Bye-bye

A little over a year ago I started this blog mainly to share a few stories and family history to my kids and anyone else who was interested. I think I've said most of what I can share in a public format and honestly - I've gotten a little tired of my own ramblings. I want to thank all who have 'tuned in' - hope you learned something of interest or at least got a chuckle now and then. I'm not planning on posting any longer but I'm not sure how to actually close down the account yet either. Anyway, for future family updates check out Jen, Becky, or Uncle Ed's blogs - if I keep this at all it will just be very random and probably just a picture now and then. It's been fun - now do something constructive with the free 5 minutes I've given you where you don't have to check this blog anymore :))

A few old pics

What's Happening

I guess I'm getting old - I'm not use to so much going on at once. Of course the latest big news is that Coen Jesse was born to Jen & Karl and big brother Spencer. He's a doll - actually, he looks just like Spencer at that age. Poor Spencer hasn't had a chance to 'bond' with his brother yet because the big brother has been so sick with a cold, ear & eye infections, and fever. But we're hoping that he's starting to feel better. Jen & Coen stay tucked away in their bedroom while Karl tries to make Spencer feel better.
Becky & Nate were gone this weekend on a ski trip - looks like they had a great time - but I'm just glad they're home safe & sound. Monday is Nate's birthday - Happy Birthday Nate!!
Stevie & Jessie are doing some work on their house - they are trying to get their basement finished. We just got our "Parent's Album" from their wedding - the pictures came out great. So much going on it's hard to believe that they are still newly weds.
Steve & I are still sleeping in the guest room waiting on our new bedroom furniture. The mattress & box springs is suppose to come today so I guess that's something. At least the weather has been nice the last few days - I'm hoping we're done with winter for awhile.
And one more birthday wish before I close - Happy 39th Birthday Big Brother Joe!!!:)

Mama 2007

When I realized that today was February 23 and my mother's birthdate - I went back to my 2006 blog about Mama last February. Rereading that and some of the comments reminded me of a few more things about Mama - some of them are kinda silly - but they were Mama.
*Mama cleaned house everyday except Sunday, but even on Sunday she cleaned the bathroom. * She had a strict schedule for laundry. Monday, Wednesday, & Friday was wash day - and I remember the old wringer washer and hanging everything out on the clothes line. Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday was ironing day.
*I remember when she would sometimes take us (Jimmy & I) on the bus down to Cherokee Street to do some shopping and she always let us browse the 5&10 (dime store) if we were good.
*Jimmy said she never drove but actually she did once - to my house. She was going to babysit Jennifer while I went to racquetball but when she got to the house she was a nervous wreck and we ended up taking her to the doctor - and she never drove again.
*She didn't have much patience for tears - she would tell me to hush up that crying or she'd give me something to cry about.
*Although she had worked the cotton fields in Tennessee, she never worked here in St. Louis except for once she decided to get a job at the Alligator factory a block away. She lasted 3 days and decided the extra money wasn't worth it.
*I remember Saturday mornings after the housework was done (we were expected to clean our rooms every Saturday morning) and we would be doing the ironing or finally just resting, we would put on her records of Johnny Mathias, Tennessee Ernie Ford, or Floyd Cramer.
*I remember her coming to visit me once after I was married with all three kids and after about 30 minutes she told daddy, "Well Jim, we better get going so Ann can vacuum." - I knew that was a hint but I've never adopted her housecleaning routines.
*Mama liked to quilt, sew, and embroidery - but no matter how hard I tried to learn any of it, she always ended up finishing up whatever I would start.
*And in honor of her birthday - she never wanted anything much for her birthday and I think it was because growing up they didn't get many gifts. She told me that Uncle Carl had once given her a ring for her birthday and it was really special to her because presents were so rare. She always felt bad because she had lost it one day on the lake.
Have you remembered anything else you'd like to share?

Need a Laugh??

Growing up with my older brother I quickly learned that life is just a whole lot easier if you can just laugh at yourself. These last two pictures are awful - the red dress one is my absolute worse - although I'm sure Uncle Ed has some of me that are just as bad. (You don't need to post them though Uncle Ed)
The first picture is my 8th grade graduation picture - I'm probably pretty easy to pick out.
I hated grade school. There were 2 or 3 girls whose goal was to make life miserable for the rest of us by causing fights or telling lies - they just loved to stir up conflict. Finally around 6th grade we realized they were actually the minority but I still couldn't wait to be out of there. Once I got to high school I only kept in touch with 3 of the girls and 2 of the guys - and even those were weak ties. I have no idea where any of them are now. The teacher though was Mrs. Flowers - my favorite all time teacher, a friend of my mom's and a member of our church. She passed on a year or so ago but every time I saw her she still called me Miss Ann.
Enough melancholy - I can actually look at that picture now and remember some of the special personalities of those kids and a lot of the goofy things we all did - and if nothing else, our hairdos are worth a chuckle!

Spencer's 3rd Birthday

Aunt Becky and the Birthday Boy.

