Joyous Tomorrows

I am again joining Olive Tree Genealogy Blog for Journaling. I find this to be helpful in writing my stories for my grandchildren if you would like to visit Lorriane click her name for the link. My First Day at School was scary for me because that year was a great time of change in my life.  My dad had to enroll me because my mother was living at the college she was attending 60 miles away.  She was not able to drive back and forth daily.  We only saw her weekends. I was shy, and this was a huge step into the world.  We lived in the country and my only friends were my cousins who were older or younger than I was.  The room seemed large and spacious with wooden desks.  There were windows, that later I remember I would look out of and day dream. There was a playground with swings, slides, a tether ball pole, see saws, and there were steps on the side that we would play on. I don't remember classmates names.  I do remember my teacher was Mrs. Staff...

This is my fun post for the month. An a wee bit of family history included. Grandchildren, your grandfather LOVED peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. He used to "bug" me, because I would make a 'gourmet' meal and what would he do?...He would have to make a peanut butter jelly sandwich afterwards or the meal was not complete. I would say "I am so insulted, I worked so hard on this meal and you don't think it tastes good without a peanut butter sandwich."  Then I would pout and he would give me a smile, a kiss and finish his sandwich.  I so wish I had a picture of him with a PBJ. He had a special technique for making his PBJ sandwich. The first step was to put butter (real butter) on the bread. The second step was to add the peanut butter.     The third step was to add jelly. The final step (I had to enlist the grandson for this )was to eat it all up. The grandson decided that butter definitely added a great "eatable" flavor. I asked on ...

When I first thought about this challenge of writing about a memorable birthday party of when I was young, I drew a blank. I could not remember a single birthday party. Not one. I mulled the challenge over, reflecting on the fact that I could remember my children's parties. My second daughter and I reminisced over her two most memorable birthdays. Then the other afternoon while driving, a picture came to my mind. I am not home, so I don't have it to post, but it was of me and the boy I had a crush on for several years at my Sweet Sixteen birthday party . We were sitting under a tree with our heads together, looking at the charm he had given me for my present. My mother must have caught the shot when we weren't aware. It was late in the evening so the lights were soft and the mood of the picture was innocent. He and my best friend came to help me celebrate a special time in my life. That night, I received my first kiss . (Yes, my grandchildren, your grandma ...

Winter time was never a time of excitement.  My dad was an above the knee amputee as a result of a winter time logging accident.  Going out for activities in the winter was just not thought of.  I can remember the winter I wrote about in an earlier post, the snow was so deep that I went out side and made a snow angel.  I can say I don't remember doing that when I was little.  My memories of winter was sitting around the pot bellied stove and cracking nuts, listening to the adults tell stories, which I can't remember now.  Drat!  That  is not true.  We did do one thing of winter time fun, and that was to make snow ice cream.  I am salivating thinking about it.  I loved to make the snow ice cream.  It was fun and tasted sooooo good! Fresh Fallen Snow Ice Cream Ingredients: 1 gallon snow 1 cup white sugar 1 tablespoon vanilla extract 2 cups milk Directions: When it starts to snow, place a large, clean bowl outside to ...

This is part of a writers challenge that Lori at Family Trees May Contain Nuts has posed for us to write about teachers that have made a difference in your life --good or bad.  If you click on the title of her blog, you can see other's posts on the same and participate too. I have had many teachers in my life. There were some who were not so uplifting or found wanting in their desire to impart knowledge. Some, like my mother, were dedicated and inspiring. I am indebted to them all for various things. The subject of this post is Wanda Beryl Gossett, born April 26, 1920 in Oklahoma, was my Junior High Sunday School teacher. She was a selfless, loving person. When she taught her classes, the students listened because she was sharing her love of Christ as well as the beauty of the love she had experienced in his love for her. Her eyes would light up as she spoke and she had a wonderful engaging smile. I remember vividly one Sunday, she taught a class on the love that Jesus C...

I will be joining my friend Lorraine at Olive Tree Genealogy Blog in writing 52 weeks of Sharing Memories--a Genealogy Journal . I know my grandchildren will enjoy the journey. This week's subject is memories of winter meals. My mother was a teacher so she usually got home after I did. I have the memory of when my grandmother would come to visit, I would come in to a warm great smelling kitchen. She would bake and cook wonderful tasting meals. I am not sure about specific meals, but I do know that I have winter comfort foods. Potato Soup was a favorite of my father, and corn bread and beans is still on my list of favorites. I have a special corn bread I make that tastes so good it has been passed down to all my children including my sons, so they could include it in their cookbooks per their request. My all time favorite winter comfort food comes from my best friend in High School. After school we would go over to her house, and her mom would be in the midst of baking cooki...

Prologue This is a fun post for me. It all started out with my teasing my daughter that she needed new glasses when she was playing a video game with her boys. She couldn't figure out what I was saying at first, then she gave me the slow grin that she has and said " oh, I am just being intense". That was the beginning of our teasing her. Of course she is on bed rest to keep from having her baby 2 months early , so she does have an excuse for not being involved. LOL. The Story What do you do when you are facing bone chilling COLD weather? If you are on bed rest, as my daughter is, you might face fighting an addiction to playing video games. my little grandson is good at bringing the daughter back to reality. We all have been having a good time and teasing her for her intensiveness at trying to win. The boys have told her she can lose. I reminded them she dates doing games back to before they were born. Her father would play Tetras, Frogger, Pac Man, and Joust wi...

Charlie Wilson of Weather History   described the  four-day snow and ice storm as the worst major ice storm in Oklahoma in more than a decade. The storm affected all but the southeast part of the state, with ice accumulations of a half to 1 inch. Local ice accumulations of 4 inches were reported at Cordell. More than 225 people were treated for injuries, after slipping on the ice. Charlie reports that there were at least 170 of the injuries in the Oklahoma City area. I called it 'The First Blizzard of My Life, and I Wasn't Prepared For It. This picture is of a later snow storm but it is very much like the one I went through and t his link is a picture of a road near where I drove in 1967 Lorraine, of "Olive Tree Genealogy Blog", invited us to join her in weather memories for the 'Sharing Memories a Genealogy Journal' . This is a memory I had just shared with my daughter while I was in California.   I was 19 and working as a telephone operator in Okl...

Thank you to The Graphics Fairy for the Vintage Post Card Stone Accents graphic contributors are my source for the scrapbooking elements