Final Thoughts Month of July: Blog 3- Letters from Mom & Mimi

Hi Ellie!

Like always, I have another memory for you.  The Central Pennsylvania Arts Festival and The People’s Choice Festival were held here in town this past weekend, and of course our favorite day to spend there is the very first day… Children’s Day!  Let me tell you about it…

Final Thought: Make sure to support your community’s events at all ages, as they will give you enjoyment, inspiration, knowledge and an opportunity to meet new friends as well as connecting with old.

Well Ellie, thanks to your Mom (who is always on time) and Will (who bypassed his nap), we arrived at the Fest shortly after it opened and had no problem getting a parking space.  Just to give you an idea at how crazy town gets… over 100,000 people attend this five-day event yearly.  Our goal was to try and beat a good portion of the crowd… but it looked like that was everyone else’s goal too.  So before browsing the young artists booths we stopped at Starbuck’s for Gram Russell to get a coffee.  And because she loves you and Will so much she bought you each a cake-pop… chocolate I might add and you gobbled it up quite quickly.   The reason I am telling you this is because the day was already quite warm as you devoured this wonderful treat and my guess is that you wiped your ooey, gooey chocolaty fingers on your backside.  How did I know this?  I didn’t, at least not for a good portion of the morning.  My confusion stemmed from the chocolate that was smeared all over the front of my shorts after we had walked a few blocks.  Then a half hour later chocolate was smeared all over my shirt.  And yes, a short while after that chocolate was smeared all down the length of my arm.  Completely perplexed and half crazy I said to your mom, “Where in heavens name is all this chocolate coming from?  I am going to have to go home and take a bath!  No one is eating it and Ellie’s hands are clean!”  Thankfully your Mommy was standing behind you because she quickly scanned your body and started to giggle.  “Ah, check the back of Ellie’s legs.  I think that is why her hands are clean.  Every time you pick her up, you are wearing it too!”  Yep El…. The two of us looked like we were dipped in a chocolate vat!  Thankfully we had Will’s Wipey-Dipes as there was no time to waste with the kids art booths coming up.  And there were quite a few dozen to check out. 

Ellie, each booth hosted oodles of homemade merchandise from bracelets to necklaces to doll clothes to pet rocks to scented goat soap to door signs and so much more.  We all expected that you would want one of each item you saw, but you surprised us and passed each booth with a “No thank you.  I don’t want that” (except for the NO BOYS ALLOWED IN sign, that was a must!).  But then we came to the very last booth where your eyes lit up like sparklers because this specific booth was selling (of all things) bow and arrows with pom-poms.  “That’s what I want!  Can I have one please?”  You asked politely and excitedly.  And Gigi was sweet enough to buy it for you!  Funny thing though… even with practice you could not grasp the concept of how to get that bow to fly through the air!  

Not to worry El… since we were grabbing a Panera lunch-to-go so that we could picnic up on the PSU lawn where lots of activities were happening, I was able to work the bow and arrow over and over again from the blanket and you were quite happy just chasing the arrows to wherever they fell! 

While up on the lawn, we were also able to visit the real life Cat In The Hat, and the Shaver’s Creek tent where you saw a live owl only an arms length away.  You also saw a turtle and what you stated as your favorite animal… a Ratsnake!  Eeeeeewwwwww!  Ellie, I am not sure if you were really serious about that or if you were trying to shock me into making a creeped-out face… but if you were going for the latter, then you succeeded!  Actually I was most amazed at how much factual information you retained on these animals… you truly have a love of all creatures… from pets, to wildlife, to bugs, to farm animals! 

Speaking of which, the following day you, your Mom, Gigi, Will and I headed over to the People’s Choice Festival.  

After visiting a few art booths there, we gave in and let it be pretty much your day (again!)  

That means Ellie we headed over to the train ride, which produced a whistle that cost a dollar. Let me just say that after a couple dozen whistle blows it suddenly disappeared.  Your Mommy said, “Hmmm… it must have gotten conveniently lost!”  (Thank heaven for Mommys!)  We also moseyed on over to the pony rides and petting zoo.  First you rode Snowy; the littlest horse that was there last year, and then you got brave and rode Honey, which looked 3 times Snowy’s size!  

