why my Christmas Eve isn’t what I expected….

This Christmas Eve’s memory will be dampened by the death of Duke. He’s been with us, since 2000. I actually can’t even remember the time, he wasn’t around. Those kind eyes, the funny way he howled when we came home, and all that fur (it smelled bad, but hey now it doesn’t seem so bad).

I was the one that drove him to the vet, to have him…well…I don’t like to say it…so you get the idea. Leaving him there was horrible…but when they told us to say goodbye, it was almost too much!

So here’s to all the wonderful memories with, this lovely creature we named Duke.  I feel like every single piece of my childhood is slowly but surely fading…and the passing of Duke is no exception.  All the walks in the woods, and all the times he’d go swimming or fishing with us, this list could go on and on. I miss that place and that time so much! Oh well it’s part of growing up, I guess…and these are the painful parts.

Goodbye Duke…I loved you!

 

 

 

 

 

Christmas is tomorrow! So smile=)

 

Kids playing for real

As a kid when I wasn’t doing my chores, I would normally be found playing outside. I had a constant supply of playmate in my siblings. With ten of them who wouldn’t =) We played house (in an old chicken house, my sister “remodeled” ), baked mud pies, had corncob wars, rode our bikes in “rodeos”, climbed trees as ships, played ‘hide-go-seek’ after dark in the fall, kick ball was our go to game in the spring, and I could go on and on naming the different things we did growing up.

But then again I was a loner at heart and a morning person. I enjoyed waking early in the morning and skip to the pasture for my morning visit with the farmer’s cow and calves. (we lived on 400 acres in the middle of no where) I would sit for hours to just tame that one calf. As I got older I took up bird watching and then I would be drawling birds, while sitting on a log in the middle of a bluebell patch. Now that I’ve mentioned the bluebells, I love picking wild flowers and would wait impatiently for the first to bloom in the early spring, running out each day to check to see if it had opened. When it did I’d carry it proudly to my mom and hold it behind my back and ask “do you love me?” before showing her my treasure. I still remember walking through that pasture, so quiet. No sound other than the birds singing and grass waving in the wind. In the middle of this wonderful picture was little me, soaking up the blue sky…all alone in my world…a perfect world.

All of this was done when the weather was nice…when the weather wasn’t conducive to outdoor play we resorted to blocks (that my dad made) and old fashion fisher price people/sets. We built barns and farms, castle and large mansions. Or we were in a wild west town, then it was bank robbing and bad guy chasing=) Normally playing something around what book mom was reading to us at the time or what we were studying in history. I always had animals – I’ve always wanted to be self sufficient, young dreams never die=)

So when I saw all these kids (children of the horse people at the state fair) playing with all these horses, while the rain poured down outsider I couldn’t help but travel down “memory lane” once again=) Took me back to a time before cell phones and video games. Back to a time when kids entertained themselves instead of needing something do the thinking for them. To the time when I was young…btw: I had fantastic set of parent to raise me like that=)

I just loved these=)

I hope you enjoyed my little bit of childhood reminiscing… 

 

~Photo-a-day~ July 30–Aug 5

So last Wednesday did you wonder where this post was?…=) My computer started acting up and I took it in for a quick weekend virus removal. And that turned into a week…a full 7 days without my computer! Crazy!

Not only was my personal stuff, blogging, etc. put on hold. But so was work…so I bought another back up computer the following Monday. A very stressful couple of days for me…in which I worked several twelve hour days. But I’m alive still and much better because of this situation. I learned a lot…like that I can handle a major problem like this and make the necessary decisions by myself. my boss was out of town and I had to make all the decision concerning this alone.

Besides this I spent a lot of time at the Indiana State Fair with my family and friends…Christina posted on facebook …”3rd time at the fair…next year I think I want to live there for all 3 weeks!=) I can’t get enough of it=)”  She’s going to kill me…haha!  I like it but not as much as she does…just the people the excitement…not to mention the smells=) Fair food is one of my weaknesses…but most of the time I’m good with just smelling it.

Okay on to the seven new photos of this week…no…last week=) sorry!

