Saturday, June 25, 2011

John-Heathism #1: Erck

While on the way to our town's 4th of July celebration, Freedom Fest 2011, (yes, I know it's still June, but our town always celebrates a week early so that it doesn't have to compete with the larger surrounding communities for a crowd) John-Heath made this keen observation...




John-Heath: Huh. That road has an erck.


(John and I look at each other with confusion on our faces)


John: What's that, John-Heath?


John-Heath: You know, when cars stop real fast and go errrrk!



Erck: (noun) A long black mark left on a road surface from sliding or skidding tires of a motor vehicle. See also Skid Mark.









Friday, June 24, 2011

The Griswolds Go To Dollywood

Finally, on our way.

If I live to be 100 I will never forget the little trip I took to the mountains with my daughter, mother, sister and niece. One eventful day will remain seared into my memory forever.

We had planned to meet up with my nephew and his family (wife and two sons), who were themselves returning from a trip to South Carolina, at Dollywood, the theme park located in the hills of Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, for a fun-filled day. I’ll spare you all the details of my decision to wear denim capris, my nephew’s vehicle breakdown, search for a reputable mechanic so far from home, and how we all arrived so late to the park (as in 1:00 ish) due to the aforementioned car trouble, only to leave it (my sister and I) a little over an hour later to take our mother back to the hotel due to the heat. Okay, so maybe you don’t feel too spared right now, but believe you me, you have been.



Waiting in line for Daredevil Falls.


Anyway, after re-arriving at the park, my sister and I met up with her daughter-n-law and youngest grandson. By this point we were only a couple hours from closing time. Little Dylan had only been able to ride one ride (don’t even ask me how many times attractions had to be closed due to thunder/lightning and/or were closed for temporary repairs). The four of us decided to ride the River Rampage (I’m not certain but I think this may be the same one known as the Grizzly River Rampage from the old Opryland Theme Park, which was closed years ago to make room for the shopping mall Opry Mills, which is now itself still mostly closed due to the big Middle Tennessee flood of 2010).

I knew I would get wet on this ride. I always do. But I didn’t think I would get drenched from head to toe. It would have been an awesome ride had I not decided to wear those dang denim capris. Twice I was slapped in the face with bucketfuls of water, the same water that has probably been in the man-made river for 20 years. I know some got in my mouth. It’s a thousand wonders I have not yet come down with some waterborne illness. Can you get cholera in the United States? Anyway, I was done after that and said I would go wait near the exit until the 8 p.m. closing time. My pants were completely stuck to me. It was not a pretty sight. It felt even uglier.


Dylan is all smiles just after we strapped in on the River Rampage. The little stinker didn't get a drop on him.


Sometime around 8:30 my family makes their way to me. Luckily, I was all air-dried and feeling much better by this time. Before leaving the Emporium (the gift shop through which everyone must exit), we all stopped and bought fudge. Yum!


Finally, it was time to call it a day and board the open air tram which would take us to my sister’s van (we parked in the most remote lot). Again, due to the earlier car trouble, we would all be piling into the one vehicle.


Can you believe before we got to our parking area a thunderstorm developed and unloaded a torrential amount of rain and umpteen bolts of lightning on everyone dumb enough to have stuck around past closing time buying t-shirts, backscratchers, and fudge? Ours was one of a very few automobiles left in the lot - and in the very middle of it to boot. You should have seen everyone taking off, screaming, across the blacktop. My sweet nephew, after getting his youngest into the van, took pity on me and came back to escort me across the tempestouos battlefield.


Our view from the tram on the way back to our car - just before the skies broke loose.


He said it best when he remarked that you would have thought the Russians had turned on the United States and had picked Dollywood as their first attack target. Once again, I was soaked.

Hap Sadly, our little trip came to an end the next day, but I’m glad to be home.

And dry.

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Happy Father's Day...

...to all our dads out there, including my two favorite ones.


My children's daddy, John.

My daddy, Gene.

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Wearin' Dad's Clothes - Father's Day Photographs


Well, the search for a Father’s Day gift idea was not in vain. In cases like mine, it’s a good thing the internet exists because I am just nowhere near being the creative soul I was a wee few years ago. Of course, maybe the internet is partly to blame for that. Why be creative when you can Google?

