"I wish a big rock would drop on school!"
Nice, right?
Jake said later:
"School is like a microwave....BAD!"
What?????
Monday, August 24, 2009
Physique 57
Thanks so my friend, Tami, I found out about this give-away! I'd love to win this! For a chance, visit Fitness NYC!
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Bubbles, SpongeBob and Six-Year-Old Feet,
In just another 2 months my baby boy will be 6 years old. I really cannot believe it. He's only a foot or so away from being my height. I can't keep him in shoes for more than a season or pants either for that matter. I know everyone says they grow up too fast, but I had no idea how true it was until I had a child of my own.
Yesterday, Jake and I played outside, drawing on the driveway with chalk. I had to draw everything SpongeBob Squarepants and hopscotch, of course.
Do you recognize the houses of the SB characters? I even added the Krusty Krab! haha!
Today, we were out again with bubbles. He received some as a party favor over the weekend.
Notice they are peppermint scented.
I love the cheeks in this one.
After I had enough bubble pictures, I once again started to wonder how many pairs of shoes we would go through before his feet stopped growing. Those thoughts led to these:
Bubbly Boy Feet
Squatty Boy Feet.
Right Boy Foot
Size 13 Boy Feet
Dear Nike,
Please send shoes. Thank you.
Yesterday, Jake and I played outside, drawing on the driveway with chalk. I had to draw everything SpongeBob Squarepants and hopscotch, of course.
Do you recognize the houses of the SB characters? I even added the Krusty Krab! haha!Today, we were out again with bubbles. He received some as a party favor over the weekend.
Notice they are peppermint scented.
I love the cheeks in this one.
After I had enough bubble pictures, I once again started to wonder how many pairs of shoes we would go through before his feet stopped growing. Those thoughts led to these:
Bubbly Boy Feet
Squatty Boy Feet.
Right Boy Foot
Size 13 Boy FeetPlease send shoes. Thank you.
Monday, August 10, 2009
Fun Weekend!
This Saturday was Carson's first birthday! She invited Jake to a pool party at her Marmie's house and we had lots of fun.
Here's the birthday girl and her mommie!
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Having a little snackie.
There were hotdogs and chips, ice cream sundaes, and of course birthday cake!
Carson had her own, of course!
Yummy!
Jake is learning how to swim and did great with the swimmies. At first I wasn't going in with him, so Hope volunteered to help out.
It was so hot, though, I broke down and went in the pool. The water felt great, but after playing with the kids, lifting Jake out of the pool so he could slide into the water about 100 times, and of course getting more sun than I needed to, I was pooped! I really wanted to do this:
Instead, I had to deal with this little guy:
Don't you love those goggles? : )
Here's the birthday girl and her mommie!nu=3255)9(3);32)WSNRCG=32;5+2694732%3Bnu0mrj.jpg)
Having a little snackie.There were hotdogs and chips, ice cream sundaes, and of course birthday cake!
Carson had her own, of course!
Yummy!Sweet Carson got lots of presents including a tea set, a baby doll, and a trike!
Jake is learning how to swim and did great with the swimmies. At first I wasn't going in with him, so Hope volunteered to help out.
It was so hot, though, I broke down and went in the pool. The water felt great, but after playing with the kids, lifting Jake out of the pool so he could slide into the water about 100 times, and of course getting more sun than I needed to, I was pooped! I really wanted to do this:
Instead, I had to deal with this little guy:
Don't you love those goggles? : )
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Why is it....
that the taste of that tiny McDonald's hamburger is so wonderful with those McDonald's fries???
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Bringing it Back to Life, Part 3 - Inside Prior to Demo
The point of my blogging about the house is to get the story down for the family. I plan on showing my grandmother what I've written and have her add or delete anything needed. I've asked other family members to write down their memories of the house and the family members who lived there as well. I want every detail, "lest we forget."
That being said, you may want to return to previous posts where I've added another picture or two or little tidbits that I've discovered. I'll try not to backtrack from here on out though.
