Way Back Weekly

This photo is courtesy of Aunt Brenda. I had the story with which this picture goes, but I didn't have the picture -- and it makes me laugh every time I look at it.

So here is a picture of (probably) the first time T.A. and Tina ever appeared in a newspaper. They were a little less than six months old, since the date on the article is Dec. 1, 1966. The article was written for a paper local to Elk Grove Village, Ill., and prompted by the fact that twins were somewhat rare back in the 1960s and also my dad was a Trustee of the Village.

Beanie looks underwhelmed and T.A. looks like he doesn't trust whatever stuffed animal they were using to try and get the babies to smile.
I won't post the accompanying article but here are some highlights:

The Headline: A Mother's Testimonial: "Babies are Fun; Twins are Great"
My personal testimonial would have been "Babies are Loud; Twins are Twice as Loud" but no one asked me.
In fact, however, I AM referred to in the story as I was apparently reading to  my mother AND practicing my spelling words during the interview, which seems kind of a rude thing to do, but my own children once had a very loud and long pooping contest while I was interviewing someone (I CAN POOP BIGGER THAN YOU ... NO YOU CAN'T ... YES I CAN... etc.) so I suppose it's possible.
Tally (or Tallaine as she is called in the story ... I am "Tresy") got a quote in there. "Gee Mommy, it's fun having babies when you're older."
I must have misinterpreted her wise words as I had my babies when I was very much older and it was not really all that much fun. But upon a closer read, Tally probably meant that it was fun to be an older sister, not an older parent. Oops.
Other gems from the story:
"The family finds the twins have brought twice the usual joy." (To clarify, Terry didn't sleep until we moved to New York because she shared a room with the twice as loud Garrity twins)
"Sometimes things get loud when "Tresy" practices cello and Tommy and Tina join in by crying" (To clarify, it was most likely "Tully" practicing her viola that made everyone cry...I played the xylophone.)
"Tom is ... sympathetic and patient," she said.(To clarify, seriously?) "He is good with all the children, especially at feeding time." (To clarify, seriously?) Just kidding Dad, we all reflect fondly on the cinnamon toast  you prepared.
"It is still difficult to get all the housework done, though, Mrs. Garrity finds. "There are times you just can't get to everything." (To clarify, FINALLY truth in journalism ... no mother of twins should be expected to have a clean house...)

Pageant girl

Three weeks ago Hannah competed in the Southeast PA Cinderella Pageant, again. This year she moved up an age group so she was competing against other 10-12 year olds.

I am happy to report that once again our girl took home the crown for talent! We also got to spend a day with my friend Carol and her daughter Sarah, who won talent for the Mini Miss division.

I don't have video of Hannah singing because my iPad microphone wasn't working, which of course, I didn't find out until after the pageant was over. Suffice it to say she was good enough to beat everyone else in her division!

This means we are going to the state pageant where (please pray) Hannah wins a round crown in something. I am hoping for talent, but I'll take anything. The girls win tiaras in the preliminary rounds and Hannah wants to official pageant girl round crown.

Here are some pictures from the day (I was sick, but still managed to have fun!) This is Hannah and I right after the show ... I was TIRED!

These next two photos were taken by the official pageant photographer. I like her formal wear photo, but I think the singing photo probably could have been a little LESS yellow, don't you?

So now we are onto the states and that means MORE practice. We also decided to sell ads for the program book because they give a round crown to the cover girl - the girl who submits the best photo -- and the more ads you sell, the more photos you can submit. Since we've already seen a bunch of photos of Hannah, here's one of Liz that I took when I did a modeling photo shoot for her (as I did for Hannah's ads -- I'll post a few from those shoots later.) She's a beauty, but there is no way she'll be in a pageant. Lizzie did a tiny little pageant last year (won a 1st place medal for photogenic!) and hated every single minute of it!

Way Back Who?

This isn't a new blog feature, this is an actual question. Does anyone on the Garrity side (and I'm looking at you, Dad) know who this chick is?
I ask because Hannah and Lizzie both looked at it separately and asked: "Mom, is this a picture of you from the olden days?"

