Happy Birthday, Peanuts Gang!

My niece, Regina, just informed me by email that today is the 60th birthday of the Peanuts Gang!  Wow, I can't believe I didn't know that.

I guess when I said that I had loved them as long as I could remember I was correct.  Who would have known they were one year older than I am?  No wonder I love them.  They grew up with me!  That is one of the reasons I love their movies so much.  Their school parties, programs, holidays, etc. are so similar to what I grew up with.

May they be around for us to enjoy forever and never grow old!

Happy Birthday, Brooke!

Happy Birthday to our dear Brooke.  We hope she has a great day.

Brooke is our daughter-in-law, and we love her a lot.  Just look at that smile. What a beauty!  She is also a fantastic teacher, homemaker, pianist, OU fan, and much more.  She is handling all of this while working on her Master's Degree.  Her plate is definitely full, but she manages to work it all in somehow.

We love that she has a heart for God.  We prayed that Nicholas would find a Christian wife, a blessing to his life.  We feel that he has that. Her parents reared her well and it shows.

This weekend is the OU/Texas game.  We're glad that they are going.  It should give Brooke some happy birthday time that she well deserves!

Happy Birthday to a delightful young lady!  Have fun with your honey!

Happy Birthday, Rhonda!

Happy Birthday, Rhonda!  Isn't this a beautiful picture?  I love it!

Today, is our niece's birthday.  I vividly remember the first time I saw her.  She was 3 years old, and I thought she was the prettiest little girl I had ever seen.  She was a beauty then and is a beauty now.

Rhonda is a tenderhearted, intelligent, loving, well-spoken young woman.   I love to see her gentle ways, and she takes after both of her parents.

Rhonda and Bill are the parents of two of my most favorite people in the world, Sarah and Freeman.  I delight in hearing of their family life.

Dennis and I hope that she has a very happy birthday with her precious family!  She deserves it!

Happy Birthday, Corbin!

Today is Corbin's 3rd birthday.  Isn't he a cutie?  Our family is blessed with some darling little boys.

We hope he has a lot of fun today, and can't believe how big  he is getting.  That baby look is definitely turning into a little boy look.  He has a whole life ahead of him to explore his world and we pray that he enjoys every minute of it.

Happy Birthday, Corbin!  We love you!

Happy Birthday, Joyce!

Happy Birthday to my sister, Joyce!  She deserves a wonderful, relaxing day.

Joyce is generous to a fault and an example to me.  She gave me two of my most favorite people in the world, Kristin & Kourtney.

Now she is setting me a new example.  She is a wonderful grandmother!  She takes care of her two precious grandsons!  She is doing a great job with them and she does it all with a smile.  She keeps dropping these blatant hints that I come stay with her and help her babysit.  I totally would, but I just can't seem to get away! :)  (Dennis needs me here, you know!  That's my story and I'm sticking to it!  HA!)

Music runs in our family and Joyce is so musically talented.  Her soprano voice is beautiful, and I love to hear it.  If you get a chance to hear her sing, you'll agree with me, I'm sure.

Happy Birthday, Sissy!  I love you!

Happy Birthday, Kourtney!

Today is our dear niece, Kourtney's, birthday!  She has been a delight to us from the day she was born.  Look at that mega-smile.  That is her to a T!

Since she and Hayley are the same age, we have lots of memories and pictures of her growing up.  I'd include them here, but she could blackmail me right back!  :)

Now she is a beautiful wife to Jason, and mother to darling Kline.  It is great to see how she loves her little family.  They are all very dear to us.

Have a fun day.  You deserve it!

Happy Autumn!

I love Autumn.  I even like the word, Autumn.  It is a visually beautiful word.  I know you think I'm crazy but I can't help it.  Autumn is a beautiful word!

When I taught school I always made a big deal about the changes of the season.  I taught the students all about what it actually means and even made them call the dates by their real names, Autumnal Equinox, Winter Solstice, Vernal Equinox, and Summer Solstice.  Somehow calling it the first day of Fall just doesn't cut it with me.

I can hear you thinking, "weren't you the MUSIC teacher?" Yes, I was, but I threw in all subjects when they came up. I love vocabulary so I tried to explain what the big words in songs meant.  I tolerate math, so I taught fractions when we discussed rhythm and beat.  I taught science when we studied sound.  All you people out there who think that the music class is just another recess are totally wrong.  I could get on a soapbox about that, but I'll spare you.

Somehow I digressed, so back to Autumn.  I feel melancholy when Autumn comes because the summer is over and the year is winding down, but I love the weather when it is crisp, but not cold.  I love when the leaves turn colors, and I love Autumn foods.  Apples, nuts, and pumpkin are comfort foods to me.  I have even tried a pumpkin soup in NYC.  I loved it!

Today is the Autumnal Equinox.  Enjoy!

P.S.  Tonight is one of the rare times that a Harvest Moon occurs exactly on the Autumnal Equinox.  Enjoy the beautiful full moon!

