Kristy's County (country) Tour

In no apparent order, here are some photos from our day tour through Madison and Union counties.

There is that PaPa -- he would never want anyone to think he was enjoying himself -- or liked the people he was with ! ha ha

This photo was taken by fulltime "RVers" -- they have been living in an RV since 1988. In California. I think that would be great! We took their picture in return.

I love the sod roof on the little log cabin at Mt. Pisgah. I'm thinking when Himself and I build our retirement home, it might have a sod roof. The Des Moines library does. (It does, doesn't it, Johanna? Isn't that the Library with a sod roof?)

Look at this bad boy! Beautiful! He came out of his Peacock House and strutted his stuff! This is at the Madison County Historical Site. There is a beautiful stone house here. There is also a stone barn but we couldn't get inside it.

Kristy wants to know why there is a door "up there" as there are no steps inside the little log Post Office up to the 2nd floor. I don't know what tickled her fancy in this photo. It wasn't that I pointed out the ladder to her. Here is how you get in the door up there. But that wasn't it . . . so who knows?

The little stone schoolhouse was locked. So sad. We wanted to see inside.

These two are wondering why "no windows". The cloakroom was in the southwest corner and you didn't need but one window in the cloakroom -- and that was one the west.

Believe it or not, when I went to elemetary school, we had a "cloakroom" and that is what we called it. Must have been left over from the country school days.

It was a good tour; it was a good day. Hurry back!

Isabella Noel

I tried to wait. Told myself that Traci would want to post a picture first but then I remember the day I took my third baby home and the busyness of the first months of a baby's life and so I have taken the liberty of posting a photo of my newest grandbaby.

to 'Bella

May God ever bless you

with love and with grace,

May joy always shine

on your dear little face.

I hope her hair stays dark and curly and that freckles sprinkle her nose, in the years to come.

Spring green

Johanna and Audri look good in "green". In green Spring. It isn't often I get a picture of "Aunt Hannah" as she's known to nieces and nephews . . . or as "MY Mama!", to Audri Lu.

Can't get enough of Little Girlies, lately

All sugar and spice and everything nice.

Drama queens!

All complex little creatures, and all pretty at that.

I looked at baby Audri this evening and with her hair coming in, her cute little dress and her little legs losing all their baby fat, I realized she doesn't look like a baby anymore!


Morghan Grace, at 10, looking toward her teen years and wanting to be all grown up.

Gabrielle and Madeline, right behind . . . and double trouble!

. . . Isabella! Hellllloohooooo! Youuuuhooooo!

can't wait to meet you, Baby Bella!

'Nuf Said

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: A peanut gallery is an audience that heckles the performer. The term originated in the days of vaudeville as a nickname for the cheapest (and ostensibly rowdiest) seats in the theater; the cheapest snack served at the theater would often be peanuts, which the patrons would sometimes throw at the performers on stage to show their disapproval. The phrases "no comments from the peanut gallery" or "quiet in the peanut gallery" are extensions of the name.

March Madness

In Iowa, March Madness means State Basketball Championships. Do you all remember the years when, between State championship games, guys in tuxedoes used push brooms to sweep the gym floor at "The Barn", walking in time to music?



This photo was taken this past March. There are push brooms involved. But "oh". Hey, we aren't in the Barn. But it is still cute and it was still fun.

Mother's Day Tree

You've probably heard the expression "Mother's Day Tea", in fact I think the nursing home had one for Granny this year. In the case in this photo, it is Mother's Day Tree -- and we all enjoyed helping with it. Erica, you are going to enjoy this pretty thing for years to come!

Even after you don't live here anymore, you will still enjoy it! You'll know when to drive by each spring to see it in bloom.

I take Granny by "the Green house" in Afton where she and Gramps planted a Magnolia tree and a half a block of lilacs. After 40 years, Granny and I still enjoy "her" trees!

PS: I didn't know Dana looked so much like his uncle Bubba!

Garden Stage

Our little Cottage Garden has something new to look at every day. The Bleeding Hearts opened the show. The old fashioned columbine grew to 4 feet this spring with big ol' pretty blossoms and the Flax are blooming. The Fire Witch Dianthus are in a suppoting role and the fancy blue geranium will debut this Spring. Lilies, roses, Blazing Stars and many others, are waiting in the wings for their chance to star.

Every day, I give a standing ovation! Bravo! Encore!

Collection

Someday I will make a collection of photos of these two hugging. I will make a collection and enter them in the State Fair or some photographic website. I bet I would win.

Gabrielle and Madeline are professional huggers! They should get paid for this! No one can hug better.

These two little huggers are related! They are kin.

PS: Look at Erica and Dana's pretty front flower bed!

