This being the final time I write in 2011 I want to tell you about a gift we gave Aunt Mar this year.
I have mentioned a few times over the last 3-4 months that we found several poems that Aunt Mar wrote, even sharing a few. Back in October we were going through more stuff and found what we feel is her entire collection of poetry. When we did I began typing them up and decided to have them bound in a book for her with the goal of giving it to her for Christmas.
As I worked the scope of the project grew. First of all, she has 72 poems in the collection. Then we decided to find pictures from her life and include them in the book along with a brief biography. I finished it the weekend before Thanksgiving and uploaded it to Lulu.com, a self-publishing, print on demand service, to have several paperback copies made.
We decided to let Aunt Mar know about her book early so we showed her the proofreading copy on Thanksgiving Day. She was blown away. She kept saying over and over that she never expected to see her poems in a book. I know she's read it several times and seems very pleased to have her heritage in tangible form for those who know and love her.
If you are interested in having a copy for yourself use the link below. They are priced at the cost of printing and shipping.
http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/the-wit-wisdom-of-aunt-mar/18689329
We hope you have a wonderful new year in 2012.
Joe
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Friday, December 30, 2011
After the Wrapping Paper
I am happy to report that we have had a very nice Christmas. Not just the day, though it was beautiful, but the whole season.
REPORT ON AUNT MAR. Last time I wrote I told about Aunt Mar taking a tumble and having to get stitches in her forehead. While her head is healing nicely she didn't have the best week last week.
On Thursday morning (the 22nd) Mom called me at 4:00 am to say that Aunt Mar was complaining of chest pains. We called an ambulance and followed her to the hospital. After several hours of tests the doctor determined that her heart was in good shape. They did find fluid around her lungs but no sign of infection. In short, they could not determine the cause of her pains. They offered to admit her to the hospital for further testing or to release her to follow up later. By this time she was feeling a little better and wanting to go home so we opted for home.
Aunt Mar continued to be weak for another day or so but rebounded somewhat to enjoy Christmas. We were very glad to celebrate another holiday with her at home.
CHRISTMAS ACTIVITIES. We enjoyed several holiday activities leading up to Christmas, some traditional, some new. Last Tuesday evening Vicki and Jenna went with a large group from church to help out with the Bridge Ministry in Nashville. We've heard guesstimates that 1000-1500 homeless/poor people were served meals that night. They also gave away a lot of things like clothes, coats, food, and other necessities. The bad thing is that they ran out of toys for the kids.
The next day the boys were invited to play with some friends from Cub Scouts. While they were there Vicki and I attended the church staff office party. Jenna had her first official babysitting engagement for another couple who are on our church staff.
Kenny and Lori's annual community Christmas party was Friday night. We went and enjoyed it, though neither Vicki nor I felt very festive because Aunt Mar wasn't feeling well.
Saturday evening held the Christmas Eve service. It was really nice, but I wound up being a casualty of it. At one point all the lights were out. Bro. Bill had a candle to represent the Light of Christ. Vicki and I were among those who were supposed to take that light and spread it to the folks in the congregation. I had a section going up to the balcony. The auditorium was so dark and my candle so bright in front of me that I missed the steps and fell down to one knee. My pride was what suffered the most. We ate supper at Aunt Mar's afterwards (and the next two evenings).
The weather on Christmas Day was beautiful. We headed to church after opening gifts at home. Then we went to Mrs. Connie's for brunch. It was so clear, sunny, and warm all the kids ate outside.
A CHRISTMAS STORY. One of our Christmas traditions is to watch A Christmas Story. It is a movie we all enjoy and will make jokes in reference to it around the Christmas season. This year we let the boys watch it. What was so funny this time was watching Ben and Nate have several ah-ha moments throughout the movie as many of our jokes are now making sense to them. The best one was when Ben realized why we put a leg lamp night light in the hall. When he’s asked me about it in the past I’ve simply said, “Because it’s Italian.”
CHRISTMAS GIFTS. We received a lot of nice gifts for Christmas, though to hear Nate tell it we may not have. Bro. Bill asked all the kids to come up on stage for a special Christmas story and he asked a few of them what they got for Christmas. Nate didn't know (he told Vicki later that he had stage fright). He should have been very excited because he and Ben got Skylanders, a Wii game they've been wanting for months. They also got a battle arena for their Beyblades. Another favorite is a talking parrot (like you see at Cracker Barrel). They have that hanging in their room and it's funny to listen to what all they have that thing say.
Jenna got an iPad. She's been saving her money for an electronic reader of some kind and since she's starting to have to type up a lot of papers for school we figured this was the next best thing to a laptop of her own.
ON THE ROAD. We left Tuesday to spend a little time with the Jones family. It's always fun to go to their house as we all enjoy being together. At one point we had two tables of games going, one for Scrabble and one for Settlers of Catan. Nate has turned out to be a good Catan player. He is sneaky and shrewd which impresses me for an eight year old.
We returned home today, stopping to eat brunch with the Yergler family. They introduced us to Mexican Train Dominoes which seems to be a really fun game. They gave us a copy of the game for our own and I'm looking forward to playing it this weekend.
Sarah and her new husband, Jason, were in from Texas and we enjoyed getting to meet him. I think Sarah made a great choice.
SOMETHING'S WRONG WITH THE WORLD! That's exactly what Jenna thought the other day when she was leaving the house. Turns out she had forgotten to put in her contacts and things were a little blurry.
I wish my eyes were that good. If I woke up and saw things anywhere close to being in focus I'd think something was wrong with the world.
LOCKED IN. Jenna had a close call the other day. She was closing the door to her room when the doorknob came off in her hand. Fortunately, she caught the door before it shut because the part left in her hand didn’t include the axle that turns the latch. That fell in the floor on the hall side of the door. I’m just glad we had an old door from the kitchen stored away because the hardware store doesn’t carry parts for 100 year old doorknobs.
TWO LITER BIRD FEEDER. Earlier this month Nate was responsible for a craft at Cub Scouts. He and I decided to make bird feeders from two liter bottles. He got really excited the other day watching the birds eat from his feeder. I’m not sure if he was proud of his feeder or proud that I made something that actually works.
Joe
REPORT ON AUNT MAR. Last time I wrote I told about Aunt Mar taking a tumble and having to get stitches in her forehead. While her head is healing nicely she didn't have the best week last week.
On Thursday morning (the 22nd) Mom called me at 4:00 am to say that Aunt Mar was complaining of chest pains. We called an ambulance and followed her to the hospital. After several hours of tests the doctor determined that her heart was in good shape. They did find fluid around her lungs but no sign of infection. In short, they could not determine the cause of her pains. They offered to admit her to the hospital for further testing or to release her to follow up later. By this time she was feeling a little better and wanting to go home so we opted for home.
Aunt Mar continued to be weak for another day or so but rebounded somewhat to enjoy Christmas. We were very glad to celebrate another holiday with her at home.
CHRISTMAS ACTIVITIES. We enjoyed several holiday activities leading up to Christmas, some traditional, some new. Last Tuesday evening Vicki and Jenna went with a large group from church to help out with the Bridge Ministry in Nashville. We've heard guesstimates that 1000-1500 homeless/poor people were served meals that night. They also gave away a lot of things like clothes, coats, food, and other necessities. The bad thing is that they ran out of toys for the kids.
The next day the boys were invited to play with some friends from Cub Scouts. While they were there Vicki and I attended the church staff office party. Jenna had her first official babysitting engagement for another couple who are on our church staff.
Kenny and Lori's annual community Christmas party was Friday night. We went and enjoyed it, though neither Vicki nor I felt very festive because Aunt Mar wasn't feeling well.
Saturday evening held the Christmas Eve service. It was really nice, but I wound up being a casualty of it. At one point all the lights were out. Bro. Bill had a candle to represent the Light of Christ. Vicki and I were among those who were supposed to take that light and spread it to the folks in the congregation. I had a section going up to the balcony. The auditorium was so dark and my candle so bright in front of me that I missed the steps and fell down to one knee. My pride was what suffered the most. We ate supper at Aunt Mar's afterwards (and the next two evenings).
The weather on Christmas Day was beautiful. We headed to church after opening gifts at home. Then we went to Mrs. Connie's for brunch. It was so clear, sunny, and warm all the kids ate outside.
A CHRISTMAS STORY. One of our Christmas traditions is to watch A Christmas Story. It is a movie we all enjoy and will make jokes in reference to it around the Christmas season. This year we let the boys watch it. What was so funny this time was watching Ben and Nate have several ah-ha moments throughout the movie as many of our jokes are now making sense to them. The best one was when Ben realized why we put a leg lamp night light in the hall. When he’s asked me about it in the past I’ve simply said, “Because it’s Italian.”
CHRISTMAS GIFTS. We received a lot of nice gifts for Christmas, though to hear Nate tell it we may not have. Bro. Bill asked all the kids to come up on stage for a special Christmas story and he asked a few of them what they got for Christmas. Nate didn't know (he told Vicki later that he had stage fright). He should have been very excited because he and Ben got Skylanders, a Wii game they've been wanting for months. They also got a battle arena for their Beyblades. Another favorite is a talking parrot (like you see at Cracker Barrel). They have that hanging in their room and it's funny to listen to what all they have that thing say.
Jenna got an iPad. She's been saving her money for an electronic reader of some kind and since she's starting to have to type up a lot of papers for school we figured this was the next best thing to a laptop of her own.
ON THE ROAD. We left Tuesday to spend a little time with the Jones family. It's always fun to go to their house as we all enjoy being together. At one point we had two tables of games going, one for Scrabble and one for Settlers of Catan. Nate has turned out to be a good Catan player. He is sneaky and shrewd which impresses me for an eight year old.
We returned home today, stopping to eat brunch with the Yergler family. They introduced us to Mexican Train Dominoes which seems to be a really fun game. They gave us a copy of the game for our own and I'm looking forward to playing it this weekend.
Sarah and her new husband, Jason, were in from Texas and we enjoyed getting to meet him. I think Sarah made a great choice.
SOMETHING'S WRONG WITH THE WORLD! That's exactly what Jenna thought the other day when she was leaving the house. Turns out she had forgotten to put in her contacts and things were a little blurry.
I wish my eyes were that good. If I woke up and saw things anywhere close to being in focus I'd think something was wrong with the world.
LOCKED IN. Jenna had a close call the other day. She was closing the door to her room when the doorknob came off in her hand. Fortunately, she caught the door before it shut because the part left in her hand didn’t include the axle that turns the latch. That fell in the floor on the hall side of the door. I’m just glad we had an old door from the kitchen stored away because the hardware store doesn’t carry parts for 100 year old doorknobs.
TWO LITER BIRD FEEDER. Earlier this month Nate was responsible for a craft at Cub Scouts. He and I decided to make bird feeders from two liter bottles. He got really excited the other day watching the birds eat from his feeder. I’m not sure if he was proud of his feeder or proud that I made something that actually works.
Joe
Monday, December 19, 2011
Half Way Through December
It’s hard to believe we’re halfway through December...of 2011. That we’re near the end of the year is one thing. That we’re in the second decade of the Twenty-First Century is quite enough. We were with Aunt Mar the other day when she was writing a check. She asked for the date and Jenna gave it to her. Then she said, “19...?” because Jenna didn’t give her the year. I’m like Aunt Mar--eleven years into it and I still find it hard to believe we’re in the 2000s.
CHRISTMAS BREAK. The kids have finished school for the fall semester since I wrote last. They’ve turned in projects, been on field trips, and had parties. Now school is out for two glorious weeks! Other things are winding up for the season as well. We had our final Awana Club meeting last week and the Scouts have their Christmas party tonight.
We are doing well with our Christmas shopping which makes me wonder how we managed before we could shop online. I hope to put our Christmas cards in the mail today. And one of the best things is that Vicki and Jenna have turned our kitchen into a candy factory. (Well, that last one tastes wonderful, but I know the day of reckoning will come when I step on the scales.)
HAPPY BIRTHDAY VICKI. We celebrated Vicki’s birthday a week ago Saturday (the 10th). We actually celebrated three times. The first time was just the two of us on Friday evening (the 9th). The boys went to a Parents Night Out fundraiser at their school and Jenna stayed with Mom and Aunt Mar while we went out to a favorite Korean restaurant in West Nashville. After satisfying our appetites with two bowls of dolsot bibimbap we browsed for a while at McKay Books.
The following night all five of us went to see the Christmas musical at Cornerstone Church in Madison. They did a great job, but none of us were prepared for it to be two hours long. After the show was over we went to Logan’s Roadhouse for a late supper.
Mom and Aunt Mar took us to Cracker Barrel on Tuesday night to round off the celebrations. Between all that, the Christmas candy, and some office parties I have eaten way too much. ’Tis the season, I guess.
ASLEEP AT THE TABLE. This news falls under the “it could be so much worse” category. Yesterday Aunt Mar was sitting at the kitchen table when she fell out of her chair. Her head hit the floor and she split open a 1.5 inch gash on her forehead above her right eye. We took her to the hospital and now she is sporting six stitches and a nice bruise. While at the hospital we learned she has a touch of pneumonia and has cracked her left pinkie finger. She was released to go home last night after receiving antibiotics by IV. I’m sure she’s going to be plenty sore this week, but we’re glad she can be home.
A CHRISTMAS POEM. With Aunt Mar and Christmas on my mind I’ll share a poem she wrote in 1991.
Joe
CHRISTMAS BREAK. The kids have finished school for the fall semester since I wrote last. They’ve turned in projects, been on field trips, and had parties. Now school is out for two glorious weeks! Other things are winding up for the season as well. We had our final Awana Club meeting last week and the Scouts have their Christmas party tonight.
We are doing well with our Christmas shopping which makes me wonder how we managed before we could shop online. I hope to put our Christmas cards in the mail today. And one of the best things is that Vicki and Jenna have turned our kitchen into a candy factory. (Well, that last one tastes wonderful, but I know the day of reckoning will come when I step on the scales.)
HAPPY BIRTHDAY VICKI. We celebrated Vicki’s birthday a week ago Saturday (the 10th). We actually celebrated three times. The first time was just the two of us on Friday evening (the 9th). The boys went to a Parents Night Out fundraiser at their school and Jenna stayed with Mom and Aunt Mar while we went out to a favorite Korean restaurant in West Nashville. After satisfying our appetites with two bowls of dolsot bibimbap we browsed for a while at McKay Books.
The following night all five of us went to see the Christmas musical at Cornerstone Church in Madison. They did a great job, but none of us were prepared for it to be two hours long. After the show was over we went to Logan’s Roadhouse for a late supper.
Mom and Aunt Mar took us to Cracker Barrel on Tuesday night to round off the celebrations. Between all that, the Christmas candy, and some office parties I have eaten way too much. ’Tis the season, I guess.
ASLEEP AT THE TABLE. This news falls under the “it could be so much worse” category. Yesterday Aunt Mar was sitting at the kitchen table when she fell out of her chair. Her head hit the floor and she split open a 1.5 inch gash on her forehead above her right eye. We took her to the hospital and now she is sporting six stitches and a nice bruise. While at the hospital we learned she has a touch of pneumonia and has cracked her left pinkie finger. She was released to go home last night after receiving antibiotics by IV. I’m sure she’s going to be plenty sore this week, but we’re glad she can be home.
A CHRISTMAS POEM. With Aunt Mar and Christmas on my mind I’ll share a poem she wrote in 1991.
Just a few days till Christmas, what will I doI heard Aunt Mar read this poem aloud not too long ago. When she did she pronounced the last word “Santy” which rhymed somewhat with “many” from the previous line. She usually pronounces “Santa Claus” the normal way.
Job to be finished, can I possibly get through
Baking, shopping and cleaning all to be done
And decorating the tree should be lots of fun
Why must I let all these things worry me
When I have good health and live in the land of the free
The Lord is so good, our blessings are many
I’m slowing down to enjoy Christmas and the visit of Old Santa
Joe
Sunday, December 4, 2011
A Great Thanksgiving
We had one of the best, most relaxing Thanksgivings that I can remember. We weren’t rushed, but we got a lot done. More importantly, we had a great time together.
We couldn’t have asked for better weather over our break. The days were pretty and warm--a sharp contrast to the stories Aunt Mar tells of Thanksgiving when she was a girl. At that time the weather was usually very cold on Thanksgiving Day and her family would spend the day killing a hog and processing the meat. She says it was very messy and recalls all the doorknobs in the house being greasy. Back in the present day, we didn’t get cold weather until last week, but then it warmed back up by this weekend.
Speaking of ham, Vicki baked one and with Jenna’s help made all the side dishes (sweet potatoes, corn, green beans, squash dressing, etc.) for our Thanksgiving meal. When it was done we took it all over to Aunt Mar’s where we had a lot of fun spending the afternoon with them. When the meal was over we spent the rest of the time visiting until after it got dark.
On the topic of food, Nate found some Reese’s Cup wrappers in the bathroom trash can and came out wondering who had eaten them. That’s when Ben confessed to doing it because he wanted “real American food.”
We spent the rest of the weekend raking leaves, decorating for Christmas, and simply enjoying time together. We even worked in two games of Settlers of Catan which has become a family favorite. One thing we did not do is go shopping on Black Friday (well, we did go to Dollar General to get Christmas tree lights), but Nate sure was looking forward to the day. He wanted to watch the news and see all the people fighting over high demand gift items.
One of the Christmas decorations we put up is a little sprig of mistletoe on the light fixture in the hall. Vicki heard the boys the other morning when they came downstairs and walked under it. Ben noticed it first and pointed it out to Nate. They talked about the tradition associated with mistletoe then Nate suggested they just hug each other instead. As they were hugging they were proclaiming their brotherly love for each other.
Last week our schedule picked up a bit with basketball practice. Jenna practices on Tuesdays and the boys on Thursdays. The good thing is that the boys are on the same team this year so their practice night is shorter than last year.
If we aren’t in the Christmas spirit by this weekend we’re just not going to be. Yesterday was the annual Christmas Parade in Cross Plains. We set up a hot chocolate and cookie stand near the center of town. It was a much warmer day than last year as I was wearing a short sleeve shirt (though I found my jacket when I moved to a shady spot).
Our parade is really neat for a small town. My running joke (and I’ve gotten more mileage out of it than I should) is that the parade is longer than the town. I’m always amazed at the number of businesses and organizations that are represented in the parade. They come up with some really creative float ideas. I do think Mom said it well when she commented that the happiest man in the parade was Carl Swann who was driving a Willys Jeep he recently purchased. He was smiling all the way down Main Street.
We rounded off our weekend this evening by putting up Mom and Aunt Mar’s tree and other decorations. Now to get our Christmas card picture and our shopping done and we’ll be good to go.
Joe
We couldn’t have asked for better weather over our break. The days were pretty and warm--a sharp contrast to the stories Aunt Mar tells of Thanksgiving when she was a girl. At that time the weather was usually very cold on Thanksgiving Day and her family would spend the day killing a hog and processing the meat. She says it was very messy and recalls all the doorknobs in the house being greasy. Back in the present day, we didn’t get cold weather until last week, but then it warmed back up by this weekend.
Speaking of ham, Vicki baked one and with Jenna’s help made all the side dishes (sweet potatoes, corn, green beans, squash dressing, etc.) for our Thanksgiving meal. When it was done we took it all over to Aunt Mar’s where we had a lot of fun spending the afternoon with them. When the meal was over we spent the rest of the time visiting until after it got dark.
