small town celebration

yesterday was a day of celebration. the whole 3 day weekend was actually. i was wishing for another day off today to recover. no such luck.

we live in a small town. population at just over 5,000. on july 4, our population more than doubles due to the very large celebration that our town hosts each year. more than 10,000 come from miles around to watch the fireworks display. it's amazing! our pyro crew rocks!

before the fireworks begin, we also have a parade. everything from military, local government officials, community band, floats, horses and of course, the old cars. lawman and i were in an old car this year. not just any old car, but my dad's 1929 model a roadster. he was a collector, my dad. he had 4 antique vehicles; one for each of us kids. this one is mine.

dad loved parades. he was in his local rodeo parade for years. this car carried the grand marshal and dad was the chauffer. the year that dad was the grand marshal, i got to be the chauffer. since dad isn't with us any longer, lawman and i thought it would be fitting if we drive the car in our local parade as a tribute to dad. lawman has taken quite an affection to this old girl. he and a local have worked on her over the past 2-3 months to make sure she was ready to go this year. fortunately, she was and she ran like a charm.

dad, i saw you smiling down on us yesterday. 

take a moment

today, take a moment to remember ~ those that have made the ultimate sacrifice for our country, for our freedom ~ their family members that have also sacrificed ~ the family and loved ones that are no longer with us.

Remembering is painful, it's difficult, but it can be inspiring and it can give wisdom.

Paul Greengrass

grad day



Here she comes...



A proud moment.

Look at that smile!

BFF's as long as we can remember

The end of a big day...

christmas magic

When the girls were itty bitty, we started buying a new Christmas story each year to read out loud. We'd dim the lights and sit by the twinkling lights of the Christmas tree and read a story before bedtime. The books were neatly stacked under the tree and we'd read one book each night during the 12 days of Christmas. It's been several years since the last time we did this but today, someone relived those memories.

I walked in the door from work and there was Madison, reading one of the Christmas stories out loud to her dad who was laid out on the floor. Such a sweet moment. It's nice to know that the things we do for years, out of love, and with the hope of establishing a tradition, really do take root. Just a bit of Christmas magic.

Holiday Tradition | Movies

photo credit

The weather here this weekend is forecasted to take a turn for the worse. Rain/Snow mix expected tomorrow. Sounds to me like good reason to stay home....and take the opportunity to watch at least one of our annual holiday movies. We have three -- White Christmas, The Holiday and Love Actually. Lawman and I prefer to watch White Christmas on Christmas Eve because that's what we did on our first Christmas Eve together. We've already watched The Holiday so I think I'll try to convince the crew to curl up with me for Love Actually. There's something about those English accents that melts my heart!

Movies have long been a part of our holiday tradition. Our first Christmas Day together as a married couple included a matinee and it's a tradition that has continued through the years. Our girls look forward to it each year and put much thought and discussion into what our selection each year should be. Given that, many of the movies we watch each holiday season are movies that we watched in the theatre on Christmas Day. It's fun to relive those memories with them.

Do you have a holiday movie that you watch each year? How did it become tradition?

an oldie but a goodie

Does anyone even know what this kitchen gadget is? Definitely an oldie. Definitely a goodie. It's a potato masher. Can you even buy them new anymore?

I was with my mom this weekend. She's no longer living in her home and she asked if there was anything I wanted from the house. I didn't know of anything off the top of my head but she said just to go take a look.

I did look. I found lots I'd like to have but what I settled on were the potato masher above and a meat cleaver. Why? Memories. Lots of them and all good.

My mother cooked. Alot. Not just for us, the family, but for hired men. It wasn't unusual for her to feed 6 or 8 men at noon. No sandwiches and chips either. Real food, manly food. Things like pork chops, swiss steak, meatloaf, or roast beef with all the fixings - - salad, jello, a vegetable, homemade bread, dessert and yes, mashed potatoes. That's why I remember that potato masher. No electric mixer for her. Just elbow grease.

After my 'looksee' at the house, I went back to the care home to see Mom. She asked if I took anything. She laughed when I told her what I laid claim to. She won't be laughing anymore though when I tell her I've already used that potato masher. Yes siree. I made mashed potatoes tonight for dinner and I didn't even bother with the electric mixer. Just good old fashioned elbow grease and my well seasoned potato masher. They were quite possibly the best mashed potatoes I've ever made.

gifts of kindness

Since losing my dad, we have been so very fortunate to have been blessed with an abundance of kindness from friends and family.

