You Don't See That Every Day

Have I ever mentioned home much I like my kids? Have I ever mentioned how much I like homeschooling my kids? Sure, there are days when they drive me up a wall. But then there are days like today! The two at home and I went exploring. There are a number of little towns that we often drive through on our way to somewhere else, so I've decided that we are going to take some time to explore these drive-through places. I had them look up some information before we set out so we had some idea about the history of the town - who founded it; what there is to see/do; if there are any historical markers. Our first stop today was in a little town called Amity. And it is little . We found an antique store that looked dusty on the outside, and wasn't open. We found a cool old cemetery with a plethora of "names to use in stories" according to my 13 year old. Next to it was a pretty nice city park, but we didn't take the time to stop in. I knew we would be at another park...

My uncle died last year, and as what comes with death, the cleaning of house commences. My aunt and cousins are going through things, downsizing, cleaning, parceling out family items. My parents received a box of items from my dad's side of the family. I have numerous pictures and such of the family history that I have been trying to organize for years now, so my mom passed on the box to me. And what a treasure! I spent some time this afternoon looking at letters from my great-great uncle to my grandmother, letters written in 1921 on paper from that year. Names that I didn't recognize mingle with names I have heard of. Letters from Germany were in there, notes from family written in 1948. I took German in high school and college, but I could only make out a few words. The handwriting is exquisite in the German letters, so beautiful. There were a few photos of unknown to me people. It made me want to dive into my family history boxes and sort more. History has always been a f...

The family is in the process of going through my grandparents house and cleaning it out. And there are SO many photographs. My mom loaned me this one to scan and put with the family history, and I will probably be putting some more up here to share. Here is a picture of my grandparents - my dad's parents.  She is holding a bouquet with roses, and her dress was a very pretty blue. (I had a piece of it sewn onto a handkerchief by my aunt, which I carried in my wedding.) They look so young to me in this picture. My grandparents were married back in 1924. Grandpa was back from the WWI - fighting in France -and Grandma lived in Washington. I think they were both around 30 years of age when they got married; I am going to have to ask my aunts what they can recall about this time of their parent's lives, and before - stories I haven't heard yet. They went on to have 6 children - 4 boys, 2 girls - and about 30 grandchildren. I have no idea how many great,...

Looking out towards the coast We did not sleep well on the first night, so naps were a must. But afterwards, the sun was shining, and the bicycle path was calling. We biked out to an historic site - the military battery. This is the only area in the continental US that was fired upon in WWII. (I had no idea!) It was a lovely bike ride with the family. After a little snack time (we are a family big on snacking!) we explored the battery - plenty of history and learning. I was in the dark about Oregon history .. either I missed that day in school, or we never went over it. Fort Stevens was created back in the Civil War area to protect the north from a British invasion from Canada. Thankfully, it never needed to fire its guns in defense. So we saw some Army trucks - we didn't take the tour ride, but I suppose that would be interesting to do. We saw - and heard - cannons. (No, the one pictured did not go off, that would have been a bit loud.) And there were some re-e...

18 years ago today my life changed, for the better. Only I didn't know it then. Little did I know that the guy at the head of the table in the dorm dining hall would someday be at the head of my table in our family home. I didn't know that the guy I thought "liked to be the center of attention" would someday be the center of my world. We've been through years of ups and downs. And only recently he commented, "It finally feels like we are married." After 13 years and 5 kids, it finally feels real. I feel pity, sorrow, for those who don't make it through those first 10 years; those who give up because of the pain or hurts or hard work it takes to live with the same spouse day in and day out. Sure this man has peculiarities, but thankfully, so do I.