Hank the Cowdog

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

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

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

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

Zane

Barry

Nothing Says Family Like a New Baby

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

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

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

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

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

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?