My Snow Village Addiction

My addiction started off like most all addictions do.  "I'll just have one or maybe two.  Maybe just one more!"  "PLEASE JUST ONE MORE AND I SWEAR THAT'S IT!!"  


I remember the first Snow Village collection I saw that was in someone's home was not long after Terry & I got married.  One of our church members was a school principal, and for years her staff had given her a new piece each year.  During the Christmas season, she and her husband would set up a large table, cover it in snow blankets, set up all the pieces & then circle the whole thing with an electric train.  I thought it was so wonderful!  It didn't matter that they had to block one of the doors to their home during the season.  It was a fire hazard, I'm certain.  But, no matter!  They had this charming, magical, wonderful display in their house!  


It was then I decided that I would love to have a Snow Village collection.  But I wouldn't over-do it.  As a minister's new wife, I thought that collecting just some of the churches in the village would be very nice & not take up too much room.  The first piece that Terry bought me was the All Saints church.  The bottom is dated 1986, though we probably acquired it in 1991 or so.


Below, the All Saints church sits to the right of two other churches.  For a few years, Terry and I referred to the collection as "my churches", as in "Martha, don't you think you have enough churches?"   

It was only a matter of time until someone (I think maybe my sister) gave me a Snow Village piece that was not a church.  Uh-oh!  In my smallish village of maybe 5 churches, I now had one home.  That one family would have to attend a lot of worship to justify that!  This sweet green home "Hartford House" is dated 1992.  This was probably my first non-church piece.

Here's another early acquisition that's special.  The Holly Brother's garage & Terry's Towing Tow Truck.  It's in honor of my husband's days as a young man owning a tire store.  

While living in Monroe, I didn't try to hold back too much on getting new pieces.  When you have a collection of something, it's so easy for people to get you a gift.  Terry would usually buy me a new building for my birthday in October, so that each year when I was ready to get out "the churches" a few weeks later, I would have a new addition.  And because we lived in a parsonage that had a 2-story den, I had the greatest place to put the display.  The second floor hallway overlooked the den, and had a ledge that was just wider than a Snow Village house on the outside of the railing.  It was just made for a large SV collection!

Here's a picture of my sister & me overlooking the railing on the last Christmas we spent there.  Only a few pieces show in the picture, but it stretched for several feet on either side of us.

The village looked so pretty there!  And it wasn't in anyone's way.  With the possible exception of an ENORMOUS amount of electrical wiring tucked under the snow blanket, it wasn't even a fire hazard!  

When it was time to move that spring, I designated my car as the vehicle for moving the Snow Village.  No way, no how was a single piece going into a moving van!  

Of course, not that many parsonages (or for that matter, houses) are equipped with a Snow Village-ready upstairs landing.  Our first year back in Shreveport, I tried using a baker's rack for the village.  But without any kind of back on it, the wires from one shelf strung down the back of the next shelves.  It did not look good.  Also, at this point, I had pretty much weaned myself from desiring new pieces.  I knew that I had reached the point where both storing & displaying my Snow Village was difficult.  But I had the thought of buying a bookshelf for our den that would be white & would hold all of the pieces.  It could have holes drilled in the back for all the cords to go through & down to the outlets.  Terry got on board and designed it for me by measuring the tallest & smallest pieces so there would be some tall & some shorter shelves.  He chose moulding for the top that resembles the moulding in the den built-in shelves.  Then he had a carpenter build it.  The result looks like this:

The shelf holds 24 1/2 buildings (I say 1/2 because The Good Shepherd Chapel has  a small church school attached to it).  There are also several cars and people, a horse & carriage and the Snow Village Express train.  The train doesn't run anywhere, but it does sing, "There's No Place Like Home for the Holidays", and then makes the noise of a locomotive pulling out of the station & sounding it's whistle.

There are so many pieces that I have and that I love.  And with my addiction to photography, as well as collecting Snow Village pieces, I could show you close up shots of all the adorable little buildings & tell you why they're special to me.  But I'll just show one last picture.  And this one is the reason for my whole little story today.