Today I gathered all of the cards and notes we have received. So many took the time to write a kind note, share a story, or a fond memory they had of my dad. I was touched by each and every one.

The most unique gift we received was from a dear friend down the street. She brought two bottles of wine with instructions...one bottle is for now, when we need to stop for a moment and regroup; the 2nd bottle is to be opened on my dad's birthday (December 30), to celebrate him.

One of my brothers spoke during the service. One line that my brother said has been replayed a hundred times in my head.

"Our dad was a gentleman but to our mother he was a gentle man."

That word...gentleman. It was the single most often used word to describe my dad by those that came to pay their respects. And I am oh, so proud of that.

friends of old | take 2

Earlier this week I told you that I went to my class reunion last weekend. I introduced you to Alicia. And, I promised to introduce you to Shawna (red sweater on the left). I know what everyone was thinking when she walked in ~ the thing every girl probably dreads ~ "She looks just like her mother." Lucky for me, one of the guys said it for us. Typical guy fashion too. He just blurted it out. Before he even gave her a proper hello. Shawna said she gets that reaction all the time at family reunions.

I've known Shawna a long time. As in forever. Her grandparents were good friends with my folks. Her Aunt Letha married my cousin, Jeff. She was a pom-pon girl, I was a cheerleader. We spent lots of time together. See how we're intertwined? Shawna attended elementary school at another small school in our county but once students reached 7th grade, we all went to the same jr. high.

Shawna is gifted in the arts, namely music and drama. She's got a great sense of humor. She can say the wittiest things without cracking a smile while putting the rest of us in stitches. She's got that dry wit. One of the things I love about her.

I learned at the reunion that she's got a mind like a steel trap. She doesn't forget a thing. She could tell stories from our jr. high and high school days as if they happened yesterday. She led us in singing the school fight song. She even remembered our dance routine. And then started singing a spoof of our school fight song that I had completely forgotten about. Funny, but once she started, every single word came back to me. I sang it for my girls earlier this week. They didn't see the humor in it. Can you imagine? Well, you can if you have teenagers.

I'm beginning to wonder if I have early on-set dimentia because I couldn't pull any stories out of my hat. Not like Shawna did. Or could it be that high school was so traumatic for me that I've blocked it all out?

She agreed to entertain us with her version of the moonwalk. And then reminded us all that the first time we saw it was also the first time MJ performed it live on an awards show. Do you remember? If so, you must be old like me.

Friends of Old

It has been a long time since my high school graduation. 25 years long. A small group of us gathered over the weekend to take a stroll down memory lane and reconnect after many years of separation.

My class was small. 32 small. Um, I hear you laughing.

It wasn't all bad. A small class made for very close friendships. It also made it easy to know everything about each other. I mean everything. And not just about each other but about everyone in each other's families. Again, that was a good thing. We caught up on entire families this weekend.

The above picture is of me (on the right) with my classmate, Alicia, from this weekend. We lived 1 mile apart from the day we came home from the hospital until I was 7. Our houses were about 30 miles from town. That made for a long bus ride. 1 hour ~ each way. I would walk to her house for a play date. Yes, walk. By myself. I was young. Yes, younger than 7. If I didn't walk, I had 2 other choices ~ ride my bike or my horse. Horse was my preference. Her name was Kitty and she was an old swayback mare. Very gentle. Dad would have her saddled and waiting at the barn for me. I'd cross the creek, up the hill, turn left and then left again at the big gravel pile. We loved that gravel pile; it was the best place to play King of the Mountain. Alicia had a flag pole in her front yard. I'd tie Kitty to the flag pole and she'd munch the lawn while I played. I'd head home for dinner when Alicia's mom said it was time to go. Hmm...I wonder what happened to the piles that I'm sure Kitty left in the lawn? Her dad probably did some pooper scooping. Or maybe it was lawn fertilizer.

Alicia and I have somehow managed to keep in touch throughout the years. At times it was somewhat sporadic or predictabale depending upon how you feel about the annual Christmas card. We even managed to see each other more than just at class reunions. Now due to technological advancements since 1984, we keep in touch regularly. We can know daily what the other one is up to.

Next time I'll introduce you to Shawna.

Camp Fire Donuts

Meet my friend, Katie. Among our circle of friends she's known for her camp fire donuts.

This all started about 6 years ago when we did a big group camping trip with 5 families. That equates to 10 adults and 14 kids. Six years ago those kids were pretty little, like between 1 1/2 and 13. There's a story about that camping trip but it really isn't my story to tell. Maybe the owner of that story would share it with us sometime.

