A Great(Grandmother) Visit

"Over the river and through the woods to great grandmother's house we go!"

Brian's mother is a 4th generation East Texan whose mother and sister still live in her hometown, Marshall. With a 4 day weekend, we decided to make it a family affair and Brian's folks, his sister Brooke and the three of us headed up for a visit. Staying in Longview at the folks' second home we had a wonderful time together and passed around the ever talkative Wilder Scott. By the way, my mother-in-law makes a mean lasagna.

Quality time with Aunt Brooke

Grandpa Barry (BPaw) and Aunt Brooke finalize travel plans for the her upcoming wedding while Brian seeks new insight on the financial market (either that or he's reading about guns again.)


Grandma Betty (BMaw) is a great snuggler

** BMaw kisses **

At 93, Great Grandma Lolly is still an expert at baby loving!

BMaw, Great Grandma Lolly, Wilder and Brian

Four generations

"Nice to meet you, Great Grandma Lolly," Wilder said while holding fast to her finger.

Three generations -the daughters

BMaw bonding with the boys

Aunt Brooke made Wilder giggle like crazy on the drive back to Longview.

This was the first time Wilder saw Lolly and Great Aunt Shirley. With a four (plus) hour drive, we finally felt capable of conquering the trip as Wilder turned 4 months old. Wilder was a sheer delight and entertained a room filled to the brim with relatives and visitors in Lolly's retirement apartment. Cherished memories indeed. We're looking forward to our next visit!

Hey, Wiley Likes It!

Watch the video!




Wilder had his first taste of real food yesterday. Rice cereal.
He made a mess. Breakfast, lunch and dinner -he was game for a little white mush after a full milk feeding. Here's our lunch experience.

Time With The Men

These two made it through the estrogen-fest/trunk show I hosted Friday night, so I thought I'd provide a little tribute to father and son. As you can see, they barely survived. Full recovery mode in action.

"Gee, I wish Dad would wake up so we could discuss who to vote for in the upcoming primary."

"What to you MEAN you'd rather vote for Hillary than McCain?!"

Sleeping in heavenly peace

This is getting framed.

Brian's contribution to our gigantic catalog of Wilderobilia.

You two are SO easy to love.

And THIS is why I love being a mother.

Sew Amazingly Fun

Darling, you'd love these sachets! They're so versatile, decorative and ooh-la-la, if you know what I mean. I made several trio sets with ribbon loops so they can be hung from door knobs, lamp switches, rear view mirrors, or -my particular favorite- closet hangers.

Ready for a sweet Valentines!

Mmmmm... I love this set!

I ADORE these blankets! I made three for Wilder and nearly use them exclusively. They are larger than typical receiving blankets -a full yard- and are perfect for swaddling and also laying out as an indoor or outdoor play mat. Soft flannel decorated with ribbon and on the reverse side, a sturdy cotton.

John Dear, oh dear.

I'm selling these at the multi-trunk show I'm having at my house this Friday and I hope the gals who attend will enjoy these sewing delights as much as I have!

Once Upon a Storytime...

Today we read Go, Dog. Go! five times. It was my first storytime with Wilder. We read two other books as well, but since I hear repetition is good for babies I thought it wouldn't hurt to read the first book I bought for Wilder several more times. I've read to Wilder before, but it was one of my books and I just read aloud while I nursed him. But today was authentic storytime -a milestone and the beginning to a lifelong love affair I hope Wilder has with books.

I adored storytime growing up. I have fond memories of my parents and grandparents reading to me before bed, my father teaching my sister and I to read, and finishing my first chapter book (The Boxcar Children.) There is such a feeling of accomplishment in reading a book cover to cover. Then there are the illustrations. What? You don't read books with pictures?! How boring... I jest, I jest.

