Once a year, the bluebirds and the camp fire girls would have a fundraiser. We sold Russel Stover chocolates just like the girl scouts sell cookies. There were always prizes for those of us that sold the most and so forth. I think if we sold 50 we could go to camp for half the price, and if we sold 100 boxes the camp was free. Kathy was a camp fire girl at the same time I was a bluebird, so we would go out to sell the candy in our neighborhood together. She would take one side of the street and I would take the other. Mom or dad would drive the area we were selling in to carry all the boxes of candy. It is pretty hard for a couple little girls to carry very many of them. Plus sometimes the customer needed change.
We did sell enough to get reduced camp fees. I also found out, after a few years of experience, that the smaller you are the more you will sell. People just have a hard time saying no to a little girl in a uniform. To this day, I will buy just about anything a small child is selling.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Hives
One time in the middle of the night, I woke up to go to the bathroom. When I went to get out of bed I couldn't stand up on my feet. It was very scarey because I didn't know what was wrong with me. I got down on my hands and knees and crawled into mom and dad's room. Mom woke up just before I got to her bed. I was crying by then and told her I couldn't walk. How horrible that would be for any mother to hear!! She got me out in the living room where there was more light so we could figure out what the problem was. I had a very bad case of hives all over me, even on the soles of my feet!!
Good news was---I wasn't crippled, bad news was I felt miserable for a two or three days before the hives were completely gone. Mom had me putting a paste of baking soda and water on the hives and they did start getting better from the first application. I hated doing this because it was so messy. Mom also had me soaking in the tub a couple times a day---she put something in the water, it might have been baking soda also but I'm not sure.
As to the cause of the hives, we (well mom) thought it was probably because I had been eating so many tomatoes in the previous few days. I mean I ate a LOT of tomatoes. It was the season when you could get those big red-orange home grown ones. The flavor of these tomatoes were incredible (to a tomato lover.) I still love a good home grown variety of red orange-tomatoes!!!
Good news was---I wasn't crippled, bad news was I felt miserable for a two or three days before the hives were completely gone. Mom had me putting a paste of baking soda and water on the hives and they did start getting better from the first application. I hated doing this because it was so messy. Mom also had me soaking in the tub a couple times a day---she put something in the water, it might have been baking soda also but I'm not sure.
As to the cause of the hives, we (well mom) thought it was probably because I had been eating so many tomatoes in the previous few days. I mean I ate a LOT of tomatoes. It was the season when you could get those big red-orange home grown ones. The flavor of these tomatoes were incredible (to a tomato lover.) I still love a good home grown variety of red orange-tomatoes!!!
Monday, March 30, 2009
Our Ice Skating Rink
One winter Michelle and I and the two girls next door went to the creek (canal) and it was frozen over. We were sliding around on it and having a great time. All of a sudden though, the ice started cracking. The two friends were right by the sides of the creek and were able to get out quickly. Michelle and I were in the middle when the ice broke and we fell in. It was freezing cold as you could imagine! We couldn't climb out of the canal because it was so slippery. The girls on the bank were trying their best to pull us out but their feet kept slipping too. They finally did get me pulled out and the older friend and I were able to get Michelle out.
Needless to say, we were so cold and yet didn't want to go home because we thought we would be in big trouble. When we got home mom just put us in a nice warm bathtub--oh that felt so good. Neither one of us remember getting punished for that at all, I think mom just said something like you shouldn't have been over there in the first place.
Needless to say, we were so cold and yet didn't want to go home because we thought we would be in big trouble. When we got home mom just put us in a nice warm bathtub--oh that felt so good. Neither one of us remember getting punished for that at all, I think mom just said something like you shouldn't have been over there in the first place.
Fabrique Creek
What we called fabrique ( fab-reek) creek was actually a concrete drainage canal that went on for miles. The sides of it were a bit higher than we were tall. When it was dry Michelle and I would go exploring in it as if it were a cave. We knew that we were pushing our boundry line of where we could go, but actually we were right on the edge of that street we weren't suppose to go past. We chose not to disclose our explorations, not because we thought we would get in trouble, but because we would have been told not to go there anymore. This don't ask don't tell policy still let us explore and not be disobeying!!
We had such fun doing this. I don'tknow what in the world we thought we might discover, but you never know, there just might be something interesting just around the next corner. Our sister Kathy did not join us on these expeditions, but sometimes the two girls next door would come too.
I don't know how many miles that "creek" was, but it was quite a distance. We never did reach an end to it before deciding we had already come too far and had better head back the other way.
We felt like Lewis and Clark must have felt when they went exploring! lol
We had such fun doing this. I don'tknow what in the world we thought we might discover, but you never know, there just might be something interesting just around the next corner. Our sister Kathy did not join us on these expeditions, but sometimes the two girls next door would come too.
I don't know how many miles that "creek" was, but it was quite a distance. We never did reach an end to it before deciding we had already come too far and had better head back the other way.
We felt like Lewis and Clark must have felt when they went exploring! lol
My Shoplifting Spree
When I was probably five years old I went grocery shopping with mom. We went up and down the aisles getting a little of this and a little of that--just a few things we needed. When we were finished shopping we went to the checkout lane. We were in line for a little while so mom and I just talked some more. Once we got checked out and the groceries all put in the car, we got into the front seat to go home. Before mom even started the car, I offered her a piece of gum. The look on her face showed a bit of confusion as she asked me ("where did you get that gum?) I said that "they had some free ones by the cash register." Mom explained to me that they were for sale not free and that I had to take it back. I was really scared to take that gum back! I thought they might even put me in jail! These were the thoughts running through my mind as mom walked me back into the store. I handed the gum to the clerk and told her that I took it and didn't give her any money. She took it from me and asked me if I was ever going to do that again. I assured her that I wouldn't. She said "I'll let you go this time but don't be doing that anymore." I felt so relieved and happy as I walked out of the store and back to the car with mom.
I told mom that I thought they were free like the candies in the diners or restaurants. There just about always was a bowl of candy that said "take one" up by the cash register when we paid our bill. So I of course thought that the gum by the register was the same thing. I was a kid--they had free gum--I took one, simple enough huh?
My crime spree ended just that quickly!!
I told mom that I thought they were free like the candies in the diners or restaurants. There just about always was a bowl of candy that said "take one" up by the cash register when we paid our bill. So I of course thought that the gum by the register was the same thing. I was a kid--they had free gum--I took one, simple enough huh?
My crime spree ended just that quickly!!
Friday, March 27, 2009
Kathy's Room
When dad built on the addition to the house, he put Kathy's new bedroom directly behind Michelle's and mine. She had to come through our room to get to hers. They did it that way because they didn't want Kathy way out in the back of the house away from the rest of us. The other option would have been to have her door open up into the rec (recreation) room. She would have been pretty much closed off by herself back there.
Her room was off limits to Michelle and me, unless she invited us in. She had been ill and needed her quiet private space. Michelle and I respected this and left her alone.
Once in awhile, Kathy would let me sleep in her bed with her. This was really a big thing to me. Afterall, she was my big sister and I looked up to her. She was, and still is, very precious to me. The three of us sisters are still very close.
Her room was off limits to Michelle and me, unless she invited us in. She had been ill and needed her quiet private space. Michelle and I respected this and left her alone.
Once in awhile, Kathy would let me sleep in her bed with her. This was really a big thing to me. Afterall, she was my big sister and I looked up to her. She was, and still is, very precious to me. The three of us sisters are still very close.
Beech Day at Joyland
Joyland was our large amusement park in Wichita when I was a child. It catered more to older kids and adults, we had a Kiddyland for the small kids. Joyland was connected by a walking bridge to a regular park with a playground, pavillion and picnic tables.
Once a year in the summer, Beech aircraft would reserve Joyland for all of it's employees and their families. Mom would pack a big ole' picnic lunch and we would all head for the park. We went to the regular park first and found us a spot. We would unload all of our stuff and set up our picnic area. Mom and dad usually brought a blanket to spread out under a tree so they could relax while us kids went to the rides. This was our point of contact--this is where we were to all meet at certain times. It worked great and we always had a wonderful time. The picnic always tasted great also!!
One year (one of the years when I was a little older, probably around 10) I fell in love with the roller coaster. The octopus had always been my favorite up until then. I would get off of the roller coaster and get right back in line to go again. The line was not ever terribly long. This particular year I rode the roller coaster 23 times before they closed the park on me.
Although Joyland seemed big to us, it was nothing compared to the immense parks we have today like the Six Flags parks. We thought it was just the right size for us to have a great time, and we did!!
Once a year in the summer, Beech aircraft would reserve Joyland for all of it's employees and their families. Mom would pack a big ole' picnic lunch and we would all head for the park. We went to the regular park first and found us a spot. We would unload all of our stuff and set up our picnic area. Mom and dad usually brought a blanket to spread out under a tree so they could relax while us kids went to the rides. This was our point of contact--this is where we were to all meet at certain times. It worked great and we always had a wonderful time. The picnic always tasted great also!!
One year (one of the years when I was a little older, probably around 10) I fell in love with the roller coaster. The octopus had always been my favorite up until then. I would get off of the roller coaster and get right back in line to go again. The line was not ever terribly long. This particular year I rode the roller coaster 23 times before they closed the park on me.
