cloth diapers, they were white only, I had to use safety pins, and cover the diapers with rubber pants which wasn't so smart if you lived in Arizona during the summer months! Oh let's not forget how many times I pricked my finger with the safety pins!
Visit these links for more information:
cutie poops
cotton babies
squishy tushy
The Bober Family (my daughter's blog)


Lillian is modeling one of the many cloth diapers that my daughter bought for her.
The letter "G" can also be for the color GREEN! The following is a photo of our Fish called Wanda that I found at a yard sale. I just knew that Wanda had to come home with me.
My 95 year old mother used to knit and crochet everyday when her eyesight was better. I like her turtle and her frog that always reminds me of Kermit!
I found this lovely wardrobe at an estate sale and instantly fell in love with it. It adds so much whimsy to a girly-girl bedroom.
Finally I couldn't resist this photo of the stained glass window in my bathroom. I love the green color mixed with the other colors. It looks pretty when the sun shines on it...too bad I took the picture on a cloudly day!
This is linked back to Alphabe-Thursday.