After that we took you and Will into the petting zoo which you were quite at home in, but Will almost lost his mind!  

He was sooooo scared Ellie that I think he would have crawled on top of your Mommy’s head to get as far away from the baby goats and cow as he could!  Talk about sibling personalities being completely opposite!  So Gigi and I took Will back to the big white tent where they were playing music and he was much happier slapping the tables to the beat of each song, and your mommy took you to make a tie-dye T-shirt and also hit the double/sliding board Bounce House! 

Oh Ellie, what a fun, fun time visiting both festivals was! 

Like I said in the beginning: our support brings life into some very interesting community events.  They can be entertaining, a learning tool and a once in a life time experience!  Embrace them Ellie … they add to your roots!

Love you El-bean!

Mimi

Final Thoughts Month of July: Blog 2- Letters from Mom & Mimi

Dear Ellie,

I have to share just a glimpse of an afternoon with you as a 4 year old. 

Final Thoughts: There is always humor in our day.

You were invited to your friend’s birthday party so off we went to find her a present.  Here’s how our shopping excursion looked in sequential order:

1.     While driving to the store, you told me “We should get her a dog toy.”  I asked why should we get her a dog toy especially if she doesn’t have a dog.  You giggled and replied, “Oops I meant a toy dog.”  Those kinds of word inversions do make the statement completely different!

2.     As soon as we arrived at Home Goods, you suggested “How about this?” referencing the display of soap dishes and dispensers (granted they were beautiful with mosaic designs).  “Or how about these?” you said as we passed the birdhouse table (which actually was a cool idea, except your friend and their family are waiting for their house to be built so they are in a temporary spot).  I think your goal was to conquer and leave as fast as you could!

3.     “This looks cool.  I think it’s a pooper scooper,” you mentioned aloud as you passed mechanical arms in the toy department.  I didn’t correct you, as I didn’t think this little girl would particularly like the toy however you use it.

4.     “This is perfect,” you said as you were clearly nearing the end of your patience.  It was a Little Tykes family set that said for ages 1-5 and I pointed that out.  You responded, “Well, it says for 5 year olds and she is going to turn 5 on her birthday so we should just hurry and get it.”  I told you that I thought she would quickly outgrow it as you discarded it grumpily. 

5.     Then you found the rocking chairs for girls- one in polka dot pink and the other leopard print (each were over $100).  “This is definitely what we should get her!” you exclaimed as you were lounging in a zebra patterned one.  I agree, your friend would love it but it was way out of our price range.

6.     Then you got distracted with the pet department across the aisle.  You found a plush stuffed dachshund toy that squeaked when you hugged it.  Again, I heard you say, “This is it!”

7.     You got reigned back in on the toy side when you saw a diary with an LED light (the idea was that you wrote down your feelings in invisible ink until the black light was shown over it revealing the secrets).  Although it was another pretty neat thought, the journal was more for a six or seven year old and I wasn’t sure if your friend was writing full sentences about her daily routines yet.

Despite the thread of a dog gift throughout our errand, we found a princess book themed present instead.

And Ellie, I was so proud of you- you didn’t ask for one thing while we were in the store proving just how grown up you are becoming.  As a final stop, we ran into Petco for cat food and you happily looked around the store (as it’s the closest thing we have to a zoo).    

I hope your friend likes her gift just as much as I loved shopping with you for it!

Love you Ellie, Mom

Final Thoughts Month of July: Blog 1- Letters from Mom & Mimi

 

Good Morning Ellie!

With July 4^th pretty much upon us, I thought it would be fun to write about ‘celebrations.’  The only thing though is that I cannot write about the ‘fests’ events yet, as they did not happen.  So I am opting to write about a play date that you and I had a week ago with the celebration being a Wedding!