And I have to admit, she does look like me. Like, a lot. And not just because of this woman's extraordinary fashion sense. Oh, the only thing I know about this picture is that it's a tintype and those were popular from the 1860s through the early 1900s.

For some reason I think it's Aunt Tillie, but then I'm not really sure if I even have an Aunt Tillie or if that is just family folklore because we had a painting that we called Aunt Tillie.

Anyway, here's the photo:

So does anyone know who my doppleganger is?

Easter

I need to catch up on a few things ... the first is Easter!
We had a great weekend, even though I succumbed to a cold that eventually turned into a touch of the bronchitis. I'm never one to allow a little illness to get in the way of a holiday celebrated with chocolate, so I rallied and was able to have a great day with family and friends.

Things got started on Saturday when the Garritys showed up. I have to say that Hannah and Lizzie always have a fun holiday when their partners in crime arrive from New York. Here are the four of them getting reading for an Easter Egg hunt:

And they're off:

The adults must have hidden about 5,000 eggs and we're pretty sure the kids found all of them except one, which we found the next day. Although last year we found an egg about a month later, so it's possible there are still some out there in the front yard.

The eggs were filled with candy, toys, and little notes that said things like "You can stay up an extra 30 minutes." Those notes were put in the eggs by Aunt Ann, but found by MY CHILDREN, so now I am honor bound to let them stay up 30 minutes later one night. Luckily the note did not specify a year...

Here they are with the loot (and Uncle TA):

And some of the toys I put in the eggs. In fact I put at least a dozen cute little duck/bunnies in the eggs which made Brenna very happy:

 And Tommy, not so much...:

It was soon after they left for the evening that I started to feel really badly, so for some reason I did not take a photo after the Easter Bunny left the premises. Suffice it to say that he left behind MUCH candy and a couple of stuffed animals. And more candy.

The next morning Rob and the girls went to church and then out to breakfast. I stayed home and blew my nose.

Mid-afternoon (after a loooong nap and lots of advil) we went to Aunt Terry's house for the Easter dinner. It was delicious and that's not the advil talking! The girls had fun with their cousins again, and Aunt Ann and learned how to make flowers out of paper napkins, so it was a wonderful afternoon. Aunt Beanie came to eat, too, so that was a super bonus. Unfortunately, this is the only picture I took that afternoon, so there is no photographic evidence of the delicious meal or the person who prepared it (sorry, Terry -- maybe next Easter!)

After this picture was taken we came home and I went to bed and woke up two weeks later all better....

Talent

As you may have read, I coordinated the talent show at the girls' elementary school this year. I found out about my ascension to the throne about a month before the show was supposed to happen. It seems that when you say you'll be a member of the committee and no one else volunteers to be on the committee, you actually get to be the coordinator.

In previous years the previews had to held at a time when a school administrator was available to vet the acts and make sure no one was wearing spaghetti straps or singing songs about alcohol, but when I talked to the principal about open dates, she told me that she TRUSTED ME to handle it by myself. Oh. My. Gravy.

 So, that's how it happened. I did eventually get some help from PTA members and my girl scout troop and my husband (who had no choice) and I have to say that while it was a lot of work and somewhat nerve-wracking (one of the kids decided to do his own little comedy act on stage when he was supposed to be singing....) it ended well and that is all that matters.

Lizzie stopped piano lessons (insert huge sob here) in September and she couldn't get a song together in a month to be in the show and she didn't want to participate anyway. Well, the joke was on her because since I was the coordinator and the only person at the try-outs, and Rob was unavailable to stay home, she ended up going to every single try-out and every single rehearsal. And then I made her put names on the performers' chairs on the night of the show.

Hannah, on the other hand, had a cold but previewed one of this year's pageant songs. I went back and forth on this choice for the pageant, but she loves it, so I let her sing it. Here's a youtube video from the show of Hannah singing "On My Own" from Les Miserables. She actually sang the second verse first and then again the second time. I was worried it would throw her off, but she said she didn't even really notice she'd done that. I had technical difficulties so a friend of mine videoed this on her phone and posted it to youtube for me.



