Busy, but having fun

Happy Woman's Day to you all! March 7 and March 8 bring beautiful memories to my mind. In my country we celebrate teacher's day on the 7th and woman's day on the 8th. The tradition was that on Teacher's day the whole class (elementary school) would buy a nice present for the teacher and would visit her at her home. It was so much fun and we looked forward to buying the present and getting the flowers and visiting her. I have great memories of this holiday. It was one way we showed our appreciation to our teacher. As years passed and I grew up, I still would send a postcard to my favorite teachers. And as for March 8th, it was our version of Mother's day in Albania, with the exception that not only we would buy a present for our own mother, but we would try to find presents or flowers for each other's mothers. My mother still has some of the cards my friends and I gave to her, as well as some of the little gifts my brother and I gave her. I love my childhood. It was a lot of fun growing up in Albania. People really cared for each other and parents were very involved with our lives. Special memories...


Today was another busy day, but of course we had the right attitude and made it fun. The day we moved here, we met a neighbour couple who we found out were in the same ward as we were. They are an older couple and very nice. The wife told me about the ward as well as what kind of activities were going on, mentioning that she organized a quilting class every Monday, and that if I wanted I could join. Now, I think quilting by hand is an amazing art form. I responded that at this point of my life I didn't think I had time for that, however, I would love to show her some of the quilts that Elijah's grandmother had made and given to us. So, yesterday she asked me if she could bring her class on Monday morning to see those quilts. Monday is my cleaning day, because Sunday I don't do anything (cook, clean, laundry) and some of you know what happens to the house with kids around on Sunday. Fortunately, Charlton cooperated and slept in. James and I cleaned and tidied up, and then the ladies showed up excited to see the quilts. They were amazed, rightly so, since these quilts are some of the best ones I have seen. Grandma sews every single piece by hand and they turn out beautiful. Every child and grandchild of hers receives one from her as well as one for each couple in the family that gets married. I also showed her crochet blankets, cross-stitched tablecloths, and whatever else I had of hers. I was proud of her gifts given with love.

It was time for the boys' haircut today. I rotate the turns I take them to the barber. I buzz their hair one time, and then the next time I take them to the barber. Today was barber turn and they looked handsome. We did some errands after that, ate lunch out and then it was time to pick up Gillian. We went straight to Clare's birthday party after pick up. Clare (Gary and Alice's daughter) wanted to celebrate her birthday at a fire station. The kids had a lot of fun going and checking out the inside of the fire station, as well as the fire engines outside. Jefferson was disappointed that that particular fire station didn't have a pole, but he enjoyed going inside the engine itself. His disappointment disappeared especially when we went back to Clare's house and tasted some of her delicious cake. Happy Birthday, Clare!