96 Years

April 17,1913

That's the day my grandmama was born.

She's 96 today.

I have lots of good memories of going to visit my dad's parents when I was growing up. There was...

milking the cow (Grandmama did that)

churning butter

feeding the chickens

wringing the neck of a chicken so we could eat dinner (I never could bring myself to watch this)

shellin' peas

driving the pickup in the pasture

feeding cows

hunting for Easter eggs in her front yard with too many cousins to count

yummy desserts

goin' to town

riding on the tractor

sleeping late and having breakfast waiting on me (she spoiled me:)

homemade biscuits!

sitting in the swing on the front porch

falling out of the swing on the front porch (not sure this is a *good* memory)

rose bushes blooming

going to church and using funeral home fans to stay cool

and so many more.

Grandpapa died in August, 1986. Some folks thought Grandmama wouldn't live much longer. She proved them wrong! And I'm so glad.

She's the mama of 7, grandmama of over 20, great-grandmama of over 40 and great-great-grandmama of ?? (I have no idea). She has over 100 direct descendants and has outlived a son (my daddy), three grandchildren and at least one great-grandchild (Gabrielle).

We're hoping she makes it to at least 100! :)

We went to visit her while we were in Texas for Christmas.

Grandmama and me

Grandmama, my brothers and me

Grandmama with all of Daddy's children and grandchildren

Happy 96th birthday, Grandmama!

We love you!!

Annnooottthhheeerrr Graph

Here we go with another graph.

What's your favorite?

1. McD*nald's
2. W*ndy's
3. L*by's
4. P*zza H*t

I know we have wwwwaaaayyyy too many graph's.

From B

Favorite Ice Cream Results

Thanks to everyone who commented on their favorite ice cream. Here are the results.

Vanilla - 10

Chocolate - 10

Strawberry - 5

Today the kids have to do a graph by asking people they see. Working on the "talking skills". :)

Resurrection Sunday

HE IS RISEN!

What an amazing morning it must have been for the women at the tomb! I'm thankful for God's written Word that tells us just what we need to know about our Lord's resurrection.

The kids had Easter baskets waiting for them on the table this morning. H had the idea to get the twins a Webkinz. When she found them on sale, I went for it.

C put her new sidewalk chalk to good use this afternoon.

B got a new basketball goal net.

All 4 kids ate their R*ce Kr*spy treat for breakfast after their pancakes. (That was after asking, "Can we really?" when I said "yes".)

H has quit biting her fingernails so she has new nail polish that won't come off in 5 minutes.

All dressed up for church.

Late this afternoon we had an Easter egg hunt in our backyard. We invited the Notts over. They brought another friend who just moved to the neighborhood. H helped Dad hide the eggs.

Dad and H found some creative places to hide the eggs.

"Look at all my eggs!"

Running to find more eggs.

After finding all the eggs, the kids ate all the candy. Then they started playing. The boys had a good time playing basketball while Dad and Mr. Nott guarded the newly planted grass seed.

Happy Easter Eve

We ventured into "unknown territory" for our kids. We decorated Easter eggs with dye. They had a good time and we avoided any major messes. You'll see from the photos that there was some serious concentrating going on with the decorating.

This morning we had our Resurrection Egg Hunt at church. There was a KidStuf before the hunt but Dad took videos rather than still shots. (I have no idea how to upload video from the camera.) It was H's last KidStuf for this year.

H is in the orange shirt with her friends Grace and Lizzy on each side of her. They're waiting for the ribbon to fall and the run to begin!

And they're off! H is in the middle of the photo bending down to pick up an egg.

The other 3 kids opted out of the Egg Run (I mean hunt) so they are helping H look for a golden ticket. She didn't get one but Grace got two and shared one with H.

Happy Easter Eve

Guess Where We Went

I'll give you some hints.

Friday evening we went to a "mall"...

Mom and kids

Dad and kids

Cousin Abe and kids (According to Grammy, he really is our cousin!)

And Saturday we spent the day in 1799...

Kids in front of the mansion

Kids with our kind host

More photos to follow later...after Mom gets some sleep!

What's Your Favorite Ice Cream?

It's time for another Math Graph.

What's your favorite ice cream?

(Please choose from the three favors below.)

vanilla

chocolate

strawberry

Leave a comment and tell us your favorite. We'll post the results this weekend after everyone has time to post.

Feel free to go out and sample all three before voting! :)

Thanks,

H and B

One word...

*CINNABONS!*

(okay, 2 more words...*EXTRA ICING!*)

Poison Ivy

This has been an unusual week. H's poison ivy was a major distraction to her Monday. Tuesday morning I found an email from a friend that suggested trying hot water to help with the itching. So she took 3 showers/baths that day.

Wednesday morning we were late for her art class due to more itching issues. Her art teacher suggested Zan**fel which is available over the counter. So off we went to our usual store for a rather expensive purchase. It was worth it though! I helped her "scrub" with it yesterday afternoon. She had very little itching the rest of the day. She even went to church and felt good.

This morning, she looked soooooooooo much better! There were still a few places that itched so we "scrubbed" again. It was a rather un-itchy day for her. Her face has not itched at all. She did take some Ben*dr*l at bedtime both nights. I think when she is still, she starts thinking about it more. But it has cleared up quite a bit just since yesterday so for that we are thankful. Thank you for all the prayers and encouraging emails.

I have not taken any photos because she does not like seeing it on her. Her right eye was almost swollen closed when she woke up Tuesday morning. Now there are not even any blisters that are noticeable on her face.

Today's Quote

"You're the best mommy in the whole world." (pause) "Even when I don't obey." (smile and hug)

-E

More Upwards Photos

Upwards Celebration

We had our Upwards Celebrations today. Here are a few photos from the day...

"This is almost like being in the Olympics!"

There's our H just after she received her "award"...an Upwards backpack.

H and her coach

35 years and counting

I was blessed with a second brother 35 years ago today.

John, me, Shawn and Tony

Dad, Shawn, EK, H, Ethan, and B

More photos to come later...

Happy birthday, Shawn!
We love you!

Snowhenge

Two days after it snowed, we still had plenty of snow on the ground. H convinced Dad to help her build a snow man.

H and her snowman

Dad and Mr. Snowman

Dad was able to get a wall for a fort around Mr. Snowman. They named it Snowhenge. :)

The snow is almost gone now. We're suppose to be near 80 degrees this weekend. Spring is beginning to creep in...too bad our daffodils didn't survive to see it.