The hobby of Tropical fish  has been popular for so  many years interest in the hobby has since renewed and many of us still enjoy the fun, relaxation, and beauty of having a fish tank right in the living room with the extra perk of newer products, better availability of plants and interesting species of fish.  It can be especially fun for young children (which is how I got roped into this situation in the first place, but hey lets make the best of it right) We started with the tiniest most pitiful little plastic Walmart 2 gallon tank that was very difficult to keep balanced (not fit for a snail)and since it was so small it would get gross fast… I’m talking tiny clear worms crawling all over the glass GROSS (and I recommend NOT buying their fish…ever…just saying).  We had to have something larger and more stable of an environment for our little pets, with a very good filter.  So in trying every size up in between (our attic proves it) we ended up settling on using a 55 gallon tank with a standard black cabinet stand from Petsmart.  I found them on Criagslist for a great price in very nice condition…delivered!

So since we wanted live plants for the fish and beauty of the tank we were going to have to locate sufficient lighting for them to grow, which does NOT come standard in the regular fish tank hobby isle of the average pet store.  I searched online about how much light we really needed to keep real plants from dying and found a place that would instruct me how to build my own lighting unit right into the wooden canopy of my choice (which I found elsewhere online and had another specialty aquarium shop special order).  Some people also call this Retro fit aquarium lighting.  This was a fun project with its share of inventive frustrating situations and I must say that we pulled it off only with the help of my super hot nerd husband who has great carpentry skills as well.  (Smooches babe!)

Our family is now enjoying a beautiful planted aquarium with the most gorgeous tropical fish I never knew I’d be enjoying.  I have found it very soothing to relax watching the fish glide thought the water and interact with each other.  We have a “semi aggressive” community tank which really opens up the options of cool fish species and have been able to pick some really fun characters to watch.  Our Yellow kribs had 25 babies last year!  They hang out in caves around the bottom and are very colorful.

The top portion of the tank is taken up by the fastest swimmers and voracious eaters during feeding time…Rainbow Fish! They are pretty peaceful fish but get a little rowdy showing off for females and that’s when the colors really begin to flash.  They literally shimmy and shake for their mate!  Its very interesting to watch the males puff up to each other and square off.  But that’s really all they do.  Although once I had to return a large rainbow fish for attacking the Millennium Rainbow fish (the red jewel of the set up) and I watched as he rammed him in the side and nipped scales off !  The scales of my favorite fish actually flittered to the bottom of the tank right before my eyes!  No more of that guy!  I donated him to the specialty fish shop in Portland, OR called “The Wet Spot” (tee he he) right away!

Pulling a book off the shelf, he noticed two James Witcomb Riley poems, “The Raggedy Man” and “Little Orphan Annie.” “Why don’t we call her Raggedy Ann?,” he said. Or so the story goes. Gruelle’s family made the original doll by hand, and he gave Raggedy Ann life in 1915. She became a children’s book character in 1918, and Gruelle’s publisher P.F. Volland arranged to sell Raggedy Ann dolls as well. The tie-in between Gruelle’s Raggedy Ann Stories and the dolls proved a great marketing success. Gruelle averaged one new book a year for twenty years. Reprinted many times, the books renew the character for every generation. In the stories kindly Raggedy Ann comes to life when humans aren’t looking and embarks on adventures with her brave brother Andy. Marcella Gruelle tragically died at age 13, just as Raggedy Ann debuted. But she showed up as a tender remembrance in Marcella: A Raggedy Ann Story (1929).

My own mother handmade a Raggedy Ann and Andy for each of us 3 girls when we were very little.  My big sister got the first Raggedies and ended up with the coveted red yarn hair.  Mom made my Raggedies with yellow yarn hair to match my bright blond locks, and my little sisters  had light brown yarn hair (that resembled her own as well)and it looks like that might have been closer to the original doll after all!

They each had a different darling mini calico print and , of course, the little red hearts sewn inside were better than candy (even though it made me long for candy hearts every time I peeked at it)!

My dad had a magical way of being puppeteer for our dolls while they were silent he would ask them adorable and hilarious questions sometimes sad like, “Were you left on the cold floor?”  While making a sad gesture with Anne shaking her head appropriately, warming our hearts again and again.

We loved our Raggedies like they were real little babies.  My sisters and I still joke about how we used to seriously discuss that if we ever had a house fire we would definitely be grabbing the Raggedies before escaping!  Yes, we loved them that much!

Thank you for sharing the original Raggedy Ann info sis!   http://www.artoftheletter.blogspot.com/

Like most 5 year old boys say in between grabbing things and knocking things over when stuck grocery shopping with mom,”Mom!  Come on, quit looking at that!  Come on mom!”   He was sick of it soon after it started so when we finally made it to the industrial looking isle of the paper towels and tissue he LIGHTS UP and dashes off in between the large structure of shelving holding all of the humongous stacks of paper towels. He is in hog heaven! Especially because he knows I don’t really want him in there…at all. So he is just loving himself and peeking out among various holes in the wall off stacked and displayed boxes and items while I am hissing some sort of scary threat of punishments or embarrassment like “the store man is coming and he is gonna be mad at you”.

