And Then June Happened

Is it a little weird that my husband, who lives right here in the same house with me, has been checking up on me, to see if I've posted here lately?  Because how could anything happen in my life that the man who sleeps right next to me doesn't already know about?  So honey, this is for you.  And for any of the rest of you who wonder what's going on in the Grasshopper House.

I'll tell you what.

The end of school, the beginning of summer (even though most years we don't really count it as summer until the 4th of July, but this year has been warm and dry instead of June-uary, so it really seems like it), and then...

June Birthdays and Father's Day.

Because this is what happens in my family, and I'll give you a hint:

it's like Christmas.

First off, we have four dads (in order of becoming fathers) :

#1.  My dad, aka Grandpa Grasshopper :D

2.  Kerry - Grasshopper Dad

(who happened to be sitting right next to me and therefore managed NOT to get in any pictures today, so this is from last year's birthday.  But guess what: at our age, you don't look much different from year to year ;D)

3.   My cousin's husband, Mike

4.  My brother, Dave, dad to Naomi

So, yes, four dads to honor.

And if that wasn't enough, we have seven birthdays.

Yes, I said SEVEN.

Hmmm... oldest to youngest?

1.  My dad, again!

 2.  Me :D

The boys made me another very colorful card...

check out the fabulous grasshopper details!

3.  My cousin, Ryan,

who ended up with the special and traditional family heirloom...

a TAMBOURINE.

When the boys were little, and couldn't keep a secret to save their lives,

they would always ask me what was in that present I was wrapping for someone.

Since I couldn't very well say, "We're giving Grandma that red sweater she wanted"

because the first thing they would do is say something they thought was clever but would give it away,

I always told them,

"It's a tambourine."

So one year Grandma bought one, wrapped it up, and it's been making the rounds ever since.

4.  My cousin's daughter Mikayla, (on the left).

My cousin's girls - if you want to be proper - are my first cousins, once removed.

But they're kind of more like nieces.

And this one turned sweet sixteen :D

5.  Gunnar - my BABY - turned 14.

He is not quite shaving, but convinced he will be before Christmas ;D

6.  My other "niece", Raelynn, turned 13.

 

7.  And last-but-not-least, Naomi is turning 3.

She was absolutely thrilled to get a bigger swimming pool from Grandpa and Grandma.

She spent a LOT of the afternoon in the pool!

When Naomi was visiting us a few weeks ago, she was already talking about her upcoming birthday.

"I'm almost three and I will have a birthday party and I will have cake and presents and will you come to my party?"

Wouldn't miss it for the world.

When I asked her what she wanted, she told me a playhouse.  Well, I thought she meant something for the yard, which is out of my budget for sure, but later she clarified, "A little house with people in it."

Ah, a dollhouse.

My grandpa made a dollhouse for my mom and aunt when they were little - about seventy years ago - and it's been passed down and down, and my cousin had it in her garage.  So Gunnar and I have been busy lately!

We found this little family, and wrapped it up.

She was pretty happy to open it, but - you know - the family needed a place to live...

This is the house as I remember it from when I was little.  I think that blue paint was from an upstairs guest room in my grandparents' house.  The pink was the trim from their bedroom, as well as the bathroom.  He'd cut the arch between the dining room and living room, to match the arch in the real house.

Here's the real arch, which I apparently only photograph at Christmas.

Anyway, the house has a collection of antique furniture.  And by "antique" I mean, it looks like it's styled after the 30s and 40s.  Because most of it is from the 30s and 40s.  Unfortunately, several of the pieces are broken, and all of them are that old, brittle plastic, so we're not passing those on to Naomi.

Also, please note the FABULOUS and GROOVY carpeting that was added in the 70s, when my cousin was a little girl!

Anyway... Gunnar and I decided that the house needed a makeover.

New paint, new flooring, new curtains.

So this is what we did...

Yep.  It's as bright as it looks,

and Naomi was thrilled :D 

And I just have to tell you, as much as I love blue, I think this cheery yellow kitchen with the polka dot curtains is my favorite room of the house :D

She moved her little family right in!

Maybe we can furnish her house for Christmas, or her next b'day :D

So that's part of what's been keeping us so busy lately!

And since tomorrow is Father's Day and I've promised to make a big breakfast (which I usually only do for dinner) I need to go to bed.  Hope yours is great.