Final Thought:  Since celebrations are important events where people are engaging in fun and enjoyable social activities, I realized that pretty much every moment I spend with you is a celebration as our time together is always important to me!

Ellie, sometimes you are just tooooooo funny!  The other day when you walked into my house wearing your pink knit dress, hot pink knee socks and red high heels, my first thought was “hmmmmmm, I wonder what Little Miss Ellie has in store for us to play tonight?”  And sure enough, your idea unfolded quite quickly.  You said, “Hey Mim’s… how about we play wedding?”  “Ok,” I responded.  “So how should we do it?”  With a big smile you said, “First we have to put on wedding dresses.  Follow me!”   So off we went in search of wedding attire.  You found a pretty white dress in your dress up box and I found a boxy, hippiesh white dress in my closet.  You insisted on wearing your red shoes, less the socks thank goodness, so I took out a pair of red high heels too.  For our headpieces you decide it best that we each wear a tiara.  Unfortunately I was not allowed to pick my own which gave you first dibs on the pink sparkly one leaving me with the diamond one.  Drats!  Make-up was next… unlike every other time you plastered on the eye shadow, blush and lipstick, this time you decided to keep it light!  Lastly came the gloves.  You opted for a beautiful aqua winter set, and I went with the more traditional lace.  Once we were finished donning our wedding attire we needed to figure out who was going to be married and who was going to be the flower girl.  Again, I had no choice in say as you were in charge.  You made the executive decision that I would be the bride and was going to marry ‘Justin’ and you would be the flower girl.  One small issue arose and that was that I did not have any loose flower pedals for you to throw as you walked down the aisle (I mean hallway).  Silly me.  I should have known that you would have an immediate answer to this tiny glitch too.  Running back into the living room and over to your play kitchen, you scooped up one of the baskets and filled it with plastic vegetables, fruit, and eggs!  Yes!  Now we were ready to begin the ceremony.  

Starting off in the bedroom, you preceded down the ‘aisle’ first, tossing the pretend food to either side.  As they kerplunked on the floor I gave you a questionable look of which you responded with a shrug of the shoulders and a “That’s what flower girls do!”   Your answer was good enough for me El, so I started humming Hear Comes the Bride and down the hall we glided.  Once we got to the alter (aka… rocking chair footstool) I married Justin and you clapped.  Then you told me that next we had to go to the party.  So we cleared a large area in the living room and together we danced to the YMCA and the Chicken Dance (just so you know there was no actual music so both songs had to be sung/hummed and sporadically worded by me!).  Ellie, you are such a sweet girl as you didn’t seem to mind that my voice was pretty much off-key and that I really had no idea what the actual songs words were!)  And I didn’t mind that your dancing was done with two left feet either!  We were having a blast!  Knowing that it was getting late (I snuck a peak at the clock which read 8:30 pm) I suggested that we advance to the dining room for the wedding banquet feast.  You readily agreed as you worked up an appetite from all that exercise.  Trying to keep it on the lighter side, the dinner consisted of delicious powdered wedding doughnuts and tea!  Ahhhhhhh……. Since our bellies were now satisfied and full, I thought the wedding was officially complete.  Nope.  Again, silly me.  I should know better by now Ellie, it was time to reverse the roles.  Now it was your turn to be the bride and my turn to be the flower girl!  I am not sure El if that was your way of avoiding bedtime or if it was just a fun, fun time for you, but either way it worked… bedtime came much later!

The wedding celebration you created that evening was such a fun idea Ellie, so much so that we played it again the next day.  And I think it made me realize that from the moment you were born, everyday in the life of Ellie Russell Callahan is a joyous celebration!  I sure do hope you enjoy this memory in future years!

I love you my little firecracker!

Mimi

Final Thoughts Month of June: Blog 4- Letters from Mom & Mimi

Dear Ellie,

Final Thoughts: In all of my years of education, I have found that the smartest students were the most curious.  Always ask questions.  Never take, “Just because,” as an answer.

