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Showing posts from 2011

A Dream Came True Last Friday

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Congratulations to my son and his wife for a job well done. He finished his degree.  He graduates with a BS in Mechanical Engineering, and an Associate degree in International Business. There is another Associate degree that is related to Air Plane Engines, but do not know the title. The California sister and her family flew in, the Texas sister and her family drove over. I came and his wife's parents came. Yes, it was a big deal to us.  He readily recognized the role of his wife in obtaining the degree and bought her a beautiful necklace as her gift for graduation.  It was funny, he had hid the necklace under a tee shirt that was from his college. He had to point out to her, that she had missed a box.  She was surprised. We are all so very happy for them. Now, he is job hunting, and they are pursuing their dream of having children through adoption. Check out their website.   Their adoption site . The mom is so excited to see their lives moving ahead. YEAH!

Sheet Pajamas and Pillowcase Gown .... Recycled Is Good

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This is a blog piece I planned while in California. When I came back to Texas, things were crazy.  I decided today I needed to begin to catch up. My granddaughter Miss T loved her 'Chutes and Ladders' sheets.  I guess you could say she loved them almost too much, the sheets became worn with a hole or two  Thus the mom requested while I was visiting and waiting on the newborn, would I make some pajamas for the two older girls from the sheets. We started with the sheets, I just couldn't stop with  a plain top, there had to be decorative stitches, ribbons... she is girly. We ended up with pajamas for Miss T and a pillow case gown for Miss E. Now the video my daughter sent to me when I got home. I think they are beautiful.

Slice of Life #62: Howdy Neighbor! My Many Good Neighbors

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This is written for the meme prompt by the pirate princess on Sharing a Slice of Life . I have lived a life on the fringes of town. There never were children around to play with. When I lived in Pawnee, we lived in the country, but I remember there was a wonderful black man who came and comforted me while my mom was getting help for the out of control fire.  You can read about that here . He didn't live next door, but he saw a small crying girl and reached out to comfort her. When we went through the tornado, I remember driving around with my dad to check on all the other farmers in the area before we made it to my aunt's making sure no one was hurt. Tornado story . This was my life pretty much. In Edmond, my neighbors were an elderly lady and an elderly brother and sister who lived across the street.  They let me come by and visit and help them.  There was always a sweet smile.  When I left for college, I never saw them again.  They left an old wardrobe and sewing machi

What You Do When Waiting For Baby to Arrive? Cut Your Hair?

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Yesterday we were having a pleasant time with a leisurely morning.  My daughter said to me, "Mom cut my hair".  I said "All right", assuming I would be trimming her long locks.  I went in to the sink where she was and found her with her hair up in a long pony tail on top of her head.  I decided that she had decided against cutting her hair. Oh no, she motioned to the scissors and said "Would you get a measuring tape, please?"  My mind was wondering, 'what is she doing?'  Okay, I finally said, "How am I cutting you hair?"  She now remembers she has forgotten to tell me that her plan is to have 10" and donate to Locks of Love. (Locks of Love   is an organization the takes the hair you donate... at least 10" and helps disadvantaged children suffering from hair loss. It is a very worthy cause.) We measured. Sure enough there was 11" enough to spare.  She motioned where she wanted me to cut. I did and my eyes widened as she to

Big Whoop! Happy Birthday MomE! Milestone again.

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My mother-in-law turned 92 today. Doing the happy dance.  As I am not home, I called her and had a nice visit.  She said the assisted living home treated her great!  Cake, songs, and lots of friends to congratulate her.  Her son and daughters were not home today either.  They will be celebrating tomorrow. I love this lady greatly.  Glad I at least got phone hugs.  My daughter had hoped, oh,okay, I hoped that my daughter would have the baby on her birthday. I thought what a great present, but alas, still no new baby yet.  Join me in wishing MomE a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY!   

The Mom's Fashion Show...

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I am late getting this posted.  Here it is for the family. My mother-in-law who is 92 was excited to be chosen as one of the fashion models for her assisted living home. It is a joy to see her so wonderful active and involved in life. You will rarely catch her in her apartment. Usually she is playing cards, sometimes putting a huge puzzle together or off visiting. Really an amazing lady, but, I digress, off to the fashion show.  The show began with sports wear.  Early afternoon attire. Isn't she beautiful! Wonderful color and smile. The second set of clothing was evening casual wear... for the dinner date. She paused to show the lining.  Deep sigh was not in focus. She looks beautiful in this outfit. She sparkled.  The last portion of the show was the evening dress.  Once again, beautiful colors and it looks so good.  All of the ladies posing in their finery for a final shot.  I hope I look this good at 80 and up!

You Never Know When You Will Be Needed.

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I am sorry this is long, but was quite a story yesterday.  There is more after the picture. Thanks for stopping by)  The day started out well. I had lunch with an old friend. I was dressed in my pale pink gingham outfit, very summery and cool.  As I left the restaurant  to go and meet my family a blast of hot wind hit my face.  Texas is so hot and dry right now. I felt a stab of pain for my friends who are in the throes of fighting a 5000 acre fire 15 miles west of my home.  Homes have been lost and animals.  One friend was involved in animal rescue. I met my daughter, her 2 teenage sons, and 2 toddlers and my son and his wife.  They had just finished eating.  We stopped, picked up flowers, and went out to my husband's grave.  My "adopted daughter" and her 3 sons came over  as they live next to the grave yard.  It was a wonderful reunion of sorts.  I learned that her husband was off helping at the fire. Too soon it was time to leave.  We were going to visit my mother.

