Gramma's Corner

The Girl in the Yellow Coat

2012-02-20T14:30:00.000-06:00

Photos by Me

Edits by Lynette

February 4, 2012

16 Years

What can I say? The subject is beautiful and does a nice editing job, as well.

Valentine's Day

2012-02-15T08:58:00.001-06:00

We don't do much for Valentine's Day. Often the best celebrations are the simplest ones. Long ago, I started the tradition of making a special supper on Valentine's Day. We use Jim's mother's rose china, with stemmed glassware, and my rose silver plated "silver ware". I make some sort of special dessert, usually one chocolate and one not, since I have one kid who isn't a huge chocolate lover, and one that is. (like me) The rest eat anything sweet.

This year with Valentine's Day on Tuesday, the day we have the boys from 3 to 10 pm, I couldn't do as much as I normally do. Carrying a very heavy 5 month old wherever you go, is limiting. (I should have someone take a photo of him slung under my arm, hanging on my hip.)

I wanted to continue the tradition, so I threw the 'having a clean house' program out of the window, and had Zane help me decorate the cupcakes. He used all the sprinkles in the little bottle. Obviously to him, if you have the sprinkles you use them.

We even had a cherub.

I set the table with the rose dishes, even with a three year old. I did use my sturdier stemmed glasses.

I remember mom letting us use her goblets when we were younger. We didn't use them everyday, but often enough that there is only one left. I have a lovely memory, even if I don't have the glasses. I let my kids use mine, and I don't have a complete set of anything anymore, but it matters more to me that the kids loved to use them.

I did not have time to fold the napkins into fancy shapes. I did not have time to clean up the kitchen, the living room, or the bathroom. I should say, I did not have the desire, or the oomph to do these things. I did clean off the table and put the food away, (we had steak).

And a very big thank you to my husband who took Zane outside for an hour while I cooked supper.

That is the best Valentine's gift I've ever had.

10,000 Hits Continued

2012-02-12T21:19:00.001-06:00

When I started the previous post, I had every attention of highlighting a few special blog posts over the last two and a half years, and writing some special words about them. What evolved was different that I expected and those special posts didn't seem to fit in.

I'm going to do that here.

I don't remember when I discovered the 'Stats' button on my posting page, but it is fun to look at and see where my viewers are from and what they are looking at.

A while back I was looking at my most viewed posts of all time and was astonished at what ended up in the top five list.

1. We Have a Baby

I'm not surprised at this one, a new baby is always welcome news.

This post was far and away the most popular post ever, having at this moment twice as many views as the next on the list.

2. Changing of the Guard

I'm also not really surprised at this one, since it is another life changing event in our lives, when our daughter was married.

These next three are pretty evenly matched for page views and I don't know why people liked them. I like them, I like them enough I want to remember that they were in the top five, because I don't expect them to stay there. There will be other things in my life that will attract more attention.

3. Gramma and Boy

This one has a little bit about my views on raising kids.

4. Home Is Where My Heart Is.

I love this post. It was one of the posts that I 'felt' when I wrote it. It is the kind of writing I wish I could do all the time and get money for. It's the kind that satisfies something in me deep down inside and I know I can write the way I want to.

5. Champion at Last

I'm so pleased this post is in the current top five. I'm not sure why it is. It is a story of accomplishment, achievement, perseverance and hard work. It's a story of support and victory. It is also just of story of my daughter's achievement not some earth shattering event. This is why I like it, because she's mine.

10,000 Hits

2012-02-11T07:03:00.001-06:00

I've been waiting to write this post for awhile. I noticed awhile ago that I was over 9,000 hits on my blog. I get about 20 a day, and this doesn't count activity from my house, since my daughter uses it as a vehicle to other blogs. I'm not sure why this 10,000 is a magic number, but it makes me feel good to have this many people taking the time to breeze through here in the last year and a half. (ahem...excuse me...make that TWO years and a half, where HAS the time gone.)

Blogging is a fascinating thing. I blog mostly because there is the pressing need inside me to record my life. I love the photo aspect because my visual memory is somehow faulty and without the photographs I don't remember events and specific incidents. I also want my faraway family to see what we are doing with our life, since individual attention in this matter has flown out the window.

I also like the attention. I always have been needy in that aspect. This blog gives it to me in a way that I hope places less burden on my family and friends to provide it. Sometimes I would like to know who across this wide world is peeking into our life, but I wouldn't know them anyway, so that doesn't really matter.

I would like to be able to blog with great, inspiring words, or with humorous insights on life that would take my blog soaring around the world with lots of notice, I think, maybe....but maybe not. Truthfully, I'm not ready for that. It comes with pressure and responsibility. It would mean being someone I'm not right now. So, for good or bad, my blog is what it is because of who I am right now, at this moment.

It is a waste of my time and everyone else's to try to be like someone else. Just being a better me, is work enough.

This Post is for Zane

2012-02-08T22:01:00.000-06:00

For those of you who are diligent followers of my blog, you already know that Zane just LOVES his trains. Well, he and I have a very different take on what playing with trains is all about. I love to make a big complicated track that he can run several trains on. He likes a big complicated track that he can fun several trains on in different directions so they crash.

I love these trains too, and the things I love I want to photograph. So, I got down on the floor to see what I could get.

Long may the batteries last!

Great Aunts and Woodpiles.

2012-02-04T21:46:00.000-06:00

We were lucky enough to have a very special Auntie come to visit our house for a few days. I guess I should say a very special sister, and sister-in-law, too, depending on the age and generation bracket you fall into in our household.

We had the BEST time. Cooking and talking and laughing and working outside.

Not everyone has relatives that like to come help with outside clean-up, but we have one and we appreciate the help. After this is family company.

Jim started cleaning up the wood pile behind our shop that has been a PILE for several years and was infested with termites. Now, something HAD to be done about that, so Jim has been working on piling and sorting about putting out termite killer. With his sister here they really went at it and got the wood part of the mess cleaned up back there. We would like to get our place a lot tidier than it is, but it will take a while. It is much easier to clean up in the summer, but there are a lot of other things that need done then, too.

And, it is always nice to come home and see the new family members and how much the not as new ones have grown.

Nothing like Auntie love!

Simple Pleasures # 2

2012-02-01T21:33:00.002-06:00

"I believe the nicest and sweetest days are not those on which anything very splendid or wonderful or exciting happens but just those that bring simple little pleasures, following one another softly, like pearls slipping off a string." L.M. Montgomery

I was looking for this quote online because I couldn't remember it in its entirety. It is nice that people put just what I am looking for on their blog. (To see the blog, click on the quote.)

I want to appreciate these days in which nothing very exciting happens. This recorded day was one such day.

Gramma and two boys.

Grampa and two boys.

4 month old Barry can grab and chew.

And enjoy the fireplace.

We don't always have TIME for those special days when we are just enjoying ourselves and those around us, so I want to enjoy them when I do.

Take One Men's Shirt

2012-01-30T21:02:00.000-06:00

Do you know Pinterest?

That new online bulletin board that keeps my daughter online for hours at a time.

Trolling through hundreds of ideas for something fun to do, to make, to eat.

I'm on Pinterest, too. I have a few boards, I have a few pins. I see what other people pin and I think, "oh I like that", and pin it. I wonder if I will ever use what I see.

ANYWAY, my daughter found this skirt,

ANYWAY, my daughter found this skirt, with a tutorial, through pinterest. Unfortunately, we ended up with a short-sleeved shirt so she learned a lot of things that the original tutorial didn't address.

Like, how to put a zipper in, and how to piece the back side of the waistband where it won't show, when you don't have enough material.

This was one project she wanted to do all by herself. Which she did by the way, with a little instruction about the zipper.

It turned out very well.

And she wore it very well.

I like this business of making old things new again. It fits right into my "don't buy anything new, unless you really have to", philosophy.

I'm training her up right.

Simple Pleasures

2012-01-28T12:11:00.000-06:00

I'm having a hard time thinking of titles lately, maybe I'll just have to start reusing them. I have some pictures of my Barry Boy that are just too cute not to share.

This sleeper was given to Zane when he was a baby from my brother. He gave a toddler sized sleeper that the girls wore until the couldn't fit in it anymore and the buttons fell off. They loved it. They loved it because it was bright and colorful and they loved it because it came from Uncle Tim. I love it because it has a zipper, which are so much easier to deal with than snaps.

I haven't had a baby in my bed for 16 years. Although, I guess I've had baby pictures in my bed a couple of years ago.

I love my sweetie baby in my old crib, which was his mama's old crib, which was my dad's new crib.

And.....We can't forget my Zaney Boy. He loves, loves, loves to be outside, and his Grampa is so good to take him in his big boy coveralls, out to ~~play~~ help in the snow.

My Daughters, The Cooks

2012-01-24T20:25:00.000-06:00

My girls are learning their way around a kitchen. I didn't have Lorene and still don't have Lynette have regular kitchen duties, but they both have been willing and able to learn how to read a recipe, and a box, and to make a few simple things, like eggs and grilled cheese sandwiches. Even my SON, could do things like that. It helps that I'm the kind of mom that doesn't care to jump up every time my kids want something. They have legs, and a brain, and if they are hungry between meal times, they can do something about it themselves.

So, when they want to make supper, I'm all for it

Lasagna

Its' more about watching these girls working happily together, than what is for supper. This was simply not the case when they were younger. It was partly the 4 year age difference and partly because they have such widely different interests. They enjoy each other so much more now, and it is lovely to watch.

I'm not the best cook in the world, but I am able to keep my family from starving. I'm really an ordinary sort of cook that makes ordinary comfort foods. I like to make things from scratch. It's the way my mother cooked. I don't remember her teaching us lots of things in the kitchen. I remember doing a lot of dishes. My sister and I fought so much while doing supper dishes, that we were on our own, a week on, a week off. We were supposed to sweep the floor and wipe off the stove as part of those duties, but it didn't often get done. When the dishes were done, we wanted to be OUT OF THERE!! I know I was baking early since I was in 4-H, When I took Home Ec. In Jr. High, part of our Home Ec. grade was to cook at home. I learned a lot about cooking made a bunch of different things for mom that particular quarter to get my grade, and then went right back to my "only cooking when I was made to" status. The older I got the more I helped. I was in charge of the potatoes and gravy for Sunday dinner. I made jello and cookies and pies. I helped with the canning in the summer. I baked mostly for 4-H, but I baked for mom, too. Sometimes I even helped with supper. In those days we didn't have anything electronic to shut ourselves off from the rest of the family. We were all together in the three main rooms of "downstairs". So, I had plenty of opportunity to watch Mom cook, and that helped when it was time for me to be cooking for a husband and family.