Some of your most recent questions:

1.     Why does it thunder?

2.     Why do we go to the bathroom?

3.     Why do I have a skeleton?

4.     How do we get cavities?

5.     How is paper made?

6.     How does it rain?

7.     Why can we see the moon in the daytime?

8.     How do worms die in our driveway?

9.     Do worms have mouths?

10. How do toilets work?

11. Why is the frog’s foot ripping (as you referred to its webbed foot)?

Now, I knew the answer to none of those awesome questions above so off to YouTube we went.

However there were other questions that YouTube couldn’t help me with and I had to stumble through and give my own responses:

1.     What is the difference between terrible and horrible?  “I think they mean the same thing and I use them in the same way.  That’s called a synonym.”

2.     What is a soul?  “It’s what gives your body life spiritually.  It’s invisible and I imagine that it is near your heart.  Your soul is kind, compassionate, and good.  This is what travels up to heaven when you die leaving your body here on earth.”

3.     What does heaven look like? “Everything you love so I would bet it is rainbow colored with books, fudge, relatives, and friends.”

4.     Why are people underneath those rocks (as we drove by a cemetery)?  “That’s the bodies of the people who died and whose souls are now in heaven.”

5.     Why did Kyle die? “He was too sick and too broken to fix.”

6.     How did he get to heaven?  “We told him it was ok to go.  The worst thing in the entire world is for a parent to see their child hurting.” 

7.     Who’s the boss on Who’s the Boss?  “Sometimes Tony, sometimes Angela, and sometimes the children… depends on the episode.”

8.     Why did they name a show called Full House?  “Have you seen how many people live in that house???”

9.     What are videos?  “Ugh… old-fashioned DVD’s.”

10. Where do babies come from?  “Lots and lot of love!”

Love you my inquisitive girl,

Mom

Final Thoughts Month of June: Blog 3- Letters from Mom & Mimi

Good Morning Ellie!

With summer officially starting on June 21^st, I thought penning a poem about the season would be a perfect blog entry for this week.  So here it is.

Final Thoughts:  Summer is an ageless season of energy and lazy days, smiles and daydreaming, treats and homegrown freshness, barbequing and parks.  Overall… it is a season of pure fun to be embraced year after year!

Summertime

Popsicles and Ice cream

Are yummy summer treats.

Swimming pools and sprinklers

Are ways to beat the heat.

Soccer ball and baseball

Always on the run.

Flashlight tag and fireflies

Nighttime too is fun.

Thunderstorms and rainbows

Before the sky turns bright.

Blue skies and sunshine

A summer days delight!

By: Mickey Russell

Ellie, I am looking forward to sharing ‘all’ the above with you and your brother Will along with a few more surprises too!  

And if you are intrigued about those surprises, I am sure they will present themselves in some upcoming blogs for you to read about!  So get ready for lots of fun in the sun!

Love you Summertime Girl!

Mimi

Final Thoughts Month of June: Blog 2- Letters from Mom & Mimi

Dear Ellie,

You just had your last day of school ceremony and it made me think.

Final Thoughts: Tis the season for graduation speeches… if I were to give a commencement address, here is my advice to seniors (your brother Kyle was my inspiration for this one, especially since the 6^th recipient was awarded his scholarship just last week).

No one likes to think about death.  But for a moment, imagine your own obituary.  What do you want it to say?  Great humanitarian?  Master engineer?  Loyal friend?  Devoted parent?  Thoughtful neighbor?  Talented musician?  Brilliant doctor?  Spiritual advisor?  

Is the path that you are on right now going to make these words a reality?  What will your obituary say if you died tomorrow?  Be careful- laziness, selfishness, and jealousy often hold people back from their ultimate potential. 

At this moment, take five deep breaths and look into your heart.  What is it filled with?  Is it filled with passion, kindness, love, and faith?  And if it’s not, a good place to start is by asking yourself what gifts did God give you for you to share (know that everyone has at least one gift).

Then, shine that light on others.    

Don’t ask what people can do for you, but rather ask how you can help others.  How will you change the world?  Who will you impact?  What value will you bring to those around you?

