Monkey Business

Sock monkeys were never a part of my childhood.  I had a Barbie and a stuffed animal or two, although I don't remember what any of them were at this point.  But when I became part of this family (Paul and Peter), sock monkeys came into my life.  

Peter has a sock monkey made for him when he was born.  His Aunt Judy is the creator of this monkey.  His name is Blue Eyes and he is definitely part of the family.  Blue Eyes has a funny and distinctive personality, voiced by Paul.  I should explain.  

It all started with a couple of sock monkeys Judy and her husband, Tom, had long ago.  Apparently they would goof around and make the monkeys talk to each other.  Eventually along came Karen Monkey who was given to our niece, Lisa, by her Grandma Inez for Christmas when she was 6.  (She is now 21!) Tom immediately began making Karen talk and hasn't really stopped.  Karen has quite a personality. In fact, she has her own email, blog and Facebook page.  Honestly, I think Karen is Tom's alter-ego.  

Paul said he didn't really understand the sock monkey voice/personality thing until Blue Eyes came along (and Peter).  Thus Paul became Blue Eyes, rascal that he is.  Blue Eyes and his cohorts, Curious George the puppet and Jambo (another stuffed monkey), are constant sources of entertainment for Peter, even at age ten.  In fact, they are the main characters in the lunch notes Paul creates for him.  (click photo to enlarge)


As you can see, sock monkeys are a big deal around here.  

Now there is a new baby in my family.  My nephew has a 6 month old son who will be celebrating his first Christmas this year.  In fact, I will get to meet him for the first time this weekend.  In honor of his first Christmas, I made him a sock monkey.  Peter and Paul helped with some of the details so it has been a fun family project.  We're all excited about passing on the sock monkey tradition.  Now Paul will have to explain to my nephew about becoming a monkey.  Hopefully he will have as much fun with it as Paul and Tom do.

The Cactus Surprise

Christmas cacti are strange plants.  They are actually a genus called Schlumbergera and originated in the coastal mountains of Brazil.  I didn't know that until I just looked them up.  I have three of them, all given to me by my Mom.  One of them was started from my great-grandmother's plant.  It's the only one that has ever bloomed.  If I remember, it is a lovely dark pink color.

One of them is a large plant with very cactus like spines.  I hope it does bloom someday because the blossoms are HUGE, about 6 inches long or so.  

 The third cactus is blooming now, for the first time in my memory.  It is stunningly beautiful.  The plant is covered with buds and blooms.  The blooms are about 3 inches long.  I don't think I've ever seen a lovelier Christmas cactus. 

What a sweet Christmas gift.