It was still hard work though.

I remember early in our marriage a very dear, older friend told me that roast, mashed potatoes and gravy was the easiest meal to make. I didn't believe her. I struggled to have all the parts of the meal ready together and on time.

It wasn't until 15 years later, as I was making roast, mashed potatoes and gravy, corn, buns, and jello, (for about the 20th time that year), that is really is the easiest meal to make. It's easy because I've done it so often I don't have to think anymore. I just cook.

You know, I'm hungry just thinking about it.

Good Ol' Ham and Beans

2012-01-20T12:55:00.000-06:00

We had ham the other day. I bought a couple of half hams when they were on sale at Thanksgiving time. We like the real thing, not that ham and water product stiff. A real ham has a bone in. I like a good ham bone. It gives us a good excuse to have old fashioned ham and beans. I grew up on ham and beans. Mom soaked her beans over night and cooked them until they were very soft and the juice was still clear.

In fact it was one of my favorites. I wish I knew now what my brothers and sister thought of it. We didn't always have corn bread. Sometimes we just ate them with plain bread. I can see right now, my dad fixing his plate of beans. He buttered his bread, (we kids didn't get to, just goes to show about the DAD), then put his beans over the bread. For some reason I did it differently. I mashed my beans first, and then spread them on my unbuttered bread, poked holes in it, and poured bean juice over the top. Another thing we liked was to put diced raw onion over the top. I makes my mouth water just thinking about it.

Now that I think about it, I didn't like corn bread in those days. In our house, you ate what was set before you, so I had to eat it anyway. I would spread it with peanut butter and swallow it with lots of milk. I sure like cornbread with my beans now, I wonder if I would have learned to like it, if I hadn't already known it wouldn't kill me.

Jim likes beans, too. Every first Sunday, there was a potluck after the first Sunday meeting. Jim still talks about how good Anna's beans were. She cooked them the day before and warmed them up again. I've asked again and again, if my beans are ever like "Anna's beans". He says, "no". I am beginning to wonder if the flavor of the years past makes it impossible to make beans like that anymore. So, I don't ask anymore. I make good beans, he likes them and asks for more.

I also have a strange memory about ham bones. Mom always used to think there was something funny about them, and I never understood the joke. It has to be an inside joke. The kind of joke that happens when you're young and silly and enjoying life with friends. I wonder if it has anything to do with this old movie taken when I was a baby, we lived in a trailer house then, and it shows my folks and company passing around this ham bone, and everyone takes a bite. They were all laughing.

Goodness, I'm so much older now that she was then, and I'm still doing silly things to laugh at with my friends.

He's My Brother

2012-01-17T13:55:00.002-06:00

It's been pretty easy babysitting these boys at this stage of their lives. Zane is an independent player for the most part, and doesn't make messes and get into things he shouldn't just for the fun of it.

Barry is immobile.

That's the important part.

I'm not looking forward to the time when Barry starts to crawl. The biggest reason is that the easy part of taking care of these boys will be over. Barry will want to crawl on the tracks where Zane will want to be driving and grabbing the engines Zane will want to use.

But, until then, I will enjoy this time. Perhaps it won't be as hard as I think. After all, it's so sweet to see Zane showing Barry his trains. They will be able to share and play together.

NOT.

At least for a long time yet.

Lynette's Kittens

2012-01-12T21:30:00.000-06:00

I'm sorting my photos, on the computer, I had a scare the other day when the power source went out in the hard drive and I had a bad feeling....what about all those photos that are saved no where else but on the computer. However, the whole process causes more anxiety than comfort, partly because I don't have time to do it and after a protracted session, I came up for air, grumpy, anxious, and no fun to be around. I got 2009 sorted. I deleted the bad ones, the doubles, and saved it on two separate flash drives.

While I was enjoying some flashes of the past, I came across these cute little pictures that Lynette took way back then. Kittens are just plumb cute, even though we have way too many cats around here. I like these better than the real thing.

Barry-4 months

2012-01-08T13:18:00.001-06:00

Four months ago we first met this adorable Barry as a brand new infant. One, who at a couple hours old was lifting his head off his mother's shoulder. Now at 4 months, he is reaching and grabbing and watching. He is trying to sit up in his car seat. He is laughing now, and loves, loves to be talked to. He also likes to be held upright, facing out, and walked around. I get tired of that, he's so heavy. I put him to sleep in the little umbrella stroller part of the time.

He weighs 15# 9 oz. and is 24" long, which means he's 50% height, 75% weight, just about opposite of big brother Zane.

Now, Zane is three. I am beginning to understand him when he talks on the phone. He has some of the funniest words. He eats with a "stork", plays with "balloonins", sleeps with his "kiki", and probably has any number of cute other words, that of course, I can't remember right now, because he isn't here. And if he was here, I wouldn't be blogging anyway, because he would either wanting me to build a train track for him or play a computer game, neither of which are conducive to blogging. Of course, if I have Zane I also have Barry, who sobs like I've been sticking pins into him after about 2 minutes of playing by himself, and blogging doesn't work well with that either, since I'm standing up.

But, they sure are cute, aren't they.

Samoa Cookies

2012-01-05T10:09:00.002-06:00

We always need something new to do while on break from school. Lynette has been wanting to make these cookies for a long time, and we had the time while she was out of school. She has been enamored lately with a new site called pinterest. It is a rather neat site, when you join you have the privilege of "pinning" things to your account, like a digital bulletin board. A very nice way to keep things, without trying to keep track of photos and articles and paper.

So we found the recipe for make our own. Credit goes here: Samoa Girl Scout Cookies.

Recipe below.

It is a very easy shortbread-like dough. We used a 2" cutter and a lip-gloss cap to make the cookies.

Ready to bake

Toasted coconut

Ready to melt caramels.

It's a real pain to get the caramel/coconut mixture spread on the cookies. The hotter it is the easier to spread and the burnier the fingers.

Dipping didn't work, so we spread the chocolate on the bottom. I think milk chocolate chips would taste better.

Melt the chips and decorate the tops.

Enjoy!

Cookies ~ Homemade Samoas

(also known as Caramel de-Lites)

Makes about 3 1/2 to 4 dozen

The cookies involve four steps:

1. Make the cookie Base

2. Top with Caramel-Coconut mixture

3. Dip bottom of cookies in melted chocolate

4. Drizzle tops with melted chocolate

The Cookie (base):

1 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup sugar

2 cups all purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

up to 2 tablespoons milk

Preheat oven to 350F.

Cream together butter and sugar in a large bowl. Mix in flour, baking powder and salt at a low speed, next, the vanilla and milk, adding in the milk only as needed to make the dough come together without being sticky (you may not need any at all). The dough should come together into a soft, pliable ball. Add in a bit of extra flour if your dough seems sticky.

It's easiest to roll the dough out in 2 or 3 batches (between pieces of wax (or parchment) paper to about 1/4-inch thickness (or a little thinner) using a 1 1/2-inch cookie cutter to make rounds. Place on a parchment lined (or on silicone mat) baking sheet and make a hole in the center. I used the small end of a large round piping tip. Nicole comments that you can use a knife, or the end of a wide straw, to cut a smaller center hole. Repeat until the dough is used up (it's okay to re-roll, this dough is shortbread-like and very forgiving.)

Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes, until bottoms are very lightly golden brown around the edges.

Cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet, to allow them to firm up slightly, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Topping:

3 cups shredded coconut (sweetened or unsweetened)

12-ounces good-quality chewy caramels

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons milk

8 ounces dark or semisweet chocolate (chocolate chips will do)

(If you prefer milk chocolate, by all means use that.)

Preheat oven to 300 degrees (F)

Spread coconut evenly on a rimmed baking sheet and toast 20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes, until coconut is golden. Watch carefully, especially near the end of toasting time; the coconut toasts very quickly once it begins to become golden.

Cool on baking sheet, stirring occasionally. Set aside.

Unwrap the caramels and place in a large microwave-safe bowl with milk and salt. Cook on high for 3-4 minutes, stopping to stir a few times to help the caramel melt. When smooth, fold in toasted coconut with a spatula.

Using the spatula or a small offset spatula, spread topping on cooled cookies, using about 2-3 teaspoons per cookie. Reheat caramel for a few seconds in the microwave if it begins to firm up, to make it soft and spreadable once again.

While topping sets up, melt chocolate in a small bowl. Heat on high in the microwave in 45 second intervals, stirring thoroughly to prevent scorching. (I melted mine stovetop using double boiler method.) Dip the base of each cookie into the chocolate and place on a clean piece of parchment paper (I used silicone baking mats instead). Transfer all remaining chocolate into a piping bag or a ziplock bag with the corner snipped off and drizzle finished cookies with chocolate. (Melt a bit of additional chocolate, if there is not quite enough for each cookie.)

Let chocolate set completely before storing in an airtight container.

Recipe credit: Nicole @ Baking Bites.com

A New Year

2012-01-01T19:23:00.001-06:00

All of my friends are writing profound and pithy thoughts on the coming new year. I had the time this year to think a little about the year ahead because we haven't gone anywhere and had much company. Composing here I am reminded again why I didn't have time to think about the new year in 2011. I am reminded rather strikingly, actually, since we had a startling and unhappy ending to the old year.

It all started with a lovely plan to meet up with my brother and his family to go skiing during Christmas break. We met at a nice small sort of ski resort in Salida, Colorado, and prepared to have fun.

Pizza and Cousin time in the Motel.

Instead it turned out to be disappointing and upsetting. The first day, before noon one of the boys along for the trip hit his head and was acting so strangely, someone took him down to the emergency room, where he was diagnosed with a concussion and had an MRI to make sure nothing serious was wrong. That evening, one of the moms that was along, felt like she was having problems with her heart and went to the ER, and stayed over night. The next afternoon, as I was staying back at the motel with the rest of the party that didn't go because of injuries, illness and lack of desire, I got a phone call that Nathan (my son) broke his arm. At first I thought someone was being funny, but we soon realized it wasn't, and also, that this was no fracture. His arm was broken, just above the wrist. As we discovered, in an ER at a hospital near a ski slope, patients are taken in according to the seriousness of their injuries, therefore, the one with the potential head and back injury, jumped to the head of the line, and the one with the sprained knee was near the bottom. We were somewhere near the middle. The orthopedic surgeon was at the hospital that day, so the surgery was done late afternoon with three pins put in.

Even in ER Nathan is on his phone.

