Grandma & Me: Our Mother’s Day In Lockdown

Happy Mother's Day!  I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day in spite of the circumstances we are all living under now.  It takes a lot more creativity to make holidays special when most of us are still under quarantine, doesn't it?  It kind of reminds me of the "olden days" when more thought and effort went into a gift instead of money.  I know in our house, we all put our heads together to try and make the day special and meaningful.  We were hoping for nice weather so we could go to a state park, but unfortunately a cold front moved in so we decided to stay home and do some fun activities instead.  

Our day began with an amazing breakfast made by my husband.  He is the KING of French Toast!  I tell you, no one can make French Toast better than my husband.  So for my Mother's Day gift I requested French Toast with strawberries and whipped cream for breakfast.  Now, I'm normally a Keto/Low Carb/No Sugar kind of gal but hey, it's not only a holiday but it's the apocalypse as well so why not splurge?

Alethea has never had French Toast before so this was a treat for her as well.  She did not know what to think when she saw my plate! 

But she dug in and gave it a try and boy did she love it!  She ate the whole thing!

The special treatment for the day didn't end with breakfast.  My son-in-law did the dishes and I opened my gift from the kids.  I was so happily surprised to see a pair of walking sticks to use on all the hiking adventures I take with my husband.  I did sadly remark that I hope someday again I will be able to use those walking sticks and we won't be imprisoned forever.

My son also face timed me during this time.  It was sad that he couldn't be with us, but it was nice to see his face on a screen at least.  Hopefully we will be able to be with him soon.

My granddaughter Alethea requested a tea party for Mother's Day so I purchased some pretty treats, and brought in some cut tulips from my garden.

Just like Easter, we all got dressed up in our pretty dresses even though we didn't go anywhere.  We made paper crowns out of glitter paper and jewels.

Since Alethea had the prettiest dress of us all, we coordinated our outfits around her.  I wore a blue/teal wrap dress from Stitch Fix and I added a white cardigan for warmth.  I also designed my crown to match my dress!  A Mother's Day crown must coordinate with her outfit, right? 🤣

My daughter Ashley made some delicious herbal tea to go with our sweets.

We had a lot of gluten and sugar today, especially for people who don't normally have it in their normal diet.

To our delight, the store bought cupcakes and tea cookies were delicious!  I've been so busy in the garden, it was easier for me to buy them than make them.

We're expecting a frost tonight and I'm praying my beautiful garden won't be dead by morning.  All the crab apple trees are just about to open, and all the tulips already are blooming.  I always get so sad when we get snow/frost this time of year.  It seems to happen almost every year too.

I just love Alethea's dress!  It's so gorgeous.  We let her wear it most of the day, and I wore mine as well (except I put black leggings on underneath to stay warm!) since it was a special day.  I kept my crown on all day too!  I was queen for a day after all!

The tulips were closed up tight outside, but when I brought them inside the warm house, they opened up wide.  I actually prefer the look of a closed tulip, but I know so many people love to see them open.  Which way do you prefer?

I know I was so blessed this day to be able to spend Mother's Day with my kids, as I know so many other Mother's could not.  I hope and pray you all were able to do something special this day even if you couldn't be with your families.

God Bless!

Amy

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Grandma & Me: "Fun At Kline Creek Farm

This month's "Grandma & Me" post is going to be a little different because the WHOLE FAMILY IS INCLUDED and not just me and the grand kids.  Back in October we met the kids and grand kids at Kline Creek Farm in Wheaton, Illinois.  It is a a period working farm designed to educate people about farm life in the 19th century.

It was an overcast day, with a bit of a drizzle in the air, but that didn't damper Alethea's spirits!  She was so excited to see us again and visit all the animals on the farm.

My favorite part of the visit to the farm was that we got to take a tour of this beautiful farmhouse.  Every hour on the hour a volunteer dressed in period costume comes out and rings this bell to let visitors know the house is open for tours.

The interior of the house is furnished with period pieces, both originals and reproductions.

The house had beautiful flower garden beds all around it.

The farm has many buildings, but this is the largest barn.  Inside the barn they show how hay and feed is stored.  There is also a livery underneath and stalls for the animals.

I love this picture so much because of the way Alethea is looking at her Grandpa Todd.  She absolutely adores him.  She thinks he is so funny.  When I was with her last week she said to me "I love Grandpa Todd so much!"  It just melted my heart.  It's so important that our children and grandchildren to have great role models.

I suppose I had better get into the fashion side of this post as my "Grandma & Me" posts are about "What We Wore" too.  Well, since it was fall,  the kids and I and Ashley and Jason all dressed up in coordinating fall colors.  Ashley wanted fall family portraits taken and I wanted pictures for a "Grandma & Me" post, so we decided to kill two birds with one stone and do it on the same day.

For Alethea's outfit, she kept with the farm theme and wore an overall dress, with a white tee underneath and tall brown boots.  A mustard sweater was the perfect color for fall.

This farm kitty was so cute!  He ran to greet us when we first arrived.