On the agenda this week is to borrow all the pictures my dad and his wife, Mackie, took along the way and copy them for my collection.
In the meantime, how about a look at the inside of the house before demolition started?
After my aunt and uncle moved out, they did rent the house a couple of times. We all know that can be bad or good depending on your tenants. Basically though, the house needed an overhaul of huge proportion in order for it to survive and remain a family landmark.
The layout of the house I remember looked like this: (Sorry for the blurriness.)
The day demo was to start, I went down to help pull up carpets and also to take pictures. Wow! Let me just say, there was never a shortage of dogs who also shared the house, and the carpets had some more odor! Floors were rotting, it was filthy, and lots of junk was left behind by previous renters. I personally wondered how on earth my dad was ever going to manage such an undertaking. I might have been too overwhelmed after that first day and called it quits, but not my dad.
My dad and his brother looking over the hallway. Masks were certainly a necessity!
This bedroom is now part of the new kitchen.
This photo was taken from the oldest part of the house, the dining room, straight through to the front door.
Here you see how the plaster was done originally in the house.
This is the front bedroom. I'll have some more detailed photos of the original ceiling in this room, but it's beautiful! The straps that held a quilting frame long ago still hang there. The door you see in this photo now leads into a new bathroom.
The fireplace in the living room. The brick was added sometime in the 1970s and then the wood stove later.
All of the carpets were taken up, and the cabinets in the hallway were taken down. Both sides of the hall were lined with cabinets similar to this one, all added in the 1970s.
Here's the kitchen as it was. This is in the very back room of the house and for now is still this way. It's in the oldest part of the house that my dad has done nothing with yet. I think I mentioned, he may not be able to save the older rooms.
Basically after that day, my dad moved in. He knew once he began bringing in his tools, saws, and supplies that he would need to be there so nothing was stolen or ransacked once he started working. He worked during the day and into the evening and then after a trip up to my grandmother's house for a shower and dinner, he would go back to the house to sleep. I'm not sure how he decided what to do first or how he did anything without sketches, but he had everything in his head just how he wanted it to be. Just wait...
That being said, you may want to return to previous posts where I've added another picture or two or little tidbits that I've discovered. I'll try not to backtrack from here on out though.
On the agenda this week is to borrow all the pictures my dad and his wife, Mackie, took along the way and copy them for my collection.
In the meantime, how about a look at the inside of the house before demolition started?
After my aunt and uncle moved out, they did rent the house a couple of times. We all know that can be bad or good depending on your tenants. Basically though, the house needed an overhaul of huge proportion in order for it to survive and remain a family landmark.
The layout of the house I remember looked like this: (Sorry for the blurriness.)
The day demo was to start, I went down to help pull up carpets and also to take pictures. Wow! Let me just say, there was never a shortage of dogs who also shared the house, and the carpets had some more odor! Floors were rotting, it was filthy, and lots of junk was left behind by previous renters. I personally wondered how on earth my dad was ever going to manage such an undertaking. I might have been too overwhelmed after that first day and called it quits, but not my dad.
My dad and his brother looking over the hallway. Masks were certainly a necessity!
This bedroom is now part of the new kitchen.
This photo was taken from the oldest part of the house, the dining room, straight through to the front door.
Here you see how the plaster was done originally in the house.
This is the front bedroom. I'll have some more detailed photos of the original ceiling in this room, but it's beautiful! The straps that held a quilting frame long ago still hang there. The door you see in this photo now leads into a new bathroom.
The fireplace in the living room. The brick was added sometime in the 1970s and then the wood stove later.
All of the carpets were taken up, and the cabinets in the hallway were taken down. Both sides of the hall were lined with cabinets similar to this one, all added in the 1970s.
Here's the kitchen as it was. This is in the very back room of the house and for now is still this way. It's in the oldest part of the house that my dad has done nothing with yet. I think I mentioned, he may not be able to save the older rooms.