On the topic of food, Nate found some Reese’s Cup wrappers in the bathroom trash can and came out wondering who had eaten them. That’s when Ben confessed to doing it because he wanted “real American food.”
We spent the rest of the weekend raking leaves, decorating for Christmas, and simply enjoying time together. We even worked in two games of Settlers of Catan which has become a family favorite. One thing we did not do is go shopping on Black Friday (well, we did go to Dollar General to get Christmas tree lights), but Nate sure was looking forward to the day. He wanted to watch the news and see all the people fighting over high demand gift items.
One of the Christmas decorations we put up is a little sprig of mistletoe on the light fixture in the hall. Vicki heard the boys the other morning when they came downstairs and walked under it. Ben noticed it first and pointed it out to Nate. They talked about the tradition associated with mistletoe then Nate suggested they just hug each other instead. As they were hugging they were proclaiming their brotherly love for each other.
Last week our schedule picked up a bit with basketball practice. Jenna practices on Tuesdays and the boys on Thursdays. The good thing is that the boys are on the same team this year so their practice night is shorter than last year.
If we aren’t in the Christmas spirit by this weekend we’re just not going to be. Yesterday was the annual Christmas Parade in Cross Plains. We set up a hot chocolate and cookie stand near the center of town. It was a much warmer day than last year as I was wearing a short sleeve shirt (though I found my jacket when I moved to a shady spot).
Our parade is really neat for a small town. My running joke (and I’ve gotten more mileage out of it than I should) is that the parade is longer than the town. I’m always amazed at the number of businesses and organizations that are represented in the parade. They come up with some really creative float ideas. I do think Mom said it well when she commented that the happiest man in the parade was Carl Swann who was driving a Willys Jeep he recently purchased. He was smiling all the way down Main Street.
We rounded off our weekend this evening by putting up Mom and Aunt Mar’s tree and other decorations. Now to get our Christmas card picture and our shopping done and we’ll be good to go.
Joe
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
November Rains
The weather is shifting to winter. The rains have come. At least all the beans are in.
Before I forget, I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving.
MOVE OVER OLD MAN. It is a pleasure to watch my kids grow up. Jenna is blooming into a fine young lady right before my eyes, and the boys are knocking on the door of manhood themselves, though their heads would not follow if they were not attached.
The boys and I love to wrestle together. Vicki and Jenna can’t stand to watch. They just don’t have the Y chromosomes for it. We have fun, and so far no one has gone to the ER nor have we broken any furniture. But I can tell my days are numbered. At 11 Ben is right on the edge of that adolescent growth spurt, and he is getting that new strength that comes along with it. Couple that with the fact that I have a very sedentary job and you can see where I’m going.
It use to be that I could put Ben in the “Daddy Trap.” In this particular hold I put one arm behind his shoulders and the other arm under his knees (much like you would carry someone) and then fold him until my hands meet. Once I lock my hands it’s all over for the boy inside. I can still put Nate in the Daddy Trap, but I can’t force Ben to fold any more -- he is just too big for that now. Let him put another 50-60 lbs. on and I won’t be able to pin him down at all.
FUNNY AND TRUE. Ben came home from school with a paper that had been a class assignment that we thought was most interesting. Judging from the staple holes these had been displayed in the classroom. The assignment was to make an acrostic of your name. Here’s Ben’s:
Believes in God
Enjoys lollipops
Needs to study my spelling words
Torchers [tortures] his brother
Obeys his parents
Needs a little help
SHOPPING—YUCK! I know I’ve said this before, but I must reiterate; Jenna has inherited my shopping and fashion temperament. Being a girl she is just a strange animal when it comes to shopping for clothes—she hates to go. Now that you are set for this story...
Every year Vicki and her friends, Michelle and Tracy, go to the Christmas Village in Nashville. It’s one of those traditions that kicks off the holiday season for them. In recent years Jenna and Michelle’s daughter, Maegan, have been invited along. This year was no different and an invitation was extended to Jenna’s friend, Mackenzie.
The Christmas Village was two weeks ago. The interesting part of this story is what happened at one of the stops coming back home. Jenna was taken clothes shopping against her will! From what I hear she was one miserable girl with three women and two teenage friends loving every minute of it. She was a good sport, but Vicki said Maegan and Mackenzie were having a field day picking out clothes Jenna would never wear outside the dressing room. She did come home with a couple of cute outfits and looked really snazzy at church Sunday.
ROLLERSKATING. Of our family Vicki has probably had the most opportunities to go rollerskating. I went about once a year when I was a kid and our kids have simply not had but a couple of opportunities. When one of Ben’s Cub Scout friends invited us to a skating birthday party we decided to all go since the crowd would be small.
Vicki and I did pretty well considering it’s been about ten years since we’ve had skates on our feet. I was just proud that I never fell and could skate without holding on to anything. Ben says he fell about fifty times. I know it was a lot because we joked with him when we asked if he were tired because we always saw him sprawled out on the floor. Being our natural athlete he just got up and kept at it and did really well.
Jenna is a little more cautious, but she was able to shuffle around before the party was over. We were most proud of Nate. He was not looking forward to trying this at all, but we got him on skates and helped him around the edge of the rink two or three times. What impressed us was that after stopping for pizza he put his skates back on and went back out there all by himself. Hopefully we can get back to the rink before we forget what we know.
LIVE MUSEUM. Ben’s teacher, Mrs. Stroud, did a really neat thing with her class. She assigned each of them a person from American history to research. Each student was to write a paper about their person, draw a picture, and come up with a costume so they could dress as their person. Ben’s historical figure was Ulysses S. Grant. Yesterday they put on a live museum for the entire school.
Vicki, Jenna, and I decided to be a little late for school and work to see the performance and I must say the kids did really well. The show started with each of the characters frozen in place on the stage (the kids wore their costumes to play the part of their historical figure). They took turns coming forward to introduce themselves and tell a little about their lives. When the entire class was done they all recited the preamble of the Constitution. They all did a great job. Ben even sang Yankee Doodle for the Kindergarten class (this was because in his research he learned that Grant knew his song). We tried to get Ben to tell that Grant once got a speeding ticket on his horse in Washington, DC, when he was President but Ben didn’t include that in his speech.
Joe
Before I forget, I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving.
MOVE OVER OLD MAN. It is a pleasure to watch my kids grow up. Jenna is blooming into a fine young lady right before my eyes, and the boys are knocking on the door of manhood themselves, though their heads would not follow if they were not attached.
The boys and I love to wrestle together. Vicki and Jenna can’t stand to watch. They just don’t have the Y chromosomes for it. We have fun, and so far no one has gone to the ER nor have we broken any furniture. But I can tell my days are numbered. At 11 Ben is right on the edge of that adolescent growth spurt, and he is getting that new strength that comes along with it. Couple that with the fact that I have a very sedentary job and you can see where I’m going.
It use to be that I could put Ben in the “Daddy Trap.” In this particular hold I put one arm behind his shoulders and the other arm under his knees (much like you would carry someone) and then fold him until my hands meet. Once I lock my hands it’s all over for the boy inside. I can still put Nate in the Daddy Trap, but I can’t force Ben to fold any more -- he is just too big for that now. Let him put another 50-60 lbs. on and I won’t be able to pin him down at all.
FUNNY AND TRUE. Ben came home from school with a paper that had been a class assignment that we thought was most interesting. Judging from the staple holes these had been displayed in the classroom. The assignment was to make an acrostic of your name. Here’s Ben’s:
Believes in God
Enjoys lollipops
Needs to study my spelling words
Torchers [tortures] his brother
Obeys his parents
Needs a little help
SHOPPING—YUCK! I know I’ve said this before, but I must reiterate; Jenna has inherited my shopping and fashion temperament. Being a girl she is just a strange animal when it comes to shopping for clothes—she hates to go. Now that you are set for this story...
Every year Vicki and her friends, Michelle and Tracy, go to the Christmas Village in Nashville. It’s one of those traditions that kicks off the holiday season for them. In recent years Jenna and Michelle’s daughter, Maegan, have been invited along. This year was no different and an invitation was extended to Jenna’s friend, Mackenzie.
The Christmas Village was two weeks ago. The interesting part of this story is what happened at one of the stops coming back home. Jenna was taken clothes shopping against her will! From what I hear she was one miserable girl with three women and two teenage friends loving every minute of it. She was a good sport, but Vicki said Maegan and Mackenzie were having a field day picking out clothes Jenna would never wear outside the dressing room. She did come home with a couple of cute outfits and looked really snazzy at church Sunday.
ROLLERSKATING. Of our family Vicki has probably had the most opportunities to go rollerskating. I went about once a year when I was a kid and our kids have simply not had but a couple of opportunities. When one of Ben’s Cub Scout friends invited us to a skating birthday party we decided to all go since the crowd would be small.
Vicki and I did pretty well considering it’s been about ten years since we’ve had skates on our feet. I was just proud that I never fell and could skate without holding on to anything. Ben says he fell about fifty times. I know it was a lot because we joked with him when we asked if he were tired because we always saw him sprawled out on the floor. Being our natural athlete he just got up and kept at it and did really well.
Jenna is a little more cautious, but she was able to shuffle around before the party was over. We were most proud of Nate. He was not looking forward to trying this at all, but we got him on skates and helped him around the edge of the rink two or three times. What impressed us was that after stopping for pizza he put his skates back on and went back out there all by himself. Hopefully we can get back to the rink before we forget what we know.
LIVE MUSEUM. Ben’s teacher, Mrs. Stroud, did a really neat thing with her class. She assigned each of them a person from American history to research. Each student was to write a paper about their person, draw a picture, and come up with a costume so they could dress as their person. Ben’s historical figure was Ulysses S. Grant. Yesterday they put on a live museum for the entire school.
Vicki, Jenna, and I decided to be a little late for school and work to see the performance and I must say the kids did really well. The show started with each of the characters frozen in place on the stage (the kids wore their costumes to play the part of their historical figure). They took turns coming forward to introduce themselves and tell a little about their lives. When the entire class was done they all recited the preamble of the Constitution. They all did a great job. Ben even sang Yankee Doodle for the Kindergarten class (this was because in his research he learned that Grant knew his song). We tried to get Ben to tell that Grant once got a speeding ticket on his horse in Washington, DC, when he was President but Ben didn’t include that in his speech.
Joe
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Bob and the Witch
As I drive back and forth to work I see farmers busy sowing wheat and cutting beans. The days are short. The shadows are long. It seems nature is ready for rest and renewal.
WE JUST COULDN’T RESIST. The last time I wrote I told about Ben being sort of scared about the Bell Witch before going to bed and leaving some extra lights on in the room. After sending out the last edition we got the bright idea that we should have a “witch” standing in the room to scare the boys when they woke up the next morning. Our witch was my old globe standing atop a stool with a sheet draped over it. We put a wig of long hair on it and topped it all off with Jenna’s witch’s hat and placed it in their room in front of the window.
Ben woke up around midnight and boy was he scared. At first he called for Nate to wake up, but Nate was sleeping too soundly to hear him so he called for Vicki. The first time Vicki went up to Ben she convinced him that it was a joke and to leave it up to spook Nate. This didn’t last too long. Soon Ben was calling for him mom to remove the witch. He wound up laughing about it that evening before we went to Trunk-or-Treat at church, but it sure wasn’t funny that night.
BOB. Since I am confessing to practical jokes I must tell of Bob. Bob is the skeleton I borrowed from East Robertson High School. I will say that we had a lot of fun letting Bob stand in the women’s restroom at the office and leave the rest to your imagination. We later sat Bob on the toilet to scare the lady who cleans our office (we thought he looked constipated). Bob also lounged in a chair while all the kids that Trick-or-Treat on the Square came through our office.
TRUNK-OR-TREAT. We had our fifth annual Trunk-or-Treat at church this year. Our best guess is that we had over 350 kids. We ran out of candy, hot dogs, chili -- everything we had to give away -- in just a little over an hour.
Our family was all scarecrows this year, though I looked more like the farmer since we didn’t have time to put makeup on me. Bob sat in the driver’s seat of my truck with his arm resting on the window. I was amazed at the number of people who walked right by and never even noticed him sitting there.
Joe
WE JUST COULDN’T RESIST. The last time I wrote I told about Ben being sort of scared about the Bell Witch before going to bed and leaving some extra lights on in the room. After sending out the last edition we got the bright idea that we should have a “witch” standing in the room to scare the boys when they woke up the next morning. Our witch was my old globe standing atop a stool with a sheet draped over it. We put a wig of long hair on it and topped it all off with Jenna’s witch’s hat and placed it in their room in front of the window.
Ben woke up around midnight and boy was he scared. At first he called for Nate to wake up, but Nate was sleeping too soundly to hear him so he called for Vicki. The first time Vicki went up to Ben she convinced him that it was a joke and to leave it up to spook Nate. This didn’t last too long. Soon Ben was calling for him mom to remove the witch. He wound up laughing about it that evening before we went to Trunk-or-Treat at church, but it sure wasn’t funny that night.
BOB. Since I am confessing to practical jokes I must tell of Bob. Bob is the skeleton I borrowed from East Robertson High School. I will say that we had a lot of fun letting Bob stand in the women’s restroom at the office and leave the rest to your imagination. We later sat Bob on the toilet to scare the lady who cleans our office (we thought he looked constipated). Bob also lounged in a chair while all the kids that Trick-or-Treat on the Square came through our office.
TRUNK-OR-TREAT. We had our fifth annual Trunk-or-Treat at church this year. Our best guess is that we had over 350 kids. We ran out of candy, hot dogs, chili -- everything we had to give away -- in just a little over an hour.
Our family was all scarecrows this year, though I looked more like the farmer since we didn’t have time to put makeup on me. Bob sat in the driver’s seat of my truck with his arm resting on the window. I was amazed at the number of people who walked right by and never even noticed him sitting there.
Joe
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Catching Up
I love this time of year! The weather is pleasant and the trees are colorful. (Well, the weather changed Thursday with colder temps and .75” of rain.) It seems such a shame to me that the trees only get to show their colorful side for just a few weeks of the year.
I am glad to say mowing season is over. Once the trees drop their leaves we’ll be able to wind up our yard work for the year. We spent some time raking Saturday of last weekend, but you can’t tell it now.
I MUST BRAG. With the return to school after fall break comes report cards. All three of our kids do well, but when we struggle so much to study spelling words or to get other things in their heads I always hold my breath to when it comes time to get their report cards.
I am proud to report that this time all three of our kids made straight As! Now if we can just get through the next grading period and make it to Christmas break.
Jenna’s school participates in the Josten’s Renaissance program which rewards students for good grades, good behavior, and good attendance. Thursday night we went to a ceremony where students who met the requirements for Renaissance last spring semester were recognized. Approximately half of the students at East Robertson met these requirements and get special perks in school life this semester (e.g. they have a special lunch at school today -- food brought in from outside). Jenna was happy to have her name drawn among all the 8th graders for the $15 prize.
WINE ON CAMPUS? While we arrived at the Renaissance ceremony Ben and I needed to find the restrooms. The only ones open were in the high school wing of the building. As we were walking down the hall he was expressing his fears about going to school there next year as a 6th grader (and Nate is not looking forward to being the only one from the family left at the elementary school). This wasn’t my experience because East Robertson was a K-12 school the whole time I went there, but I understand that everything looks big and scary to him. He was excited to see a vending machine in the hallway though.
Naturally, when we got back to the gym Nate, who didn’t need to go to the restroom the first time, needed to go. Since Ben knew the way we sent the boys off. The boys came back with eyes as big as saucers and said, “They’re selling cherry wine!” We thought this was very odd, but a few moments later the words “vending machine” came out.
Turns out they had seen Cheerwine which is a cherry flavored soft drink (and I think somewhat new to our market) -- a harmless drink with an unfortunate name for the middle of the Bible Belt.
CUB AND FAMILY. We went to the Cub and Family campout at Boxwell Reservation this weekend. It was our original intention for all of us to camp out Friday night and that the boys and I would stay on for Saturday night while Vicki and Jenna would head on home to be at church today. Then the cold, rainy weather moved in Thursday and no one was too excited about camping out in the wake of that so we didn’t do Friday night.
We did get up early yesterday to take part in the day’s activities. They had several craft and activity stations set up around the campground that we participated in. The most popular were the BB gun and archery ranges, of course. They also had had some really neat air bottle rockets set up. The rockets were 2 liter soft drink bottles. These were put on a nozzle on one end of a PVC pipe assembly. The other end had a tire stem in it. The fuel for the rocket was simply air from a bicycle pump. The bottles would go quite high.
We did brave the elements last night. My tent was filled with two boys, two bears, and me. My boys were worn out from playing all day and were out by 9:30. It got pretty cool as we woke to a heavy frost and heavy fog from Old Hickory Lake. Despite our discomfort I took two sad boys home today as they didn’t want the good times to end (or to go back to school tomorrow).
GHOST STORIES. It was about 8:00 this evening when Ben started calling for Nate to come upstairs. Nate didn’t want to go upstairs and told Ben as much. Ben kept insisting and with Nate ignoring him I jumped in because it was getting a bit annoying. In self-defense Ben said, “But you told us to get ready for bed.”
Neither Vicki nor I had told the boys to go to bed that early (9:00 is the usual time) so we defended Nate saying, “You can go to bed now if you wish, but he doesn’t have to go now if he doesn’t want to. We will send him up when it’s his bedtime”
We could tell this wasn’t the answer he wanted so we asked why he wanted Nate to come upstairs right then. When Ben dodged this question it finally hit Vicki that we had been watching some shows on Tennessee ghost stories on PBS and Ben was thinking about the Bell Witch. He was a little scared that Old Kate would pay him a visit when he was up there by himself. I’m pretty sure he did not stand in front of the mirror after turning out the light and say, “I hate the Bell Witch,” three times which, as the current form of the legend has it, will summon the spirit. I noticed the boys are sleeping with several lights on tonight.
Joe
I am glad to say mowing season is over. Once the trees drop their leaves we’ll be able to wind up our yard work for the year. We spent some time raking Saturday of last weekend, but you can’t tell it now.
I MUST BRAG. With the return to school after fall break comes report cards. All three of our kids do well, but when we struggle so much to study spelling words or to get other things in their heads I always hold my breath to when it comes time to get their report cards.
I am proud to report that this time all three of our kids made straight As! Now if we can just get through the next grading period and make it to Christmas break.
Jenna’s school participates in the Josten’s Renaissance program which rewards students for good grades, good behavior, and good attendance. Thursday night we went to a ceremony where students who met the requirements for Renaissance last spring semester were recognized. Approximately half of the students at East Robertson met these requirements and get special perks in school life this semester (e.g. they have a special lunch at school today -- food brought in from outside). Jenna was happy to have her name drawn among all the 8th graders for the $15 prize.
WINE ON CAMPUS? While we arrived at the Renaissance ceremony Ben and I needed to find the restrooms. The only ones open were in the high school wing of the building. As we were walking down the hall he was expressing his fears about going to school there next year as a 6th grader (and Nate is not looking forward to being the only one from the family left at the elementary school). This wasn’t my experience because East Robertson was a K-12 school the whole time I went there, but I understand that everything looks big and scary to him. He was excited to see a vending machine in the hallway though.
Naturally, when we got back to the gym Nate, who didn’t need to go to the restroom the first time, needed to go. Since Ben knew the way we sent the boys off. The boys came back with eyes as big as saucers and said, “They’re selling cherry wine!” We thought this was very odd, but a few moments later the words “vending machine” came out.
