Craig Dale Hofmeister, 2-3-1976

Baby Boy Hofmeister

Big Boy

Whitey



Hungry Craiger

Graduate! 

Man with Wife

Family Guy

Happy 35th birthday.

This is one you will look back on fondly

and remember as "good".

So enjoy, have fun!

Look forward

but don't forget to look back

to remember.

Many more, love, Ma

PS:  I do owe you a surprise party.  someday.  beware.

Blizzard of 2011, inside and out

Well, here's absolute and final proof.  I have cabin fever.  With the biggest blizzard of the decade raging outside, this woman is just about stir crazy.  I'm pacing the floor, watching out windows and finally, not being able to settle to one thing, I put my coat and boots on to go outside and try to get some good photos.  It's not hard to get photos but at night with lights and snow and swirling winds, the "good" part comes hard.  Above, looking out, there is a drift of snow on the window sill and eerie light from the corner street light.

 

The top of the big maple tree, out front from an upstairs window. 

Stepping out the front door, this is the view of the street light at the corner of Chestnut and Carpenter.  I couldn't get a good focused shot.  This almost looks like a scene from the Headless Horseman or something . . . sort of eerie or haunted.

Looking into the house from the front door. 

That plant LOVES that window in the winter time.

It is about to unfurl 100 new reddish green baby flags.

Leaves!  I mean new leaves, of course!

Standing under the garden house porch, looking towards the alley.  The street light helps catch each glint of wire, glass, metal and each and every one of the 310,482 snow flakes.  

A different setting on the camera, looking alleyward.

A different feeling altogether. 

Then, back to the first setting. 



Looking towards the house, into the dining room.

And snow flakes everywhere!

Stepping outside the front door, again looking south toward the street light.

Now it is time to close the doors, batten the hatches and wait for the storm to blow on through . . . and spring.  Wait for spring! 

Morghan Grace, almost 12

Morghan has many passions.  She will have more.  They will change.  They will ebb and wane.  Right now she loves design and fashion!  She found a new fashion website and had a little time this weekend to get in there and figure it out . . . http://www.polyvore.com/

She's pretty capable in the computer anymore.  She can type 55 words a minute, I bet.  Maybe 60 for a short time.  She got in this website and figured it out, lickety split.  This collection on the computer screen, above, was her first attempt and her first introduction to a "template" but Nana knows full well, it won't be her last template.  Or her last fashion.   Or her last "favorite" website.

Later Morghan got the camera and had a little photography session. 

I love this one. 

This is good.

Then she got silly . . . but I like this one too! 

But I'm not putting in the one with her tongue stuck out. 

That is way over done, in Facebook and everywhere.

In Nana's opinion. lol

This "vintage"collection was Morghan's favorite creation today, her first day in the website.  I'm sure she'll have lots more "favorites" before she's done. 

Then she moved on to modeling a clay likeness of PaPa. 

She got him half done. 

We saved him "under glass" so she can finish him next time! 

Isn't this a sweet likeness of PaPa? 

Love you Morghan Grace --

and love having a 12-year old granddaughter! 



MacGyver, Part 2

I guess I had two themes going in MacGyver, Part 1 -- being frugal and being inventative.  I like frugal, recycling, making do. I do like those qualities but what I really like is inventiveness, creativity and ingenuity.  Himself and I have had some great "ah ha" moments when having to come up with a solution to a problem.  Just like him dinging the satellite with the pellets to get rid of the snow.  We knew there was no way either one of us was going to climb the ladder to the roof after 8 or 9" of snow but we both knew we wanted that TV reception so he brainstormed and solved the problem. 

Another time, we were pulling a trailer to Missouri.  Somehow, the pin to hold the trailer to the hitch popped out and the first we knew of it, we were going down a hill and the trailer was careening towards us at a higher rate of speed than what the Jeep was doing.  It was going to ram us!  Well, Himself pumped the breaks and held the wheel and slowed that runaway trailer down by letting it bounce against the spare tire mounted on the back.  He slowed it down without sending it flying one direction or the other.  He held it steady and brought that run away to a stand still.  Whew, it is a wonder the trailer didn't flip which would have flipped the Jeep.

