The Basement

This is one of those memories I'll never forget because as soon as I light a wood burning fireplace, I'm transported right back to the basement of the house I grew up in.

The basement, now home to a new guest bedroom with a gas fireplace on the wall, and the laundry room was once our main living space. The upstairs living room used to be full of antiques and was more of a formal living room.

There used to be an ugly green and off-white-ish sort of couch as well as a burnt orangish red lazy boy chair.

There was a large hutch, which I believe is still there that used to hold our box TV and if I am remembering correctly it had a dial to change the channels. I remember watching cartoons and Sesame Street on it! I remember my dad coming home for lunch and us RUNNING upstairs

Most of my memories stem from looking at pictures of my childhood which might be why I LOVE pictures so much! But we had many birthday parties down there. We had a long table set up along the front side of the house of the basement... There are home video's of these parties and I love seeing my Grandma in them!

We also used to have Christmas down in the basement. We used to get a REAL Christmas tree that went in the basement every year and the fake one in the living room upstairs. The one down stairs had all the goofy, animated, colourful ornaments and the bead strands. We also have a wood burning fireplace in the basement which is why we lived down there. Once we got the "fake" one upstairs the downstairs ceased to exist as "the" hang out place.

My brother and I used to make some forts down there that were pretty cool! I remember a series of tunnels we made with the amazing cardboard boxes my dad used to bring home from work! I need to remember to bring home random stuff like that for when I have kids!

I also had a fancy tea party birthday down there one year!

I remember falling in love with  Kristi Yamaguchiand Scotty Hamilton's backflips there, snuggled up under ugly but warm (yellow, brown & orange zigzag striped) blankets, sipping cocoa, replacing wood in the fire. Such wonderful, wonderful memories!


One year I hosted a big dinner for 21 girls! It was formal attire, and it was a full turkey & potatoes spread on Valentines Day! After dinner we had an awards show in the basement that Carrie helped me plan! We had a red carpet lined with Christmas lights, and a podium! We invited Anne - the Youth Leaders wife, and we even had entertainment; Nikki & Nicole sang a duet! We gave each girl an award based on something from their personality!  That could be a whole other blog post as well!!  But here's a picture of the senior girls from the party!!

Childhood Memories

I was chatting with my cousin Jacqi on MSN about memories. We reminisced about the times we used to build forts out of blankets and chairs at Grandma's house in the living room! We also used to turn card board boxes into sleds and slide around in them! We dragged Jacqi around in a box when she broke her leg.

Grandma used to make play dough! It was yummy!! I remember it dried fast though, but it was fun to play with while it lasted!!

We also mentioned all the Christmas Pageants we were in a church! I was in all of them! I was an Angel in "Angels Aware", I was a sheep in one when I was even younger. I have sung in the kids choir every year that there was one - my mom was the conductor! I changed signs, which changed scenes in one cantata - that year I wore a dress that my mom had made me. It was Navy Blue with Gold stars on it.

We talked about the time Terry and Markie used to babysit us. We learned about Fresh Prince of Belle Air, and we were shocked and amazed by home much they could eat! I remember Markie was babysitting us one time, and he took up to McDonalds. We ordered kids meals most likely or just nuggets, and Markie ordered a 21 piece McNugget... which now doesn't seem like many but to a 6 year old - that is a lot!!

When you think about Markie you have to note how he could find his way to a hospital in any city - He was a bit accident prone. He also makes me remember a story I've heard about him. He used to live on Oxley - a street that was perpendicular to my street. He once decided to walk to my house, but he was a bit directionally challenged... he knew he had to turn at one point, so he crossed the street, turned, then turned again and then ended up back at his house! Should I tell you he was 4 years old!!

Then we started reminiscing about Fair Haven's. I remember being scared but loving to crawl up really high onto my Grandpa's top bunk! We had some amazing times at Fair Havens. that's a billion more posts, but for now I'll write about the sand castle competitions we used to have.

We also talked about how we used to climb the trees back by the clubhouse in my back yard. I remember climbing so high that the tree's used to tip over..... Those were good times! We also used to climb the maple trees out front and the one with the swing on it!

That's all we had time for, but we had some good memories!