Make a positive legacy for yourself.  When you are long gone, how (not if) will your name and reputation be remembered?  Start today.  There is no life that is too short to leave an impact.

For me, I don’t need a tombstone.  I want my ashes to be scattered in a breeze over a happy place that I cherished.  I don’t need an obituary.  But at the memorial celebration of my life, I want people to talk about how I loved family- both my own and those that I work with.  This is my goal- to continue to be a better wife, mother, and teacher.  

Love you Ellie and I can’t wait to see what you do with your life (my frog-loving, tomboy),

Mom

Final Thoughts Month of June: Blog 1- Letters from Mom & Mimi

Hi Ellie…

This past Saturday evening was a blast!  So much so that this week’s blog had to be this:

Final Thoughts:  From now through your adult life, I hope I am always ‘cool’ in your eyes!

You see Ellie, you always give me the freedom to come up with a fun idea and I in turn give you the freedom to ‘run with it’ so to speak!  Saturday’s time spent with you is a perfect example of what I am talking about.  Your Mommy and Daddy went to a wedding, so Poppy and I got the pleasure of watching you and Will (and like most typical babysitting days, we always seem to pack in a lot of activities!).  But the one thing I had forgotten was the promise that I made to you to play with the squirt guns outside and get each other wet.  Since it was already after 9:00 pm and quite dark outside, you asked me if we could play with them the next day after church.  At first I said yes, but then I thought “hmmmm… why not play with them now?”  So I asked you if you were ‘game’ to go outside in the dark and play ‘Squirt The Imaginary Pirates.’  Ellie, your eyes little up as big as saucers and you answered with an excitable “SURE!”  So I filled up two squirt guns and out the door we went (in pajama attire of course!).  As we ran around the house squirting shadows and far away bunny rabbits (well let’s hope they were bunny rabbits) you would yell out every so often “Shhhhhh… duck down” and then “All right, the coast is clear Matey.  Let’s go!” and also “Wait… there’s a pirate!  Squirt em Mim’s!!!”  One time we even hid behind a tree and laid in the grass when the neighbor’s car drove up the street and into their driveway.  When the last family member went inside their home and closed the door behind them, we pretended to squirt and capture them too!  Then we would quickly run to the back of my house and sneak up onto the deck to torture Poppy who was sitting in the sunroom.  When he would come to the door, off we ran before he could detect us!  Now in the back of our house we also have a shed with a large square wooden platform in front of it.  You, my little pirate girl, came up with the idea that the platform was to be our boat and also our base.  I came up with the idea that we needed to keep moving and searching for more pirates because unbeknownst to you Ellie, I think a grumpy old groundhog set up house underneath the shed and he wasn’t the type to ask us for tea! 

So off we went again, only this time you came up with the sweetest idea ever.  El, you said “Mimi, just so you know, every time we squirt a pirate, the water that hits them is LOVE and the LOVE turns them back into people like us.  And then they are nice again.”  Ellie, how could I say NO to that?  It was a brilliant idea!  The only problem was that our little platform was soon taken over by THE LOVE!  I think we captured a few dozen new imaginary human beings!  So it was then that I convinced you to move our boat to the front of the house and use the driveway as the ocean (actually, the front of the house was much brighter because of the lamppost and it was also easier for me to duck down, when you told me to, on the steps that lead to our front door and squirt THE LOVE in every crazy direction!).  El, we squirted and captured the moon, the stars, nearby trees and of course all the plastic animals and flowers in my yard!  But the most fun was squirting each other every once in awhile, which produced many a giggle!  I think you and I could have stayed outside playing this wonderfully silly game for hours Ellie, but unfortunately our squirt guns dried up so we had no choice but to go back inside.  And besides, we still had much to do before bed, as there is no set curfew at Mimi and Poppy’s house!   All I can say is that playing with you is such a joy!  

Right now you do not see me as a crazy or corny grandma but rather a playful Mimi that will start you off with an idea you can explore, change or add to and one that I can be a part of also.  May that be for always Ellie.  After all…

You are my Bestest!

Love Mimi