Turns out they had seen Cheerwine which is a cherry flavored soft drink (and I think somewhat new to our market) -- a harmless drink with an unfortunate name for the middle of the Bible Belt.
CUB AND FAMILY. We went to the Cub and Family campout at Boxwell Reservation this weekend. It was our original intention for all of us to camp out Friday night and that the boys and I would stay on for Saturday night while Vicki and Jenna would head on home to be at church today. Then the cold, rainy weather moved in Thursday and no one was too excited about camping out in the wake of that so we didn’t do Friday night.
We did get up early yesterday to take part in the day’s activities. They had several craft and activity stations set up around the campground that we participated in. The most popular were the BB gun and archery ranges, of course. They also had had some really neat air bottle rockets set up. The rockets were 2 liter soft drink bottles. These were put on a nozzle on one end of a PVC pipe assembly. The other end had a tire stem in it. The fuel for the rocket was simply air from a bicycle pump. The bottles would go quite high.
We did brave the elements last night. My tent was filled with two boys, two bears, and me. My boys were worn out from playing all day and were out by 9:30. It got pretty cool as we woke to a heavy frost and heavy fog from Old Hickory Lake. Despite our discomfort I took two sad boys home today as they didn’t want the good times to end (or to go back to school tomorrow).
GHOST STORIES. It was about 8:00 this evening when Ben started calling for Nate to come upstairs. Nate didn’t want to go upstairs and told Ben as much. Ben kept insisting and with Nate ignoring him I jumped in because it was getting a bit annoying. In self-defense Ben said, “But you told us to get ready for bed.”
Neither Vicki nor I had told the boys to go to bed that early (9:00 is the usual time) so we defended Nate saying, “You can go to bed now if you wish, but he doesn’t have to go now if he doesn’t want to. We will send him up when it’s his bedtime”
We could tell this wasn’t the answer he wanted so we asked why he wanted Nate to come upstairs right then. When Ben dodged this question it finally hit Vicki that we had been watching some shows on Tennessee ghost stories on PBS and Ben was thinking about the Bell Witch. He was a little scared that Old Kate would pay him a visit when he was up there by himself. I’m pretty sure he did not stand in front of the mirror after turning out the light and say, “I hate the Bell Witch,” three times which, as the current form of the legend has it, will summon the spirit. I noticed the boys are sleeping with several lights on tonight.
Joe
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Getting Away
Wow! It’s already Wednesday.
As I mentioned last time, we took a short trip for the first half of our fall break. It was very relaxing and we enjoyed perfect weather.
LAND BETWEEN THE LAKES (LBL). If you've never heard of it LBL is a national recreation area located between Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley. The Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers run side by side for many miles before joining the Ohio. The area between the rivers was home to many farms and mining industry back in the 1800s, but area never really recovered from the Civil War. When TVA came along and built Kentucky Dam and Barkley Dam this area was impounded for public use.
Vicki and I took a trip to LBL in April 2002, leaving Jenna and Ben with Pauline when she was living in Camden. We decided this was a great time to come back with the kids so we found a campground near Eddyville, Kentucky, that rents cabins and booked three nights.
ARE WE THERE YET? One thing different about this trip is that after two hours of driving we were there. This really threw the kids off because they are used to getting in the van and hunkering down for a drive that will last several hours as our goal is to get to our destination as quickly as possible making only the necessary stops. This time we felt more at ease to make side stops along the way.
We left Sunday morning (the 9th), having slept in enough to recover from the previous evening's concert. We ate lunch a Barkley Lodge (a Kentucky state park on the east side of LBL) where we enjoyed a really nice buffet. After lunch we spent some time exploring the lodge and then playing ping pong in the game room before leaving.
It was a short drive from Barkley Lodge to LBL's Golden Pond visitor center where we looked at exhibits on LBL's history and picked up information about activities in the area.
Our next stop was the Nature Center where we got to see rescued animals indigenous to this area that can no longer live in the wild. Some of these animals have been wounded too badly to live on their own while others were orphans who were picked up by people at an early age and never learned to live in the wild. We got to see the snakes at feeding time and several of the birds as they were put away for the night.
After the Nature Center we headed over to the Elk and Bison Prairie. This is a large pasture with a paved driving trail where you might catch a glimpse of the herds (about 40 or so of each animal). We drove the 3.5 mile loop twice and only caught one, fleeting glimpse of and elk. Then, just as we were about to drive out the gate we saw about half a dozen elk grazing near the road. They are big, impressive animals.
TRAINS, TRAINS, TRAINS. Back in July when I wrote about the Threshermen's Show I told of how much the boys enjoyed spending time with Mr. Wally Watts and his model steam engines. We've seen him there for several years and each time he's handed me his card and invited me to bring the boys up to see his model railroad. Since he lives near LBL we decided to take him up on his offer and Monday (the 10th) was devoted entirely to trains. He was delighted when I called.
This train layout is a joint venture between Mr. Watts and a friend of his. The O-scale layout fills the 30x60 foot basement of his friend's house. (O-scale is the size of the Lionel trains we normally associate with the train set that runs around a Christmas tree.) We were blown away by the sheer size of the track. The layout features three switching yards and has three main lines that run the perimeter of the basement. Everything is built on tables at about four feet high for easy viewing and operation. We estimated the layout has at least 1000 feet of track with hundreds of rail cars and dozens of locomotives.
To say that Ben and Nate were in heaven would be an understatement. Mr. Watts was so good with the boys -- basically there were three kids running the trains. He let them run any train they wanted to run and could tell them a lot about how the prototype locomotive worked and what it did in real life. Many of the trains made sounds as they chugged along and had prerecorded conductor calls when they stopped.
We took a break for lunch and also went to see some real trains switching in a local rail yard along with other points of interest in Mr. Watts' hometown. All in all, it was a very enjoyable day and we topped it off by having fun playing UNO Spin and Spoons when we got back to our cabin.
PATTI’S 1880s SETTLEMENT. Tuesday (the 11th) was our lazy day. We got up late. After breakfast we took the boys down to the dock so they could fish. No luck. Even the other fellow fishing off the dock wasn’t getting a nibble. I thought I was going to have to fish Ben out of the lake at one point when he stumbled near the edge of the dock.
When the boys got bored we headed up to Grand Rivers where we stopped to look at Kentucky Dam before eating lunch at Patti’s 1880s Settlement. Their 2” thick pork chops were really good! When lunch was over we played a game of miniature golf and strolled around all the shops before heading back to the cabin for another fun filled evening of cards and games. This time we introduced Nate to The Settlers of Catan which he says is his favorite game now.
HEADING HOME. We packed and headed out last Wednesday morning so we could do a couple of other things before leaving the area. The top of the agenda was to take in a planetarium show back at the visitor’s center. I’ve seen several planetarium shows over the years, but never one that used the facility to just show me what to see in the current night sky. This show did just that.
Our final stop was at the Homeplace which is a recreated farm from the 1850s. What you see at the Homeplace depends what time of year you visit as the interpreters are doing what an actual farm family of that time would be doing at any given time of year. The Homeplace is one of the most well done living museums of this type we’ve ever visited.
We were back in 2011 and back home before dark. It was a short trip but very fun and relaxing. Best of all, we had fun together.
Joe
As I mentioned last time, we took a short trip for the first half of our fall break. It was very relaxing and we enjoyed perfect weather.
LAND BETWEEN THE LAKES (LBL). If you've never heard of it LBL is a national recreation area located between Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley. The Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers run side by side for many miles before joining the Ohio. The area between the rivers was home to many farms and mining industry back in the 1800s, but area never really recovered from the Civil War. When TVA came along and built Kentucky Dam and Barkley Dam this area was impounded for public use.
Vicki and I took a trip to LBL in April 2002, leaving Jenna and Ben with Pauline when she was living in Camden. We decided this was a great time to come back with the kids so we found a campground near Eddyville, Kentucky, that rents cabins and booked three nights.
ARE WE THERE YET? One thing different about this trip is that after two hours of driving we were there. This really threw the kids off because they are used to getting in the van and hunkering down for a drive that will last several hours as our goal is to get to our destination as quickly as possible making only the necessary stops. This time we felt more at ease to make side stops along the way.
We left Sunday morning (the 9th), having slept in enough to recover from the previous evening's concert. We ate lunch a Barkley Lodge (a Kentucky state park on the east side of LBL) where we enjoyed a really nice buffet. After lunch we spent some time exploring the lodge and then playing ping pong in the game room before leaving.
It was a short drive from Barkley Lodge to LBL's Golden Pond visitor center where we looked at exhibits on LBL's history and picked up information about activities in the area.
Our next stop was the Nature Center where we got to see rescued animals indigenous to this area that can no longer live in the wild. Some of these animals have been wounded too badly to live on their own while others were orphans who were picked up by people at an early age and never learned to live in the wild. We got to see the snakes at feeding time and several of the birds as they were put away for the night.
After the Nature Center we headed over to the Elk and Bison Prairie. This is a large pasture with a paved driving trail where you might catch a glimpse of the herds (about 40 or so of each animal). We drove the 3.5 mile loop twice and only caught one, fleeting glimpse of and elk. Then, just as we were about to drive out the gate we saw about half a dozen elk grazing near the road. They are big, impressive animals.
TRAINS, TRAINS, TRAINS. Back in July when I wrote about the Threshermen's Show I told of how much the boys enjoyed spending time with Mr. Wally Watts and his model steam engines. We've seen him there for several years and each time he's handed me his card and invited me to bring the boys up to see his model railroad. Since he lives near LBL we decided to take him up on his offer and Monday (the 10th) was devoted entirely to trains. He was delighted when I called.
This train layout is a joint venture between Mr. Watts and a friend of his. The O-scale layout fills the 30x60 foot basement of his friend's house. (O-scale is the size of the Lionel trains we normally associate with the train set that runs around a Christmas tree.) We were blown away by the sheer size of the track. The layout features three switching yards and has three main lines that run the perimeter of the basement. Everything is built on tables at about four feet high for easy viewing and operation. We estimated the layout has at least 1000 feet of track with hundreds of rail cars and dozens of locomotives.
To say that Ben and Nate were in heaven would be an understatement. Mr. Watts was so good with the boys -- basically there were three kids running the trains. He let them run any train they wanted to run and could tell them a lot about how the prototype locomotive worked and what it did in real life. Many of the trains made sounds as they chugged along and had prerecorded conductor calls when they stopped.
We took a break for lunch and also went to see some real trains switching in a local rail yard along with other points of interest in Mr. Watts' hometown. All in all, it was a very enjoyable day and we topped it off by having fun playing UNO Spin and Spoons when we got back to our cabin.
PATTI’S 1880s SETTLEMENT. Tuesday (the 11th) was our lazy day. We got up late. After breakfast we took the boys down to the dock so they could fish. No luck. Even the other fellow fishing off the dock wasn’t getting a nibble. I thought I was going to have to fish Ben out of the lake at one point when he stumbled near the edge of the dock.
When the boys got bored we headed up to Grand Rivers where we stopped to look at Kentucky Dam before eating lunch at Patti’s 1880s Settlement. Their 2” thick pork chops were really good! When lunch was over we played a game of miniature golf and strolled around all the shops before heading back to the cabin for another fun filled evening of cards and games. This time we introduced Nate to The Settlers of Catan which he says is his favorite game now.
HEADING HOME. We packed and headed out last Wednesday morning so we could do a couple of other things before leaving the area. The top of the agenda was to take in a planetarium show back at the visitor’s center. I’ve seen several planetarium shows over the years, but never one that used the facility to just show me what to see in the current night sky. This show did just that.
Our final stop was at the Homeplace which is a recreated farm from the 1850s. What you see at the Homeplace depends what time of year you visit as the interpreters are doing what an actual farm family of that time would be doing at any given time of year. The Homeplace is one of the most well done living museums of this type we’ve ever visited.
We were back in 2011 and back home before dark. It was a short trip but very fun and relaxing. Best of all, we had fun together.
Joe
Friday, October 14, 2011
One Crazy Week
With fall comes tobacco firing season and the smell of smoke fills the air. The Pinsons have shelled Mom's corn now and I'm sure they are about to turn their attention to soybeans pretty soon.
This edition of our newsletter is later than I meant for it to be. My intentions were to send this out last Saturday but that didn't happen. My whole routine was out of whack because I had to commute to Murfreesboro every day for training on new software and a conference, and we got so busy over the weekend that I never had time to sit down and write anything. Then we left home for a short vacation for fall break. Given how all this played out I'll write about last week now (backdating this edition) and pick up with our trip next time.
COURAGEOUS. As you have probably heard the folks who produced Facing the Giants and Fireproof released a new film, Courageous. A large group of us from church went to see it a week ago Saturday night (the 1st). I think this film was their best yet. The point of the movie is to call men to be real men in their roles as husbands and fathers. I highly recommend getting to the theater to see it if you haven't done so yet.
NEW REFRIGERATOR. Probably the biggest news of the week is that we have a new fridge. I had noticed a couple of mornings that my orange juice didn't seem as cold as it should be, but when I took a second sip I decided my mind was playing tricks on me. Then one morning Vicki asked me if I thought things from the fridge weren't as cold as normal. She had been like me and thought her mind was playing tricks on her too. The soupy ice cream proved our suspicions were correct.
We decided it was best to replace our 16 year old fridge rather than repair it. Delivery turned out to be an unpleasant experience and by the time it got here almost all of our food had spoiled. The rest of the details about this saga are best forgotten.
STOMACH VIRUS. Mom and Aunt Mar have been two sick women. There's a stomach virus going around and they caught it. Aunt Mar was so sick we took her to the ER by ambulance late Wednesday night (the 5th). Mom came down with it by Friday. They are feeling better now, though it's taking Aunt Mar longer to recover than Mom. (Mom said today she knew she was over it because she felt like having dessert.)
SCHOOL PICTURES. We all remember taking the school mug shots. The boys came home with their proofs last week. Nate's picture looks really good. He had a great smile and his hair was behaving. A parent can't ask for more.
Ben, on the other hand, knew his picture was bad. He sheepishly handed it to Vicki telling her it wasn’t good. She quizzed him about having a goofy smile on his face before taking a look.
Ben had a great smile on his face, but his class had been allowed to have recess before sitting for their pictures. He was ringing wet with sweat and his hair is plastered to his head. What was funny was that he told us Mrs. Stroud had told all the boys to fan themselves. Ben obviously needed a towel to dry off at a minimum (a shower would have been better). So, this year’s annual will have a nice picture of a sweat drenched Benton. We are not ordering his pictures, unlike Pauline who ordered pictures of her sweat drenched boy many years ago.
BIRTHDAY DINNER. Friday evening we were invited out to dinner. Luke, one of Nate’s friends from church, was celebrating his birthday so he invited Nate over to spend the night. His mom decided to have us over for supper. Hey, when you’re used to feeding a family of eight what’s another five people! We had a lot of fun just visiting and enjoying each other’s company which I think is one of the most important things we can do in life.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY FLOYD POPE. Floyd Pope Hancock is Aunt Mar's first cousin. His family had a really nice party to celebrate his 90th birthday on Saturday. Mom and Aunt Mar we're still under the weather but the rest of us took in the festivities.
The party was held outside at his home and the weather was perfect. I had never been back to Pope and Evelyn's house before so I was looking forward to seeing it. Their place is way back on their farm and offers an idyllic setting for country living. The food was great and we all had a good time catching up with relatives we don't see very much.
ROCKIN' OUT. We decided on the spur of the moment Saturday morning to go to a concert scheduled for that evening. Matt Maher, a Christian music artist, was beginning his The Love In Between tour in Hendersonville. Laura Story is touring with him. The tickets were at a good price so we loaded up and enjoyed the music.
Nate was tired from spending the night with his friend so he slept through about a half hour of the music. At one point he was in a deep sleep snuggled up next to Vicki. The music was loud but it wasn't phasing him at all, however, when the song was over and the audience began to clap his whole body shook and he started clapping his hands.
I think the music made a big impression on the boys. We've heard them singing several songs from the concert since. I once heard Ben singing Indescribable (Laura Story). He was horribly off key, but full of gusto. Then he and Nate were singing You're Grace Is Enough (Matt Maher) which somehow segued into Pat Benatars's Hit Me With Your Best Shot. We haven't figured out where that came from, but it was funny at the time.
Joe
This edition of our newsletter is later than I meant for it to be. My intentions were to send this out last Saturday but that didn't happen. My whole routine was out of whack because I had to commute to Murfreesboro every day for training on new software and a conference, and we got so busy over the weekend that I never had time to sit down and write anything. Then we left home for a short vacation for fall break. Given how all this played out I'll write about last week now (backdating this edition) and pick up with our trip next time.
COURAGEOUS. As you have probably heard the folks who produced Facing the Giants and Fireproof released a new film, Courageous. A large group of us from church went to see it a week ago Saturday night (the 1st). I think this film was their best yet. The point of the movie is to call men to be real men in their roles as husbands and fathers. I highly recommend getting to the theater to see it if you haven't done so yet.
NEW REFRIGERATOR. Probably the biggest news of the week is that we have a new fridge. I had noticed a couple of mornings that my orange juice didn't seem as cold as it should be, but when I took a second sip I decided my mind was playing tricks on me. Then one morning Vicki asked me if I thought things from the fridge weren't as cold as normal. She had been like me and thought her mind was playing tricks on her too. The soupy ice cream proved our suspicions were correct.
We decided it was best to replace our 16 year old fridge rather than repair it. Delivery turned out to be an unpleasant experience and by the time it got here almost all of our food had spoiled. The rest of the details about this saga are best forgotten.
STOMACH VIRUS. Mom and Aunt Mar have been two sick women. There's a stomach virus going around and they caught it. Aunt Mar was so sick we took her to the ER by ambulance late Wednesday night (the 5th). Mom came down with it by Friday. They are feeling better now, though it's taking Aunt Mar longer to recover than Mom. (Mom said today she knew she was over it because she felt like having dessert.)
SCHOOL PICTURES. We all remember taking the school mug shots. The boys came home with their proofs last week. Nate's picture looks really good. He had a great smile and his hair was behaving. A parent can't ask for more.
Ben, on the other hand, knew his picture was bad. He sheepishly handed it to Vicki telling her it wasn’t good. She quizzed him about having a goofy smile on his face before taking a look.
Ben had a great smile on his face, but his class had been allowed to have recess before sitting for their pictures. He was ringing wet with sweat and his hair is plastered to his head. What was funny was that he told us Mrs. Stroud had told all the boys to fan themselves. Ben obviously needed a towel to dry off at a minimum (a shower would have been better). So, this year’s annual will have a nice picture of a sweat drenched Benton. We are not ordering his pictures, unlike Pauline who ordered pictures of her sweat drenched boy many years ago.
BIRTHDAY DINNER. Friday evening we were invited out to dinner. Luke, one of Nate’s friends from church, was celebrating his birthday so he invited Nate over to spend the night. His mom decided to have us over for supper. Hey, when you’re used to feeding a family of eight what’s another five people! We had a lot of fun just visiting and enjoying each other’s company which I think is one of the most important things we can do in life.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY FLOYD POPE. Floyd Pope Hancock is Aunt Mar's first cousin. His family had a really nice party to celebrate his 90th birthday on Saturday. Mom and Aunt Mar we're still under the weather but the rest of us took in the festivities.
The party was held outside at his home and the weather was perfect. I had never been back to Pope and Evelyn's house before so I was looking forward to seeing it. Their place is way back on their farm and offers an idyllic setting for country living. The food was great and we all had a good time catching up with relatives we don't see very much.