Anyway, Ren and I are going out of town tomorrow afternoon with my sister and niece for a few days on a girls only trip, so I thought I would share with you what my children will be giving their dad and granddad on their special day a day early. I don’t think it will spoil the surprise factor - my dad doesn’t own a computer and John only reads this blog when I need to feed my ego and I have him read something on which I feel iffy.


A few more goodies await them inside their gift bags, made from lunch sacks and scrapbooking paper.



Working fast and secretively, I took some pictures of my children wearing some of their dad’s clothing, and later their Pa Gene’s clothing, and printed some 5x7 and 8x10 enlargements. A trip to T.J.Maxx produced some manly wood frames (or as close to wood as gets produced these days) in which the pics would be placed. I think they turned out pretty good. This idea is even sweeter when the children are all small and the shoes and clothes are over-sized in a more exaggerated way.


For John's pictures, Ren wears one of her dad's sweater vests and belt and John-Heath has on a tie and a pair of his shoes.











One shot in Dad's study.



Then it was time to head down to Pa Gene's and snap a few pics. John-Heath chose to wear his work boots and one of his old tool belts, while Ren opted for his mowing hat.








The three of us can hardly wait to give them their gifts tomorrow. Homemade gifts really are the best!



Thursday, June 16, 2011

A Father's Day Quandary

Image via



Once again I am waiting until the absolute last minute to plan for a holiday, Father's Day in this case. Buying for a nearly eighty-year-old can be tough.

Ties? He's got tons. Tools? Ditto. Candy? He's diabetic, so now I feel guilt when I buy it for him.

He has everything he needs and when I ask about something he may want, he always discourages me from spending any of my money. So, I'm leaning toward something homemade. Homemade items seem to please him most. To be a man, my father is very sentimental and would keep even a dirty tissue if one of his grandkids signed it. Yeah, that's a stretch, but not much of one.

Okay, time to start scouring the internet for ideas.

Oh, and John? Well, he's not that sentimental. He'll be fine with cash or alone time. :)

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

It's Hard Letting Go.

I well remember that first night after John and I brought our newborn daughter home from the hospital. Due to a rather large, rather uncomfortable incision across my lower abdomen I chose to "sleep" sitting on the sofa rather than stretch out (ouch) in my bed. Ren slept in her lace-covered bassinet, which was positioned just as close to me as possible. When that wasn't close enough, I took her out of her bed and made a nice nest for her on a pillow in my lap. I spent the entire night just watching her - making sure she was still breathing, safe. It was all I could do to keep my eyes open and I wondered if I would ever sleep worry-free again.

Those sleepless nights on the couch lasted for several days and I longed for the time when I would be able to lay down in my own bed and actually sleep.

Fast forward 15 years. The worry-free nights are about to be taken to a whole new level. Ren now has her driving permit. Even though she turned 15 in September, she wasn't really interested in getting her permit until recently - which was fine with her father and me. But now, the countdown is on for that day when she will have an official license and be on the road by herself, and I find myself wishing I could somehow turn back time - and have her nestled on a pillow in my lap again.


Monday, June 13, 2011

I Think They're Finally Gone.




Thank goodness! The past few weeks have been quite noisy, and my family was personally attacked on more than one occasion. Actually, one flew in the car window and planted itself smack dab between John-Heath's legs as we drove down the road. You should have seen the hysterics, mostly from Ren.

However, it now looks as if we're in the clear - at least for another 13 years.



A Birthday for My Little Cowboy!

This past Saturday we celebrated John-Heath's 6th birthday. Normally, we just celebrate his big day with family, but as he has begged for a while to have some friends come over (just like his big sis) we allowed him to invite a few. Of course, when making out the invites he wanted to invite everyone with whom he had been in kindergarten, including his teacher, but we told him for this party he just needed to start small. I knew he would be beside himself with excitement with only a few. Had a whole class of kids come, I would have probably ended up having to put him in a restraint jacket.

About one day before I sent out the invitations, he decided he would like to have a cowboy-themed party. So, on a schedule short of time and without breaking the bank, I tried to give my little guy something he would remember. It helps that there are so many people out there who have already done this type party. Their great ideas are almost limitless.