You might notice that that is not a photo that I took.  I went in the Hallmark store this morning, looking for something else entirely.  But like any addict, I couldn't quite keep myself from going over to the Snow Village display.  "Just to look", I told myself.  "You know you don't want any other pieces!!  The guest closet cannot handle one more box stored there!!"  But I saw this.  It's the Our Lady of Guadalupe church.  It's almost an exact replica of the San Felipe de Niri church in Albuquerque.  I've compared it with photos I've take of that beautiful church, & all the details are amazing in their similarity.  I looked on the Dept 56 website to find out about this piece.  It was introduced in January of this year & retires this month.  

I love New Mexico.  I love Southwest architecture.  I don't have any Southwest pieces in my collection. Look back at my picture of my Village display.  If you take a close look at the second shelf from the top, there's a distinct gap in between the CPA/Law office & the Gentle Dental Clinic.  Just one more, please!

...and it's a church!

Traffic Jam in Bethlehem!

I love Little People!  No, I'm not talking about the short-statured folks who are on TLC.  I mean the Fisher Price Little People toys.  They're so cute and they let toddlers use their imagination in such a fun way.  


Last week I found a Little People manger scene.  I got it to keep at my house for all  the grandkids to play with.  


I had it set up on their table to play with when Will & Ben came over last Friday.  They thought it was great & immediately started playing with it.  And because they are so polite, thanking me for it over and over again.

Then Carolann and Adeline came over, & eveybody got to play with it:

Apparently the Little People Manger Scene was a big hit with all!

But today, Will took it another step and combined two Little People playsets to make one exciting time in Bethlehem.

First baby Jesus got a ride in a taxi, driven by a Little Person, apparently fresh from a vacation in Hawaii.

Then there was almost an accident caused by the taxi (which is now carrying either Joseph or a shepherd)  crashing into a manger where the animals were trying to eat.  Also, one of the Wise Men is hopping in for a helicopter ride.  

Here's an aerial view of what's going on in Will's version of Bethlehem:

And for the grand finale, Santa joins Baby Jesus & everyone meets up at the stable!

The greatest thing about Little People is the precious little people who play with them!

It's going to be a great Christmas season!

Boardwalk Afternoon

I know!  Two posts in less than 24 hours!  
But I just couldn't let this day go by without sharing these pictures, too.  After all, what's the meaning of GrandMartha's Journal if not to report my adventures being a grandmother?


And last Friday afternoon was an adventure day!  Terry and I picked up the boys early from daycare & headed toward the Louisiana Boardwalk for some fun.  


The boys clamored for a visit to Bass Pro Shop first of all.  Boy Heaven.


First we found a set-up for driving remote control monster trucks.

Then Ben found this display of a gift any boy would be thrilled to open:  a truck towing a boat with a shark!  Awesomeness!!

There was a Polar Express model train set up.  Ben controlled the speed while Buddy & Papa watched.

Neither boy was interested in visiting with Santa.  Perhaps they think it's a bit too early.  Or maybe they're worried about how to answer Santa's question about their recent behavior as it relates to receiving those toys.  Best to rack up a few days of NOT arguing with your brother before seeing the Big Man!

  

At any rate, this man decided to bring his cat to see Santa

The Boardwalk has a trolley.  If you're lucky, it will be running when you visit.  On a pretty day, this is the most (FREE!) fun you can have.  It also saves you a few steps in getting around down there.  Once we got to the far end away from Bass Pro, the trolley was ready to go re-charge at its house.  The boys were sad.  Every time it stopped to let people on, Will would say "Go Again!!"  Here's Ben & me on board.

We arrived at the carousel.  This is not free, but it is a lot of fun!  Ben chose to ride an alligator.  And because it was Veteran's Day, Will chose a very patriotic eagle to ride "Ut...down...Ut....down"  

Then it was time to go.  The sun was starting to set.  Ben's face says it all.  Not happy to be leaving the fun!

We'll go again Ben. Get to work on that list for Santa.  

(And remember to be extra nice to Will!)

A Visit with Royalty

I've been pretty busy the last few weeks.  So busy that I haven't taken time to write anything.  A lot of what has been keeping me away from writing has to do with that other pasttime of mine...photography.  I was asked to photograph a wedding, which I was VERY APPREHENSIVE about doing.  As the bride and her family were almost at a point of having me or having no pictures taken at all, I relented.  The wedding has happened & I survived.  As my editing of those pictures will be at least a week long process, the verdict is still out on whether I did a passable job.  So, that will be a story for another day.