Although Joyland seemed big to us, it was nothing compared to the immense parks we have today like the Six Flags parks. We thought it was just the right size for us to have a great time, and we did!!
Sunday Afternoon Drives
We always went to church on Sunday morning. When we got home we would change out of our Church clothes. Mom would usually make a special mid-afternoon meal such as a roast or fried chicken. We usually had quiet Sunday afternoons.
Once in awhile dad would suggest we go for a drive in the country. We would head out not knowing which direction the roads would take us. I always figured that dad knew exactly where we were though. We would be basically out in the middle of nowhere on gravel roads "enjoying the scenery". One time I asked him where we were and he said he didn't know. That bothered me a lot, my dad was always suppose to know where we were. So I got out a map to try to figure out where we were. Of course that couldn't be done because those country roads we were on weren't necessarily on the map. He did get us home though, surpringly enough to me, with no problem.
From then on I always tried to be sure that dad knew where we were!!
Once in awhile dad would suggest we go for a drive in the country. We would head out not knowing which direction the roads would take us. I always figured that dad knew exactly where we were though. We would be basically out in the middle of nowhere on gravel roads "enjoying the scenery". One time I asked him where we were and he said he didn't know. That bothered me a lot, my dad was always suppose to know where we were. So I got out a map to try to figure out where we were. Of course that couldn't be done because those country roads we were on weren't necessarily on the map. He did get us home though, surpringly enough to me, with no problem.
From then on I always tried to be sure that dad knew where we were!!
Howdy Doody
Another program on television that Michelle and I liked was Howdy Doody. Howdy was a red-headed freckled faced marionette. He wore blue jeans and a plaid shirt. Howdy's friend Buffalo Bob was the emcee and we also had Clarabell the clown. Clarabell didn't speak at all, he just honked a horn. Howdy had a sister named Heidi Doody and a twin brother named Double Doody. The audience consisted of a group of kids called the peanut gallery. It was a pretty funny show for little kids.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Soaky Eggs and the Cheerio Kid
Michelle loved cheerios. She ate them every morning even though she was always offered a variety of other choices. Not only were they good for breakfast, but she would eat them dry right out of the platic bowl. Mom called her the cheerio kid!
Although I liked cereal and ate it frequently, I don't remember having a favorite one. I liked cheerios too, but I also ate different kinds.
My favorite breakfast was an egg and toast. Mom would always ask me, "how do you want your egg today? I just about always said soaky. A soaky egg is one that the yolk is runny and good for dunking your toast in. The yolk "soaks" up. Of course the top of the egg yolk had to be white, which meant splashing a little bit of hot grease on it. Certainly not by turning it over! I guess you could call it a soaky egg with it's eye shut. lol
Although I liked cereal and ate it frequently, I don't remember having a favorite one. I liked cheerios too, but I also ate different kinds.
My favorite breakfast was an egg and toast. Mom would always ask me, "how do you want your egg today? I just about always said soaky. A soaky egg is one that the yolk is runny and good for dunking your toast in. The yolk "soaks" up. Of course the top of the egg yolk had to be white, which meant splashing a little bit of hot grease on it. Certainly not by turning it over! I guess you could call it a soaky egg with it's eye shut. lol
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Salt, Pepper and the Grease Can
In the forties and fifties, you could get more than just a salt and pepper set. You could also get a set with a matching grease can. It was metal and about six inches tall. It had a removable strainer and of course a lid. Whenever mom would fry bacon she would pour all the bacon grease in this grease can. She would then use the bacon grease for anything she was going to fry. I will mention in particular, that fried potatoes taste great fried in bacon grease. She would also pour any and all reusable grease in there too.
This was back before anyone knew or cared a whole lot about cholesterol, hardening of the arteries or saturate fats! Our grandparents who lived on farms ate fresh eggs almost every morning of their lives, not to mention milk straight from the cow and fresh churned butter.
This was back before anyone knew or cared a whole lot about cholesterol, hardening of the arteries or saturate fats! Our grandparents who lived on farms ate fresh eggs almost every morning of their lives, not to mention milk straight from the cow and fresh churned butter.
The Very First Wii System
We had what you could call the very first Wii interactive system! Mom bought Michelle and I a "Winky Dink and You" set. It had a soft clear plastic "screen" that you put on the front of your tv screen, and then special crayons to draw along with Winky. Winky always warned that we mustn't draw on the tv until we put up the plastic screen over it. lol We drew trails for him to get out of mazes and different toys to play with or tools to work with ect.
So, you see, the interactive technology started with Winky and I'll bet none of you reading this even knew that!! lol
So, you see, the interactive technology started with Winky and I'll bet none of you reading this even knew that!! lol
Our First Television
Back a few years before we bought the stereo I talked about in the "dancing with dad " blog, we bought our first new television. It was in a blonde wood cabinet with doors you could open or close. On one side was the t.v. and the other side was a record player. Us girls had never seen such a thing so were very enthused and curious about it. We only got three channels, so it was easier to decide what to watch than it is now with so many channels to choose from.
It didn't take long however, for a conflict to happen. Michelle and I loved the "Mickey Mouse Club" and Kathy always wanted to watch "American Bandstand". Of course the only fair solution was to take turns---you know share, alternate days ect.
It didn't take long for dad to censor a show. I'll guarantee you that he did not need a v-chip to do so either. He simply said so, and that was it. Once again I will say, for the most part, we were very obedient girls. If he said don't watch it, then we didn't watch it. Simple enough huh? He didn't like Superman because it wasn't "real" or something very similar to that. Can you imagine, banning Superman when there is so much trash on tv now.
In the evenings we watched shows like The Hit Parade, Perry Como Hour, Dean Martin Show, and let's not forget the "really big show" Ed Sullivan . There were a lot more obviously but these are the ones that came to mind first. Oh yeah, Red Skelton!!
It didn't take long however, for a conflict to happen. Michelle and I loved the "Mickey Mouse Club" and Kathy always wanted to watch "American Bandstand". Of course the only fair solution was to take turns---you know share, alternate days ect.
It didn't take long for dad to censor a show. I'll guarantee you that he did not need a v-chip to do so either. He simply said so, and that was it. Once again I will say, for the most part, we were very obedient girls. If he said don't watch it, then we didn't watch it. Simple enough huh? He didn't like Superman because it wasn't "real" or something very similar to that. Can you imagine, banning Superman when there is so much trash on tv now.
In the evenings we watched shows like The Hit Parade, Perry Como Hour, Dean Martin Show, and let's not forget the "really big show" Ed Sullivan . There were a lot more obviously but these are the ones that came to mind first. Oh yeah, Red Skelton!!
Monday, March 23, 2009
Back to School
It seems I was just about as excited to go back to school in the fall, as I was to get out for the summer. I had a lot of friends that I didn't see all summer and was excited to get back together with them. Also my Bluebirds/Camp Fire Girls didn't meet in the summer and I really liked going to my meetings again.
We always had a few new dresses, going to private school the girls all had to wear dresses. Mom would take us school clothes shopping every fall and get each of us three new dresses. We of course still had some dresses that still fit us from before, plus sometimes we got a couple of hand me downs. I loved getting some of the dresses that Kathy once wore, I really liked them. I even tried to talk mom in to the fact that they fit me, when they were still too big for me. We also always got a pair of saddle oxfords, black and white leather shoes. When us girls would complain or try to talk her into another kind of shoe she would say that the oxfords "wore well".
We didn't have backpacks, we had notebook binders that would hold a few books and zipped shut all the way around three sides. It had inside pockets for various supplies and had the rings for three hole notebook paper. We also got our spiral notebooks, new pens, pencils and erasers ect. I loved new school supplies, before I could messy them up!
We always had a few new dresses, going to private school the girls all had to wear dresses. Mom would take us school clothes shopping every fall and get each of us three new dresses. We of course still had some dresses that still fit us from before, plus sometimes we got a couple of hand me downs. I loved getting some of the dresses that Kathy once wore, I really liked them. I even tried to talk mom in to the fact that they fit me, when they were still too big for me. We also always got a pair of saddle oxfords, black and white leather shoes. When us girls would complain or try to talk her into another kind of shoe she would say that the oxfords "wore well".
We didn't have backpacks, we had notebook binders that would hold a few books and zipped shut all the way around three sides. It had inside pockets for various supplies and had the rings for three hole notebook paper. We also got our spiral notebooks, new pens, pencils and erasers ect. I loved new school supplies, before I could messy them up!
The Good Old Summertime
What kid doesn't like summer? I can still remember how I felt on the last day of school before summer vacation started. I was so excited about all the fun I would have playing outside all day.
We had so many games to play with all the neighbor kids and had so much fun. We all got along very well most of the time considering the differences in our ages. Then sometimes I would just play something different with just one or two of the kids. Sometimes I liked just going off by myself to do something. One of my favorite things to do was to climb trees. There was a large church yard across the street and up about half a block. In that yard was a fantastic climbing tree. I loved to climb it way up as high as I could go, and then just relax up there and watch and listen to the birds. I thought that was so beautiful and so peaceful. It became my "quiet" place.