So then, how best to get the trailer on to Missouri.  We are short a pin to hold the trailer to the hitch.  Do we take the trailer off and leave it sit by the side of the road?  Would someone come along, load it up and run off with it?

Do we leave the trailer sit by the side of the road with Himself standing guard, while I go to town and buy a pin of some kind to use to hold the hitch so we can limp on to town.

So we sit and ponder.  We brood and mumble.  We look here.  Check there.  Can't find the lost pin and no extra pin anywhere!  We are just about to unhitch and leave Himself and the trailer when we discover that the trailer's ramp hinge pin is just about the right size!  Himself finds a screw driver and knocks that pin out, sticks the pin in the trailer hitch to hold things together and we are off!  We are rocking and a rolling!  We pull the trailer safely on to Missouri without anyone have to go to town and back or anyone having to sit by the side of the road.

That was fun!  to find the solution to the problem by using our noggins.

We watched a documentary tonight about a man trying to reproduce some of the trip of Lewis and Clarke, great White Explorers.  This guy tried floating down the Mississippi River in a "Bull Boat".  He and his cronies built a dugout canoe.  They fished, without much luck, for their supper.  They hunted deer and antelope with old fashioned guns.  His message at the end was "the rewarding part is trying and adjusting.  Using ingenuity to solve a problem.  Being creative." 

There's no instruction book to tell how to build a "bull" boat out of a buffalo hide or what to do if the dugout canoe is "tippy" . . . you just have to sit and ponder and brain storm and find a solution.

I think that was the best thing my father brought out of the Great Depression -- an ability to make do, to find a solution, to create what he needed from junk or spare parts.  To use his noggin and his imagination.  To invent! 
This was one of the things I really enjoyed about III.  Seeing what I could do, what I could do without.  Being creative, imaginative and inventive. 

Himself and I will be doing that again, at Too, as we finish off the inside of the big cabin, hook the two cabins together and refurbish the little one.  We are looking foward to trying our wings!  To a rockin and a rolling!

Noteworthy

This was my lunch today.  That's tuna salad on multi-grain bread.  Now, it is not noteworthy that Nance is eating tuna.  I eat tuna pretty often. 

The sandwish is pretty but pretty food at this house isn't note worthy.

Himself makes pretty food all the the time.

Tuna Salad, tomatoes and I threw on a piece of Havarti cheese.

I think I would have used provalone had I had some on hand

but the Havarti turned out all right, especially after I sprinkled

on a dash of Mrs. Dash's Tomato, Basil and Garlic seasoning

and sat it under the broiler for a few.

The noteworthy thing about my lunch today is that the little tomato was grown in our garden.  Before the big hard freeze, I gathered up a basket full of green tomatoes.  I wrapped each individually in newspaper and cradled them in a brown paper bag.  They sat in the coolness of the garage.  I checked them at Thanksgiving.  I checked them at Christmas.  I got to eat one here and eat one there. This small red tomato was probably the last tomato of the 2010 growing year!  

 I have one more little green guy but I don't think he's going to make it to the red stage.  I'm afraid he's a gonner.  They have a way of spoiling from the inside out. 

In storing tomatoes (and the same would be true for potatoes) you keep a few and you lose a few.  But if you are losing one, you'd better sort through the good ones and get rid of the the bad ones. 

Remember that old saying? 
One bad apple will spoil the barrel.

Leftovers

After New Years, Himself and I took down the Christmas tree, de-decorated the house, removed lights and ornaments and tinsel.  We looked in every nook and cranny.  The party was over and the decorations must go!

In the next couple of week I discovered a few leftovers . . . and left them right where I found them!

This little charm looks decorative but really is an alarm . . .

it alerts me when little folk enter the SPARE room,

 the room with bits and pieces and suprises in it. 

Maybe even, next year's Christmas. 

These old onaments are so pretty and just plain Cheer me

 that I left them here intentionally.

This ol' Charlie Brown Tree with the bells and old plastic ornaments, I do leave it up too, intentionally. 