The story of today is that Terry and I went to Texas to babysit our twin granddaughters.  Their new baby cousin was supposed to be born in Longview today & James & Amy wanted to be there for the birth. (As so often happens with labor inductions, though, it is after 11:00 PM & I still don't think the baby has made his appearance).  So, we took some pictures of the girls over the hours we were over there that I thought I would share because they're cute & fun!

Me and the girls

A great photo of Terry with the girls

The girls dressed up to cook in their pink kitchen

Pop-Pop plays Ride A Little Horsey with 2 riders

Running off some energy

Carolann & Adeline compare their pansies

Girls out in the yard

Cook Adeline & Princess Carolann

So that's how we spent our Sunday with these precious princesses. 

It is soooo time to go to bed now!

This one's for the birds

Yesterday I went to see the movie The Big Year.  Believe it or not, this is a movie I had been looking forward to for quite some time.  In an interview with Jim Parsons (the oh-so-funny Sheldon on The Big Bang Theory) that I had read about a year ago, he mentioned that he had a part in a movie about bird-watching.  I don't know what percentage of Americans would be anticipating a movie about competitive birding, but I was certainly in that (probably very small) demographic.  The movie stars Steve Martin, Jack Black and Owen Wilson, all very funny comedic actors.  They really did an outstanding job portraying the fun and the hilarity and passion of serious birders.  
So, why was I so interested in this movie?   Let's take a trip back to my college years to explain that.  (Husband has still had no time to try to make the scanner work, so still no photos of College Martha to share with you.)
As a biology major, I took a lot of diverse classes for electives.  I spent a semester taking Wildlife Management.  I know, right?  You just can't imagine GrandMartha wearing a green uniform and wandering through the forests!  (Especially with my aversion to being hot!)  Anyway, Wildlife Management was not my calling.  But when I took my Ornithology (the study of birds) elective, I found something I really enjoyed.  Some of our classes were inside, where we studied the biology of birds & listened to recordings of bird songs, trying to commit them to memory.  But at least once a week, we went into the field to find real birds.  Class started at 7 Am on those days, which was no problem for me;I've always been an early riser.  We'd pile into a couple of the Biology Dept. vans and head out into the fields and forests around Natchitoches.  (By the way, there's a moment in the movie when Stu (Steve Martin) was asked about his recent birding in Louisiana.  He replies that he saw a Loggerhead Shrike in Natchitoches.  I saw my first Loggerhead Shrike in Natchitoches!  It thrilled my bird-loving heart to hear that mention in the movie!)  Anyway, back to 1975ish.
Those birding excursions into the field were so much fun and often more exciting than you'd think.   One day we had trekked through a cow pasture that didn't have any cows (we thought!) toward the tree line to see if we could get a better look at a Red-Tailed hawk that had flown that way.  That winter, I had a bright red coat, and when the formerly unseen bull started chasing us, I was sure he was coming right for me.  We all hopped the fence just in time.  When parents imagine the worst happening to their kids at college, "Co-Ed Gored to Death During Bird-Watching Tragedy" is not the headline that comes to mind.  (Also,  "Co-ed Lost in Unexplored Cave in Arkansas" is another thought they probably don't ponder...and yet...well, that's a tale for a later post!)
On another day, when we were done with our birding, we went to get back into the vans.  We opened the van door and it opened until it rested on the fence as we all piled in.  When I grabbed the door handle to close it, a searing pain shot up my arm.  The fence was electrified, and the current came right through the door and into me.  Tragic birding death narrowly avoided once again!
But my most infamous birding tale involved no such risk to life and limb (unless you count dying of embarrassment!)  My mom, frugal woman that she is, was still sewing much of the clothes I wore, even in college.   On this particular day, I was wearing one of the shirts Mom had made.  I remember the blue cotton knit with tiny red flowers that buttoned up the front.  As the sun was getting higher in the sky on the warm spring day, our group was standing in a circle talking about the birds we'd seen and other plans for the day.  I recall that I was saying something and pretty much had the attention of a group of maybe about 8 people, both boys and girls.  One of my best guy friends interrupted me by saying, "Um... Martha" and pointed to my chest.  I looked down and to my horror found that my binoculars had unbuttoned most of the buttons on my shirt!  As I had trekked through the field and the binoculars swung free, the little homemade buttonholes just didn't quite hold.  I wanted for the earth to just swallow me up whole right then!  I really should have died of embarrassment.  But in an instant God sent to me the knowledge that IF YOU ACT EMBARRASSED IT WILL ONLY MAKE IT WORSE!!  I calmly said, "oh." Scarcely missing a beat, I continued what I was talking about while buttoning up my shirt in a nonchalant manner.  As if exposing my undergarments to a group of people in the great outdoors was just an everyday occurrence for me!  The group mercifully didn't even mention the incident at the time.  Though, for quite some time this anecdote was routinely re-told around campfires during Biology Club camping trips.
Those Tri Beta camping trips were always such an adventure.  Most of us were working on our life list of birds during those years.  So a Spring Break trip to the Florida keys or to the Big Bend area of Texas was an opportunity to add birds we would never see in Louisiana.  I remember how happy I always was to add a new species to my list. 