ROCKIN' OUT. We decided on the spur of the moment Saturday morning to go to a concert scheduled for that evening. Matt Maher, a Christian music artist, was beginning his The Love In Between tour in Hendersonville. Laura Story is touring with him. The tickets were at a good price so we loaded up and enjoyed the music.
Nate was tired from spending the night with his friend so he slept through about a half hour of the music. At one point he was in a deep sleep snuggled up next to Vicki. The music was loud but it wasn't phasing him at all, however, when the song was over and the audience began to clap his whole body shook and he started clapping his hands.
I think the music made a big impression on the boys. We've heard them singing several songs from the concert since. I once heard Ben singing Indescribable (Laura Story). He was horribly off key, but full of gusto. Then he and Nate were singing You're Grace Is Enough (Matt Maher) which somehow segued into Pat Benatars's Hit Me With Your Best Shot. We haven't figured out where that came from, but it was funny at the time.
Joe
Friday, September 30, 2011
Imagination and Inspiration
I think Bill Chatman has finished cutting tobacco now. We also see a lot of farm equipment on the road as farmers gather their corn. Fall has truly arrived!
IMAGINATION. So the other night we sit down to eat supper when Ben takes a swig of his drink and proclaims that he loves Mountain Dew (a rare treat as he usually wants water at supper). Vicki looks at him and says, "You're drinking Diet Dr. Pepper." To which Ben indignantly replies, "I know. I'm pretending!"
WALNUTS. The kids catch the school bus in the mornings in front of Kenny and Lori's house. While waiting for the bus the boys have had a lot of fun lining walnuts across one lane the road so cars will hit them. They've put so many out there that there's a dark line of walnut stain on the pavement. Each time a car hits a walnut they jump up and down and cheer. Mrs. Alice makes their day when she takes special aim to take out as many walnuts as she can with the bus. I'll have to say that the bus makes a pretty impressive crunch when this happens.
GOODBYE SYLVESTER. Back in the summer we found three stray cats in the corn field behind Aunt Mar's house -- two kittens and a momma cat which, on closer inspection turned out to be a tomcat.
Over the months we've all come to enjoy the cats, especially Aunt Mar. She loves watching them from her chair and gets upset if Mom doesn't move fast enough to feed them. Almost every day we talked to them they were telling us some cute thing the kittens had done.
The most outgoing and tamest kitten we named Sylvester since it was white with black spots. Sadly, I found his body in the ditch as I was mowing the side of the road today. The other kitten is still around, but it's not the same since it rarely let's any one get near it.
INSPIRATION. When we found Aunt Mar's poems we knew we hadn't found all of them because we remembered most were in a couple of 6x9 writing tablets. So, we looked around a little more and finally turned them up. There's 60 or so poems dating from the mid 1980s on into the early 1990s. I don't think she wrote much, if any, outside of this time.
I asked Aunt Mar what inspired her to write her poems. She said that was about the time Aunt Myrtle's health began the fail and she could no longer live at home. Aunt Mar said she would get so sad when she went to visit Aunt Myrtle that writing the poems helped her deal with her feelings when she was up late at night. I was also away at college during this time and after Mom had gone to bed Aunt Mar had plenty of time to think, write, read the Bible, and pray.
(I've mentioned Aunt Myrtle a time or two before. She was actually my cousin. In this case "aunt" is an affectionate title. She was the one who taught me to jump rope. I was 7 at the time and she was 77.)
I plan to share more of Aunt Mar's poems in the future, but this time I want to share one that Jenna wrote last Sunday as she's been inspired by Aunt Mar's writings. She came in, went straight to her room, and 10 minutes later came out with her poem.
IMAGINATION. So the other night we sit down to eat supper when Ben takes a swig of his drink and proclaims that he loves Mountain Dew (a rare treat as he usually wants water at supper). Vicki looks at him and says, "You're drinking Diet Dr. Pepper." To which Ben indignantly replies, "I know. I'm pretending!"
WALNUTS. The kids catch the school bus in the mornings in front of Kenny and Lori's house. While waiting for the bus the boys have had a lot of fun lining walnuts across one lane the road so cars will hit them. They've put so many out there that there's a dark line of walnut stain on the pavement. Each time a car hits a walnut they jump up and down and cheer. Mrs. Alice makes their day when she takes special aim to take out as many walnuts as she can with the bus. I'll have to say that the bus makes a pretty impressive crunch when this happens.
GOODBYE SYLVESTER. Back in the summer we found three stray cats in the corn field behind Aunt Mar's house -- two kittens and a momma cat which, on closer inspection turned out to be a tomcat.
Over the months we've all come to enjoy the cats, especially Aunt Mar. She loves watching them from her chair and gets upset if Mom doesn't move fast enough to feed them. Almost every day we talked to them they were telling us some cute thing the kittens had done.
The most outgoing and tamest kitten we named Sylvester since it was white with black spots. Sadly, I found his body in the ditch as I was mowing the side of the road today. The other kitten is still around, but it's not the same since it rarely let's any one get near it.
INSPIRATION. When we found Aunt Mar's poems we knew we hadn't found all of them because we remembered most were in a couple of 6x9 writing tablets. So, we looked around a little more and finally turned them up. There's 60 or so poems dating from the mid 1980s on into the early 1990s. I don't think she wrote much, if any, outside of this time.
I asked Aunt Mar what inspired her to write her poems. She said that was about the time Aunt Myrtle's health began the fail and she could no longer live at home. Aunt Mar said she would get so sad when she went to visit Aunt Myrtle that writing the poems helped her deal with her feelings when she was up late at night. I was also away at college during this time and after Mom had gone to bed Aunt Mar had plenty of time to think, write, read the Bible, and pray.
(I've mentioned Aunt Myrtle a time or two before. She was actually my cousin. In this case "aunt" is an affectionate title. She was the one who taught me to jump rope. I was 7 at the time and she was 77.)
I plan to share more of Aunt Mar's poems in the future, but this time I want to share one that Jenna wrote last Sunday as she's been inspired by Aunt Mar's writings. She came in, went straight to her room, and 10 minutes later came out with her poem.
O Father, where are thee?Joe
Behind the door or behind the tree?
O Father, I need thee.
Don't you hear my cries and pleas?
O Father, be near me.
Please don't turn away from me.
O Father, I thank thee.
Thank you for finally answering me.
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Tinges of Fall Color
The mornings are cool. The days are pleasant. And I think I see the barest tinge of color in the trees.
MISSION CROSS PLAINS. The youth group at our church is coordinating with other churches in Cross Plains to get people involved in local missions and to help those around us who are in need. They are calling the project Mission CP.
While this isn't exactly local, last week Vicki and Jenna went with a group of folks to serve in a ministry in Nashville. Nashville has its share of homeless people and families. The Bridge Ministry (http://www.bridgeministry.org/), which has been going for eight years now, has started up that meets on Tuesday nights under the Jefferson Street Bridge on the north side of downtown. Volunteers feed all the people who come (usually 200-250) a warm meal, give away free clothes and food, and hold a worship service.
Both of them came back talking about how much we have compared to many people and how special the experience was. Jenna went on to say the experience reminded her a lot of what she saw in New Orleans. You know, it is very important that we get out of our regular community and rub shoulders with others frequently as it is so easy to be comfortable with where we are. I had a schedule conflict preventing me from going that evening, but I hope I can get there soon.
DO YOU KNOW HOW TO MAKE PANCAKES? I used to make pancakes every Saturday morning. As the kids got older that tradition fell by the wayside, but not before passing the spatula off to Ben. He's quite the pancake chef now.
The other night we were having breakfast for supper and Ben was at the griddle. As he and Vicki talked he asked, "Do you know how to make pancakes, Mom?"
Vicki looked at him and said, "Who do you think taught your dad?"
You could just see the wheels turning in his head as he made the connections. Then a smile spread across his face as understanding dawned.
When he asked me about it I said, "Well, it certainly wasn't from G'Anne." (Sorry Mom, but let's face it, you are about as comfortable in a kitchen as I am.)
MY HERO, MY MOM. Fifth Grade, in Robertson County at least, does a lot of creative writing. Ben came home with an assignment to write an essay about his hero. The essay had to meet several criteria in content and length.
What made this noteworthy was that Ben chose Vicki as his hero for the paper. He came up with several very nice things to say about her which made it a pleasure for me to help him with the assignment.
NESTING BIRD. I've mentioned our spider a couple of times before. She's gone now. Only her two web sacks remain. We're keeping an eye on them for signs of life.
Now we have a bird nesting in the pear tree outside our kitchen window. She's about 12-15 feet up in the air so we can't see in the nest, but we have a great view of her as she sits there. Hopefully we'll see her chicks after the hatch.
POETRY BY AUNT MAR. Here are a couple more poems from Aunt Mar.
MISSION CROSS PLAINS. The youth group at our church is coordinating with other churches in Cross Plains to get people involved in local missions and to help those around us who are in need. They are calling the project Mission CP.
While this isn't exactly local, last week Vicki and Jenna went with a group of folks to serve in a ministry in Nashville. Nashville has its share of homeless people and families. The Bridge Ministry (http://www.bridgeministry.org/), which has been going for eight years now, has started up that meets on Tuesday nights under the Jefferson Street Bridge on the north side of downtown. Volunteers feed all the people who come (usually 200-250) a warm meal, give away free clothes and food, and hold a worship service.
Both of them came back talking about how much we have compared to many people and how special the experience was. Jenna went on to say the experience reminded her a lot of what she saw in New Orleans. You know, it is very important that we get out of our regular community and rub shoulders with others frequently as it is so easy to be comfortable with where we are. I had a schedule conflict preventing me from going that evening, but I hope I can get there soon.
DO YOU KNOW HOW TO MAKE PANCAKES? I used to make pancakes every Saturday morning. As the kids got older that tradition fell by the wayside, but not before passing the spatula off to Ben. He's quite the pancake chef now.
The other night we were having breakfast for supper and Ben was at the griddle. As he and Vicki talked he asked, "Do you know how to make pancakes, Mom?"
Vicki looked at him and said, "Who do you think taught your dad?"
You could just see the wheels turning in his head as he made the connections. Then a smile spread across his face as understanding dawned.
When he asked me about it I said, "Well, it certainly wasn't from G'Anne." (Sorry Mom, but let's face it, you are about as comfortable in a kitchen as I am.)
MY HERO, MY MOM. Fifth Grade, in Robertson County at least, does a lot of creative writing. Ben came home with an assignment to write an essay about his hero. The essay had to meet several criteria in content and length.
What made this noteworthy was that Ben chose Vicki as his hero for the paper. He came up with several very nice things to say about her which made it a pleasure for me to help him with the assignment.
NESTING BIRD. I've mentioned our spider a couple of times before. She's gone now. Only her two web sacks remain. We're keeping an eye on them for signs of life.
Now we have a bird nesting in the pear tree outside our kitchen window. She's about 12-15 feet up in the air so we can't see in the nest, but we have a great view of her as she sits there. Hopefully we'll see her chicks after the hatch.
POETRY BY AUNT MAR. Here are a couple more poems from Aunt Mar.
"Be not afraid."This next one was dated "February 9th, 1986.”
But I fear.
"Be of good cheer."
Sometimes I cry.
My talents, God gave me, I must have hidden.
So little I have accomplished,
Much to me forbidden.
I care,
I pray.
God hears in his own way.
The earth is all covered in a blanket of white,Joe
Sprinkled with diamonds illuminating the night.
Cold outside, quiet, still.
Dogs in their houses all warm, until
A noise is made and out they come.
Barking and charging, ready to run.
The oaks are standing looking bare and cold.
Wonder if they are a story untold...
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Fabulous Fall Weather
We have enjoyed some of the most pleasant weather! For the most part it's been just right -- Not too hot, not too cold, and not too much rain. Bill Chatman has begun cutting tobacco and a lot of farmers are cutting their corn.
CONGRATULATIONS! We went to a wedding last weekend. Our cousin, Greg Keith, married his fiancé, Cathy Wilson, last Saturday. Nate was a bit confused about the nature of the event we were going to. As we were getting ready he asked, "Now is a wedding where someone dies or gets married?”
Greg and Cathy had a very nice ceremony and reception dinner over in Clarksville. I particularly enjoyed the vows they had written for each other. They both told of their first impressions of each other and how their relationship grew. It was very special.
Of course, our family has really enjoyed The Princess Bride. So, when the minister at Greg and Cathy’s wedding, who is an older, distinguished looking gentleman, said, “Marriage,” and then paused, it was only natural for Ben to lean over to Vicki and whisper, “Mawage is wot bwings us togeder tooday.”
Greg and Cathy will be living in the little house next to church so we hope to see them around quite a bit.
A SINCERE PRAYER. I've mentioned before that the kids and I pray together on the way to catch the school bus in the mornings. I've heard some of the best prayers listening to them.
As with anyone, the kids use some of the same phrases in their prayers from day to day. Ben usually says, “Use me in all the ways you can," somewhere in his prayer. Well, the other morning Vicki took the kids to the bus and she told me later how special Ben's prayer was that morning. After saying the phrase quoted above he paused and added, "I know I say that all the time, but I really mean it."
3, 2, 1, BLAST OFF! We've been back in the rocket business again. Back in the summer we completed two different rocket kits but were never able to launch them because the store was out of wadding when we went to buy some. It was a couple of months before we got back down to the Rivergate area to try again. So, with plenty of wadding and a package of rocket engines we were back in business.
Last Sunday our church had a tailgate party at Kilgore Park to watch the Titans play on TV. We shot off our rockets at halftime. Everyone seemed to enjoy the show. Our smallest rocket (the one we've shot up before) went out of sight and we thought we'd lost it, but one really sharp-eyed kid spotted it and we recovered it. The other two rockets were easier to track and more fun to watch. The largest one performed perfectly and came down very close to our launch pad. The other did well, but it's parachute was a bit too big for the rocket and didn't deploy. It was melted in spots when we pulled it out to see what went wrong.
YOUNG ANGLERS. I think the boys are hooked on fishing (pun intended). We went to the county wide RA campout at Coldstream Camp Friday night. The boys tried fishing but didn't have any luck. However, we did go back to Jackie's pond yesterday afternoon and Ben caught three. One was almost as big as the one Nate caught the last time we were over there. We got pictures this time so Vicki would believe us.
Of course, as luck would have it, Ben snagged his hook on something on the bottom of the pond. While he was struggling with this his fishing pole came apart at the joint where the two pieces fit together and the upper half slid down the line into the pond. We could still see it about ten feet out from the shore. Somehow I was elected to wade out and get it. While I was out there the boys were telling me that I was the best dad in the whole world to go out and get the fishing rod. I was just hoping I wouldn't meet up with a snapping turtle while I was knee deep in the water.
POEMS BY AUNT MAR. We are continuing to look through stuff at Aunt Mar's house. Last night we ran across some poems Aunt Mar wrote about 25 years ago. She said she used to write them late at night before going to bed. She gave me permission to share here so I'll pick a few and include them here and there for you to enjoy. These two were on a paper dated February 1986.
This next poem was written about Aunt Myrtle, a relative we all loved and enjoyed very much. She was about ten years older than Aunt Mar.
I think, at 96, Aunt Mar has achieved this goal. She is one of the wisest people I know.
Joe
CONGRATULATIONS! We went to a wedding last weekend. Our cousin, Greg Keith, married his fiancé, Cathy Wilson, last Saturday. Nate was a bit confused about the nature of the event we were going to. As we were getting ready he asked, "Now is a wedding where someone dies or gets married?”
Greg and Cathy had a very nice ceremony and reception dinner over in Clarksville. I particularly enjoyed the vows they had written for each other. They both told of their first impressions of each other and how their relationship grew. It was very special.
Of course, our family has really enjoyed The Princess Bride. So, when the minister at Greg and Cathy’s wedding, who is an older, distinguished looking gentleman, said, “Marriage,” and then paused, it was only natural for Ben to lean over to Vicki and whisper, “Mawage is wot bwings us togeder tooday.”
Greg and Cathy will be living in the little house next to church so we hope to see them around quite a bit.
A SINCERE PRAYER. I've mentioned before that the kids and I pray together on the way to catch the school bus in the mornings. I've heard some of the best prayers listening to them.
As with anyone, the kids use some of the same phrases in their prayers from day to day. Ben usually says, “Use me in all the ways you can," somewhere in his prayer. Well, the other morning Vicki took the kids to the bus and she told me later how special Ben's prayer was that morning. After saying the phrase quoted above he paused and added, "I know I say that all the time, but I really mean it."
3, 2, 1, BLAST OFF! We've been back in the rocket business again. Back in the summer we completed two different rocket kits but were never able to launch them because the store was out of wadding when we went to buy some. It was a couple of months before we got back down to the Rivergate area to try again. So, with plenty of wadding and a package of rocket engines we were back in business.
Last Sunday our church had a tailgate party at Kilgore Park to watch the Titans play on TV. We shot off our rockets at halftime. Everyone seemed to enjoy the show. Our smallest rocket (the one we've shot up before) went out of sight and we thought we'd lost it, but one really sharp-eyed kid spotted it and we recovered it. The other two rockets were easier to track and more fun to watch. The largest one performed perfectly and came down very close to our launch pad. The other did well, but it's parachute was a bit too big for the rocket and didn't deploy. It was melted in spots when we pulled it out to see what went wrong.
YOUNG ANGLERS. I think the boys are hooked on fishing (pun intended). We went to the county wide RA campout at Coldstream Camp Friday night. The boys tried fishing but didn't have any luck. However, we did go back to Jackie's pond yesterday afternoon and Ben caught three. One was almost as big as the one Nate caught the last time we were over there. We got pictures this time so Vicki would believe us.
Of course, as luck would have it, Ben snagged his hook on something on the bottom of the pond. While he was struggling with this his fishing pole came apart at the joint where the two pieces fit together and the upper half slid down the line into the pond. We could still see it about ten feet out from the shore. Somehow I was elected to wade out and get it. While I was out there the boys were telling me that I was the best dad in the whole world to go out and get the fishing rod. I was just hoping I wouldn't meet up with a snapping turtle while I was knee deep in the water.
POEMS BY AUNT MAR. We are continuing to look through stuff at Aunt Mar's house. Last night we ran across some poems Aunt Mar wrote about 25 years ago. She said she used to write them late at night before going to bed. She gave me permission to share here so I'll pick a few and include them here and there for you to enjoy. These two were on a paper dated February 1986.
The Lord is my shepherd
Sometimes I forget
And do what I want
Without being led.
If I would only listen
To what He has to say
There would be no penalty
For having my own way.
This next poem was written about Aunt Myrtle, a relative we all loved and enjoyed very much. She was about ten years older than Aunt Mar.
I visited her the other day.
A lady wise with much to say.
My years are passing,
Little time,
To be like that lady
When I am eighty-nine.
I think, at 96, Aunt Mar has achieved this goal. She is one of the wisest people I know.
Joe
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Temperature Extremes
Today marks the eighth anniversary of the Swann Family News. I have expressed this before, but I am completely astonished that I have kept this project up this long. I'm glad because we have eight years of the happenings of our family written down that we wouldn't have otherwise. So, not knowing where things will go from here, I'll plan to continue writing as I can to keep you up-to-date and leave a paper trail of our lives as we go.
ONE BUSY WEEK. I am always glad to get to Labor Day weekend as it marks the end of the first month of school. By now many of the start of school activities at work and in our family life are over and we are settling into a routine. This past week, however, was most challenging.