His invites were printed on construction paper which was glued to cardboard colored cardstock. I won't even tell you how long I worked on these trying to find the fonts I needed. It really is shameful, but I learned some valuable computer lessons in the process.
The first thing everyone got to do was have their picture taken in our homemade Wanted poster. I painted this in my kitchen the night before. The letters were cut from construction paper and Modpodged to the board and the bandana was added when everything was finally dry.



For a cowboy-themed relay game we had stick horse races. The horses were made from a horse head template printed on the computer and construction paper, which I later laminated, and yardsticks that I painted white.


They were told to gallop like a horse but I'm pretty sure John-Heath just ran.



And, of course, we had to play Pin the Tail on the Donkey.



I had several other games planned but, like John said, kids will make their own games up as they go along.




A homemade birthday banner, made from construction paper and letters cut from my Cricut, and hung using leather string and colored paper clips.



The glue stick I used yellowed a bit on the paper- but that just gave it a more vintage look I thought.



Beginning to gather around the kiddie table to eat. We served bbq, hotdogs, chips, baked beans, slaw, watermelon, strawberries, and soft drinks iced down in a large galvanized tub which sat in a corner of my kitchen floor.


Other than the birthday banner and a few balloons, the only decorations we had were canning jars filled with daisies around the house.


Even though we weren't going for a Toy Story look, this was the only cake I found on such short notice that had a cowboy theme. It came from Walmart and I thought it turned out pretty cute.



The sign on the gift table so the kiddos would know to take a treat bag when they left.



We made treat bags out of red and blue bandanas, tied with twine and a thank you card, and filled them with...



...western goodies, including old fashioned caramels, a sheriff's badge,a cactus stir stick, Chinese yo-yo (okay, but it was in the colors I needed), and a bag of gold (bubble gum sold at Cracker Barrel).



John-Heath saying goodbye to a couple friends.



The celebration finished up with an evening swim with the cousins...



...and a "wardrobe malfunction".



It was a great party! When asked what he liked the best, John-Heath quickly answered, "my presents, eating cake, and my friends coming over to play." He went to bed a happy boy. Success!





Linking up to some of these.

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Whew! I'm Ready for a Break.



A bunch of outlaws showed up at our home yesterday, and I'm bushed. More details to come - hopefully, tomorrow.


Friday, June 10, 2011

Now We Are Six


Now We Are Six


A.A. Milne


When I was one,
I had just begun.


When I was two,
I was nearly new.


When I was three,
I was hardly me.


When I was four,
I was not much more.


When I was five,
I was just alive.


But now I am six,
I'm as clever as clever.
So I think I'll be six
now and forever.



Happy birthday to my little boy - the sweetest, most mischievous little boy I know.





P.S.
Dear John-Heath,
Just so you'll know, the little yellow outfit you're wearing in your baby picture was made for your grandfather, John, by his grandmother, Martha Magnolia B. At the time you wore it, it was 76 years old.

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

In 1933...

Meg, Ren, Sissy, John-Heath, and my momma.



...many things happened. We were in the middle of the worst year of the Great Depression, the top soil of drought-ridden lands in the Midwest was stripped by strong winds causing dust bowls, FDR became the U.S. president, five-year-old Shirley Temple signed a contract with Fox, the original King Kong was shown to movie-goers, and the Loch Ness Monster was sighted for the first time in modern times.


But the greatest event for me personally that year was the birth of a baby girl named Betty Jean. 'Cause if she hadn't come along, you wouldn't be reading this right now.


Happy Birthday, Momma. I love ya!




How Much things cost in 1933
Average Cost of new house $5,750.00
Average wages per year $1,550.00
Cost of a gallon of Gas 10 cents
Average Cost for house rent $18.00 per month
Vacuum Cleaner $17.75
A loaf of Bread 7 cents
Newport Boulevard Ladies Hat $1.69
A LB of Hamburger Meat 11 cents
Silk and Rayon Stockings 39 cents a Pair
Plymouth 6 Car $445.00
Health Building Tonic 89 cents
Campbells Vegetable Soup 10 cents
1933 Vintage Radio $52.00
Average Laborers Wage $20.00 per week

Information obtained here.