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!

An outing

Entroup, we saw Disney on Ice today. 12 of us. I think we all enjoyed the ice skating, the music and effects but I’m thinking in the next year or two most of these little rag muffins (hey, that is a term of endearment!) will have, may have . . . Probably will have outgrown the Disney presentation.



You know I love ice skating and I thrill to the jumps and grace and athleticism . . . and we saw some great skating, don’t get me wrong! But I’m afraid we are a little blasé with Mickey and Minnie and Goofy. We might be tiring of Ariel, Peter Pan, Mickey and Minnie . . . somehow it was all too familiar.


(Oh, but wait, Nana will be here to take Audri and Bella a few more times! Nana may have to take the two “little” girls while Mama’s and aunts take the “big cousins” to bigger and better and more grown up things!)

Anyway, we still enjoyed getting together.



We enjoyed classic songs and stories.



There was still wonderment and excitement.

There was shock and awe!

There was appreciation for the choreography

And the hard work and commitment!

For gosh sakes, the commitment itself would fill 10 or 12 semi trucks. Those young skaters put hours and hours into training and skating and performing. I really really appreciate that!


There was technical and engineering evaluation . . .
 

. . . oh my gosh, how do they do that? 

That's what Nana wants to know. Just HOW do they that?

Indeed, all in all, it was a very good day.  

                                                                            Love you all!  Nana

Bella Bu

I hear her folks call her Bella Bu . . . or is it Bella Boo?  I think I prefer Bu but I am just Nana and defer to her Mama and Dad. 

I have always adored babies and little people and I love it when I see a little one's personality developing.  I also love to watch a small one react to their image in a mirror. 

Bella Bu is just plain pretty!  and delightful to watch.  And doesn't miss a thing!   

My name is Bella and I'm here to explore and have fun!

Oh wait.  Who's this little girl?

Me?  Really? 

I like her!  I like me!

I'm Isabella Noel. 

And Nana loves this little girl! 

I think Bella does too! 

Country Ramblings

I went for a Sunday drive today with brother Gary and Donnie Wilson, a second cousin.  We drove all around Pleasant Township, Union County, Iowa.  My ancestors were some of the earlier homesteaders to move into this part of Iowa.  So as not to lose all the oral hand-me-down family history, I think a project this winter will be to write down a little about different family lines.  This will include your dad's side too as I have done a lot of learning and recording of the Hofmeisters and related family lines.  Someday, if someone develops a a thirst for family history, these small bits and pieces will give you a place to start.


Today's drive was to rediscover homes and farms of the Union County Wilson line.  I had been by these houses and down these roads as a child and young adult but I never paid enough attention.  Now, wanting to document the homes and farms, I needed help from family members.


James Blackburn Wilson was born in 1811 in North Carolina.  He married in 1832.   After a financial set back and loss of his farm about 1847, George, his wife and two oldest children walked the 400 miles aross the mountains to Randolph Co, Indiana where George had a sister living.   The Blackburns were of the Quaker, or Friend, religion and George's sister was in a Quaker community.  During the westward jouney, George's 3-year old daughter rode on a horse and later a wagon.  In Indiana for 9 years, the family worked and saved and planned and in 1856 they left for Iowa with two wagons, one pulled by 4 oxen and one pulled by a team of horses. 

The James B Wilson family first settled and lived in a log home in Iowa in what would become Pleasant Township, Union County, Ia.  They put a house on the south side of what is now called 255th Street, Section 22 Sandcreek Township.


James later built a house of lumber that was sawn from his timber on his home place.  He broke the prairie sod with a 14-inch walking plow and harrowed it with a thorn bush tree.  He hunted squirrels with a muzzle loading rifle and if he could get a squirrel between himself and the tree, he would shoot the squirrel and then dig lead shot fom the tree to melt down, remold and use for the next squirrel. 

James Blackburn Wilson

5 Nov 1811 - 7 Jan 1893

Martha, his wife, had sheep that she sheared and the wool made into yarn.  She had a loom that she wove cloth on,  She raised geese for the feathers for beds and pillows.  She could not read or write but was midwife and nurse for any neighbor who was sick or delivering a babe.  She planted apple trees and flowers and vegetables, saving the seeds from year to year and for herself and the neighbors.  When they first made their home in Union County, the closest store or town of any size was Burlington, Iowa.  Later, the railroad came bringing more homesteaders and towns were platted.  Iowa grew up around these pioneers.


James and Martha Wilson died in the 1890s and are buried in Oak Hill Cemetery, Sand Creek Township, Union Co, Iowa.


Descendents are:  son, George Washington Wilson who married (1st) Elizabeth Wright and had seven children.  After Elizabeth's untimely death, George married (2nd), Mary Ella Willis and had seven more children.


Mary Ella Willis married George Washington Wilson on 14 Nov 1881.  He (George) had a family of seven children.  From the Wilson history:  "One girl was married and the others were still at home with their father.  She (Mary) helped them until they finished school and married.  She welcomed them when they visited the home with their families.  She remembered the birthdays of all their children, and visited them in their homes."  Mary must have been a good stepmother for this to be handed down all this time.


From  the "James B Wilson Family History, 1763 to 1964" written by Lyman Wilson (my great uncle), "George (Washington Wilson) voted for Abraham Lincoln when Republican party was first started.  Later he was interested in new Populist party and in the Democrat party.  He served as school director and treasurer and was township trustee for several years . . .

George and Mary Willis Wilson, front left

Mary in white full apron and George, with Gramps' beard and stance.



George enjoyed visiting and made many trips on trains to other states to visit relatives.  He went to World Fairs in St. Louis and Portland, Oregon."


So that's where Gramps got his wanderlust!


George's daughter Martha Jane (Mattie) Wilson married Robert Briggs Austin.  Robert's family had been hired to dig tile ditches to drain the wet farm bottoms for the Wilsons.  George and Mary Wilson were not impressed with their daughter's decision to marry the son of a ditch digger.  "We would have been better to leave the farm wet", mother Mary supposedly said,  I learned to today on our pilgramage.


BUT!  if George Wilson hadn't hired the Austins, Mattie wouldn't have met her Bob, married, and had eight children including Forrest, my dad -- and that would have been the end of this story!  So I'm glad Mattie met her Rob and had her nomad life.  My Gramma Austin was always cheerful and kind and quick to laugh and play jokes -- somehow, I don't think she was regretful about her life.  I know for certain she wasn't sad nor bitter.  Here are my grandparents about the time I was born. 

Grampa, Robert Briggs Austin

and my cheerful Gramma,

Mattie Jane Wilson Austin

The Wilson line goes back 4 or 5 more generations beyond James Blackburn Wilson, right back to Ireland.  The Wilson line leads us back to the Blackburns.  There is a huge active Blackburn Family Association of which I am a member and the Blackburn line also begins in Ireland.  So there, that explains partly my long-time interest in Ireland, traveling and all things family.


The Austin line.  Ha!  Now that is a story for another day. 


                                                     Thanks for listening . . . love, Ma