Once in awhile in the evening, dad would say "hey, why don't we all go to the dairy queen?" Of course he never got any objections to that suggestion. Not one of us ever said no! lol I usually got a root beer float. I really liked those a lot when I was a kid. Once in awhile the ice cream man would come by our neighborhood playing "pop goes the weasel" on his truck speaker. Oh, how exciting that was!! A couple of us would stand guard by the street so he wouldn't go past, and the other one of us would run in to get some money. We always got to get an ice cream, but he didn't come by all that often---maybe once a week or so. I like fudgesicles and orange popsicles!
We had so many games to play with all the neighbor kids and had so much fun. We all got along very well most of the time considering the differences in our ages. Then sometimes I would just play something different with just one or two of the kids. Sometimes I liked just going off by myself to do something. One of my favorite things to do was to climb trees. There was a large church yard across the street and up about half a block. In that yard was a fantastic climbing tree. I loved to climb it way up as high as I could go, and then just relax up there and watch and listen to the birds. I thought that was so beautiful and so peaceful. It became my "quiet" place.
Once in awhile in the evening, dad would say "hey, why don't we all go to the dairy queen?" Of course he never got any objections to that suggestion. Not one of us ever said no! lol I usually got a root beer float. I really liked those a lot when I was a kid. Once in awhile the ice cream man would come by our neighborhood playing "pop goes the weasel" on his truck speaker. Oh, how exciting that was!! A couple of us would stand guard by the street so he wouldn't go past, and the other one of us would run in to get some money. We always got to get an ice cream, but he didn't come by all that often---maybe once a week or so. I like fudgesicles and orange popsicles!
Sunday, March 22, 2009
California, There We Went!
One trip we took, we went all the way to California. We had a few relatives who lived in southern California to visit. There was dad's oldest sister Aunt Hazel, Uncle Christie and their son Charles. Their other son and his family, Guy and Carrie, lived out there also. I know we went out there at Christms time becaues I have some pictures of Christmas morning in their house.
I don't know exactly what year it was, but I know we went to Disneyland and it opened for the first time in July of 1955. We were probably there in '55, but might have been '56. All I really remember about Disneyland is that big castle by the entrance and riding on Dumbo the flying elephant. We went out and saw the Rose Parade Floats where they store them until parade day. Dad and mom liked this better than us girls, but that is okay. We also went to the San Diego Zoo while we were out there.
We took a tour boat out to Santa Catalina Island. That was a lot of fun. When you looked over the side of the boat, it looked like a whole lot of bubble bath!! Mom agreed with me that it did, but said I was making her very nervous looking over the side of the boat!! She kept ahold of the waist of my jeans all the while I was looking. Mom's are great for things like that!!
We also went out on a glass bottom boat, that was neat. We could see all the sea animals swim by underneath us.
All in all, it was a great trip. But then we never took a bad one, we always had a great time.
I don't know exactly what year it was, but I know we went to Disneyland and it opened for the first time in July of 1955. We were probably there in '55, but might have been '56. All I really remember about Disneyland is that big castle by the entrance and riding on Dumbo the flying elephant. We went out and saw the Rose Parade Floats where they store them until parade day. Dad and mom liked this better than us girls, but that is okay. We also went to the San Diego Zoo while we were out there.
We took a tour boat out to Santa Catalina Island. That was a lot of fun. When you looked over the side of the boat, it looked like a whole lot of bubble bath!! Mom agreed with me that it did, but said I was making her very nervous looking over the side of the boat!! She kept ahold of the waist of my jeans all the while I was looking. Mom's are great for things like that!!
We also went out on a glass bottom boat, that was neat. We could see all the sea animals swim by underneath us.
All in all, it was a great trip. But then we never took a bad one, we always had a great time.
Friday, March 20, 2009
The Indian Pow-Wow
One of the trips we went on took us to southern NewMexico and a lot of indian reservations. Remember now, it was probably around 1953 or so, which would make me 8 yrs old. I can't remember what our accomadations were on that trip, whether we were camping or staying in a motel. My memory just can't pull that one up.
At night after dark, we went to an indian pow-wow. There were a lot of indians in their native dress or costumes and they were doing their various kinds of dances around a bon-fire. It was actually very exciting to me because I had never seen a "real" indian except on television, and you know how they were portrayed on tv. There happened to be this one indian sitting right in front of me. He had on all his feathers and such and he had on a vest with no shirt. Well, guess what? That vest looked so soft to me, and the more I looked at it the more curious I became about how it would feel. I figured it was some kind of velvet or suede and would feel really nice. You got it!! I reached out my hand and ran my fingers down part of his back. He turned around so fast it scared me and my folks too. When he saw me he just smiled and turned back around. And for the record, that vest was a very soft and fuzzy suede. I didn't reach out and touch it again though!
At night after dark, we went to an indian pow-wow. There were a lot of indians in their native dress or costumes and they were doing their various kinds of dances around a bon-fire. It was actually very exciting to me because I had never seen a "real" indian except on television, and you know how they were portrayed on tv. There happened to be this one indian sitting right in front of me. He had on all his feathers and such and he had on a vest with no shirt. Well, guess what? That vest looked so soft to me, and the more I looked at it the more curious I became about how it would feel. I figured it was some kind of velvet or suede and would feel really nice. You got it!! I reached out my hand and ran my fingers down part of his back. He turned around so fast it scared me and my folks too. When he saw me he just smiled and turned back around. And for the record, that vest was a very soft and fuzzy suede. I didn't reach out and touch it again though!
The Toucher
I have always been a toucher. I always feel the need to know if something is soft, silky, fuzzy, furry, smooth, rough---you get the picture. I have been this way since I was a small child. I use to cuddle up close to mom in church and run my fingers up and down her furry jacket. If I walk through a bed and bath department in a store, you can bet that I touch and squeeze every comforter they have. Same thing in the clothing departments, I like to feel the fabrics and how soft they are. If something says, "try me", touch me" "squeeze me" "push" or "pull me",you can bet that I will be doing that. Afterall, a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do!!
White Sands, Picnic Breakfast and the Red Streak
Since it was around 50 to 55 years ago, I can only remember a few incidents of different trips we took. I remember waking up from my snuggly nap place in the back of the car, and saying "why are we parked in all of this snow". We were in White Sands, New Mexico and everywhere you looked it was white as if it were snow. Kathy, Michelle and I treated it like snow too. We ran to the top of one of the many hills of sand, and slid down it leaving a streak print all the way down. That was a lot of fun.
I can remember us traveling down the road and then stopping at a rest area. Dad and mom would get out the ice chest and coleman stove and they would cook us a meal. The one I remember the most was bacon and pancakes, makes my mouth water just thinking about it. Everything alwys smells and tastes so good when it is cooked outside.
One time we had stopped in a picnic area of one of the state parks to have some lunch. We had the ice chest out and were eating sandwiches. Once we were finished eating, we were just relaxing and us girls of course were playing around. Then we saw them, a couple small deer at the edge of the picnic area. One started coming toward me. At first I thought it was cute, but it kept coming closer and closer, and I kept stepping back. I turned around and took off running down the drive, toward the car where my daddy was putting up the ice chest, with that little deer running after me. When I reached dad and ran in behind him, my hero remember, the deer just stopped and casually walked off into the woods. Mom always liked to tell this story. She said "I turned tail and run, and all they could see was a red streak". She was referring to the red jacket I had on. The little deer just thought I had something to give him to eat. I would well imagine that he got fed a lot there by that picnic area.
I can remember us traveling down the road and then stopping at a rest area. Dad and mom would get out the ice chest and coleman stove and they would cook us a meal. The one I remember the most was bacon and pancakes, makes my mouth water just thinking about it. Everything alwys smells and tastes so good when it is cooked outside.
One time we had stopped in a picnic area of one of the state parks to have some lunch. We had the ice chest out and were eating sandwiches. Once we were finished eating, we were just relaxing and us girls of course were playing around. Then we saw them, a couple small deer at the edge of the picnic area. One started coming toward me. At first I thought it was cute, but it kept coming closer and closer, and I kept stepping back. I turned around and took off running down the drive, toward the car where my daddy was putting up the ice chest, with that little deer running after me. When I reached dad and ran in behind him, my hero remember, the deer just stopped and casually walked off into the woods. Mom always liked to tell this story. She said "I turned tail and run, and all they could see was a red streak". She was referring to the red jacket I had on. The little deer just thought I had something to give him to eat. I would well imagine that he got fed a lot there by that picnic area.
Yellowstone Park
One of my best memories of a trip is the one we took to Yellowstone Park. We camped and had a great time there. Mom cooked on a little coleman stove. We had a bonfire at night because it gets cold up in the mountains in the evening. We pitched a tent and that is where mom and dad slept. Us girls slept in the car. Dad had put the middle and the back seats down so we had a nice bed. We didn't have to worry about the bears either because the bears couldn't get to us in the car (or so we thought). It made us feel safe to believe that, so that is what was important. I worried some that the bears would get mom and dad in their tent but they reassured me that they were safe. We did have to tie our ice chest up in a tree at night so it wouldn't attract any hungary bears.
The last morning we were there, we took the tent down and loaded up all our stuff and went to see the geysers and mudpots. Old Faithful spurted on time and the mudpots stunk something awful----like sulpher or rotten eggs. When we were at the steaming water I asked my dad if it was really hot, thinking it could be fog or something else coming up off of it. He told me to stick a finger in there and check for myself. Of course it was hot alright!!
When we were finished touring the park we left and went off to another point of our vacation. I can't remember where we went next.