Just because I like it and it gives little ones something to think about. 

To rearrange and to fiddle with.

But then this, guy . . . that rascal way back there just hanging around. 

That scamp just plain escaped my inspection.  He's got to go! 

And, this ol' guy, he's gone home to the attic.

To The North Pole.

He's gone back to where he belongs.

Some of the children ask me,

Please cover him up.

Hide his face.

Turn him around."

Or sometimes . . . "Bring him back down"

Bur poor ol' Santa, he's put on watch

in the attic.  Bye Santa, until next year! 

love, Nana

MacGyver

This man can fix anything.  He can attach a stick to a pull rope and make that Lawn Boy last another 22 years.  He can patch tires, reseal mower tires and probably manufacture tires.  He has the interchangeable parts catalog memorized.  He knows substitutes for car oil, drywall compound, cocoa and face cream.

He cooks.  He cleans.  He repairs, fixes, restores, updates.  Sometimes he puts big ol' light switches on the side of the TV when the electronic off/on switch fails.  He knows how to save energy, which light bulbs to use, how often to change the furnace filters and to save the original electronic  boxes and the Warranty manuals in case the apperatus fails.  And it will.

He has his 1968 Army uniform in case there's ever a fabric shortage and we can't buy new clothes.  He has his dad's Army dress coat, his own combat boots and every radio and stereo he ever owned.  He is not a saver, he says.  He has the 1950s Montgomery Ward garden tiller that his dad maintained and passed on to Himself.  It should be in the Montgomery Ward Hall of Fame.

The other day after 9" of snow, the Satellite TV was out.  No signal.  Well, how well do you work laying under 9" of snow.  Usually, you'd take a broom and go knock that snow off but our satellite sits up 3 stores tall.  Uh Huh, we aren't climbing up there in this weather!  But Himself . . . oh, er, I mean MacGuyer knew just what to do. He got that ol' BB gun and dinged that dish once on the left.  The snow dropped off.  He pumped up that air gun and then he dinged that dish once on the right.  There went the rest of the snow.  Yeaaaaaaa!  the World is saved!  All's right with the world!  We have TV again! 

Now, if only Himself could figure out how to keep the squirrels out of the bird feeders, his life would be replete!   

1999 - 2007, Christmases Past

1999

Here is our first grandbaby, Morghan Grace!

I had waited a few years for this precious gift,

a grandchild and I've had so much joy and pleasure

ever since!  Morghan, you paved the way

 for the rest of the babies to come!

Remember when we tried to crowd into the fireplace room

because PaPa wanted Christmas morning by the open fire?

My children were all grown up. 

I had lost the joy, expectation and the Christmas Spirit.

Along comes a baby and brings that all back!

2000

Morghan (positively!)  and Kerry's little one, (I think!)
Morghan Grace, I love your hair and your cheeks!
okay, and your ears and your nose!  lol
Your fat dimpled elbows, your sweet breath.
Okay, you get the idea.   hmmm . . .  your knees too!

2001

Proud big sister and baby Jack.

These two are the beginnings

 of my love for my grandbabies. 

Look at the pride in Sister's eyes!

And Jack just goes along with it all!

How can a Nana resist? 

 2002

Proud Morghan, Jack and cousin Gabby.

oh my gosh!  how precious! 

Dear Gabrielle has joined the

"kissable cheeks gang"

and taking it all in stride!

Look at the twinkles in those eyes!

Love you guys!

Maddie and Joey

2003

What a sweet picture. 

This photo just makes Nana

want to cry for joy!

I am so glad my grandchildren love one another. 

I know they will always take care of each other.

2004

This is adorable of them all! 

How did we get them all to sit still long enough

to take several photographs?

Oh, I remember, Nana had her first ever battery

operated Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer nose!

Look at the suspicion in the youngest one's eyes!

but Jack and Morghan already know they have a silly Nana. 

Freys, 2005, Twister! 
Now it is getting harder to get everyone in the same picture. 
We had fun with this game for a year or two!

Hofs, 2005

Gabby and Joey are intent on the action. 

