Flashback Friday - Texas

I haven't posted on my blog in two years!  I was looking around and discovered blogs aren't even what the used to be!  What they were isn't even "in" anymore!  My posts won't change a whole lot though.  I don't care about being "in" and the purpose of this blog stays the same - a diary of our family life.

We moved to Flower Mound, Texas late summer 2005.  The first day of school followed quickly.

Levi looks pretty confident and pleased that Micah's off to school for the whole day and he's not!

Uncle Blair had helped us find a great house in a great neighborhood.  It was close to green space with a path that led behind the middle school, through a park, and to the elementary school. Devon rode bikes to school with the boys sometimes on his day off.  Our great house however, had yucky carpet and wallpaper.  By the end of August, we started rectifying that situation.  The boys scraped the wallpaper off their bathroom walls almost entirely on their own.

They actually learned home projects starting in ABQ.  They've used their acquired skill on mission trips and to earn money.  In this picture you can see in to the boys' room.  They shared one bedroom and used one as a playroom for awhile.  Later, this room became Levi's and the one to the left of the bathroom was Micah's.

Our previous house was a new build.  This was the house we started a tradition.  Any time we redid floors or walls we used sharpie to write - here, our names.  Future projects included our favorite Scriptures.

First grade and Forest Vista was the beginning of Cub Scouts for Micah (Levi officially joined two years later).  We were blessed with a wonderful den and pack full of friends for Micah and parents we enjoyed.  One of the first den meetings was at our house where the boys practiced their cowboy skills with knott tying and "cattle" roping.

Although we're not pleased with the direction Scouts has taken - those 11 years we were a part were meaningful to our boys and our family.  Dev continues today his friendship with hiking buddies he met in Oklahoma Scouts.  We are blessed and thankful.

Albuquerque Flashback

So, I was looking through some ABQ photos and I found some gems!  These were in a Sept. - Nov. file.  By then, of 2003, we had settled in quite nicely.  Micah started a Mother's Day Out at a local preschool.  He went only on Fridays for a few hours and loved it!  I loved it because it gave him time to play with other kids.  A few of those kids were in his kindergarten class the next year.

September and October were busy in Albuquerque.  We went with Grandmomma and Grandpoppa to the fair.  This must have been our first time there because we have a lot of fair pictures from a different trip.  This one rained.  We spent a lot of time dodging showers, taking cover, and doing activities when there was a break in rain.  It was fun to be together though!

We had actually been to Balloon Fiesta before and since we lived here now, we didn't have to get up at the crack of dawn for everything.  Aunt Winna took this picture!  I'm not sure how the timing worked out for her with school, but she's in another picture from this batch.

The following picture is from an early zoo trip.  The boys did discover the jumping area right away. I love that we went to the zoo so much in ABQ.  We had an annual membership and we used it well.  Levi and I would sometimes go there on early release (school) day and he even had a birthday there!

Picture proof that we did do pumpkins and costumes with our boys!  Again, this was our first year in ABQ.  The other year, I found matching spider sweaters at a second hand store and Aunt Winna made spider masks out of black paper plates and pipe cleaners!

That Little Tikes car got a lot of use!  The black truck (from Gigi - it had belonged to cousin October) and gas station were added in Kentucky.  The infamous duck boots are in these pictures too!

These kinds of pictures were pretty typical of M and L's early years.  Fairs, special events/places, visits from Aunt Winna, pumpkins.

A final shot - M's beginning of photography. (At this point, I don't think I had even considered the boys would be taking pictures on their phones one day!)

Albuquerque Flashback

In April, 2003, Hubby and M flew from Kentucky to Albuquerque to find a home for us.  They chose well in a new neighborhood on the west side - Ventana Hills.  Our goal was to be some place new in order to meet new people and invite them to church.  You can see in the second picture that we didn't even have across the street neighbors yet.  The backyard pictures are to show what we did first thing - Hubby put in sprinklers!  We were doing this on our first weekend there - and we even invited people we met for the first time at Rio Vista Church to come help.  Of course, anyone willing to come into the mess inside and out were obviously going to be great friends!  And the Hendrixsons were - from day one to Jen being one of the last ones in our house to clean when we moved - a large part of Albuquerque memories are of them.

All that sod had to go in too!  We hauled it in the blue van (because we didn't have a truck) and that's where the "sod knife" came from.  Hubby used one of the knives from our kitchen set to cut the grass.  The knife is in our kitchen drawer right now and has been used on sod at every house we've lived since!