My brother and the people they brought with them, went home that afternoon. We missed supper because of the surgery. We bought a nice steak supper for Lynette and Nathan, and I think we ate some leftovers in our motel room. We stayed another night, with Nathan's arm propped on pillows, and plenty of pain medication to help him feel better.

Ready for the night.

So, there you have it folks, the end of last year. This was the 30th of December. We drove all the way home on New Year's Eve, stopping once to take the kids over the Royal Gorge, which was another thing, I probably shouldn't have done, since it was a ridiculously large amount of money for 15 minutes of walking over a very high bridge with butterflies the size of bullfrogs in my stomach.

And one other thing, Jim says, the next time we go skiing, it will be after the first of the year, so if something does happen, it will be in one medical insurance year, not two.

Cheers!! Whatever last year was like for you, may the next one be better as someone said on facebook, or something like this, and when I went back to quote exactly, it was gone!!, (or I couldn't find it.)

And if you want to know what pithy means, look it up, dictionary.com is a good source.

September 2009

2011-12-29T06:38:00.000-06:00

I'm sorting pictures again, early in the morning. I love to go back and see how Zane has changed, to revisit those photos again and remember how cute he was. I don't seem to remember otherwise. He's so cute now, but he's a little boy, no longer a baby.

Zane has such a roguish look on his face in this photo. He's not walking yet, but he can sure get around.

I took a number of very special pictures at York 2009.

These are some of my favorite. This little boy belongs to this family, and he and Zane share a love of wheels.

Ready for a bath.

Sweet Dreams.

Dear Uncle Tim and Aunt Cindy

2011-12-27T11:46:00.001-06:00

I don't know if you know how much we appreciate this train set that you gave to us when Titus was finished with it. Lorene divided it with us, so Zane can play with it here as well as at home. He loves to play with it so much, that it makes my life so much easier when I have him 8 to 10 hours at a time on babysitting days.

I have to confess that we enjoy playing with it, too. (But, only when Zane is here.) If I set up a track for him in the morning, he will play with it for a long time in the morning, and then come back to it all day long. Sometimes, it takes me quite a while to get it set up. I always want to try something new and interesting.

This time I tried to use all the track pieces. I got pretty close, but the long straight pieces stumped me after a while and I got tired of crawling around on the floor, and Barry was more interested in eating, than in having me build train tracks.

My attention span is shorter than his when it comes to trains.

I love to watch him play. There is something fascinating about little trains that go around and over and under and back again all by themselves. Barry likes to watch, too, but his attention span isn't nearly as long.

I'm beginning to worry what we are going to do when Barry gets mobile. He'll want to play trains, too, but you know how crawling babies play. He'll want to be right in there on top of it, heading the demolition crew.

So, thank you, thank you, to Titus for loving trains so much he had a lot to give, to you for being willing to give it to Zane to enjoy and love them.

They have truly saved my sanity when I have these two little kids to look after three days a week. You will be happy to have a reasonable sister around for a few more years.

Love,

Gramma At Home.

Snow Fun

2011-12-26T15:53:00.000-06:00

This is the first time my brother got to see his great-nephew Barry Thomas.

It was also the first time we got snow. Tim is beloved of all his nieces and nephews because he is young at heart and willingly plays with them. So, as the snow came softly down,

(after a whole bunch of the stuff came down not so softly)

the youngest members of the family (sans under threes) went out to slide on the packed snow on the road in front of my folks house.

Oh, how often I did this during my growing up years!

I love snow by the way, but I love it a lot more from the inside these days than I do from the outside.

I used to love a good walk in the snow, on those perfect days, with snow coming down, 32 degrees with no wind, but I'm lazier now.

I did go out to take pictures of the spectacle. I tried to take some without the flash. It gives a softer look, but the flash ensures we can see the action. I have only a point and shoot digital, so the photos aren't great, but I never did get any pictures of all the times I slid on this road when I was young, my 110 camera just couldn't do that, even if I would find someone willing. So, taking a trip down memory lane gives us these.

And, from my old home, you can see the town Christmas tree in the middle of the intersection on Main Street 5 blocks away.

Barry--3 months

2011-12-23T12:28:00.001-06:00

It's surprising how much Barry has grown these 3 months, and how much he's learned. He can smile and laugh, coo and talk. He can lift his head and chest off the floor. He likes to look around and watch people work and play. He had found his tongue, both to chew and stick out. He also likes to suck on his fists. He likes to stand up either on our laps or being held upright in our arms. It's like he's tired already of this baby stuff, and "let's get on with life".

Sometimes Zane likes Barry too much, but it is neat to see him talk to him, trying to get him to smile.

"Hey, baby, " he says.

Baby Bare-y

2011-12-19T21:09:00.000-06:00

Such a sweet baby makes a sweet subject to photo. Thanks to Lynette's skills and a little editing, we have some lovely photos.

Hit the Rails

2011-12-10T20:07:00.000-06:00

We have this project hanging around the house because we can't bear to get rid of it. It represents a lot of hard work by our son. When our kids were in elementary school they were in a year-round program that started school in mid-July, had three week breaks between quarters and got out a week later than everyone else. It was nice when all the kids were in elementary school together. We took our vacations in March and October and in those breaks we were also offered some mini-classes for kids to help fill up their time. They also offered some of these same classes in the summer and one summer I signed all the kids up for a week long class and the one I had Nathan take was railroad building, and what they did, was build a piece of scenery using the supplies and techniques that model railroad builders use.

When we saw the finished product we were astounded. The quality of the work is amazing. I had no idea Nathan was so talented with his hands. I think this was done in the year between 4th and 5th grade when he was 10.

I love this thing so much, I took pictures of it and am just now getting in a place where I can go back and look at them whenever I want, since someday, it will HAVE to be thrown out. It measures about 12" wide and 16" deep. We even found a little trolley car thing to ride on the rails.

View from the top

Down in the Valley

Close-Up

Rugged Terrain

Close-up Again

Over the Top

Over the River and Through the Woods

2011-12-08T20:51:00.000-06:00

We always used to sing this song on the way to my grandparent's house. We always went out to see them in western Nebraska, at Christmas break time, and while they didn't exactly live "over the river and through the woods", we were going to "grandma's house", and there were a few trees around their home place in the sandhills. Now we take that trip to MY folks house and we do go over the river, but there aren't any woods to go through either, they are all "out back" near the river overflow that the house is situated next to.

It wasn't exactly Christmas break this time, but the first time my brother was visiting my folks, since moving as far away from the middle of the US as he could get. So, we went, even though snow was expected and hindered part of us getting there in a timely manner, as well as making the home going difficult.

However, the whole point of this is the remembering. Remembering the places we've visited and the places we've lived, and the toys we played with.

My daughter and family came along, so almost three year old Zane needed toys, so out came the toys that are left from the raising of four kids.

The ones that are left, are my favorites. I remember playing with these Fisher-Price toys, A LOT.

We had the whole set, house, barn, garage, school. We took turns (I hope) on who got what building, set them up and played, visiting our people back and forth, telling stories, playing games, and shutting up our naughty children in the little staircase that had an actual door to get in it.

Zane liked the the garage the best, which is understandable since he likes anything with wheels, and acts like there are no other toys worth playing with in the world.

They don't make the Fisher-Price house and barn anything like this anymore. They are big with "chunky" people. So, kids won't swallow them, I suppose. But, little kids didn't play with these sets. I played with them until I was 10 and long past putting anything into my mouth except food, and lots of it. I don't think kids play with toys very long anymore. We did, we didn't have anything else TO do. There weren't electronics in those days. I loved these because of the details, the paper on the inside of the rooms had carpet and wallpaper and other things that didn't come as furniture. There were stalls and animals in the barn, ABC's and apples in the schoolroom, and roads on the garage. Because of these, I like anything miniature. I had so much fun with these I expected my kids to, but they didn't. They never played with them like Zane did when we were there. I guess each kid likes his own thing, and that wasn't ours.

We are making new memories, too. Grandpa Black often has raspberry cider for us to drink. I see Zane enjoyed it too.

This little train is another memory. I don't remember playing with it myself. But, it has been around a long time. Dad painted it. But I would have liked it just the same it it wasn't.

Zane made good use of it as a place to hold his snacks.

Time marches one, things change. It is nice to see some things never change. Especially little boys and their fascination with wheels.

Word Perfect

2011-12-04T18:34:00.001-06:00

I have a cool daughter. She's not cool because she likes to play Scrabble. She's cool because she likes words like I do. To her Grandpa, she is probably cool because she likes to play Scrabble, but that is a different post at a different time that hasn't taken place yet because when we get together to play games Scrabble is low on the list since it is the favorite of the least amount of people.

I see however, it is possible to play solitaire with Scrabble tiles I see. I think it's pretty neat to not only use all the letters in a big puzzle, and then to do it twice.

Really cool.

I Have the Boys Today

2011-12-01T11:09:00.001-06:00

I have the boys today. I like saying that, and I get along all right, too, if I just make up my mind, that I'm not going to be able to do anything I want to do, or anything remotely fun, either. Lorene is here for a few days while her husband is training somebody, or getting training in Council Bluffs. It is boring in her little apartment with no internet, and she has to work anyway, so being here makes fewer trips to Grand Island. She is working 7am to 7pm today, which makes a very long day, but Barry still naps and as long as I keep Zane off the computer he will play nicely with his toys. He has been playing for a couple of hours with his Thomas train set, and now he is into the Legos, and Barry is sleeping. We have made a lemon pound cake, (from a mix), put the laundry in the dryer, (I hope Zane didn't turn it off), played a game as well as the aforementioned activities, had snack and it is 11:00 am and time to think about lunch. Maybe we'll just have pound cake. Except it will make me sleepy and crabby, and Zane hyper and crabby, so I guess that isn't a good idea. Plus there are about a million leftovers in the fridge and freezer from the turkey dinner we had a week ago and I just keep making more food!! You think we had to eat around here or something. I think we need to have a eat all the leftovers for dinner day. I'm going to be gone this weekend to see my brother with daughter number one and THE BOYS, while Jim is here with daughter number two while she goes a very long way away to district one-acts. Now you think they could eat all those leftovers in the fridge, but is Jim is here by himself, he will eat ham sandwiches and when Lynette is there, they will want to eat out, so all that will happen is that I will come home to older leftovers.
Well, that lasted a long time. Barry is awake already, and I've been up checking on the cake since Zane was worried about it and fixing the train track. I wonder why I thought I could blog anything anyway?

How to Eat Like a Two-Year Old.