I don't think I mentioned it, but the Fairest of the Fair was a week ago Saturday (the 27th). Then every night last week had something going on. Monday was Scouts. Tuesday I had a workshop to teach and then I took Ben to visit a Boy Scout Troop meeting. Awana was Wednesday and I had another workshop on Thursday.
Vicki has also had a full plate. She's been working hard to get Awana running smoothly and also volunteered to work a PTO fund raiser at school. Our Awana Club has really grown. Last week we had 111 in attendance (this includes the adult helpers). This is quite a few more people than last year which brings new challenges to running the club.
A CHANGE IN THE WEATHER. Last week started out nice, but the temps kept getting hotter and hotter each day (of course, those in Texas would say we have nothing to complain about). We had planned to go to the fair Friday evening but the thermometer read 100°F at 4:00 when I got off work so we decided to see the Smurf movie instead. This wasn't such a great decision either as the computer that runs the projector crashed and they had to refund all tickets. We wound up eating out and going home (and seeing the movie on Monday which we enjoyed).
By Sunday the rain started to move in -- the first rain we've seen in a long time. This weather system is the remnants of Tropical Storm Lee. So far we've gotten about 3.5 inches of rain. The rain also brought much cooler temperatures. Today's high of 58°F was the coldest high temperature on record. Sort of odd to think that within 72 hours our high temps have gone from 15° above average to 15° below average.
SPIDER UPDATE. We've had a lot of fun continuing to watch the spiders that have built webs in the yard. One built her web under the eave of the shed where we park so all the action has been at or near eye level. She had a real prime spot for catching prey as we saw her happily sipping away at some unfortunate bee, butterfly, or other bug that strayed into her web.
She's also made an egg sack above her web so we're keeping an eye on that too. From what we've read these should hatch this fall. With the cold snap we're having I'm not so sure momma spider will be alive to see her spiderlings emerge.
FISHING. Ben has been after me to take him and Nate fishing for a long time. I have always put them off because Uncle Ed was the only one who ever took me fishing with any regularity -- and that was only when he was visiting from Arizona. To be honest, I just haven't wanted to appear completely inept in front of my boys.
Since we didn't go to the fair Friday night I took them over to Jackie's pond Saturday morning to do a little fishing, and lo and behold they caught five fish! Ben caught two and Nate caught three -- all bass. One of Nate's fish was the largest by far, measuring as long as my forearm from elbow to fingertips (about 18 inches). Vicki refuses to believe this because there are no pictures (and all fishermen come home with their tales). I didn't even bother to take a pole for myself, much less a camera, because I knew I would be the only one tying on the hooks, baiting the hooks, and taking the fish (should we happen to catch any) off the hooks.
At any rate, this is our story and we're sticking to it. Whether you believe us or not is your business. We have our own skeptic to put up with.
Joe
ONE BUSY WEEK. I am always glad to get to Labor Day weekend as it marks the end of the first month of school. By now many of the start of school activities at work and in our family life are over and we are settling into a routine. This past week, however, was most challenging.
I don't think I mentioned it, but the Fairest of the Fair was a week ago Saturday (the 27th). Then every night last week had something going on. Monday was Scouts. Tuesday I had a workshop to teach and then I took Ben to visit a Boy Scout Troop meeting. Awana was Wednesday and I had another workshop on Thursday.
Vicki has also had a full plate. She's been working hard to get Awana running smoothly and also volunteered to work a PTO fund raiser at school. Our Awana Club has really grown. Last week we had 111 in attendance (this includes the adult helpers). This is quite a few more people than last year which brings new challenges to running the club.
A CHANGE IN THE WEATHER. Last week started out nice, but the temps kept getting hotter and hotter each day (of course, those in Texas would say we have nothing to complain about). We had planned to go to the fair Friday evening but the thermometer read 100°F at 4:00 when I got off work so we decided to see the Smurf movie instead. This wasn't such a great decision either as the computer that runs the projector crashed and they had to refund all tickets. We wound up eating out and going home (and seeing the movie on Monday which we enjoyed).
By Sunday the rain started to move in -- the first rain we've seen in a long time. This weather system is the remnants of Tropical Storm Lee. So far we've gotten about 3.5 inches of rain. The rain also brought much cooler temperatures. Today's high of 58°F was the coldest high temperature on record. Sort of odd to think that within 72 hours our high temps have gone from 15° above average to 15° below average.
SPIDER UPDATE. We've had a lot of fun continuing to watch the spiders that have built webs in the yard. One built her web under the eave of the shed where we park so all the action has been at or near eye level. She had a real prime spot for catching prey as we saw her happily sipping away at some unfortunate bee, butterfly, or other bug that strayed into her web.
She's also made an egg sack above her web so we're keeping an eye on that too. From what we've read these should hatch this fall. With the cold snap we're having I'm not so sure momma spider will be alive to see her spiderlings emerge.
FISHING. Ben has been after me to take him and Nate fishing for a long time. I have always put them off because Uncle Ed was the only one who ever took me fishing with any regularity -- and that was only when he was visiting from Arizona. To be honest, I just haven't wanted to appear completely inept in front of my boys.
Since we didn't go to the fair Friday night I took them over to Jackie's pond Saturday morning to do a little fishing, and lo and behold they caught five fish! Ben caught two and Nate caught three -- all bass. One of Nate's fish was the largest by far, measuring as long as my forearm from elbow to fingertips (about 18 inches). Vicki refuses to believe this because there are no pictures (and all fishermen come home with their tales). I didn't even bother to take a pole for myself, much less a camera, because I knew I would be the only one tying on the hooks, baiting the hooks, and taking the fish (should we happen to catch any) off the hooks.
At any rate, this is our story and we're sticking to it. Whether you believe us or not is your business. We have our own skeptic to put up with.
Joe
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Fact and Fictioin (Mostly Fact)
I'm going to go out on a limb and say there's a hint of fall in the air. It gets hot in the middle of the day, but the mornings and evenings are very pleasant. I picked the right year to build a picnic table and volleyball poles.
We've also got a couple of large spiders to set up web here in the yard. We get these spiders each year, but they seem a tad early to me this time. They spin really pretty webs that are about three feet across and have a zipper pattern right down the middle. We noticed one of them had caught what appears to have been a bee and was enjoying her feast today.
THE WIZARDING WORLD. Ben and Nate are really into reading the Harry Potter series now. Even Aunt Mar is working on the first Potter book. She says it’s “right good” but “different.”
Of course, when the boys aren't reading it they are now pretending it in their play (which isn't much different from me pretending to be a Jedi when Star Wars first came out). Whenever the boys wave a “wand” to do something to Vicki she just reminds them that they are Muggles and therefore powerless.
The other day I came up behind Ben and put him in a head lock. He had a drumstick in his hand and using it as a wand he waved it at me and said, "Expelliarmus," which is used the Harry Potter world to disarm another wizard.
"Sorry, Ben. That won't work on me because I don't have a drumstick."
Next he waved his wand and said, "Stupefy," which is used to stun an opponent in the Potter series.
"Sorry, Ben. It will take more than you for that to affect me." (In the books it takes several wizards working together to stun a large opponent so I figured I qualified as large.)
As a last ditch effort he tapped me with the drumstick and said, "Uncle!"
I had to let him go with that. It's the old magic that works best.
BIKE LESSONS. I am embarrassed to say that my eight year old son does not know how to ride a bike. Since he has a bike safety lesson coming up in scouts I figured I need to get him up to speed on one.
This evening we took supper over to Aunt Mar's and afterwards I took Nate and an old bike we have to the lower part of the yard (the old strawberry patch). This section has no trees and just enough slope that I can push him off and jog alongside.
He actually did pretty well, but he has a ways to go to build up his confidence. I hope I can report some success next time.
FITNESS. Monday night I was helping with Nate’s Den in Cub Scouts. They had a lesson on fitness and the boys had to do several exercises. We are recording the results to see how they do over four weeks. Poor Nate couldn’t do any push-up and had a hard time with sit-ups. I was holding his feet on the sit-up and became concerned as he struggled so much that he passed gas. (I was planning my escape should something more than gas come out.) At least he saw it as amusing and could laugh at himself.
By the time it was over I told the mom who was recording the boys’ results to put Nate down for two sit-ups and three farts. She lost all control right then and there.
CLEANING OUT. Aunt Mar has decided it is time to do some cleaning. We've been through her closet and helped her get rid of clothes she no longer wears and I have shredded a bunch of canceled checks from the 70s, 80, and 90s.
This evening we started going through Aunt Carrie's old desk. This is something she's never wanted to do alone. It has been interesting to read old letters and see things Aunt Carrie stored away in there. I’ll share one paper we found below. It was written by Aunt Mar to Aunt Carrie.
Joe
We've also got a couple of large spiders to set up web here in the yard. We get these spiders each year, but they seem a tad early to me this time. They spin really pretty webs that are about three feet across and have a zipper pattern right down the middle. We noticed one of them had caught what appears to have been a bee and was enjoying her feast today.
THE WIZARDING WORLD. Ben and Nate are really into reading the Harry Potter series now. Even Aunt Mar is working on the first Potter book. She says it’s “right good” but “different.”
Of course, when the boys aren't reading it they are now pretending it in their play (which isn't much different from me pretending to be a Jedi when Star Wars first came out). Whenever the boys wave a “wand” to do something to Vicki she just reminds them that they are Muggles and therefore powerless.
The other day I came up behind Ben and put him in a head lock. He had a drumstick in his hand and using it as a wand he waved it at me and said, "Expelliarmus," which is used the Harry Potter world to disarm another wizard.
"Sorry, Ben. That won't work on me because I don't have a drumstick."
Next he waved his wand and said, "Stupefy," which is used to stun an opponent in the Potter series.
"Sorry, Ben. It will take more than you for that to affect me." (In the books it takes several wizards working together to stun a large opponent so I figured I qualified as large.)
As a last ditch effort he tapped me with the drumstick and said, "Uncle!"
I had to let him go with that. It's the old magic that works best.
BIKE LESSONS. I am embarrassed to say that my eight year old son does not know how to ride a bike. Since he has a bike safety lesson coming up in scouts I figured I need to get him up to speed on one.
This evening we took supper over to Aunt Mar's and afterwards I took Nate and an old bike we have to the lower part of the yard (the old strawberry patch). This section has no trees and just enough slope that I can push him off and jog alongside.
He actually did pretty well, but he has a ways to go to build up his confidence. I hope I can report some success next time.
FITNESS. Monday night I was helping with Nate’s Den in Cub Scouts. They had a lesson on fitness and the boys had to do several exercises. We are recording the results to see how they do over four weeks. Poor Nate couldn’t do any push-up and had a hard time with sit-ups. I was holding his feet on the sit-up and became concerned as he struggled so much that he passed gas. (I was planning my escape should something more than gas come out.) At least he saw it as amusing and could laugh at himself.
By the time it was over I told the mom who was recording the boys’ results to put Nate down for two sit-ups and three farts. She lost all control right then and there.
CLEANING OUT. Aunt Mar has decided it is time to do some cleaning. We've been through her closet and helped her get rid of clothes she no longer wears and I have shredded a bunch of canceled checks from the 70s, 80, and 90s.
This evening we started going through Aunt Carrie's old desk. This is something she's never wanted to do alone. It has been interesting to read old letters and see things Aunt Carrie stored away in there. I’ll share one paper we found below. It was written by Aunt Mar to Aunt Carrie.
A Typical Day for UsWe're thinking a good project for this winter would be to put some of these things in a scrapbook and share when relatives come to visit. It has been really fun to catch glimpses of life from years ago.
June 22 [mid-1980s]
Got up and ate breakfast
Washed clothes, swept garage and mopped it
Went to Roy Cole’s and picked beans and squash
Fixed lunch
Hoed out garden
Went to Nashville with Anne to see Dr. Goldner
Went to Parkview [Hospital] to see Alice [Payne, we think]
Went to Memorial [Hospital] to see Robert [not sure which Robert]
Went to Rivergate to get tie for David [not sure which David]
We met Joe in Springfield to eat supper
We all went to the [Jessie Holman Jones] hospital to see Lillie Belle [Norwood]
Came home and strung beans
Took bath, folded clothes
Twenty till twelve, ready for bed
Joe
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Settling Back into a Routine
We have had extraordinary weather for August over the last week or so. It's been warm but not intensely hot or humid which has been most enjoyable.
School has been back in session for the last week and a half. The boys went to their first Scout meeting of the year last night and Awana kicks off tomorrow night. Summer break seems like a distant memory. Once you get back in the routine you feel like you were never out of it.
Well, in some ways this isn’t true. Between my coming home tired from a stepped up pace at work and Vicki spending a lot of time at church getting ready for Awana we’ve not had a lot of family time. I guess that’s why I've only got two things to share this time.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME. Well, I'm 45 now. Except for my knees and my vision when reading I can't say that I feel much different from 35. Time marches on though.
Friday night Vicki, Jenna, and I went out to see the latest Harry Potter flick. (The boys didn't get to go because our rule is that you must read the book before seeing the movie.) All three of us felt the movie was very well done and a great way to end the series.
The next night we ate over at Aunt Mar's as a family celebration. That's where I got my favorite chocolate cake! We had planned to have our first meal on our new picnic table that night, but about an hour before we were to eat we had a storm roll through and leave us half an inch of rain. We didn't get to break in our new table until last night.
GETTING THE WRONG WORDS. Last night Ben noticed something on a tree trunk and said, "Look, two quesadillia shells!” It turns out he’d found two cicada shells left behind after the bugs had molted. Jenna corrected him and then got to wear them on her shoulders as a reward for doing so.
Joe
School has been back in session for the last week and a half. The boys went to their first Scout meeting of the year last night and Awana kicks off tomorrow night. Summer break seems like a distant memory. Once you get back in the routine you feel like you were never out of it.
Well, in some ways this isn’t true. Between my coming home tired from a stepped up pace at work and Vicki spending a lot of time at church getting ready for Awana we’ve not had a lot of family time. I guess that’s why I've only got two things to share this time.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME. Well, I'm 45 now. Except for my knees and my vision when reading I can't say that I feel much different from 35. Time marches on though.
Friday night Vicki, Jenna, and I went out to see the latest Harry Potter flick. (The boys didn't get to go because our rule is that you must read the book before seeing the movie.) All three of us felt the movie was very well done and a great way to end the series.
The next night we ate over at Aunt Mar's as a family celebration. That's where I got my favorite chocolate cake! We had planned to have our first meal on our new picnic table that night, but about an hour before we were to eat we had a storm roll through and leave us half an inch of rain. We didn't get to break in our new table until last night.
GETTING THE WRONG WORDS. Last night Ben noticed something on a tree trunk and said, "Look, two quesadillia shells!” It turns out he’d found two cicada shells left behind after the bugs had molted. Jenna corrected him and then got to wear them on her shoulders as a reward for doing so.
Joe
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Hot and Humid
Hot and humid. That pretty much sums up our weather.
ONE LAST GETAWAY. It was a quiet week around here last week. With VBS behind us Vicki and the kids got in the van after church that Sunday (the 24th) and headed to Georgia. The spent the entire week with Will, Darice, and the kids -- playing games, swimming in the pool, and having all kinds of fun. I had to stay here and work, and while I had a good time eating supper with Mom and Aunt Mar three times I was really glad to get my family back home on Friday.
AMERICAN IDOL. Vicki and Jenna really enjoyed watching American Idol this year so when they got wind of the post season tour making a stop in Nashville they got a few friends together and bought tickets. The show was Saturday night and from what I hear it was a fun girls night out.
A FUN SUNDAY AFTERNOON. Last Sunday we had a full afternoon. Right after lunch we went over to Orlinda to attend the Denning family reunion. I don't know that many relatives on this side of the family, but I had a good time talking to the ones I do know.
After the reunion we went to see Cars 2. We all thought this latest Pixar flick was better than the first story.
BEN'S BIRTHDAY. Another birthday has rolled around for Ben. This is number eleven. We celebrated on yesterday evening with supper over at Aunt Mar's. Ben is going to celebrate with some friend tomorrow night so I'll save that report for the next edition.
OPEN HOUSE. Summer break is coming to a close. We went to open house at both schools after Ben's birthday supper yesterday. Nate is a third grader this year and Marilyn Kahn is his teacher. This year will be Ben's last year at the elementary school since he is in the fifth grade. His teacher is Julie Stroud. And down the road at the high school Jenna is beginning her eighth grade year. I'm only acquainted with one of her teachers.
This weekend is the last of our break as the first full day of school is Monday.
IT'S FINISHED! The picnic table is finished. (Well, I still need to do a little sanding on the table top.) I got up Saturday planning to put the seats on, but everything was going together so fast I put the table top on too. Now, if it will just cool off some we'll fire up the grill and enjoy some burgers around the picnic table.
I'll have to say this was a most enjoyable project. I would love to do this full time.
Joe
ONE LAST GETAWAY. It was a quiet week around here last week. With VBS behind us Vicki and the kids got in the van after church that Sunday (the 24th) and headed to Georgia. The spent the entire week with Will, Darice, and the kids -- playing games, swimming in the pool, and having all kinds of fun. I had to stay here and work, and while I had a good time eating supper with Mom and Aunt Mar three times I was really glad to get my family back home on Friday.
AMERICAN IDOL. Vicki and Jenna really enjoyed watching American Idol this year so when they got wind of the post season tour making a stop in Nashville they got a few friends together and bought tickets. The show was Saturday night and from what I hear it was a fun girls night out.
A FUN SUNDAY AFTERNOON. Last Sunday we had a full afternoon. Right after lunch we went over to Orlinda to attend the Denning family reunion. I don't know that many relatives on this side of the family, but I had a good time talking to the ones I do know.
After the reunion we went to see Cars 2. We all thought this latest Pixar flick was better than the first story.
BEN'S BIRTHDAY. Another birthday has rolled around for Ben. This is number eleven. We celebrated on yesterday evening with supper over at Aunt Mar's. Ben is going to celebrate with some friend tomorrow night so I'll save that report for the next edition.
OPEN HOUSE. Summer break is coming to a close. We went to open house at both schools after Ben's birthday supper yesterday. Nate is a third grader this year and Marilyn Kahn is his teacher. This year will be Ben's last year at the elementary school since he is in the fifth grade. His teacher is Julie Stroud. And down the road at the high school Jenna is beginning her eighth grade year. I'm only acquainted with one of her teachers.
This weekend is the last of our break as the first full day of school is Monday.
IT'S FINISHED! The picnic table is finished. (Well, I still need to do a little sanding on the table top.) I got up Saturday planning to put the seats on, but everything was going together so fast I put the table top on too. Now, if it will just cool off some we'll fire up the grill and enjoy some burgers around the picnic table.
I'll have to say this was a most enjoyable project. I would love to do this full time.
Joe
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Pandamania
We have survived VBS and lived to tell about it!
PANDAMANIA. The theme for this year's Vacation Bible School was Pandamania. It's where God is wild about you. We had pandas everywhere. We also had kids everywhere. I know our average attendance (all people) was 210 and I think about 130 of those were kids. I know our boys had a lot of fun.
Jenna had fun at VBS as well, but this year she did so as an assistant teacher in a preschool class. It was really neat to see her use her gifts and talents in working with others. Actually, she has been a great worker all this time. She has been at Vicki's right hand practically every day, and during this past week, when more folks were at church, many of them needed her help and came to depend on her being there. We had several people sing her praises all week which is most rewarding to me as her father.
