Dear Reader:

I found this adorable lamb a few months ago in the sales bin at a department store, pulled it out, fell in love with its expression, and took it home to await the arrival of our latest little Dingle. The little lamb is getting more excited every day waiting to meet the one who will love it until “threadbare”…

When Eva Cate came to play earlier in the week…we went to Joann’s Fabric and Craft store  to pick out two different ribbons…one pink and one blue, to put on the lamb until we discover whether we have a little boy or a little girl… and then one ribbon will be removed.

Since Eva Cate worked so hard on picking out the ribbons and writing a note to her new baby cousin…I told her she could be the “giver” of the little lamb. So now it sits in the rocking chair just waiting to meet its owner and be loved “to bits.”

As a little toddler, Eva Cate didn’t care much for stuffed animals, just the real ones. She thought of Tigger as her stuffed dog… and Tigger thought of himself as human, like Eva Cate. ( He still does)  *Reality is in the eyes of the beholder.

Now Eva Cate loves stuffed animals and so what did she pick for her special stuffed animal…who sleeps with her every night?…a little white dog! When she was two…her Halloween costume was a white “shaggy dog.”

Rutledge fell in love with “Teddy” (not a very original name I gave it… but long-lasting.) Like the little lamb, I found the soft, love-able stuffed bear months before Eva Cate was born.

I decided it would stay at Boo Boo’s house and be there for each grandchild when they visited. That idea worked okay for Eva Cate but Rutledge loved Teddy so-o-o much (also Teddy grew lonely at Boo Boo’s between grandchilden visits) so I decided Teddy needed to go home with Rutledge one day…and just stay. He needed to be loved to “bits.”

These days Teddy is still the love of Rutledge’s life…

Jake, “Mr. Cool,” decided on a polar bear and sleeps contentedly with it by his side.

This whole idea of remembering our favorite stuffed animals (that were “loved to threadbare”) came about when I saw a book written about a project one man conducted on remembering our stuffed animals from our childhood.

Mark Nixon, photographer, watched his son playing one day with his threadbare stuffed animal and suddenly he remembered his favorite bear. His elderly mother still knew where it was in the attic. Nixon put the call out for any and all adults to stop by his photo studio and bring their must beloved stuffed animal…the rattier the better..and be ready to share their story.

He then started a series of these pictures/stories and collectively added them to a book called “Much Loved“…

  What Nixon found so heart-wrenching was how every adult who showed up knew the stuffed animal’s nickname…because, as one participant stated, your stuffed animal wasn’t “real” until you could tell mommy and daddy to give (Teddy, Buddy, etc.) a goodnight kiss too.

Take a minute and look at some of the stuffed animals who appeared for their “photo shoot.” So uplifting….if any of you would like to take a picture and send me one of your favorite stuffed animals or toys growing up...please do…I would love to display them on the blog!!!

From threadbare teddies to bears loved to bits, hundreds of …

Even our pets have their favorite stuffed animals….Mandy has patched up Tiger (Joan sent Tigger this stuffed animal for his first birthday) so many times but somehow that beloved stuffed tiger is still holding it together for Tigger!

* The only time Tigger ever gets upset is if someone takes his beloved “Tiger” from him.

Kaitlyn sent these adorable pictures of Rudy and Atticus with her “Teddy” that her dad gave her on the day she was born…She and her dad, Butch, share a fond love of  teddy bears…and apparently so does Rudy & Atticus!

Kaitlyn found this funny little picture too…she explains:

Rudy got sick a couple of
years ago and had to wear diapers.  He slept with Alphie the lion in a laundry basket!

Both  Rutledge and Jake love Mickey Mouse!

My favorite lines from the “Velveteen Rabbit” are:

“Once you are Real you can’t become unreal again. It lasts for always, ” the Skin Horse says in The Velveteen Rabbit.

“… You become. It takes a long time. That’s why it doesn’t happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don’t matter at all, because once you are Real you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.”

…………………………

So these days, when I look in the mirror and see some definite “hair” issues, drooping eyelids, and ‘slower to get up’ joint problems…I suppose I must smile and be thankful that I have been loved ” to ‘bits’ in my life! God loves us unconditionally which means He loves us until we are all “thread-bare.“

So until tomorrow…”Everyone is beautiful…in their own way“…if they have loved and been loved along the way!

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

* I captured a picture of the first bloom on the Bradford Pear tree in my front yard yesterday…Spring is coming…all the buds are ready to pop…I told Mollie maybe it was a God’s Wink that someone else (Baby Dingle) is getting ready to  “pop” too!