Tuesday, January 27, 2009

A Blog for Spencer



The last few times I've been over to see Spencer he has crawled up in my lap and asked me to tell him a story - his mom says he's been asking her for stories a lot lately and he has his favorites he likes to hear.  She and I usually tell him a true story about someone in the family but sometimes he makes up his own story that he wants you to tell - like the one where I catch an octopus.   
Jen likes to tell him about when she and Becky dressed up Stevie in a dress and I do actually have that picture but I wasn't sure if Stevie would appreciate that one being on the blog.  (I"ll show it to you when you come over though, Spencer)
Another favorite of his is when I was a little girl and I'd visit my grandparents on the farm.  Since they had outdoor plumbing you had to make a trip to the outhouse when the need arose.  Grandpa had a mean old rooster that would chase you across the yard and try to spur you and Grandpa would come out and chase the old rooster away. 

Above is a picture of my Grandpa and below is a picture of me at the farm.

Another favorite story is when daddy took me out in a boat at Reelfoot Lake to fish and I refused to bait my own hook or remove fish from said hook.   I was catching fish so fast that he never had a chance to do his own fishing - and that was my last trip out on a boat because he said I couldn't go again until I learned to do my own baiting - which I was never gonna do!!  
This is a picture of me with my catch that day.

He also likes to hear about my friend Roger - how we would not ring doorbells but I would stand outside and holler "O Roger!" at the top of my lungs.  I told Spencer about me trying to jump over the fire hydrant and splitting my head open.  I told him how Roger and I often played "Superman & Supergirl" or played with his huge train set that he had.   Below is a picture of us playing 'house' - although I was a tomboy Roger was fair in playing 'my' games too.

One more favorite of Spencer's - about our trip to the library on a hot day when the car windows were down and Jen saying in her very matter-of-fact way "Becky just threw her shoe out the window."  Below is a picture of about how old Mommy and Aunt Becky were at that time.
And the last two pictures are just some I thought Spencer might get a kick out of.  
This is your mom's collection of stuffed animals when she was about your age.  Some of them are probably Aunt Becky's too and most of them are curtesy of GG.
And I just thought Spencer would like this picture of Uncle Stevie and Popo since he is so big time into Superheroes.
I guess I'll have to start remembering some more stories - I can always use some help if anyone can think of any I could share with the grandkids.

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Extinct in America

I recently got an email about 24 things about to become extinct in America.  Most of them were no surprise because we've seen them coming due to the internet and new technology.  
The Wild Horses and the Milkman kinda surprised me because I thought they were already extinct.  
I think the saddest one is #9 - but thanks to Stevie I still get a letter now and then - just because he's such a sweetie and he knows it brings me a smile and makes my day.  
Here's the list in case you weren't aware:
24 - Yellow Pages
23-Classified Ads
22-Movie Rental Stores
21-Dial-Up Internet access
20-Phone Landlines
19-Chesapeake Bay Blue Crabs
18-VCR's
17-Ash Trees
16-Ham Radio
15-The Swimming Hole
14-Answering Machines
13-Cameras that use film
12-Incandescent Bulbs
11-Stand-Alone Bowling Alleys
10-The Milkman
9-Hand-Written Letters
8-Wild Horses
7-Personal Checks
6-Drive-In Theaters
5-Mumps  & Measles
4-Honey Bees
3-News Magazines and TV News
2-Analog  TV
1-The Family Farm