I must also compliment my wife. She was on top of details. She was great with people. And for someone who has battled stage fright she was the stage presence that held it together during our opening and closing group times. It was a pleasure to watch her at work.
My only job this year was to run sound. I am glad Kathy Raglin took the slide show project on as work and other things did not leave any time in my schedule for that. I think Kathy has videos posted online and I'm sure that can be found through our church website (http://www.mtcarmel.cc).
CONGRATULATIONS. Last Saturday Sarah Yergler got married. Unfortunately for us the wedding was in Dallas, Texas. Distance and scheduling prevented us from going. (At least the Tennessee branch was represented by the Dee family.) From the pictures I've seen it was a beautiful wedding. Sarah was certainly a gorgeous bride. We wish her and Jason well as they begin their life together.
SURPRISE VISIT. We had a surprise visit this week. After getting back from the wedding Aunt Linda, Uncle Bob, and Ann Beth drove up here for a quick visit. They arrived Tuesday and left Thursday. It was good to see them. On Wednesday Amanda, Riley, and Tanner (Harper was in Florida with her grandmother) brought lunch and visited all afternoon. They also brought pictures from the wedding they had printed so we got to enjoy lots of snapshots.
SYLVESTER AND FRIENDS. A couple of weeks ago Jenna and I stopped by Aunt Mar's late one evening. While we were there we heard a cat crying out in the corn field. As it turns out there was a momma cat and two older kittens. Ever since then we've been feeding them and trying to tame them. I think Ann Beth was the first to touch any of them while she was here. We've been able to pet them, and even pick one up several times, but they're all still pretty skittish.
One of the kittens is black and white so we've started calling it Sylvester (it's the most vocal and outgoing of the three). It got its name partly from its coloring and partly because it was seen on the roof of the birdhouse Mr. Killebrew put up for Aunt Mar looking into the hole at the birds inside. The birdhouse has since fallen off the tree. I assume it couldn't hold the weight of the cat. We haven't named the others yet.
THRESHING WHEAT. Since we couldn't make it to the wedding last weekend the kids and I broke away and went to the Threshermen's Show. This year they had some minor mechanical problems, but they were fixed quickly and the engine ran well. Charlie and Mary's older son, Will, has taken a more active role in helping his dad out with the engine and I must say I am most impressed with his maturity as he works on the engine. I hope my boys turn out so well.
Speaking of boys, my boys and I enjoyed hanging out together at the show (Jenna and Bonnie disappeared pretty soon after we arrived both days). We had a great time walking around and looking at all the different things to see. We stopped at the blacksmith shop and got a lot of personal attention from the gentleman there making hot dog forks (for roasting hot dogs and marshmallows over a fire). However, I think the boys most enjoyed Mr. Wally Watts.
Mr. Watts has been coming to the show for several years. He brings several tables full of miniature steam engines. Most of these are replicas of big engines that used to power factories, but some are copies of farm engines like Jackie's. Most of these units burn alcohol to generate steam. Mr. Watts enjoys kids and involves them as he fires each engine up and lets it run miniature tools or a small generator. My boys were fascinated and I left them with him for quite a while. I think they were too mesmerized to be any trouble.
Mr. Watts lives less than two hours away. He told me he has one of the largest O-scale model railroads in this area of the country. It sounds like we'll need to schedule a road trip soon.
MY TWO GOOBERS. I was mowing our yard Monday afternoon. The boys were here at home with me to get them out of Vicki's hair. The pear tree outside of the kitchen window is one I can usually trim around with the mower, but occasionally I have to touch up around it with the trimmer. It has one low hanging branch I easily ride under on the mower so I usually forget it's there when I have the weed eater in hand. It is just the right height for the crown of my head. In the past, when I've been bare headed, it has brought blood. Fortunately I was wearing a hat Monday when I beamed myself on the limb and I only staggered backward a few steps until I quit seeing stars. Then I looked over at the kitchen window and saw those two snots laughing themselves silly at my expense. I'm glad I could bring some laughter to their day. I'm even more glad they weren't filming me for America's Funniest Home Videos.
Joe
PANDAMANIA. The theme for this year's Vacation Bible School was Pandamania. It's where God is wild about you. We had pandas everywhere. We also had kids everywhere. I know our average attendance (all people) was 210 and I think about 130 of those were kids. I know our boys had a lot of fun.
Jenna had fun at VBS as well, but this year she did so as an assistant teacher in a preschool class. It was really neat to see her use her gifts and talents in working with others. Actually, she has been a great worker all this time. She has been at Vicki's right hand practically every day, and during this past week, when more folks were at church, many of them needed her help and came to depend on her being there. We had several people sing her praises all week which is most rewarding to me as her father.
I must also compliment my wife. She was on top of details. She was great with people. And for someone who has battled stage fright she was the stage presence that held it together during our opening and closing group times. It was a pleasure to watch her at work.
My only job this year was to run sound. I am glad Kathy Raglin took the slide show project on as work and other things did not leave any time in my schedule for that. I think Kathy has videos posted online and I'm sure that can be found through our church website (http://www.mtcarmel.cc).
CONGRATULATIONS. Last Saturday Sarah Yergler got married. Unfortunately for us the wedding was in Dallas, Texas. Distance and scheduling prevented us from going. (At least the Tennessee branch was represented by the Dee family.) From the pictures I've seen it was a beautiful wedding. Sarah was certainly a gorgeous bride. We wish her and Jason well as they begin their life together.
SURPRISE VISIT. We had a surprise visit this week. After getting back from the wedding Aunt Linda, Uncle Bob, and Ann Beth drove up here for a quick visit. They arrived Tuesday and left Thursday. It was good to see them. On Wednesday Amanda, Riley, and Tanner (Harper was in Florida with her grandmother) brought lunch and visited all afternoon. They also brought pictures from the wedding they had printed so we got to enjoy lots of snapshots.
SYLVESTER AND FRIENDS. A couple of weeks ago Jenna and I stopped by Aunt Mar's late one evening. While we were there we heard a cat crying out in the corn field. As it turns out there was a momma cat and two older kittens. Ever since then we've been feeding them and trying to tame them. I think Ann Beth was the first to touch any of them while she was here. We've been able to pet them, and even pick one up several times, but they're all still pretty skittish.
One of the kittens is black and white so we've started calling it Sylvester (it's the most vocal and outgoing of the three). It got its name partly from its coloring and partly because it was seen on the roof of the birdhouse Mr. Killebrew put up for Aunt Mar looking into the hole at the birds inside. The birdhouse has since fallen off the tree. I assume it couldn't hold the weight of the cat. We haven't named the others yet.
THRESHING WHEAT. Since we couldn't make it to the wedding last weekend the kids and I broke away and went to the Threshermen's Show. This year they had some minor mechanical problems, but they were fixed quickly and the engine ran well. Charlie and Mary's older son, Will, has taken a more active role in helping his dad out with the engine and I must say I am most impressed with his maturity as he works on the engine. I hope my boys turn out so well.
Speaking of boys, my boys and I enjoyed hanging out together at the show (Jenna and Bonnie disappeared pretty soon after we arrived both days). We had a great time walking around and looking at all the different things to see. We stopped at the blacksmith shop and got a lot of personal attention from the gentleman there making hot dog forks (for roasting hot dogs and marshmallows over a fire). However, I think the boys most enjoyed Mr. Wally Watts.
Mr. Watts has been coming to the show for several years. He brings several tables full of miniature steam engines. Most of these are replicas of big engines that used to power factories, but some are copies of farm engines like Jackie's. Most of these units burn alcohol to generate steam. Mr. Watts enjoys kids and involves them as he fires each engine up and lets it run miniature tools or a small generator. My boys were fascinated and I left them with him for quite a while. I think they were too mesmerized to be any trouble.
Mr. Watts lives less than two hours away. He told me he has one of the largest O-scale model railroads in this area of the country. It sounds like we'll need to schedule a road trip soon.
MY TWO GOOBERS. I was mowing our yard Monday afternoon. The boys were here at home with me to get them out of Vicki's hair. The pear tree outside of the kitchen window is one I can usually trim around with the mower, but occasionally I have to touch up around it with the trimmer. It has one low hanging branch I easily ride under on the mower so I usually forget it's there when I have the weed eater in hand. It is just the right height for the crown of my head. In the past, when I've been bare headed, it has brought blood. Fortunately I was wearing a hat Monday when I beamed myself on the limb and I only staggered backward a few steps until I quit seeing stars. Then I looked over at the kitchen window and saw those two snots laughing themselves silly at my expense. I'm glad I could bring some laughter to their day. I'm even more glad they weren't filming me for America's Funniest Home Videos.
Joe
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Hot Summer Days
The summer heat is ramping up. Last week we saw highs in the low 90s, but the evenings turned out to be very pleasant. This next week has been even hotter so it may not be so much fun to sit on the porch at dusk for a while. It is great weather to enjoy swimming with friends which Jenna and Ben got to do at birthday parties this weekend for their friends Maegan and Connor.
THE FOURTH HAS COME AND GONE. We had a very nice Fourth. This year was the 25th anniversary of our Kilgore Remembrance ceremony. It was actually sprinkling rain the whole time we were there, but the trees kept us from getting wet. Mrs. Lorene Lambert had a very interesting presentation on those in our area that served in the Civil War, both Union and Confederate, as this year marks the 150th anniversary of the War Between the States.
That evening we went back up to Cross Plains for fireworks. I must say that their show has gotten better each year. You can't beat a four mile drive, and great spot to set up your lawn chairs, and less than ten minutes of traffic when leaving.
MY PROJECT. I've wanted to build a picnic table for a long time. Not your standard, rectangular table, mind you, but a large, square one that seats eight. I found some plans that I liked online, bought the lumber I need (I think I've mentioned this here before), and got started weekend before last. I must say I've had the best time working on this table! I'm using Aunt Mar's garage as my workshop, and each time I come home I tell Vicki that I'm ready to quit my job and start building things.
I've put a lot of time into it so far. As of Saturday I have the frame completed and am ready to start cutting the seat and tabletop slats. I'm going to have to put the project on hold until VBS is over, but I sure am looking forward to finishing it up.
VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL. We don't start VBS for another week, but here at our house we're already right in the middle of it. Ever since Vicki came home from camp this has been her focus. All other aspects of life have taken a backseat to this. She and the kids spend all day at church and when I get off work I find myself up there many evenings working on decorations. I think we're going to be ready for it to be over before it even begins.
IS IT WORTH IT? Vicki was so busy at church Tuesday that we decided to eat supper at True's Barbecue. Vicki and I sat in one booth and the kids sat in the booth directly behind her. After our drinks came we noticed a few spit wads flying through the air so our attention turned to the kids' booth.
After telling the boys to stop Vicki noticed a loaded straw in Ben's hand. With a big grin on his face he took aim at her. She told him that if he shot it would be $1 off his allowance and that he'd better make sure it was worth it to fire. With this news Ben took aim at me.
Looking down the length of his straw I told him that if he fired it would be $10 off his allowance and that he'd better make sure it was worth it to shoot. So, Ben took aim at his sister.
I think he actually wound up shooting the spit wad into his hand (you hate to waste ammo just because your parents tell you not to open fire), but it was interesting to see who was worth what penalty if he had fired.
GOD’S EYE. Jenna has been super helpful to Vicki at church, but she has also found the time to involve the boys with her in a craft project. They have started making God’s Eyes, those colorful things made from two popsicle sticks and yarn. Their goal is to make 1,000 and give them away. I don’t know if they’ll reach that goal, but so far they’ve made about 80.
MR. FLAT HAIR. You just have to love Nate and his imagination. All three kids had dental appointments the other day. Nate is still young enough for them to give him a helium balloon at the doctor's office. Only Nate (of our three) would think to get a marker, draw a face on the balloon, and name it Mr. Flat Hair. It leaves me wondering where he comes up with this stuff.
Mr. Flat Hair, may he rest in peace, has gone on to be with others of his kind, but he was a faithful friend while he still had lift. He, Bear, and Nate made quite a trio around the house, so he deserves a bit of an obituary here. If not for this record we would forget his shriveled smile.
Joe
THE FOURTH HAS COME AND GONE. We had a very nice Fourth. This year was the 25th anniversary of our Kilgore Remembrance ceremony. It was actually sprinkling rain the whole time we were there, but the trees kept us from getting wet. Mrs. Lorene Lambert had a very interesting presentation on those in our area that served in the Civil War, both Union and Confederate, as this year marks the 150th anniversary of the War Between the States.
That evening we went back up to Cross Plains for fireworks. I must say that their show has gotten better each year. You can't beat a four mile drive, and great spot to set up your lawn chairs, and less than ten minutes of traffic when leaving.
MY PROJECT. I've wanted to build a picnic table for a long time. Not your standard, rectangular table, mind you, but a large, square one that seats eight. I found some plans that I liked online, bought the lumber I need (I think I've mentioned this here before), and got started weekend before last. I must say I've had the best time working on this table! I'm using Aunt Mar's garage as my workshop, and each time I come home I tell Vicki that I'm ready to quit my job and start building things.
I've put a lot of time into it so far. As of Saturday I have the frame completed and am ready to start cutting the seat and tabletop slats. I'm going to have to put the project on hold until VBS is over, but I sure am looking forward to finishing it up.
VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL. We don't start VBS for another week, but here at our house we're already right in the middle of it. Ever since Vicki came home from camp this has been her focus. All other aspects of life have taken a backseat to this. She and the kids spend all day at church and when I get off work I find myself up there many evenings working on decorations. I think we're going to be ready for it to be over before it even begins.
IS IT WORTH IT? Vicki was so busy at church Tuesday that we decided to eat supper at True's Barbecue. Vicki and I sat in one booth and the kids sat in the booth directly behind her. After our drinks came we noticed a few spit wads flying through the air so our attention turned to the kids' booth.
After telling the boys to stop Vicki noticed a loaded straw in Ben's hand. With a big grin on his face he took aim at her. She told him that if he shot it would be $1 off his allowance and that he'd better make sure it was worth it to fire. With this news Ben took aim at me.
Looking down the length of his straw I told him that if he fired it would be $10 off his allowance and that he'd better make sure it was worth it to shoot. So, Ben took aim at his sister.
I think he actually wound up shooting the spit wad into his hand (you hate to waste ammo just because your parents tell you not to open fire), but it was interesting to see who was worth what penalty if he had fired.
GOD’S EYE. Jenna has been super helpful to Vicki at church, but she has also found the time to involve the boys with her in a craft project. They have started making God’s Eyes, those colorful things made from two popsicle sticks and yarn. Their goal is to make 1,000 and give them away. I don’t know if they’ll reach that goal, but so far they’ve made about 80.
MR. FLAT HAIR. You just have to love Nate and his imagination. All three kids had dental appointments the other day. Nate is still young enough for them to give him a helium balloon at the doctor's office. Only Nate (of our three) would think to get a marker, draw a face on the balloon, and name it Mr. Flat Hair. It leaves me wondering where he comes up with this stuff.
Mr. Flat Hair, may he rest in peace, has gone on to be with others of his kind, but he was a faithful friend while he still had lift. He, Bear, and Nate made quite a trio around the house, so he deserves a bit of an obituary here. If not for this record we would forget his shriveled smile.
Joe
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Camp Report
July is here. My vacation is over. School starts in a month. Boy, summertime sure is short!
TRASH & TREASURES. My goal in the last time I wrote was to get all the news caught up to the time everyone was returning from camp and then write about the camp experiences this time. As I was writing I knew I was leaving something out, but for the life of me I couldn't figure out what it was. Several days later it dawned on me that I had forgotten to tell about Trash & Treasures. How in the world I managed to forget that is beyond me, but I did.
Trash & Treasures is the community-wide yard sale in Cross Plains. It is held the on the last Friday and Saturday of June every year. We've been away on vacation during this time the last couple of years, but this year we were home and got to go. We were there two weeks ago today.
Yard sales and flea markets don't really run in my blood, but I always enjoy this event because you run into so many people you know. I think it took me and Vicki two hours to walk the three blocks or so from where we parked at one end of town to the other simply because we were visiting with so many people.
Jenna and Ben had fun running around with cousins. Tom and Amy Jones are renovating Uncle Paul's house this summer so that can move out here. (This will be more than a summer project for them.) They have a daughter, Bonnie, and two sons, Spencer and Allen, who are each a year or so older than our kids. We usually see these cousins each year at the Threshermen's Show and we're looking forward to having them as neighbors. (This Jones family is no connection to Vicki's brother and his family.) To get back to the point, our kids enjoyed doing Trash & Treasures with these cousins while Vicki, Nate, and I strolled along by ourselves.
We didn't come away with too many treasures. Vicki found some resource books for children's ministry and a quilt to put on the porch swing. I found an educational electronics kit just in case either of the boys wanted to work on a merit badge as boy scouts. I think the biggest find was that both boys wound up with old Game Boys with some PokeMon games. This has been nice for them as both boys have lost iPods to water this year.
CENTRI-KID. As I mentioned last time Vicki and Ben were part of a group of 24 people who went to Centri-Kid this year. They returned to Georgetown College in Kentucky (though this is the last year that college will be hosting Centri-Kid) and I think everyone had a lot of fun.
Each day begins with a worship rally after breakfast followed by a group Bible study and recreation time. After lunch the kids all have two track times. The day closes with another worship rally after supper and some time for each church group to meet together. It's a very full and intense week for the kids. By the second day Ben's voice was hoarse. Ben said his favorite part was recreation (imagine that). He got baseball and Weird Science as track times which he said were fun as well.
MISSION-FUGE. This year was Jenna's first year to go with the youth group. She was part of 54 people from our church and Friendship Baptist who went down to New Orleans.
M-Fuge is a spin-off for the youth focused Centrifuge camp experience but with an emphasis on mission projects. (Centri-Kid is a spin-off of this as well.) Their schedule was similar to what Vicki and Ben experienced at Centri-Kid with the exception of the track times in the afternoon. These are replaced by a mission project assignment. You can actually see Jenna and her roommate, Savannah, as Bro. Bill interviewed them on his phone and posted the video on our church website (direct link to video - http://vimeo.com/25789371).
Jenna had a great time. I think one thing that was eye-opening for her, though, is that not everyone has the best situation at home. I'm not talking about the people she served in New Orleans, but some of the kids that she goes to school and church with. When she mentioned this to me over the phone all I could say was, "Thank God for your blessings. Not everyone has the fairy tale life that you've had growing up."
Joe
TRASH & TREASURES. My goal in the last time I wrote was to get all the news caught up to the time everyone was returning from camp and then write about the camp experiences this time. As I was writing I knew I was leaving something out, but for the life of me I couldn't figure out what it was. Several days later it dawned on me that I had forgotten to tell about Trash & Treasures. How in the world I managed to forget that is beyond me, but I did.
Trash & Treasures is the community-wide yard sale in Cross Plains. It is held the on the last Friday and Saturday of June every year. We've been away on vacation during this time the last couple of years, but this year we were home and got to go. We were there two weeks ago today.
Yard sales and flea markets don't really run in my blood, but I always enjoy this event because you run into so many people you know. I think it took me and Vicki two hours to walk the three blocks or so from where we parked at one end of town to the other simply because we were visiting with so many people.