The last morning we were there, we took the tent down and loaded up all our stuff and went to see the geysers and mudpots. Old Faithful spurted on time and the mudpots stunk something awful----like sulpher or rotten eggs. When we were at the steaming water I asked my dad if it was really hot, thinking it could be fog or something else coming up off of it. He told me to stick a finger in there and check for myself. Of course it was hot alright!!
When we were finished touring the park we left and went off to another point of our vacation. I can't remember where we went next.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Vacation trips
We went on a lot of vacations in the summer. I think my first memories of taking a long road trip was at about age 6. It was after we had moved to Wichita. We had a station wagon. The middle seat and the far back seat would both fold down completely flat. When we went on a trip, we would fold down the back seat to put some of our stuff in (and then they'd put a thick folded blanket all over the top of it ). The middle seat of course was left up so the three of us girls could sit on it. We put a lot of our bags ect. in a luggage rack on top of the car. I loved riding in the back end, curled up on that thick blanket, with the sun beating in the back window all toasty- --I would usually go to sleep. Of course the rest of the family liked me there too, because when I was sleeping I couldn't be Koochie-Kooing anyone.lol Funny thing is---we always went west, sometimes it was southwest, sometimes it was northwest and sometimes straight west (the middle). We went to all the national parks and some of them we camped in.
We played a lot of silly games on the road, keeping us busy and passing time. It is the same games I played with our kids when we were traveling. One game we played was one person would pick something and then we would all try to find one, like a windmill, silo, barn ect. When it was Danny's turn one time he picked a "truck with a lot of trees on it" He meant a lumber truck. I said to him we would never find one of those in the area of the country we were in and wouldn't you know in about five minutes we met one coming toward us. That was pretty funny!
I hope I didn't confuse anyone here because I skipped generations. I started this out when I was six and ended with a trip with my children. I'm explaining it for our future generations.
We played a lot of silly games on the road, keeping us busy and passing time. It is the same games I played with our kids when we were traveling. One game we played was one person would pick something and then we would all try to find one, like a windmill, silo, barn ect. When it was Danny's turn one time he picked a "truck with a lot of trees on it" He meant a lumber truck. I said to him we would never find one of those in the area of the country we were in and wouldn't you know in about five minutes we met one coming toward us. That was pretty funny!
I hope I didn't confuse anyone here because I skipped generations. I started this out when I was six and ended with a trip with my children. I'm explaining it for our future generations.
Sewing and the Yellow Tutu
Around the age of ten I started wanting to sew. Mom showed me the basics of how the machine worked. One of the best pieces of advice she gave me was to keep my fingers out from under the needle. This proved to be great advice because I never did sew across any of my fingers!! I mostly sewed for Michelle's dolls. I made gathered skirts, nightgowns and doll blankets.I really enjoyed doing this and the usually very active child was able to sit still for quite some time to do this.
All this "play"sewing paid off in the future for me. I made straight A's in my sewing class two years in a row. At my private school it wasn't home education it was just sewing. I made a beautiful lined four piece suit in my sophomore year. And guess what--the sewing machines at school were treadle. Ain't that a HOOT!!!
Later on in life, I made most of my maternity tops when I was pregnant with Danny. Once Laura came along I made most of her little dresses. I always had her dressed so cute until she reached the age to pick out her own clothes and she mostly wanted jeans. When we were in Germany the second time from 1976 to 1979, I made a lot of my own clothes---they were beautiful. I also made a ballet costume for Laura. The only pattern available over there at the time was a junior girls size 7. Laura was six years old!! It was undoubtedly the hardest thing I ever made, but I did get it done and it looked great. She wore it to dance a couple minutes and then it was over. What is not over is the memories of her and me trying it on quite often and trying so hard to get it to fit her little body. I was so proud of her because she looked so pretty and I was proud of myself for a job well done. I must say "I teared up again."
All this "play"sewing paid off in the future for me. I made straight A's in my sewing class two years in a row. At my private school it wasn't home education it was just sewing. I made a beautiful lined four piece suit in my sophomore year. And guess what--the sewing machines at school were treadle. Ain't that a HOOT!!!
Later on in life, I made most of my maternity tops when I was pregnant with Danny. Once Laura came along I made most of her little dresses. I always had her dressed so cute until she reached the age to pick out her own clothes and she mostly wanted jeans. When we were in Germany the second time from 1976 to 1979, I made a lot of my own clothes---they were beautiful. I also made a ballet costume for Laura. The only pattern available over there at the time was a junior girls size 7. Laura was six years old!! It was undoubtedly the hardest thing I ever made, but I did get it done and it looked great. She wore it to dance a couple minutes and then it was over. What is not over is the memories of her and me trying it on quite often and trying so hard to get it to fit her little body. I was so proud of her because she looked so pretty and I was proud of myself for a job well done. I must say "I teared up again."
The Clothesline
Although we had an automatic washing machine once we got to Wichita, we did not have a clothes dryer. We had clotheslines outside, I think there were five lines tied to the poles. I was always embarrassed to have our underwear hanging outside for everyone to see. Well to begin with, everyone couldn't see them because they were in the backyard. Our backyards were bordered by our neighbors backyards as usual. Whenever it was my turn to hang out the laundry I would put the linens on the outside lines and then hang all of our underwear on the inside lines. I thought that was a much better way of doing things. This was several years before we got the 6' redwwod fence.
Our New Swimming Pool
We had an in-ground swimming pool installed in our yard. We had some company do it for us of course. They sent in one of those big machines that does digging, the one with a claw on it. I can't think of what those are called, but you know what I mean. The yard was really a mess while the installation of the pool was going on but it was well worth. It was a nice sized pool, six foot deep at one end and four foot deep at the shallow end. We even had a diving board that we all enjoyed a lot. One rule on the pool---us girls were not to swim unless mom or dad were home. So in the summertime we would be waiting for them to get home from work with our swimming suits on!! The pool had a bright blue lining so it looked like the water was a beautiful blue. I looked at a few color slides (pictures) this past weekend and found some of our pool. The slides did not do the pool justice because they were faded with time. Afterall, what do I expect after fifty some years.
We put in a large patio the width of our house and a sidewalk around the pool. The cement we used was a brick red color--it looked so nice. We had a 6' redwood fence installed around our yard and dad built us a redwood picnic table. He also built a grotto in one corner of the yard and mom put a white statue of the Virgin Mary on it. All together it looked great and we enjoyed it so much.
We put in a large patio the width of our house and a sidewalk around the pool. The cement we used was a brick red color--it looked so nice. We had a 6' redwood fence installed around our yard and dad built us a redwood picnic table. He also built a grotto in one corner of the yard and mom put a white statue of the Virgin Mary on it. All together it looked great and we enjoyed it so much.
House growing smaller
As us girls grew in size the house seemed to be shrinking. We just didn't have near as much room as we use to. Mom and dad decided we needed to make the house a little bigger. They built on to the back of the house---the whole width of the house. Kathy got a new bedroom all to herself, so that made mine and Michelle's room seem a little roomier. We also got a new recreation room (family room), we called it the rec room. Then there was a fairly small room that mom called a sewing room, even though I don't recall seeing her sew in there.
The three new rooms had black floor tile.The rec room and the sewing room had wood paneling. Kathy's room was painted a real bright hot pink. We loved this room. Mom and dad had worked side by side to build us the extension to the house. This was not unusual for them, they worked side by side doing most things. Dad was quite a good builder and mom stayed busy holding boards, tools or "fetching something" for him. It also wasn't unusual to see her swinging a hammer or using some other tool.
We moved the furniture from the living room into our new rec room and then bought new furniture for the living room. We didn't even use the living room much after that, it just looked nice.
The three new rooms had black floor tile.The rec room and the sewing room had wood paneling. Kathy's room was painted a real bright hot pink. We loved this room. Mom and dad had worked side by side to build us the extension to the house. This was not unusual for them, they worked side by side doing most things. Dad was quite a good builder and mom stayed busy holding boards, tools or "fetching something" for him. It also wasn't unusual to see her swinging a hammer or using some other tool.
We moved the furniture from the living room into our new rec room and then bought new furniture for the living room. We didn't even use the living room much after that, it just looked nice.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Cecilia Pearson
I had done this story some time ago and then deleted it because I didn't think it was something anyone would necessarily want to read. However, I was telling the story to my daughter Laura while we were driving back to Oklahoma on Monday. She seemed to get a kick out of it so who knows, maybe someone else will too.
When I was six years old and in the first grade, I had a best friend named Cecilia Pearson. We were as close as two peas in a pod. The teacher learned very early in the school year not to sit me near Cecilia because I already was a bit too chatty in class and was in trouble for it quite often. We sat beside each other on the bus and played together at recess. Even though she only lived a few blocks up our street, we were too little to go to each others houses unless our mom's drove us or walked us. We were able to get together a lot though, sometimes we would have sleepovers, we called it a slumber party even though it was just her and I. Come to think of it we didn't stay up very late either like some slumber parties do. We played a lot on my swingset and in the summer we would run through water sprinklers or get in our little wading pool. We were buddies alright!!!!
Cecilia had her blonde hair fixed in ringlets. She always looked so sweet.
Then one day, TROUBLE! I got on the school bus and Cecilia was sitting with a girl named Paula!
