When Hannah was a baby and we went to Arizona to visit Brian's folks, they brought out a box of old photographs for us to look at. I found a series of photos of young ladies having fun at what appeared to be a summer camp. I asked who they were and Brian's mom thought they might be of her mother-in-law, Brian's paternal grandmother, Charlotte (pictured above).

I loved these pictures so much that Brian's mom let me have them.

They are so different from the photos one usually sees of the past- of somber looking people in their best clothes.

Hannah and I estimate that these were taken around 1910, based on the style of clothing.

Don't these girls look like they are having fun?

I wish I could go back in time and see their adventures!

I wonder what became of these ladies. They most likely married within a few years of these photos and began their families.

Did they tell their children of their youthful adventures?

How I wish these pictures could tell *all* of the story!

Cute Boy Pictures

Ethan

Jackson and Ethan

Daddy and his boys

With Grandpa

A photo of our "Spring Tree". The poor thing doesn't photograph well, but in real life it is appreciated by the family :).

Around the House

Progress is being made on Hope's quilt. I wanted to do a little design in the center of each square and proceeded to try to do this on the machine- with not so good results. I asked Abby if she would mind hand quilting the designs during our group reading time and the darling child said she would! I'll still need to do something in the border area, but I'll think about that later (a la Scarlett O'Hara...).

Hope received a little paintable dog in Sunday School for six weeks of memory verses said. She loves memory verses so much, I don't think she is motivated by prizes. But she was quite proud of her painted pup!

Sunny Saturday afternoon working on more spring paper flowers. Hopefully I can post a picture of our newest project using these flowers soon- our Spring Tree.

And the boy burning twigs in the back yard. Paper flowers just aren't his thing.

Introducing Ethan Robert, our newest nephew

Welcome, Ethan Robert!

Breaking news from Jon- Ethan Robert arrived half an hour ago, weighing in at 9 pounds, 5 ounces and 22 inches long.

Congratulations! Hopefully we'll have pictures tonight!

Looking towards Spring

Abby received a card making kit for Christmas but has been too focused on school and knitting to make use of it.

That is, until Hannah became interested in making cards for friends. Yesterday they spent the morning by a sunny window cutting out flowers.

The cards look like Springtime, which is nice since this morning we woke to a winter white world outside!

Interview with Grandma J.

When Hannah and Abby were just babies, I would spend a couple of hours every Saturday talking to my Grandma. On one of those days, I grabbed my pen and jotted down the things she said and her memories of growing up. Since those memories came in a very "free form" style, I have tried to organize her thoughts into the paragraphs below. Grandma went to be with the Lord a few years ago, but her memory is still fresh in my mind. I'm so glad I wrote down these things before her dementia set in!

My maternal Grandma, Bonnie, was born at home in October, 1918, the seventh of thirteen children. Her great-grandfather, Jesse Yateman, was born in England in 1782. He came to North Carolina and married a Cherokee/Native American woman. It was Bonnie's grandfather, David H. who moved the family to Monroe County, Kentucky in 1875, the area where many of the family still live.

Alvin, Grandma's father

Grandma remembered her father as a very loving man who had a good sense of humor. She recalled him riding the children on his knee and his affectionate ways with them. He was also a good carpenter and made furnishings for their home, as well as adding on to the home itself. He was a farmer who grew all the vegetables for the family including sweet potatoes, potatoes, corn and wheat. He also raised tobacco.

The above picture is the only known photo of my great-grandmother.

Grandma's mother, Alta, died of tuberculosis at the age of 44. Grandma was sixteen at the time. Her memories of her mother centered around her home duties, which were plentiful with such a large family. Alta raised turkeys and geese. She used the money she received from selling eggs for sugar, coffee and laundry soap. She sewed all of the family's clothes and Grandma had a lot of memories of seeing her mother sewing on the treadle machine. They used feed sack material for their underwear which went to the knees with elastic. There was an iron kettle in the yard to heat water for washing and they used two irons for ironing- one heating up on the stove while the other was in use.