"Hi,Jack", Audri's kisses

Jack is a big baby only because he is in (on) the baby swing. And because he is fake crying!

Nana likes kisses from her grandbabies. Even Jack and Joey will give their Nana a kiss once in a while and that is the way it should be. But to kiss a shed? to kiss the garden shed? Don't know and won't ask.

Babies and little children's minds are more complex than I can figure out.

Why does Jack tease his Nana?

Why did Audri kiss the garden shed?

I do not know.

Where did she go?

These children enjoy a good time. They are all active and athletic. They push the limits!

And I can't look away, even for a second -- I "lost" Gabrielle!

Mother's Day

And there is Erica's new Crabapple Tree, behind us all. Isn't it pretty? And are there not there six other pretty things in these pictures?

Top: Jack, Audri and Joey

Bottom: Gabby, Mimi, Audri and Maddie

Hush my darling, the Lion sleeps tonight

Maddie Mae is turning into a little dancer . . . this is rehearsal. How fun!

Rookies

We were rookies when it came to riding the El, the subway. The El is sometimes "elevated" above the city and sometimes runs below street level, in the bowels of the earth. I like it better when it is the "El" and not the subway. Things have changed in the 20 years that Himself and I last rode the El so we had to learn everything again. We finally got it and rode to Wrigleyville where we had a mighty fine sandwich with some mighty loud music while folks strolled by and stuck their heads in the window for just about any reason. One, to ask for a handout. Another, to pose for a picture and ask for a handout. We decided we didn't mind it so much if someone EARNED the handout but didn't care for it AT ALL when they just asked for money.

He earned his tip

Here come the train! Here come the train!

(PS: wish I would learn NOT to turn the camera on the videos!)

I love skyscrapers!

Fun time in Chi town

More later . . . but we had a good time in Chicago. The Wrigley building is behind K & T -- I think that was the Wrigley. A beautiful and ornate building. Wrigley produced the chewing gum.

We got kicked out of the lobby. Three of us, got kicked out (sort of) for taking photos. The 4th wouldn't go in. Better to have tried and failed, then not to have tried at all . . .

Jack never promised

Click here

Anniversaries

Birthdays, actually.

Leurene Lucille. 4-27-1923
Benjamin Scott. 4-27-1987

I have wanted for quite some time to get Leurene's (LaRene's) baby dress displayed in a shadow box. I have gotten around and found the shadow box, ordered and received two photos of little LaRene and found some of Gramma Sychra's old crocheting. Today I realized why things were coming together.

Tomorrow would have been Gramma's 86th birthday.
Ben would have been 22.
We will hold them "close" tomorrow and all days.

Urbana, Illinois, here we come!

We will take a day off this coming Friday to leave for Urbana. Fortunately, we will not find weather like this, in May.

We are looking forward to spending time with Kristy and Tony and traveling to the Big City; the Windy City. We might even ride the L. (I always thought it was the "El" short for Elevated but in the 'Net, I find it under "L". )

8 lines, 100 miles of tracks, all color coded.

Later, we might file this trip under "A" for Adventure!

Family Resemblence

There has always been something about Morghan that reminds me of my sister Linda. It is just a glimpse now and then, through the eyes, the brows and maybe the set of her lips. I can see it in this photo. The other evening, Madeline saw a picture of Linda when she was about four years old and Maddie said, I think that is Morghan.

Morghan Grace is a real family person. She loves family get togethers, the Austin Christmas and family reunions. She wants to go to the big Vaughan reunion in West Virginia -- and so do I! We might just load up together and go. Have an adventure. Are there any other takers?

(PS: grandchildren have to be 10 years old to go!)

Decision Time

Adventures at Sea and Foreign Lands

The ol' houseboat sure does make a great playhouse. There's all kinds of room for children and their imaginations on this boat and as along as they will not jump off the front bow nor climb the ladder to the top, Nana is sure going to enjoy their child's play and watch them visit . . .

Foreign Lands

by Robert Louis Stephenson

Up into the cherry tree

Who should climb but little me?

I held the trunk with both my hands

And looked abroad in foreign lands.

I saw the next door garden lie,

Adorned with flowers, before my eye,

And many pleasant places more

That I had never seen before.

I saw the dimpling river pass

And be the sky's blue looking-glass;

The dusty roads go up and down

With people tramping in to town.

If I could find a higher tree

Farther and farther I should see,

To where the grown-up river slips

Into the sea among the ships,

To where the road on either hand

Lead onward into fairy land,

Where all the children dine at five,

And all the playthings come alive.

Freeze Frame

Freeze frame: A vivid, motionless scene or image (dictionary.com)

Freeze frame is also called "Stop Motion" but look at all the action in this Freeze Frame!

Four different scenes, all in the same Play.

There would have been five scenes if my camera would have gotten Jack in there too!

