Happy Memorial Day!

Remembering all of our Veterans today past and present! Hope you have a wonderful Memorial Day! Thank you for your service!
This picture was taken in Germany during WWII. My dad is the 2nd one from the left. The man on the end was looking at a bunch of people that were yelling in excitement - they just got word that the war had ended. Let's remember to Thank God today for all of our Veterans! Without them fighting for our freedom life would be very different! 

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY!

until next time...nel

Missing Hodgepodge...

Passing on the Hodgepodge this week and possibly next.  We are in Arkansas for 2 weeks. Our internet is slow, we use a Verizon HotSpot when traveling.  I think the weather is really effecting it! 
My thoughts and prayers are with all those in Moore Oklahoma, and all those effected by the storms.  I look out our back window and see the tree that lost most of its branches and think how lucky we are! I tear up every time I think of the school children in Moore.  My heart breaks for all of those involved.  Such devastation!

Hugging my grand kids a little tighter today and enjoying every minute spent with my daughter. Looking forward to Friday, Janice has a sonogram scheduled, who knows we might find out what it is. :)   Nothing like grandchildren!

until next time...nel

Hodgepodge Pressure...

Hodgepodge it is! Come on join the fun you know you want to!

1. May is National Blood Pressure Month...what sends yours soaring, either literally or figuratively? What calms you down? When did you last have your bp checked?
Gosh I think probably parents yanking their kids around, and kids not listening to their parents sends the bp soaring.  There is a right way to discipline and the ones not listening usually have not been disciplined correctly.  To calm down I either read scripture if I am where I can or sing a song from church to myself, or count my blessings.  I was at the Dr. about 3 weeks ago and they checked it then.  120/72 I might add.  Yeah me!

2. You just found $1-what do you spend it on? How about 10$ 100?
You can't get a lot for $1 anymore, I would probably just put it in my purse or pocket.  $10 - probably would hold on to it for a rainy day.  $100 - Might have to go to Hobby Lobby, I can always find something there!  lol.

3. Mandatory labeling of genetically engineered (GE) food has been proposed, but not enacted in the US. How much attention do you give food labels before you buy? Are you in favor of labeling if it means an increase in food prices? Is this an issue you've been following and feel strongly about, or is this the first you've heard of the controversy?
I do read labels a lot more than I used to.  Actually to be honest this is the first I have heard about it.

4. May 15th marks the birthdate of Frank Baum, author of The Wizard of Oz. At this point in time, are you more in need of brains, courage, heart, or a trip back home? Explain.
A trip back home.  I consider home Arkansas and I am missing my daughter and my grandkids.  My daughter is beginning to show and I have to see how cute she looks.

5. "There's no place like home" is an oft repeated line from Baum's book. When was the last time you felt the truth of that statement?
Every time we go to Arkansas I feel that way, but after a couple weeks it is always good to get home to Willard.  Nothing like your own bed that you are used too.  

6.  Steak...yes please or no thank you? What cut do you prefer and how do you like yours cooked? Sauce or no sauce? Besides your own kitchen, where's a place you like to go to get a great steak?
YES!  I love steak, I am not real picky as long as it is not tough.  I love me a good T-bone, or Porterhouse.  I like it medium, where there is some pink still there.  No sauce, do not want to cover the taste of the steak.  We go to a place called Texas Roadhouse and they are just pretty good!

7. When was the last time you were in a genuine hurry?
I really can't remember.  Since I do not work and Stan is retired, we take it one day at a time and enjoy life.

8.  Insert your own random thought here.
Headed to Arkansas this Friday!  We have decoration where my parents are buried on Sunday.  The following Friday Janice is having a sonogram done and we get to go and see the little guy (or girl).  Then on the following Tuesday my grandson Cain is graduating from the 6th grade.  Where has the time gone?  We will be gone 2 weeks and Eden Jade will have 4 ball games that we will get to watch.  Life is good!

until next time...nel

Time for Hodgepodge...

It's that fun Hodgepodge Time, we would love for you to join us, just click on the button above.

1. When the children of today grow up, what do you think they'll say about this period in time? What do you most hope they remember?
Boy this one really takes some thought...without kids growing up in this era it is hard to say.  I hope my grandkids remember all the good times and fun they had with their granny and papa.  And that even though we did not live next door we loved them and tried to create good memories.

2. National Teacher's Day is celebrated in the US of A on the first Tuesday in May, this year May 7th...share how a particular teacher positively impacted you. 
I did not have a lot of self esteem growing up especially in high school.  I thought people were laughing at me all the time.  I had an Accounting teacher in high school that made me realize it was what was inside that mattered, it was how you treated people, not the clothes you wore or how popular you were.  Senior year was more enjoyable because I decided to quit trying and just be myself.