  I wish I still had my life list.  It's probably gone the way of so many of the keepsakes from high school & college that get lost in moving & cleaning out old things.  


I still have my Peterson's Field Guide to the Birds.  It has my maiden name & my dorm room number written in the front.  It's cover is worn.  It's on a shelf in the den next to a twig birdhouse & a little feathered nest.  I refer to it occasionally now when  a bird flies into the yard & I can't quite remember what it is.  But it used to be a constant companion during those years when I always had an eye to the sky, looking for that next new bird!

Happy Birthday to Me! And Flea!

Well, it's that time of year again.  The time when I begin to wonder how I made the leap from a fresh-faced, thin, young college girl to, er, well, THIS,  in what seems like about 10 years max!  In case any of you younger people don't realize it, our concept of time increases exponentially the older we get.  As a kid, I can remember the time until the next great annual thing (Christmas, my birthday, out-of-school summers) was an eternity.  Clocks & calendars changed at a snail's pace.  I guess in my 20's time seemed about right.  An 8 hour workday seemed about 8 hours.  A 9 month pregnancy seemed like a bit more than 9 months (but that may be because the baby weighed just shy of 9 lbs).  And the distance from one birthday to the next felt just like what a year should feel like. 



Baby Martha...adorable, don't you think?



But now!  It seems like I just had a birthday a couple of months ago.  And I know I just finished putting last year's Christmas decorations away a few weeks ago! (Well, that part could actually be true!)  But still, you get my point. 


I'm about 8 on this Easter Sunday with my mom & sisters.
I like this photo because my older sister's glasses are so
nerdy & she is so ultra fashionable today!





1st grade Martha. Had color film been invented yet?
I still get those wispy strands when it's humid!

I love my confidence in this photo!  Probably about 12, I had no qualms
about wearing a bright red tank & Amelia Earhart haircut. 

As my body ages, my mind keeps feeling like I'm a cool young woman of about 28 (Do you hear that? That's the sound of my kids dying laughing!!)  Yes, I was young once. I was cool once.  I went to concerts.  In the coolest summer of all for me (1976...the bicentennial year), I saw Elton John, The Eagles, Fleetwood Mac & Paul McCartney and Wings.  I had big Farrah Fawcett hair & bell bottom jeans.  (I would share a photo from this summer as evidence, but my scanner is not working at the moment.  I only have photos that were already in my computer for my parents' anniversary DVD)

Probably Easter of '76 because I'm holding my neice who looks about 2.
Note the Fawcett-esque hairdo.



I was wondering who in the celebrity world might be my same age.  On the website http://www.celebrityagemachine.com/, I was able to find out that other people who are my age include Eddie Van Halen & David Lee Roth.  (Rockers are definitely cool, although Van Halen is not a group I saw in concert.)  Other people my age are beautiful (Chris Noth, Jimmy Smits), talented (Yo-Yo Ma & the late Steve Jobs), beautiful AND talented (Reba McEntire).  Reba!  Yes!  She'll be my inspiration for someone who can be my age, acheive things, and look good doing it!