Knock out punch!

These boys were having fun. It looks like Joey got the last punch and was glad of it!

Ever and Ever

Had these two together in March.

Had Audri this morning and Madeline this evening.

Audri has a real affinity for her cousins. All of her cousins. May it ever be so.



and vice versa.

Compadres

Peas in a Pod

Bobbsey Twins

Birds of a Feather

Two of a kind

Matching Set

Where you find one, you find the other

Cousins

Friends Forever

Double the Fun!

Early Easter

Himself and I had a grandchildren's weekend. Gabby and Joey came down Saturday afternoon and stayed. Audri came over while her Mama worked and late afternoon, Madeline and Morghan came to play while Joey went to Jack's. So Nana enjoyed four busy girls while Joey and Jack had guy time. As the weather was cold, windy and snowy, we all stayed in and had PlaDoh, papers, markers, staples, glue and scissors! Oh my.

This morning, we had an Easter Egg hunt. Upstairs in the big room, but not big enough.

We weren't sure what Audri would think but she soon found a few eggs and then, quick as wink before we realized, she had eaten up about 4 (small) chocolate eggs. Erica asks her what she has. "Chocolate", she says.

Blue Eyed Outdoor Girl

Audri loves the outdoors, even when it is cold and snowy. Two different days, we took her out and in silliness put sunglasses on her. She wore them both times. Didn't take them off.

Toothless in Seattle

Well, that title is just not quite right . . . but "toothless" is! Had two phone calls in two days. "Nana; Nana!" "I lost a tooth!"

By sweet corn eating time this summer, these girls are going to be up a creek. Crick? Up a river without a paddle, anyway. Poor sweet girlies, not being able to eat corn on the cob.

Aren't they so sweet tho -- and don't they just have the same eyes and eyebrows?

I interrupt this parade of beauties

for an official announcement: tomorrow is the first annual Spring Break Day. Yeaaaa!

It started off tonight with Gabby and Joe rendevousing with Nana at Stuart. Tomorrow at exactly 0 800 hours, these three tryst with the Frey III. We will commandere the big White Beast to transport all five to an undisclosed location in the Twin Lake area where we will dig in the sand, swing and hike.

There will be a council around the campfire at noon. Hot dogs and sugar free marshmallows for lunch (don't you know marshamallow are "light" when you eat them outdoors? Potato chips and little chocolate cakes. Yes! childhood food!) Hopefully, we will find plenty of sunshine and fresh air and no tears or boo boos and they all will be reassigned to their parents about 1800 DST.

. . . well, that is the plan!

Pretty eyes and loose teeth!

Madeline Mae Frey is an easy going five year old. Oh, excuse me! She is almost 6 years old! In that case, she is an easy going six year old. Maddie just goes with the flow. Usually. There have been about three times that I have seen her dig her heals in and say "no". No! NO!!!!!!!! and when she does it is such a shock that a Nana just tries not to laugh out loud!

She was in this bathtub for a whole HOUR . . . and then didn't want to get out.

Dimples

this cutie has dimples. At least he has one big dimple! His Mom and Dad told me they weren't sure where that dimple came from. If he didn't get that from his Mama's side, then I am sure he got it from his daddy's side of the family. (being silly here!)

Everytime I see that dimple I get the urge (after I try to kiss that dimple) to poke my finger there and say "you're done!"

PS: here's the old joke. "Do you know why babies have belly buttons? Cuz when they are ready to be born, God goes along with his finger, pushes their plump tummies . . . "you're done; you're done; you're done"."

Winter Day

I tried and tried to catch Gabby's joy and exuberance in a photo this day . . . but missed by a second each time. darn old slow camera.

Gabrielle was swinging her cousin Audri. Audri wanted to stay outside and Gabby agreed to push Audri in the swing . . . then spent countless minutes and bundles of energy making Audri Lu laugh. Gabby would push Audri way high. They both giggled their heads off. Gabby would slide under the swing. They both giggled their heads off. Gabby would shout for joy. They both giggled their head heads off. I tried and tried to get Gabby's picture with her head thrown back, her eyes wide open and

arms thrown wide!

My camera was too slow and Gabrielle Nadeen, too fast . . . but you can see some of the joy, here.

Speaking of hair

I love this boy's hair. When he's here, at my house, I am forever rubbing his head. Almost a Dutch Rub -- although that is probably politically imcorrect to say . . . but what pretty dark hair.

Jack, please . . . promise your Nana . . . no Mohawk, ever!

If you have been looking at Jack's Mohawk,

click here to go back.