I certainly didn't like Paula horning in between Cecilia and me. In fact it really hurt my feelings, or made me mad (probably both). I was telling mom about it when I got home from school because mom knew a lot about fixing problems. She suggested that the next morning to just ask them if all three of us could be friends. How simple is that? Not to six year old. So I took mom's advice and guess what? It worked!! From then on the three of us were best friends. At the end of the school year Cecilia's dad got transferred to Salina and I never saw her again. I was so sad. But at least I still had Paula!! lol
When I was six years old and in the first grade, I had a best friend named Cecilia Pearson. We were as close as two peas in a pod. The teacher learned very early in the school year not to sit me near Cecilia because I already was a bit too chatty in class and was in trouble for it quite often. We sat beside each other on the bus and played together at recess. Even though she only lived a few blocks up our street, we were too little to go to each others houses unless our mom's drove us or walked us. We were able to get together a lot though, sometimes we would have sleepovers, we called it a slumber party even though it was just her and I. Come to think of it we didn't stay up very late either like some slumber parties do. We played a lot on my swingset and in the summer we would run through water sprinklers or get in our little wading pool. We were buddies alright!!!!
Cecilia had her blonde hair fixed in ringlets. She always looked so sweet.
Then one day, TROUBLE! I got on the school bus and Cecilia was sitting with a girl named Paula!
I certainly didn't like Paula horning in between Cecilia and me. In fact it really hurt my feelings, or made me mad (probably both). I was telling mom about it when I got home from school because mom knew a lot about fixing problems. She suggested that the next morning to just ask them if all three of us could be friends. How simple is that? Not to six year old. So I took mom's advice and guess what? It worked!! From then on the three of us were best friends. At the end of the school year Cecilia's dad got transferred to Salina and I never saw her again. I was so sad. But at least I still had Paula!! lol
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Dad's funeral & touring Louisville, Flush, and Wamego
Just got back from going "uphome" for my father's (George Wendell Younge) funeral. We had a memorial mass at St. Bernard Church in Wamego Kansas. We laid him to rest beside my mother (Mary Lucille "Lu" Younge). It was a very nice service and my sister Kathy gave a great eulogy. He will be missed a lot by all of us. This was March 14, 2009.
Although we were brought together for a sad and somber reason, we all had a great time afterwards. It is the first time we have all been together for a long time. We had a barbecue at the motel after the service and just really enjoyed ourselves.
A group of us went on a sightseeing trip to Louisville and the Flush area. We saw the incredible house that I described in a couple of my earlier blogs. The one with the wrap around porch, lattice work, beautiful flowers, great trees and a huge lawn that goes clear down to the creek. It is the one in Louisville where my dad was raised and later belonged to my Aunt Vivie. It was a terrible unkempt mess. It looked like a slum---the whole town looked like a slum! I wanted to post about it for the record, but I choose to remember it the way it was when I was a small child climbing trees and playing on the fantastic porch and porchswing.
On the way home we also found my childhood home in Wichita, Kansas. My address was 1215 Waverly Drive. Although the home has been remodeled, and our beautiful swimming pool has long ago been filled in and gone, at least it wasn't trashed like the other one. I will still remember it the way it was almost sixty years ago. Sometimes long ago memories are much better than reality and this is one of those cases.
We also went to a few old cemeteries and found a lot of my ancestors graves. We found both sets of my grandparents and most of my dad's brothers and sisters. We also found a few of my mothers brothers and sisters.
A group of us also went to the Oz museum in Wamego, Ks. My granddaughter Sarah just loved it and was so excited to get to go see it.
There is more to tell, of course, but I will let some of the other bloggers fill in the blanks.
Although we were brought together for a sad and somber reason, we all had a great time afterwards. It is the first time we have all been together for a long time. We had a barbecue at the motel after the service and just really enjoyed ourselves.
A group of us went on a sightseeing trip to Louisville and the Flush area. We saw the incredible house that I described in a couple of my earlier blogs. The one with the wrap around porch, lattice work, beautiful flowers, great trees and a huge lawn that goes clear down to the creek. It is the one in Louisville where my dad was raised and later belonged to my Aunt Vivie. It was a terrible unkempt mess. It looked like a slum---the whole town looked like a slum! I wanted to post about it for the record, but I choose to remember it the way it was when I was a small child climbing trees and playing on the fantastic porch and porchswing.
On the way home we also found my childhood home in Wichita, Kansas. My address was 1215 Waverly Drive. Although the home has been remodeled, and our beautiful swimming pool has long ago been filled in and gone, at least it wasn't trashed like the other one. I will still remember it the way it was almost sixty years ago. Sometimes long ago memories are much better than reality and this is one of those cases.
We also went to a few old cemeteries and found a lot of my ancestors graves. We found both sets of my grandparents and most of my dad's brothers and sisters. We also found a few of my mothers brothers and sisters.
A group of us also went to the Oz museum in Wamego, Ks. My granddaughter Sarah just loved it and was so excited to get to go see it.
There is more to tell, of course, but I will let some of the other bloggers fill in the blanks.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Stitches
I had two sets of stitches in my childhood. The first set was when I was about three years old. Mom had taken me out to the outhouse to use the potty before I went to bed. We had a flashlight, but I tripped and missed the first step leading back into the house. I hit my chin on the threshold of the door.
The second set was quite a bit later when we were living in Wichita. I was probably about 10 yrs. old. Kathy, Michelle and I were playing croquet in the back yard. That is a game where you use a wooden mallet to hit a wooden ball through wire wickets. One of the rules is that if you hit an opponents ball you could put your own ball up against it and whack it hard with your mallet and send it off across the yard. I was doing this to Michelle's ball, and she got all excited and started swinging her mallet around in circles. I was bent over getting ready to make my shot and her mallet came up and hit me on my forehead up by my hairline. I did blackout for a fews seconds and did literally see stars. It didn't really hurt, it was kind of numb, but I got scared and started crying and running into the house because of all the blood. Michelle of course felt terrible. Mom and dad had to take me in to get some stitches. This is one case for sure that it did hurt her (Michelle) more than it did me. I felt really sorry for her.
The second set was quite a bit later when we were living in Wichita. I was probably about 10 yrs. old. Kathy, Michelle and I were playing croquet in the back yard. That is a game where you use a wooden mallet to hit a wooden ball through wire wickets. One of the rules is that if you hit an opponents ball you could put your own ball up against it and whack it hard with your mallet and send it off across the yard. I was doing this to Michelle's ball, and she got all excited and started swinging her mallet around in circles. I was bent over getting ready to make my shot and her mallet came up and hit me on my forehead up by my hairline. I did blackout for a fews seconds and did literally see stars. It didn't really hurt, it was kind of numb, but I got scared and started crying and running into the house because of all the blood. Michelle of course felt terrible. Mom and dad had to take me in to get some stitches. This is one case for sure that it did hurt her (Michelle) more than it did me. I felt really sorry for her.
Playing with my sisters
I loved playing with my sisters most of the time. lol With Kathy, I mostly recall playing board games and a lot of outdoor games. That is where all the softball, dodgeball, kickball, kick the can and those type of games I mentioned in my earlier blog came in. We had so much fun playing outside together and with the neighborhood kids. We loved the high jump that dad made for us and riding our bikes together. We also did a lot of roller skating and hula hooping.
In the winter, all three of us would have so much fun out in the snow doing the same things that kids of today do. We had a sled that had wood slats for the top and had rudder type blades connected to the bottom . We had a great hill down about half a block from us---it was a nice long hill just perfect for sledding. It was a whole lot more fun going down the hill than walking back up!! We also had snowball fights---one day we were having a snowball fight with three brothers that lived across the street and I don't remember exactly what happened but Kathy got so mad and was crying and dad came out and got all over the boys. He told them that from now on they are to stay on their side of the street and we would stay on ours. Our hero came to the rescue again!!!
Other than outside games, Michelle and I mostly played with our dolls. In fact I played dolls probably a year longer than most girls my age because I really had fun doing it. I felt kind of guilty because I knew I was really to old to be playing with dolls. I told Michelle that if she told any of our friends that I played with dolls that I wouldn't play it with her anymore. She didn't tell and we kept playing.
Michelle and I also liked playing with paper dolls. We found that we liked making our own better than the store bought ones. We would take an old catalog and look through it for our "cute kids" and good looking parents. We would cut them out and have quite a family!! We played for hours doing this---what fun!!
In the winter, all three of us would have so much fun out in the snow doing the same things that kids of today do. We had a sled that had wood slats for the top and had rudder type blades connected to the bottom . We had a great hill down about half a block from us---it was a nice long hill just perfect for sledding. It was a whole lot more fun going down the hill than walking back up!! We also had snowball fights---one day we were having a snowball fight with three brothers that lived across the street and I don't remember exactly what happened but Kathy got so mad and was crying and dad came out and got all over the boys. He told them that from now on they are to stay on their side of the street and we would stay on ours. Our hero came to the rescue again!!!
Other than outside games, Michelle and I mostly played with our dolls. In fact I played dolls probably a year longer than most girls my age because I really had fun doing it. I felt kind of guilty because I knew I was really to old to be playing with dolls. I told Michelle that if she told any of our friends that I played with dolls that I wouldn't play it with her anymore. She didn't tell and we kept playing.