Alta dried a lot of apples in the sun to make the fried pies they ate in the winter. They also ate pork, white beans, corn bread and potatoes.

Grandma's memories of her grandmother were that she made sweet potatoes, fried apple pies and made molasses candy. She wore long dresses ("to her ankles") and an apron around her waist. Grandma and her family visited with her grandparents almost every day.

Bonnie J.

Because they did not have a full time minister, the traveling minister would come once a month for a church service. They did have Sunday School every week, however.

It was after a church service at the "Beautiful Home" church when Bonnie met Carson, the man who would become my Grandpa. After a party at a neighbor's house, Grandpa walked her home. They dated on and off for three years and the "dates" consisted of times at Bonnie's home or when Carson would walk her home from church. Grandpa had a yellow roadster with a rumble seat in the back where Grandma's twin brothers would ride, with Grandma in the front seat.

Grandma was 19 and Grandpa was 21 when they married in 1938. They married at the pastor's home with only Grandma's brother Hardie and the pastor's wife and daughter as witnesses.

Grandma wore a navy blue skirt and sweater and Grandpa wore a navy blue suit.

Carson J.

Parenthood quickly followed. Carson and Bonnie had four children- a son, Cecil, twins Cleo and Cleola (Cleo died at seven months gestation due to a fall on the ice when Grandma was fetching water in the Spring), and Clarice. Grandma said that she wanted to name my mother Carolyn, but Grandpa couldn't pronounce the name, so Clarice it was.

Bonnie with Cleola and Clarice

Grandpa worked as a farmer, first as a farm hand, then for himself raising corn and tobacco. One of my funny memories of Grandma was when she assured me that tobacco wasn't harmful- it was the nicotine they added to it that made it bad for you!

Above picture of Grandma (center, with the dark belt) and her siblings.

Grandma and Grandpa lived for a time in Indiana and Iowa, but returned to Kentucky where they lived the rest of their lives. They were divorced for several years when my mother was in her teens and twenties, but then they remarried.

Bonnie and Carson at home in Kentucky

Grandma spent a lot of her time in retirement sewing, cooking (everything she cooked had *at least* one spoonful of lard in it to "season" it) and gardening. She loved attending church and reading her Bible. She was very concerned for the spiritual condition of her grandchildren and I know she prayed for them often.

After my mother died, Grandma sewed several things for me so I would be properly outfitted for Bible College. When Brian proposed to me, I was wearing a skirt my Grandma had made (without a pattern, from a description given over the phone). Later, she helped sew my bridesmaids dresses. She showed me how to make buttonholes by hand, since she could never figure out how to use the sewing machine to do it!

My Grandma was a special, unique person. She was loving, generous and hard working. As she grew up poor and uneducated (she dropped out of school in the third grade to help her ailing mother), she was always insecure and did not trust her own opinion. She depended on her children and grandchildren to help her make decisions. She loved her family with her whole heart.

Grandma had an incredible memory for all the details of her family history and the family histories of all her neighbors. She had a soft southern accent and I still chuckle at her use of the words "checkardy" (checked), "stripedy" (striped) and "flowerdy" (floral). She had the most beautiful light blue eyes and soft, clear skin. She hated to have her picture taken and would grab your cheeks and squeeze the daylights out of them when she greeted you.

I'll close with the advice Grandma often gave to me while I was a teenager (and this is a quote from the interview that day): Don't jump into marriage. God has a special one for you and God will bring you together. Being faithful to one another is what makes a family. Also, don't jump into things without praying about it first.

Love and miss you, Grandma J!

School Days

Working on math- addition, subtraction, time and measurement.

Jacob comes in for help with his math.

How do you divide fractions, again?

Musings of an Old Lady

I've never paid much attention to my birthdays. The only one that stands out in my mind as having any importance was my sixteenth- I felt like I was pretty grown up then.