Dr. Seuss' birthday

The Creston Schools celebrate Dr. Seuss' birthday for a whole week -- is that right, Erica? It seems to me kind of "cultish" or something. A whole week for Dr. Seuss? The week culminates Friday with pajama day for all except the kindergartners. Now why would they leave out the kindergartners on pajama day after they have participated all week with the other (named) days?

Anyway, Morghan Grace stayed with Nana last Tuesday, the night before Dr. Seuss Wacky Day (or some day like that). On Wacky Day, you wear Wacky outfits. Morghan tried to make her hair Wacky for Wacky Day but it could only turn out too cute!

She did take the chopsticks out at the last minute, and left them at home. oh and did burn her chin, too, with the curling iron just a little tiny bit but it made me feel so bad!

When you girls were her age and you burned yourselves with the curling iron, hard cruel Mama probably said "well, that's what you get for messing with the curling iron!"

Happy (Sorghum) Days

Genealogy

Nana has been up to her eyeballs in family history . . . researching, collecting, searching, saving. I have several projects going at once so nothing new! I have been helping Uncle Gary look for Aunt Alice's family, I have been working with Uncle Gary to locate 4, 5 or 6 missing Austin generations. The DNA test that Uncle Gary took, and the additional test now in process, will help us link up to one of the first Austins that came to this country. We are hoping beyond hope that the DNA test is definitive when it is complete. I have been writing to Gramps' cousin, Irma, who lives here in town learning odd bits and pieces of the Wilson Family history. Gramps had written a lot, of course, but Irma knows things from the women's view point and enjoys writing and sharing with me. Meanwhile, I am always on the look out for the elusive Coes and now that Unc has e-mail, I am soliciting memories from him . . . but they come slow and painfully. Meanwhile, I stumbled upon this neat picture of Gramps and Granny, Sorghum Days 1981. Gramps would have been 67 years old and Granny 61. Must have been early in the day as Granny is still smiling! :) I like it .


And interestingly, Granny has an aura in this photo. Okay, maybe she just moved when the shutter snapped . . . although I believe it is an aura. What you think?

Jack, Saving his money

Happy 36th Birthday, Erica Jo

Erica celebrated her 36th birthday. Guess she celebrated it pretty much for 2 or 3 days! (Just kidding.) As it happened, Craig and Traci were in town Saturday so we called Johanna and Audri and rounded up the Freys and we had us a birthday gathering. Since it was a bit impromptu, I actually bought a Angel Food cake. Traci cleaned the strawberries and Morghan Grace helped whip the Cream. It all came together and we all came together (Kristy and Tony, we missed you!) We celebrated Erica Jo's 36th birthday.

I remember my 36th year and it was a goodyear. Erica, I hope you enjoy your 36th year as much.

(Erica's graduation photos had been slip sliding around in the frame so when I had the frame down to put things back to right, thought to scan the photos. Erica, I am saying this sincerely. I am the most sincere. I like the photos of you in your glasses. I do! And your long, thick curly hair. I like it down and I like it braided too.

It is good to get these photos scanned as some of them we only have the one "proof", the one copy. Now, just three more sets to go!)

Happy birthday, little girl! Love, Mama

Knock out; drag out. Be nice

I think we give children mixed messages. Be nice! Don't take any guff! If you can't say something nice! Don't let (name here) bully you!

Computer is the thing

We all know how much time I spend on the computer anymore (well if you don't -- here is a hint. It is equal the amount of time that Lanny spends on the TV . . . wellllll, maybe not THAT much!) But that is the direction the grandbabes are going too. Computer games and websites and it won't be long they'll be doing e-mail. Soon they'll have phones and will spend half their free moments texting or reading their text messages!

Guess it is just a sign of the time . . . but that leads me into positing this good pic of Morghan Gracie Pie.

We've got to use that name now because in a few years, she will outlaw that name. She won't answer to "Morghan Gracie Pie" or "Morghan Grace, you have the cutest little baby face!

Let's see, there used to be . . . Miss Kris. Josie. Cragor. 'Anna.

sigh . . . oh for the good ol' days!

It is this one, Nana!

What, you mean you can't see the loose tooth! It is that one right there, the one Gabby is wiggling.

Actually, she has TWO loose tooths! She and Maddie Mae may both be missing the TWO FRONT TEETH this summer, come sweet corn season . . . but we hope not! This is sure a fun age!

CLone of a clone of a clone

Wayne Hill once called Joey a clone of a clone of a clone . . . do these two look alike, or what?

Sorry again!

It was another Sorry weekend. Those boys and that game! You would think they would get really tired of it. I guess when someone can come from behind and steal the game at a moment's notice, it is just way too exciting not to play. Here's the three boys sitting around the Sorry game eating cashews and drinking beer. Oh no, Not. No beer. Eating cashews and drinking Dew! (just kidding. Drinking juice and stealing drinks of PaPa's Coke.)