3. What's a dish your mama made, that if set in front of you today would whisk you right back to childhood?                                                                         
Mmmmm  her fried chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy and biscuits, I do not know anyone that can fix them like she could.

4. Mother May I was a game we played when I was growing up...no pieces, parts, or plugs required. What games from childhood do you remember loving that were also pieces, parts, and plug-free?
I loved dodge ball, statue maker, simon says, sardines, red light-green light, and of course jump rope and double dutch!

5. Besides your own mother, tell us about a woman who influenced you as a child?
Gosh, probably one of my aunts.  

6. Mamma Mia! What's the best play or musical you've ever seen? 
Would you believe I have never seen a musical that I can remember.  I have seen several plays but nothing professional.  Both are on my bucket list!

7. What are three smells that make you feel nostalgic?
Lilacs - my dad and I enjoyed sitting on the picnic table when he got home from work talking and enjoying the smell of the lilac bushes.
Baby Powder - remembering when my daughter was just a baby.
Rainfall - My cousins and I used to love playing in the rain when I was a kid.

8.  Insert your own random thought here.
I think Spring/Summer is finally here.  Actually I think we are going to go right into summer.  Hard to believe we had snow last week.  I think all of our flowers and bushes survived.  Our azalea was still beautiful even in the snow.

until next time...nel

Just Close Your Eyes...

Do you ever see a picture and it takes you back, you can shut your eyes and you are there.  This is one of those pictures.  Even before I shut my eyes I have such a feeling of freedom, of happiness, of innocence

The picture was taken in 1959 so I was 2 years old, and we moved to Schiller Park when I was 7.  I consider this to be my childhood home, where I spent my formative years.  I spent a lot of days just running in the yard with my dog, we were inseparable.  

 

If I close my eyes, I can hear laughter, we always had family gatherings, dinners and parties. Cousins were always around; the little hill in the picture of my dog and I, we thought it was huge.  Funny how when you grow up things are never as big as when you were little. We would roll down it over and over again laughing harder each time.  In the back there was an orchard and we built a fort around a tree that had blown down.  We would play out there for hours.

The house had an upstairs, then an attic.  We had a ping-pong table upstairs in one of the front rooms.  Of course back then we did not have air conditioning and there were no screens on those windows.  One particular day mom had went to the store and left me at home with my brother and our cousin Butch.  They were playing ping-pong and lo and behold the ball went out the window.  It caught on the edge of the roof, the porch roof, so me being the littlest was nominated to go out there and get the ball.  Can you imagine the look on my mom’s face when she pulled up the long driveway and seen me her 3-yr old on top of the porch.  It scared her to death, I wasn’t scared until I seen how scared she was.  I thought she was going to kill my brother.  Maybe that is why I am scared to get up on ladders now.  Lol

I remember birthday parties and Easter Egg Hunts and Christmases.  I remember sneaking in early Christmas morning and sitting on the stairs with Tom looking at what Santa had brought us.  Tom got a go-cart and I got a Kitchen Stove, Sink & Refrigerator.  We must have been really good that year.  When cousins were there I remember playing ‘Tag, You’re It,’ ‘Simon Says,’ ‘Red Rover, Red Rover,’ ‘Ghost, Ghost Come Out Tonight,’ and oh the list goes on and on.  I remember the older kids had a club and they would put on shows for us.  They said we were to young to be in the club but they let Debi and I be toy soldiers guarding the door.  We would walk back and forth with our guns saying over and over, “We are toy soldiers, you can’t go in, you can’t go in.”  We really thought we had an important job.  

What fun memories…it is good to go back once in awhile.

I love this song, the first time I heard it I cried and all I could think about was the farmhouse.  It is Miranda Lambert's song "The House That Built Me."  If you would like to listen to it click here.

Do you have a picture or song that takes you back?

until next time...nel

'Through wisdom is an house builded; and by understanding it is established: And by knowledge shall the chambers be filled with all precious and pleasant riches.'   Proverbs 24:3-4

Happy Birthday James...

Sorry this is lengthy but today I am dedicating this post to my older brother James.  He is the oldest of three children, he was born in 1942 and I being the youngest was born in 1957.  That’s called spacing them out, or maybe more like Surprise!   Fifteen years between us, it is no wonder that his oldest son who is only seven years younger than me was more like a brother.  Okay enough of the history lesson; let’s get back on track and take a walk down memory lane.

My brother was a cute little guy; look at those cute curls on top of his head.  I hope my mom did not put curlers in his hair like she always did mine.  Lol. 

When he was small they lived in Arkansas that is where he lives now, on the old home place.  He is quite the sentimental one whether he wants to admit it or not.  Growing up he and a cousin Jean were always quite close.  They spent a lot of time together over the years.  This one must of been taken out by the barn.