Right outside the back door Hubby and the boys built a deck (that's where he first let them use power tools!).  We left the part on the side dirt/sand for the boys to play in.  The swing you see int he picture went on the deck along with the grill and eventually a better patio table was there too.  We had many snacks and played many games there.  From the swing looking north you could see the Sango De Christo Mts.

We spent a lot of time outside at this home in both the front and back, walking in the neighborhood (Hubby taking Jazzy out in the undeveloped area to chase rabbits), and at the nearby parks.  Another great reason in choosing this spot was that it was down the street from the new elementary school.  I was even part of the neighborhood meeting that chose the school mascot  - the Roadrunners!

How is it possible that so much fun and playing went into two short years?  We had a small plastic square table at the end of the kitchen counter.  It was perfect because when you were at it you were in the kitchen, dining room and living room - we had a "Great Room"- the fireplace was at the center.  Although M, didn't actually have formal preschool, I made sure he went to school with a good foundation.  Well, except knowing what a needle and thread was and thinking ice cream was a nutritious snack (those were two things he missed on a kindergarten testing situation)!

In this picture you can get a better glimpse of the table the boys used constantly and can almost see the beginning of the fireplace (to the right of what was our bedroom door).  It was in front of this fireplace where we would act out Bible stories.  One of M's favorites to do was Samuel.  He would lay down and I would call his name.  After doing this a few times he would say "Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening."

Weren't the boys lovely bandits?  (Nice transition from Samuel, hu?  Their pretending ran the gamut!) They have cowboy hats from Grandy.  Oh, M & L were the best of friends!  They spent countless hours pretending and playing together.  I hope they remember that and forge a friendship one day as adults. (The pictures of the boys are actually from May 2004 - almost a year after coming to ABQ and a few months before M started Kindergarten. L was 3.)

More ABQ flashbacks to come.  We were finally digital!

A Great Reminder or "Read This If You're Missing Someone"

This year felt Christmasy as soon as Thanksgiving was over.  Hubby put lights out front, we've been on track with baking, shopping, parties and such.

However, about a week ago, I told Hubby that the one thing I wanted for Christmas I couldn't have - I wanted a visit from Mom and Dad for Christmas.  My best remembered Christmases as an adult were the ones Mom and Dad (and then Dad after Mom was gone) came to visit.

I've dwelt on that this week even to the point of being quite a Grinch to my family.

So, yesterday I visited them. My sister and I took silk poinsettias to the cemetery for the vases on Mom and Dad's headstone.  We didn't linger there.  I've never felt it necessary since they aren't there.  I know others spend time at the graves of loved ones and that's fine.  Everyone grieves differently.

As I was posting our Christmas letter, I was rereading December blog posts of mine and I came across the one I wrote the Christmas after Dad died. It's called "A Different Christmas" (click link to read) and in it I wrote "Emmanuel, God is with me."  Boy am I thankful I wrote that because it's a good reminder to me today!  The post also has a link to something Emily Freeman wrote "For when everything is different".  Grief is always hard, but especially hard at holidays so I hope both these posts will be helpful to someone.

So, my parents won't be visiting this Christmas.  But, on the first Christmas, Jesus did more than visit. He came to be with us and He's never left!  Yet, at the same time, he left to prepare a place.  A place where because of the plan He set in motion several thousand years ago - Mom and Dad (and other loved ones) will be able to spend Christmas together again.

A New Chapter for Dad's House

Almost two and a half years ago, I ended a blog post with this " I am very happy to have this done though. There are some odds n ends left in the house, but it’s mainly cleaned out (but not clean!)."  It was in reference to cleaning out my parents' house. (You can read the whole post here.)

Now we're doing the odds n ends and the cleaning!  Really cleaning.  Hubby (with some M & L help) has taken out two closets and part of a wall, pulled up part of a floor and replaced it, made a water line to the fridge, moved the hot water tank out of the bathroom and moved the washer and dryer from the kitchen to its' new spot. 

We have a new dumpster, but not as big as the first.  All that demolition is going in - in with all the things we saved before and now aren't quite sure why.  After I left yesterday to pick up M., Hubby and L pulled up all the carpet and threw it away.

What's left? Well, Hubby would know better than I - he's good at this!  Replace some windows, take some furniture to an antique store if any family doesn't want it, sell the deep freeze, maybe move a doorway, replace the front door, fix some more floor, add in a kitchen cabinet, majorly clean, clean the cabinets and paint them inside and out (my job), have the fireplace checked, put in carpeting and linoleum, and anything else that needs done!

