Kids

The Missouri girls who now live in Michigan are here for the weekend while their parents spend a well-deserved weekend in New York City.  Have you ever been to New York.  Have you?  It's on my bucket list.  Kevin goes there for business a lot. 
Yesterday was GFV day and Maddie and Amelia loved it; they wanted to go back today.  

That train whistle is loud

Waiting for the old cars

Amelia loves frogs

Games on the green

Turning the train

The new train, Baldwin

The Olden Days

Yes folks, I was born back in the olden days.  I remember my mother talking about the olden days and now, somehow, I am living them.  This birthday coming up is the hardest one of all so far. I don't know why, must be that medicare card in my wallet. The word "senior citizen" has taken on a whole new meaning.  Don't get me wrong, I am glad to be alive and all that but when a recorded message starts with "If you ever fall down...will you be able to get help..." I think the phone call is for my dad. I have a lot to be thankful for and I will admit that.  But this is another time of transition as I adjust to the word "senior." 

Some interesting facts from 1948:

Sugar cost 85 cents for 10 pounds
Milk cost 87 cents per gallon
Coffee was 60 cents a pound
Eggs were 23 cents a dozen
Ground hamburger cost 45 cents a pound
Bread was 14 cents a loaf

First class stamps were 3 cents each
Gas was 16 cents a gallon
A movie ticket cost 60 cents each
A new car was $1,230.00
Average Income was $2,936.00 a year
A new house was $7,700.00
Rent was $70 a month

And guess who was president?  President Harry S. Truman.  Now we are talking a long time ago.  

When I was about 10 years old I remember my mom giving me a quarter to walk up to the corner store to buy a loaf of bread.  

"The richness of life lies in the memories we have forgotten."  

I am sure I will remember a few more things before the "big day."

Little One.....

No more.  Miss Riles has turned NINE and we celebrated her last year in the single digits on Sunday.  We also threw Father's Day in with the birthday celebration.  We had her favorite dessert, brownies with coffee ice cream.  I actually broke my low-carb diet for that dessert.  It is the first dessert I've had in a long time.  Our girl is growing up along with the rest of the kids.  She was very, and I should underline VERY excited for her birthday.  I think presents were a big draw this year.  Happy Birthday!

Kind of serious looking here

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Joy Boy gets to blow a candle out too.

Way Back When-sday

I found this picture among some pictures that have been sent to my dad.  I took a lot of the pictures home that I and others have sent him and put them in an album for Father's Day.  
This is a picture of me and my sisters in Gatlinburg.  My mom wanted the whole family to go for their anniversary and we loved our time together so much that we kept up the tradition for several years.  Our kids have fond memories of being together and so do we.
What is so funny about this picture is what my mom wrote on the back of it before she sent it to my sister Magnolia at some point several years back.  It said, "The skinny minis(alias Russell girls) many moons (or pounds) ago!"  Then she added "The pot is calling the kettle black." Ah yes, we had all put on some poundage.  
It's fun to look back and see old pictures of yourself.  I know I had many "looks" and always wore clothes and glasses that were "in" or so I thought...ha ha.
I am still working on my memoirs and have been putting my baby pictures in an album.  This is one picture I will cherish because I have such happy memories of our time in Gatlinburg.

                             

Forty no more,  Me, and Magnolia

A Million Things

Well...not quite a million, but we have been very busy here in our corner of the mitten.  Lots of plantings of beautiful flowers and pots and weeding and watering.  It has been fun and things are looking up except for some bugs on my herbs and the occasional plant that doesn't quite make it.  

Chicago kids came for the weekend and all the others came on Saturday to celebrate Ry-Guy's birthday and Riles who will be nine next Monday.  Big News:  Ry-Guy is now taller than me.  I dreaded the day but it has come.  Five weeks ago when we were in Chicago he was inching his way up and now he has gone up and beyond.  He thought it was pretty cool, I felt a little sad as our babies are all grown up; even the little ones.  Now they can't wait until they are taller than me. 

The cousins had fun with each other on Saturday and it was nice to see them all together.  Even Joy Boy seemed older as he played with cousin "Ameils" as we call her for short.  Ry Guy and Cavman are very nice to Joy Boy and play with him and he loves it.

Meg and Riles are inseparable and are in another world-that of make believe.  Maddie Moo and Ameils love to be around all the cousins.  Pizza was in order for Saturday and birthday "brownies" and ice cream. 

 It was a busy weekend with Kristen and kids leaving yesterday morning.  Then the quiet was deafening, so to speak.  I took it easy all day-did some journaling and scrapbooking and started a couple of games of "words with friends" on my iPAD.  Fun, Fun, but I need lots of practice.  I have wanted to play it for some time, but needed someone to show me how to get started.  That someone was Kristen and now I am in a game with her too.

I must download some pictures and keep blogging.  

More Than One Thousand

                            

Thanks for this picture, Kristen

I have them all over; probably over 1,000 pictures of Ryan our oldest grandchild who is thirteen today.  Many of the pictures are in albums (thank goodness).  But many are still in the camera, on the computer or filed by date or even on thumb drives.  What a happy occasion it is when a grandchild is born and the first is always a highlight that you remember every detail of.  I must say though, I feel the same about the births of all seven of our grandchildren. It is amazing how I remember little details of their birth.  I was in Chicago when Ryan was born early and I got to be there for his birth.  What a special privilege that was.   
Back in the days before digital cameras, I took tons of pictures and then I took them to the one-hour photo place and had doubles made.  Then, my daughter took some of the same pictures of her newborn as I did and we finally caught on to that and stopped taking the same pictures.   
The hardest thing for me about Ryan being born was that he was three-and-a-half weeks early and was just under six pounds and they live so far away.  Chicago might as well have been China for his grammy.  I retired from my job early and traveled back and forth to Chicago every two or three weeks.  And then because number two and three came pretty fast after that, I was there a lot.  I think back and hope I wasn't a pest of a grandmother telling my daughter what to do.  I think I tried that twice and learned my lesson.  
I have so many happy memories of my times with the kids there and it has been a long time since I have been there myself.  Don was working then and sometimes he took a long weekend to go with me. 
Ryan is a super kid, with a tender heart and I am loving him more today than the day he was born. Happy 13th Birthday Ryan; you've reached one of life's milestones.  Wonder if Kristen will need some help next fall with a teenager in the house?  Should I see if Amtrak still goes to Chicago?   

Thanks for this picture too.