Basically after that day, my dad moved in. He knew once he began bringing in his tools, saws, and supplies that he would need to be there so nothing was stolen or ransacked once he started working. He worked during the day and into the evening and then after a trip up to my grandmother's house for a shower and dinner, he would go back to the house to sleep. I'm not sure how he decided what to do first or how he did anything without sketches, but he had everything in his head just how he wanted it to be. Just wait...
Friday, July 31, 2009
Bringing it Back to Life, Part 2 - Some of the People
I don't remember my great, great grandmother of course, but I know she was a woman petite in height, and she was a civil war veteran's wife. The picture below is of her and her son, Wales, my great grandfather. I have to find out, but I think they are standing in front of the hog pen where the (duh) pigs were kept.
In a book my grandmother wrote for her three sons, she tells about "Mama."
"She despised wash-day and would give away a Sunday dress to get a woman to help do the washing. She was a confederate widow. In July each year she received a pension (around $130). We would load up in the T-Model car and go to Spartanburg. It bought all of us shoes, cloth for dresses, curtain material, white sheeting, baloney, and each of us sat in the car and had a greasy hot dog with lots of onions."
"She loved her church, my babies, pretty clothes, and cheese, and she was as reserved and noble as a queen."
"She married my grandfather, Henry Johnson, when she was very young. I wonder if she ever loved him very much. He was almost twice her age and died when my father was four years old. She never married again."
"She disliked the dark, loved new moons and things done right. She taught me things I will never forget-you never chewed with your mouth open-you put a knife, fork, and spoon at every place." (All the time I might add and not just special occasions and MY grandmother taught me the same thing.) "Every night she knelt by her bedside and said her prayers, her hair hanging down her back in a single pigtail."
Wales and his mother Lillian Cooper Johnson
Below is Layton Cooper, or Uncle Layt as everyone called him. He worked very hard on finishing the house as a young man.
The picture below is of Wales again. I have a teensy memory of him. He passed away when I was 4 or so. Some excerpts from my grandmother's book about her father:
"He had a funny way of teasing without laughing. How he loved my boys when they came along. He was so very special. I feel he's enjoying Heaven, for if he's not there, there is no use for anyone to try to get there."
"His hands I will never forget. He made a trip to Woodruff for crop fertilizer in a wagon and was caught in a severe thunderstorm. Seeing those hands with the wet, torn bag and the pink and white squares of coconut candy was too much."
This lady is Wale's wife, Clara Jackson Johnson. Everyone called her Mother except my dad and his brothers and they called her Granny. I call her Mother, too, and it suits her much more than Granny does in my opinion. She passed away my senior year in high school. I can remember when she lived in the home house a little. I remember staying overnight with my cousins Hope and Judy.
My grandmother wrote these things about her mother.
"I can always remember how my Mother kept flowers in the house. Always starched scarves on the tables and dressers. Pillow cases, too, were starched, and the sheets were ironed nice and smooth."
I know she was a wonderful cook. I know she like to dress up for church on Sundays. She always wore dresses and always had a broach or necklace on. She taught me how to crochet and I can still see her hands showing me the stitches.
Daddy Wales at Christmas.
Check out that plate of fried chicken!
My grandmother, Mary Kathryn, was born in the house. This is her as a baby.
There were lots of babies. This is my grandmother's younger sister and my grandmother's first son, Bob.
Here's my dad.
My cousin, Hope. I know it gets confusing, but Hope is my grandmother's niece, my dad's first cousin and my second. She's closer in age to me, and I consider her my sister!
Look! It's me with my great grandparents. My grandmother told me that Daddy Wales would never hold us, but he'd touch us in some way. I love this picture of him holding my hand. Notice the broach at Mother's collar?
There were special events at the house, too. Here's a picture of my mom's bridal shower. My great aunt is in the center. On the left is Emily, and don't ask me to make that family connection or you'll be so confused you won't know whether to scratch your watch or wind your butt!
Another bridal shower: this time it's my dad's youngest brother's wife or soon to be wife, Judy.
