Letters from Home – Page 235 – A blog by Angela Ross

Grandma Ruth

Grandma Ruth, Angela, Paige

We visited Grandma Ruth on the next stop on our trip. She made us a strawberry pie and served us rainbow sherbet. We sorted out 6 boxes of history during the day spent together. I came home with a journal from my Great-grandmother Cerie and many priceless pictures. Grandma Ruth is a cancer survivor! She looks great and has a beautiful new wardrobe in a smaller size.

Great-grandma Ruth

The classic Fisher Price Toys, books, puzzles, and back yard entertained the boys. Paige sat with Grandma and me all day. Richard buried his head in some of Grandma Ruth’s books while watching Mark.

out to eat

And of course we ate out. Uncle Jay and Aunt Nora and Christine joined us.

It’s been 5 years since the kids and Richard visited Grandma’s home (and a year and a half since I was there). I was so happy we were able to visit.

Protected: July Sahuarita Saga (use my middle name)

Newport Beach Highlights

Dale and Lorraine Ross and all of their posterity. Beaches are great magnets for attracting people to a family reunion. And even the in-laws have a good time. I did.

The 9 and 10 year old cousins were inseparable.

Timothy made a sand castle. He helped collect 157 sand crabs in one day.

More of Mark’s Wave Revelry. Look at my arms getting toned trying to keep him from getting swept away.

Sushi tonight, anyone? We found so many critters in this washed up bunch of seaweed. It was really fascinating.

A secret club with its own language and code names was formed by the cousins. Timothy approached me one afternoon and said, “Mom, I’m in a secret club. Do you want to know my code name? It’s Tiki! And Daniel’s code name is Big D and…” His cousin Lizzie, passing by added, “And my secret name is Abba!” So much for keeping it secret… I later found this paper plate with the minutes of one of their top secret meetings written on it.

We brought a nice tent to shade Grandma and Grandpa and the babies. The tent is Richard’s pride and joy. That and its accompanying sand bags to keep it stationary. I like this picture a lot.

Richard with all of his siblings minus one out in the ocean.

Ladies, that guy is All Mine.

San Bernardino

Redlands Temple

San Bernardino was the beginning and the end of our long vacation. We stayed with Mom and Dad (President and Sister S.) over the first weekend and again on our way home. Sister S. commented that the kids seemed just as happy at the end of the trip as the beginning. No wonder. They spent 2 weeks being loved by parents of the grand and great-grand variety.

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We met a charming balloon artist at the Rainforest Cafe. Mark loves his new bunny, Chatter.

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We loved the handcart rides. So did the neighbor kids who hopped in to join us.

Valley boys and girl

Darling, yes?

Timothy

Timothy tried out the little pool.

Daniel

Nice one, Daniel!

Mark

And of course, little brother joined in the fun. Meanwhile, Paige was upstairs sketching and making a beaded bracelet.

MP and SS

We love you all the way to the moon!

And thank you for the doughnut tip: Tailor Maid doughnuts are superb. Thanks for the nice visit.

We are so amazed at all you do. We think you are doing A Great Work.

Lessons in Simplicity

It’s our first day home from vacation. I’ve spent all my time today doing laundry, answering e-mails and making decisions my vacation-paced brain is not ready to accomplish. While on my trip I wrote a few journal entries about things I had learned on a two week vacation at the beach and on the road (2500 miles). Tonight I think I’ll share one of these thoughts with you.

One lesson from the trip was Simplicity. There is something to be said about keeping our belongings and distractions to a minimum. I spent a lot of time with Mark with waves and gulls as our only entertainment. I walked and ran up and down the beach with that boy until my feet were calloused from the sand. My thoughts didn’t stray to other things when I was with him; I was all his, and we let hundreds of waves lap at our feet and we sank into the sand as the water washed away.

Our beach house was equipped with only a few dishes. And how nice; it meant just a few dishes to wash. I decided that my house feels decadent after such a simple week. The closets full of sheets and blankets seem excessive; the multiple sets of towels: an indulgence that weighs me down and makes me more busy than I need to be.