At some point in time the family moved to Colorado to work.  I have heard several stories, but that was before I was ever thought about.

This was taken at Hector where he lives now.  I think this was taken at a birthday party.  Make sure you check out his socks.  Love those James! I am thinking they were not too thrilled with getting pictures taken. 

After Dad returned home from WWII they moved to Illinois.  Dad moved first and found a job then came back and got the rest of the family.  They lived in a trailer park in Des Plaines.  They must have been doing pretty good, look at that cool bike he had. He was a good brother he shared his things. Tom thought he was ever bit as big as James.  

James and Carol met while living at the trailer park.  I bet they could tell some stories.  They were quite a cute couple.

As you can tell even at a young age I was not quite sure about my brother James. Look at that expression.  Lol

This is one of the very few pictures of all of us.  I am thinking this was probably taken over Christmas break since James would have been probably a junior or senior in high school.  He stayed with our Grandma and Dolan and attended high school in Hector.  I can remember asking mom who that guy was that came home at Christmastime and in the summer to mow our yard.  She told me it was my brother and I argued with her that Tom was my only brother.  I still remember that, I couldn't of been very old.

This was taken at Grandma and Dolan’s house.  You can see James car in the background, his pride and joy.

At 22 he was married and a new father.  Boy he looked young! 

And once again they found each other after many moons as they say.  They have been through a lot together but their love is deep and their faith is deeper. 

They finally made it back to the old home place and life moved forward.  

I am so glad that they went their separate ways in high school because they would not be who they are today if they hadn't.  And I am glad to call all of them part of my family.

Do you remember your 50th?  What a time we had.  That was 21 years ago, seems like yesterday!

Nothing like memories...

Part of your crew, hard to get them all together, there is so many now.

I have to say you have a good looking group of kids...where has the time gone?

 I want to take this time to wish my brother a Happy Birthday.  At times we were not very close, in fact I really did not even know who you were, but you have always been there.  I went through stages in my life I know you did not approve of, but you always remembered me in prayer.  I knew that you and Carol were praying for me.  I feel like we are closer now than we have ever been.  I love it that you and Stan enjoy each other’s company.  That means a lot to me.  I just wanted to make sure you knew how important you are to me!  I am praying that you will have a wonderful birthday this year and many, many more!    

And I just wanted you to know I Love You, James!

until next time...nel

Wednesday Hodgepodge 123...

Wednesday Hodgepodge 123

Wow 123 - amazing! Joyce does such a fantastic job hosting this meme, even during the A to Z Challenge!  We would love for you to join in.  She always gets us thinking and it is a lot of fun.

1.  This week's Hodgepodge is Volume 123.  What's something you've done recently that was as easy as 1-2-3? 
I have been crocheting scrubbies and dishrags lately.  I have made so many I think they would qualify as being as easy as 1-2-3.  I think I could do them with my eyes closed.

2.  The Wednesday Hodgepodge also happens to fall on the first day of May ...what is something you may do this month? 
We are going to be in Arkansas for a couple of weeks in May, so I am going to say I actually may get my pavilion cleaned off outside while we are there.

3. The Englishman Horace Walpole is credited as saying, "The world is a tragedy to those who feel, but a comedy to those who think"  How do you see it?

I would have to say I see it as a tragedy.  It breaks my heart how far we have gotten away from living by God's principles and instead live as whatever goes is okay.

4.  May is National Hamburger Month...how often do you eat a burger? What are your must-haves when it comes to burgers?  I assume you vegetarians won't be celebrating so tell us what you'd like instead? 
We eat more burgers during the summer when we grill them, but honestly I could eat a burger a week and it would not bother me.  I love me some burgers, lettuce, tomato, onion, mayo, and a little ketchup and cheese sometimes with a grilled bun.  ohhhh yeah!

5. Pansies, petunias, geraniums, impatiens...of the four mentioned, which is your favorite in a patio pot? Will there be pots on your patio this spring? (Or whenever spring comes to your part of the globe?) Who does the gardening at your house?
I love pansies or petunias.  We usually have quite an assortment of petunias in pots, house plants on the patio, and a variety of flowers in the yard.  Patt, Stan's niece does the gardening, I love plants and flowers too, but the yard here is her baby...  And that is okay she has a natural green thumb, she can get anything to grow!

6. When did you last (literally or figuratively) shout "Mayday, Mayday!"
Gosh, I really don't remember.

7.  Say farewell to your April in ten words or less. 

Goodbye April and A-Z you were gone before I realized!

8.  Insert your own random thought here. 

I really enjoyed the A-Z challenge this year.  I think maybe because I had a theme of sorts, I was more organized.  And I actually did learn several things this year even writing my own posts. I feel the Lord truly blessed me!

until next time...nel