My fifth and sixth grade years I volunteered my recess to shelve books in the library and requested the picture book section. My favorite book in my area was "On Market Street" and I recently bought a slightly worn first edition for Wilder's library. I also got to shelve the Beatrix Potter books, oh, and many, many other treasures including Dr. Seuss. I believe I had M-T, if I recall. My favorite picture book of all, besides the fairytale collection we got from my Aunt Ruth (actually, it was for Crystal, but I nabbed it) is "Grandfather Twilight" given to me by Aunt Judy. I'm beginning to see that Aunts give the best books. Hm... I guess I better get with the program and send some more to my sister's kids.
Since early pregnancy I have anxiously anticipated storytime with Wilder. I loved it so much (and still do) and want to impart the same enthusiasm and joy to our little man. Brian and I have agreed that family reading is a fundamental part of our household and no child in our family will escape becoming a bibliophile. Here's to many more books enjoyed together and to family traditions!


Wilder loves to interact with people! When I'm cooking dinner or sewing and he's playing alone in his chair or on the floor he'll often fuss until I come over and chat, then he immediate cheers up and begins to babble with me. When the camera comes into play he gets a little distracted, but you can see what I mean about his talkativeness and enjoyment of "face time." I am reborn each time we converse!

The Visitors

So, Brian was gone for two weeks for training and I was left to create a busy social schedule and have fun taking Mommy & Son photos...

Daddy arrived home and immediately snuggled the family

A WONDERFUL surprise: My sister and her youngest, Timothy (who just turned 1 year old), came for an impromptu visit from California for the weekend. We had family on our dad's side flying in to see our grandparents in Houston and we all wanted to be together -the first time in seven years.

Timothy needed a bath to loosen up after the long flight

Crystal with her, excuse me -I mean "their" nephew.
Family visit in Houston!

Second cousins: Remington and Timothy

Aunt Ruth with Wilder

Grandma Anne with her great grandson, Timothy, who played the pots and pans with spoons

Relaxing in true Cameron fashion -in the LaZBoy

Timmy, Grandma Anne and Uncle Tom. A smile to die for!

Aunt Carol and I (pictured) and Aunt Ruth and Crystal strolled the neighborhood with our sons on a blustery day in Houston.

Timmy and Aunt Ruth

Aunt Carol snagged a suitcase full of photos from our great grandpa Earl's house and we spent the afternoon looking at tremendous photos of our heritage.

We had only seen turn of the century photos of strangers in antique stores. Now we saw piles of ancient photos of our Norwegian relatives and heard Grandma share stories and lineages we had never heard before.

Grandpa Doug's mother

Grandma Anne's mother's class photo

My father at Portage Glacier just outside of Anchorage, AK

My father in England

Grandpa Doug, Uncle Russ and Timmy

Crystal and Grandma Anne

Second cousins Timmy and Bailey

We had a family dinner out and managed to pass the 2 hour wait for dinner happily while catching up

Grandpa Doug and Wilder

The whole gang (Uncle Tom's taking the picture.) I am so thankful we all got to spend this time together. It did my heart so much good to be with my father's family -all united for the first time since he passed away 7 years ago.

Back in Georgetown! After church we took Crystal and Tim to Duke's for some excellent BBQ. Couldn't let them leave without having a taste of Texas.

With the courage needed to do the responsible thing, we found Smoke a new home. He kept marking in the house and with Brian deploying soon, it was too stressful having to watch him like a hawk, clean up after his purposeful "accidents" and deal with his separation anxiety. God was so good in providing him a wonderful new home in the country where he would be the special buddy of a sweet teenage girl and her family who owned several other Australian Shepherds, as well as many horses and a few other dogs. They reported the following day that he is doing excellent and fitting right in -hasn't missed a beat. Though Savannah has missed her buddy, it's made us pay more attention to her, take her on walks and runs and has significantly lowered my stress level.

It was magnificent having Crystal and Timothy visit. Now we're just trying to figure out how to get the family moved from California to Georgetown. There is a house for sale in the neighborhood that would suit them very well...

A dentist or plastic surgeon in the making.

Bath time! Can you believe he's 3 months already?

Crystal finished a sewing project with me and was pleased as punch to be partaking again in the domestic fine arts.

Too funny.

The kids at play

What a tremendous, though short, visit! I already miss them so much, but am so thankful they were able to come and see all the reasons they need to move here. :)