Michelle and I also liked playing with paper dolls. We found that we liked making our own better than the store bought ones. We would take an old catalog and look through it for our "cute kids" and good looking parents. We would cut them out and have quite a family!! We played for hours doing this---what fun!!
Dancing With Dad
Dad really loved to dance. Him and mom would go out dancing quite often while us girls were small. We had a stereo in the living room that was actually two large pieces of furniture. Each piece was a blonde wood box about four feet high and three feet wide. They both had lids that lifted up from the top. The one piece was the record player and also had some speakers below that. The other piece was a storage place for the record albums plus it had speakers also. They had them across the room from each other to get the best stereo effect. For my future great grandchildren I will say that a record album was (or is) a large round black vinyl disc about the size of a small pizza. It had grooves in it so when the needle was placed on the spinning record it would play music. My mom and dad had quite a few record albums and most of them were instrumentals. They were different orchestras. The only one I can recall the name of is Ray Coniff. We played them quite a bit and once in awhile dad would dance with us girls. He said we danced as good as the women friends he would dance with when they went out for the evening. I don't really think we did, that's just the way dad's are with their "little girls".
Uncle Felix and me
Uncle Felix was my favorite uncle on my mom's side of the family. He was so much fun---he was 10 times ornrier than I ever thought of being. He was always pulling something! He in turn thought I was a HOOT. We got along famously, as they would say. Us girls stayed with him and Aunt Mabel, I guess it was because maybe mom and dad took a little trip but don't really know for sure. I do remember that Uncle Felix and I went somewhere in the car. (they were living on the farm at the time). To go anywhere and get back we had to use gravel roads, that is what there is in the country. We were riding along having a good time, I was sitting in the front seat with him. We started going around a curve and all of a sudden my car door flew open and I started sliding out of the car. He grabbed me just in time by my ankle!! It was quite scarey. From then on when we went anywhere in the car, I sat right up next to him.
Kathy and I were taught to play cards at a very young age. The game of choice back then was a card game called "Pitch". One evening, mom, dad, Uncle Felix, Aunt Mabel, Kathy and I were at their house and we all decided to play a game. (Michelle was still a bit too young to play cards.) Well I was sitting up there thinking I was as big as the rest of them, and of course using my very best manners. Uncle Felix went into the kitchen and got us all a glass of soda. A bit later I picked up my glass and took a little sip and I spilled just a little bit on my dress. Well, I wiped it off trying not to bring any attention to myself over it. We went on playing cards. I went to take another drink of my coke and I spilled a little bit on me again---I was really embarrassed because I usually wasn't messy at all and I was trying so hard to be a big girl and watch my manners! About that time, I looked over at Uncle Felix and he was cracking up--I had not disappointed him at all with my reactions to his prank. He had given me a dribble glass!!!
Kathy and I were taught to play cards at a very young age. The game of choice back then was a card game called "Pitch". One evening, mom, dad, Uncle Felix, Aunt Mabel, Kathy and I were at their house and we all decided to play a game. (Michelle was still a bit too young to play cards.) Well I was sitting up there thinking I was as big as the rest of them, and of course using my very best manners. Uncle Felix went into the kitchen and got us all a glass of soda. A bit later I picked up my glass and took a little sip and I spilled just a little bit on my dress. Well, I wiped it off trying not to bring any attention to myself over it. We went on playing cards. I went to take another drink of my coke and I spilled a little bit on me again---I was really embarrassed because I usually wasn't messy at all and I was trying so hard to be a big girl and watch my manners! About that time, I looked over at Uncle Felix and he was cracking up--I had not disappointed him at all with my reactions to his prank. He had given me a dribble glass!!!
Going Up Home & Milking a Cow with Uncle Johnny Mayers
Whenever we would go back to the Louisville, Wamega area for a visit we would say we are going up home. We would go for a weekend and we took turns staying at mom and dad's sides of the family. We would spend the nights at one place but we would take some of the time to go visit a few of the others. Remember, my mom had 11 brothers and sisters in the area and dad was one of seven. One of dad's brothers, Hank, lived in Hawaii so we didn't see him unless he came to our house. Two of his sisters, Pauline and Hazel, lived in California for awhile and then moved to Wamega. That left aunt Vivy (in the huge house and wrap around porch, good climbing trees, and the large yard that went all the way down to a creek) and Uncle Elmer and Aunt Gertie who had adopted a boy named Richard who was my age, in Louisville. However, my very favorite aunt and uncle lived out on a farm! Aunt Mildred (the youngest of dad's sisters) and her husband Uncle Johnny were so much fun. Uncle Johnny called me Stonewall Jackson, I don't really know why---he just did. Kathy, Michelle and I were their littlest neices and they got such pleasure and fun out of us. All the other neices and nephews on dad's side were teenagers and adults by the time us girls came along. We were their "babies". I loved staying out at their place on the farm, there was just so much for a busy little girl to do. Uncle Johnny would take me out to the barn and I'd just hang out with him. He taught me how to milk a cow!! Well, let's say he showed me how to do it, but when I would squeeze the "faucet" it wouldn't work!! He'd show me again and yet when I tried it still wouldn't work. He would laugh till tears came to his eyes---I often had that effect on him! I'll write about mom's side of the family next time, I think this one is long enough---don't want to get boring and lose your attention!
Monday, March 9, 2009
Christmas Eve
We would start our Christmas Eve tradition by going out to eat at a nice restaurant. We would all head out to the car and then mom would say something like, "oh, I forgot my purse, you all go on ahead and warm up the car and I'll be right out." She would be out in a few minutes and then we would be on our way. Every year we went to El Charro's restaurant. I always ordered shrimp, I've always loved shirmp even as a small child. The first time I ordered them I had checked if it was okay with dad because the price was a bit higher than other choices. That was the one night of the year that we could order anything on the menu we wanted. I had had a bite of shrimp before so I knew that I loved it. The first time I had my own plate of them I really went to town, no one had told me that they had tails!! I just thought that part of the shrimp was really crunchy!! Of course I knew better all the following years when I also would order shrimp.
After we finished our meals we took a drive down "Christmas Tree Lane". It was a beautiful drive with all kinds of lights and displays. It was quite enchanting to us kids--some of the displays would move around and some were just gorgeous lights. It was a fifties version of all the "Christmas in the parks" and "Boulevard of ligts." Sometimes when we were finished looking at all of that we would drive through a few neighborhoods looking at their lights. Then either mom or dad would say something like, " I wonder if Santa Clause came yet?" I would imagine you can guess what three little girls in the backseat said. So we all decided to go home and check to see if he came or not.
Guess what, while all five of us were gone for the evening, Santa had come and left our gifts for us! Talk about excited!! So we got to open our gifts. We all took turns opening a present so we could see what everyone else was getting too. When we were small, Michelle and I always got new dolls, we loved to play with dolls and kathy had already outgrown playing with them . Kathy did get a beautiful doll to set on her bed one year--I can still remember what it looked like. One year Michelle and I got Terri Lee dolls, bunk beds for them and a little closet to hang their clothes in. We also had a metal dollhouse that you put together by putting the metal tabs into the slots and then pressing them down. Nothing like Barbie's dreamhouse!! It was kind of small but then so were the people and the furniture.
We always got a new dressy outfit to wear to church. After the gift opening, we had time to play with everything for awhile. Then we put on our new dresses and went to Midnight Mass. It was always such a beautiful service with the choir singing religious Christmas songs.
I knew this one would be very long. Hope you all enjoy it!!
After we finished our meals we took a drive down "Christmas Tree Lane". It was a beautiful drive with all kinds of lights and displays. It was quite enchanting to us kids--some of the displays would move around and some were just gorgeous lights. It was a fifties version of all the "Christmas in the parks" and "Boulevard of ligts." Sometimes when we were finished looking at all of that we would drive through a few neighborhoods looking at their lights. Then either mom or dad would say something like, " I wonder if Santa Clause came yet?" I would imagine you can guess what three little girls in the backseat said. So we all decided to go home and check to see if he came or not.
Guess what, while all five of us were gone for the evening, Santa had come and left our gifts for us! Talk about excited!! So we got to open our gifts. We all took turns opening a present so we could see what everyone else was getting too. When we were small, Michelle and I always got new dolls, we loved to play with dolls and kathy had already outgrown playing with them . Kathy did get a beautiful doll to set on her bed one year--I can still remember what it looked like. One year Michelle and I got Terri Lee dolls, bunk beds for them and a little closet to hang their clothes in. We also had a metal dollhouse that you put together by putting the metal tabs into the slots and then pressing them down. Nothing like Barbie's dreamhouse!! It was kind of small but then so were the people and the furniture.
We always got a new dressy outfit to wear to church. After the gift opening, we had time to play with everything for awhile. Then we put on our new dresses and went to Midnight Mass. It was always such a beautiful service with the choir singing religious Christmas songs.
I knew this one would be very long. Hope you all enjoy it!!
