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NEW BEGINNINGS: BIRTHDAYS ARE A NEW BEGINNING TO THE FOLLOWING YEAR

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  Three weekends ago I titled my post "BIRTH-DAYS".  This weekend I'm posting "BIRTHDAYS".  Both are new beginnings in their own way.  This was our son’s first birthday.  Looks like he’s not quite sure what to do here? Oops.  Where did that bright yellow flickering thing go?  Meanwhile, Dad thinks it’s time to take the cake away and cut him a piece! On his third birthday he had a birthday cake with three candles which he now knew what to do with. For his sixth birthday he had a birthday bash held at the local Veteran’s Hall.  So nice.  Big table, plenty of chairs, and easy set up & clean up!  And the small rent for the hall was well worth the fee.  Great way to go.  I did at least one more party for him at the hall.  Boys’ parties are a little more boisterous than girls’ parties and the hall provided plenty of run-around room! On his 16 th birthday he celebrated with friends, but first he shared a cake with the family! Our oldest daughter’s first birthday a

SPECIAL TIMES: KIDS JUST WANNA HAVE (HALLOWEEN) FUN!

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  Our first Halloween trick-or-treater, our son, went round dressed as a purple cow.  I found the mask first, then made the outfit to match it. J The following year he was an Indian warrior. Three years after that he was “Mr. Spock” complete with the ears. That was the year his oldest sister first went trick-or-treating as a princess. The next year saw big brother as a skeleton with eldest sister wearing the purple cow costume and younger sister pretending to be a dragon.  I made all three costumes.  The bones of the skeleton costume were cut out of iron-on material.  Eldest daughter inherited the cow costume from her brother.  Little sister never did wear it, but a cousin’s daughter did. J And here they are with their treat bags ready to be filled up!  That Halloween was a little different.  Some friends had come to visit us with their children that evening.  Unfortunately they didn’t believe in celebrating Halloween so didn’t allow their children to go trick-or-treating but said th

SPECIAL TIMES: THE GATHERING OF FAMILY & FRIENDS

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1941 – I’m not sure why the family was all together here?  Included in the picture are my Aunt Ruth, my Dad, my Mom, my Granddad Bradley holding me, my Grandma B, and my Aunt Frances. 1946 – This was either a Thanksgiving or Christmas gathering of my extended family.  I’m the little girl in the blue dress.  My Mom is in the second row in the dark outfit with my Dad over her shoulder behind her.  The other three women are his sisters – one has her husband behind her, with my Grandma B just in front of him.  The other kids are my cousins.  I’m not sure why my brother wasn’t in this picture?  He was three at the time.  He must have been napping.  1953 – Easter gathering of the Bradley clan including my Grandma B, my Dad and his sisters, and a slew of cousins.  I’m in the center with my Mom on my right, my Dad behind her, my brother in front of her, and my two sisters in the first row on the right. 1961 – My parents and friends playing Pinochle on New Year’s Eve.  1963 – Gathering with fri

SPECIAL TIMES: BIRTH-DAYS

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  Our first born, a son, a day home from the hospital in 1969 In the arms of his maternal grandmother In the arms of his paternal grandmother In the arms of his papa Years later, he with his own first-born child, a son, in his own arms! J A little doll, of course, must have a perfect doll bed.  We didn’t know ahead of time if she was going to be a ‘she’ or a ‘he’, so I had to wait to decorate the bassinette until after she was born.  The only skirt I had for it was pink, however – one my Mom used on a year-size crib for my younger sisters.  Had she been a boy, the bassinette would have had blue ribbons but no skirt. Our son holding his new sister New daughter in the arms of her maternal grandmother – her first granddaughter. A couple of years later gentle signs of motherhood had not yet kicked in . . . but by the time a sweet little niece (her younger sister’s second daughter) came along in 2002 she was doing okay. Our youngest daughter in the arms of her maternal grandmother – only a