They Don't Make Them Like They Used To

I have been coveting my grandma's sewing machine ever since she moved out here and gave it to my mom. It is so solid and heavy, made completely of metal parts.

Not these flimsy plastic things that they make now days.

My machine had an episode a few months back where it just stopped working. I started to panic and tried several things to get it started again but nothing worked. I remembered what I learned from growing up with Nintendo - When all else fails, blow in it. So I did and miraculously it started working again. (and has worked well ever since) The event got me thinking about what would happen if my machine died on me... I would probably want a better quality one, I had asked for this one because I had no idea how sew when I got it 3 years ago and I didn't know if I ever would. I looked at some machines and the prices. Outrageous! I knew I would be out of luck and have to save for quite a while to get a new one.

Well, one day I stopped by Goodwill and look what I found!It is the exact same machine as my grandma's, in perfect condition and in the original cabinet. You can imagine my excitement when I saw the price, $34.99. I had a coupon so it came $27.99.

I was a little nervous that it would need servicing but when I tried it out I was shocked at how beautifully it runs. It makes the most lovely, quality humming sound.

I love it. Happy sewing to me!

Live and Learn

Grinding 25 lbs of wheat....

is an outside job.

Unfortunately, we learned this the hard way.

It was much easier clean-up this time.

A Day With Gigi

Last month, my grandma moved out here to Arizona from California. She moved into a beautiful retirement community called Renaissance in Sun Lakes.

The main entranceThe Lobby (very small portion of it anyway)

My grandma pays one monthly bill that covers everything (including once a week cleaning service) ((except for cable.)) She even gets 20 meals a month that she can eat in the dining room. My mom and I ate there with her one day and it was delicious food. When my grandma goes by herself, they have a special seating area for single people so she will be put in a group to get to know people. All of the residents there are so nice and the majority of them are in good health and active. There are so many activities to take part in too! Water aerobics, billiards, bunco, bingo, book clubs, group outings, movies, church services and the list goes on.

I decided that I want to move into a place like this when I am old. It seems like so much fun! It kind of reminds me of being in high school when my sports team would go travel out of state for tournaments and stay in hotels. Just easy, fun-living with friends and activities. Yes, please!

Renaissance also has a little salon, ice cream parlor, library, movie theater and gift shop - All without ever having to step outside in the heat.Each resident can decorate their door and little alcove however they like.
Grandma is not a much of a decorator - but my mom finally got her to at least put a basket of flowers out. Claire likes it because she can tell which room is Gigi's.

My grandma's living area (she has yet to be convinced that she needs something on the walls)

The kitchen

The view from her porch.

Last week, I took the girls and went with my mom to visit her and take our last swim of the summer in the heated pool.Joy doesn't scream in the water anymore!Claire loves to visit Gigi and is not shy around her at all.

and neither is Joy.Group shot!

After swimming, pictures and the hanging of a hummingbird feeder, we went to run some errands, but first stopped by Wendy's for lunch.

Grandma loves to order chocolate shakes and she splits them with Claire. I am sure that Claire gets more than her fair share.Next, we went to good ol' Walmart as we all needed to get a few things.
Claire held Gigi's hand the whole time and told her "Gigi, I need to hold your hand so you don't get lost."

She also held Gigi's hand so she would not get hurt by cars.

It was cracking me up because every time I took pictures that day, I would take about 30 of each shot knowing that out of the 30 maybe one or two would be good. My grandma kept saying I was the paparazzi and 3 different times asked me if I was "out of film yet?"

We look forward to many more fun days at Gigi's new house. This weekend they are having a trick-or-treat night for all of the residents great-grandchildren. We'll be there for sure! Claire is excited for another chance to wear her costume :)

Our Sunday Best

After last week's post, I realized that our families never get to see Claire and Joy in their church clothes. I decided I will try to post a picture on Sundays so they can see that we do dress up once a week.

I promise my next post will not be about clothes!

African Outfits

Last Sunday, Josh shared about his trip to Africa during the evening service at church. To be festive, I made the girls outfits out of one of the kapulanas that Josh brought home. Joy's was a typical shirred top and this bloomer pattern. Claire's was just a simple dress due to the lack of time and creativity. It was a little ill-fitting since she was napping when I made it - I kind of guessed on the size. Aww, my little brightly dressed family.

I am pretty sure that people in Mozambique don't dress like this.

Sunday Attire

This morning, I let Claire choose what she wore to church and she insisted that she wear a princess dress. She was so excited about it she wanted to show Grandma and Nana and Uncle Didi so I told her we could take pictures for them. (So there you go select few)We then decided that Joy should wear her fanciest dress as well. I had to dig through boxes in the garage to find the matching hair band. When I put it on her head, Claire laughed and said "She looks ridicullus!" I said she looked pretty and reminded Claire that she once wore the exact same outfit.Poor Joy had just woken up and was not in a picture taking mood but she was a good sport.
It's amazing how many things you can do before 8:15am. We were only 1 minute late for church.

Awana Cubbies!

This is Claire's first year in Cubbies!

We are so excited! Memorizing the verses is pretty easy for her and she enjoys when we work in her book together throughout the week.

Her interest and ease of memorizing gives me hope for when we officially start school in January.

She really does love it even though she was being contrary in this video. After she said those 2 verses she got her Jumper patch - which is very exciting.
We are still working on her Cubbies song. I think we sang it 27 times this afternoon.