2011-12-01T05:56:00.000-06:00

Zane would rather be a grazer. He would rather eat candy, chocolate milk, and cookies. His parents would rather he ate his dinner at the table with everyone else. Sometimes this means sitting at the table after everyone else finishes. (Even if he's pushed the plate away.)

All Done!

My Boy Zane

2011-11-30T21:15:00.001-06:00

Zane isn't three years old yet. He still has a month to go. It's been fun having him around so I can see how much his mind has grown. He is into puzzles and games. Today we were playing with a number puzzle and we had four empty spaces when he looked at the three pieces left on the floor and said, I can't remember what he said, but something to the effect that there weren't enough pieces left to finish the puzzle. We looked around and he found the missing piece and put all four in and he was done! Now, what is that, counting?, subtraction?. I was amazed. I love to watch little ones learn the concepts of life and learning.

He can put 25 piece puzzles together with a minimum of help. I am amazed at how well he is doing these at not yet three.

I got out my geoboards today. Zane loves them. He doesn't do much put pile up rubber bands in straight lines, but he'll learn more.

He also plays with his Thomas trains for hours at a time. He connects a few pieces of track together with his buildings connects his trains, and acts out stories and situations. He gets most of that information from all the Thomas and Friends videos he watches. Even so, imaginative play is the best thing.

There is evidence of a toddler in the house. When told to "put your shoes by the door", this is what we get.

Halloween Kitty

This isn't Zane, but Barry is a part of him, too.

What better thing for a round little baby to be for Halloween, but a pumpkin?

And he's just cute.

This was one of those days, that while Zane and I were playing puzzles, Papa was walking the floor with baby Barry.

Whew! Finally, asleep!

Be Thankful

2011-11-28T10:42:00.001-06:00

I didn't take many photos on Thanksgiving Day. Not of the food, not of everyone there, not of the games we played. And especially not of the dishes that had to be washed by hand, since the dishwasher is broken.

Thanksgiving is really more than food, it's about the gathering of family and friends together to eat and enjoy and get to know each other better.

It's a time to welcome new members in.

It's a time to enjoy your grandchildren.

It's a time to enjoy...

the fun things of life.

It's a time to enjoy the outside...

..and to let the outside in.

(the fireplace was too hot)

It's a time to remember our heritage, thanksgiving that spans the generations.

It's a time to be thankful, for who we are and for what we have.

Starting Again

2011-11-18T20:35:00.000-06:00

I'm starting all over again. Babysitting TWO grandsons this time instead of one. I'm getting used to, again, the joys and pains of having TWO children to look after. I think I'm better equipped this time. I know that I won't get anything done, and I don't try to. But I also know the little bit of time it takes to run down and put a load in the washer or dryer, to wash up a few dishes and to fold clothes while watching Zane play with a baby on my lap. The problem I have is the meals part. I need to make "certain sure" what I'm having for supper long before I need to cook it. And then work in fits and starts all afternoon. I like to make sure Zane has outside time, running time, and quiet time. I knew all this "back in the day", but I was tireder, (more tired), how DO you say that, and cared less about getting work done. Now I know that "keeping up" is easier on me, which is easier on everyone else in the long run.
Now that Lorene has gone back to work here in Kearney and working long hours, I want this job, really, I want the chance to put some of my values and ideas in their little heads. I want to love them, and teach them and read to them. I want to do some things with them that I didn't do with my kids. I think it is a little bit, "I would do this differently this time around."
Grandchildren are the second chance. The chance to change, the chance to play, the chance to watch again the growing of babies into people. The chance to have some influence on another little life. There is something grandparents have that parents will never have. They know how precious that little life is, how much they want to put in it, how much they need to know. They know how short the time is and how quickly it's gone. Some of those things are lost in the hectic life of raising kids the first time around.
I know I'm going to be tired and frustrated after 10 to 12 hours of looking after a baby and a toddler. I know I'm going to have more headaches and less time to do fun things. But, I also know that I only have one chance with these kids, and people are more important that another scarf.

Baby Bear

2011-11-08T07:17:00.000-06:00

Barry is 2 months old now and cute as a bug. I can get photos of him smiling now, but he still spends a lot of time looking for Mom and Daddy. It's a bittersweet moment for me, since I was Zane's "other mom", and he was looking for me, too, at this age. However, this is how it should be, with Mom and Dad the most important, and Gramma next.

This photo here is 6 weeks. What a strong little guy!!

Julius Caesar Lives

2011-10-31T09:10:00.000-05:00

."Friends, Romans, Countrymen, lend me your ears." For those of you who don't feel the need to know at least bits and pieces of classic literature, that is the speech Marc Antony gave at Julius Caesar's funeral as William Shakespeare imagined it.

Which I didn't know either, but I have heard the phrase before and I knew Brutus stabbed Caesar in the back (and killed him).

In Lynette's AP English class, students were given the opportunity to memorize 35 lines of Julius Caesar. dress up in a historically correct Roman toga, and present it with suitable acting in front of the class for 250 extra credit points.

So, she began to memorize, and she can't do it alone. I listened, I corrected, I followed word for word on her paper. I marked places she was shaky, I made her read it by herself, I listened again. AAAAAUGH

Then we need a toga. All the white sheets were fitted. So that was out. So, I go rummaging in the huge tub of material.....hmmm, a white flannel sheet, do you suppose they wore flannel? Oh, look here is a table cloth...I've been wondering why I was keeping that. It was too long unfolded, too short folded in half, I had to tack up a big hem for the right length.

Thank goodness for google, which can show you how to wear a toga. You do however, need to be very careful about what you are looking for in the toga department.

Now for the dress rehearsal. I thought it would be a nice thing to get a picture of the toga we worked so hard on with a few gestures of her acting out her speech.

And this is what we get....

By this time we are laughing so hard, not much is getting done except silly photos.

Here are the ones we started out to get, a Roman citizen in her toga, with her tiger.

Except, women weren't citizens in Rome, and it was lions instead of tigers.

Happy 16th Birthday

2011-10-29T21:29:00.001-05:00

My daughter has big ideas, and then she wan't me to carry them out. Somehow, I've gotten the reputation that I can do most anything. Well, I can't really, but I CAN do a lot of things. The best part is that now, she is willing to help me do a lot of things, especially since she found the idea for these cupcakes somewhere on the internet. She wanted to take them to her play production class on her birthday. (It's a little less formal there, having class on the stage in the auditorium does that.) I made the cupcakes, and colored the frosting and started frosting like mad. Lynette cut two slits in the top of the cupcake to stick the ends of the candy in. (We used "extreme airheads" from Target.) Then it was an easy thing to put "clouds" on with the decorating too. As she said, "clouds don't all have to be the same" We knocked these out together in less than and hour. She got her mead of praise at school, and a whole bunch of practice.

The next challenge she handed me, also for her birthday, was a rainbow layer cake, which she also found on the internet. It went a lot easier than I thought it would. I used a cup of colored batter in a 9" round pan, which took less than 1 1/2 boxed mixes. I think next time I might try 1 1/4 cups. It will depend on how tall you want the cake to be, and if it will fall over if it gets too tall.

Of course, not thinking it through, I started with the red layer, which I thought should go on the bottom, but Lynette said red goes on the top, "just look at any rainbow". (Good Grief, does it really matter.) Since I only had two pans, I had to find a place for the red layer to sit, while I started on the purple. She wanted the colors on the darker side, so I used paste colors for the blue, red, orange and yellow. A couple of good squeezes took care of the purple and green.

One thing I discovered is that it is VERY hard to spread a cup of batter evenly in the pan, so I had a few slightly uneven layers, until I got the hang of it.

I put the layers together with butter frosting. (I like good tasting frosting.)

The cake was a little lopsided. I think I had an uneven number of lopsided layers.

Sealing the layers with a thin layer of frosting, makes the next layer easier.

We decorated the top with some leftover candy from the cupcakes. Since no one around here can manage to put things dead center, we went for the charmingly off-center look.

The first slice.

Let them eat cake!

And then we did all the other cool birthday things, like candles which girls like until they turn 21 or so,

and presents.

and cards, (from her almost three year old nephew),

and family.

I'm sure glad she's mine.

The Measuring Wall

2011-10-27T13:49:00.002-05:00

There is a wall in our house that we don't want to paint.

It is a record of our lives.

It isn't really a wall, just the edge of one

that is a perfect spot for measuring the kids' growing up.

We have the adults up there, too, so the kids' can see who

they are catching up to.

We love to look to see when Nathan and Lynette were the same height,

to see how soon someone is catching up to Mom.

(Nobody is going to catch up to Dad.)

Even the neighbor girl is on the wall, so she too can see

how much she is growing.

We've know her for ten years and they don't

do this at her house.

We had a place to measure when I was growing up, on

the painted trim in the kitchen. The walls and trim were yellow then

and we watched our names rise from year to year.

That spot is gone now, who wants a kitchen to stay sunshine yellow

forever? I suppose someday we will have to

paint over this little memory.

But, the nice thing about memories, is that some day they make good stories.

Driving Away

2011-10-26T10:15:00.000-05:00

My baby is 16 years old. She has a car to drive. I like not having to drive her everywhere anymore, but I don't like that she is just another step closer to being really grown up.

She got her driver's license early so she was able to drive to school on her birthday.

I wanted her to leave early since we haven't practiced her driving to school before. We had our first frost of the fall so she had to scrape frost before time to go. All by herself. She has to learn.

And there she goes.....

This is what the car looks like in the daylight. As with all the cars in our house, it still belongs to the parents. She just gets to drive it.

We got her roses for her birthday.

I think the first roses a girl ever gets should be from her father.

(or her mom if the dad doesn't think about it.)
She's like her dad. They like yellow roses best.

One of these days this little girl will be driving herself out of our home into a new life of her own. I hope I've taught her enough about what are the most important things of life. And I know that love will always bring her home again.

Hank the Cowdog

2011-10-20T09:42:00.001-05:00

I was listening to a Hank the Cowdog CD this morning while I was doing up the morning's work, and I had a pleasant thought while John Erickson was singing the final song. When we discovered Hank when the kids were little we took Hank tapes (they were cassettes then) on every trip we went. We all loved them and listened to them for about 5 years and several times through until the kids decided they were done.

During this time we had the good fortune of the library invited John Erickson to the library to visit. It was a big deal. It was free, but with limited floor space in the activity room, it was a ticket only event. I got our tickets, about 5 minutes after we heard the news.