He finally climbs out. Grumpy faced for a millisecond until he grabs an empty box and climbs in. Now he is super comfy. And quiet for a bit so I can pick out what I need on the isle. I notice he is now right behind me holding the empty box.

As we are making our way to the front of the store stopping for this or that briefly, on our way to check out. He is wearing the box over his head.. also down over his shoulders (it has a large slit in the front). And by this time I see plainly its a toilet paper box. and Everyone that sees him is cracking a smile. I am just glowing from my heart and soul…that overwhelming feeling when you are completely head over heels in love with your child anyway and also think he/she is doing something adorable too!

But really, I mean how many times is he likely to again to walk around in the grocery store with a box on his head…A toilet paper box, that says ANGEL SOFT…his feather like blond hair sticking out, innocent bright blue eyes peeking out of this little boy ensemble. People of all sorts pausing and smiling, softening, giggling. Old men and all! Then on the way to checkout a pretty Hispanic woman with clear braces stopped shaking her head smiling and she said “So cute. JUST soo cute” touching my arm. And for mommy… how touching!  All I could really say between giggles and a perma-grin was “Such a boy.”

Precious Grocery Store MOMENT…Evan’s little expression; HE has a box…AND he is cool and HAPPY! People were touched by this little guy, my buddy.

As I sit here with tear and mascara stained laptop…It PIERCES TO MY HEART as I begin to try and realize the change coming when he will be going to full time Kindergarten in a month and a half.

Little boy, getting big. Still, always and forever my baby.

According to CNN: The sign once stood at the foot of the New York Stock Exchange in the late 19th and early 20th centuries — a period known as Wall Street’s Gilded Age

How about a really fun and creative way to send a love letter.  I found this over at instructables.com! Its instructions on how to make a beautiful Vintage Valentine card.

As I was reading more about the Vintage Valentine Card, I saw a post for a       Mint Chocolate Chip Valentine Card! This card is beautiful as well!  I love the quote, “Taking back Valentine’s Day from the American Greeting Card Association”.

I would like a nice cup of coffee to brighten my spirit right now because when I see it I think of the old man who just gave it to me, leaving our neighborhood after many years.  He put the house up for sale and is packin up and movin on to a beautiful senior community nearby.  Its definitely sad, saying good bye and losing a nice neighbor.

There will always be that special place in our memories of him in his military baseball cap, beer in hand, tending to his tidy yard or working in the garage with the door open while it rains.  He has started giving me some little things here and there that he wont be using, because his new place is like “the Taj Mahal of the old folks homes” and he “will be served by white tablecloth everyday.”

He has been a quirky yet cheerful grandpa man watchdog in our neighborhood.  Ed has also faithfully brought up garbage cans to the house for several surrounding neighbors every week on trash day!   He’s been keeping his yard beautiful and can be found everyday walking around taking care of his property.  I’ve been walking by his house more often since the kids bus stop has changed.  So sometimes we talk about gardening and one morning when we were admiring the huge poppies beginning to bloom in his front yard he was trying to recall a poem about poppies on Memorial Day.  I told him I wasn’t familiar with it but I would look it up.

He had told me in passing a few times, he was waiting to see if they’d make it til memorial day, but he didn’t think they would.  These are the tallest variety I have ever seen!  They have huge pods.  Then he quickly told me “They are not the real poppies though.”  With a wink and a grin.  Of course I replied “Oh darn!”   :^)

Knowing that he is a veteran, I really wanted to look up the poem and share it with him.  I was also born on Memorial Day so I was curious to know the tradition.  Below is a photo of the poem at the famous cemetery.  Also a picture I took of our neighbor, Ed, with his poppies on the last Memorial Day he will be spending in this home.

Turns out the poppies did last until Memorial Day.  That is the day that we gave him a copy of the pictures below.  He told me and my husband on a separate occasion that, he really appreciated the sentiment and it was a really nice surprise, something like hasn’t happened in a long time.  (Insert broken heart here!)

Farewell friendly neighbor.  The rest of us will truly miss him, our neighborhood grandpa man watching the area.  This place just wont be the same.

I will use the cute little coffee pot to put a smile on my face when we remember Ed.

Because it is true; “Coffee Maketh Bright the Spirit”.

In Flanders Fields (1915)

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

— John McCrae

William Wordsworth

Today is my birthday and I am so excited because I finally found a music box that I’ve been looking for.  This Vintage Jewelery box was made by the same company that made my mothers jewelery box.  My father gave one to my mother when they were dating.  I was always enchanted whenever I got the chance to look at moms jewelery box and the magic would really begin when you opened the little drawer at the bottom and hear the enchanting Romeo and Juliet tune.

This particular box is special to me because it plays the song “Fly me to the moon”  which was on my crib mobile as a baby.  SO CUTE.

I love you mommy and daddy!  Thank you, lovely hubby, for the jewelery case.

Thank you big sissy for helping to turn the music on when I needed it so!

You always showed me the BEST music!