In 1982, I'm a young mom with a practical 80's haircut

 As for celebs who aren't my age but share my birthday of Oct 16: there's Suzanne Somers, who's 9 years older, and Flea ,who's 7 years younger.  There's a soap opera actress named Ellen Dolan who was born on the exact same date as me, but since she wasn't on All My Children, I am unfamiliar with her. (See last month's post.)   Anyway, I can't identify with either the dumb blonde Chrissy Snow OR the older Suzanne Somers of Thigh Master fame. 

 And Flea??  Well, I'm cool enough to know how to use Wikipedida to find out who Flea is!   

I might have been thinner, younger & cooler once upon a time.
But this year is pretty great, too!!

    





FREE MONEY!

How's that for an attention-grabbing title?  This post IS about free money, though.  Let me explain:

Today I thought I'd take a little break from bragging about my grandkids.  Instead, I'll brag about one of my kids! 

Trey Smith is my 29 year old son who lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico.  He's been married to the lovely Cristin for 3 years now & they are the proud parents of a Pit mix dog named She-ra.

But what I'm writing about today is Trey's job.  He is a high school teacher & is the speech and debate coach for East Mountain High School Forensics team.  EMHS is a small charter
school.  As a first year teacher, 4 years ago, Trey started a team with 6 kids.  Through his leadership, the team has grown each year.  This last spring, his team won the state championship, competing against much larger schools throughout New Mexico. 

In June of this year, I had the opportunity to meet with Trey in Dallas, where he had brought the members of his team who had qualified for the National Forensics League Tournament. I spent a couple of days going with some of the kids to watch them in their events.  These kids are just awesome!  I was amazed at their talent & all the hard work they put in.  

2011 National Qualifiers from East Mountain High School

Each day of the tournament they would get up very early & dress in their best.  By 7 AM, we would be walking from our hotel to the tournament venue.  They would spend the entire day competing in their various events.  They would return to the hotel in the evening & start prepping for the next day.  They are so dedicated & hard-working.  How many high-schoolers do you know that are this disciplined? 

So, why am I telling you all about these kids today?  Because Trey has signed the team up for a fundraiser sponsored by Albertson's.  All you have to do is go to the Albertson's challenge website, type in your e-mail address and then select Trey's team to cast your vote.  You can vote up to 5 times per day (right in a row, so you don't have to leave the site & come back).  If the team is among the top 15 vote-getters, Albertson's will donate $5,000 to them!  That will be such a help.  Throughout the year, the team always has fundraisers to help with the costs associated with traveling to tournaments throughout New Mexico, and then the big expense of travelling to the national tournment.  How helpful it would be for them to spend a little less time fundraising....time that they can use in research and preparation for their events. 

http://www.albertsonscpchallenge.com/

Their charity code is 0513, or click on the E of the alphabetized charities & scroll to East Mountain High School.  There you can read a short article about the school and the team, and then place your vote.  They're accepting votes through this Saturday, Oct. 15.  You can vote every day, 5 times a day. 

It's a little thing to do and won't take much time.  You can feel good, though, about helping a VERY hard-working group of young people acheive their goals.

Thank you!!!!
Trey's Mom

Farewell to Pine Valley

When I worked in a research lab, back in the mid-90's, we all had these dry erase boards hanging outside our lab doors in the hall, where we would leave each other messages.  I vividly recall that one day my board announced "I'LL BE BACK AFTER LUNCH.  TAD IS GOING TO RECOGNIZE DIXIE TODAY!!!" Oh, yes, I confess that there have been a least a few times in my life when I have left work to watch a soap opera.  But not just any soap opera...the best one!  

All My Children began its run in 1970.  I was a freshman in high school.  I recall watching it occasionally during the summers, but I only vaguely remember it back then.  I was just beginning my long lasting love affair with TV.  A few of my favorites were I Dream of Jeannie, Gilligan's Island and Here Come the Brides (Oh, Bobby Sherman!).  

In college, the soap The Young and the Restless was all the rage.  A large group of our dorm residents (all girls, of course) would gather at lunchtime in the TV lounge to watch the story of someone who I believe was named "Snapper".  Obviously, for me that obsession didn't last.  