While I look for more photos of the house and pictures taken in and around the house, I'll leave you with this:
Snort! This is my great aunt, my grandmother's sister, Hope's mom. Don't you love the hair? I wonder how long it took her exactly to get it that high and how much AquaNet she had to use? She was at a family picnic in this photo and my guess is she fishing a bug from her iced tea with that spoon and thinking how much she would like to ring the photographer's neck.
Life goes on doesn't it?
Jake in Papa's new window...
In a book my grandmother wrote for her three sons, she tells about "Mama."
"She despised wash-day and would give away a Sunday dress to get a woman to help do the washing. She was a confederate widow. In July each year she received a pension (around $130). We would load up in the T-Model car and go to Spartanburg. It bought all of us shoes, cloth for dresses, curtain material, white sheeting, baloney, and each of us sat in the car and had a greasy hot dog with lots of onions."
"She loved her church, my babies, pretty clothes, and cheese, and she was as reserved and noble as a queen."
"She married my grandfather, Henry Johnson, when she was very young. I wonder if she ever loved him very much. He was almost twice her age and died when my father was four years old. She never married again."
"She disliked the dark, loved new moons and things done right. She taught me things I will never forget-you never chewed with your mouth open-you put a knife, fork, and spoon at every place." (All the time I might add and not just special occasions and MY grandmother taught me the same thing.) "Every night she knelt by her bedside and said her prayers, her hair hanging down her back in a single pigtail."
Wales and his mother Lillian Cooper Johnson
Below is Layton Cooper, or Uncle Layt as everyone called him. He worked very hard on finishing the house as a young man.
The picture below is of Wales again. I have a teensy memory of him. He passed away when I was 4 or so. Some excerpts from my grandmother's book about her father:
"He had a funny way of teasing without laughing. How he loved my boys when they came along. He was so very special. I feel he's enjoying Heaven, for if he's not there, there is no use for anyone to try to get there."
"His hands I will never forget. He made a trip to Woodruff for crop fertilizer in a wagon and was caught in a severe thunderstorm. Seeing those hands with the wet, torn bag and the pink and white squares of coconut candy was too much."
This lady is Wale's wife, Clara Jackson Johnson. Everyone called her Mother except my dad and his brothers and they called her Granny. I call her Mother, too, and it suits her much more than Granny does in my opinion. She passed away my senior year in high school. I can remember when she lived in the home house a little. I remember staying overnight with my cousins Hope and Judy.
My grandmother wrote these things about her mother.
"I can always remember how my Mother kept flowers in the house. Always starched scarves on the tables and dressers. Pillow cases, too, were starched, and the sheets were ironed nice and smooth."
I know she was a wonderful cook. I know she like to dress up for church on Sundays. She always wore dresses and always had a broach or necklace on. She taught me how to crochet and I can still see her hands showing me the stitches.
Daddy Wales at Christmas.
Check out that plate of fried chicken!
My grandmother, Mary Kathryn, was born in the house. This is her as a baby.
There were lots of babies. This is my grandmother's younger sister and my grandmother's first son, Bob.
Here's my dad.
My cousin, Hope. I know it gets confusing, but Hope is my grandmother's niece, my dad's first cousin and my second. She's closer in age to me, and I consider her my sister!
Look! It's me with my great grandparents. My grandmother told me that Daddy Wales would never hold us, but he'd touch us in some way. I love this picture of him holding my hand. Notice the broach at Mother's collar?
There were special events at the house, too. Here's a picture of my mom's bridal shower. My great aunt is in the center. On the left is Emily, and don't ask me to make that family connection or you'll be so confused you won't know whether to scratch your watch or wind your butt!
Another bridal shower: this time it's my dad's youngest brother's wife or soon to be wife, Judy.
While I look for more photos of the house and pictures taken in and around the house, I'll leave you with this:
Snort! This is my great aunt, my grandmother's sister, Hope's mom. Don't you love the hair? I wonder how long it took her exactly to get it that high and how much AquaNet she had to use? She was at a family picnic in this photo and my guess is she fishing a bug from her iced tea with that spoon and thinking how much she would like to ring the photographer's neck.Life goes on doesn't it?
Jake in Papa's new window...
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