Photography Challenge Day 7: Changes to Come

Yep, skipped Day 6.  Subject for Day 6 was obsession, and I had no idea what to put for that one.

Changes to come?  Not sure what to do here, other than to share some photos of Mom from when she was 17 and just this past Christmas - only a few years have gone by, but changes come with time.

1970

2013

I selected these two photos because of Mom's smile in both - they're the same, right?  It's nice to know that there are some things in life - like smiles and laughter - that will always be the same.  We might all get older, but some things never change.

In other news, I CAN'T WAIT to go to Mom & Dad's for Easter.  They spent nearly 3 months in Florida, and even though we don't live right nearby, now that they're back, it's nice to know that they're an easy drive and not a plane ride away.  I want to hunt eggs with Trekker, try a chocolate & orange recipe with Tina, play games, and eat good food!  Only 4 work days and then I have a nice long 3-day weekend!

Christmas 2013

We had Christmas with Mom & Dad, Tina's family, and the 3 of us the Sunday before Christmas.  We had snow, Christmas music, and a ham dinner.

And then we opened presents!

I made Mom a shell monogram decoration for her Florida house!  More on that in another blog post...

Rhyanne got a teal(!) sewing machine from us.  She said that she has some hemming she wants to do and I think there are some projects on YouTube she wants to try.  If you know of any good "how to sew" videos, let me know so I can pass the info along to her.
BTW - I so want to borrow that thing!
Also, do you see Nate's face?  He looks like "Aw, that's cool!"

Larry got cheese curds from Jeff.  Cheese curds for the cheesehead...

We got Trekker a Lego thing that we had heard he likes.  Oh my gosh, he was so excited!  In fact, he was so very excited over every single gift he got - it was great to see so much enthusiasm.  Makes me happy.

Trekker is also good at the Thank You Hug, but knew it was his turn to hand someone a present, so he couldn't stay long...

Rylee was busy photo bombing Trekker...

It was a good time.  And since Mom didn't decorate her Christmas tree, I leave you with photos of the Hartwig Christmas tree:

Merry Christmas and Happy 2014!

New Christmas Stockings

I haven't gotten the Christmas stuff out yet, but wanted to hang stockings for the girls on the new silver Command hooks (I love them!), and when I was at Hobby Lobby I saw that Christmas stuff was 50% off, and one thing led to another...

There are sequins in the red fluffy fabric, and I grabbed the letters from the scrapbooking section.  They are just stickers, and so far (by that I mean for the last 5 minutes) they are sticking to the white fluffy stuff.  Which means for $7 (each) and minimal effort, I have new monogrammed Christmas stockings!

Merry Christmas!

Vintage Photo (not) Friday: Kristin's first Christmas

I love this picture.  I mean, geez, it's me as a baby, and I was adorable!  Tina and I are obviously paying attention to two different things.  I was looking at something/someone fun and interesting!  Tina looks like she's watching Fox News or something else equally boring...

This is 1977, after Tina'd had 2 Christmases at school, so there are more and different ornaments on the tree.  But there's that same white garland.  Gotta love it.

Okay, discussion time.  Which grama do I look like?

Vintage Photo (not) Friday: Christmas with a trike!

One year later and the tree looks so much the same.  There's that white horse ornament, front and center again!  We assume this is 1975 - any aunts have any idea if we're right?

I remember always having Christmas with Mom & Dad at home after Santa had been there overnight and then going to Grama & Grampa Betz's house.  They had an old farm house in the country, and we always knew were to find the toys.

I know that this is at Grama Betz's house because of the toys Tina's playing with.  I played with that doll and cradle when I was little too.
Let's take a look at Tina's incredibly awesome outfit a little closer.  Looks like she's wearing an apron.  At least she won't get her shirt dirty if her baby spits up!  And oh those pants!  Red and white plaid with some blue?!?!  That's some serious stuff right there.  And, um, I have to ask...  Did Tina have really big feet, or is she wearing someone else's shoes?  I can't tell what's going on there...  but her foot looks as long as her leg!

Vintage Photo Friday - Christmas circa 1974

I got a text from my sister yesterday...

Tina:  u haven't blogged for 25 days...

Me:  I know.  [insert excuses here]

Tina:  well, you've missed a few vintage photo fridays.

There you have it folks, a request for a vintage photo if I've ever heard one.  Most of my digitized old photos include Tina.  Since she's all but outright asked for Vintage Photo Fridays, let's do a whole weekend!  Christmas-themed vintage photos staring Tina (and sometimes her very cool little sister)!  It's going to be the best weekend ever!

This is the Christmas tree I grew up with until about 5th or 6th grade.  I think it might be the tree that Mom & Dad had at their first Christmas together.  I remember that white with gold horse ornament that's above Tina's head, but not the others.  That garland was around for many many years - I wonder if Mom still has it somewhere?  The boxes of ornaments and the boxed up tree always smelled the same each year.  I can even smell it now.  A little dusty, a little old, and 100% Christmas.