Day 211

~pretty~

I’m in love with her handwriting and she’s still writing to me at 91…I feel so honored to have this jewel of a woman taking the time out of her day to send me beautiful letters.

Day 212

~summer is…~

summer time as a kid…I spent many hours in the cool sand of the sand pile. Don’t you sometimes wish you could be a kid again?…or am I the only one.? =)

Day 213

~hat~

Day 214

~family~

Jonathan with both of his boys…looking at fish at the state fair. JT is only 6 and already shares his dad’s love for fishing=)

Day 215

~water~

Fair again! purchase the water before not at the fair…lol or you will spend a fortune on that one bottle of water=)

Day 216

~technology~

my new computer, pretty neat huh?!?!?!

Day 217

~clean~

Victoria cleaned the garage this week…it looks so good!

Let me know which photo’s your favorite…=)

Happy Tuesday!

 

Thoughts from my childhood

I came into the kitchen one evening, to make my lunch, last week and saw this. Books everywhere=) My mom spent the day at a library used book sale and returned home with loads of books. She’s very cleanliness minded…these were in the process of all their covers drying from being washed.

Some of these were the very books she had barrowed from the Library and read to us when we were kids. My mind flooded with memories of my sweet mother reading to us as kids as I looked through the titles. She had the best reading voice I know, bringing every single story to life. Changing her voice for each and every character. And using all the emotion needed to engage even the most reluctant listener. She read to us everywhere: in the car, while we were doing homework, for school, for devotionals, over a meal, - and my all time favorite time – at night.

Like this one by Jean Fritz read by mom over lunch…I would always hurry with my food so I could go stand behind her chair and look at the pictures. It was always a great spot until it got crowded by my other siblings who also preferred to listen from this place.

Laura Ingalls I can picture it like it was yesterday. Christmas time and we were all just out of the tub, in our pajamas, squished on the couch around mom listening intently to this well loved story.

I loved this one…he was such a hero!

When my school crossed into American early history in 7th grade mom had me read this…wow I couldn’t get enough. I read this one in a week. Those that know me know a book hast to be very interesting, to me, for this to happen.

Galileo. I read this one and wrote an essay on it, mid grade school I believe.

And who doesn’t love the Laura Ingalls series?!?! I remember my mom reading the series to us (for a unit study) through the opened door  so that not only us girl could here but also the boys in their room. Whenever the furnace would kick on, it would get pretty hard to hear her. I would just lay there and watch the flames behind her as she read. I loved those days!

Isaac doing homework…he’s the last one of us ten still in school. Mom’s graduated all ten and he’s her last…and out of us ten I think he’s the best student of us all=)

How some of the books were transported from the sale to the car and from the car to the house.

“The Little Auto” now this was my favorite nap time story=)

One of my favorite stories of all time (mom gave me this book=) She read this over lunch and I can still remember it was soup and popcorn. And she cried when she read the last paragraph …”so a man can stand up”. that line gave us all chills

My mom read to us for hours, sometime she would have to stop because her voice was hoarse. Her water breaks which only took minutes, seemed to us eager listeners more like hours, because we were always left on a cliffhanger. But she loved to read to us. She was telling me the other day how she misses when we were all young and she’d read in the car when we all traveled together. She instilled in me a love for good literature and I hope to pass this on someday. possibly to children of my own

I know I had the best childhood growing up, without a shadow of a doubt. With parents who poured their time, not finances, into their kids (making all the difference) who wouldn’t.

Jimmy Nash Park Hill, Martinsville Indiana

It’s so interesting going back to your parents childhood stomping grounds. The Jimmy Nash Park Hill (just called Park Hill by my parents) is one of those places. Over looking the city of Martinsville. I wonder if my parents ever thought that their kids would someday be standing in the same place looking over the same view. A view to them so familiar, one filled with many childhood memories.

As the cool breeze brushed my face…I stood in silence just taking in the view…from the field below, to the tree line meeting the sky. So far away, yet seeming so close. The valley below all in a hustle and bustle, everyone going about their individual days. Faintly I hear the sound of the city traffic and children’s laughter in the city pool below. But up here all is peaceful.

View from the top…

Walking up the hill…

There’s a picnic table at the top

A perfect spot to take pictures…

---