I also asked my Girl Scout Troop to do the decorations so they colored in the letters for the school, and then I bought a huge pack of stars, stuck some stickers on them and strung them in twos and threes. On the night of the show I had some help, so I didn't have to climb the ladder to hang the stuff up. So no ambulance was needed.

Here's a picture of my best helper though. Rob was very busy that week, but he came through in the clutch and was my stage manager. YAY!!!

And here's a closeup of Hannah in her outfit. Unfortunately soon after this picture was taken I decided to dye this green and ended up ruining the dress (which did not take the dye at all, but did get all wrinkly and ripped) so we ended up getting her a peasant girl outfit that she'll wear in the pageant.

 I have already been asked to coordinate again next year and I said absolutely not, no way no how okay. But the good news is that I know about it already so it won't be as hectic. Really. I'm sure of it. I think. I hope.

Girl Scouts

(See the post below this one for a Way Back post!)

One of the things that has kept me busy (for the last four years!) has been leading Hannah and Lizzie's girl scout troop. I started with about 20 girls in Brownies, but we've settled into 14 girls, which is much more manageable! I'm also the program director for our local service unit (all the troops in the OJR school district) so I get to try and come up with interesting things for my troop to do, but also coordinate the activities of the service unit.
So here are a couple of things we've been doing -- which mostly involves being silly:

We also sold a bunch of girl scout cookies, so we are celebrating (well, they are!) by going to Bounce U and staying overnight. Luckily (and I mean that from the bottom of my heart!) parent don't have to pay for the sleepover/bounce experience so I've got several moms going, too.

We also participated in a dance a thon to raise money and donated item for a local little girl who is very ill. Here's Hannah at the dance a thon:

And here are Lizzie and her bestie Keira at the dance. This is the look Lizzie gave me when she saw me out on the dance floor with my walker. Priceless!!

We also participated in a service project making Quillows for Kyle's Quillows, which donates them to children with cancer or other diseases that require hospitalizations. Much to my surprise both Hannah and Lizzie were able to pin and sew the quillows. At home I still worry about them when they've got scissors!

Here's Hannah pinning one of the patterns:

 And Lizzie working one of the sergers. My mother would be very impressed since my one and only childhood sewing project consisted of a skirt that took about 4 months and 47 yards of material to complete.

This service project was part of a sister troop's Bronze Award and I think by the time they were all done nearly 50 quillows were made!

Way Back!

A terrible thing happened ... my scanner stopped working. Which makes blogging much more difficult. Lots of other things have been going on, too, so in the next day or two (promise, Aunt Brenda!) I'll have a couple of posts up.

But first, since I managed to fix my scanner (techie that I am!) I thought I'd end my blog break with a Way Back post with TWO photos.

My Great Aunt Marion was my grandmother's (Garrity) sister. She was a very nice lady, although I didn't know her well. She came to visit a few times and I remember her as being a little chubby, a little funny and really quite nice. She had a high-pitched laugh and a twinkle in her eye.

But what I remember most about Aunt Marion is that one day she sat me down and told me how much I reminded her of herself. "You and your sister (Aunt Anonymous) remind me of your grandmother and me," she said.

I was horrified because I had no intention to grow old and chubby no matter how nice and friendly and funny she was. I was all of 12 at the time and not at all ready to be compared to a senior citizen, although I totally agreed Aunt Anonymous would one day grow old like grandma.

So here's the first picture ... I believe that it captures their personalities quite well. Grandma is on the left, Aunt Marion is on the right. As you can see, Grandma is quite regal and ladylike. Aunt Marion, is well, kind of a goofy hippie (although don't we all seriously covet that outfit she's wearing?) However, I wasn't willing to go so far as to say that Aunt A and I were their doubles...

...Until I came across THIS family picture of the Garrity clan as children. AND, as you can see, Aunt Anonymous is a very regal and ladylike 9-year-old and I am, well, a kind of goofy hippie 8-year-old. So there you have it...
(PS: The others in the picture are my sisters Terry, in front, and Beanie, the baby on the right, and my brother T.A.)