It was fantastic!! We all sat crammed on the floor with a couple hundred other parents and children, (It's a good thing that the fire marshal wasn't invited.), ready to listen. He sang, he read, and it is really true that all those different voices come from that one old cowboy. There was Sally Mae, Wallace and Junior, Rip and Snort. and all the other beloved characters that those who love Hank, know well.

That was one of the most fun things we ever did as a family. (The kids will probably dispute this, citing snowboarding as theirs. I can do without winter sports anymore) No matter how old I am, if I get another chance to hear him again. I will go, and Jim will come with me. I know he will, he enjoyed it too.

It doesn't take much for us.

Sweet Sixteen

2011-10-19T17:50:00.000-05:00

My youngest is 16 today. She was born on a beautiful day just like today. The only problem was that she jumped the gun and was born 5 weeks early. Ever since then, she's been dragging her feet on this whole growing up thing. I think she will get over it, though. She drove to school all by herself this morning. She drove a friend to ice cream this afternoon. She is now driving said friend to the mall to buy a lanyard for herself and then dropping her friend off at youth group. I like the driving herself to school thing. I can now rearrange my morning schedule to one that I like. Not one that is shortened and has to be finished up after noon when I get back home on my busy days.

I am trying hard not to think too much about how time is flying by so quickly and it won't be very long until this very last one is graduating from high school and learning how to live life without me. Especially since she is the only one who still likes me as a teenager. We do things together at home or out of it. And there are days, when nobody likes anybody around here, but we all get over it. If I think about it I will be really sad, so I'm only touching on it in this post.

I would like to have a photo of Lynette, of her car and her roses. But, my computer is down. It wouldn't turn on the other day. And that is where my photos are. That is another thing I'm trying not to think about. If it can't be made to work again....Where will all my 2010 photos be. Not here, that's what. I could load a couple onto this little netbook of Lynette's. But, it isn't able, really. It was dropped and has been fixed, but it isn't the computer it used to be. At least I can type. Another day I will post the photos. Right now, I will tell you how much I enjoy her, how much I love her, how much I am proud of her--ALOT.

And if you want to see the photos--come back.

Big Brother/Little Brother

2011-10-17T11:44:00.000-05:00

Anytime a baby is born, there is a change of status. New parents, grandparents, aunties and uncles are made. This time Zane is a big brother and all the rest of us are now parents, grandparents, aunties and uncles of two darling little boys. As usual. I can't decided which I like better, the black and white or the color of the above photo. I like the classic look of the black and white, but also the true to life color of my boys.

Here's the little brother at two weeks.

Now we have two boys to give attention and hugs to, it is a juggling act for sure. One of the things Zane loves to do at Gramma Maury and Papa's is build train tracks. This one is a fairly simple one done by me. These battery powered Thomas the Tank Engine trains really make playing trains fun. Of course, my creativity gene loves to see what I can make out of anything, even train tracks.

Baby in a Basket

2011-10-14T09:41:00.000-05:00

Once upon a time there was a mom who was going to get another baby. (Not have, since number two was coming the same say number one came, but adoption.) She had friends that did cool things like pass a basket around for the many children born in that family to sleep their first few months in right next to Mommy and Daddy's bed.

So, I had to have a basket, too. And my second, a son, slept in the basket by day in the living room and in the crib in my bedroom at night. A basket, is a very nice thing to have. It keeps the baby safe and visible, it's cute, and it's very easy to carry around. So, now it is being used when grandkids come to visit. Another heirloom in this picture is this little rocking chair that belonged to Jim's family, when they were little ones. Zane loves to carry it around to sit in it.

Barry

Zane

Barry

Nothing Says Family Like a New Baby

2011-10-11T16:30:00.001-05:00

It's all in the family, we're all in this together, at the hospital anyway. We won't always be there when the baby goes home. These photos are from Barry's days at the hospital.

Everyone is crowding around.

Auntie Lynette

Papa

Gramma Maury

Grammy

Lorene's boys

Auntie Hope

Daddy and Mommy

Uncle Nathan

Gramma and Grampa

Aunt Inez

October 6, 2011

2011-10-06T20:48:00.000-05:00

It is windy outside. Not that it isn't sometimes pretty windy in here, too. But it isn't at the moment. Jim is quietly figuring out his smart phone, (Wow, can you believe it!!) Lynette is typing a research paper and I am using this little net book of Lynette's to see if it is workable or not. I'm having so much fun, that the dishes aren't done for tonight. (Not that it isn't pretty easy to find excuses for not doing the dishes, especially when we have no dishwasher except me)

Back to the wind. It has been blowing 30-35 mph all day with gusts up to 60. It is the kind of day I like to stay in. It is too windy to dry clothes on the line. Not unless you want them filled with dirt and corn shucks from the neighboring corn field before they are blown into the next county. We have corn shucks everywhere. All over our little subdivision, there are little piles where they are caught by fences, bushes, culverts, or whatever. I just don't like wind. It makes me jumpy and nervous, it makes me tired and dirty, so I stay in.

As I said before, Lynette is typing her research paper. It is about the Greek muses and a painting depicting them. She has to have it finished by next Tuesday. It was supposed to be Monday, but the teacher is giving them all an extra day since they aren't able to have as much class time to work on it. She has a teacher who is so strict she is sometimes unreasonable. But, she is slogging through and making it all right. She already spends several hours a night on homework, but we were gone three days for a special convention time for us and then she was gone another day for a drama workshop. So, she has been working from 4 to midnight every night since to get caught up. I think by Tuesday everything will be back to normal. Lynette needs a big high five for being able to keep working this hard and keeping her temper while she is doing it.

As I also said before, Jim got a smart phone, a droid commander thingy. I don't want one (not yet anyway) but he is hoping it will help him with scheduling since it clips onto his belt and paper and pencil don't do that so well. Not only that he can access weather, which when you work outside in the dirt all the time is a good thing to know.

I also made fudge sauce today. And brownies. And ate them with ice cream and it was good. We had sweet and sour chicken for supper with peppers from the garden. Still. Oh, no!! I was going to clean them and put them in the freezer tonight. I doubt that I will anymore. I still have the dishes to do. We got three big zucchinis from a late planting, tomorrow I will try to make relish, since I have the peppers, too. We still haven't had frost. It has been a beautiful fall so far.

I want to write a little about our Wisconsin trip, but I'd like my fall color photos available before I do it. Lynette is using the computer where my photos are. Check back someday. I'm having more fun finishing a crocheting project that blogging right now.

A Child's Bouquet

2011-09-17T21:10:00.001-05:00

These flowers are from my grandson.

They are very special flowers.

They came to me just like this with a hair band around the stems.

They are special because he picked them for me.

They are special because my daughter planted them next to her door step to brighten up her little space.

They are special because they mean he's growing big enough to think about something nice for someone he loves.

They are special because they mean my daughter is remembering some of the things we taught her.

And... they are beautiful.

The Crib Story

2011-09-15T21:10:00.002-05:00

This is the story my Grandma Verna Black told. When she was expecting my father in 1935, in the middle of the Great Depression Years, they didn't have much money, Jay Borland (Clyde Borland's brother), offered to give them a crib if they would name Dad after him. They named the baby Thomas, thinking that was his real name. Later, they found out his birth name was Tommy, but everyone called him Jay. Clyde Borland was Aunt Edith's husband, Grandpa Orville Black's sister. In 2011, my dad and the crib are 76 years old. After Dad, four of his brother's children, all four of his own, all three of my children, great grandson Zane have all slept in this crib. Now, when baby Barry comes to visit, he sleeps in THE CRIB.

Sharing a Sleeper

2011-09-09T21:16:00.004-05:00

This is the cutest little sleeper given to Zane by the guys that work for our company. Zane came home from the hospital in it.

I took pictures of Barry in it, not just to see how much they look alike but because he was wearing it at our house when he was a week old.

Lynette took this photo. I love the way the sun in shining on his face.

Two Peas in a Pod

2011-09-07T21:09:00.000-05:00

Now I have two grandsons. They are both cute, Zane was a good baby, Barry is a good baby. And their baby pictures look an awful lot alike.

I wonder, can you tell who is who in these pictures?

Train Up a Child

2011-08-31T21:41:00.001-05:00

Zane likes trains. Actually, he LOVES trains. He was staying with us during and after the time his little brother came.

We came up with a new game that involves both trains and being outside. I surely get some sort of beneficial exercise crawling around on the cement drawing train tracks and roads with sidewalk chalk.

I don't know how soon he figured out that this stuff washed off with water, because he had more fun washing the tracks off that driving his train on them. Eventually, it got to the point that all he wanted to do was have me draw, he wash off, rinse and repeat.

I only let him do that twice a day.

On another note:

Zane growing up so quickly. He's 32 months old today. I love to listen to him talk, since he uses complete sentences now and I can understand what he is getting at most of the time. I love to hear the words he uses and the way his grammar is shaping up. What I especially noticed this time is that not only can he recognize what a real sheep looks like (have you seen what kid's books sheep look like!), and that when you are talking about more than one thing you add an "s" on the end of the word, thus, sheeps. Too bad he picked the first word I get to hear him use as a plural is one that doesn't. He'll find out soon enough. I was impressed that he even knows things need to BE pluralized

That's My Boy!!

We Have a Baby!

2011-08-29T14:33:00.000-05:00

Barry Thomas Miller born August 27, 2011 weighed 7 pounds 4 ounces and measured 20 1/2 inches long. He has a lot of brown hair with blue eyes and is very alert. He's eating and sleeping normally and giving his parents as little trouble as any child of less than a week old will do.

(That last little bit comes sort of verbatim from something I read somewhere in some novel that I wish I could remember right now, but I can't, and I don't have time to go looking for it since I have big brother Zane here and his nap only last so long and I have dishes and laundry and ..... to do.)

Mom and Baby

Isn't he CUTE!!

Proud Dad

Zane meets Barry

Happy Family

Flying Away

2011-08-12T00:04:00.000-05:00

My daughter has been wanting to take a trip to Italy, but we wouldn't let her. So, when she was invited to fly up to Wisconsin to visit her auntie, she jumped at the chance. We found her a non-stop flight to Milwaukee from Omaha, and drove three hours to put her on a flight than took less than an hour and a half.

The last time Jim and I flew (and the only time for that matter) was 24 years ago on our honeymoon. Things have changed a lot since then. Now, there are a lot of rules and regulations. Like the one about any liquids in your carry on have to be 3 oz. or less and fit all in a quart plastic bag. Try THAT one with a teenager. She could have carried on all her luggage except figuring out bottles and plastic bags defeated me and I paid for the checked bag. And then the security....We got gate passes so we could see Lynette to the gate, which meant we had to go through security just like everyone else. I didn't have much, but Jim forgot to leave his pocket knife in the van, so we left minus one pocket knife.