Pre-Christmas events
The Christmas season is always so magical and enchanting to little kids, and ours were especially so, to us anyway. Of course it would always start with selecting just the right tree. Absolutely no artificial trees!!! We would all go to the tree lot together and look over all the trees and decide on which one was just the perfect one for us. We would (well dad and the lot owner) tie it to the top of our car and off we would go. Dad would saw off the bottom of the tree a little bit and get it standing up straight in the tree stand. Mom and dad would put all the lights on after checking that they all worked. There were always a few that needed replacing. Us girls would be sitting patiently until it was time for us to help decorate the rest of the tree. Once we were finished hanging all the ornaments then we had to put on all the icicles---they all had to be hung one strand at a time to look beautiful. When all was finished dad would plug in the lights and we would all stand back and look with delight at our gorgeous Christmas tree. Then of course we needed to set up our nativity scene in front under the tree. After all, it was Jesus birthday.
I remember all the holiday baking that mom and dad did together. They really enjoyed doing this and everything smelled and tasted so yummy!!! Us kids got to frost and decorate the Christmas cookies--that was so much fun, not to mention a bit messy. lol I remember them making fudge and divinity---the hard way let me tell you. Back then you had a candy thermometer and these candies had to be boiled to a hard ball stage, some of them to a soft ball stage. That means when you put a little glob of it in a glass of water, it is suppose to form a hard, or soft, ball.
Then of course we all had our holiday shopping to do and wrap. I remember mom usually had a small stack of empty boxes in her closet she had saved up for gift wrapping purposes. One time she went in there and asked what ever happened to a large gift box. Without even batting an eye I said "that's the one I used to wrap your towels in!". Then, once it was out, I put my hand over my mouth because I had just told her what her gift was. We both just laughed and laughed about that one.
Several times we would go out driving to look at Christmas lights. We would for sure always go to this real ritzy neighborhood because they really went all out decorating everything. I will never forget the smell of our house this magical time of year. It smelled so good, like pine trees for sure, and sometimes liked mom and dad just baked something else "real smelly". Yum!!
I will add, you cannot get the same pine tree smell, that a real tree has, out of an aerosol can!! People do try to do this, but they are just deluding themselves.
I remember all the holiday baking that mom and dad did together. They really enjoyed doing this and everything smelled and tasted so yummy!!! Us kids got to frost and decorate the Christmas cookies--that was so much fun, not to mention a bit messy. lol I remember them making fudge and divinity---the hard way let me tell you. Back then you had a candy thermometer and these candies had to be boiled to a hard ball stage, some of them to a soft ball stage. That means when you put a little glob of it in a glass of water, it is suppose to form a hard, or soft, ball.
Then of course we all had our holiday shopping to do and wrap. I remember mom usually had a small stack of empty boxes in her closet she had saved up for gift wrapping purposes. One time she went in there and asked what ever happened to a large gift box. Without even batting an eye I said "that's the one I used to wrap your towels in!". Then, once it was out, I put my hand over my mouth because I had just told her what her gift was. We both just laughed and laughed about that one.
Several times we would go out driving to look at Christmas lights. We would for sure always go to this real ritzy neighborhood because they really went all out decorating everything. I will never forget the smell of our house this magical time of year. It smelled so good, like pine trees for sure, and sometimes liked mom and dad just baked something else "real smelly". Yum!!
I will add, you cannot get the same pine tree smell, that a real tree has, out of an aerosol can!! People do try to do this, but they are just deluding themselves.
Going uptown
Living in a city like Wichita, we had stores of different kinds scattered here and there all over town. We didn't have any shopping malls at all, not the big ones we have today with all the indoor corridors and all. Seems we had a few "strip malls"---a few stores built together under one roof that you had to access from the front sidewalk. Usually these were like a grocery store and a drugstore type of building. For serious shopping we went uptown!!
Oh, how I loved going uptown to shop. There were block after block of all different kinds of stores. All of these stores had gigantic storefront windows, almost as big as the front of their store. The real impressive ones were on a corner so had two windows of this size. They were exceptionally fun to look at during the Christmas season because of the elaborate holiday displays they all had. All the santa's and elves, reindeer and toys all moving, doing their own thing!! We would walk around and watch all of them--it was so awesome! We would be all bundled up for the cold, and our little cheeks and noses would be so red. We would take some time out from window shopping to do our actual Christmas gift shopping. Then of course we would have to stop someplace to warm up with a cup of hot chocolate.
We had Woolworth's dimestore (often called the five and dime). Im not sure why, because you couldn't buy much of anything in there for that price. We had drugstores with luncheon counters, shoe stores (Kinney's comes to mind, but we had more than that). Department stores were abundant. We had Sears, Penney's and Montgomery Wards (yes they have been around since the early fifties). Mom always call Montgomery Wards---Monkey Wards. Why I do not know, I don'tknow if that if something clever she came up with herself or if it is just what they called it back then. Kind of like calling Walmart---Wallyworld!! And no---we did not have Walmart, Kmart or Target. We had no dollar stores.
We had a least one movie theatre uptown. It was called "The Orpheum" and we could go to a movie, get popcorn or a candybar plus a soda all for less than fifty cents. There were a couple other theatres uptown too but I can't remember their names.
Oh, how I loved going uptown to shop. There were block after block of all different kinds of stores. All of these stores had gigantic storefront windows, almost as big as the front of their store. The real impressive ones were on a corner so had two windows of this size. They were exceptionally fun to look at during the Christmas season because of the elaborate holiday displays they all had. All the santa's and elves, reindeer and toys all moving, doing their own thing!! We would walk around and watch all of them--it was so awesome! We would be all bundled up for the cold, and our little cheeks and noses would be so red. We would take some time out from window shopping to do our actual Christmas gift shopping. Then of course we would have to stop someplace to warm up with a cup of hot chocolate.
We had Woolworth's dimestore (often called the five and dime). Im not sure why, because you couldn't buy much of anything in there for that price. We had drugstores with luncheon counters, shoe stores (Kinney's comes to mind, but we had more than that). Department stores were abundant. We had Sears, Penney's and Montgomery Wards (yes they have been around since the early fifties). Mom always call Montgomery Wards---Monkey Wards. Why I do not know, I don'tknow if that if something clever she came up with herself or if it is just what they called it back then. Kind of like calling Walmart---Wallyworld!! And no---we did not have Walmart, Kmart or Target. We had no dollar stores.
We had a least one movie theatre uptown. It was called "The Orpheum" and we could go to a movie, get popcorn or a candybar plus a soda all for less than fifty cents. There were a couple other theatres uptown too but I can't remember their names.
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Easter
Since it is fast approaching another Easter I thought I would write about our Easters when I was a little girl. I doubt that it is a whole lot different than the traditions of today, and I'm also sure I don't remember all there is to say on the subject. Parts of it are pretty hazey but I'll do my best.
We didn't color the Easter eggs. The Easter bunny did that before he brought them to us. He would hide them outside if the weather was good, but if it wasn't he would hide them around the house. I liked it best when he hid them outside. We would run around with our new Easter baskets, looking for those eggs as if they were golden. And of course we would carefully place them in our baskets as all little excited children would do. lol
We always got our fair share of candy too. Lots of jelly beans we got to pick out of all that artificial grass in our baskets. There were different candies of different shapes and sizes and of course some of them were chocolate.
One year we got little baby chicks. They were so small, so soft and fluffy. We loved them so much but we knew from the beginning that we couldn't keep them--they would be going back to the farm the next day. They couldn't be very hapy living in our house in the city. We were all okay with that and just played and loved on them while we could. Seems like we got little ducklings one year too with the same understanding that they were going to be gone soon.
We always got a new Easter outfit to wear to church . I mean these were dressy outfits. The dresses were usually some kind of silky material, like organza or satin and always trimmed up real fancy with lace or ruffles. The dresses were only the beginning. We also got Easter hats (bonnets), white patton dress shoes, lacey socks, white gloves and a nice little purse. Mom always got her new outfit too and we sure looked sharp when we went to church!!
We didn't color the Easter eggs. The Easter bunny did that before he brought them to us. He would hide them outside if the weather was good, but if it wasn't he would hide them around the house. I liked it best when he hid them outside. We would run around with our new Easter baskets, looking for those eggs as if they were golden. And of course we would carefully place them in our baskets as all little excited children would do. lol
We always got our fair share of candy too. Lots of jelly beans we got to pick out of all that artificial grass in our baskets. There were different candies of different shapes and sizes and of course some of them were chocolate.
One year we got little baby chicks. They were so small, so soft and fluffy. We loved them so much but we knew from the beginning that we couldn't keep them--they would be going back to the farm the next day. They couldn't be very hapy living in our house in the city. We were all okay with that and just played and loved on them while we could. Seems like we got little ducklings one year too with the same understanding that they were going to be gone soon.
We always got a new Easter outfit to wear to church . I mean these were dressy outfits. The dresses were usually some kind of silky material, like organza or satin and always trimmed up real fancy with lace or ruffles. The dresses were only the beginning. We also got Easter hats (bonnets), white patton dress shoes, lacey socks, white gloves and a nice little purse. Mom always got her new outfit too and we sure looked sharp when we went to church!!
Friday, March 6, 2009
School morning wake up call
We had to get up a little earlier than most kids because mom and dad both worked. We needed to be up, cleaned up, dressed and fed before mom and dad left for work. They left about a half hour before we needed to go to the bus stop.