This project is perhaps physically and financially harder, but not quite as emotionally difficult as the first.  The hardest parts - picking the coins up in Dad's room and knowing they were ones dropped out of his jeans pockets behind his bed and cleaning out all the scraps of papers in Dad's spice rack.  The rack had absolutely no spices, but it was a good holder for all those papers written in Dad's handwriting - the four of us and Aunt's birthdays, our phone numbers and Dr's numbers, a recipe or two - and a few business cards from people who had fixed things for Dad.

It does make me wonder why we didn't do this for Mom and Dad ten years ago.  Dad probably wouldn't have let us!

Flashback Revisted

I was re-reading my blog (I do that!) and noticed I used a lot of Kentucky pictures for Flashback.  We only lived in Kentucky for 11 months!

We lived in Albuquerque when M was 4-6 and L was 2-4.  M came in while I was looking through these pictures.  He said "That was my favorite house!"  That's interesting, of the three houses he actually remembers, it was the smallest.  However, Hubby and I might just say the same thing!  It didn't have anything to do with the size of the house though, it had everything to do with how much we thoroughly enjoyed this age of the boys and spent so much time with friends and neighbors (well neighbors were friends too). (A side note, it was a neighbor in ABQ who got Hubby connected to his current line of work).

We had a place in that modest home where many friends gathered, dinners were made, treats were mixed (or munched), birthdays were celebrated and casserole dishes were stored. Our kitchen island......

July 2003

2003 - Do you like my choice of birthday candle?

This was pretty tame compared to what the four of these guys were normally doing!

No comment

2004 - I need to fire the photographer for taking that picture towards a window!

2004 - A great place to pose with artwork...

5th Birthday - Birthday parties for M when he was young were so easy!  He liked so many things!

Even a birthday party for a neighbor! (The adult - not sure why he only got four candles! It may have been all I had!)

Snickerdoodles!  This was the only 2005 island picture I could find.
We still have this apron.  My five year old friend used it Friday when he helped me wash  and cut fruit!


Do you have a favorite?  I couldn't decide!

On the Home Front - March 9

A peek through my window…. Breezy and cloudy.  We’re going to get rain this afternoon.  Spring is coming, but maybe later than last year???????  I was reading back through last year’s posts and saw that last year (two days from now) our neighbor’s tree was white with blooms.  I think I see tiny buds now, but blooms are a ways off.

What’s going on this week… M is registering for NINTH grade.  I can hardly believe it!

What “the boys” are doing… M just left with his dad for the hangar.  Last night, he went to a state semi-final basketball game to watch with friends.  L. is on a Scout campout, but they are coming home tonight so the Weeblos don’t have to take down wet tents.

On my mind… how our boys are changing and growing – interests too.  Playing out in the front yard isn’t something they really do anymore….

On my bedside table…  my Kindle isn’t working properly!  I need to get that taken care of soon!  When we were in Texas last month I bought some non-electronic books at Half Price Books.  I think I’m going to save them for the beach this summer.

I am richly blessed…  to have Hubby.  I’ve had a headache this morning and he spent about 20 minutes rubbing my head for me.

 (And I wrote this last month and didn’t ever publish it…)

…….to have spent time with Aunt this week.  She went to dinner with the boys and Thursday night and then to a Bible exhibit.  Last night M. and I helped her get the furniture she wanted and after we ate at our house, we took her home and unloaded the furniture.  Did I mention she bought me lunch on Wednesday and had it at my house during my lunch break?  She stayed after I went back to school and picked both the boys up at their school about an hour and half later.  I ran into a 2^nd and 3^rd cousin at M’s basketball game this week too. 

I’m praying for…  a phone interview for a friend.  A relaxing time away for another friend and her family.

Our home…  the laundry annex is clean (since we may have company for dinner).  Our home is looking forward to some attention while I’m home during Spring Break!

Menu planning… (Also something from last month that didn’t get published…)Something truly amazing!  Yesterday afternoon Hubby and I prepared 10 dinners that we put in the fridge or freezer ready to cook….We had shish-ke-bobs after church today for dinner.  Waiting to in the fridge to cook tomorrow night for dinner is Italian Pork Chops.  We have Chinese Chicken Morsels, Hearty Hamburger Stew, Green Chile Beef Enchiladas, Lemon Chicken, Over BBQ Chicken and Cheese Biscuits, Mexican Roast, Asian Chicken and Stir Fry Veggies and Beef Stroganoff waiting in the freezer.  Woo Hoo!  I couldn’t have done it without Hubby.  His idea and he cut all the vegetables and all the meat!