Big Huge Sorry

I am so far behind in keeping up with my person blog.  I will get back in the groove quickly. Just not tonight. ; P   Hot, Tired, no Air Conditioning, and the temp is 95 in my bedroom. Not conducive to thinking. Later my family and friends.

Finished My Promise

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Sewing again. I had promised my second daughter 'Little Miss Sunshine' last fall to make her a dress for her birthday. The grandchildren stepped in and messed up my timing, then she found out she was pregnant and I would not be able to make the same dress. Or could I? After some alterations to the pattern, I came up with a beautiful dress for her. This was done even when the the button hole attachement wouldn't work, and I had to do the button holes and lace by hand.  Good thing I started sewing before all the gadgets on sewing machines. Hope you enjoy. She is beautiful, a glowing mommy.

Sharing a Slice of Life #41 Going to the Zoo.

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As our group grew, we did not go to the zoo as often.  Unfortunately, work took our weekends more often than not. Your first trip to the zoo with your first child always holds a special memory for a parent.  You are now  a family and you are taking a trip to the zoo.  Oh yeah.  The Oklahoma City Zoo was TexasBlu's very first zoo trip.  They had begun to have huge open runs for the African animals.  It was disconcerting to be pushing a stroller along and hear thundering hooves at your back.  You would turn and see the giraffes, antelopes, etc. running freely.  It was before the big safari ranches we have now, so the sight was breath taking.  Texasblu wowed the Aviary attendant, because a Toucan decided she was his object of attention.  He followed her, sat next to her and just watched her.  It was interesting to see. He was not aggressive in manner. Her favorite was the giraffe and riding on her dad's shoulders to be up near them.  Wonderful memory and so glad we have the pi

Sharing a Slice of Life #42 First Aid

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My Aunt Lynn's house was the scene of my first injury.  My great grandmother lived near Aunt Lynn.  The family was coffee drinkers and my great grandmother Gildon used snuff.  They would save their coffee cans for her as a spittoon.  They used more coffee than my great grandmother used the spittoons.  Thus the spare cans were kept in the barn until they were needed.  For those of you who never had coffee in their houses, the cans were opened on the top and were razor sharp.  Today they have it in plastic reusable containers.  Oh well. My cousins and I were playing hide and seek in the barn,when I managed to trip over the cans and slit my throat.  Donald and Robert ran up to the house with me dripping blood everywhere.  I remember them setting me on the kitchen table trying to figure out how bad it was.  They finally got it cleaned enough to see it would take stitches to close the wound.  I was wrapped in a towel and taken to the emergency room. There is where, my memory stops.  I

Slice of Life #40: Candlelight Dinner

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I warned you I am far behind.  Candlelight Dinner, writing this story has to have the Hero in it. Oh duh. This involves my romantic daughters.  As they were growing up, going out to eat was not a real option, thus our anniversary celebrations were usually at home. This particular special evening was planned by my two older girls.  They helped plan the food, set the table and get the candles out. We had grape juice in wine glasses and a full course meal. Don't ask me what we ate, maybe one of the girls will remember.  There was music in the background and soften lights.  The Hero and I were filled with love for our imps who were so determined that we have a beautiful, romantic evening.  My eyes still tear up at the thought.  What a joy it was to look across the candles at my sweetheart and feel his loving gaze.  The girls, of course, sat on the stair part of the time, I hope feeling pretty proud of themselves for accomplishing a special evening for us.  Romantic dancing. The wa

Please Bear with Me.

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I have been falling behind in telling my stories to my daughter for her Sharing a Slice of Life meme.  I am constantly telling everyone to write their stories, and here I am not accomplishing the goal.  Daily I will be playing catch up so forgive me for being so slow.

Nanny Dog and The Granddaughter

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My son's part Siberian, part Labrador dog has been talked about by me before.  He is so good with my grandchildren and a very vigilant dog too.  Especially when it comes to the squirrels. He keeps them away from the house and the dog food.  LOL.  He greets me when I come home.  I know I am loved.  His nose comes in the door as I open it and his whole huge self if I don't fuss at him.  I thought I would share one of his days with the granddaughter.  It is is pictures. It does not require words. Hope you enjoy. Oh so, you are bored! Another long day

Just A Thought

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Today is moving slowly, a blessing for me.  I have had time to think and ponder.  As I have been researching and helping others, I have been listening to R. Carlos Nakai playing the Native American Flute music in the back ground.  My thoughts have been  why am so drawn to the Native American Flute and to Pan Pipe music.   There is something in me that reaches out to the tones and vibrations .  I love it and am contemplating buying a cedar Indian flute and taking lessons. If you are thinking she must have Native American Ancestry, nope, rumors, but no fact.   Have you ever experienced this feeling toward music?  My granddaughter has longed for a harp.  Her parents just purchased her one. Now she is waiting for her father to drive to pick it up. Can't wait for her to start.  Skype here I come to listen.  Grandparents are blessed to have internet these days when they are far away. The pictures are from Native American Style Flutes which I am considering purchasing, I ma