However, this year is very different. I am turning forty tomorrow and I guess all this ignoring of the passing years is catching up with me. I examine recent photos and I don't recognize the person I am becoming. The wrinkles and sagging that weren't there the year before. Realizing I look more like my grandma with each passing day. I wouldn't ever consider plastic surgery, but I increasingly understand why some choose that option.

It's hard to see myself as "older" on the outside when I feel just the same as I did at sixteen on the inside. Only wiser and more worn down with the cares of life.

When I look at pictures of my parents, grandparents and people I care about, I see their wrinkles and sags, too, but I love them- it is a part of who they are. Those evidences of age give them character and endear them to me.

Why can't I see myself that way? Why can't I look at my hands as being the instruments of caring for my family, the part of me that enables me to cook, clean, give hugs and loving touches? Why do I only perceive the imperfections? The wrinkles that are the memories of smiles and laughter- that cause me to turn away when I look in the mirror. The sags and bags that are the evidence of bearing and nourishing my children. I see only the "old" and not the person behind it all.

I wouldn't want to be forty and still look sixteen would I? (Maybe in some ways, the answer would be "yes!", but I digress).

My children certainly seem to accept the me I am becoming. My husband still loves me ( so he says...). My family still calls and visits. Perhaps God will give me the grace to accept the older me as well.

Good-bye, youth. Hello, middle-age. How grateful I am that you are here. It is an honor and a privilege to have lived long enough to know you. There are many aspects of growing older that I do not look forward to, but I believe the benefits outweigh the negatives.

Forty, here I come! (gulp!)

I've been attempting to work on the quilt I started for Hope a year and a half ago. I just used the quilt top on her bed for decoration, but Hannah has been getting on my case about sewing quilt tops without ever making them up into "real" quilts. So, I'm trying to do better.

In family news, I haven't heard anything from Jon and Christy regarding their new baby. She went over her due date with Jackson and needed to be induced, so I'm not surprised she is a few days over her due date this time, too.

I'm hoping she has the baby tomorrow. I'd love to share a birthday with a cute niece/nephew! Jackson's birthday is the day after Brian's. Wouldn't it be funny if their new baby came the day after mine?

Interview with Jon!

I thought it would be fun to interview some family members and get a chance to ask questions I might not otherwise ask! So without further ado, I present my brother Jonathan, who has been my brother for 29 years. I was an only child for ten years when my mother became pregnant with Jon. I remember being very excited to be a big sister, especially since I had prayed for a brother or sister for five years. Our family had spent the summer in Canada while my Dad took a course in Greek at a seminary. When my mom got home (California), she felt "funny" and went to the doctor to discover why - and so began the journey of life with Jon!

Jon is married to Christy and as of today, they have one son, Jackson who will be two in April. Their second child is due any moment and we are anxiously awaiting his/her arrival (though none more eager than Christy!). Jon is currently the part-time worship/music director at the Baptist church in Ontario, Canada, where our Dad is Senior Pastor. Jon is also attending school part-time in preparation for full time ministry in the church.

I began our interview with the "easy" questions:

Favorite Book other than the Bible: Mere Christianity by CS Lewis

Favorite Hymn: Come Thy Fount of Every Blessing- because of its honesty about our spiritual condition (prone to wander, prone to leave the God I love) and the grace of God in seeking us out.

Favorite Food: Indian

Pet Peeve: misspelling and poor grammar coming from someone claiming to be academic and learned.

Hobbies: reading non-fiction, swimming, playing guitar and playing with son Jackson.

Special Bible Verse: Philemon 1:7- For I have received considerable joy and encouragement from your love, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed, brother, through you.
This verse is special because it speaks of "refreshing the hearts of the saints", which I see as my goal in ministry.


Are there ways in which you resemble your parents?: I see my attention to detail as a reflection of my parents. I feel that I am aesthetically geared and am aware of the impact of the environment on me. Like my parents, friendships are important to me. Mom and Dad had a commitment to their friendships and like them, I also value deep, meaningful relationships.