It was fun to watch people go through security. There are the business men, who quickly and methodically put their things in the baskets and go quickly through. Then there are parents of children, taking off everyone's shoes. And, there was also one dad in a hurry, rushing through, dropping things on the conveyor, having to take shoes off at the last minute, discovering the baskets and rushing back and forth. I hope he made the flight.

We allowed plenty of time, so we had plenty of time to sit. It is just as well, since a steady stream of people went through the security checkpoint the whole time we were there.

She wouldn't admit to feeling nervous and walked right on the plane like she'd flown many times before.

Her window is on the other side of the plane.

And away we go!

on camera, too, especially when I'm not paying close enough attention.

Like I said, we haven't been in an airport for about 10 years, (Jim's dad flew once while he lived with us), but that day, my dad flew out of that airport in the morning, and those two kids we know that spent 8 weeks in Finland were coming in in the evening with a special family member. And we didn't get to see any of them.

August 2009

2011-08-07T21:19:00.007-05:00

Okay, so it is really this time TWO years ago. But I love the following photos so much, that I want to look at them again, and share them.

I'm not great on photography, but once in a while I get some I really like.

I tried to take Zane everywhere I went. I know he got dirty in the garden, but what fun is it to stay clean!

These photos are taken at the front of our house. Zane is wearing a romper that my dad wore when he was a toddler. I took photos of Nathan and Lynette in this little romper also. Dad's initials are embroidered on the front, "TFB". Zane is 7 months old.

Just a little looking and here is Lynette at 9 months in the romper.

Lynette at the same time, just cute.

All the kids in September 1994 (oops, how about October 1996)

And Nathan at 8 months in the romper.

July 2009

2011-08-06T23:44:00.003-05:00

I drank too much tea today. I wanted to be alert when my son comes home from the fair tonight, but I'm beginning to be afraid I'm going to be alert until time to get up.

So I'm sorting photos on my computer. I'm remembering how cute Zane was when he was a baby. I'm remembering I won't have time to remember very much longer since #2 in the family is coming along soon. In a month, we will have another grandson.

So, this is what Zane looked like two years ago. I love this little outfit. He looks so good in earth tones.

Sitting up so nice and playing the piano.

And, we have achieved mobility!! The next month it was the stairs!

And this is what his uncle does for entertainment, tempting him with pop. It is NOT open. (Thankfully, for my carpet).

Summer Picnic---2010

2011-07-27T09:35:00.002-05:00

I was looking through some old photos, and I found these. I never got around to posting them last summer, and I enjoyed looking at them so much, I decided to post them a year late.

This was a picnic at some dear friends, for some good reason, or maybe no good reason, I can't remember. It doesn't matter. Anytime we get together we have a good time.

Zane had such a good time on this battery operated tractor. I wish we had one. He had a hard time sharing.

There were kitties there, too.

Zane likes anything with wheels.

And of course, I couldn't decide which effect I liked better.

Sweet to the last.

Egg Rolls

2011-07-24T13:00:00.000-05:00

Lynette loves egg rolls so much that she wanted to learn how to make them. Then, we could have them more than occasionally. We are getting good at these.

Cabbage, carrot, pork mixture.

Heaping 1/8 cup filling.

Wrapping.

Ready to fry.

Ready to eat.

What I found most startling after seeing these photos, is Lynette's hands. They are confident and useful, and they look like her Auntie's.

And on a side note. I had leftover filling and frosting from my filled cupcakes. This is half a batch of boxed mix brownies, spread with filling and frosted.

Just as good, and simpler.

Water Fun

2011-07-22T22:19:00.000-05:00

What is summer without a little bit of water fun? Lorene, Lynette and chased after Zane for an afternoon at the water park. He doesn't like following the rules. This silly slide is a lot more fun when you slide down on your tummy or climb back up again.

Zane is brave enough to go down the slide alone. Lynette is at the bottom to catch him.

We had to get a new pool for this year and ended up getting a 20 footer. We didn't realize how much bigger it was than our 15 footer of last year until we put it up. It seems to be a heavier quality, so hopefully it will last now, until the kids are gone.

Zane is just a little fish. He goes everywhere in that little life jacket of his. Of course, it means he thinks he's safe in the water, so he really has to be watched in case he gets away from us.

Aaron is just crazy. I got lucky and got him mid-jump.

Lynette was throwing him the ball to catch. He missed.

My brother gets too carried away with fireworks and he gave what he couldn't use to Nathan. I was NOT impressed.

Then Nathan and Lynette got the bright idea to make a slip-and-slide from tarps. We have three 4x18' tarps staked out with tent stakes.

You may not think this is a very exciting photo, but to me it is. Lynette and Nathan haven't cooperated on a project for years.

Zane was much more interested playing with the hose.

It worked best if someone helped Zane slide.

That's my boy!

and my girl!

and my other boy!

They really had a nice time, and they put everything away when they were done, too. Every time.

The Canning Season Begins

2011-07-20T11:05:00.000-05:00

Zucchini Relish

One of the best ways I like to use up zucchini is to make sweet relish. Mine tastes more like bread and butter pickles. We eat it all the time. I usually never have to worry about it running out, but I cut it pretty fine this year and we used our last jar a couple weeks ago.

Zucchini should never be let grow until baseball bat size. It really isn't very useful. If I do use those really big ones for relish or to grate and freeze for bread and cake, I cut out the middle where the seeds are. It is too soft. Even with the size I cut out a little of the middle since I had enough without.

I use my second Osterizer to grind it up. When my first one wore out, I bought a second one, the same style since I had so many accessories. These are getting over 20 years old now.

I forgot I don't want to peel it for relish. So I only peeled the first one.

Grind the zucchini to make 10 cups.

I used the food processor to chop the onions, 4 cups. If you grind the onion, wear goggles.

Add 3 Tablespoons canning salt, stir and refrigerate over night. In the morning, drain, and rinse very well.

Grind a green and red pepper for color. (I used some frozen from last year, and I don't always use it.

Add: 2 1/2 cups vinegar, 4 cups sugar, 1 teaspoon each dry mustard and tumeric, 2 teaspoons mustard seed, and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper.

Bring to a boil and boil 3 minutes.

Sterilize the lids in boiling water. Fill jars to 1/4" from the top, wipe tops of jars, screw on lids tightly but don't force them, and process in hot water bath for 15 minutes.

I notice Grandma Appleman's recipe says to just "seal" them which in the olden days meant to put the lids on, turn them upside done for a few minutes, and then let them sit after turning them right side up. Most vegetables have less acid in them as they used to, thus the extended processing time. Better safe than sorry, anyway.

Pickled Beets

Have your husband pick as many beets as you want.

Wash beets leaving the tails intact and cut the stems to one inch. By doing this you have less loss of color.

Boil in big canner until you can poke a fork in.

Dump them in cold water and just slip the skins off.

Cleaned and ready.

Chop into bite-sized pieces, (on the slightly bigger size.)

Fill jars.

Make brine in these proportions:

1 cup water

1 cup vinegar

1 cup sugar

I made a four cup brine for 5 quarts and 2 pints and had a pint leftover. I'll put it in the fridge and save for the next batch. I have a few more to do.

Pour in brine to 1/2" from the top. Wash tops of jars and put on lids. Process 30 minutes in hot water bath canner.

This was also my Grandma's recipe, too, I see.

I also use this brine to put over chunked up cucumbers. But I don't remember right off hand what I do for processing time.

You may also notice that I don't use a hot water bath canner. This is a steam canner that I bought about 20 years ago for $42 dollars. It has been worth every penny. There isn't as much danger of breaking jars in the canner, I don't have to deal with as much boiling water either.

Those Good Old Days...

2011-07-17T20:58:00.001-05:00

NOT!!

Any of you people that think they would like to go back to the good old days better think twice or three times. At least in the part of automatic washers. I actually remember my grandma washing clothes in her wringer washer. Thought it was the neatest thing, too. I wish I had one of those right now. But, if it was broken like my nice 2 year old front loader is now, it wouldn't do me any good. I wish I had anything right now that would wash clothes right in my house, besides me.

Now, I have been keeping up on my laundry, so we have clothes to wear for a few days, in any case. I don't let everything get all dirty at once, since everyone has different amounts of underwear anyway and it wouldn't come out even. That is all well and good, except in the case of needing to wash de-tasseling clothes every day no matter what. Even if my 15 year old daughter had a spare set, it would mean needing to wash every OTHER day, and my washer broke Friday, after any possibility of calling a repairman, with the very muddy de-tasseling clothes and very muddy Jim's jeans in it, which means no way of washing for at least three days, and longer if parts have to be ordered.

When I went down to check on my machine that fateful afternoon, it was humming away with the electronic board off. Hmmm, funny, so I opened the door and let a flood of VERY muddy water onto the laundry room floor. (It didn't drain any water at all.) I had company, (just my dad, thank goodness), so, I screeched and hollered, and dropped towels, and yelled at Lynette to get her dad. (Who decided he could finish the front yard mowing before he came in.-- It wasn't that bad, :) He had one more round.) So, we drained the water out of through the external drain, mopped the floor, listened to the machine, and pronounced it "very sick, call the repairman on Monday". Ugh, Lynette did find an extra set of clothes to wear de-tasseling, and in doing so, found these were cooler, and she doesn't want to wear anything else in these 100 degree days of walking in middy, humid cornfields. So, I took a trip to the laundromat. Do they even call them that anymore? I haven't been in one for about 10 years. And they don't take money, they take tokens. And you have to remember to bring your soap, and you have to read this whole thing on the front to figure out how to work it. It took me longer to go to Walgreen's and buy the soap I forgot, haul the laundry into the building and read the instructions, than it did to wash the clothes!!. I tried not to think how I must look fumbling around the machines with about 20 college students in there, merrily chatting as they folded and sorted clothes. I got done however, with leftover tokens.No exact amounts here, you have to put dollars into the token machine, and the washers are not even dollars. It costs $1.75 to wash a load the size of three towels, and $2.75 to wash in the machine the approximates the size of a normal family washer. Thankfully, I remembered in time that my dryer still worked at home.

