April Showers in May

Isn't this a dapper little rain suit my mom got for Ginger to wear in the rain? Mason has a ball getting her dressed for all of the big occasions.
This was a little Mothers Goose poem my mom would quote to us kids on mornings like today. She had a knack for making our young world whimsical. Now she does that for our children.

Happy October!!!

October gave a party;
The leaves by hundreds came.
The Chestnuts, Oaks, and Maples,
And leaves of every name.
The sunshine spread a carpet,
And everything was grand,
Miss Weather led the dancing,
Professor Wind the band.
-George Cooper

This just might be the most delightful little poem I have ever read. Happy October!

Swinging

My mom used to recite this poem to us Vance kids when we were little and it still is one of my favorites. She certainly had a knack for making childhood magical. Today is my mom's birthday. I love her so much. Today is also my nephew, Isaac's birthday. I cannot WAIT to see him (and his family) in a month and half! Hot dog!

Mason's Alexander Beetle

Mason loves all moving things, including bugs. The other day I caught him happily watching this poor little beetle. It reminded me of a song that my uncle Jeff used to sing to us when he would come and visit that quickly became a family classic. My dad would pull out his guitar and we would sing it to my youngest brother, Alex. The song brings back many happy memories of my childhood and my musical uncle and it made me wish that I could be around him and and see some of his cool magic tricks again.

Alexander Beetle
I had a little beetle, so that beetle was his name,
I called him Alexander and he answered just the same.
I put him in a matchbox and kept him all the day....
And Nanny let my beetle out
Yes, Nanny let my beetle out
She went and let my beetle out-
And beetle ran away.

She said she didn't mean it, and I never said she did,
She said she wanted matches, and she just took off the lid
She said that she was sorry, but it's difficult to catch
An excited sort of beetle you've mistaken for a match.



She said that she was sorry, and I really mustn't mind
As there's lots and lots of beetles which she's certain we could find
If we looked about the garden for the holes where beetles hid-
And we'd get another matchbox, and write BEETLE on the lid.

We went to all the places which a beetle might be near,
And we made the sort of noises which a beetle likes to hear,
And I saw a kind of something, and I gave a sort of shout:
"A beetle-house and Alexander Beetle coming out!"



It was Alexander Beetle I'm as certain as can be
And he had a sort of look as if he thought it might be ME,
And he had a kind of look as if he thought he ought to say:
"I'm very, very sorry that I tried to run away."

And Nanny's very sorry too, for you know what she did,
And she's writing ALEXANDER very blackly on the lid,
So Nan and me are friends, because it's difficult to catch
An excited Alexander you've mistaken for a match.



This also reminds me of the song, Ugly Bug Ball by Burl Ives. I remember watching this clip in the Disney movie, Summer Magic and on our Disney Sing-a-long Songs. My siblings and I got a kick out of it. Now that Mason is big on bugs, I catch myself singing it to him all the time.