My Blog Turns 20 Today

I never imagined when I started this little blog as a "hobby" that I would still be here 20 years later...but here I am!  I'm so incredibly grateful for the JOY it has brought me!

Over the years, this space has become a scrapbook of my everyday life - family moments, milestones, holidays, funny stories and my favorite, as I've said so many times before, the simple Ordinary Days...because those are the best days! This place has helped me hold onto memories that might have faded with time. 

Life has changed in so many ways over these twenty years. There have been happy seasons, super hard seasons, and every other season in between. Through it all, this blog has quietly remained a constant in my life. 

I've always tried to keep things light here, sharing the moments that make up a family life. This is my story...our story. I never did this for followers. I did this for me and my little family as a journal of our life together. 

So to this little blog in this little corner of the internet - Happy 20th!! I'm so glad I started you! It truly has brought me so much JOY! 

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What life looked like in 2006 when I started this blog...

Nicholas was 4, Julia was 3 and Gianna had just turned 1!! 

Danny and I were just kids at 40...no glasses needed to see!! Ahhh the good old days...

Look how young...

But even better than that...Dad was still here. He was the best Papa!! He loved spending time with the kids. He never missed anything...even when he wasn't feeling his best. I remember this photo so well. The kids are laying on their bed in the Railroad Ave condo watching TV.  The kids would yell "TRAIN TRAIN" every time the train would go by and run to the window to watch. This was the night that Nicholas took some scissors and cut some of the "strings" off one of the quilts CeCe's mother made! We were like "Noooooo"! That's a funny memory!

And my beautiful Mama was still here too...Nana...she loved to play with the kids too. She was always so much fun...

What I would give to go back in time just to have the family all together again. I miss those days so much...

That's why we should never take any of the Ordinary Days for granted. Time passes so fast...and those we love sometimes have to leave. 

As of today, I have a total of 2,216 posts!! 

Post Superlatives...

1. My most popular post is this one "Dance Recital Picture Day" with 3.3k views!  The costumes are still a big hit on line! 

2. My funniest post has to be this one "The Crane Kick". It's all about our cute spunky Gianna Mae...oh my goodness. This one still makes me laugh! 

I also have to add the post about giving away Gianna's pet guinea pig, Blaster. OMG that was the most chaotic day. My emotions were all over the place! Haha! 

3. The year with the most posts was 2019 with 221 posts!! The year with the least amount of posts was 2025 with just 61. I'm sure it's because back in 2019 my kids were obviously younger and just super busy with all their activities. There were endless Sweet 16 parties, school dances, kids getting their license, tons of dance competitions and lots of hockey games. Just the best years!!

4. My saddest posts were of course when I lost the ones I love most...Lucky, Berta, Dad, Mama, Sandy and Mikey. 

5. And some of the proudest days of my life posts...Julia's college graduation, our Little Orphan Annie, and Nicholas signing on to the Vermont Lumber Jacks. It's so hard to narrow it down because I am just beyond insanely proud of these three and all their tremendous accomplishments. They are all so incredibly talented and smart and beautiful. 

Jumping back into the present...I am so blessed to still be here with my four loves of my life...and having my three siblings here with me...and all my besties. Today Danny and I are 60, very healthy and still working hard to support our little family...Nicholas is 24 and finally graduating in two weeks with a Bachelor's Degree in Criminal Justice...Julia is 23 and is a Registered Nurse...and Gianna is studying and working so hard toward her degree in Exercise Science and will be graduating next year. I still have my sweet little old man, Koko, faithful as ever as my constant companion and our nervous sweet fur boy, Eli. They are all My Joy. 

I am...and always have been...truly blessed. 

All dressed up

Nicholas and Haley at her brother's wedding...

Dance Team Banquet

We had a nice day celebrating the Dance Team's fabulous year at the banquet. It was held in the Nursing Building this year up on the 4th floor. It was a gorgeous day and we had a beautiful view of the ocean. We watched lots of videos and had lots of laughs. This team won the UDA national GOLD medal for Game Day and the BRONZE medal for Pom! Fantastic!! 

Encouragement

 

There have been times in my life where I would wish and wish and wish for something in particular to happen and when it didn't I would be discouraged. But maybe it's because it wasn't meant to be...

Nana Elliott

My newest creation...

How I love doing these! They're so much fun! This one was inspired by my great grandmother, Elva Matilda (Littlefield) (Hoyt) Elliott. She had her own tailoring shop in downtown Norwood called Elliott Cleaners. Isn't that fabulous?! She was an entrepreneur way ahead of her time! She always dressed so fancy. She was a petite woman who always wore dresses, heels, hats, lots of jewelry, fur coats, stoles and always had the prettiest purses. I'm guessing the photo below was taken at her shop. This looks to be a birthday party for her granddaughters "the twins" Barbra and Beverly Hoyt. Whenever my Mom and I looked at old pictures and she didn't know who it was in the photo she would always say it was Nana Elliott or the twins. That always made us laugh so hard! Here we have both! Haha!! She'd get a kick out of that!

Below left to right: Nana (my mother's mama), her mother Elva and Elva's boyfriend Walter (he came after three husbands!)...

That's how they dressed all the time! Very fancy! She was a lady through and through. I'll tell you a little more about her at the end. But first look at what I made in honor of her. I think it's kind of ironic that the shop is called "Elsa's Tailoring" and her name was Elva.

She was born in Dextor, Maine on June 10, 1887. She passed when I was in the 6th grade. I remember it well. I was away at a week long nature camp school trip. So that was 1976. Her father was Samuel Littlefield (1862-1897) and her mother was Frances "Fannie" McKenney (1871-1959). As I mentioned, she was married three times! That's crazy for back then. I researched on Ancestry. Her first husband was Clarence Eugene Hoyt. They had four children together. Guy, Madeline (Cassie), our Nana Evelyn and Kenneth. Then she married Edward White. I don't know what happened to him. Then she married her third husband, John Elliott. I think they had a daughter named Marion. I have quite a few memories of Nana Elliott. I remember she invited our family over for lunch at her house and she was so excited to have company! I was quite young. She made us hotdogs wrapped in bread because she didn’t have rolls. I proceeded to throw up either on the way home or when we got home. Ha ha ha! But I clearly remember how happy she was that day. I wish I got to know her better. Sad how that happens. Just too many years between us. I still visit her grave. I was always the one to go with my Mom to plant flowers on Memorial Day so I know where everyone is buried. Maybe I'll bring this little shop when I go next time and show it to her : )  Oh she'll be smiling down from heaven!! 

April thoughts

 

APRIL

the start of new things

setting new goals

spring is in the air

porch weather is coming

so is a graduation

the end of another college school year

kids coming home soon

under one roof again

savor the days 

savor the moments