I know somewhere I have the Hofmeister Christmas Card

but there was one year I put in a photo of the Small Frey in their jammies

and Traci and Craig emailed a photo of the Little Hofs in theirs

so maybe this was the year.

My photo collections seem incomplete for 2006.

I don't find any photos after September 2006. 

I know I had Christmas cards made up

and I know I would have taken pictures at Christmas --

Unless I was in a coma or a straight jacket? 

I wasn't . . . was I?

I've been hijacked!  I've been robbed!

computer crash??

2007
whew.  here my little precious ones all are again
and number six has come along. 
Audri seems interested in Jack,
Morghan seems interested in Audri
(or any baby that comes into a room -- like her Nana!)
And now the younger ones are having some fun
and not so suspicious of their Nana and her camera. 
Merry Christmas, little ones!

2008

And in 2008, my Christmas cards had six cuties . . . and an inset of Audri. 

It wasn't this inset but that's a cute one. 

A year later and Audri is STILL interested in Jack!  lol

And Nana still loves Rudolph noses, reindeer antlers

and lively, determined, opinionated grandbabies.

Okay, Okay.

not babies . . . Grandchildren.

2009

And Sweet Bella makes seven! 

Again, I couldn't come up with the Christmas photos

but here we are, with all the grandbabies in the picture.

And Johanna and Erica.  Thanks, Traci and Craig,

for taking the picture on the occasion of

Himself's birthday. 

And someone else joined us, just above Erica's head.

Angel, you are welcome in our home. 

Happy ten years, in this post.

Great Years.

And those years went by in a heart beat!

Can't wait for the next ten years! 

2010

And here is this year's series. 

These three photos together tell part of the story

of what it takes to get seven children to stand still,

 to look at the camera, and yes, it is okay if you smile too!

But this series was much more dramatic

 than what was caught in these pics. 

I think that's the way life is, and the way life should be.

We will muddle through the hard parts,

making the best of the times as we go.

Laughing at ourselves.

Being gentle with others' feelings.

Looking back, we will remember the highlights,

the best and the happy times. 

No sense in wasting energy

on old grudges,

 hurts and disappointments. 

Chin up!  Positive Mental Attitude!

Smile for the camera!

Make merry memories for little ones.

For you. 

For life. 

 

There!  that's Ma's sermon for the year!

Love you all to pieces!

Go ye gentle, into this New Year!

Christmases Past

Times and toys were simplier in the "good ol' days".

Blocks, dolls, balls. And boxes. 

Do you all remember playing with boxes? 

The first toy I remember wishing for, for Christmas,

was a life-size baby doll.  And I did get a big baby doll that year.

It wasn't the one I had picked out in the catalog

but I learned to love that baby, and to sew for her

and I loved my Vickie Darlene! 

Vickie Darlene still lives in my heart (and in a box in the closet)

and is now about 55 or 56 years old, herself!  Poor baby!

Look, here is the little stove the children still use.

Johanna got it for Christmas about 1982. 

She looks to be about 3 in this photo so

that little stove is going on 28 years old!

We still play with some of those dishes too.

And Craig, I'm sure there's some GI Joes

in that pile of packages.  There's a few

of those guys still hiding out around this house too.

Kristy and Erica, I wish we could see what you

girls got for Christmas that year.  Do either

of you remember what you might have wished for in 1982?

Now, this year, Christmas 1975,

Kristy and Erica each got a home-made robe, with hood.

I'm not sure they knew the robes were homemade

but those little flannel gowns stood them in good stead,

wrapping up shivering little girls after a bath.

They also each got a dolly, a doll bed and blankets. 

They each had a new night gown from Great Gramma Sychra.   

There were a few more things too, but not many

and an orange and candy cane in your stocking.

Write down your memories . . .

Visitor

Nana was sitting at work after lunch today when this Dude waltzed in and gave me a handful of candy canes.  I grabbed my camera and chased down the hall after  him. . . just caught him before the big melt down! 

Some year when I'm retired, I'm going to do something like this. 

This Dude bounced through leaving smiles, questions . . . and candy canes in his wake.  What fun!