That gets me all down to what happened this evening. I was faced with a set of muddy clothes to wash with no washer. It's either scavenge up the money and go to the laundromat, or wash them out at home. I didn't want to go anywhere. It's hot out there; I'm too tired to drive; I will probably have to go tomorrow anyway. I put those clothes into soapy water in the bathtub and started agitating them around with a wooden spoon. It looked like I was making mud soup. You should see the state of my bathtub!! Then it is rinsing time. It takes a lot of water to rinse out a pair of Zumba pants, a button down shirt, a tank top, shorts, underwear, and socks, until the water is reasonably clean, considering how dirty the things are going to get tomorrow. Washing clothes by hand might be 'green' in the sense of not using electricity, but it sure isn't 'green' in how much water I used. Now I know why the pioneers didn't have very many clothes.

The clothes are now tumbling in the dryer, ready to be worn and washed again tomorrow. All you people out there with working automatic washing machines had better be REALLY thankful, that's all I can say.

Scarf for Cyndie

2011-07-15T15:49:00.000-05:00

New post on my crafting site.

Going to Gramma's

2011-07-13T13:51:00.003-05:00

We had Zane last weekend. Mama and Daddy both had to work and Grammy from GI was gone, so we were the gainers thereby. It is a good thing that I can do a lot more work without complaining than I used to, since he came at the end of a very busy week. We had two meetings here, overnight company eight days in a row, and a two day Fourth of July celebration in there, too. That means a lot of cooking and a little paying attention to what needs picking up. Thank goodness, most people around here are capable and willing to do a little picking up themselves. (Or else, they don't leave things lying around, as in the case of my son.)

Anyway, it sure is fun to have Zane around. It's like we are making up for lost time. The only chance we have of getting to know little kids again is with these grandchildren. They don't live with us like our own did. Sometimes they live far away. Therefore, we need to make the most of every opportunity. If we want to have any influence over this little boy's life, we have to start now. Zane especially loves being with Papa. Papa does do all sorts of interesting things, mostly involving dirt and things with wheels. I think sometimes we want to fix the mistakes we made with our own kids, but mostly I think we know now, how fleeting those years with young children are. They don't stay young forever, and we won't be around forever. The more love in anyone's life, giving and receiving, the better. No one is ever sorry they have truly loved. (I suppose someone else wrote that first, but I don't know who it was.)

My nice, more ordered than ever, life is put on hold when he is there. Toys are all over the kitchen and living room. I know there is no use to put them away until bedtime; they will just come out again. It isn't so bad. No toys, no grandson. So, I took a couple of pictures of what the house looks like when there are kids in it.

Of course, it doesn't look too bad. I wouldn't take pictures of what it was really like. And I notice, that some of the stuff ISN'T toys. I should look up a photo of what it was like when my kids were going strong. Zane isn't here long enough or have anyone to help make a REAL mess.

And, oh, does he love his trains.

Here's a good one. They made huge messes when they played but they sure had fun.

January 1996--Lorene would be 4; Nathan, 2, and Lynette a babe in arms, and not helping with THIS mess.

We love all our time with Zane, and then we he goes home and tells his folks, "I miss Maury and Papa"---well, it's all worthwhile.

Lynette Lea

2011-06-30T22:22:00.000-05:00

And Other Things That Happened in June.

Actually the piano recital happened in May. This is Lynette's first one ever. She is doing really well in piano. She likes it, all except the practicing.

Did you know you can't buy skirts that are just below knee length? If you don't you must not have girls, or you don't care if they wear dresses 5 inches above their knees. I happen to care and it takes a lot of extra time to find skirts that are long enough, or can be made long enough by letting down the hem or adding more fabric. This skirt adapted very well to adding on.

I sewed a 1 1/2" strip to the bottom after taking the hem out. (doubled over so no new hemming.)

Pressed, but shows on the right side, it looks too much like an "add-on".

Trims were 50 % off at Hobby Lobby that week, so I pinned it on ready to sew on by hand as soon as I saw Lynette. ( I was doing this while she was gone)

Now, she is getting all dressed up. It took me 45 minutes to make these braided hair flowers, partly because I messed up the first time. We got the idea from a cool hair blog.

Here's the completed outfit, with hair done and longer skirt.

Lynette has been busy with other things, like making baby shower invitations. She found the idea from some place where these could be ordered, but with punches and glue and a lot of patience she did 45 of them herself!!

VERY CUTE!!

My brother's family decided that Nebraska couldn't offer them what they needed anymore, namely jobs. So, they packed up and moved to Oregon. We visited them at my folks the weekend before they left. We will miss them, a lot.

I love it when Zane comes to visit. Lorene and family stayed over night the week before these photos were taken, and since Jim and I went to bed before everyone else, Zane had to check in our room to make sure we really had.

So, THIS time when they came and we were ready to go to bed, Zane knew where we were and came right on in. He's a bed hog and got all snuggled up in MY spot ready to read a book. Just like Maury does, (according to Zane.)

It's Isn't the Place We Live That Makes it Home

2011-06-22T22:06:00.000-05:00

My daughter and her family live in an apartment made of two tiny motel rooms. In that little space they call home right now, live two parents, a two year old and a cat. A new baby is coming in Sept. The walls are crowded with the boxes and shelves that need to hold the stuff of daily living. The kitchen's only cupboard is above the single sink. The stove is a scary looking gas affair stuck off in what used to be a shower stall, and is blocked off from cats and kids. So, the only cooking is done with the microwave that sits on a little cupboard next to the fridge and makes the narrow space even narrower. The bedroom is almost filled with the queen bed and toddler bed, with boxes to hold clothes and blankets.

I can't write about what it is like to live in a place like that, because it isn't my life. I wish Lorene would because it would be interesting. She's not a writer, and she just lives her life; she doesn't feel compelled to document it. (not like me)

So, here we come to visit. She's sitting on the front step with Zane in the pool that's on the little patch of weedy dirt between the building and the road. It looks like the old stories I used to read about people living in the middle of New York City with NOTHING. No space, no money, no nothing, making do with what little they have and being happy or not happy as they decide. Just a cement stoop, broken siding, no grass, no light cover, peeling paint, odors coming through the heating vent, ugly carpet, ugly paint, old fixtures.

The gravel drive is full of big holes that collect water when it rains, and it's been raining, a lot.

It isn't the best place and I don't think anyone would want to live there forever, but Zane doesn't care, and they make the best of it. It is a place to be together. And they are happy.

These photos are from a nice little "grilling hamburgers for supper" party they had with both sides of the family.

Even if you don't live in a very big place you can still have company and enjoy them.

Filled Cupcakes

2011-06-15T22:12:00.002-05:00

Seriously easy peasy fun dessert. These are just regular cake mix cup cakes and the filling is shortening, marshmallow creme, and powdered sugar. It started out with 1/2 shortening, 1 container of marshmallow creme and 1/3 cup powdered sugar and I tasted it and blaahhh, it tasted like shortening. So I added more powdered sugar and half and half until it tasted like something I'd like to eat in a cupcake. I found another recipe that just uses whipped cream. So, you just squirt the filled into the baked cupcakes.

After they are all filled, dip in Ganache Frosting, 1 cup chocolate chips, and 3/4 cup heavy cream, which I didn't have, I used half and half and it worked just fine. These were SOOOO good. I ate way too many.

Pound a Ball

2011-06-13T23:20:00.001-05:00

Once upon a time a little girl came to live in our house, and when "Gotcha Day" came around the first time, we had a party and gave her this pound-a-ball toy. As you can see it is still in good shape and is being enjoyed by another generation of kids that love to pound things.

He LOVED it, just like our kids did.

Photo Gallery, May 2011

2011-06-13T23:02:00.000-05:00

I haven't had any pictures of Zane up for quite a while. So, these are just some pictures when Lorene and family visited in May.

Mommy and Zane

Horsey Rides with Lynette

Speedy fast.

Zane is into pushing balls with his head. I remember doing that as a kid, but we did it to get our heads and selves all full of static electricity so we could go shock someone else or shock ourselves on our hot water radiators.

The only picture I have with Lynette's braces.

Practicing the splits.

Flower Child

2011-05-29T21:44:00.000-05:00

Zane came to visit the other day. It was one of the few sunny days we've had this month. It wasn't hot, but at least it was warm enough to be outside without freezing to death or getting wet. So, it was a good day to plant some flowers, and I figured Zane could help me. Kids like to dig and play in the water, don't they?

I already had the petunias I wanted for the front window boxes. So, armed with digger, watering can, flowers and hose, we started planting. I thought we could have a nice time together digging and planting and taking our time at it, but it turned out that I planted those petunias as fast as I could, since Zane only wanted to dig where I had already planted the petunias and his idea of handing me the plants to put in the hole was to first pull off the dirt, then hand me the rest.

The watering he got down fine, until he wanted to water ME.

Here's another cute Zane story. Before we starting planting together I was putting some plants in at the back of the house, and got my hands dirty. Being too lazy to run inside and wash, since I might miss something cute Zane did, I rinsed them off in the water sitting on the base of the basketball hoop, into which Zane was putting flowers he was pulling off. The next thing I knew was was going to my scattered dirt and putting both hands in it, just so he could go rinse them off like "Maury", which is his current name for me. I might like to keep this one.

Oh, there's more. From here, Zane and his folks went to see "Papa", which is the name Grampa gets. Zane got a ride on the excavator and crawler tractor, and when it was time to leave, didn't want to go.

Another day, Lynette and I went to Grand Island to shop, of course we stopped in to see Zane and family. Zane was in his little pool that he and his mom had filled by the bucket with warm water. As soon as we came, he got himself out of that pool so fast we didn't know what was going on. He ripped off his wet things and started hollering for a shirt. Then he started saying, "going to Maury's house". He got himself all dressed, demanded his flip flops put on and was ready to go. Sadly, we weren't going home, we were going shopping and we sure didn't want him along. But, that desire to be with me, oh, what a feeling!

That's the message today. Grandchildren do something that no child does to their parents. I don't know if it is the fact that they are an extension of our aging selves, the evidence of our heritage going on, or just the fact that they are OURS and are so stinking cute. But, what I do know, is that tugging of the heart strings, that joyful and painful feeling when we look at our grandchildren, makes it all worthwhile.

Take My Advice

2011-05-19T09:42:00.000-05:00

We had Zane overnight without his folks for the first time last weekend. He did really well. Of course, we expected that, since he lived here with us for two years. What I had forgotten, though, is how hard it is to keep things picked up off the floor with a little one around.

This is why it is so hard for young mothers.

Of course, my house isn't really a mess. It just has a few (very few) toys on the floor. When I had kids it was about 100 times worse, plus there were dishes and laundry not done, or partly done, and lying around, and we won't even talk about dust and bathrooms.