We haven’t made it to Once a Month Cooking yet this month, but I have things ready for Taco Soup, Smoky Corn Chowder, Farmer’s Casserole, Asian Chicken (again) and a couple of other things that I can’t remember right now.

A photo or two… I haven’t taken many lately so these are oldies, but goodies!

 

Easter 2003

Playing in the front yard in Kentucky

 

Flashback Friday - Watermelon

To those who know my picky eating habits, I know it won't surprise you that I didn't eat watermelon until after we lived in Sedona (I was in my late twenties!).  Now, I absolutely love watermelon!  There are two things I don't like about watermelon though 1) Getting one home and it being "bad" - like the one Hubby got last week, it was pink. and 2) How expensive the seedless ones are now.  They are almost four dollars each and I remember buying them at Sprouts in Texas for 99 cents!

Last evening we had had a wonderful dark red juicy watermelon with house guests we had known during our Beeson year (and who we saw some when we lived in Texas).  It was absolutely wonderful to see their children 10 years later.  We looked through our pictures from the Beeson year (2002 - 2003) and of course one of Hubby and my all time favorite pictures of the boys was in there.  It's what we've always called "The Watermelon Picture"...

Look closely at what's on L's watermelon he is eating!  Yum Yum

One of first Beeson gatherings was on the lawn in front of our townhouses.  I think it was for the fourth of July.  I also found the second "Watermelon Picture" that was taken in our back yard in Albuquerque the following year.  Our friend (who also has my name!) and her family were visiting.  We met when she came to our garage sale and before our neighborhood was built up, we could see each other's houses even though she lived on another street.  Her family always called if we left the garage door up at night.  Her husband called one morning when he saw the tent you can see in the picture blow out of our yard and get picked up and carted away by construction workers. (Hubby went and retrieved it).

Isn't that beautiful GREEN grass for Albuquerque?

I just noticed in both pictures M is eating watermelon from the rind.  I usually cut it all off and in pieces because that's how I like it (and never with seeds - seeds make it not worth eating), but last night M asked for some on the rind because "It tastes better that way.".  I guess that started at an early age!

Flashback Friday on Tuesday

This was our back yard in Kentucky.  Very small, all cement, had a storage closet, but it was fenced in!  The sand box was a loaner.  Really the only time we spent here was for the sandbox or as you can see - sidewalk chalk.  I could leave the back door open and leave the boys playing there a few minutes while I got something done in the kitchen.  I guess you don't need a lot of space to scoot around when you're not quite two!  If our back yard was small, our front yard was ginormous!  We shared it with all our fellow townhouse dwellers - it must have been bigger than a football field (no exaggeration)!  Yesterday, I asked the boys what their earliest memories were and M's was the front yard in Kentucky.  He must have spent a lot of time there or really liked it!  I look back on it and can't believe I let him play out there by himself!  Well, not quite by himself - there were many older kids out watching and playing, probably a Mom or two and at least a dozen pair of eyes watching out the windows that all faced that big green yard.

M. was either on a bike, or doing something ornery with his best friend, D.  L. spent lots of time pulling kids way bigger than him around in wagons!  It was in that yard that kids were playing when we returned from the library and M. proudly announced to everyone "See, we got Thomas.com!" when referring to the Thomas the Tank Engine books we had gotten.

Every kid loves the box most of all right?  I had to show off L's snazzy Clifford shoes.  It seems both boys wore water shoes around for every day kind of things when they were little.  Now they don't even wear their water shoes to the pool.  Go figure.  I think these shoes were found at a garage sale.   More clothing anecdotes below.  L's pajamas were the kind that the top snapped to the bottom.  I loved those!

This was typical of M. age 3- 4, he's watching a video and drinking "pink" milk (aka strawberry flavored).  For the longest time we couldn't figure out what the pink dots on the lining of the van ceiling were.  After watching closely, we noticed the sippy cups the boys used in the car were the kind with the straw that you flipped a cover over.  Every time they unflipped the cover, the straw popped up a splattered pink milk all over.  Lovely.  Sippy cups were the good 'ole days.  Pink milk made an impression on family too - they were always kind to pick up some of the flavoring before we'd visit.  Their uncle even asked last year before we went to his house if the boys were still drinking pink milk. (They take it plain or chocolate now!)

If L. is watching the video in this picture you can't tell.  It looks like he's just trying to be near his brother.  Likely he was past exhausted and should have already been put in bed!