After graduating from college & going to work, in the pre-VCR/DVR/Soapnet past, it was difficult to find times when I could catch up with the goings on in Pine Valley.  I'd see it during the occasional quick lunch at my apartment or on a holiday or sick day.  Characters would come and go, but still it was pretty easy to catch up and keep up with the drama going on, mostly centering around Erica Kane.  

One of my all-time favorite couples was Palmer Courtland's daughter Nina, and Cliff Warner.  Their lavish fairy-tale wedding was amazing to me when I was a young wife myself.  When I was home with a new baby in the early 80's, I watched All My Children every day.

Cliff and Nina

In all these years, I've only known one other person who loved the show almost as much as me.   At the last job I had before I retired to become a full-time GrandMartha, my co-worker, Amber, was also obsessed with the residents of Pine Valley, PA.  But, being a very busy young mom, she rarely watched the show herself.  I'd watch it on Soapnet in the evenings and then update her at work over morning coffee.  I believe she enjoyed watching my animated re-caps more than she would have enjoyed watching the show herself.  

In the past few years of baby-sitting my grandsons, I watched less and less of AMC.  Although I was home, I spent more time watching recordings of The Backyardigans & less watching people who were supposed to be dead return and watching people who had pledged to love each other forever, fall into the arms of someone else.  The storylines had begun to annoy me.  

But I've watched again for the past couple of weeks.  Since the news of the show's ending was announced, I've wondered how they would go out.  Talk about bringing people back from the dead!  But you know what?  I'm kinda cool with that!  How else would you be able to see again one more time these characters you loved in the past?  As the show closes, Tad and Dixie (Dixie freshly resurrected!) are planning to get married again.  

So, today at noon I'll be watching.  And when the strains of that familiar theme start playing, I'm probably going to cry. (I swear if they use the old string version in place of the new one, I'm really gonna lose it!) I'll be saying goodbye to something that has been an almost constant in my life for 40 years!  How many things can you say that about?  

The beautiful Susan Lucci (aka Erica)



Mocha Schmocha

My Husband loves desserts.  Practically every dessert you can name.  It's a tribute to his amazing willpower (which I do not share!) that he stays so trim.  A really wonderful fudgy moist brownie is kind of his Holy Grail of desserts.  (Well, that, and a really wonderful fudgy chocolate pie with meringue, but that's a subject for a whole seperate blog post.)

Anyhow, the other day I bought a Pillsbury brownie mix that I hadn't tried before, thinking it would be something to pull out & whip up quickly for dessert some night.  Last night I did just that.  As I started stirring up the batter I began to smell coffee...strongly smell coffee!  I looked all around to try to figure out why I was smelling that.  My eyes stopped on the brownie mix box.  MOCHA FUDGE  brownies, it said.  I knew it said Mocha when I bought it, but somehow I didn't connect the word "mocha" to "coffee".  If there's one thing Husband HATES as much as he loves dessert, it's coffee!    As the house began to fill with what to me was the yummy aroma of coffee and chocolate as the brownies baked, I explained to him my mistake.  All he said was, "You're gonna have to eat a lot of brownies."

So....if you're in my neighborhood today, stop by for a brownie.  Please. 

 

Twins at the Shore

I've always enjoyed taking pictures since I got my first Kodak instamatic when I was about 10.  Photography turned into more of an addiction for me 4 years ago when 2 things happened:  I got both a digital camera and a grandchild.  I have hundreds or thousands (hundreds of thousands??) of photos on our computer's drive.  Last week, my husband and I were taken on a trip by our son and his wife to see amazing Oregon & Northern California.   With all that scenery & 2 of the cutest little twin 2 years olds you'll ever see...well, let's just say I've been editing pictures non-stop ever since we returned.  I'll share a few that are in the category of black-and-whites at the beach. 

Carolann & Adeline

Adeline enjoying the beach breeze

Adeline & Carolann

 

Twins perch on Grandpa & Daddy's shoulder at
 Cape Kiwanda, OR.

Happiness!

James & Amy with their daughters

Carolann and Daddy

The twins inspect a jar of shells at our hotel.