I wore a new rust colored tie top from TJMaxx,  blue stretch cords (old, Stitch Fix), and brown suede fringe booties.  I put a yellow camisole underneath my top to match Alethea's yellow cardigan.

Atticus wore a cute top I bought for him from Carters when he was just born.  It has a teddy bear patch on the chest, blue stripes on the front and back, and red sleeves.  He wore soft blue jeans on his lower half.

And here is the fall family portrait Ashley used for Facebook.  I love how Ashley's top unifies all the colors everyone is wearing together.

The sheep were so CUTE!

I thought Alethea looked so cute in this outfit!  She loves her tall boots.  Her mom says she loves shoes in general.  She is such a fashionista!

The horses they had on the property were so beautiful!

They had lots of chickens on the farm, and even some turkeys.  They did not seem to fear people at all as they followed us everywhere.

And what would a farm be without cows?

The path to the farm is so pretty.  Right before you get to the house, there is a charming little bridge that goes across the creek.

Baby Atticus was pretty happy this day too.  He just started smiling when these photos were taken.  He was 2 and a half months old.

The farm is open Thursday through Monday 9:00 to 5:00 and is FREE!  Depending on the time of year, the period dressed volunteers and staff re-enact 19th century farm activities like canning, baking, planting, harvesting, sheep shearing, and ice cutting.  It is not only educational, but fun for the whole family.

Have A Great Day!  Amy

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Grandma & Me: Fall Fashion For A Warm Day

My beautiful grandchildren and I have some pretty fall fashions to share with you this month.  And as a special surprise, their mother Ashley joined us in this month's "Grandma & Me" post.

I'm sure most of you are anxious to hear about Baby Atticus so we will talk about him first.  Atticus is doing very well. He was one month old when these pictures were taken.   He's gaining lots of weight, as you can probably tell.  I think he weighed around 10 lbs at the end of August.  Although he was a bit colicky off and on when I was visiting, he's basically a pretty chill baby with such a sweet temperament .  For a newborn, he is sleeping pretty well.  We were just visiting the kids again last weekend for Atticus baby dedication and mom said he was sleeping four hours straight till he needed a feeding.

Alethea has been such a good big sister.  She puts his pacifier back in his mouth if it falls out and he starts to cry;  it's so cute.  About the only issues we've had is that she wants to play with all of Atticus' toys, especially if they are new.  She doesn't understand she is too big to sit in Atticus' bouncer.  🤣  She also has had to adjust to sharing her "Mamy".  It's been hard for me when I visit to find time to smother Alethea with attention, yet, also spend quality time with Atticus as well.  I don't know how all you grandmothers with dozens of grandchildren do it.  I'm already feeling overwhelmed.  But if I have to feel overwhelmed by something,  this is probably the best thing to be overwhelmed about!😃

As I stated earlier, these pictures were taken at the end of August when the weather was still warm (and still is for many of my warm weather state friends).  What I like to do when the weather is warm yet I want to dress for fall, is to wear fall colors in light weight fabrics.  I also don't transition my sandals to boots until after it's officially fall (which is September 23rd for all the fashion bloggers who think fall comes right after the 4th of July 🤣).

My sandals are by Tommy Hilfiger and Alethea wore these cute white shoes.

The top I am wearing is new this fall.  I picked it up at TJMaxx.  I just love the color and the zipper neckline.  This color is EVERYWHERE this year.  If you can only buy one new fall item this season, buy something, anything in this color!  Or, buy a pair of snakeskin booties...those are totally trending too!  I paired my new top with a pair of green linen wide leg pants by St. John's Bay.

I couldn't find this top on-line at TJMaxx, but check out your local store, it might be available.  Otherwise, I love THIS ONE on Amazon.  THIS rust colored tee is pretty cute too!  

Mom wore a very old maxi dress that cost only $1.99 from Rue 21.  And, would you believe I wore this very same maxi dress on my very first fashion post in 2013?  Yes, check it out HERE!  Yikes!  I can't believe I've been fashion blogging for five years now!  I also can't believe how much older I look!  That's what menopause does!

My darling Alethea wore this mustard floral dress.  I just love the vintage vibe.  And isn't the eyelet neckline just the cutest?  Because of the fall color of this dress, she will be able to wear it a long time this season by just popping a cardigan or denim jacket over it and switching out the white shoes for boots.

For Atticus' outfit we dressed him up in a soft blue collared shirt and a pair of rusty brown trousers.

This was such a beautiful day!  A gentleman saw us taking pictures of each other and asked if he could take a picture of all of us together.  I always appreciate that when someone asks, because we have so few pictures of the entire family together.

I absolutely loved this little nature park.  There was a marsh, a lovely wildflower garden, and a cute play area for the kids.  We loved watching the bees and butterflies fly around all the flowers in the garden.

Alethea loves to explore in nature.  I thought the expression on her face when she touched the blooms of this grass was priceless!

And of course Alethea's  love for exploration causes her to wander off and we are forever chasing after her!

Have A Great Day!  Amy

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