Iowa State Fair '17: A Group Effort

Daphne's sister and mother began a doll house project nineteen years ago. Deb and Phadrea built a doll house from a kit, painted the exterior, and began working on the interior. When Phadrea left to go to college, the project was put on hold. 

Deb passed away four summers ago, and while cleaning out her house, the girls found the forgotten doll house project. Phadrea thought it might be something Charlotte would like to play with when she got older, and Daphne agreed to take the doll house home. 

While we were at the Iowa State Fair last year, Charlotte became fascinated with the doll house competition. She asked Daphne if they could build one, and she told Char, "I think we could do that, in fact, we have one at home." And that is how the doll house's journey continued...

I had my own project in the garage, so all the work on the house was done by Daphne and Charlotte.

Daphne did a great job on the interior. Cutting wallpaper to this level of precision would drive me nuts, but she pulled it off. 

Mounting ceiling lights and running tape wire like this can't be much fun, either. Daph got the house wired for light, though, and it really looked cool.

Aunt Phadrea quilted a blanket for the bed, and Charlotte knitted the bathroom mat.

Daphne cross-stitched the rug for the living room.

Here they are setting up the house on the Sunday before the Iowa State Fair:

Char and Daphne were really proud of their work, but we kept reminding Charlotte that they weren't in it to win a ribbon. Their goals were to compete the house, and get it in the fair - that was it. Finishing the house was also a great way honor the memory of Grandma Deb.

Daphne added a cardinal to represent the real bird that visited Deb's deck when Deb was sick. He was named Crash because the bird always hit the glass in the sliding door before landing.



The fair opened on Thursday, and we made a bee line to see what the house looked like on display. Low and behold, there was a ribbon on it!

The three generations earned third place!

When I first spotted the ribbon, I could have sworn I heard Grandma Deb excitedly clapping.

Now that the fair is over, Charlotte has a pretty sweet toy in her room.

A Dance Recital Post for Grandma Betty

Grandma Betty couldn't come to the Char's recital on Saturday, so this post is for her.

It was a cold and stormy morning, but Charlotte really wanted to go down to the Farmers' Market. She assured us that we would be just fine. It was cold, but we had fun. We didn't have to wait in any lines, that's for sure.

Charlotte's Recital was at 3:30. She smiled while she danced, and she looked like she was having fun. We went to Orange Leaf with Uncle Chris and Aunt Phaedra afterwards.

You cannot take any pictures or video during the actual performance, so these are from Friday night's dress rehearsal. 

Char missed you! "Get well, Grandma Betty!"

Ferry Excited

So ferry 'cross the Mersey
'cause this land's the place I love
and here I'll stay
- Gerry and the Pacemakers

We just got back from St. Louis. We were visiting Char's grandma and grandpa. While we were there we thought Char might like riding the ferry 'cross the Mississippi.

What do you think of the ferry, Charlotte?

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Birthday Wishes

I turned 47 today. How did that happen?

Anyway, listen to what was waiting for me on the answering machine when we got back from the Farmers' Market. Grandma Monson is 90.

What a great gift!

This One's for Grandma Betty

Charlotte finished the puzzle that you gave her! She insisted that I take a picture for you, Grandma.

A Great Time with Great Grandma

Charlotte has lots of grandmas. She has my Grandma (Great Grandma Gerri), my mom (Grandma Betty), Daphne's grandma (Great Grandma Ruth), Daphne's dad's wife (Grandma Maureen), and Daphne's Great Aunt (Grandma Charlotte). Daphne's mom (Grandma Deb) passed away, but we talk about her quite a bit, and she does a great job of watching over Charlotte when we're not there.

Personally, I don't think a kid can have too many Grandmas.

We traveled to Iowa City last Saturday to pay Great Grandmother Ruth a visit. She is 94 years old, but she's strong enough to hold a giggling granddaughter on her lap.

You've Got to be Kitten Me

My grandmother lives in an apartment in Moravia, Iowa. About 650 people live in Moravia, and there's not much there in terms of excitement. At least that was what I thought.

What's hiding under Grandma's couch?

Well, hello gorgeous!

Whoa! Grandma's place just got a whole lot more exciting for Charlotte!

No, my Grandma didn't get a kitten. My Aunt Renea adopted this kitten earlier in the week, and she brought the cat over to entertain Char. And boy did that work.

You can't hear it, but the kitten was purring at this moment. Seriously.

My aunt let Charlotte name the kitten, and Char immediately chose "Susie". Even though that's my aunt's middle name (Charlotte didn't know that), Renea vowed to use Susie as the cat's name. Here's Char and Susie playing with Grandma's walker.

About that walker, Grandma Jerry is 89 years old, and on Friday night she spotted a mouse sitting on her carpet. Did she scream or call for help? Nope. She tried to run the mouse over with her walker's wheels, and she was able to stun it. How? I have no idea. Grandma's speed isn't one mile per hour. Then she took a hammer to the mouse to finish the job. Seriously Grandma? A hammer? Yep. She whacked it, scooped it into a dustpan, and then threw the rodent's body into the front yard.

If you're wondering who does that kind of thing, the answer is a wife of a farmer does that kind of thing. It doesn't matter how old she is. If she's got a problem, she deals with it.

Aunt Renea also brought gifts and candles for a belated birthday celebration. Char turned four on August 18 - that's her mom's birthday, too - so Char got four candles in her birthday doughnut. Susie the kitten got two candles in hers. I still don't know why the cat got a birthday doughnut.

Although Char was warned that she couldn't take the kitten home, I think she thought she might get to keep her if the cat was in all of our family pictures.

This isn't a great picture, but look at the cat.

Let's zoom in.

"Must Escape! Now!"

In the end Char cried to keep the cat, I pried to release the cat, and the cat sighed to be safe back under the couch. It was a bit messy, and there was a lot of sobbing when I pulled back onto the four-lane. But then Charlotte fell asleep, and when she awoke an hour later she hardly mentioned Susie the kitten.

Three hours of joyful play in exchange for 15 minutes of tears? That's a bargain.