Do you have a special boyhood memory?: I remember walking with Dad to the creek which was down the road from us. The creek bed was often dry, so we would walk on the stones in the empty bed. The neighborhood children would sometimes come along, too.

How did you meet Christy?: While I was attending a Bible College in Canada, my roommate was a friend of Christy, who had attended that Bible College the year before and was now back home, working. Christy would call her friends from the school and since my roommate was often gone when she called, she and I would end up talking to each other. We became friends over the phone and then more so when she came for a visit :).

When did you know Christy was the one for you?: I had a sense early on in our relationship, as we got along well and enjoyed talking to each other.

How has parenthood been different than you thought it would be or surprising in any way? Although everyone warned me that parenthood would change my life, you never fully understand how until you become a parent. Parenthood gives you a new identity- a communal/ family identity. There is also a new responsibility as a parent as you are the one who gives shape and direction to this new family.

Parenthood also changes your sense of time. On the one hand, you spend a lot of time with your family doing simple, daily activities and time seems to slow down during these. However, as you watch the development of your child, you realize that time is going by quickly.

I have also found that parenthood has brought a new depth of meaning to my life and that being a father has enriched my life and gave it new significance.

How are you feeling regarding the impending arrival of your second child? : I am looking forward to discovering how this child will add to the family and contribute to the family identity and experiences.

How has losing your mother at an early age changed who you are?: Losing mom at an early age just became the "new reality". It is difficult to see how I would have been different since that experience becomes your life and you don't know any differently. Losing a parent early brings with it the sense of the transience of life and that relationships are not forever on this earth. You find yourself waiting to lose the next person you love and find yourself guarded emotionally at times. I feel that my role as a father has a more nurturing/ mothering type aspect to it than I might have had otherwise.


Benefits from growing up in a blended family?: In a blended family you have more opportunities to learn about human relationships and to work through difficult situations than you might have had otherwise. Although life was very difficult for awhile, now, as adults, it is beneficial and enriching due to the relationships one might not have had, especially due to marriage and children of brothers and sisters.


Any advice?: I recently heard this: When we make our lives too full of good things, it makes our life too full for the best things. Take it slow, don't hurry through life.

Thanks, Jon, for sharing a bit of yourself with me! You know your big sister loves you more than words can say!

Can I Just Say...

... how windy it's been lately?

When we first moved in, Brian bought several $5 Home Depot trees in hopes that we could have something green planted before we turned fifty. This guy was the last surviving member of that little group. All the other ones also got blown out of the ground, albeit much sooner. I had high hopes that this one was going to make it.

I read a decorating book last week that strongly advised against buying trees from Home Depot type stores because their trees are shipped from all over the country- and probably won't do well in your area. Interestingly enough, the woman who wrote the book lives about half and hour from here and ALL the trees she bought from Home Depot (over a hundred) died.

The only foliage on our property to survive so far have been purchased at local tree farms. Hmmm.

Before company comes, I tend to look at my house with a critical eye. I see all its imperfections- the torn and stained slipcovers, the places that need repainting. I wish for newer, matching furniture.

After the company is gone, I see my house in a new light (temporarily, unfortunately). I see the places where we had conversations, where my children played with loved ones, where we all enjoyed a good meal.

My home seems to glow with the joy of wonderful and happy memories. If only I could see it that way every day!

Family

Enjoying breakfast this morning. I woke up to Rhonda playing piano- what a great way to start the day!

Aunt Rhonda and Hope having tea.

Aunt Brenda is taking piano lessons and played two of the songs she has learned so far. Aunt Rhonda offered her help to both her and Hannah.

Saying good-bye at the airport.

At least Doug won't be leaving!

Mold Update

The basement mold was ice-blasted away on Monday. Even more basement stuff now resides on our lawn. But now it is snow covered. Maybe the neighbors won't notice it as much for a few days...

I am washing curtains and quilts this week, vacuuming and dusting the mold away (I hope!)