So, tonight I am too tired to post more pictures, but I want it to be said that I want to be more like I was on the beach; accessible, unfettered by excess, not unnecessarily burdened with worries.

My house is still a joy to me. We walked in and the familiar paintings and belongings are here and it feels good. But after a few weeks of living out of a suitcase, I find myself more aware of and impatient with all the THINGS I lift around the house all day. It’s kind of like I’m living a farcical tale about a person who spends her days shuffling objects from room to room and thinks that the organization and neatness of those objects will make her happy. I took a step away from that life and I’ve come back disenchanted with it.

These thoughts are certainly not as profound as Anne Lindbergh’s Gift from the Sea, but I think they are worthy of some action… Like a good trip to the donations bin at the church.

Thinking of You

Yes, dear reader (family & friends), I am thinking of you on our vacation and I will be posting again soon. But this vacation I have sworn off blog work. I’m off to play at Grandma Ruth’s today with family heirlooms and photos and memories.

Shakespeare Week II

I felt alive today, truly happy teaching my kids and their friends and helping them discover and create and keep trying, even when it’s hard. I was born to teach and love kids. Today was the second meeting of the Sonoran Shakespeare Players and we worked on three big projects on three big tables in our house.

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Station 1: Try writing with a quill pen and create an illuminated manuscript letter.

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She loved it.

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So did she.

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This little boy will have done it all by the time he begins school. I love the “…and why not?” look on his face.

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Station 2: Using an oatmeal container, popsicle sticks and tooth picks, construct a Globe Theater.

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Paige and Emma re-created the balconies, stage, partial roof and entry with the Latin phrase meaning, “All the World’s a Playhouse” and drew Hercules carrying a globe on his shoulders.

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Station 3: “Translate” and rewrite a speech from Hamlet from one of your favorite characters. Then draw your favorite scene.

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This one took the most brain power and time. Wow, the kids did a great job, once they realized they didn’t have to understand every word, just the main ideas.

For our next meeting, we’ll have our two missing Players back from vacation and we’ll be able to finish reading the play aloud. The costumes are accumulating; we’re focused and oh, so dramatic.

It’s a Right-Brainer

sport

This is a word, a little worse for wear after hanging for an hour. It was the theme from our Cub Scout Pack Meeting tonight. Daniel earned a silver arrow point, the ultimate frisbee belt loop and baseball belt loop.

Tomorrow I’ll listen better

M.R.

Mark has been grumpy all day. And I have been typing, sewing, shopping, and cleaning instead of walking with him, holding him and easing his troubled heart most of the day. Tonight was better as we snuggled together to read bedtime stories. Tomorrow I’ll respond more promptly to his needs. Duh. It took me all day to figure that his grumpiness and my busy-ness had a correlation.

“Fathers and mothers are too absorbed in business and housekeeping to study their children and cherish that sweet and natural confidence which is a child’s surest safeguard and parent’s subtlest power… Happy are the boys and girls who tell all things freely to Father or Mother, sure of pity, help, and pardon; and thrice happy the parents who, out of their own experience, and by their own virtues, can teach and uplift the souls for which they are responsible.”

-Louisa May Alcott, Eight Cousins

Family History

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No time to post much. I’m finishing up some work for Grandma Ruth’s personal history and making some new quilt squares for her family quilt. I’ll see her in August and I want to surprise her.

Man, I’m excited.

Oh, and another thing:

I just noticed that this is the 100th post on our blog. Do you have a favorite post? e-mail me if you want and tell me. I think my favorite posts are Girls Camp Eve, Book Ends and Spring Lake Ramblings. Girls Camp Eve I made private after my blog got pounded with hits looking for nifty Girls Camp ideas, which is NOT what that post was about. Although we have kept our blog public, we know it’s my family who reads it, and the occasional accidental tourist. I’ve lived away from family so long that it feels good to think that you are getting to know me a little better through this blog; many of you, for the first time.