More Little Things...

And...here are a few small items I want to remember...

First, Katelyn requested I made a tutu for Raelyn's first birthday which will happen in January. I purchased the supplies while Claude was in Pittsburgh and put it all together November 22nd. This is the outfit. She has a long sleeved white onesie to wear under the tutu. It is cold in Michigan so long sleeves were important to me. I found silver leggings to go under the tutu. In the Disney store I purchased these bright pink shoes and then got some white socks with lace to wear with the shoes. What fun this Great Gramma had getting this all together. Thank you Katelyn for trusting me with this important moment in Raelyn's life.

Katelyn's next request was based on a childhood memory. We do this when we have children. Katelyn remembered a cassette tape of Papa reading the book 'A Cajun Christmas' which her mom played for them over and over at Christmas time. Somehow that reading was inadvertently taped over. Katelyn wanted Raelyn to have this memory of Papa reading the book. So she asked if I could find the book and have Papa read it while I recorded it. The book was with my Christmas books so it was easily found. I took it to Papa and suggested he read it several times before we taped it. It is written with a Cajun pronunciation. Papa always told Cajun jokes like Justin Wilson when we were kids and so he has a lot of experience speaking like that but hasn't in many years. Papa opened that book and was in heaven. He was so excited to read with that pronunciation. We finally got around to getting it recorded. I sent this picture via eMail along with the recording of Papa to Katelyn. She was extremely happy to get this blast for her past to share with her little girl.

This is Templeton. Named after the rat in the book 'Charlotte's Web'. When Bailey was about 4 or 5 years old, this rat was with the toys in the toy room in the basement. Bailey fell in love with it and carried it everywhere by the tail. Andie had shown them the movie of 'Charlotte's Web' and Bailey immediately named the rat Templeton. I have pictures of her carrying Templeton hanging by his tail as we walked along the creek and sitting on the driveway watching Bailey color with the chalk. He was a treasured friend to her. She slept with him just like she did all the soft lovey's. We were trying to help her learn borrow and return things and she would borrow Templeton and take him home with her and then bring him back when she visited the next time. After a while I just gave her Templeton with no need to return. Over the years he kind of vanished. A few days before Thanksgiving I got one of those notices of pictures from so many years back. One of them was Bailey and Templeton coloring on the driveway at our home. I smiled and remembered the love she had for that hard plastic rat. Imagine my surprise when they arrived on Thanksgiving morning and Bailey came in the living room holding Templeton by the tail!! We enjoyed his presence through Thanksgiving. When the Marx family got ready to leave, Bailey ran to quickly find a sticky note pad. She wrote a note and left Templeton on the coffee table in the living room. The note says, "Take good care of him." Bailey put a smiley face on this note. My emoji loving granddaughter did a handwritten emoji!! Templeton is still sitting on our coffee table and will until I put out Christmas decorations. Then I must find a good place for him to be "taken good care of".