Jenna and Ben had fun running around with cousins. Tom and Amy Jones are renovating Uncle Paul's house this summer so that can move out here. (This will be more than a summer project for them.) They have a daughter, Bonnie, and two sons, Spencer and Allen, who are each a year or so older than our kids. We usually see these cousins each year at the Threshermen's Show and we're looking forward to having them as neighbors. (This Jones family is no connection to Vicki's brother and his family.) To get back to the point, our kids enjoyed doing Trash & Treasures with these cousins while Vicki, Nate, and I strolled along by ourselves.
We didn't come away with too many treasures. Vicki found some resource books for children's ministry and a quilt to put on the porch swing. I found an educational electronics kit just in case either of the boys wanted to work on a merit badge as boy scouts. I think the biggest find was that both boys wound up with old Game Boys with some PokeMon games. This has been nice for them as both boys have lost iPods to water this year.
CENTRI-KID. As I mentioned last time Vicki and Ben were part of a group of 24 people who went to Centri-Kid this year. They returned to Georgetown College in Kentucky (though this is the last year that college will be hosting Centri-Kid) and I think everyone had a lot of fun.
Each day begins with a worship rally after breakfast followed by a group Bible study and recreation time. After lunch the kids all have two track times. The day closes with another worship rally after supper and some time for each church group to meet together. It's a very full and intense week for the kids. By the second day Ben's voice was hoarse. Ben said his favorite part was recreation (imagine that). He got baseball and Weird Science as track times which he said were fun as well.
MISSION-FUGE. This year was Jenna's first year to go with the youth group. She was part of 54 people from our church and Friendship Baptist who went down to New Orleans.
M-Fuge is a spin-off for the youth focused Centrifuge camp experience but with an emphasis on mission projects. (Centri-Kid is a spin-off of this as well.) Their schedule was similar to what Vicki and Ben experienced at Centri-Kid with the exception of the track times in the afternoon. These are replaced by a mission project assignment. You can actually see Jenna and her roommate, Savannah, as Bro. Bill interviewed them on his phone and posted the video on our church website (direct link to video - http://vimeo.com/25789371).
Jenna had a great time. I think one thing that was eye-opening for her, though, is that not everyone has the best situation at home. I'm not talking about the people she served in New Orleans, but some of the kids that she goes to school and church with. When she mentioned this to me over the phone all I could say was, "Thank God for your blessings. Not everyone has the fairy tale life that you've had growing up."
Joe
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Getting Things Done
I remember writing before our vacation that we had skipped June and gone straight to July. While we were gone Robertson County got quite a bit of rain, and since we've been home temperatures have been very pleasant. We've continued to get some rain, which is frustrating if you are trying to harvest wheat, but the last week has been very enjoyable.
ONE LAST VACATION REPORT. Vicki normally proofreads my newsletters, but this time she was so busy I simply read it aloud to her. Nate was sitting in the kitchen as I was doing this. When I got to the part where At one point Vicki spoke up and said, "Aren't you going to get some feedback from the kids on our vacation for the newsletter?"
I replied that we had been so busy since coming home that I hadn't had time to ask. Then, since Nate was sitting there I turned to him and asked, "Nate, what was your favorite part of our vacation?"
"Going to the Space Center!"
"And what did you like best about visiting the Space Center?"
"All of it!"
So there you have it, feedback from someone other than me.
MAKING UP FOR LOST TIME. Every time I go on vacation it seems like life throws double at me to make up for lost time. With all the rain we got while we were gone both yards looked pretty rough. Then Vicki had to get into gear with her work pretty quickly as she had scheduled a drive-in movie night for last Friday and has Centri-Kid and Vacation Bible School coming up.
We were double booked Friday evening. As I mentioned, Vicki had scheduled a movie at church, but we also had the Hancock reunion on the calendar. The reunion was held over at the Orlinda Community Center. The kids and I got over there before supper to visit -- Vicki was too busy to go -- and Mom brought Aunt Mar a little later. Unfortunately, their car had trouble on the way over there and gave out on them less than a mile from home. I was able to get them to the reunion, but they were quite late when they got there and had to leave early due to the fact that I needed to be at church for the movie.
FUN AT THE MOVIES. Vicki had a good turnout at church for her movie night. She started out with supper and games before it got dark enough to show the film. The boys and I have also built a model rocket and we shot that off a couple of times for everyone to enjoy. It is amazing how for downrange those things go even when there's no detectible breeze. One kid almost caught the rocket before it hit the ground.
SCATTERED TO THE FOUR WINDS. This week our family is scattered to the four wwinds -- well, two of the anyway. Vicki and Ben (along with over 20 others) are at Centri-Kid in Georgetown, Kentucky, and Jenna is with over 50 youth and chaperones at Mission-Fuge in New Orleans, Lousiana. Nate is not old enough to go to Centri-Kid (he will be next year) so he and I are at home.
Both camps are five days long so last weekend was all about washing clothes and packing. I took Jenna to church late Sunday night and their bus headed out a little after midnight. Then we got up early the next morning, drove to Springfield to pick up rental vans, and saw the kids off by 10:00. We get everyone back tomorrow. I've been in touch with everyone while they are away so I can report that all are doing well and having fun, but I'll save any details for the next newsletter.
ME AND MY SIDEKICK. Even though everyone is away I still have some time off from work so Nate and I have stayed busy all week. I think we've been on the road every day running errands in Nashville, Springfield, White House, Cross Plains, or Milldale. On top of all that we've painted the porch swing, set volleyball poles in concrete filled tires, bought a used mower, gotten Aunt Mar's car fixed, and fixed the tailgate on the van (the latch snapped on me leaving us no way to open the rear hatch), and purchased lumber to make a picnic table. We've gotten a lot done this week and I've thoroughly enjoyed paling around with Nate. We've also had fun playing marbles together. He's quite good.
One thing about spending time with an eight year old boy is that he's full of questions. You can be sure that I've fielded my share of them this week. The best, by far, was this one which was posed all out of the blue as we pulled up to church to run one of our many errands: "Dad, do octipusses ever run out of ink?"
That was such a good one we looked it up on the Internet, and yes, octipi can run out of ink, though I'm sure in time they make more.
By the way, I have Nate convinced that the paint shaking machine at the hardware store plays Twist and Shout while it's shaking paint.
Joe
ONE LAST VACATION REPORT. Vicki normally proofreads my newsletters, but this time she was so busy I simply read it aloud to her. Nate was sitting in the kitchen as I was doing this. When I got to the part where At one point Vicki spoke up and said, "Aren't you going to get some feedback from the kids on our vacation for the newsletter?"
I replied that we had been so busy since coming home that I hadn't had time to ask. Then, since Nate was sitting there I turned to him and asked, "Nate, what was your favorite part of our vacation?"
"Going to the Space Center!"
"And what did you like best about visiting the Space Center?"
"All of it!"
So there you have it, feedback from someone other than me.
MAKING UP FOR LOST TIME. Every time I go on vacation it seems like life throws double at me to make up for lost time. With all the rain we got while we were gone both yards looked pretty rough. Then Vicki had to get into gear with her work pretty quickly as she had scheduled a drive-in movie night for last Friday and has Centri-Kid and Vacation Bible School coming up.
We were double booked Friday evening. As I mentioned, Vicki had scheduled a movie at church, but we also had the Hancock reunion on the calendar. The reunion was held over at the Orlinda Community Center. The kids and I got over there before supper to visit -- Vicki was too busy to go -- and Mom brought Aunt Mar a little later. Unfortunately, their car had trouble on the way over there and gave out on them less than a mile from home. I was able to get them to the reunion, but they were quite late when they got there and had to leave early due to the fact that I needed to be at church for the movie.
FUN AT THE MOVIES. Vicki had a good turnout at church for her movie night. She started out with supper and games before it got dark enough to show the film. The boys and I have also built a model rocket and we shot that off a couple of times for everyone to enjoy. It is amazing how for downrange those things go even when there's no detectible breeze. One kid almost caught the rocket before it hit the ground.
SCATTERED TO THE FOUR WINDS. This week our family is scattered to the four wwinds -- well, two of the anyway. Vicki and Ben (along with over 20 others) are at Centri-Kid in Georgetown, Kentucky, and Jenna is with over 50 youth and chaperones at Mission-Fuge in New Orleans, Lousiana. Nate is not old enough to go to Centri-Kid (he will be next year) so he and I are at home.
Both camps are five days long so last weekend was all about washing clothes and packing. I took Jenna to church late Sunday night and their bus headed out a little after midnight. Then we got up early the next morning, drove to Springfield to pick up rental vans, and saw the kids off by 10:00. We get everyone back tomorrow. I've been in touch with everyone while they are away so I can report that all are doing well and having fun, but I'll save any details for the next newsletter.
ME AND MY SIDEKICK. Even though everyone is away I still have some time off from work so Nate and I have stayed busy all week. I think we've been on the road every day running errands in Nashville, Springfield, White House, Cross Plains, or Milldale. On top of all that we've painted the porch swing, set volleyball poles in concrete filled tires, bought a used mower, gotten Aunt Mar's car fixed, and fixed the tailgate on the van (the latch snapped on me leaving us no way to open the rear hatch), and purchased lumber to make a picnic table. We've gotten a lot done this week and I've thoroughly enjoyed paling around with Nate. We've also had fun playing marbles together. He's quite good.
One thing about spending time with an eight year old boy is that he's full of questions. You can be sure that I've fielded my share of them this week. The best, by far, was this one which was posed all out of the blue as we pulled up to church to run one of our many errands: "Dad, do octipusses ever run out of ink?"
That was such a good one we looked it up on the Internet, and yes, octipi can run out of ink, though I'm sure in time they make more.
By the way, I have Nate convinced that the paint shaking machine at the hardware store plays Twist and Shout while it's shaking paint.
Joe
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Family Vacation
We have been away on a much needed vacation. We visited the Cotter family in Orlando, played in the sand at Ormond Beach, and spent time with the Jones family in Athens on the way home. Here's some details of our traveling adventures.
DRIVING TO FLORIDA. We got on the road after Cub Scout camp was over on Friday, the 9th, and drove to Forsyth, Georgia, arriving around midnight. The next day we got back on the road and tackled the rest of the distance to Orlando. We didn't run into any traffic snags and the kids entertained themselves with movies the whole way so it was a very pleasant trip down.
TIME WITH THE COTTER FAMILY. An extra special part of our trip was that we got to see a lot of Uncle Bob and Aunt Linda even though we stayed across town with Jim, Dianna, and the boys.
We arrived by mid-afternoon on Saturday. Aunt Linda and Uncle Bob came over for supper a little later. After supper we enjoyed ice cream at the local Twistee Treat. It's really a good thing that we don't have one of these in Cross Plains.
We went to Jim and Dianna's church, First Baptist of Windermere (http://fbcwindermere.com/), Sunday morning. Lunch was a family birthday party for Chris who is turning 12. The guest list included both sets of Chris' grandparents and Dianna's sister and brother-in-law. After eating the kids played video games while the adults visited. Later that afternoon (after all the guests had left) we walked over to the community pool so the kids could swim.
On Monday we took an airboat tour on the St. Johns River (http://www.airboatridesatmidway.com/). We got to see a lot of Florida wildlife, including some great views of alligators and a bald eagle. We even got to hold a baby alligator at the end of the tour. We ate supper at the 4Rivers Smokehouse (http://4rsmokehouse.com/). I'd never had brisket before and really enjoyed it.
FUN IN THE SAND. On Tuesday, the 14th, we headed over to Ormond Beach. After checking in to our condo, finding some supper, and making a run to the store for supplies we were ready for a sunset stroll on the beach. We spent the next day playing in the surf and sand as well, though we did go out to eat at a restaurant we found last summer.
This year Volusia County and the neighboring area are experiencing a number of wildfires. Wednesday should have been a clear day with blue skies all around, but the smoke from the fires obscured all that and even made the high rise buildings a half mile down the beach hard to see. The odor of burning wood was strong. This was evident all week, but Wednesday was the worst day by far.
Friday was also a beach day. This time Dianna and the boys drove over to enjoy the morning with us (Jim had to work). We had a great time visiting and playing together.
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER. We took a break from the beach on Thursday to drive down to the Kennedy Space Center. There is a lot to see down there if you are a space history buff. When we arrived we took the bus tour that was part of our admission price.
The first stop on the tour was the launch pad observation deck. It was here that we could see the last space shuttle poised on the launch pad, ready for it's final trip next month, over a mile away. Unfortunately, the launch pad is situated where the tower and external fuel tank are about all you see, but it was neat to get as close as we did. The other stop on the tour was the old Apollo building where all sorts of hardware from the Apollo program is on display.
Back at the visitor center we enjoyed looking around at the exhibits on space probes, future missions to Mars, and the visiting Star Trek exhibit. We also took in the Shuttle Launch Experience. (Well, Vicki and Ben did that. I observed with Jenna and Nate.)
TIME WITH THE JONES FAMILY. We relocated again on Saturday, this time heading north to spend time with the Jones family. We got there in time for supper.
We enjoyed visiting, swimming, playing games, and watching movies together on this leg of our trip. We didn't get out except to go to church at St. Anna's (http://www.st-annas.com/) on Sunday and do a little shopping on Monday.
Tuesday we loaded the van and came home. While it is good to sleep in my own bed I can truly say this year I was not ready to come home. I still have some vacation time from work, and I'll enjoy getting some odd jobs done around here, but this year it was good to be away.
Joe
DRIVING TO FLORIDA. We got on the road after Cub Scout camp was over on Friday, the 9th, and drove to Forsyth, Georgia, arriving around midnight. The next day we got back on the road and tackled the rest of the distance to Orlando. We didn't run into any traffic snags and the kids entertained themselves with movies the whole way so it was a very pleasant trip down.
TIME WITH THE COTTER FAMILY. An extra special part of our trip was that we got to see a lot of Uncle Bob and Aunt Linda even though we stayed across town with Jim, Dianna, and the boys.
We arrived by mid-afternoon on Saturday. Aunt Linda and Uncle Bob came over for supper a little later. After supper we enjoyed ice cream at the local Twistee Treat. It's really a good thing that we don't have one of these in Cross Plains.
We went to Jim and Dianna's church, First Baptist of Windermere (http://fbcwindermere.com/), Sunday morning. Lunch was a family birthday party for Chris who is turning 12. The guest list included both sets of Chris' grandparents and Dianna's sister and brother-in-law. After eating the kids played video games while the adults visited. Later that afternoon (after all the guests had left) we walked over to the community pool so the kids could swim.
On Monday we took an airboat tour on the St. Johns River (http://www.airboatridesatmidway.com/). We got to see a lot of Florida wildlife, including some great views of alligators and a bald eagle. We even got to hold a baby alligator at the end of the tour. We ate supper at the 4Rivers Smokehouse (http://4rsmokehouse.com/). I'd never had brisket before and really enjoyed it.
FUN IN THE SAND. On Tuesday, the 14th, we headed over to Ormond Beach. After checking in to our condo, finding some supper, and making a run to the store for supplies we were ready for a sunset stroll on the beach. We spent the next day playing in the surf and sand as well, though we did go out to eat at a restaurant we found last summer.
This year Volusia County and the neighboring area are experiencing a number of wildfires. Wednesday should have been a clear day with blue skies all around, but the smoke from the fires obscured all that and even made the high rise buildings a half mile down the beach hard to see. The odor of burning wood was strong. This was evident all week, but Wednesday was the worst day by far.
Friday was also a beach day. This time Dianna and the boys drove over to enjoy the morning with us (Jim had to work). We had a great time visiting and playing together.
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER. We took a break from the beach on Thursday to drive down to the Kennedy Space Center. There is a lot to see down there if you are a space history buff. When we arrived we took the bus tour that was part of our admission price.
The first stop on the tour was the launch pad observation deck. It was here that we could see the last space shuttle poised on the launch pad, ready for it's final trip next month, over a mile away. Unfortunately, the launch pad is situated where the tower and external fuel tank are about all you see, but it was neat to get as close as we did. The other stop on the tour was the old Apollo building where all sorts of hardware from the Apollo program is on display.
Back at the visitor center we enjoyed looking around at the exhibits on space probes, future missions to Mars, and the visiting Star Trek exhibit. We also took in the Shuttle Launch Experience. (Well, Vicki and Ben did that. I observed with Jenna and Nate.)
TIME WITH THE JONES FAMILY. We relocated again on Saturday, this time heading north to spend time with the Jones family. We got there in time for supper.
We enjoyed visiting, swimming, playing games, and watching movies together on this leg of our trip. We didn't get out except to go to church at St. Anna's (http://www.st-annas.com/) on Sunday and do a little shopping on Monday.
Tuesday we loaded the van and came home. While it is good to sleep in my own bed I can truly say this year I was not ready to come home. I still have some vacation time from work, and I'll enjoy getting some odd jobs done around here, but this year it was good to be away.
Joe
Friday, June 10, 2011
I Think We Skipped June
Our hot weather trend is holding. The high temperature has been over 90°F every day this week. It definitely feels like we skipped June.
DAY CAMP. The boys have been attending Cub Scout Day Camp. Ben went to this camp in Springfield two years ago so we decided to send them back there this year. The boys have had a wonderful time (even though Nate got sick with a virus yesterday and missed two days). I would say the only advantage the camp they attended last year has over this one is that it runs in the evening when the sun is setting. The boys have participated in all sorts of sports (baseball, volleyball, flag football, etc.), made crafts, and had visits from the fire department, the police, and wildlife management people.
One of the big draws for these camps is the opportunity to earn the Archery and BB Gun belt loops. (Belt loops slip over the boy’s belt and represent and elective activity the boy has completed in Cub Scouting.) Boys can work on all belt loops on their own except these two due to safety reasons. The boys have done the BB Guns at camp before, but this year the activity really resonated with them. I’d say this has been a highlight of the camp.
One thing about having camp from 9:00 to 4:00 on 90°+ days, the boys are tired when they come home.
THEY JOY OF SHOOTING THINGS. There’s something about destruction that finds a special place in the heart of a boy. It’s not a far stretch for a boy to pretend most any object at hand is a weapon of some type -- usually a gun. When I say the BB gun activity resonated with the boys I mean this year they happened to remember I had my dad’s old pump action BB gun at home and asked to see it after the first day of camp. (My old BB gun was a spring action gun and has lost it’s punch, barely shooting a BB ten feet.) When I pulled it out of the closet we took an old pie pan out side and target practice was on.
Those two were in their element. It didn’t even bother them that their sister came out -- without any practice -- and got some great shots on the target. And when they shattered an old jar from about 30 feet away the fun went to a whole new level.
What was funny was when they ran out of ammo. Nate asked me if I had any more BBs and I thought I did. When I was a kid someone gave me a box of about 5,000 BBs. The Freelands and I shot up a lot of stuff when we were kids, but that box is still about ⅔ full. When I set it on the table in front of Nate his eyes almost popped out of his head. It was as if he was digging for gold and had struck the mother lode. Hopefully our windows will survive.
HOW’S THAT. Vicki and Jenna have enjoyed watching American Idol this season. I’ve not watched it much, but this year’s contestants have interested me enough to at least keep up. I would say our collective favorite is Haley Reinhart. We were disappointed when she was voted off.
The other night Jenna was trying to think of one of the songs Reinhart performed and kept coming up with a title which she knew wasn’t right. When she couldn’t figure it out on her own she asked me and Vicki about it saying, “What was the name of that song, House of the Dying Animal?” We both looked at her and said, “What!?”
It turns out Jenna was thinking of House of the Rising Sun, which gained wide popularity when it was recorded by the Animals in 1964 (though the song is much older than that).
