Maya creates a gift for her parents. We framed it and delivered it yesterday.
Every year I do my top show at the Perinton Nursery School. Part of the show is trying to spin one of my whirligig tops on the end of the stem of another one. It usually takes several tries to get it - sometimes I just give up. This year I got it on the first try for both the morning and the afternoon show! And the teacher captured the moment on my camera! Doing my top show is always something I love to do, and I really appreciate the fact that they have me back every year. Part of the reason it works out is that they pretty much only do 4 year olds, so it is a new group every year! Click here to see more about having me do my top show for your group!
Found this 8 year old ornament while decorating the tree. Can you believe this young lady is away at college now? We'll see her in a few days - can't wait!
Wonderful day! Maya came over to our place and helped decorate our tree. Then she and I made some cornbread for lunch, and after lunch we decorated some Christmas tree ornaments for the family next Sunday at the Palmeri family holiday open house!
Collecting Spinning Tops has been a big part of my life over the years - especially during my years as The Toycrafter. I recently got a nice batch of Mexican Spin tops through my association with a Spinning Top Forum on line. This is the first serious top purchase in several years, and a most exciting package to open. If you are into tops, click here to check out our forum, or here to check out the web site of the guy who runs the forum.
Since this sign says "Do not block this entrance" and "Do not sit or stand in front of door" AND has the international "Do Not" red circle with slash, I took this to mean that I definitely should block this entrance and either sit or stand in front of the door. The fact that this sign is on the door to the teacher's lounge in a school makes the double negative doubly interesting???
This is just way too much fun! 
Spirally version!
Vinyl record version!
Elsie the Cow!
Reddi Killowatt!
The above poseable paper doll was made from a drink coaster -- one of 4 salvaged when Cheryl and my parents and I went to Ruby Tuesday's for a birthday dinner in October! If I do say so myself I love it! I'm working on some more round images that I can print, but if you have some coasters lying around let me know.
Thanksgiving cupcakes by our granddaughter - with able assistance from her Mom and Dad of course!
I got to spend the evening with CJ, Maya, Deanna, and Casey last night!
Not sure of the date on this picture that my friend Carolyn sent me, but there is no gray in the beard, looks like a bit less tummy, and the red hat has been gone for a long time!
I've got about 20 of my violets in early stages of blooming, and can hardly contain myself. Here is the first one - Midnight Rain Standard from The Violet Barn in Naples, NY. (Standard means this variety will grow to full normal size for the violets we all remember.... about 10-12 inches across in a 4" pot, but can grow up to 24" across if grown in a larger pot, and kept carefully trimmed and the flower buds are trimmed to maintain fewer but larger flowers.
How about a 28" tall paper doll - jointed and poseable like the smaller ones! Fairly sturdy - made from hand painted very thick acid free water color paper (1/16" thick paper). Fastened with metal screw binding posts used to bind books, swatch samples, etc.
Maya and Grandma enjoy a book while CJ and Mom and Dad are off to the pediatrician.
Yes - I'm a lot older than that! They actually got married twice - First time in 1945 - I'll post that picture sometime. After a rocky stretch - divorce - marriage to other folks - divorced again - they both decided the first one was better than they thought, and they got married again to each other on November 10, 1972!
CJ Sams is here - about 2 hours old as of this writing.. more pictures will follow, but he weighs 6 lbs 3 oz. and seems perfect in every way - He took about 10 minutes to emerge at 2:01 AM November 7, 2009!
Above is Maya in her costume, and below are a few of the wonderful pumpkins our neighbor across the street carved this year! Tonight was a great night. Nice weather, lots of kids, lots of very nice and polite older kids, and a lot of fun. We ran out of candy and had to turn out the lights at the end, but a good time was had by all!
Most fall pictures are of the wonderful fall leaves on the trees. I found these on the ground. They will soon be a fill on a paper doll dress!
Walking over to Grandma and Grandpa's house has become part of the Tuesday routine!
I figured out a way to print the dresses on these paper dolls -- I really like the results. All these are done with pictures I took myself. Above, a picture of some tomatillos I took around Thanksgiving last year? Below a sunflower.
Below - a collection of our heart pins.
Below - light shining through a wonderful glass bowl made by Matt Seaholtz.
Below - a picture of flowers growing in the yard.
And below - not a photo, but a paper doll made entirely from a "Fiddle Faddle" box!
Click pictures to embiggen!
Wonderful place, but beware - they won't replace dropped cones!
These white deer are found in Romulus, NY at the former Seneca Army Depot.... a fully fenced in army base that protected these white deer from predators including man. (they are not albinos - just a white mutation that has survived in a unique environment) An early morning or early evening drive by on Route 96 will usually reward you with a view of several of these lovely creatures. On the way home on yesterday I stopped and got this shot. A fellow a bit further on was getting some great shots of a young buck, but I decided that he would not be happy if I stopped to join him and scared off his subject!
Just cut off the stem of a leaf at about a 45 degree angle, and stick in water!
This is my granddaughter Maya Louise Sams "throwing" a top on International Top Spinning Day - October 14th, 2009. Remember that she is 27 months old! She actually did her best to copy what Grandpa Don had done to spin the top. She sort of wadded the string up around the top and actually threw it. Not too clear in the picture, but the top is in the air..... making it International Top Throwing Day for Maya!
