Mr. Jones has a birthday ...

We are celebrating Mr. Jones's birthday today ... the first of many in a long line of August birthdays in this family! I snapped this picture of him yesterday with his birthday presents ... well, the hats are NOT his presents ... the middle hat actually belongs to him ... they are surrounded by our Thomas the Train hats that the little kiddos wear when they come to our house to play.

Isn't this a cool carved wooden train? Sabrina and Andrew saw it at one of those huge craft/art fair types of affairs not far from where they live and they ... bought it on the spot! They said there was NO WAY they could leave it there and not buy it for Grandpa Jones! They gave it to him when they were "home" in June. He was very very pleased! But ~ where could we display this beautiful gift that isn't really a TOY where it could be seen and enjoyed, but not exactly touched by tiny hands?

I've been trying to answer that question for weeks, shopping here and there ... hobby stores, antique shops, Pier I ... even Meijers ... to try to find a perfect little shelf just for this train. I was just about out of options, especially when I went over to Alpine Oak Village on Friday only to find out they were ... out of business! So I drove on over to Bears-in-the-Woods (Cedar Springs) where I found this ... I liked it right away! It has three very sturdy rod-iron type hooks on which to hang hats (and we already had THREE perfect hats!) and it was the exact length and width I needed for the train. It also has a groove in it for plates ... so in case we ever see any cool train plates that want to be displayed at our house, we are all set!

I'm making a nice roast beef dinner for Mr. Jones tonight, with home-baked (although I've cheated on the crust) upside-down peach pie (yum!) for dessert ... I'll have to hunt around for a candle to lovingly place on top ... Happy birthday, dear Mr. Jones!