Preparing for a Pretty Spring

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I have a boat load of subjects to blog about, a 40 acre fire just 2 miles over, my mother-in-law having pneumonia, yep, a boat load. ; ) I will instead blog today about the pleasant time I spent with my granddaughter making a pretty hanging basket. Today we started out with new potting soil.  I was able to buy Miracle Grow Potting soil for under 5 dollars...I used it. I had a beautiful black iron hanging basket.  The granddaughter loves petunias and the grandson loves how they smell.  It was a given, annual petunias with alyssum would fit the bill.  Of course when you give a 3 year old a watering can you are never sure how it will turn out. All finished and fertilized and blessed to grow.  The splash of red in the background is a groove of Redbud trees. We will let you know how it turns out.

Just in Case You Were Wondering

I have several badges to different sites on my sidebar.  I do not receive any compensation for the sites. They are places I loved and thought someone else might like to know about them. Just FYI.  ; ) Hummer

Sharing a Slice of Life: Sports

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Texasblu gave us the prompt at Sharing a Slice of Life to write about Sports. This is hard for me.  I played on a soft ball team when I was in grade school for summer time activites.  Outfield...I was terrible at catching the ball.  It was my freshman year of College before I actually learned to swim.  I guess you would say I wasn't sports oriented. I did play for the marching band and we did half time at every football game from Jr High through High School.  When I graduated, I actually felt a little at loss because, the sport didn't have an appeal to me other than as a band activity. I don't know why I was never really a sports fan, because my mother and grandmother were avid sports fans. I can remember my grandmother had a television schedule.  It went something like: Tuesday, bowling leagues, Saturday Baseball or Football or Basketball which ever season.  She had terrible degenerative arthritis and had a hard time walking.  It had started when she was in her teens

Sharing a Slice of Life: Commercials

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When I was a small girl we did not own a television.  I was about 10 when we purchased an older television that looked something like this. I actually listened more to radio and followed "The Lone Ranger" and other similar shows.  However, it was on this television that I was introduced to "The Mickey Mouse Musketeers" and  "Howdy Doody Time" .  Although the commercial of the Campbell's Kids singing "M-m-good, m-m-good, that's what Campbell's soup is - m-m-good." began many years before I was born, the jingle was a standard commercial for soup in the 50's as I was growing up.  Below is a short commercial jingle.

52 Weeks of Sharing Memories: Cooking (Week 3)

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Lorine at Olive Tree Genealogy Blog prompts us to blog weekly of memories.  I decided to combine something new with something old. My grandmother was an awesome cook.  Her rolls were to die for, unfortunately when we lost her we lost the recipe too.  She didn't write it down.  Have you been guilty of having a special food that everyone in the family asks for and you don't write it down.  (The old I will later syndrome).  She didn't write down her yummy Boiled Spice Cake recipe either, but that one I had helped her make and was able to recreate. She passed down to my mother a love of cooking.  When my mom cooked it was always 'gourmet'.  Something new, or ethnic. I was sad when she quit cooking other than frozen foods. I got my love of cooking from both of them.  In keeping with that I made a memory for Jean tonight.  I fixed a Mediterranean meal for my Jean, my sister-in-law tonight to entice her to eat and try something new.  I have the recipes here and the end

Sharing a Slice of Life: Pets

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I have had many pets over the years.  I loved them all, but the one in my childhood years takes the center stage this time.  This little puppy looks much like she did. When I was 8 years old, my dad was given a small half Pekingese puppy.  No one knew what the other half was, and further more did not care.  We named her Princess.  I must tell you she was not an ordinary puppy.  My aunt in Pawnee found her.  Knowing my father and his amputation, she figured our home would be perfect for Princess.  Princess had been running with the rest of the puppies and tried running through a hog wire fence.  She was small but not small enough. The fence caught her just right to break her leg at the shoulder in a manner that caused the leg to be amputated. We knew about amputations and that they needn't hamper one's progress. She responded to our love and play and soon was off and running.  Literally.  She could keep up with me on my bike.  She loved to cuddle. Her personality was as hum

Do You Ever Ponder?

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Have you ever reflected on "How well did I spend my life hours this day?" We only have 24 hours in a day, but there are times when I have leaned back on the pillow and reflected "Did I accomplish anything today? "  Driven by this thought my first inclination was to become more organized.  I bought all the appropriate tools, calendar, planner, filing implements, etc.  I accomplished planning my life down to the hour.  Then, along would come a child, a friend, an organization with a need and out the window would go all my lengthy planning.  My day would turn into a whole new place. I could say "No, I don't have time" and move on, but it is not in my nature to do so. That set me on a new idea.  I needed to understand my nature and how to make it productive.  I tend to spend lengthy amounts of time on the computer (were it in earlier years, the children would tell you it was on the phone).  My time is focused on helping or finding a way to uplift others