Flashback Friday - May 18

After birthdays and Mother's Day, I was noticing that there hasn't been much "normal" Flashback Friday.  The original purpose was to write down some of the boys' earlier days since I don't scrapbook.  When I last left off, we were in Kentucky.... The above picture is M & L at the end of the kitchen counter drawing.  I honestly don't remember using this spot alot because at one and three (more like almost two and almost four in this pic) it was just too easy for them to topple off the barstools.  This was the the time of M's life where his scribbles became letters or trucks.  He could even spell Uhaul himself and put it in the right place on the drawing.  Sadly, Uhaul is a memory of his younger years.  But, the 11 months was well worth it in Kentucky - not only did Hubby get all the classwork for his doctorate completed on scholarship, we had a really fun year living closely to 20 families.

It was in the floor right at the edge of the counter where L. sometimes ate breakfast.  I know, the horrible confessions of motherhood.  Granted nothing was wrong with the table, but remember, I didn't want him tumbling off the barstool?  I put cereal in a bowl and set it on the floor along with his cup of milk.  I can't remember if M. did this too.  How funny.

In the picture you can see two doors.  The one on the left was a 3/4 bathroom.  We rarely used the shower in it because it was where we kept recycling.  Really!  Stacked it all up there, hid it by the curtain and then every so often we loaded it in the wagon and carted it across the street to the part of campus that had bins.

Notice how L. is putting his entire body into drawing this?  The green things on their cheeks are shamrocks.  Aunt happened to be visiting for Spring Break.  St. Pat's Day usually falls during S.B.

L. was definitely my Bob the Builder kid.  He got into tools more than M. ever did.  And look, proof that I DID let my kids play with playdoh.  It's never been one of my personal favorites, but it was okay in controlled circumstances.  Of course, their favorite was the years after this when their grandmother made them edible playdough!  This table was the site of many activities each day - the boys probably can't remember one of them!  I remember lots of projects and puzzles (there was a storage closet in the dining room that held toys and games) and of course there was dinner. 

Now, dinner in Kentucky was the best!  Several of the families had "dinner clubs".  Ours had three families in it.  I cooked on Monday nights for our family and the two others, Tues nights the ladies had our regular meeting and lots of Dads took the Kids for free or 99 cent kids meals at Fazoli's, on Wednesday and Thursday someone else cooked for our family, Friday was leftovers and that just left the weekend to fend for ourselves or go out.  I absolutely loved hearing the doorbell ring and knowing someone was delivering a hot dinner!

The cabinet L. is opening was the only one he was allowed to open - it held lots of plastic dishes he either played with or emptied and restacked.  You can see a little artwork on the fridge.  L. always had something from church to put there.  Most of the time we went to a church plant and sometimes L. was the only baby in the nursery, but the nursery workers always helped him make a project.  I always appreciated that - I knew they were teaching him Bible lessons and paying lots of attention to him.  He loved it!

One of his favorite things during this time also was story time at the library.  After the stories, they had different balls or whatever that they let the kids play with and then at the very end, they would turn on the bubble machine, his ultimate favorite!

I think I have one more Kentucky post.  I promise it will have more M. news and then we're on to Albuquerque!

Flashback Friday - Mom



Almost the same spot of the yard, a little older, different dog

My Mom's Mom (My Grandma) is in the front row on the right.
Her Mom (My Great Grandma is the lady in back with her right arm around one of her girls)

Happy Mother's Day!

Flashback Friday - Birthday Edition

Happy Eleven L!



Birthday Numero Uno at Chuck E. Cheese in Phoenix

Aunt came to KY to celebrate number two.  This was our family party.  We celebrated with friends later.

Opened presents at home and then had cake at the zoo.  This was everyone's favorite part at the zoo!  Yes, L. is the one in mid-air.

Party for Four was at McDonalds with M.  This is his actual day, opening cards in our office.

I couldn't resist...This is a present that came in the mail for birthday five.

Actual party.

This is L with M at Six Flags.  A lot of family was with us for both boys' birthdays.  I think I'll post lots more from that day.  It was fun (but cold) and I have lots of great pictures.

For birthday seven we had an old-fashioned play games (like leap frog), make tye dye shirts and have cake at the park party.

Shortly after birthday number 8.  March and April weren't good months for us that year, and I dont'' have birthday pictures for either boy that year!

9.  Hot dogs and boys spending the night.

I couldn't find number 10 pictures either although I do remember having kids at our house!  This is L. a couple weeks later at the State Bible Competition.