Florence Griswold Museum

About a mile down the street from my house, there is a famous art museum known as the Florence Griswold. It has a few formal viewing rooms with travelling art exhibits that trade out about every three months. Our town is actually well known in the art world. About 100 years ago, an artist set up a summer camp at the Florence Griswold home, and other artists would rent rooms there. The would travel all over the area painting local landscapes. Mrs. Griswold also allowed her favorite artists to paint on the doors and walls of the house. So, it's got a very interesting flair.

We took my parents there to see all the sights. They had a great Christmas decoration -- local artists had each painted a pallet with a design of their choosing. All the pallets are hung on a giant Christmas tree. Maddie loved playing "Where's this?" with little flip cards trying to find snippets of each painted piece.

Here are some pictures of the landscape behind the house:

A Boy & His Grandpa

From the instant my dad walked through the door on November 25th for their Thanksgiving visit, little John was constantly looking for his grandpa.

Little John would run as soon as my dad started to speak to find him and give him a gigantic hug. Sometimes he would hug grandpa, run to play, and run back again to share a little more love. He just wanted to be near his grandpa as much as possible.

It was so sweet to see the little boy's love for his grandpa. Little John is pretty giving with love for others, but it was really interesting to see how much he recognized a special connection with his grandpa.

There really is something to families being forever. Even my one-year-old recognizes it.

Cleaning House

So, it's time to get rid of some things clutering my house. I've put a bunch up on Craigslist. Let me know if you are interested in anything.
Nov 12 - Bouncing Buddies Cradling Bouncer Seat Bouncy Seat - $10 -
Nov 12 - Victoria’s Farmhouse Unfinished Doll House -- $90 OBO - $90 -
Nov 12 - End Table -- $20 OBO - $20 -
Nov 12 - Sewing Table -- $40 OBO - $40 -
Nov 12 - Stuffed Bear Chair Toy $35 OBO - $35 -
Nov 12 - Havana Joe/Hush Puppie and other shoes - $30 -
Nov 12 - Cuisinart Smart Power 7 speed blender--$35 - $35 -
Nov 12 - Cowboy boots brown leather -- $30 OBO - $30 -
Nov 12 - In-Step 10K single jogging stroller -- $50 OBO - $50 -
Nov 12 - KitchenAid Mixer with paddle & hook -- $75 OBO - $75 -
Nov 12 - Graco SnugRide Infant Car Seat – like new - $40 -
Nov 12 - BabyBjorn – Infant Carrier Navy Blue - $10 -
Nov 12 - Antique Vintage Dresser -- $300 OBO - $300 -
Nov 12 - Antique Vintage Rocking Chair -- $300 OBO - $300 -
Nov 12 - Pottery Barn Girls Rug - $50 -

Birthday Bash!

We had Maddie's birthday party on Saturday. It went so great! I can't believe we invited about 25 kids. I think we had about 20 party goers between the ages of 4 and 8, and about 10 parents and siblings that joined in. All in all, it was a great event.

I have to thank a few people that helped make the event a success. For pictures, I need to thank Emily's brother and Adrian who took the photos here. Click on their names to check out their blogs. Also, Emily really pitched in and painted faces for over an hour. One of the kids in Maddie's class at school brought their moon bounce -- what a bonus!

We luckily had fantastic weather, so we had all the kids stay in the backyard as much as possible. We had coloring, pizza, games, cake and party favors. I'm extremely proud of Maddie's shirt and crown. I put those together myself. I also made all the carnival games for the kids to play. Maddie and I made the castle cake.

Here's the photo festival: