I Beg Your Pardon

I only promised you a rose garden.
We took the kids (kicking a screaming) up to the International Rose Test Garden this afternoon.  The rest of Portland had the same idea as the park was jammed and we had to hike up a hill after parking by the reservoir.

The roses were mostly in full bloom but there were a few beds that look like my roses - leaves but little or no buds yet.  That made me feel a little better.

Nutmeg had fun posing with the flowers

 

and enjoyed herself more than the boys did.

I always enjoy looking at the roses in the Gold Medal portion of the garden and this year the

Julia Child (2008) was my favorite.

1941's Neville Chamberlain made me snicker,  

I felt it appropriate that none of the blossoms were very lovely

This one had me choked up and then I read the history of the rose and I did cry.

Then we stumbled upon the Holocaust Memorial.  In all of our visits to the Rose Garden we had never known of the existence of this monument.  It was built in 2004 which was after we did our initial and most thorough explorations of Washington Park so I will let the oversight pass.

As you enter the memorial there are bronze sculptures scattered on the pavement, a suitcase, teddy bear, pair of glasses, a book, a baby shoe, a broken violin, and a doll.

 

When you reach the wall there is some history of the holocaust, memories of a child, and the names of loved ones who perished in the "Shoah."

We were able to explain some to the children what happened and how evil it was and that we have places like these to remember never to let something like that happen again.

It was a special place and I hope to be able to visit again.

Don't Waffle, GO!

There is always a queue at The Waffle Window

I really have to give a shout out to Amy Karol over at Angry Chicken. I don't know her, I am just one of many that read her blog, the difference is that I too live in Portland. Amy often blogs about local places, so when she mentions a place I can actually check it out. This December, Amy posted about the Happy Sparrow Cafe and I packed up the kids that very afternoon for an impromptu outing and experienced kaloche.
Last week she mentioned The Waffle Window and the kids and I headed over to their website and started drooling. After that the kids asked 3-4 times a day when we would be going to "Waffle Windows." Well Camrock and Nutmeg did, Boba Fett insisted that he wanted NOTHING to do with waffles no matter what type of exit they were procured from.

Camrock eagerly anticipating waffles, his favorite food

Saturday, we were exiled from our home so we made a trip to the "Eastside" to sample some waffle delights, Boba Fett declared his discontent the entire way.

Boba Fett doesn't want waffles and orders 2 slices of Bacon instead.

We walked up to the window and ordered. It was a sunny but windy day so we were happy that there was "Waffle Window Seating" inside Bread and Ink Cafe in addition to the outdoor seating. Bread and Ink Cafe is VERY Portland so you can expect to expose your children to lots of tattoos, piercings and alternative lifestyles when visiting.

O.K., so, these waffles are Liège Waffles which are a Belgian thing and have a coating of something called "pearl sugar." I am not sure of the details but it seemed to me like a hard glaze. All of the waffles have the glaze and then toppings are added on top. The Whole Farm

I wanted to try a savory waffle so I went big and got "The Whole Farm" which is also the most expensive item on the menu at $5. It was delicious but if I were to do it again I would ask for less spinach and fewer mushrooms they were a bit much for me but the chevre was perfect. Now remember all of this was on top of a sweet waffle. It was the perfect combination. "Incroyable, je sais!"
I am looking forward to trying the 3 B's (Bacon, Brie and Basil) or a Seasonal Jam and Panna Cotta Waffle.
Nutmeg and Camrock each ordered the Chocolate Dipped Waffle ($2.50.) I think these were the best of what we ordered. They were served cold so you could easily buy one and take it home for a midnight snack.
Moose ordered the Waffle Ice Cream Sandwich ($3.50) It was huge and according to the rest of my family GREAT. I am not an ice cream fan so I refrained. Moose said that it is big so you should share it. Boba Fett and Nutmeg are planning on doing that next time. Yes, there will be a next time and Boba Fett is now The Waffle Window's biggest fan.

You can visit The Waffle Window the next time you are in the Hawthorne Neighborhood shopping for vintage or catching a movie at The Bagdad.

A Trip To Remember

There is snow and Portland and you know what that means, hijinks!

But let's go back to the beginning. We woke up with a start at 7:38 am MST. "No," I screamed inwardly, "It can't be time to get up yet!" I got up, padded through my parent's house to find another clock to confirm. Drat. Not only was it time to get up, we were late. So I forced Moose out of bed and we loaded up and were on the road at 8:40 MST.

At 11:40 am PST were arriving in Spokane for lunch, gas and a chat with our cousins. I pulled out my purse and found that the small bottle of coconut oil I keep as a moisturizer had melted into liquid thanks to Moose's attempt to keep me warm by roasting me with the car heater. I set it on top of the car to cool down while we ate.
At 12:40 we were on the road again headed for Portland or bust. I stopped a little short behind a bus and my coconut oil went flying off the car. We laughed hysterically and Moose retrieved it. We thought "Boy, will we remember this tip as the time I left the coconut oil on top of the car!" Cute.
At Tri-cities I was very sleepy so I stopped for more gas and to let Moose drive and wash the windows. Oh, yeah did I mention that our windshield wiper fluid was frozen until Hood River?

Since our cell phones don't work in Montana we had forgotten to charge them before we left. I had no power and Moose had one tiny bar. If only we had remembered to charge them up, we might have received some of the warning calls.
So at 4:30 we are getting a little excited, there looked like rain up ahead but there was just a little more than an hour left of the drive and there was a house fire in The Dalles visible from the road, surely it would be big news on the TV tonight. Around Hood River we hit snow. It was bad for Oregon and I was afraid they would close the road for the 2 inches of snow. The road wasn't closed and at 5:30 I thought to call La Keira to see about snow in Portland. Yes, there was a little snow on the ground about and inch. I guess she hadn't listened to the news.

We came into Portland still excited about our quick trip and being home for a reasonable dinner. Then we realized, it is 6 pm rush hour, in Portland, in a snowstorm. An hour later we had made it to the Lloyd Center Exit and had dinner at Red Robin. Everything was packed like a parking lot and 26 was closed, there isn't really an alternate route. We watched the snow fall in huge clumps and discussed the irony of driving 1,400 miles to Montana and back with no snow only to be snowed in at the Red Robin 10 miles from our house.

At 8:15, our bellies full we piled back into the car for another hour and fifteen minutes of inching our way home the remaining 10 miles. Really, waiting it out at Red Robin was genius even though we didn't get home until 9:30 pm PST, I don't think it would have been any faster had we stayed our course on the freeway, and we would have been hungry, cranky and have exploded bladders.


Blessings: We were prepared for a long trip, most people were just out in town and blindsided by the storm and didn't get home for hours and we had TONS of weight being loaded up with all the spoils of Christmas.


Boba Fett put it best. "When it snows in Portland people lose their minds." It wasn't the snow that was the problem it is the complete lack of ability to drive in snow AND the fact that there are only a few major roads in and out of Portland. There isn't anyway around it you have to go through it.

"Grandmother, What Big Teeth You Have!"

"The better to play with my dear!"
I can't wait until Christmas! This is another gift I made for Nutmeg: a Little Red Riding Hood hood, a dress, a wolf and a Granny disguise.

These pictures were taken at noon today in Portland. There was NO light. I will try to get better pictures another day but in the meantime can we squeal together? Dirndl, angry eyebrows, wire rim glasses!

Mother's Day at Council Crest

Unlike many, I love Mother's Day. I think it is lovely to remember all the things that mothers do for us, I find it a fulfilling and gratifying day not a day that makes me feel like I don't measure up. Look on the bright side ladies!
In the past many of the ladies have worn corsages to church on Mother's Day and I used to feel left out. Sunday morning I made my own, but this year the ladies who wear corsages are no longer in my ward and there were only two of us sporting fresh flowers and I felt a little odd. Six other mothers and I sang a lovely song in sacrament meeting called "Keeping Sheep" about being mothers in a world that doesn't value our work and the primary sang "The Family is of God" which is such a neat song.Thankfully, my neighbors had a garage sale this weekend so my children could afford to get me some mother's day gifts. I am actually kind of excited about the gold Christmas ornaments. I think it is sweet that they thought about me enough to buy me gifts.
We had our traditional Mother's Day picnic up at Council Crest Park. Council Crest is the highest point in Portland and logically it has the best view in town. You can see Mount Hood, Mount Adams, Mount Rainier, Mount Jefferson and Mount St. Helens from the top as well as the entire city and most of the suburbs.Council Crest used to be an amusement park and (according to this card) "The Dreamland of Portland, Oregon." Now it is just a nice calm park with a great view, It is an off-leash park which is not so great for picnickers but fantastic if you have dogs. We have had many canine visitors at our Mother's Day Picnics over the years. This year there was some construction going on and the west side of the park was fenced off.
One of the reasons I choose Council Crest for my mother's day picnic is because of the statue of a mother and child near the entrance to the park. It was stolen in 1990 but found years later and returned.

Here you can see how the park is encircled with blossoming plum trees. I love how the petals look like pink confetti on the ground.

The mother's day photo - I love how the kids look terrified underneath their smiles.

Boba Fett pretending he was "a bad man drinking wine." (I don't make these things up.)

My family running away from me.

A Lesson in Civics

Yesterday, I rounded up my small band and drove them down to the Salem for Homeschool Apple Pie Day at the Capitol. Homeschool Apple Pie day is when homeschooling families from across the state descend upon our legislators to let them know we appreciate that we have the freedom to homeschool and give a face to the the term "homeschoolers" in the hope that they will have kind thoughts about us the next time they pass the Homeschool Freedom bill and the Governor vetoes it again (because he sits firmly in the pocket of the teacher's union.) We give the representatives apple pies.
My illustrious Representative, Mitch Greenlick, (yes, remember how he ran almost unopposed last election) refused to accept his pie. His office claimed he was on weight watchers. He is getting chubby so he refuses our annual gesture of peace??? He didn't have to actually eat it himself. Mitch and I have traded e-mails about homeschooling and we do not see eye to eye. Please someone run against him next time!

We were unofficially expected to dress in church clothes. I wore a nice skirt and so did Nutmeg but I could not see my boys putting on their ties for this event. I chose my battle and asked only that they wore their nice jeans (without holes) and their nice long sleeved red shirts and the Heeleys were not allowed. I forgot to put on my boots before we left so my ensemble was topped off with tennis shoes. I was so worried that I was going to look like a weirdo. No worries, no one noticed my shoes because as I forget living in the super cool homeschool metropolis that I do, a lot of homeschoolers are of the type where the women dress like pioneers and have really long hair with those gravity defying rolls where the bangs should be. My feet were really low on the out of place scale. Our little group of Mormons looked downright secular.

We had a tour of the Oregon Supreme Court, watched the opening of the senate and said the pledge with the senate (tears.) We went to the House of Representatives where we heard the passing 2 bills that are a complete waste of government resources. The final arguments of the "Honest Pint" bill were being discussed and Oregonians, your representatives are a bunch of clowns. They had a lot of fun thinking up clever ways to show their enthusiasm about a full 16 oz of beer. Finally one man stood up to speak, he pointed out that this voluntary program was a strain on the already over-worked health inspectors and a completely unnecessary function of government. Besides it is voluntary so the people who aren't serving honest pints don't have to participate. Matt and I were so pleased with him that we started clapping which is not allowed. We were chastised by the speaker but we were on our way out so we didn't get in trouble.

A complete waste of government time in a state with 12% unemployment. I am so glad my children witnessed THAT.
The kids behaved better than expected but not as well as hoped. What is evident is that they need more education about how government works but they are 3, 5 and 9 so I have a few years yet. Nutmeg played in the puddles, Commander C had a bad attitude and Boba Fett thought about only one thing the picnic planned for after we were done. It was pouring rain when we were done so we had our picnic in the van.

The Otherside

Last month we had a date and I could have just kicked myself for not bringing the camera. If my photos were ever good I would go back and recreate the scenes. I found a sitter and Moose took me to The Otherside (of Portland but it might as well be the planet) to go mattress shopping, to lunch and Yarnia.

We went first to Cotton Cloud Futons to check out their natural Latex mattresses. Of course I liked the very soft one and Moose liked the firmer one. We flopped ourselves back and forth between the 2 beds for quite a while and then found an innerspring mattress with a memory foam topper that we could agree on.

As we were walking to the next destination we passed a wig store. A whole store with wigs. I could imagine the fun of Moose and I modeling wigs and taking pictures.

Then we arrived at Sleep Country USA (Why buy a mattress anywhere else?) As I walked in there was a life-sized-ish cut out of their new spokes lady and while I like her I really miss the old girl. Then Moose and I flopped about on 3 Temperpedic mattresses and 2 Nature's Rest Latex mattresses. We decided that while the Temperpedics were very interesting we liked the really expensive Nature's Rest best. Moose loves Temperpedic pillows.

Then we left and headed to Yarnia. Yarnia was fun but not all I expected it to be. In the end I realized I am a boring, solid color type of girl and twisting my own fiber was not as great as I thought it should be. Moose had a blast though, he kept bringing me fibers to test out, I wish I had my camera for that.
Ultimately I DECLINED to purchase ANY yarn at all. I guess I am just a boring old Cascade 220 gal.

Then we set out to find a "Portlandy" restaurant. We went to the most "Portlandy" street of all, Hawthorne. We selected a restaurant because the girl busing the table had dreads and a bandanna on her head and decided it was Portlandy enough then parked along one of the side streets of cute craftsman houses completely lined with parked cars. There was a front yard with a buddist shrine and sand garden as well a stone wall with door hardware embedded in it.

Our waiter was a young guy with enough tattoos for 50 sailors and multi-colored, multi-length hair. His finger tatts spelled "G-O-O-D" The patrons were of all sorts and I resisted the urge to maul the woman sitting next to us with her Obama Biden '08 shirt on.

We had fun examining the people on the street and wondering how one part of a city can be so different from the other.

There are a LOT of pet stores on the trendy streets of Portland, but very few children. Telling?

11 Things I Love About Portland

Portland is the saddest city in the nation according to BusinessWeek. Everyone is talking about it. Personally, I think their logic is flawed because they said they took green space into account (have they been to Portland???) and obviously they didn't put traffic into account or Seattle would have been up on top too.

The weather (i.e. lack of sunshine) in the winter is pretty tough. We do have a self proclaimed liar in the Mayor's seat and we can't do anything about him until July, and people in Oregon know that the govt will do what they want to do regardless of the will of the people. We have very few property rights, we are taxed to the hilt and they still claim they need more money. We are a horribly politically correct city but aside from that living in Portland is pretty good.

In retribution I give you 11 things I love about living in Portland:

1- Close proximity to the Columbia River Gorge, the Cascade Mountains and the Oregon Beach. These are beautiful peaceful places. They are free and remind us who is in charge.
2- Organic food. I do not have to search to find not pesticided, hormone laden food. I have 3 stores in a very short distance that carry mostly organic foods and most grocery stores have a decent selection of organics. I don't have to work very hard to give my family good food. We also have Asian markets, Mediterranean markets, Indian markets and who knows what other variety of market. If you want it you can find it in Portland. You can grow food in your garden year round in Portland and there are numerous dairies, farms, farmers markets, orchards and berry fields.
3-I have told you before about my love for Fabric Depot. About how the first time I walked in the store I cried tears of joy, I had never ever seen so much fabric in one place. The best thing about Fabric Depot apart from selection is quality. This is good fabric, the kind it is hard to find anymore. The store is not half fleece, half crafts and a tiny corner for real fabric. It is the other way around.

4- As a homeschooler it is hard not to appreciate our library system. We have libraries everywhere, private, public, educational you name it. Most of them are connected. All I have to do is to put in a request from my home computer and I can have any book from any of the libraries sent to my tiny, and very convenient library branch. It is very rare that I can not find what I am looking for.

5- Powell's City of Books . The largest independent new and used bookstore in the world. Need I say more?

6-I haven't been there yet but just knowing that a place like Yarnia exists in my town is so awesome. There are plenty of other artsy and crafty paces in Portland. Someone is always making something and helping you to learn how to do something.

7- The parks. We are the park-iest city in the nation. We have the smallest park in the world, the enormous 5,100 acre Forest Park and everything in between. The parks are always well kept, accessible and the Parks and Rec provide a staggering variety of fun classes and activities.

8-Super nice drivers- In Portland when you are trying to get on the freeway people on the freeway stop and let you in. It is weird and kind of annoying but really, really nice. Drivers are generally very nice and considerate in Portland. We have to be because we all know the traffic engineers are complete idiots and we try to make allowances for that handicap

9-Multi cultural community. I love that there are people from all sorts of cultures here in Portland. In my neighborhood there are lots of Indians, there are Russian communities, Japanese communities, Chinese communities (even a China Town) Hispanic, Filipino It is so fun to get to learn about different countries, food and customs.

10- I fit in here. In Portland I am not the only person that wears her baby on her back, I am not the only person that eats whole foods, I am not weird here. There are a lot of LDS people here and I really appreciate that after living most of my life in places where there were very few of us. There are also LOTS of homeschoolers. It is not at all unusual to be chatting with someone and find out that they are homsechoolers too.

11- The climate. Say what you will about the clouds and the rain but I will take that over cold, frozen snowy winters anyday. I enjoy sunny summers that are not blazing hot. I like the weather in Portland.

The 5 stages of snow in Portland

****Special Post by Guest Blogger Moosedrool.****
How the city of Portland deals with snow is a lot like the 5 stages of grief. First everyone is in denial, where they stay home and convince themselves that the snow will go away soon. Then the anger starts as people realize they hate driving in snow. Then barganing starts when folks start to go places again, slowly and only if it's a short distance to drive. Next comes depression because even if the snow were to all go away, we still have another 4 to 5 months of cold, cloudy, rainy weather. And finally acceptance as we all buckle down and go on about our lives all bundled up.

Everyone except ODOT. They apparently are stuck in the denial phase. Every year it seems we have severe enough weather that closes down the roads, and every year ODOT shows that the most they can do is hold press conferences and close the roads. Other cities have snow plows and even hire equipment to help clear things up.

Needless to say, with the closure of I-84, we had to find an alternative route to go home for Christmas. That route took us through Seattle. It would have taken us further on to Spokane, but it got dark and late and we decided to hole up in a hotel and wait for more daylight (and hopefully for more snowplows). For the kids who didn't have to drive all that way in the snow and ruts, they are having a great time jumping on the beds and watching cable tv. For the rest of us, we only have another day of snow covered mountain passes to look forward to. I miss denial.

Puppy Fever

I think that the puppy fever has passed. I don't know what it was but for about 5 days I had a serious case of puppy fever.
I know what brought it on. When my dad walked in the door last week he said something about a dog and breeds that don't shed and how it is so good for the kids and before I knew it my firmly held position of no furry pets in the house had gone right out the window in an obsession to find the perfect puppy. For the kids yes, but since I am a clever mom I KNOW that any and all pet duties would fall to me so I had better love that puppy. So I decided I would get a puppy that I liked for me and claim naming rights and take it on solitary walks in the green space.
On the second night of the puppy fever I couldn't sleep and got up and read about dogs on the Internet until my computer turned itself off (at 2 am it goes to bed.) I very quickly settled on a Scottish Terrier because they are so very me don't you think? They like to be the boss and the center of attention, they are friendly and loyal but suspicious of strangers. And they are so very stylish, classic but unusual only a Scottie would go with my fabulous 50's skirts. I also liked that they are small enough not to be in the way but big enough that they aren't ridiculous.

Then I found THIS ad
Irresistible, non? And then I was hooked I was going to get a Scottie under the Christmas Tree on Christmas day and name him Banquo or MacDuff or some other fabulous name from the Scottish play and we would be pals.

After a few days I started realizing that dogs are expensive. Especially Scotties. Apparently Scottish Terrier Puppies are $500 to $700 and even "adopting" a grown Scottie will set you back $450. (Remember the good old days when you could get a dog for free?) Then add all the shots, and vet bills, and doggie beds, and leashes,and toys, and food, and dog dishes. And Scotties are seriously high maintenance what with the haircuts every 7 weeks. Apparently there is A way to groom Scotties and if you deviate you will be arrested by the doggie police and I KNOW there is a large unit here in Portland. So that is I don't even know how much money - every 7 weeks. Or you could learn to do it your self and buy all this dog grooming gear and have one more person in the house to complain when it is hair cut night. Plus a stylish Scottie would certainly need a tartan coat.

And did you know that there are Scottie play dates and Halloween parties!?!?! Apparently doggie playdates are fairly common, I don't get it, setting up playdate for kids is weird enough for me.

So nearly $1000 in the first year and high maintenance of the dog's coat and the picking up of... well you know what combined with the ultimate realization of the mere possibility of fleas. And that's it, I was done, no puppy.

Now, in hindsight, I am glad. I think it was a big step for me, I am not a dog person. When I come to your house and your dog sniffs me, or licks me or jumps on me, I am not even mildly amused. I am trying not to let you see the repulsion. So just the 5 day puppy obsession must mean...something. Right? I am progressing.

But Scottie fever has yielded positive things.
I now know that Scotties are the most stylish dog, period.
Trader Joe's has Scottie shaped licorice candy in the stores right now.
The picture at the top of my post is SO cool.
And last night surrounded by yards of soft black terry cloth I made this
Everyone LOVES him. Moose said the words cute and adorable of his own volition.

Tomorrow I will make more and have them for sale in my Etsy shop.

A Little Bit of Light Fright, Moving Pictures and Tango

Tonight Moose and I indebted ourselves to our neighbor and sneaked out post trick or treating and caught a showing of Nosferatu at the Mission Theatre in Portland with the soundtrack played by Mood Area 52 (warning the clip is 9 minutes long.) It was very hip and very Portland. We felt so cool.
How did we come to know of this event? Well I learned of Nosferatu on this blog I read. I was curious and read up a bit on it then forgot about it. But a few day later I was watching Oregon Art Beat and they did a piece on Mood Area 52 and mentioned that they were playing Nosferatu on Halloween in Portland. So I thought we should learn more about this. I found a YouTube video of Nosferatu here. It looked like a bit of harmless spooky fun unlike scary evil vampire movies which I avoid. I thought we could watch it on the laptop on Halloween.
Then yesterday in the aftermath of pumpkin carving Moose and I decided to abandon our children after the great candy gathering and have some adult time. Finding a sitter on Halloween is a bit tricky, which is where our never ending gratitude to our neighbor comes in.
So anyway, like I said, Mood Area 52 was playing the soundtrack because Nosferatu is a silent film. Moving pictures- old school. They were great. Two words: Cello, Accordion.

The Mission Theatre is McMenamin's pub theatre so there were tables at the seats for eating your pub fare. It was fun venue. We like the Bagdhad better because it is kid friendly.

Nosferatu was a little long but very fun and a little spooky. I noticed some very admirable film techniques for 1922. I particularly like the mirror shot and when Hutter cuts his thumb.
I can't decide which was the spookiest shot, the shadow on the stairs, Count Orlok at the door or the vampire rising up in the hold of the ship.
I did not wear my Sarah Palin costume for fear of bodily harm. I needn't of worried however I don't think anyone would have accosted me at the theatre but there may have been belittling while standing in line.

The Greatest Man That Ever Lived

This is Moose, the love of my life. No really, I have loved him since I was 14. Isn't that sweet? (Well, it isn't as sweet as you think but that is another story.) And today is his birthday.

Moose got his nickname from his gaming buddies. They shortened his username and started to call him just Moose, and it stuck. Sometimes I talk to his gaming friends and they call me Mrs. Moose. One year for Father's day we made shirts for the whole family that looked like this:
Moose likes to spend time on the computer, he likes to play the guitar and his favorite thing to do is sleep. He really does a lot of sleeping. It makes me very mad. But after 9 years I tolerate it until noon and then all bets are off.An hour or so after Nutmeg was born Betty and I were in the other room when we heard Moose giggling. We came in and this is what we saw:
He had but my new baby in a basket. He also likes to toss babies high into the air.
Moose likes to twirl his beard. He likes this so much that he has a little bald patch where he twirls. Here is a picture of Nutmeg mimicking her dad and twirling her beard at the computer.
Moose used to have a goatee, see:
That was when we were really young and he was still going to Purdue for his Computer Science degree. After school he landed his dream job as Unix Systems administrator for a certain very large computer chip company and we are here 7 years later and we love it, still.

Some things Moose would really like to have are
A sailboat
A jeep, and a guitar like Weezer plays to play Weezer songs.
Moose is a very good dad. If it were not for him this place would be chaos.
He is patient and kind and doesn't forget what he says to the children 5 seconds later like I do.
Moose does not eat paint very often but I just had to put this picture up.
Moose is always thinking and planning ahead. His is very good at strategy, from where to park the car at an even or the best escape route, or exactly when to buy a gift so you make sure you get it in time but no one knows you have purchased it. He is sneaky. Very sneaky.
Each year we go out and cut a real Christmas tree, Moose won't allow a fake tree and I am mostly glad about that. There is nothing like a real Christmas Tree.
The first birthday gift I remember Moose giving to me was a poster that had birthdays of famous people one for each day of the year. The first birthday present I gave Moose was an old pickle jar, full of skittles with a red Hot Wheels car hidden inside. He was turning sixteen. He kept the pickle jar, it is upstairs in our closet right now.
Happy Birthday, Moose, we love you very much.