Coon Skin Cap

When we were down in Texas, John David got to spend a little time with GiGi and Grandpa. They took him to Cavenders to try on some new cowboy boots for his birthday. He has such a wide foot that we had no luck finding any to fit him. (GiGi has since found a pair of double-wide EE width toddler boots on-line). John David loved his Uncle Sam's old Barney and even took him home to Pittsburgh with us. He keeps his "saur" (dinosaur) in his crib with Curious George and his GloWorm. When he goes to sleep he tells each of them "Night night," one by one.

Daddy let John David try on a Davy Crocket coon skin cap at Cavenders. His Grandpa thought every little boy could use a hat like this but Mommy felt it was hideous and was thankful that no one bought it for him.


After Cavenders we all went to Rudy's for some Texas BBQ. John David even used a toothpick when he was done, just like Daddy and Grandpa. What a man.

Adventures in Kniiting

This is the blanket I just started. I'm alternating between the two skeins of yarn to give a striping effect. The first few rows there at the bottom don't look stripey because the yarns were too similar to show a different at first.

This is my next project. I bought two skeins of variegated sock yarn and four skeins of solid colors. I'm going to hold the sock yarn together with the solid yarn. Here is where I got my inspiration: click here.

But I chose different colors and brand of yarn.

This is the blanket I just finished.
This close up shows how pretty the colors are.

Goodbye Grandpa

We were all sad to hear that David's grandpa passed away unexpectedly on February 1. We were extra thankful that we got to see him over Christmas. John David just loved his great grandpa. John David's favorite thing was when Grandpa would toss him up in the air. He would say, "Again!" over and over. Another highlight of seeing Grandpa over Christmas was playing penny poker games late into the night---and Grandpa always choosing the game Killer.

Here are some pictures of scattering Grandpa's ashes at the pier. He grew up fishing off this pier and used to take David fishing here too---they never caught anything, but this was always their last stop before hitting the Fleet Reserve for a beer on the way home.

Just after Grandpa's son Jimmy scattered his ashes into the water and said a prayer, a jet (two actually) flew over us, as if it had been perfectly timed and planned all along.

Vaya con dios Grandpa. We love you.