Mommy helping with the presents.

Daddy showing Spencer his new bike while GG & Aunt Jessie look on.

Uncle Stevie giving batting instructions.

Uncle Nate wants to ride Spencer's bike??

The Birthday Boy

3 Candles this year!

Look at all these presents!

Uncle Stevie giving bike riding instructions.

Waiting for the "Birthday Song" to end.

We celebrated Spencer's 3rd Birthday tonight. His mommy & daddy bought him a 2 wheeler bike and he had "The Little Engine That Could" party theme. Nana, Popo, Aunt Becky, Uncle Nate, Uncle Stevie, Aunt Jessie, & GG (Millie) were all there to help him celebrate. We all had a good time watching him get all excited. Can't believe he's 3 already!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY SPENCER - I LOVE YOU!!!!

Happy Birthday Jessie

Jessie turns 25 on Saturday! She very graciously let us celebrate her birthday last night because there were so many conflicts on Saturday - including her going to Decatur to celebrate with her family. Jessie continues to suffer from "morning sickness" all day long so she opted for a pizza and apple pie celebration at our house. The Reijgers, Kelleys, and Millie were all there to celebrate with us. For those who don't already know - Stevie & Jessie are expecting their first child on Stevie's birthday - August 17. We love you Jessie - hope you have a wonderful "sick-free" birthday!!!

Favortite Family Vacation

Riding the tram after an all-day Disney Day.
Above, Jen, Steve, & Stevie

Below - Becky

Evening walk on the beach - my favorite part.

Stevie, Becky, & Jen

Getting ready for their 1st airplane trip.

Stevie, Steve, Jen, & Becky

The "water spurts"

Steve said something about Disney World the other day and Becky & Nate just returned from their trip - made me think of my favorite family vacation. 1987 - Our 1st trip to Disney World. It was a lot of 1st's for the kids. 1st time on a real "tourist" type trip, 1st airplane ride, and 1st time to a beach. We did the whole thing - stayed at Disney World and saw all there was to see, saw Sea World, Busch Gardens, and of course, went to the beach. I think it was my favorite because I was young enough then that the kids wore out before me and the kids were young enough that Steve & I still made all the decisions about what we were doing. Of course the kids got crabby sometimes and tears were shed now and then - but mostly they were just amazed and excited at all there was to see and I just loved watching their faces. I hate to tell you how many times we went through "It's A Small World" - but one of their favorite things to do was try to catch the "water spurts". One thing they were not fond of was stopping for the "memory moment" picture - as these pictures sometimes show - but my heart remembers the laughs and fun we had.

Cloud History - Part 2

Cloud Card Game
Grandpa Cloud (John Franklin) , Aunt Ruth, Mom, Aunt Lorene, Allene, Uncle Ray Titus Grandpa & Grandma Cloud

Aunt Ruth

Grandma Cloud (Emma McBride)

Joe & Grandpa Cloud

I never really had a chance to know my Mom's parents. I was born in 1951 and according to the tombstone in Tiptonville, TN: Emma McBride Cloud died in 1952 and John Franklin Cloud died in 1953. But Mama would tell stories from time to time. The comment I remember most is "Your Grandpa would roll over in his grave if he... saw how you're behaving or..could see you wearing that outfit" - you get the idea. I always had the impression he was probably very strict. In fact, seeing the card game picture puzzles me because I thought mama said they weren't allowed to play cards. I do remember her saying they weren't allowed to go swimming so when Grandpa would go off for a day, her mom would let them all go to the pond and swim. Mom use to tell us the story about how a bull gored grandma and made grandpa so mad he killed it. Mom or Nancy told me that Grandpa's father died when he was just a child and at 19 he was expected to take care of himself. I know there were a lot of other stories but these are the ones I most often heard repeated.
When I first had an interest in genealogy, my mom told me to write my Aunt Ruth since she was older and see if she could fill in any details for me. She didn't tell me much about her parents, John & Emma (McBride) Cloud, but she lived some with her grandparents on her mother's side and had a few interesting stories. Their names are Thomas McBride & Elvira (Ward) - they would be my great grandparents. Here is an edited version of her letter:

Grandma Ward married Tom McBride just before the civil war. They were homesteading a farm when the war broke out. Of course, Grandfather had to go. Most of Illinois then was a wilderness around in that part of the state. She and grandfather with the help of neighbors built his log cabin. All the wood came from the trees that were cut down on his farm. It was not a small cabin - it had four bedrooms, living room with a fire place, the kitchen and a dining room were one large room with a large fireplace. They had plenty to eat by growing it themselves and there were no insect to eat it up. Then the Civil War broke out and their troubles started. Grandma used to tell me of how the soldiers used to run away from camp and officers would find them and take them back. Grandfather was left on the field to die when the army moved on to the front. The two soldiers that were left with him in a rail fence corner died. Grandfather got better and returned home. The soldiers tried to find him but he hid out in the woods. Grandmother would take food out to him. She told me about some of the boys that had run away from camp but had been found and were chained and were being taken back. She said the officers used to come to her house at any time of the night and make her get up and cook them some food. She said they usually had a prisoner or two that they were taking back to camp. But they never caught Grandfather.
He recovered and lived to be an old man.