Anyway, it was on that outing that Katie exposed us to her donuts. (That almost sounds racy, doesn't it?)

Ingredients are simple ~ those inexpensive biscuits in a can and oil. You'll want powdered sugar and a mix of cinnamon sugar for dipping.

Katie cranks up the heat on the Coleman camp stove, puts the oil in her cast iron skillet and waits for it to get hot. Once the oil is good & ready she pokes a hole in the middle of each biscuit and places it in the oil. Cooking until a perfect golden brown then turning it over to do the same thing to the other side. Once they're done, remove them from the oil and place on paper towels to drain. Then dip them into either the powdered sugar or the cinnamon mixture, whatever is your preference. Mine happens to be powdered sugar. They're yummy. Not to mention healthy. Yea, right.


Turns out that Katie has taught her daughter, Maggie, how to create this culinary treat. Maggie makes a mean donut. If you try these, plan to make lots. It's easy to down these in multiples.

Visions of Sugar Plums

Our family had never made a gingerbread house and I thought it would be a great Sunday evening family activity.

What was I thinking?

All week I had asked the girls to please leave Sunday evening open for a family Christmas activity.

By 6pm I had everyone assembled in the kitchen with gingerbread, frosting and decorating materials laid out. Oh this was going to be such fun!

Suddenly my bubble burst.

Just listen to the comments that were made (by 15 and 12 year old daughters) and you'll know why.

Can we just do this already?

This is dumb. Why do we have to decorate a gingerbread house?

What's the purpose of this thing anyway?

I'm starving. What's for dinner? I forgot to eat lunch.

Who invented the gingerbread house? They must have had NOTHING to do.

I'd rather watch a movie.

Can't you and Dad just do this?

Ok, so it wasn't all visions of sugar plums like I had hoped but I'm sure that in about 10 years they'll look back on this and laugh. They'll probably feel guilty that they didn't humor their mother and decorate the dumb gingerbread house.

Lawman and I had fun with it. And maybe we'll laugh at the memory in 10 years too.

A Walk Down Memory Lane

B3 and I took a walk down Memory Lane....


As little girls, both of ours absolutely loved this game. We would play for hours on end. It was entertaining, educational and simple. We could make it last as long or as short as we wanted.

I got the game out for a couple of little boys that were at our house earlier in the day with B2; she was baby-sitting. When they left, B3 and I decided we should play a game for old times sake.

The end results were different than they used to be. The girl beat the pants off me. She's got great memory skills. Look how big her winning pile is.

Wonder if she could beat me at Candy Land??

A Trip Down Memory Lane

My friend, Rechelle, has done a fabulous (if I do say so) post about my hometown and me. You can learn more (only if you want to) here and here. Now git on over there, ya hear?

It's All About the Food

If you've learned anything about me from this blog, you know that I love food. Not just eating it but preparing it, reading about it, etc. You've probably also learned that I read cookbooks as if they were novels. I have scads of them in my kitchen. So many in fact that I don't have enough shelf space for all of them. You can find them in my cabinets and drawers as well as on my bookshelf.

I have a special fondness for vintage cookbooks. Several of the ones I own belonged to my mother and grandmother at some point. I love reading through them and finding their hand-written notes scrawled in the margins or seeing spattered pages and knowing that the recipe on those pages must have been a much-loved dish.

Food is a very important subject in our lives. Not only is it necessary for sustaining our bodies but we also have emotional attachments to it. Many times a particular dish transports us to a particular place in our lives -- a special birthday or a memorable family holiday. We use food to celebrate special occasions. We share it with neighbors and friends during difficult times.

Two years ago I purchased, what I would call, kitchen journals for each of my daughters. My thought was that at some point they will want to be able to re-create all the wonderful meals they've enjoyed at home.

I have a tendency to come up with these good ideas and then I have difficulty following through. Well, I pulled them out of my closet today (you can see that the price tag is still on them) and decided that I was going to start filling the blank pages. The point is to create for them one place that will hold their favorite childhood recipes and notes about special occassions that the dishes were prepared for. For example, the first entry in B2's book is the chocolate and peanut butter dessert she requested for her 13th birthday party. I also included in the margin the names of her friends who she shared the dessert with.

I'm not keeping it a secret that I'm creating these. In order for them to have real meaning to the girls, I want them to have a say in what recipes are included. It may be years before they appreciate what these books represent but I hope they will become a treasure to them and maybe to their future husbands and children. I guess time will tell. And, when they're in college and wanting to know how to make a favorite dish, hopefully, it will be included in this book and I won't be creating recipe cards.