It’s sort of funny how the mind can scramble details like that leaving you frustrated about things you know you should remember. We, of course, are getting a lot of mileage out of Jenna’s Dying Animal song.
Joe
DAY CAMP. The boys have been attending Cub Scout Day Camp. Ben went to this camp in Springfield two years ago so we decided to send them back there this year. The boys have had a wonderful time (even though Nate got sick with a virus yesterday and missed two days). I would say the only advantage the camp they attended last year has over this one is that it runs in the evening when the sun is setting. The boys have participated in all sorts of sports (baseball, volleyball, flag football, etc.), made crafts, and had visits from the fire department, the police, and wildlife management people.
One of the big draws for these camps is the opportunity to earn the Archery and BB Gun belt loops. (Belt loops slip over the boy’s belt and represent and elective activity the boy has completed in Cub Scouting.) Boys can work on all belt loops on their own except these two due to safety reasons. The boys have done the BB Guns at camp before, but this year the activity really resonated with them. I’d say this has been a highlight of the camp.
One thing about having camp from 9:00 to 4:00 on 90°+ days, the boys are tired when they come home.
THEY JOY OF SHOOTING THINGS. There’s something about destruction that finds a special place in the heart of a boy. It’s not a far stretch for a boy to pretend most any object at hand is a weapon of some type -- usually a gun. When I say the BB gun activity resonated with the boys I mean this year they happened to remember I had my dad’s old pump action BB gun at home and asked to see it after the first day of camp. (My old BB gun was a spring action gun and has lost it’s punch, barely shooting a BB ten feet.) When I pulled it out of the closet we took an old pie pan out side and target practice was on.
Those two were in their element. It didn’t even bother them that their sister came out -- without any practice -- and got some great shots on the target. And when they shattered an old jar from about 30 feet away the fun went to a whole new level.
What was funny was when they ran out of ammo. Nate asked me if I had any more BBs and I thought I did. When I was a kid someone gave me a box of about 5,000 BBs. The Freelands and I shot up a lot of stuff when we were kids, but that box is still about ⅔ full. When I set it on the table in front of Nate his eyes almost popped out of his head. It was as if he was digging for gold and had struck the mother lode. Hopefully our windows will survive.
HOW’S THAT. Vicki and Jenna have enjoyed watching American Idol this season. I’ve not watched it much, but this year’s contestants have interested me enough to at least keep up. I would say our collective favorite is Haley Reinhart. We were disappointed when she was voted off.
The other night Jenna was trying to think of one of the songs Reinhart performed and kept coming up with a title which she knew wasn’t right. When she couldn’t figure it out on her own she asked me and Vicki about it saying, “What was the name of that song, House of the Dying Animal?” We both looked at her and said, “What!?”
It turns out Jenna was thinking of House of the Rising Sun, which gained wide popularity when it was recorded by the Animals in 1964 (though the song is much older than that).
It’s sort of funny how the mind can scramble details like that leaving you frustrated about things you know you should remember. We, of course, are getting a lot of mileage out of Jenna’s Dying Animal song.
Joe
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Kicking Off Summer Break
I know a lot of this is our perception of things, but it has been amazing to me how two weeks ago it felt like we were having a cooler than average spring and then some time in the last week or so it feels like we've jumped straight into July. I know one morning during the last week of school I woke up and the house was definitely chilly -- so much so that I turned the heat on for an hour to make it comfortable for everyone else -- and by that afternoon the temperature hit 90°F and we haven't looked back. Ready or not, summer is here.
MOWER DRIVER TRAINING. I remember the first time I let Ben solo on the mower. We were in Pauline's side yard. He had been riding double with me and steering the mower for some time. We had been over some mower safety and since he was steering it well I decided to slip off the back of the mower. He drove about ten feet before realizing I was gone. He stopped and looked at me. I motioned him on and he mowed with the biggest grin on his face.
Nate's turn to solo was in Aunt Mar's yard on Monday. We mowed a couple of laps around the perimeter of the area I wanted him to cut, then I stopped and got off. He looked at me and I motioned him on. He sat there with his mouth wide open for a moment and then said, "I'm not ready to mow by myself."
I said, "Yes, I believe you are."
He wound up mowing for about half an hour and did a great job (and he's had much less experience steering from my lap). It was a big day for him.
PACKING. Vicki and the kids took a three day/two night trip to Pigeon Forge this week to enjoy Dollywood (I stayed home due to work). They left Tuesday and came back Thursday.
Tuesday morning I was going over the packing list Vicki had made up for the kids with Ben. After the third item Ben stopped me and said, "I know. I've packed everything on the list. I've even folded it, which was very irritating, because if Mom looked through my bag I didn't want her to see my underwear."
I really wanted to ask if he thought she closes her eyes when she's doing laundry. He also streaks up the stairs naked after taking a shower.
DOLLYWOOD. Last year Vicki took the kids to Holiday World and they were asking to go back this year, but Dollywood offers a deal where if you arrive at the park after 3:00 your tickets are good for the next day. She also found a hotel that offered discounts for Dollywood guests so the trip was all set.
I think the last time we visited Dollywood Jenna was in a stroller so this was a new experience for all of the kids. When I talked to them Tuesday night they told me it had been a fun day. The crowds were low and they got to ride more than they expected. Wednesday proved to be just as fun.
Jenna really enjoyed the Mystery Mine, the Barnstormer, the Tennessee Tornado, and Adventure Mountain. Nate also enjoyed Adventure Mountain as well as River Rampage, the race cars, and the Mountain Slidewinder. Ben never could decide on a favorite and said the whole park was fun, but Jenna said the two of them really enjoyed the roller coasters.
BASEBALL IS OVER. Ben played his last baseball game of the season yesterday. While his team's win-loss record leaves a lot of be desired I think all the boys had fun and it looked like they all made a lot of improvements. I've said this here before, but Ben got the opportunity to play every infield position except pitcher this year. He made plenty of mistakes, but he made a lot of good plays too. Thinking back over the season Ben commented that he thought it worked out well that his team wasn't one of the best. As he observed he probably wouldn't have gotten the chance to play so many infield positions. He certainly wants to play again next year. Right now he wants us to sign him up for fall soccer ... oh, boy!
IT'S ALL CRAP. “Crap” is not what we consider a "nice" word. Vicki and I don't use it in our normal speech and we don't let the kids use it unchallenged, however, the other day it worked it's way into a kitchen table conversation which got everyone laughing.
Ben almost never drinks any carbonated drinks (the boys complain that they're too "spicy"), but he came home from his last ball game with a free hot dog and Coke. While drinking his Coke he decided to read the nutrition label aloud and have everyone guess how many calories, etc. were in the drink. He messed up when he got to "carbs" and said "crap." He immediately knew something wasn't right which got all the giggling started. Nutritionally speaking, Vicki was correct when she said, "Oh, it's all crab," but that made the kids giggle all the more.
A moment later Nate asked, "What's crap?" When Jenna enlightened him he started giggling all over again.
Joe
MOWER DRIVER TRAINING. I remember the first time I let Ben solo on the mower. We were in Pauline's side yard. He had been riding double with me and steering the mower for some time. We had been over some mower safety and since he was steering it well I decided to slip off the back of the mower. He drove about ten feet before realizing I was gone. He stopped and looked at me. I motioned him on and he mowed with the biggest grin on his face.
Nate's turn to solo was in Aunt Mar's yard on Monday. We mowed a couple of laps around the perimeter of the area I wanted him to cut, then I stopped and got off. He looked at me and I motioned him on. He sat there with his mouth wide open for a moment and then said, "I'm not ready to mow by myself."
I said, "Yes, I believe you are."
He wound up mowing for about half an hour and did a great job (and he's had much less experience steering from my lap). It was a big day for him.
PACKING. Vicki and the kids took a three day/two night trip to Pigeon Forge this week to enjoy Dollywood (I stayed home due to work). They left Tuesday and came back Thursday.
Tuesday morning I was going over the packing list Vicki had made up for the kids with Ben. After the third item Ben stopped me and said, "I know. I've packed everything on the list. I've even folded it, which was very irritating, because if Mom looked through my bag I didn't want her to see my underwear."
I really wanted to ask if he thought she closes her eyes when she's doing laundry. He also streaks up the stairs naked after taking a shower.
DOLLYWOOD. Last year Vicki took the kids to Holiday World and they were asking to go back this year, but Dollywood offers a deal where if you arrive at the park after 3:00 your tickets are good for the next day. She also found a hotel that offered discounts for Dollywood guests so the trip was all set.
I think the last time we visited Dollywood Jenna was in a stroller so this was a new experience for all of the kids. When I talked to them Tuesday night they told me it had been a fun day. The crowds were low and they got to ride more than they expected. Wednesday proved to be just as fun.
Jenna really enjoyed the Mystery Mine, the Barnstormer, the Tennessee Tornado, and Adventure Mountain. Nate also enjoyed Adventure Mountain as well as River Rampage, the race cars, and the Mountain Slidewinder. Ben never could decide on a favorite and said the whole park was fun, but Jenna said the two of them really enjoyed the roller coasters.
BASEBALL IS OVER. Ben played his last baseball game of the season yesterday. While his team's win-loss record leaves a lot of be desired I think all the boys had fun and it looked like they all made a lot of improvements. I've said this here before, but Ben got the opportunity to play every infield position except pitcher this year. He made plenty of mistakes, but he made a lot of good plays too. Thinking back over the season Ben commented that he thought it worked out well that his team wasn't one of the best. As he observed he probably wouldn't have gotten the chance to play so many infield positions. He certainly wants to play again next year. Right now he wants us to sign him up for fall soccer ... oh, boy!
IT'S ALL CRAP. “Crap” is not what we consider a "nice" word. Vicki and I don't use it in our normal speech and we don't let the kids use it unchallenged, however, the other day it worked it's way into a kitchen table conversation which got everyone laughing.
Ben almost never drinks any carbonated drinks (the boys complain that they're too "spicy"), but he came home from his last ball game with a free hot dog and Coke. While drinking his Coke he decided to read the nutrition label aloud and have everyone guess how many calories, etc. were in the drink. He messed up when he got to "carbs" and said "crap." He immediately knew something wasn't right which got all the giggling started. Nutritionally speaking, Vicki was correct when she said, "Oh, it's all crab," but that made the kids giggle all the more.
A moment later Nate asked, "What's crap?" When Jenna enlightened him he started giggling all over again.
Joe
Monday, May 30, 2011
One Busy Week
School is finally out! That has been an added bonus to all the other things that have gone on during the week.
For Memorial Day the boys and I took the opportunity to pick up limbs and mow Aunt Mar's yard. We went back over there and grilled out for supper.
PRAYER REQUEST. I'd like to ask you to pray for Eric Hulsey who is a member at our church. Eric was injured in an explosion at his work on Friday. Over 75% -- possibly as much as 90% -- of his body is burned. Eric is in his 20s. He and his wife have two young boys.
73RD BOMB WING REUNION. I went to the 73rd Bomb Wing reunion again this year. The nice thing is that I didn't have to fly anywhere as the reunion was in Nashville. This afforded me the opportunity to take my scanner along and scan a lot of documents and pictures in their memorabilia collection.
The pre-flight social for the reunion was Wednesday evening and we had a friend of mine, Mark Lowe, come to speak. Mark is a certified genealogist and spoke on his Tennessee heroes. He touched on many well known names (like Davey Crockett and Daniel Boone) and some more obscure figures as well. His whole point was how valuable our stories are as we tell them to each other. He had the whole audience when he got everyone in the room to sing the theme song to the old Davey Crockett TV show. I heard several people say he was the best speaker they'd ever had.
Thursday night was the banquet so Vicki, Mom, and the kids dressed up and went with me to enjoy the evening. I am glad I got the chance to introduce them to many of the people I've met at reunions over the years.
I went back on Saturday for the luncheon. This is always the best part of the reunion for me as we are divided into smaller groups and the men take some time to tell their stories. All the stories are interesting and many take the opportunity to express pain they still feel some 66 years later.
GOOD-BYE MR. ROBERT. Robert Yates has been a fixture at our church for all my life and for many years before I came along. He passed away last Sunday evening. He was 98, and I think he was the last World War II veteran in our church family.
Mr. Robert was a layman wholly devoted to his service to God. He was elected as a deacon as a young adult and taught Sunday school for over 60 years. He lead music at church for many years as well. In 1998 Mr. Robert was interviewed for a video promoting the building program to build our current sanctuary. His words are a remarkable testimony to his devotion to God. I am including a transcript of this interview below though you can see it if you visit our church website (http://www.mtcarmel.cc/sermons/).
Joe
Robert Yates
Recorded in 1998
At one time I didn't really like to go to church. I'd rather been out playing ball or something like that, but we had to go. And we came here to church and back then we had one service a month. We wasn't able to pay a preacher full time so we had once a month he'd come in and spend the night with somebody and then he'd go off and we wouldn't see the preacher again for three of four weeks. At that time our church was pretty small and its grown mightly in the years that come.
When we first started coming to church here, the front of the we had two entrances to come in, [one] on each side. And of course, the auditorium was smaller than it is now 'cause we extended it back later on.
We had furnaces in here. [Mr. Robert is standing in the front of our old sanctuary and extends his arms to indicate where the stoves stood.] And the come up and we heated that-a-way. And I know a lot of them ... we had one old gentleman or two that would use that for a spittoon there [laughs] and I wouldn't want to call his name, but it's really changed since then. We didn't have near the modern conveniences we have now.
I also remember when we had our first basement in the church ... around behind there. All the different ones volunteered labor and came in there and dug out under there and the old part of it there was done then. And we thought we was really making progress at that time which we were, but nothing to compare with what's happened over the last few years.
I've seen so many changes in this church ... I think back about how it used to be and how it is today and you just can't believe it without you lived a long time ago. You see, I'm 86 years old and I've been to a lot of services here. And of course, I was elected a deacon when I was almost a boy. And I taught a Sunday school class when I was about twenty-something years old ever since, and I didn't do too good a job but at least I came every Sunday and tried.
And I'm thankful for my mother and father seeing that I come to church because if they hadn't brought me to church I'd never have gone. And that's an important thing for people to bring their children to church. They don't realize that they're going to shape their lives from what they learn when they're young.
And it's still a joy for me to come to church even though when you get old it's a little hard to get up and get ready, but it's still a joy. And I'm thankful for our church. Thankful for what it's done in the past and look forward to what it's going to do in the future. And actually, we haven't scratched the surface of what can be accomplished at Mt. Carmel. So it's a joy to have a little part in the growth of our church.
Prayer Request Update
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
For the benefit of those of you who do not live locally I will pass along what Roni Martin, our church secretary wrote earlier today as she says this so well.
For Memorial Day the boys and I took the opportunity to pick up limbs and mow Aunt Mar's yard. We went back over there and grilled out for supper.
PRAYER REQUEST. I'd like to ask you to pray for Eric Hulsey who is a member at our church. Eric was injured in an explosion at his work on Friday. Over 75% -- possibly as much as 90% -- of his body is burned. Eric is in his 20s. He and his wife have two young boys.
73RD BOMB WING REUNION. I went to the 73rd Bomb Wing reunion again this year. The nice thing is that I didn't have to fly anywhere as the reunion was in Nashville. This afforded me the opportunity to take my scanner along and scan a lot of documents and pictures in their memorabilia collection.
The pre-flight social for the reunion was Wednesday evening and we had a friend of mine, Mark Lowe, come to speak. Mark is a certified genealogist and spoke on his Tennessee heroes. He touched on many well known names (like Davey Crockett and Daniel Boone) and some more obscure figures as well. His whole point was how valuable our stories are as we tell them to each other. He had the whole audience when he got everyone in the room to sing the theme song to the old Davey Crockett TV show. I heard several people say he was the best speaker they'd ever had.
Thursday night was the banquet so Vicki, Mom, and the kids dressed up and went with me to enjoy the evening. I am glad I got the chance to introduce them to many of the people I've met at reunions over the years.
I went back on Saturday for the luncheon. This is always the best part of the reunion for me as we are divided into smaller groups and the men take some time to tell their stories. All the stories are interesting and many take the opportunity to express pain they still feel some 66 years later.
GOOD-BYE MR. ROBERT. Robert Yates has been a fixture at our church for all my life and for many years before I came along. He passed away last Sunday evening. He was 98, and I think he was the last World War II veteran in our church family.
Mr. Robert was a layman wholly devoted to his service to God. He was elected as a deacon as a young adult and taught Sunday school for over 60 years. He lead music at church for many years as well. In 1998 Mr. Robert was interviewed for a video promoting the building program to build our current sanctuary. His words are a remarkable testimony to his devotion to God. I am including a transcript of this interview below though you can see it if you visit our church website (http://www.mtcarmel.cc/sermons/).
Joe
Robert Yates
Recorded in 1998
At one time I didn't really like to go to church. I'd rather been out playing ball or something like that, but we had to go. And we came here to church and back then we had one service a month. We wasn't able to pay a preacher full time so we had once a month he'd come in and spend the night with somebody and then he'd go off and we wouldn't see the preacher again for three of four weeks. At that time our church was pretty small and its grown mightly in the years that come.
When we first started coming to church here, the front of the we had two entrances to come in, [one] on each side. And of course, the auditorium was smaller than it is now 'cause we extended it back later on.
We had furnaces in here. [Mr. Robert is standing in the front of our old sanctuary and extends his arms to indicate where the stoves stood.] And the come up and we heated that-a-way. And I know a lot of them ... we had one old gentleman or two that would use that for a spittoon there [laughs] and I wouldn't want to call his name, but it's really changed since then. We didn't have near the modern conveniences we have now.
I also remember when we had our first basement in the church ... around behind there. All the different ones volunteered labor and came in there and dug out under there and the old part of it there was done then. And we thought we was really making progress at that time which we were, but nothing to compare with what's happened over the last few years.
I've seen so many changes in this church ... I think back about how it used to be and how it is today and you just can't believe it without you lived a long time ago. You see, I'm 86 years old and I've been to a lot of services here. And of course, I was elected a deacon when I was almost a boy. And I taught a Sunday school class when I was about twenty-something years old ever since, and I didn't do too good a job but at least I came every Sunday and tried.
And I'm thankful for my mother and father seeing that I come to church because if they hadn't brought me to church I'd never have gone. And that's an important thing for people to bring their children to church. They don't realize that they're going to shape their lives from what they learn when they're young.
And it's still a joy for me to come to church even though when you get old it's a little hard to get up and get ready, but it's still a joy. And I'm thankful for our church. Thankful for what it's done in the past and look forward to what it's going to do in the future. And actually, we haven't scratched the surface of what can be accomplished at Mt. Carmel. So it's a joy to have a little part in the growth of our church.
Prayer Request Update
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
For the benefit of those of you who do not live locally I will pass along what Roni Martin, our church secretary wrote earlier today as she says this so well.
Dear Church Family,
As many of you are already aware, Eric Hulsey passed away last night at 5:30 pm. We are all so deeply saddened this morning for Heather, the boys, and their entire family. Please continue to lift all the family up in prayer. The journey ahead is going to be very difficult, but we will continue to surround Heather and the boys with our constant love for their family.
Eric has touched so many of us, always willing to help others, while always loving his beautiful family. We are all so blessed to have known Eric. We are thankful for his spirit, his faithful witnessing for Christ, and his love for his friends and family. May we all find comfort in knowing that we will see Eric again, and may we honor him, by continuing his good works in this church and our community.
Blessings, Roni
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