Cloud History - Part 1

Some of the Cloud Clan.

Aunt Maude & Uncle Willard KendallJoe, Billy Kendall (Maude & Willard's son), & Nancy Bill & Lorraine's WeddingAunt Mazie & MomAunt Mazie & Uncle CarlUncle Willie & Aunt Lorene

Paulene (Willie & Lorene's daughter), Nancy, & Joe

It's a rainy day and a good time to do some office cleaning - but of course I've been sidetracked by finding some old pictures. It's kinda strange that I know very few of my Cloud relatives and yet, because some of them lived in St. Louis, they are the ones I remember best from when I was a child.
The first picture is from when many of them were much younger (and still living) and I wasn't around yet. To be honest, I can't pick out most of who's who - but I can find Aunt Maude, Dad, & Mom.
My cousin Bill is probably the only cousin I ever really had a chance to know well
and he has done a lot of genealogy research and I spent most of the morning rereading his family tree booklet & watching Cloud History Part I (Part II ready yet??) He put in a lot of work and has done a wonderful job.
In a nutshell - he traced back to 1575 with a Thomas Cloude of Calne, Wilshire, England. William Cloud, note the e has been dropped to > William Cloud Jr. (b. 1621) who was known to be a member of the Friends Society (Quakers) and bought land in America from friend and fellow Quaker, William Penn. His son Joseph Cloud (b. 1651) preceded him to America by a year and in 1705 had Joseph Jr. - then Isaac Cloud - then Isaac Cloud Jr. who was born in 1785. He had Benjamin F. Cloud born in 1828 and my grandfather, John Franklin Cloud was born in 1868. He married Emma McBride and they had 8 children: Bess, Ruth, Claud, William, Mazie, Carl, Maude, & Laverne.
I met Bess, Ruth, & Claud a few times but never knew any of their children.
Carl (St. Louis) never married, Maude & Willard (St. Louis) are the parents of Bill. Willie (William) (Tennessee) had 3 daughters - I knew fairly well and Aunt Mazie (St. Louis) had 4 daughters I only knew slightly. You would think out of of 8 kids I'd have more cousins but since mom was the youngest I came along too late to really know any of them well. I could probably do a whole blog just on Aunt Mazie - she was a fun character. But during my 'cleaning' I also came across a letter from my Aunt Ruth about my great-grandparents McBride- but I think that will be Part 2. Class Dismissed -

December 31st

Daddy & Mama
40th Anniversary
50th Anniversary picture of them and their living grandchildren

Sherri, Dad, Mom, Edward, Terri, Kelly

David, Stevie, Becky, & Jenny (Meredith was not yet born and Susie was deceased)"Shot Gun" Wedding
I know December 31st is New Year's Eve - but I was never much of a party girl. I'd rather have a pizza, watch a movie at home, and be in bed by 11:00. But December 31st is also the anniversary date of my parent's marriage. They were married in 1937 by a Judge in Hickman, Kentucky. Money was scarce at that time so eloping was fairly common. Grandma McCoy told mom that she knew the night they were going to run off and get married because she saw that daddy had tucked a tie in his back pocket as he left the house. They never made much of a fuss on their anniversaries but the last 3 pictures are when others made a fuss for them. The first picture is just the oldest picture I have of them except for their high school pictures. The second is the 40th anniversary party we threw for them. The third is the 50th anniversary - and the last picture is the 50th "shot gun" wedding that the McCoy clan staged for them at our family reunion that year. I do hope that everyone has a safe and Happy New Year and that 2007 is a very blessed year for us all.

Merry Christmas

Stevie, Becky , & Jenny - with Santa of course.Millie, Nancy, Mom, Sherri
Me, Edward & Terri
Carl, Uncle Ed, Steve, Jimmy
Paul, and Edward
Spencer & Santa
Becky, Stevie, & Jenny - in one of their famous silly poses - I always loved those stripe pjs.
The fam
Jimmy & I with Santa
Roger (childhood friend) & me
The tree is up and the decorations are all out. The gifts are all bought and almost all wrapped - (still waiting for a few deliveries.) The cards have all been sent out and most of the Christmas dinner shopping is done - (there is always one more trip to Schnucks to be made!!) However, I have not made one single cookie or candy - unless I can count the batch Jenny & Spencer made while they were staying here. I have cut back every year on my Christmas baking - mostly because I'm the one that ends up eating most of it. I should be in there baking away right now but instead I decided to put it off a little longer and copy Uncle Ed by posting some old Christmas pictures - not very many as old as his but I hope you enjoy them anyway. I wonder if anyone would really notice if I didn't bake at all this year - hmmmm. Merry Christmas everyone - have a wonderful holiday weekend!!