Walking

Dennis' cousin sent us this and I just had to share it.  I think they are quotes from "Maxine" of Hallmark fame.  I especially love numbers 5, 6, & 8!  Sometime I'll blog what I really think about walking.  For now, just enjoy.

The Importance of Walking
1. Walking can add minutes to your life.
This enables you at 85 years old
to spend an additional 5 months in a nursing
home at $7000 per month.
2. I like long walks,
especially when they are taken
by people who annoy me.
3. I have to walk early in the morning,
before my brain figures out what I'm doing.
4. I joined a health club last year,
spent about 400 bucks.
Haven't lost a pound.
Apparently you have to go there.
5. Every time I hear the dirty word 'exercise',
I wash my mouth out with chocolate.
6. If you are going to try cross-country skiing,
start with a small country.
7. I know I got a lot of exercise
the last few years,......
just getting over the hill.
8. We all get heavier as we get older,
because there's a lot more information in our heads.
That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Mom, continued!

I thought of another one!  "Be sure your sins will find you out."  Boy, was she ever right.  I never could figure out how she knew (until I was a mom!)    :)

Jackie Evancho

This beautiful little girl has the most angelic voice I have ever heard.  I cry like a baby when I listen to her.  Enjoy!

Jackie Evancho ~ America's Got Talent TOP 10

Moms

I am a collector of quotes.  I love them.  My children love them.  And to my surprise, my son-in-law loves them.  I think I get that from my mom.  She collects funny cartoons, quotes, poems, etc. and puts them in a notebook.  It is one of the things I hope to inherit from her.  Maybe I'd better get my name in for it.

One of my favorite quotes is "Wherever I wander, wherever I roam, wherever my mom is will always be home."  When I think about it, this quote is absolutely true.  We simply can't do without our moms!  I used to tell people that when I need to be straightened out, I call my sister, Joyce, and tell her to work me over.  I love how she cuts to the point. Ordinarily she wouldn't be so blunt, but she can tell when I call that I'm serious about her laying it out on the line.  Then I would call my sister, Betty, for sympathy.  Don't get me wrong, all three of us are tenderhearted saps.  Joyce is just as bad as I am if not worse.  I just have another job for her! :)  Lately, though, I have been telling Betty that she is getting a little on Joyce's territory, so I go to mom for sympathy.  :)  That's where I should have gone in the first place!

There is no one on earth that can give you sympathy like your mom!  Moms give you sympathy for anything from a mild cold to a serious illness!  They help you through hurt feelings from being called names in elementary school to breaking up with our boyfriends.  We all know that we would rather suffer whatever it is than have our children go through it.  There is a famous quote by Elizabeth Stones about "having a child is deciding forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body."  So true!

We jokingly call going to spend a few days with mom & dad "going to the spa".  We joke about it, but there is some truth to it.  Its like a spa for the soul.

Moms are also a source of quotes that we never forget. Some of my favorites are:
"Honesty is the best policy."
"Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me."
"Straighten up and fly right."
"I'm going to turn around twice and I'll be the only one left in this room."
"I'll owe it to you 'til the day I die before I cheat you out of it."  Mom quoted this a lot, but she got it from her Uncle Billy.  There are so many more.  I'll have to think about it and write them in a later blog.

These days we can talk to mom any time we want.  Cell phones take us to her in nothing flat.  Unconditional love! That's what a mom is!  Sorry, I need to go, I have to call mom!

Boomer Sooner!

Football season is my favorite sport season of the year!  I'm a girly-girl, but I love football!  I watch basketball (a little), but I really get into football, especially OU!!!!  That is the reason that I put red on the blog this time.  Don't worry, pink will return!

I always think of Dennis' mother, Lucille Kusch, this time of year, too.  She loved Big 12 football.  She would call me and have me tell her what games were on.  She loved OU the best, but would watch whichever Big 12 game was on. On Saturdays she would watch one game after another. She was also known to watch a team wearing red and white because she would think they were OU.  I always smile when I remember how she would call me to see what the score was because her eyesight was getting so bad that she couldn't see it on tv.

The year that the Yellowjackets won the State Championship Lucille attended nearly every game.  She stuck it out through the cold weather clear to the end.  That's a true fan. Of course, the fact that Nicholas was on the team was a real drawing card.  At the State Finals he had quite a crew of family there watching him.

I love football.  I'm so glad that Lucy doesn't play for OU.  I think you can see why!!!  :)

(I am now singing!)  
"Boomer Sooner, Boomer Sooner, 
Boomer Sooner, Boomer Sooner!  
Boomer Sooner, Boomer Sooner, 
Boomer Sooner, OKU!
  
I'm a Sooner born, and a Sooner bred, 
and when I die I'll be a Sooner dead.  
Rah Oklahoma, Rah Oklahoma, 
Rah Oklahoma, OKU!"