I noticed, however, as the kids got bigger, it was easier to keep things picked up, they didn't play with many toys anymore, and I had more energy and desire to clean up. I WANTED a clean and tidy house. So, now that I am infected with that germ, I have to learn to not sweat the small stuff all over again. (I'm not sure I did that so well when the kids were little, though.)

I'm not going to put pictures on here of what life with kids is really like, and lest you think I'm crazy for thinking the few things on the floor I've taken pictures of, constitutes a real mess for me, it doesn't. I wrote this post to point out to myself some of the changes that have been taking place in my life. I'm used to "no toys on the floor" and when I got the twinge, (after walking over that crazy train for the 20th time), of "oh, no, there's toys all over and I don't have time to pick them up because I'm cooking", I was able to take a deep breath and think, "big deal, Zane won't be here for very long, I'll have plenty of time to pick them up later, and this isn't anything like what I used to do",

And, really, anytime I'm able to take a deep breath and think about the really important things in life, I realize I must be growing up after all.

Cheers!!

Bad Spellers of the World Untie...

2011-05-18T10:46:00.000-05:00

Okay, so this isn't a book about spelling, it's a book about punctuation. Punctuation is as necessary as good spelling, which both are going the way of the dinosaur, due to email and texting, according to the author of this book. I'm inclined to agree with her, which is why I read this book.

On the back cover is this joke:

A panda walks into a cafe. He orders a sandwich, eats it, then draws a gun and fires two shots in the air.

"Why?" asks the confused waiter, as the panda makes toward the exit. The panda produces a badly punctuated wildlife manual and tosses it over his shoulder.

"I'm a panda," he says, at the door. "Look it up."

The waiter turns to the relevant entry and, sure enough, finds an explanation.

"Panda. Large black-and-white bear-like mammal, native to China. Eats, shoots and leaves."

So, punctuation really does matter, even if it in only occasionally a matter of life and death.

I find myself thinking about the proper uses of various punctuation marks, as I type these days. I already knew most of the rules, and I'm sure my punctuation will pass most people's scrutiny. I wouldn't want a real expert looking on.

This book is for all those people who cringe at the sight of usages of "your" instead of "you're" and a whole bunch of other punctuation errors. It is also a how-to book, to tell you when to use commas, quotation marks, dashes, semi-colons, and colons, all put together with some spicy commentary, along with her biggest pet peeve, the apostrophe. It does have some very special uses, especially in possessive noun situations, and a great many exceptions. It's a useful book, since everybody wants to know the right way to use punctuation marks

She is especially virulent on the subject of misplaced apostrophe's. It was originally invented to take the place of removed letters. One of my favorite tips in any contraction, and especially the "its", "it's" conundrum, and she also uses, is if the word represents, "it is", use the one with the apostrophe. This works for "you are", for your're, and others. She has another bone to pick with those that done know where to use them with possessive nouns. For example: Anastacia's book, as opposed to Anastacias' book, unless there are more than one Anastacia, in the family, or room, or school, which I doubt.

I would love to tell all the rules and mistakes and tips right here, but that is stealing Lynne Truss's (that's correct, look it up in her book) thunder.

If you want to be able to write the King's English, and shudder every time you walk by a badly pnuncuated sign, (and correct this post) READ THIS BOOK!!

Enjoy!

And here's columnist Reg Henry's take on proper writing etiquette.

Another thing I've learned after writing this post, is that I don't know how to spell punctuation. Every time I typed it, spell check flagged it.

Spring at Home

2011-05-17T20:54:00.000-05:00

Spring is so beautiful!

It's For The Birds

2011-05-05T14:10:00.001-05:00

I enjoy watching birds and figuring out what kinds they are. We have several that come and feed at our feeder over the winter. We have a cardinal pair that lives around here, and we are always watching for the first robins of spring.

Every few years we have the privilege of a black bird convention right in our yard. Big deal, you say. We do have plenty of ordinary blackbirds of the grackle variety. (Sounds ever so much more exciting to have grackles flying around than blackbirds). But, THESE, are yellow-headed black birds. They are big: they are beautiful; there are SO many of them.

They were fun to watch. Here's a few and then some more come to join in.

They just sort of "roll over" as they feed on our lawn, the ones from the back fly over and land ahead of the front lines.

They saw me, and all flew away. Notice the white spots than you can only see when they are flying.

They really know how to decorate a tree!.

Now into the front yard. Tails up, its feeding time!

They are digging to get worms or something from the ground. They just keep "rolling forward" as I said before, but they all bunched up by the driveway.

Someone drove by and away they go. They stayed away this time. And the next day they were gone. They only stay about a week.

Lorene called later and said the birds making such a big noise by their place had yellow heads. So, now I know where they went.

Home is Where My Heart Is

2011-05-04T06:00:00.002-05:00

I went home today. It's funny that when I say I'm going home, it's the home I grew up in. And yet after "going home" today for a funeral, and driving 6 hours today, I was glad to be back home again.

So, I went home today, I went to attend a funeral.

She was our neighbor, she was the mother of my first and best childhood friend. I don't see that friend very much anymore. We don't live in our home towns anymore, we aer busy, we have family, and that family is growing.

She is one of the last people on earth that communicates by writing letters. That's how we've kept in touch over the years. A letter once in a while, a phone call when I was in town, a class reunion. I didn't know her mom terribly well, you don't really get to know other kids mom's sometimes, but I went because I know my friend would like to know people remembered. That they remember her, and the family, and what we used to know, and what we used to do. And that what we had then, no one can ever take away. We went to school together every year, all the way from kindergarten to seniors. We played ball, we played outdoor games, we played board games, we rode bikes, we talked and picnicked and played.

We had a nice visit and a nice little remembering time. We remembered the times when we wanted go on a picnic, we would walk uptown to get a Shasta for 15 cents. Then we'd make a little lunch and go "back of the park" to eat it. I remember asking if we could go first, though.

We have a lot of memories together. I wonder if she remembers the time her mom sent us uptown to buy an onion, we were stumped at the grocery sore, on how big of one to buy. we bought the biggest one there was, it was as big as a grapefruit if my memory serves me right. Her mom was dumbfounded. I don't think she ever expected us to bring one home that big.

Or the time we were walking by an old lady's house and we heard banging and cries of "help" coming from inside. I stayed with her my friend ran for help. The poor woman had fallen and broken her leg, and had been lying there for hours.

It was a beautiful sunny spring day, with a little nip in the air. I got to mom's in plenty of time so we took a tour of the town. Mom wanted to show off the hospital addition and I wanted to see the school addition. The elementary students are bused out of town to a new addition on the high school. Those buildings don't look anything like they did when I lived there, almost thirty years ago.

I liked our little town, and it looked so clean and fresh driving familiar streets that took me to school and friends' homes. The elementary school building is empty and some of the houses I remember are gone. Streets are paved and houses are built where there was gravel and nothing before. But the streets on main street are still brick and several blocks east of there, too. It's painful sort of memory, of times past that can't come again. A memory that is hard to put in words, hard to take the pictures that tell the story, hard to remember what was there and what is gone. It's a feeling, and it means I'm growing older. It also means my folks are growing older, and some time there won't be "home" to go to.

And it will be my kids, coming "home" to see me. .

The King's Bathtub

2011-05-02T12:11:00.001-05:00

When I was a little (and not so little) girl I would go all around our neighborhood finding all the different kinds of violets I could find. In our yard we had the common white ones, light purple ones, and the while with purple streaks in there hearts. I had to go farther afield to find anything different, and I found some red-violet ones, and once some yellow ones.

I find that the kinds of flowers I like best come from books I've read. Remember "violet vale" from the Anne books, and the buffalo wallow, "a bowl of violets", from the Laura Ingalls Wilder books in South Dakota.

I would go all around picking all the violets I could find, and then I would call on a couple old ladies I especially knew in the neighborhood, and give them a bouquet.

If you pick off the petals of a violet blossom, you can see the king taking his bath.

Fireman Suit

2011-04-29T10:11:00.001-05:00

I didn't buy very many new things when my children were little, but I splurged and bought this little raincoat set for Nathan. I am assuming he was about 3 when I got it. I've kept it, since I have a very hard time getting rid of things I've paid full price for. And Nathan used it to play with for a VERY long time. Zane is so much bigger than Nathan was that I got it out for him last time he was here. He didn't want to stand for any pictures. A coat meant outside time and he was OUT in a hurry.

Zane is not yet 2 1/2

And away we go.

I went looking for pictures of Nathan wearing this rain suit. But I don't have very many. I found some I forgot I had, though. These were taken when he was 5 1/2.

Original scrapbook page.

Lynette's Vanilla Bean Ricotta Cake

2011-04-29T09:13:00.000-05:00

I white cake mix ( I use french vanilla, since I don't use the vanilla bean) and stuff to make it.
1 pint whole ricotta cheese
1/2 cup white sugar
1 vanilla bean (optional)
1 egg (plus those used in the cake mix)
1 sm pkg instant cheesecake pudding
1 cup milk
1 sm container frozen whipped topping, thawed, or whipped cream
Fresh berries or mint (optional)

Prepare cake mix as directed on the box, scrape seeds from vanilla bean and whisk into cake batter until evenly dispersed. Pour batter into a 9x13 pan or two 8" round pans. Set aside. Combine ricotta cheese, sugar and egg. Blend well. Drop by large spoonfuls into pan evening and swirl with a knife to mix. Bake at 350 degrees, for about 50 minutes.

After cake has cooled, blend pudding mix and milk until thckened. Blend in whipped topping. Spread over cooled cake. If desired, top with fresh berries.

It is best if refrigerated for a while before eating, and I store it in the fridge.

Fifteen

2011-04-21T21:17:00.001-05:00

The trouble with Fifteen, is the difficulty of finding photos they like of themselves.

I think she's beautiful.

New Craft Post

2011-04-17T10:21:00.002-05:00

If anyone is interested in seeing what my current finished projects are, click on the Crafty Gramma page.

Sequels

2011-04-15T14:22:00.000-05:00

I don't know what you think about sequels. I mean the ones where an author takes a book I love and after a hundred years writes one. I'm not usually a fan of sequels, or rewrites, but it depends on the book and the author, and how well the book is written.

I did like this book, it doesn't take Sarah Crewe any farther in life, although she does make an appearance. It is about life at Miss Minchin's after Sarah is gone. I don't think it has quite the charm of the original book, nor the depth, but it is a well written book, and very good read, and kept me interested to the end. In fact, the ending was VERY unexpected. I think you'll enjoy it if you like books about girls. I did.