Dad was our "waker upper" while mom started some breakfast. I loved dad being the "waker upper" because of the way he did it. He would come in and gently shake us to rouse us a little, and we would automatically roll over to lay on our tummies. Then he would give us a little backrub, oh wow--to be woke up every school day morning with a little back massage. When he was finished and would start going toward Michelle to give her's to her, I would moan, "just a little more daddy!" Sometimes he would give me just a little more, and sometimes he would give me a gentle pop on the behind and tell me to "get up now and get your teeth brushed and your face washed. "
Once that was all done, we would go out and eat some breakfast. Then off to get dressed and fix our hair. Right before they left for work they would check that we had all our things together to take to school---books, homework, lunches ect. When Michelle was younger they took her with them and drove her to the sitter's (Eunie's) house. As she got older she of course walked to the bus stop with Kathy and I. You can sure bet that nothing was going to happen to our baby sister with both of us watching out for her!!
Dad was our "waker upper" while mom started some breakfast. I loved dad being the "waker upper" because of the way he did it. He would come in and gently shake us to rouse us a little, and we would automatically roll over to lay on our tummies. Then he would give us a little backrub, oh wow--to be woke up every school day morning with a little back massage. When he was finished and would start going toward Michelle to give her's to her, I would moan, "just a little more daddy!" Sometimes he would give me just a little more, and sometimes he would give me a gentle pop on the behind and tell me to "get up now and get your teeth brushed and your face washed. "
Once that was all done, we would go out and eat some breakfast. Then off to get dressed and fix our hair. Right before they left for work they would check that we had all our things together to take to school---books, homework, lunches ect. When Michelle was younger they took her with them and drove her to the sitter's (Eunie's) house. As she got older she of course walked to the bus stop with Kathy and I. You can sure bet that nothing was going to happen to our baby sister with both of us watching out for her!!
School lunch preparation
After my pukin' on a nun episode, we started taking our lunch to school. Every evening sometime between after supper cleanup and bedtime, mom and dad would sit side by side on the same side of the table and prepare our lunches. They took their lunch to work too so there were five to prepare (once Michelle got old enough for school). They would lay out the ten pieces of bread, and then call out to us to see what kind of sandwich we wanted. All three of us would call out at the same time "peanut butter", "bologna" or "tuna fish" (if there was some tuna made up). I loved tuna with mayo, sweet relish and chopped up boiled egg. ) Then we'd pick a kind of fruit, usually it was a banana because they are so easy to pack and eat. No peeling, cutting and no leaking juice all over everything. Some times we would get cookies, and a very special treat would be occasionally we would get a piece of mom's homemade pie!
What makes this little story worthy of writing about is mom and dad's ritual. They sat side by side every school night, every week, year after year!! I can close my eyes and still see them sitting there working together smearing peanut butter, mayo or butter on each and every slice of bread. Then topping them off with the "flavor of choice." It is indeed newsworthy because it was all done all those years with so much love!!
What makes this little story worthy of writing about is mom and dad's ritual. They sat side by side every school night, every week, year after year!! I can close my eyes and still see them sitting there working together smearing peanut butter, mayo or butter on each and every slice of bread. Then topping them off with the "flavor of choice." It is indeed newsworthy because it was all done all those years with so much love!!
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Two girls and a door jamb
Kathy and I remember this one a bit differently, but considering it happened fifty years ago we think that is just fine to have our own version. So here is my version. We were at an age that we could stay home alone during the summer while mom and dad were at work. Mom always left a list of chores that we were suppose to do by the time they got home. Of course each day's list was different because all chores didn't need to be done every day. We didn't have a clothes dryer so there was always wet clothes to hang out on the clothesline, or bring in or iron (no permanent press material!!)
I hated cleaning the bathroom and Kathy would always decide that it was my job (she claims mom said so). lol She tried to get me to do this chore and I just wouldn't do it. I tried trading jobs with her, even offered to do two or three if she would do the bathroom. No dice!!She finally got tired of trying to get me to do it. She had gotten the ironing board and iron out to do some ironing. Frustrated with me, she started chasing me through the house with that iron ( it was a cold iron, it had not even been plugged in yet).Well I ran and squealed and dodged her for awhile. Then I ran into my bedroom and slammed that door as hard as I could and sat down on the floor up against it and was pushing with all my might.!! She was on the other side doing the same thing--then finally it happened!!! The door went on through to the other side tearing off all the woodwork on the door frame. The door was not suppose to open out into the hall---now it did!!
We all of a sudden started working and thinking together so we could get it fixed before mom and dad came home. We got the pieces back where they were suppose to be and all nailed into place. We thought we did a great job!!!
I went in and cleaned the bathroom, Kathy started her ironing and we both said NOTHING to mom and dad about it.
Years later when we were adults with families of our own, we were together and told mom and dad about it. We (including mom and dad) were laughing and mom said "you know, I thought there was something strange about that door, but sure never would have thought it was because of this!!"
I hated cleaning the bathroom and Kathy would always decide that it was my job (she claims mom said so). lol She tried to get me to do this chore and I just wouldn't do it. I tried trading jobs with her, even offered to do two or three if she would do the bathroom. No dice!!She finally got tired of trying to get me to do it. She had gotten the ironing board and iron out to do some ironing. Frustrated with me, she started chasing me through the house with that iron ( it was a cold iron, it had not even been plugged in yet).Well I ran and squealed and dodged her for awhile. Then I ran into my bedroom and slammed that door as hard as I could and sat down on the floor up against it and was pushing with all my might.!! She was on the other side doing the same thing--then finally it happened!!! The door went on through to the other side tearing off all the woodwork on the door frame. The door was not suppose to open out into the hall---now it did!!
We all of a sudden started working and thinking together so we could get it fixed before mom and dad came home. We got the pieces back where they were suppose to be and all nailed into place. We thought we did a great job!!!
I went in and cleaned the bathroom, Kathy started her ironing and we both said NOTHING to mom and dad about it.
Years later when we were adults with families of our own, we were together and told mom and dad about it. We (including mom and dad) were laughing and mom said "you know, I thought there was something strange about that door, but sure never would have thought it was because of this!!"
My little Michelle
Michelle has been left out of most of these little stories because for most of them so far she was just our precious little baby sister. Even in later years she was still so young that she wasn't involved in a lot of our shenanigans. Once she got up around three or four I started playing with her more. Kathy by then was getting to the age that she didn't want to play the same things as I did. I would play card games and boardgames with Kathy, but most everything else soon became mostly Michelle and me.
Michelle was such an easy going little girl. She didn't even care if I Koochie Koood her. In fact her and I use to play tickle a lot. One time we had been wrestling around a little on the floor and I got up and sat astraddle of her. I was tickling her real good---I loved to hear her little laugh!! She was laughing so hard that she finally yelled, "Stop, stop---you'r gonna make me wet my pants." It was so funny.(By the way I did stop and let her up!)
We loved to play dress up. Mom would give us a few of her older dresses, belts, scarves and accessories. Back then you didn't go to Walmart and buy dress up clothes!!! In fact there was no Walmart anyway! We would be walking around the house in mom's high heel shoes and these long dresses pulled up and cinched in at the waist so we wouldn't trip.
I have several more tales about Michelle and I but don't want to put it all in this one little tale.
Michelle was such an easy going little girl. She didn't even care if I Koochie Koood her. In fact her and I use to play tickle a lot. One time we had been wrestling around a little on the floor and I got up and sat astraddle of her. I was tickling her real good---I loved to hear her little laugh!! She was laughing so hard that she finally yelled, "Stop, stop---you'r gonna make me wet my pants." It was so funny.(By the way I did stop and let her up!)
We loved to play dress up. Mom would give us a few of her older dresses, belts, scarves and accessories. Back then you didn't go to Walmart and buy dress up clothes!!! In fact there was no Walmart anyway! We would be walking around the house in mom's high heel shoes and these long dresses pulled up and cinched in at the waist so we wouldn't trip.
I have several more tales about Michelle and I but don't want to put it all in this one little tale.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
My Dad's poison ivy
In my flying frog story last week, I talked about Aunt Vivy's large house and the wrap around porch and how much I loved it there. My little sis Michelle reminded me of somethng I had forgot--that is the house my dad grew up in. Well, mom and dad lived there for a little while after they were married. He got a bad case of poison ivy, between his waist and his thighs! One night it was itching and bothering him real bad so he told mom to pour some chlorine bleach on it, thinking that would dry it up. Well, what it did was burn like crazy, so he started running (naked) around and around the house to create a breeze! Everytime he would run past my mom he would yell "blow, Lu, blow". Mom, of course thought this was hilarous although did feel sorry for dad for being so miserable. I'll bet he did look funny running round and around yelling at mom to "blow, Lu blow!!" Thank goodness it was such a small town with no real close neighbors, huh?
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
2009 pet peeve
One ply toilet tissue! How does anyone think they can save money this way? We just have to use twice as much!!!
Sunday, March 1, 2009
The candy shop
One summer when I was around 11 0r 12 my friends and I set up a candy store in the back of my dad's pickup truck. We had a couple friends across the street who were twin girls and another girl next door who was my age. We went to the store (quite a ways away ) and bought some candy bars for 5 cents each. We had pooled our money together to do this. We were old enough to go to the store but a lot of kids in the neighborhood were not. We sold those candy bars for 10cents each! Now that is a profit. We paid ourselves back for our inverstment, and to us we made a fortune which in reality was about 50 cents or so. One might have wondered about our tactics but the buyers mothers knew we were selling them for a dime and gave them the money. We thought were really quite the business people. I think so anyway!
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