The Family Tree

I'll be attending a family reunion over the Labor Day weekend. My mother and her siblings gather this weekend each year and it's a great opportunity to re-connect with the many aunts, uncles and cousins that I don't see on a regular basis. My girls of course, are absolutely dreading the thought of spending an entire day with distant relatives that they don't know. I'm willing to place a bet that there will be friendships with cousins that are re-kindled before we leave.

My favorite part of the reunion is looking at old photographs and viewing the old home movies. It's like taking a step back in time. The above photo is of my Grandma Rachel (my mom's mother - on the right) and her sister, Ella. I'm not sure of the year the photo was taken but it's safe to say it was in the early 1920's.

The See-Saw of Summer

Do you remember playing on the see-saw during grade school recess? Did you and a friend ever try to "balance" it? You know where neither of you are touching the ground and you're balancing ever so lightly to stay there? It was hard to do but possible.

This happens every single summer. I look forward to getting the girls out of school and having freedom. But freedom from what? It isn't schedules because it seems that our summer schedule is tighter than our school year schedule. Why is that?

Right now I feel like I'm on the See-Saw of Summer and I'm having a really hard time getting it balanced.

I know. I know. I (or rather we as a family) do this to ourselves.

This week is truly the first full week of summer activities. If you were to look at my calendar it is jam-packed. Every Single Day. I just glanced at it and there are only 6 weekdays during the month of June that don't have anything extra scheduled. Fortunately, Lawman and I are on different work schedules so he is able to provide a taxi service for the day activities and I take over the taxi job at 5:00.

I know as a child I did not keep the same kind of schedule that my girls do. Is that bad that they're so busy? I also did not have the wealth of opportunities available to me that kids do today. Just within our own household these are our summer activities -- basketball, swim team, piano lessons, band lessons, plus a 15 year old who has a part-time job as well as baby-sitting commitments.

Are my children over-scheduled? Honestly, I think they're fine with it. They prefer to be busy vs. sitting at home with "nothing to do." It's me who is over-scheduled. ME.

I think it bothers me more because I grew up in a different time. Things moved at a slower pace. We busied ourselves with different activities than kids do today. I spent many hours down at the creek which ran behind our house. I read books and more books. I spent leisurely afternoons at the pool working on my tan. I spent days with my grandparents which consisted of playing Uno and Chinese Checkers. I turned hay bales in the hay field so Dad could pick them up with his hay hauling machine. I drove a wheat truck. I caught fireflies in old mayonnaise jars. (Notice that there are no activities listed from my childhood that required electronics or technology. That could be a post of it's own.)

So, my question to you is this. How do you handle summer? Is your schedule jam-packed or do you enjoy the lazy days of summer? How do you find a balance?

I've Reached Another Milestone

Blonde 2 had her first big high school dance this weekend, the Winter Semi-Formal. It was originally scheduled for December and has had to be re-scheduled twice due to ice & snow. Finally, the big day arrived. Rather than going with a date, she opted to go with her friends, Macy & Bailey. They had a ball together!

Here's Blonde 2....isn't she lovely?

And with her girlfriends.

And with lil' sister.

Going Home

I went to my high school alma mater last night. My nephew, David, is the Assistant Coach for the boys basketball team and I told him I would come to one of his games.

Going to that game was a walk down memory lane for me. I hadn't been back to a game since 1994 when David's older sister was candidate for Queen of Courts (winter homecoming). And, as it turns out, last night was Queen of Courts so the attendance was high. Which was great for me because I got to see alot of people I hadn't seen in years.

Lawman and the girls were with me. Have you all experienced taking your kids to your high school? It was so hard for those girls to get their heads around the idea that that is where their mother went to school and that yes, I was a teenager at one time.

I had only taken about 10 steps into the gym when 3 ladies hollered at me. So of course I stopped to chat. Lawman is behind me tellin' me to keep movin', go sit down, people are looking. Well, hello. Of course they're looking. They're trying to figure out who in the world these strangers are. So I cut my conversation short and found a place to sit so I could get the family situated. Needless to say, throughout the course of the evening, I did a lot of chatting. I probably got more than my allotted number of words in yesterday! Just ask Lawman.

At half-time,I took the girls out to show them the senior composite pictures. They of course managed to find my senior picture quite humorous. But I wouldn't let them stay focused on me for too long. I focused their attention on locating their many cousins who also graced the halls of this high school. They had a lot of fun, not to mention laughs, doing that.

It was a good night for the Bulldogs as they claimed victory. And a good night for me too.